The journey started at 02.45 on July 5, about 6 hours after finishing the training match against Salem in Vällingby, the western part of Stockholm. The bus picked us up at the hotel and drove us to Arlanda. Many, including me, were up all night to take the opportunity to sleep on the flights to the US. We stopped over in Holland before arriving in Atlanta on July 5th in the evening local time. Interesting fact about me is that I find it very easy to sleep on buses, trains and planes. Slept through 90% of the trip to Atlanta. Then it is still a journey of about 14–16 hours.
Something you have learned to manage is your patience with the heat and sex. There has been a constant queue everywhere since we started traveling from Arlanda. Many of the queues have required standing outdoors at first. Then we're talking heat up to 36 degrees in Birmingham. The first day, July 6, the schedule was quite empty and the only activity we had was a little soccer match for about 30 minutes before the heat got the better of us. Otherwise, it has been getting to know the area and socializing in the team. We live in an Olympic village so you live and eat with thousands of athletes and it is so incredibly inspiring and on occasion I will try to get to know some athletes and exchange experiences, until then the full focus is on floorball and our own performance!
On July 7, the seriousness began in Birmingham, we would get to feel the match floor and the atmosphere in the hall. After that, we were going to The World Games opening ceremony, which was overwhelming and can be compared to the opening of the Olympics. There were over 30,000 people in the stands with cool performances that will be a memory for life.
July 8 was the day Thailand would face a top 4 team in the world for the first time ever. Switzerland stood for the resistance. Switzerland was of course leading the game, but our low defense held up well against such a skilled team. The final score was 10–3. For my own part, the match felt very good. I always managed to find solutions when the Swiss pressed and won (and lost) some duels down in the corner against one of the best players in the world. He also managed to create a free position for me that I should have managed better. Also managed to outwit an opponent and was praised by the judges for it. Proud of how the team fought and it felt like we got the respect we deserved when the Swiss national team captain came up to us and thanked us for the match and was impressed with our performance.
At the time of writing, it is evening in the USA around 22.00 (05.00 9 July) Swedish time and in only a few hours Sweden is waiting. Short of time to rest, but it doesn't matter because the only fuel you need here is the knowledge of facing the world's best national team!
About 24 hours since the match against Sweden and one thing is clear, it was undoubtedly the best team and the best players I have ever played against. They overloaded surfaces, backchecked heavily and shot projectiles. They also badly had to get as good a goal difference as possible after their clumsy performance against Latvia where they played 6-6.
For yourself then? It was a heavy evening for me. Got a chance to score one of the prettiest goals in his career, but Måns Parsjö Tegner stood in the way of the finish. You were outplayed a few times. Exactly as expected actually.
Now Latvia awaits in the last group stage match, after their feats against Sweden and Switzerland, it will not be an "easy" task!
