The week began with a fairly relaxed Monday. I got some individual technical work in the morning before we had team training in the afternoon. That evening we walked down the street to a nice little Italian restaurant for a team meal there. The lasagna was incredible!
Tuesday was game day #4 against FC Nordsjælland, another Danish SuperLiga team. We prepared for them as our toughest opponents of the trip and that served us really well. After a one hour drive we arrived to their facilities. Their main stadium was incredible and the surrounding training pitches went for miles and miles. The changing rooms and things below the stadium were very impressive, with a wall devoted to players who have played for them and represented national teams around the world. After the original excitement of playing a big time team, we got into game mode. We played on a training pitch, which was still very high quality! As has been the whole trip, I played the second half. The first half boys did well to keep the score at 0-0 after a few adjustments. In the second half we defended very well. We were under pressure for most of the game, but the defense stayed strong and we caught them on the counter a few times. The game finished 0-0, a very fair result and a huge surprise as we were not expected to compete with them. Personally, another good performance from me, so the consistency continues. As it turned out, the striker I was marking used to be at Manchester City, and one of their midfielders was on loan from them. So the team was full of quality, we just had more grit. It was a happy car ride home.
Wednesday was game day #5, and after a light walk and stretch in the morning, we headed south for Næstved. They are Division 2 in Denmark, so tier 3, however they weren’t to be taken lightly. Unfortunately the way we lined up and our mentality didn’t help. The first half team was a lot of guys that hadn’t gotten many minutes at all in the first 4 games, plus a couple guys from our second half team. So I started and got to captain the team. It wasn’t the proudest of displays, as the team lacked effort and courage. It was a tough first half and we had some opportunities, but we were just too poor and we went into the half 2-0 down. Coach complimented myself, the other center back and our goal keeper for keeping us in the game as things fell apart in front of us. The second half team put a little more pride in the performance and we came away from the game with only a 2-1 defeat. Another short journey home and time to relax and recover after a busy couple days with games.
On Thursday, I woke up a year older. I am not the biggest fan of birthdays/celebrations so I kept it fairly quiet that it was my birthday. What I attempted to spread upon those wishing me a happy birthday was that it was a special day to remind myself of the fortunate life I have, the health and happiness that I have in my life that allows me to chase my dreams. Hopefully I made a couple people think with that one. The day turned out to be pretty much an off day for us as we only did a light morning walk and stretch before heading into Køge central for lunch with the whole team. We were given a little time to explore the town a little bit before we returned home. A big group of us had decided that we wanted to go watch Brøndby IF (Denmark) and VPS (Finland) in their round 2 Europa League Qualification game.
The game was about 40min away and it was a great atmosphere. The game was fairly one sided, but it was nice to watch a competitive game, although a little frustrating sitting their and thinking that we had played 3 teams of Brøndby IF’s level during the trip. Certainly something to strive for! So my birthday turned out to be a good one thats for sure, and a few more people picked up on it.
On Friday we were back into training to prepare for our next match against IFK Värnamo in Sweden. After a good day off, the boys were ready to get going again, so we had a good session in preparation. I was able to get some extra 1v1 defensive work in after training also which was great. Later that evening I was told by the agent to pack my bags up ready to leave after the game the next day, so that was exciting. And that was really all I got until I had a brief conversation after dinner with him. He outlined the possibilities of what might happen after the game and where I could go and things, so it was exciting that something might be happening. I wasn’t the only one confirmed to be going somewhere, as he requested that all players who were looking to sign bring their gear, just incase they got picked up from the game. 
So the rest of the night was spent doing last bits of laundry and packing up my things. I also managed to sneak in a little me time and drove off to the Køge beach just after sunset. It was nice to just relax and get some fresh air in my own personal space and reflect a little on the experience that had been so far!
Saturday dawned and everything was ready to go. But the focus was solely on the game because my game performance could have determined a move elsewhere to what was looking likely. Our 6th game was against IFK Värnamo who play in the second tier in Sweden. They were another very strong team, and a little different tactically to teams we had played previously on the trip. We started a little shaky, before settling into the game and hitting them on a few counter attacks. We held out well until half time and you could tell they were a little frustrated. The second half was once again my chance to continue the defensive effort and see out the game, and we did exactly that. We held very firm not allowing too many clear cut chances. We were able to finally convert on a counter attack and managed to sneak out a 1-0 win for our first win of the trip and a second clean sheet for the boys. It was a great result. After the game, our agent confirmed the number of players and who specifically they were that would be leaving after the game, and it was confirmed for me. This was exciting news but it really was the whole purpose of this trip, to get an opportunity somewhere, so a relief that it had paid off. After the game I had a nice chat with Tyler Lissette who is a Kiwi playing for Värnamo. We seem to end up everywhere in this world so it sure is nice to catch up with another Kiwi whenever given the chance. Once we finished our post match meal, I said my goodbyes to the team and got in the car with 4 others who were also going to trials. Grant, and Myself are headed to Nördvarmlands FF which is a division two team in Sweden, with Matt joining us to head on trial with the teams reserve team. Abbai and Isaac were heading to a division 3 team in Sweden. We headed to Gothenburg Train Station, where we spent the night, as our trains weren’t leaving until the next morning. After going from bench, to floor, to seat, to corner, we eventually settled in for the night and attempted to get some sleep. As it was a Saturday night, the station was busy until about 4am. That was when I finally fell asleep.
As Sunday rolled around with people streaming back into the station, we were counting down the hours till our new journey would begin. Numerous games of cards, a bit of reading and trying to find alternative ways to go to the toilet as the ones in the station cost money, we got on our first train and began the journey north. First it was to Kil, and after a 2hr lay over in Kil, where we spent most of the time trying to throw a paper ball into a rubbish bin from 20yds away, we were on our way further north to Torsby. The weather was quite grey as low cloud and rain was around, but the countryside we travelled through was lovely. Nice forests, big lakes and flowing rivers. After a little wait at the station, we were picked up by two of the guys on the team, one whom was a part of the Bridges tour last year. We then had another 45-60min car ride further north to where we would be settling in. A quick stop to meet the Sporting Director for the club and get groceries before finally arriving at the team apartments. It had been one hell of a journey, with maybe a total of 3hrs of sleep in the tank, but we made it, and it sure did feel like home. The forest covered hills, the river rolling alongside the towns, and just the sheer greenness of everything, it is very similar to various parts on New Zealand. Although we are somewhat in the middle of nowhere in Sweden, I am very pleased to be in a place with this much nature. 
After we settled into the apartment, we went out for a nice jog and stretch along the river, and I was very satisfied with life. I thought to myself, ‘if this is what everything over the last few months has built up to, I am happy with it.’ Playing football in a beautiful part of the world, can’t complain. The work begins tomorrow when we have our first training/trial session. We shall see, by the end of next week things could once again, be very different, as you have seen from last week to this week.