Thursday 5th October 2006 It's a rest day today before the start of the semi-finals and classification matches. So myself and my parents went on a bus trip around the city and stopped off at the Prado Art Museum.
 | | The Prado Art Museum |
We saw lots of pictures depicting stories from the Bible, Velzquez's Infanta painting and his comic dwarfs, along with Anthonis Mor's painting of Mary Tudor. The Museum is actually full and has no more space for pictures, so the Spanish builders are moving in! They are constructing a new wing for more art to hang. After this we walked around the Botanical Gardens which are located next door to the Museum. Well worth a visit if you ever go to Madrid. Friday 6th October A terrible day today, we should have won. Since Tuesday we've had a great victory, followed by a draw and now a defeat. As fans we've been through it all. Japan played much better. They turned up around an hour-and-half before their match started. They said their prayers and did synchronised warm-ups. England didn't play badly but should have done better. Katy Roberts, the Chelmsford goalkeeper, got to start the games and impressed in goal, making a vital save before half-time to keep England in the match.
 | | Chloe gets mobbed by school children |
After the game the girls all looked down. Chloe got mobbed by a party of school children on her way to buy a tournament t-shirt. I don't think they knew who she was, but they just saw her team shirt and knew she was a player! By contrast the German players were signing plush postcards with pictures of themselves and their name on. Chloe had to make do with an old biro and the kids Espaņa baseball caps! England now meet Germany again on Sunday to play-off for seventh and eighth place, which is still higher than their current world ranking of ninth. Sunday 8th October So here it is. We're not only playing for seventh place, we're also playing Germany again. I thought the girls had a much stronger game against the Germans today. This was how it should have been on Tuesday and then maybe they'd have gone into the Spanish game with more confidence. Never mind. I thought each member of the team really gave everything in this game. After fifteen minutes we saw an amazing run by Chloe at speed. During warm-up she had been scoring in the top right and left-hand corners with real aggression, so you could see she was going to get something today. And she did, running right through the defence after a 30 yard sprint and finishing in the top left hand corner of the goal. The keeper had no chance.
 | | The Dutch celebrate their title |
On the stroke of half-time Lisa Wooding struck a straight shot into the left-hand corner; everyone in the press box thought Lisa had scored but Rachael Walker got the last touch. As if that wasn't enough, Katy saved a penalty flick. The German side that won Gold at the Athens Olympics have had a terrible World Cup. A great result for English Hockey and a great result for Team Chelmo! Here's to a very bright future. I'll be on a flight back to Stansted tomorrow. So Adios Madrid! | 
