Spent the day working on Tuesday's column about former Galaxy Coach Sigi Schmid (see next post), but noted these items in passing:

The Galaxy's Edson Buddle, 27, he of the mazy run around/through four Dallas defenders and hat trick was voted Major League Soccer's Player of the Week by the North American Soccer Reporters. Buddle has 57 career MLS goals.

An alternate view: Anaheim's Jorge Flores get a shout-out from the most comprehensive soccer blog around - DuNord - for his performance this weekend.

Details of the Beckham incident Sunday: Beckham received a yellow card in the 76th minute after he got into a shoving match with Adrian Serioux and Arturo Alvarez of FC Dallas (2-3-3). Serioux, who brought Beckham down with a slide tackle, was given a red card and ejected.

"It was a terrible tackle. I could have broken my leg," Beckham said. "It's not my decision to give out cards. The player [Serioux] was saying, 'Welcome, baby, welcome,' afterward."

It was Beckham's second yellow card in two Texas appearances.

Or as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram put it:

In an effort to avert any misunderstanding in the British Parliament, Serioux hails from Canada. We colonists know Beckham is a museum piece.

And former Chivas USA-UCLA striker Matt Taylor keeps popping up.

From a U.S. Soccer press release:

U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage will bring 27 players to a two-week training camp at Home Depot Center in Carson starting today.

At the end of the camp, Sundhage will choose a 20-player roster to compete in the 2008 Peace Queen Cup in South Korea, where the U.S. will play Australia (June 15), Brazil (June 17) and Italy (June 19).

Two players currently recovering from minor surgery - goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart (knee) and captain Christie Rampone (gall bladder) - will join the camp should they be fit enough to participate. Defender Keeley Dowling and midfielder Angie Woznuk return to camp after missing action while recovering from back injuries.

With Barnhart sidelined, Sundhage has called in 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kristin Luckenbill to join Hope Solo and Briana Scurry in the U.S. net.

Sundhage has also called in one player who has yet to see training camp action, giving a look to uncapped defender Kendall Fletcher, a former UNC star and veteran of the U.S. U-21 Women's National Team.

Defender Ali Krieger, who is currently playing for FFC Frankfurt, the top women's club in Germany and one of the best in Europe, will join camp on May 25 after she is released from club duty.

The roster: goalkeepers Kristin Luckenbill (Paoli, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Kendall Fletcher (Cary, N.C.), Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O'Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Finally, (indulge me) Norwich City fans everywhere are glad to see Darren Huckerby hyped as a possible MLS signing by former Canaries striker Ted MacDougall.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Damaged Goods

OUT - Charles Alamo (R-Knee Surgery)

DOUBTFUL - None

QUESTIONABLE - Ely Allen (R-Hamstring), Edson Buddle (R-Hamstring), Landon Donovan (R-Calf), Alvaro Pires (L-Knee), Carlos Ruiz (R-Knee Surgery), Peter Vagenas (R-Quad)

PROBABLE - Ante Jazic (R-Ankle Surgery)

Jazic played for the first time since December on Tuesday against Vancouver and will continue to train this week. All other injured players, with the exception of Alamo, are schedule to take part in portions of training this week in the lead up to the game against FC Dallas this weekend.

Meanwhile, Alamo continues on the second phase of his rehabilitation process

Barca Back

Barcelona played CD Guadalajara at the Coliseum in 2006, as part of a three-game U.S. tour, drawing 1-1 in front of 92,650.

Olympic Run-In

"It's always good to get great games before you go to the Olympics and what better team to play than Brazil," said U.S. midfielder Shannon Boxx of Torrance, who has started 12 of the 14 games the USA has played this year. "It's always an exciting game playing Brazil so these will be good tests to give us confidence heading into the Olympics. Obviously, we didn't do well against them in the World Cup so it will be beneficial for our team to play them a few times beforehand in case we do meet them in China."

UCLA Schedule

The Bruins will have nine games against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year ago.

Here are the home games at Drake Stadium:
Date Opponent
Aug. 29 Maryland
Aug. 31 UC Riverside
Sept. 12 Indiana
Sept. 20 Santa Clara
Sept. 28 Cal State Northridge
Oct. 1 UC Santa Barbara
Oct. 5 San Diego State*#
Oct. 17 Washington*
Oct. 19 Oregon State*
Oct. 31 California*#
Nov. 2 Stanford*#
Nov. 5 Cal Poly
* Pac-10 Conference game
# Doubleheader with UCLA women's soccer team

Posted by Nick Green at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Good morning to all the mothers who will be whisked off to a futbol game in a couple of hours, injury-stricken Chivas USA taking on the inconsistent New England Revolution at noon at Home Depot Center.

Chivas USA points out how they're going to make the game worth mom's time in their press release:

Mom gets free admission to the game, a complimentary flower (in Chivas colors of Red and White) and a '#1 Mom' Appreciation Certificate upon arrival at the gate. In-stadium, Mary Kay will be on-hand providing complimentary makeovers to all Moms at the popular ChivaTown fan zone, while Donna Karan and Avon will also be distributing complementary perfume and cosmetics samples.

