Stephanie Labbe: From Cyprus Cup to Sweden

Living out of a bag is really starting to get old! Its been six and a half years since I last lived at home, and I have attempted throughout the years to keep my life packed into 3-4 bags. Not ideal. But that’s the price I have to pay for having the job I have, and doing what I love. Speaking of doing what I love, a lot has happened in the past week and a half since I last blogged. We (Canadian National Team) made it to the Cyprus Cup final, meeting Holland. The last time we met Holland was in December in the Brazil Four Nations Tournament.

That game ended 5-0 in favor of us, but we knew this would be a totally different game, with them having all their players healthy and it being the final of a tournament of course. It was a tough match with difficult conditions. The wind was blowing, it was very cold, and rain was coming and going. We took the lead in the first half, only to have them tie it up before halftime. Second half, we came out strong and fought through, pushing for a goal. The game went to overtime, and Emily (Zurrer) came to the rescue with a goal off a corner kick early in the first overtime. We kept pushing through to the second overtime where we defended our lead right to the end. Cyprus Cup champs again, and we celebrated in no other way than to head to the locker room and sing our favorite Celine Dion song as a team. We were on an early flight the next morning, leaving at 4:40 a.m., and it was off to Holland for me to meet up with my Swedish club, Piteå for our preseason trip.

I worked my way into the training, taking some time off and some rest to recover from Cyprus. We played our first game today vs. Venlo, the local Holland club from the top league here. The game finished 3-1 for us, which was a great result, but we definitely have some work to do before the beginning of our season – April 13. It will be a quick turnaround for us before facing the well-known Bundesliga club, FCR Duisburg, on Tuesday. It will be an exciting match for us, and it will be a challenge for us on all areas of the field!

I have attached a picture of some of my Piteå teammates and I in town yesterday on our afternoon off. Yes, doing none other than shopping. Fortunately for my bank account, I kept myself to one shirt and glasses, and most of that is due to my already over-sized and overweight bag! I will be finishing my day off with some much-needed leg’s up on the wall to try to get some lactic acid out of them, and wearing my “Skins” around to help my legs recover from the game today, and be ready to perform on Tuesday again! That’s all for now from Holland!! Hej då