Beijing 2008 - Believing

Believing is a strange thing. Over this past year I have spoken to the team many times about how important it is to believe. They have stared at me and nodded their heads but in reality it was only talk. This morning while we were lifting weights at BNU, I had two different guys come to me and say “Coach, I believe that we can do this. We can win this thing.” I can’t tell you how good that made me feel. This has been a transformation. These guys are one of the best teams in the world right now and we can play with and beat anyone on a given day. This did not happen over night but it has been a process. One by one I have seen and felt the guys jump on board and believe. Now each and every guy believes with his head and with his heart that we can really do this.

Today Serbia beat up on Spain – this means that we will get another shot at Serbia. We have not beaten this team in a long time (maybe 6 or 7 years) but I believe that our time has come. We will have to play a smart game. Defense once again will be a key and we have to find a way to score on these guys. The past two times we have played them they have held us to 3 and 2 goals. I believe we will need to score 7 goals to win the game. There is no doubt that we can do this. I believe it and now most importantly the guys believe it.

We will train tomorrow evening. In doing so we will begin to get our bodies ready for the evening game on Friday. The two extra rest days should be a real edge for us. I have watched many games over this past week and many of the teams have slowed down a little. Serbia looked good today but I am thinking that we will be at our best for the game on Friday. We are rested and healthy and all systems are a go.

I will close with a quote that I received on an email – it reads “Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice to believe with you.” I hope that you are all on board with us. The power of believing is awesome.

GO USA! See you at the pool!

Coach