Nicolai acknowledges the crowd as he is introduced at today’s Power Shot competition. Each team competing in the Amputee World Cup was invited to enter two players to determine who has the fastest shot in the world. Athletes take 3 penalty kicks which are timed with a radar gun. Highest speed wins. Nicolai placed third with a speed of 57mph. First and second went to El Salvador and Argentina with kicks of 58mph. Interestingly, Nico had the highest average speed of 56.3mph compared to 55mph for the others.

After Nico collected his award, posed for pictures and did a couple of interviews, team USA practiced before heading out for a casual lunch. The US will face Poland in the first match of the elimination rounds tomorrow. We have two chances of beating them; slim and none. Nevertheless, the team is gearing up to put their best effort forward and would be thrilled if we can earn a single goal in the match.