For those who are unable able to bring Mom to the game, Chivas USA's Official Wireless Provider, Sprint, will give fans the opportunity to 'Make a Call to Mom on Us' with special call centers, offering free phone calls within the United States and Mexico, inside the stadium. (Limit one five-minute call per person.)

Meanwhile, on the field, Chivas USA invites Moms to get involved in the action, as a 'Parade of Moms' processes around the playing surface before kickoff; 'Dream Moms' and 'High-Five Moms' accompany the 22 players onto the pitch; and 'Ball Moms' keep the soccer action going on corner kicks, throw-ins and goal kicks.

As for the actual game, there are previews here and here.

In other local action, the S.F. Quakes surrendered a two-goal lead against the Ventura Fusion Saturday.

In the opening game of a doubleheader, the W-League Pali Blues won their first-ever game 5-0 over the Fusion.

In other local PDL scores Saturday:
Fresno Fuego 2 Southern California Seahorses 1
San Jose Frogs 2 Lancaster Rattlers 0
Los Angeles Legends 0 Bakersfield Brigade 0

Former MLS star Eric Wynalda was subbed out by the Brigade in the scoreless draw.

Meanwhile, the U.S. women went on a tear Saturday against Canada.

Happy Mother's Day.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy Preview

But more importantly, it's BritWeek (more on that later).

Game preview here.

As usual, Red Bull Claudio Reyna is out injured for this one, proving yet again he's not New York's answer to David Beckham.

Speaking of Becks, the folks over at StubHub sent over these stats that show average Galaxy ticket prices on their site have almost tripled, while the volume of ticket sales has soared compared with 2007.

1st home game $26 (2007) Vs. $55 (2008). Sales volume increase: 450%.
2nd home game $28 Vs. $51. Up 60%
3rd home game $18 Vs. $46. Up 2000%
4th home game $32 4/26 Vs. $55. Up 400%

The Becks effect?

Meanwhile, the Galaxy, late in getting their youth development program going, have belatedly made a commitment.

From the press release:

Galaxy Rios, the official youth development program of the LA Galaxy, will enter a team in the USL Super-20 League for the 2008 season.

The LA Galaxy, who are one of three MLS teams to have a club placed in the Super-20 League, will be one of six teams in the Pacific Southern California League.

The coach: Galaxy Director of Soccer Paul Bravo.

The roster includes UCLA products David Estrada, Kyle Nakazawa of Palos Verdes Estates, Brian Perk and Michael Stephans; Rafael Garcia and Camillo Rojas of Cal State Northridge; Amani Walker of UC-Irvine; and U.S. Under-18 National Team player Tristan Bowen, the first player ever signed to the Galaxy Rios, and his brother Travis Bowen.

Wonder what the S.F. Quakes think about Nakazawa's departure from their squad?

Galaxy Rios opens their season 5 p.m. Sunday against the Ventura County Fusion at Ventura College.

Here's the complete season schedule:
May 24 vs. Poway Vaqueros 1:30 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 4 at Riverside MGFM (Kickoff TBD)
June 8 at Lancaster Rattlers 4 p.m. Lancaster National Soccer Center
June 15 at Poway Vaqueros 2 p.m. Poway High School
June 22 vs. Bakersfield Brigade 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
June 29 vs. Ventura County Fusion 5 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 5 at Bakersfield Brigade 5 p.m. Bakersfield Christian High School
July 12 vs. Lancaster Rattlers 1 p.m. Home Depot Center
July 13 vs. Riverside MGFM Kickoff TBD Home Depot Center

Chivas Deals

Over in England, Chivas USA midfielder Jorge Flores scored a goal and an assist in the first two friendlies for the U.S. Under-20 National Team on its short tour there.

Flores scored the game-winner on a penalty kick Wednesday in a 2-0 win over Bolton Wanderers Reserves and grabbed an assist a day later in a 2-1 win over Manchester United Reserves by a score of 2-1. The team plays Liverpool Reserves today.

The Chivas USA U-18 and U-16 teams both play Pateadores in away games this Saturday at Cal-State Fullerton.

The U-16 team, with two consecutive wins against conference opponents, plays at noon against first-place Pateadores team, with the U-18 game following at 2:30 p.m.

U.S. Women

The match in Sweden marks the return of U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage to her native country where she will face her home country for the first time as U.S. coach.

Local Games This Weekend

The Fusion's PDL team hosts the San Fernando Valley Quakes at 7:30 p.m. in the nightcap.

Other games include:
Fresno Fuego at Southern California Seahorses 7 p.m. La Mirada High
San Jose Frogs at Lancaster Rattlers 7 p.m. Pete Knight High.

BritWeek

Missed the earlier videos?

Click here and here and here.

