Circolo Italiano e Portico (aka the birthday party)

For this futbol "match of year" the ref had a RED card, a YELLOW card and... a BIRTHDAY card!  This meant the birthday boy was given random and occasional penalties: 12 pushups, 12 laps, 12 jumping jacks, etc. If they were behind, they would have gotten 12 shots on goal but the game was pretty even.  Thankfully we only had minor injuries and a few clocks being cleaned.  It was fun to have the kids play on turf tho they learned quickly that turf burns...burn! OUCH!

I continue to be so impressed with these kids and not only their skill and athleticism but...their most excellent sense of fair play.  The little guys often have the upperhand on the playground and at team practices because the older/bigger kids are ... too nice!  What a great problem!

Did I mention it was HOT?  oof.  The ref (aka the dad) proposed 20 minute halves. 

We managed to get down 20L of frozen lemonade in the course of the game.

Below, looks like *someone* is pleased with himself!

Check out the crowd! There were about 200+ fans -- they were cheering the kids on (especially the ka-small boy) and were even persuaded to sing the birthday boy a song.  Very sweet. (especially considering they were taking a break from practicing their military exercises in the adjacent field! I would have asked for photos but I know this is verbotin and felt lucky to just get this shot as evidence!

We finished the game with a penalty shootout (for practice, not to settle the score). 

We popped a few blood vessels trying to blow up balloons.  

A HUGE thanks to the Pizolo at Portico for a delicisoso meal.