Holland Trip Journal
May 11 | Men's Soccer
Rutgers men's soccer player Adam Sternberger and his teammates recently departed on a playing tour of Holland in preparation for their upcoming season. Adam, a senior forward on the team and two-time leading scorer, has offered to record each day's events in a daily journal for scarletknights.com. Make sure to check back every day to see how Adam and the rest of his teammates are enjoying their experiences in Europe.
JOURNAL #5
It's coming to an end.
Yesterday we had a relaxing day in the center of Den Haag in our new hotel. Then last night we had a real tough game against Blauw Zwart. We went down 2-0, but were able to fight back and win 3-2. We came out a bit sluggish and this team pressed us hard. Chris Moore was able to score our first goal to give us a spark and then Tomo Barisic scored on a well-struck shot and Charlie Cox came through with the game winner. We showed great strength to come back and win this hard fought game. It was real good to see after the way we had started.
Today, we had a bike tour of the center of Den Haag. It was a pretty long tour, showing us all the goverment buildings and some other historical places. The city is an awesome city, real upbeat and well kept. Biking was a funny thing for the team because biking is basically part of the culture here and we were not good bikers! So I guess we probably stood out a bit. The tour was well worth it, though, and it was a perfect sunny day for it. Now, we have the rest of the day to ourselves.
Alright, I'll probably leave one more entry. Talk to you then....
Adam Sternberger
JOURNAL #4
Another day in the diary'?
Yesterday we played VUC in a hard fought battle. The intensity and physical battles in this game could have compared to a BIG EAST match-up. We came away with a well deserved 2-1 win. We should have had a few more goals on a couple of great scoring opportunities. Charlie Cox came in and really played well up front, starting off the scoring with a goal on great individual effort. Then we had a blunder to allow them to score off an own goal by Chris Moore only a few minutes later (the good thing was it was Chris's first-ever head goal). The second half was played just as intensely as the first and Tomo Barisic came through with the game winner with about 10 minutes left in the match.
Today we have a day of needed rest, which we will probably spend exploring Scheveningen a bit more. Tomorrow we move to downtown Den Haag and I'll talk to you then!
Adam Sternberger
JOURNAL #3
Sorry I missed a day, so I will catch you up today.
Yesterday we went to an Ajax play-off game in Amsterdam Arena. This place is awesome, just an amazing soccer surrounding. Ajax ended up beating Heereveen, 4-0, with their first two goals coming a minute apart. After the game, we came back to Den Haag and went for a jog down to this lighthouse which sits far out on a jetty. Pretty cool view here.
Today we took a three-hour trip to Belgium just to see something new. Brugge, the city we visited, was a nice old city with cobble stone roadways and numerous large churches. Not a bad place to spend the day.
Tomorrow we get back into soccer and I'll talk to you then.
Adam Sternberger
PS: An interesting observation'they love French fries with mayonnaise here. Personally, I find it's better to mix the mayo with ketchup.
JOURNAL #2
Today we played against Holland's best club, Ajax. We lost to their U-20s, 2-0. We came out in the first half ready to play, but could not find the back of the net. I hit the cross bar early on and the keeper madea key save on a shot by Kevin O'Connor. We had a few other chances, but then Ajax scored with a few moments to go in the half.
In the second half they took more of the ball and kept possession well, but still we had our chances. Tomo Barisic hit the crossbar on a well-hit free kick. As in the first half, they scored with a few minutes left in the second half. Overall, we had more chances on goal and they had more of the ball. It was a great experience to play such a prestigious club in such a nice facility.
On to Amsterdam for the rest of the day.
Talk to you tomorrow!
Adam Sternberger
JOURNAL #1
I guess this is the start of my diary...
Yesterday we arrived in Holland and made our way to Scheveningen, a great resort town where we are staying for the first few days of our trip. Our hotel is moments from the beach, a boardwalk and a casino. It's the perfect location; the only problem is the weather'it's a bit of a downer.
Last night, we had a match against Graaf Willem, a Dutch amateur side. It was a good start and a good way to get our legs moving again. We ended up winning 6-2 with a few shaky moments in the back and also many missed chances up front. Good for us it was a well-rounded event with six different goal-scorers: Todd Rooney, Chris Moore, Kevin O'Connor, Tim McRae, Bart Koffeman and myself. All and all, it was a great first day.
Today we ventured to Ajax's youth facilities for a quick training session to prepare to play Ajax U-20s tomorrow morning. These facilities were unbelievable; I think I could have stayed there all day but we wanted to move on to downtown Amsterdam. We toured Amsterdam for a bit today but plan on seeing more tomorrow. What a crazy place!
Just a little something extra: our best conversation of the days was about Smart Cars and when they plan on bringing these tiny cars to the states.
Talk to you tomorrow,
Adam Sternberger