Those who want to delve more deeply into the genre could do worse than checking out this box set (although I could quibble with a few tracks on the last disc).

Posted by Nick Green at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

David Beckham scored a brace and Landon Donovan nabbed an assist to pace the Galaxy to a 2-2 road tie with Real Salt Lake Saturday (who was that prescient columnist who talked about the Becks and Donovan Road Show earlier this week?).

Game details here.

Chivas USA (1-3-2), meanwhile, snapped a three-game losing streak by grinding out a scoreless draw Saturday at Houston, remaining tied with the Galaxy's opponents on the evening for fourth in the Western Conference.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Chivas USA Coach Preki. "I'm proud of the way we played, the way we defended as a group, finally. We played like we played last year."

Noteworthy:
* Chivas USA's veteran defender Claudio Suárez, earned a red for a foul on Houston's Brian Mullan in the 82nd minute.

*Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn exited the match in the 13th minute with a broken nose and a gash on his right cheek, after being struck in the face by Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario's during a thwarted bicycle kick attempt.

*Referee Jozef Batko showed nine cards during the match (eight yellow and one red), an MLS high so far this season.

*Chivas USA's first choice strike force of Ante Razov and Maykel Galindo made their first start together since last September.

*Goalkeeper Brad Guzan earned his first clean sheet of the season, a week after conceding a career-high five goals against the Galaxy.

The Chivas USA lineup: Brad Guzan, Lawson Vaughn (Chris Pozniak 13), Claudio Suarez, Shavar Thomas (Jim Curtin 62), Jonathan Bornstein, Sacha Kljestan, Jesse Marsch, Paulo Nagamura, Francisco Mendoza, Maykel Galindo, Ante Razov (Justin Braun 78).

Substitutes Not Used: Atiba Harris, Dan Kennedy, Daniel Paladini, Keith Savage

Oh, and hold the Mickey Mouse jokes: Chivas USA take its official 2008 team photograph Monday at Disney's California Adventure.

In other games Saturday, the career of Palos Verdes' John Thorrington continues to sustain a second wind; he scored one and also got an assist in the Chicago Fire's comfortable 3-0 victory over the New England Revolution. Thorrington now has three goals on the season.

Also getting his third of the year was the Columbus Crew's Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates in his teams' 2-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards.

Not surprisingly, longtime South Bay resident Sigi Schmid sounds like he's thoroughly enjoying the vindication that goes along with being the coach of the in-form team in MLS.

On a contrasting note, Lawndale's Kei Kamara didn't have an evening to remember Saturday as his San Jose Earthquakes played their inaugural game at Santa Clara's Buck Shaw Stadium where yours truly had the pleasure of being on hand for the occasion.

He missed on five shots, including at least one he should have tucked away, as the Earthquakes drew 1-1 against FC Dallas.

That continued what has already been a season of futility for the youngster; he came into the game ranked eighth in shots in the league with 12 attempts, but has just one goal to show for it.

Kamara (who seems as if he has grown yet a little more every time I see him) had to think long and hard when I asked what he needed to do differently.

"I've just got to focus a little more when I get inside the box," he finally said after a long pause. "Next time one of them has got to go in. It's up to me now."

Earthquakes Coach Frank Yallop wasn't about to criticize the youngster.

"He's given me everything he's got - he's been unlucky," Yallop said. "He's a young, raw player. It's the most (games) he's ever played in a row."

Well, OK, maybe a little.

"The one he blazed over (the bar), I couldn't believe it," Yallop said

A vociferous crowd of 10,515 watched the action (seating capacity is 10,300, but the Earthquakes sold some standing room only seats) in one of the better 0-0 games I've seen in a while and were chanting and singing throughout.

"The crowd was huge," Kamara said. "They were a huge part of the game."

In fact, all that was missing was new Bakersfield Brigade striker Eric Wynalda (see more below); longtime MLS fans will remember it was the former U.S. international who broke the deadlock in the first-ever MLS game when the then San Jose Clash beat D.C. United 1-0.

The Earthquakes' tight little stadium will be a treat to watch games at (the sight lines cannot be beat) and none other than MLS Commish Don Garber came away suitably impressed.

"It's great to be back," he said, alluding to the Earthquakes returning to their neighborhood (the team has just two other games at the Oakland Coliseum this season both against you know who and the Galaxy). "It's very intimate. The environment is electric."

By the way, Garber also made some interesting comments regarding how soccer fans are increasingly communicating on the Internet, something that only adds to their fervor.

Against that backdrop, I counted a mere six print reporters in the main press box.

Still, Yallop doesn't think his team are too far away from playing much better.

"We did everything right, but score," he said of the performance. "We're not anticipating very well. The final touch is just out of reach.

Former Galaxy goalkeeper Joe Cannon (who pointed out he got a shutout) said he believes the team needs a player (or two) "with bite" and the ability to win 50-50 balls to improve.

Still, Cannon sounded positively dizzy about the team and Yallop's new lease on his career.

