EUC Update III - Belgian Mixed on Tuesday - Gameplay

Another great day where Plan B, the belgian Mixed team, are confirming the abilities with two nice victories over Switzerland and Ireland.
First game at 9 in the morning got us getting up at 6.30 in the morning to have another breakfast of champions. Even though we all had a good night's rest this still was pretty early to get up, but the focus in the entire team was there from the very first minute.

We knew in advance that Switzerland should be a team we could beat without really getting in trouble, but as you know every game still needs to be played. Although the Swiss put on a lot of pressure on the handlers, we got a lot of room on the middle of the field and this space qwas quickly used for some early breaks.
The Swiss handlers were looking for some deep scores but didn't really find their targets and so we ended this game with a quite comfortable win of 17-4. Our Swiss friends wished us a lot of luck for the rest of the tournament and said they had loads of confidence in us. We love the confidence given, and hope it can bring us as far as possible in this high level championship.

The next game was one we didn't really know what to expect. Ireland had played some nice games and gave everybody a hard fight. We've seen a lot of hucks from them and we were all pumped up to give them a hard time on the field !
A quite nervous beginning of the game settled the score at 4-4 where Ireland put an amount of pressure on us we weren't really used to. Their amazing #11 woman (Fiona) scored a hell of a lot of points or just put up some great assists and amazing cuts. Our ladies had to go big to hold her of the disc but eventually managed to do so. After changing our defense a few times our super-PJ did a massive defense for a good break making it 4-8. The weather was great and this seemed to be our hardest game so far. The Irish kept on putting lots of pressure but Plan B was finally really on fire and every single player showed it ! Unfortunately Anouk sprained her ankle but Plan B kept on going to make a 15-8. For the next point Kevin decided to test my own fitness level and threw a low , way too far backhand into the endzone for me to sprint like I never did before and lay out for a (sorry if I say so myself) quite spectacular catch in the endzone for the 16-8 score. The game point was scored after Nonkel Hakke did a spectacular layout (full body stretch!) defense in the endzone on a swing, after which Esther and Wouter S scored the point together by catching the disc simultaneously. 17-9 for the win.

Plan B is on fire but the real real challenges still have to come.
Tomorrow we're playing against Slovakia and Poland (we like to call it Oostblok-Tuesday) and on wednesday we'll be playing our biggest rivals for the first place in our poule.
Whoever ends first in our poule will probably avoid the Great Britains in the semi final and that is exactly what we are aiming for.

Next to this gaming it's such a pleasure to be at the European Championships.
This is unlike any tourney I've ever been before (maybe just a little like Worlds in Prague last year, but that was a bit too overcrowded).
You know so many players and it's such a pleasure to see everybody cheer and play and laugh and swim (yes there's swimming pools and the weather is quite good for it) and all where their team jerseys with pride.
I love this atmosphere where the off-time kind of feels like a holiday. Being in Slovenia in between the mountains with so many nice people (especially my lovely teammates) brings out the best in me.
Johnny even managed to shave off my beard after I started joking about it. Funny view. More pics coming :)

Keep on reading and please give us a little shoutout in the comment box below, or on the facebook page to let us know you are supporting us.
I'll be posting a few funny things in some hours as well as some gameplay of the Belgian Open (Belgium vs Ireland 9-17, Belgium vs Great Britain 8-17)