Stars'n Stripes journey from Texas to the Gothia Cup

Listen to the team's center-back talk about the match, the team's mentality, and how football differs from home compared to Sweden.

Stars´n Stripes G18, belonging to group 1, played their second group stage match on Tuesday morning. This time, they faced Colombian opponents Future Soccer. After an even and great match, it ended 2-0 to Future Soccer.

After about 10 minutes of play, with the score at 0-0, Stars´n Stripes scored a goal. The players ran to celebrate together until they noticed the offside flag was up. The goal was disallowed, and Future Soccer quickly started an attack that led to the first legitimate goal of the match.
- It was tough to have our goal disallowed and then concede a goal immediately after. But we pulled ourselves together and focused on moving forward, instead of dwelling on the negative, says Keely Aston, who plays center-back for Stars´n Stripes.

One of the differences in the football world between different nations is the playing surface. In recent years, artificial grass has become the most popular surface in Sweden, but the same trend is not seen in all countries.
- Football differs a bit between the USA and Sweden. At home, we sometimes play on artificial turf, but it's not as common as here in Sweden. We play a lot on natural grass. I would also say that the game in Sweden is a bit rougher, Keely continues.

The past few days in Gothenburg have been rainy and cold, compared to Dallas that has offered sun and temperatures close to 40 degrees over the past week. Despite the significant environmental shift, it is not something the team lets affect them.
- We don't focus on the weather. We always go out on the pitch and give it our all, regardless of the circumstances, Keely concludes by saying.

After the match, it’s time for the team to get some food and rest before the next match, which kicks off in just a few hours. This time against Swedish opponents Österåker United FK.