"Him and (General Manager) John (Doyle) have a much better relationship than he has with others in the past," a not so oblique reference to Alexi Lalas. "He's a guy all of us want to die for."

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Wynalda made his PDL debut Saturday against the Ventura County Fusion.

Finally, the U.S. Women beat Australia in a thriller for the second successive game.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two goals by Rolling Hills Estates' Robbie Rogers led the Columbus Crew past Chivas USA 4-3 Saturday, while the U.S. women beat Canada on penalties in Olympic qualifying.

Columbus Coach Sigi Schmid summed up the game when he talked to the Columbus Dispatch: "I don't know if my heart can take all of them like this," he said. "Everybody should be made to watch this on TV and then say soccer is not exciting."

Too bad it was played before the smallest crowd (6,733) ever to see a Crew game in frigid temperatures.

Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, to blame for the winning goal, had better hope scouts from Aston Villa etc., weren't watching.

More game details here.

Posted by Nick Green at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. beat Costa Rica 3-0 in a dust storm Wednesday night, while Canada defeated hosts Mexico 1-0 to qualify for the Olympics in China.

Torrance duo Shannon Boxx and Vanessa Rojas went 90 minutes for the U.S. and Costa Rica respectively.

More on the U.S.-Costa Rica game is here and the Canada-Mexico game here.

U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage gave kudos to the Americans' CONCACAF rivals.

"The teams here have improved a lot compared to what I knew about them five or six years ago," she said "Look at this game, the U.S. playing Costa Rica and it’s 0-0 at half time. I would say it’s an important moment for me, who has been around the game for so long, to see Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the way Mexico has improved so much. It’s not only good for U.S. but for women’s soccer overall.”

Posted by Nick Green at 12:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Crunch Time in Mexico

The U.S. plays Costa Rica, a nation that has never beaten the Americans in four tries, at 6 p.m. while Mexico faces Canada in the nightcap.

Costa Rica features Torrance's Vanessa Rojas on its squad, while the U.S. has Torrance's Shannon Boxx.

“We haven’t played them since 2004, but it looks like they have improved," said U.S. defender Kate Markgraf. "They have really technical players and they look more athletic then they have in the past. We will have to see how much they try to attack or if they sit back, but we can adapt and play our style according to the flow of the game.”

The Americans handily beat Costa Rica 4-0 the last time the nations met.

There's no TV coverage.

Chivas USA Youngsters with USA

Flores played in all five U-20 games in January, including three as captain; Mayen, who signed with Chivas USA on March 27, will be with the U.S. U-20 squad for the first time.

Milestone for Matt

Reis, who has has started 72 consecutive regular season games for the Revolution, the longest current active streak in MLS, has played the last 6,480 minutes for the club, just shy of Pat Onstad's record 6,648 minute stretch set from 2005-2007.

Hamilton Honored

Hamilton, a former Torrance resident, was Galaxy GM when he died in March 2006 from heart complications at the age of 43. He is also the brother of Chivas USA Vice President of Soccer Operations Stephen Hamilton. Proceeds from the game benefit Hamilton's son Aedan.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. has just beaten Mexico 3-1 in Olympic qualifying meaning Torrance's Vanessa Rojas and her Costa Rican team will meet Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx et al in the semifinals Wednesday of CONCACAF qualifying with an Olympic slot at stake.

The U.S., which had already qualified for the semifinals, got three first half goals to seal the win, including two from Natasha Kai. Hermosa Beach resident Wambach added another.

Costa Rica, which finished second in Group B, got through by only losing 2-0 to Canada and qualifying on goal difference.

Costa Rica isn't given much chance against the U.S., but I'm sure Vanessa will nevertheless be reveling in being only 90 minutes away from realizing every athlete's dream and appearing at the Olympics.

Game details from a Canadian perspective here.

Posted by Nick Green at 2:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The U.S.plays Mexico today in CONCACAF Olympic qualifying, although both nations have qualified for the semifinals.

Guest-blogger Vanessa Poster, a Torrance resident and Loyola Marymount student who plays for Costa Rica, returns ahead of that nations' clash with Canada. Costa Rica can qualify for the semifinals outright just by conceding five goals or fewer, since T&T lost to Canada by six. This is her third post.

Friday was an exciting day to say the least.

We began as every other day with breakfast in the morning, a light training session and a chalk talk after lunch.

I was starting the game, earning my fourth cap and was very excited.

We were playing 3-4-3 with an obvious offensive mindset.

Previous encounters with Trinidad and Tobago had been a blow out, but this year they came out with a fury.

I was playing on the back line and they were putting a lot of pressure on us - they were not going to just roll over and let us win just because we were better than them on paper.

I don’t know if it was the grandiose stadium or the dry climate, but we could not get into our groove.

They scored the first goal and it was like a blow to the stomach, but that must have lit a fire under us because we started to play with more passion. As the game went on the coach decided to move into a 4-3-3 to give more support to the back line. Soon after Trinidad scored again, and it put us against the wall, for if we lost this game we were sure not to qualify to the next round of the tournament.

