Columnist Nick Green has written 100 Percent Soccer
since 2005. A
native of England, he began writing about soccer in
the mid-1980s and in 2000 permanently exchanged a seat
in the stands for one in
the press box. He lives six miles from Carson's Home
Depot Center, home of the Los Angeles Galaxy, Chivas
USA and the training headquarters for U.S. Soccer.
Married to a long-suffering soccer widow, he has a cat
named Pele.Chivas USA Gameday Sunday, Olympic Soccer Tournament Draw & More
Let's start with the draw for the men's and women's Olympic soccer tournament made this morning in Switzerland.
Here's the reaction from U.S. players to the men's team drawing Holland, Nigeria and Japan.
Women's Coach Pia Sundhage had this to say about the women's draw:
“I’m very excited about the challenge of the draw overall. Group F is certainly the strongest of the three groups, but our group will be very good as well. We will play three very different teams with very different styles of play, which will test our ability to adapt in a world championship tournament with just a few days rest between games.”
Also noted: the U.S. roster for upcoming friendlies against Australia and Canada.
Meanwhile, Chivas USA will test the depth of their squad this afternoon (5 p.m. Fox Sports) at Home Depot Center against FC Dallas, who have similar issues.
Dallas is out for revenge, while Chivas USA seems likely to welcome veteran Mexican defender Claudio Suarez back for his first game of the season.
Finally, condolences to notable local Kei Kamara of Lawndale, who scored in San Jose's 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids Saturday to help the expansion team to their first MLS win, but lost an older brother a few days ago who died in Africa - after getting some teeth pulled.
Puts a mere game in perspective, doesn't it?
I'll blog from the HDC this afternoon as usual. See you then.