The Champion's League.  Just the name alone can inspire people to burst into song, more specific, the CL anthem.  How many hours have been spent sitting in front of the television watching the best clubs in Europe play against each other? Not enough.  The excitement and quality of play in this event is paralleled only by the World Cup and the European Championship, and even these latter tournaments are for national teams.  The CL gives any soccer player a chance to partake as long as their European club team qualifies.  And that is why I got to play in the Champions League.

     I knew a few things about the Norwegian club team, Røa, I was going to play for during the WPS offseason.  They were currently at the top of the table in the Toppserien, the top division in Norwegian women's soccer.  They were in the semifinal match for the Norwegian Cup, the major soccer tournament in Norway.  And they were playing against Everton in the first knock-out round of the Champions League.  Røa is as legit as it comes.

     Did I walk out into a stadium packed with 40,000 screaming fans with the CL anthem blaring loudly in the background?  Not quite.  But I did feel like I was taking part in something very special.  On September 30, the home game against Everton, Røa won 3-0.  It was one of those games where everything goes your way- every bounce, every tackle, almost every call.  I could have tripped on the turf, fell on the ball, and it would still somehow have gone to one of my teammates.  But everyone knows soccer is a fickle sport. Almost one week later we were on a plane heading to Liverpool for the away game.  

     We were ahead 3-0 on aggregate so our tactics changed slightly.  In no way were we going to sit back and defend for 90 minutes.  We would play our style of soccer, but with a strong emphasis on our defensive shape.  Everyone had their individual roles.  As left back my job was to step to their outside midfielder and deny her space and time.  We knew Everton was going to come out and high pressure us because they needed three goals to tie us and four to win the round.  Within ten minutes they scored their first goal.  This was going to be a battle.  We had our opportunities to put the game out of reach, but as I said before, soccer is a fickle sport.  We made it to halftime only down by one goal.  Geir, our coach, gave us a few words of wisdom but ultimately left us with one key point; the team that wants it more will make it to the next round.

     In the 60th minute Everton got their second goal.  It's amazing how relative time can be.   30 minutes to us was a lifetime, 30 minutes to them might as well have been 30 seconds.  Everyone was sacrificing themselves for the good of their team- diving slide tackles, battles in the air, crashing limbs, elbows to the face, you name it.  I have never had so many bruises on my body at one time.  As the final whistle blew, Everton had won the game 2-0 but had ultimately lost the round 3-2 on aggregate.  We were through to the next stage.

     One of the many reasons I love soccer is that it has its own unique culture.  America has yet to experience it.  That night, after our “win” against Everton, we celebrated like we had won the entire Champions League tournament. We had a three-course meal in a fancy restaurant, free drinks, we went dancing, it was unreal and so, so much fun.  There were several toasts and songs and just overall celebration.  It's no wonder one of the first words I learned in Norwegian was “skål!” which means 'cheers!' in English.  In reality, however, we did not win the CL, and the next morning we were back on the field.  My first experience in the CL had been a fantastic one.  And now I get to experience more.  It looks like the next team we will be playing is from Russia, the runners up from last year's CL final.  I came to Norway to become a better player and to experience soccer in a whole new way.  I've only been here for one month and I already feel like I have done both.  To think, I still have over a month left.