As the game went on we had chance after chance, but the ball would just not go into the net.

Then, with the score 2-1, the fourth official put up injury time of three minutes.

We only had three minutes left in the game to get at least a tie. It seemed improbable, when we would repeatedly cross the ball and it would deflect away it was as if someone had cast a spell on the net.

Then we had a last ditch effort cross deflect off a players' foot and someone was open on the six yard box and GOOAAALLLLL!!!!.

The referee called the game about 25 seconds later.

We play Canada today.

The fight continues

Posted by Nick Green at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. beat Jamaica 6-0 tonight in Mexico, while Costa Rica drew 2-2 with Trinidad & Tobago.

More on the U.S. game here while Torrance's Vanessa Rojas played the first 30 minutes of Costa Rica's 2-2 tie with Trinidad & Tobago.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying continues today in Mexico with Costa Rica playing its opening game against Trinidad & Tobago at 5 p.m. (vanquished 6-0 by Canada in its first game) and the U.S. playing Jamaica (which lost 5-0 to Mexico in its first game) at 7:30 p.m.

There's no television coverage, although fans can follow the Americans live at the U.S. Soccer Web site.

A preview of the U.S. game is here.

For more on the Costa Rica game we turn to guest-blogger Vanessa Rojas, a Torrance resident and Loyola Marymount University student, who qualifies to represent Costa Rica via her father, who is a native of that nation. This is her second post for 100 Percent Soccer.

I would like to start off by thanking everyone that wished me luck in this tournament.

It’s nice to have some support coming from home.

I would also like to clear up a geographical mistake that I made in my initial post. I arrived in Juarez, Mexico not Guadalajara, Mexico as previously stated (geography was never my strong suite).

Anyway, we arrived here with open arms from the people of Juarez.

There are welcome signs posted all over the city representing the different countries' flags in the tournament.

We had a police escort to our hotel as we got to view this cute little desert town that is located about 12 miles south of El Paso, Texas.

In preparation for today's game against Trinidad & Tobago we got up at 8 in the morning Thursday to have some breakfast, headed to training, lunch, then back to a last training session before our big game.

We are all excited and anxious for out first game and don’t fully know what to expect other than they are very fast and aggressive team.

Our next game is against Canada on Sunday, and that is the team that we are really excited to play against.

The winner from our pool will play the second place team from the U.S., Jamaica and Mexico pool and that is when the tournament really starts to get interesting.

On Thursday there were some little kids that wanted our autographs in the lobby and it reminded me of myself when I was their age. It made me really happy to be able to play a sport I love.

I will blog soon soon with a tournament update.

Pura Vida!

Posted by Nick Green at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Torrance resident Vanessa Rojas, who played for North High and Loyola Marymount University and is a member of the Costa Rica Women's National Team, has agreed to blog for 100 Percent Soccer during CONCACAF Olympic qualifying. Her first post is below, followed by the 2003 article I wrote for the Daily Breeze when I first met Vanessa, who made her national team debut in Carson.

For those of you who don’t know who I am, which I’m guessing is everyone reading this minus my family, let me give you a brief bio.

My name is Vanessa Rojas and I play on the Costa Rican National team, but I am also from the South Bay, Torrance to be exact.

I am a proud North High Saxon alum, played for FRAM soccer club and am currently going to LMU.

You are probably wondering how Costa Rica got into the mix.

Well, when I was 16 the U.S. Women's National Team was playing against Costa Rica and my dad (who is from Costa Rica) got in contact with the coach though e-mail. He told him how I was a dual citizen and sent him clips of me playing. So when they came down I had an unofficial tryout and got to play a miniscule 10 minutes, but for a 16-year old at the Home Depot Center it was a rush.

As time passed, I played off and on with the team, but it was not always easy assimilating to a new style of soccer, customs and players.

Fast-forward five years and I am getting ready to go to an Olympic qualifier.

I arrived in Costa Rica March 20th on the red eye and am practicing with the team until we leave Wednesday for the tournament in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Even though I have been training four hours a day in preparation to come down here, the sun has no mercy and the tropics defiantly know how to make someone sweat.

On Tuesday, I played in my first scrimmage with the team since I played with them in November.

Now that you know a little of who I am I will be dropping in with some blog posts as the tournament unfolds.

Here's the 2003 Daily Breeze article on Vanessa's national team debut, which also happened to be the first appearance in U.S. colors for one Shannon Boxx. Incidentally, when Vanessa trotted out onto the field she immediately found herself standing next to none other than Mia Hamm.

A tale of two Torrance women underlines the gulf between American and Costa Rican soccer as the two nations prepare to meet tonight at Carson's Home Depot Center in the penultimate warm-up game for the United States before the World Cup begins later this month.

