It is early Spring in Melbourne and the weather has been great. Royal Park is the scene with international teams everywhere, the Voice of USFooty Rod "Grilla" Grljusich on the PA, eucalyptus and Victorian town houses in the background. After their game against Denmark, the Revos headed to the bay for a "dip". While it was unbelievably cold, according to Justin Valley, the worst part of it was that it seemed to work.

Thursday was a rest day and the team went out to the Western Bulldogs for a training run. Game 2 was against the new kids on the block, China. The Revos rested a number of their guys for this game and took the opportunity to give some of the guys who didn't get a run against Denmark a chance to show their skills.

Of the new guys on the team, a couple guys stood out. According to Assistant Coach Becker, "In particular, I think Kelly Nelson showed some great hands and played his position well. He got plenty of defensive marks in the forward line which helped us keep the footy in the scoring end. Danny Hansen came out of his shell, grabbing up the scraps and distributing well."

The Chinese were over matched, but there attitude was great. According to Becker, "we came at them with everything we had. I talked with some of them before and after the match. They have a great attitude. I know it can be tough to go through a tournament and not score a lot of points. They're new to the competition and they'll improve quickly. We in the USA went through a similar ramp up a decade ago and I'm sure the Chinese team will get some wins in the very near future."

Dan Sarbacker was also impressed with the Chinese. "I was very proud of the Revolution for respecting our opponents by playing hard and to our full potential, but by not embarassing the newcomers by running up the score. We knew it would be lopsided, but I was happy the guys did not let the game get out of hand. China was a wonderful group of guys, incredibly friendly, and very keen to learn the game and improve."

Next up is South Africa, but first the boys head to Geelong to watch Denmark and South Africa. "We know South Africa to be a small, but very quick side, and their skill level has increased leaps and bounds over the past 6 years. We have to focus and not look past this game. This will be a big challenge for us. We have to execute cleanly, distribute the football quickly, and play our brand of football. That is the clearest path to a win in this game," says Sarbacker.

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