Shannon Boxx, 26, a graduate of South Torrance High, who helped Notre Dame to its only NCAA championship in 1995 and this season was named MVP of the WUSA's New York Power, may make her national team debut for the reigning World Cup champions. Despite her experience, Boxx made history last week when she became the first-ever uncapped player named to a U.S. World Cup roster, which boasts a dozen veterans who won the trophy in 1999.

The tough-tackling midfielder will have 30 friends and family members in the stands to cheer her on in the nationally televised game.

''This will be the one game they are going to be able to come to,'' Boxx said. ''If I get to play I'm going to go in with a lot of confidence.''

Meanwhile, 16-year-old Vanessa Rojas, who will begin her senior year at North Torrance High this fall and plays on a Rolling Hills Estates-based FRAM's second-tier women's club team, was scheduled to train Sunday with Costa Rica.

Rojas was not listed on a preliminary roster given to the U.S. team, but it's possible the North Athlete of the Year could be added to the Costa Rica team roster. She qualifies to represent the country via her father, who is a native Costa Rican. Rojas had sent Costa Rican officials a videotape of herself in action and a letter of recommendation from her club team coach, Jeff Tuttle.

Rojas' father, Mario, bought 20 tickets to the game for family and friends who will watch a team ranked 45th by FIFA take on a U.S. team that outscored Costa Rica by a combined 15-0 in its only two games against the U.S. in 2000 and 2002.

''It's a phenomenal opportunity,'' Tuttle said. ''I told her if she plays 90 minutes or doesn't play at all, to cherish the moment.''

The U.S. team, which will play the 300th match in its history tonight and is riding a 22-game home unbeaten streak, is simply looking for an uneventful work-out in what will be the first game for a U.S. national team at the Home Depot Center.

''You always have to look for a competitive game. Teams are motivated to play us hard every time,'' American forward Mia Hamm said. ''If goals come, they come. If they don't, you can't get frustrated and upset.''

Posted by Nick Green at 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Living up to the hype, Freddy Adu, apparently benefiting from playing in Europe with Portugal's Benfica, led the U.S. to an Olympics berth in a 3-0 win Thursday over out-classed Canada with two goals from set pieces, while Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan added the third.

A reminder: the Galaxy hosts its Fan Fest Saturday.

David Beckham, who will talk to the local media today before jetting off to England, was busy handing out awards this week. Galaxy owner Phil Anschutz was also honored for his contributions to the sport at the event.

Chivas USA has resigned fan favorite 22-year-old Panchito Mendoza, the leader in games and minutes played for the club, and acquired Irvine native and defender Eric Ebert from the Houston Dynamo in exchange for a supplemental draft pick.

The U.S. women have scheduled games April 27 and May 3 against Australia in the first domestic dates of the year in North Carolina and Alabama respectively.

In one of the best bargains in televised sport, the MLS Direct Kick package that gives armchair fans 115 games for $79, is back.

Finally, if you watch just one game this weekend, check out the Chelsea-Arsenal London derby at 9 a.m. Sunday on Fox Soccer Channel.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage named 26 players today to the pre-Olympic qualifying camp that opens at Home Depot Center Friday, including all 20 players on the Algarve Cup-winning team in Portugal plus six others, including veteran defender Heather Mitts and goalkeeper Brianna Scurry.

Sundhage will whittle that roster down to 20 for Olympic qualifying next month.

The complete roster and more details are here.

Sundhage and captain Christie Rampone held a media teleconference to discuss the camp and qualifying this morning. A podcast is available here (look under podcasts).

Posted by Nick Green at 6:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. Women's National Team lifted the Algarve Cup after winning 2-1 over Denmark in Portugal today with Abby Wambach scoring the game winner.

CONCACAF has released the rosters for Mexico and the three other Group B teams in Olympic qualifying that open play tonight at Home Depot Center.

In other women's soccer news, the new Pacific Palisades-based W-League franchise Pali Blues signed a trio of Australian national team players.

The Galaxy announced an 18-game Fox Sports broadcast schedule meaning every Galaxy game this season will be televised.

Finally, sign ups open today for the seventh annual MLS Fantasy Challenge.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Already a busy day in soccer so let's get to it:

The U.S. Women's National Team decisively defeated Norway 4-0 Monday to reach Wednesday's Algarve Cup final in Portugal against Denmark.

Former U.S. star Hugo Perez and former U.S. women's Coach Anson Dorrance were elected to the veteran and builder categories respectively, the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced today. Palos Verdes' Joy Fawcett was yet again denied entrance, though.

Chivas USA's striking duo of Maykel Galindo and Ante Razov (who scored a goal) started for the first time this preseason, but that wasn't enough to prevent Toronto FC winning 3-2 Sunday in San Antonio, Texas.

Finally, Chivas USA put their single-game tickets on sale today, with seats starting at $14.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chivas USA lost 1-0 to the Houston Dynamo in San Antonio on Friday, the Galaxy play the next game of their Asia tour at 11 tonight live on Fox Soccer Channel from Hong Kong where ticket sales have reportedly been poor, the U.S. Women triumphed again in Portugal while the high school soccer season is over.

And so is my posting on a gorgeous day in Southern California. Enjoy the weekend.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Back after a self-imposed radio silence on (most) of a day off.

Three typically opportunistic Carlos Ruiz strikes saw a largely listless Galaxy beat an "all-star" Chinese squad 3-0 today, the U.S. senior women's team ripped China and Chivas USA lost to D.C. United in Texas two times on what sounded like one unusual day.

Updated: Anaheim's Jorge Flores opened the scoring for Chivas USA with a line-up of largely reserves in the 2-1 loss to D.C. United in San Antonio, Texas.

The Chivas line-up: (4-4-2): Lance Parker; Gerson Mayen, Shavar Thomas, Bobby Burling, Eric Ebert; Jorge Flores, Daniel Paladini, Kraig Chiles , Keith Savage (Chukwudi Chijindu 62); Justin Braun, Anthony Hamilton (Arnaldo Salazar 84).

Posted by Nick Green at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Coach Pia Sundhage has begun the youth movement needed to rebuild the U.S. Women's National Team, dumping veteran goalkeeper Brianna Scurry for next month's Algarve Cup in Portugal and bringing in Nicole Barnhart (four caps).

Although 15 of the 20-player roster were on last year's World Cup squad, including Torrance's Shannon Boxx, Sundhage has also brought in the likes of UCLA's Lauren Cheney and USC striker Amy Rodriguez. Uncapped defender Rachel Buehler gets her first tournament call-up, while at age 19 defender Tobin Heath is the youngest player on the roster.

From the U.S. Soccer press release:

The U.S. opens play March 5 against China, faces Norway on March 7 and finishes the first round against Italy on March 10.

The U.S. will use this tournament as final preparation for 2008 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying, which will be held April 2-13 in Mexico.

“The Algarve Cup is a very important tournament for several reasons,” said Sundhage. “First, it is excellent preparation for the Olympic qualification, especially playing four difficult matches in eight days. That is a test of our fitness, our mental toughness and also our depth. But also, like we faced in the Four Nations Tournament in China, it gives the team a chance to play against three very good teams in the group who all play different styles, and that is fantastic for the development of our team rhythm, as well as for our young players getting experience at a big tournament.”

Preps news from the Daily Breeze is here and here.

The Long Beach Press-Telegram has this report on girls soccer.

Finally, thanks to those who voted in Tuesday's poll that asked whether the EPL should play games overseas. Interesting to see how divided fans are on this one. (And yes, you can still vote).

Posted by Nick Green at 8:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Defender Jay Needham was cut from training camp today, Galaxy officials said. Although he plays in the USL his MLS rights were owned by D.C. United and the Galaxy obviously didn't feel he was much of an upgrade.

Brazilian defensive midfielder Alvaro, last seen playing in Russia, is in camp. Aussie goalkeeper Chris Sharpe, who played in Denmark and for the Vermont Voltage (is that a great name or what?), was let go earlier in the week.

Excellent camp update is here.

The Galaxy also announced today they have entered into a multi-year broadcasting agreement with ESPN Deportes Radio KWKW 1330 AM to provide coverage of all 30 Galaxy games this season including a weekly program Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Over at Chivas USA, draft pick El-Hadj Cisse (North Carolina State University) picked up a knock on Tuesday against the Red Bulls and hasn't trained the last couple of days. Chivas USA plays Saturday against the Japanese Under-23 National Team in a game in the main Home Depot Center stadium that's only open to the media.

U.S. Women's National Team update (such as it is) is here.

Mexican Olympic Team head coach Hugo Sánchez announced the roster for 2008 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifiying today as well as warm-up games against Australia March 2 in Oakland and against Finland March 6 at Pizza Hut Park.

The squad: goalkeepers Guillermo Ochoa (Club América), Jorge Villalpando (Puebla) y Jonathan Orozco (Monterrey); defenders Omar Esparza (Chivas), Luis Robles (Atlas), Julio César Domínguez (Cruz Azul), Rodrigo Iñigo (Club América), Luis Omar Hernández (Necaxa), Hugo Ayala (Atlas), Francisco Gamboa (Toluca) y Efraín Velarde (Pumas); midfielders Jorge Hernández (Atlas), Patricio Araujo (Chivas), Alan Zamora (Atlante), Gerardo Rodríguez (Pachuca), Juan Carlos Silva (Club América), Edgar Castillo (Santos), César Villaluz (Cruz Azul) Sergio Ávila (Chivas); forwards Enrique Esqueda (Club América), Pablo Barrera (Pumas), Edgar Andrade (Cruz Azul), Santiago Fernández (Toluca), Luis Ángel Landín (Morelia) y Omar Arellano (Chivas).

Finally, UCLA men's soccer coach Jorge Salcedo today signed seven players to national letters of intent: goalkeeper Joseph Scachetti (West Torrance High), midfielder/defender Chris Cummings (Chatsworth/Crespi High), midfielder Daren Flitcroft (Great Falls, Va.), defender Oscar Reyes (Santa Ana, Saddleback High), midfielder/defender Andrew Rose (Bristol City) and midfielder Christian Vazquez and defender Zach Zerrenner (both Santa Barbara High). In addition, striker Fernando Monge (Bellevue, Wash.) graduated from high school early and will join the 2008 freshman class.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Chivas USA officials said today that Japanese World Cup veteran Takayuki Suzuki has left camp, while Frenchman Marko Muslin has arrived.

In other camps, it sounds like there was a nasty collision at U.S. Women's National Team training today in Carson.

In Bradenton, Fla. today, Rolling Hills Estates Robbie Rogers scored a 26th minute equalizing goal from the middle of the box in what ended as a 3-2 Fire win over the Columbus Crew in a preseason scrimmage.

Closer to home, there's less than a week left to buy tickets for the Crew-Chivas USA charity game in the Santa Clarita Valley at $5 off the regular prices of $20 for adults and $15 for youths. The Feb. 23 game is at College of the Canyons' Cougar Stadium, 26455 Rockwell Canyon Road.

Proceeds benefit the nonprofit Michael Hoefflin Foundation that provides financial and emotional support to children and their families facing childhood cancer in the Santa Clarita and surrounding valleys.

Details here.

UCLA signed seven players to letters of intent today: Camarillo High midfielder Hannah MacKechnie, the younger sister of Bruin midfielder Caitlyn MacKechnie; defender Amelia Mathis from Ventura; Canadian Under-19 international striker Sydney Leroux; Canadian Under-17 international defender Robyn Dutton from Calgary, Alta.; midfielder Summer Williams from Orinda, Calif.; U.S. Under-17 international defender Whitney Sharpe from Iowa; and goalkeeper Yiana Dimmitt from Redwood City, Calif.

Incidentally, former Chicago Fire Coach Dave Sarachan, last seen at the recent U.S. Men's National Team camp in Carson was appointed scouting manager for U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy. One of two scouts just hired: former MLS striker Raul Diaz Arce.

The always suspect FIFA Rankings were released today. Here are the rankings for CONCACAF. Looking forward to those CONCACAF Champions League games involving clubs from Belize?

Finally, because sheer stupidity is always worth blogging about, there's this. Ditch the names maybe?

Posted by Nick Green at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Galaxy Goodies

The big winner: the Galaxy. If memory serves players paid $150 apiece for the ultra long-shot Galaxy "trial," which works out to $60,000.

In Torrance today, defender Ante Jazic is signing autographs, getting his picture taken with fans and getting asked the question, "when are you getting traded?" (I kid about the last one) from 1:30 to 3 p.m. at a Sports Authority store at 3610 Torrance Blvd. Galaxy gear is 40 percent off and they're handing out free tickets to games. The Redondo Beach resident is one of the most approachable Galaxy players.

Finally, Sydney FC was confirmed Friday as the fourth and final participant in this month's Pan-Pacific Championship. Despite the name, neither the Galaxy nor Sydney are champions of anything, of course.

Chivas USA Preseason Schedule

Camp Cutdown

Incoming: defender Stephanie Cox, a starter at last year's Women’s World Cup, after being given last week off to rest and recuperate from the college season (she was the only player on the World Cup team to go straight into a collegiate season); Under-23 defender Rachel Buehler; and midfielder Kacey White, who Sundhage has likely seen playing in Sweden with AIK in Stockholm.

Outgoing: goalkeeper Cori Alexander; defenders Amy LePeilbet, Brittany Taylor, Lindsay Huie and Manya Makoski; midfielders Jen Buczkowski, Tina DiMartino, Sarah Huffman, Noelle Keselica and Joanna Lohman; and forwards Tiffany Weimer and Christie Welsh.

Full camp roster:

Goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Kristen Luckenbill (Paoli, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Kacey White (Arlington, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

The 26 players train though Feb.17 at the HDC before Sundhage chooses a 20-player roster for the Algarve Cup, set for March 5-12 in southern Portugal.

College Notes

USC head coach Ali Khorsoshahin served as an assistant to Mexico head coach Leonardo Cuellar at the 1999 Women’s World Cup and continues to serve on Cuellar’s staff.

Loyola Marymount announced Friday they have received letters of intent from teammates at Punahou School in Hawai¹I, defender-midfielder Brittney Sanford and striker Erin Rementer, along with midfielder-forward Caroline Helfrich (Moraga, Calif.) and defender Marissa Zamora (Danville, Calif) to join the Lions in the fall of 2008.

"Although Erin and Brittany have taken the same path to LMU, individually they will impact our team in separate ways," Coach Joe Mallia said. "Erin is a dynamic athlete who has the ability to change games in the attack. She is a great one-vs.-one player going towards the goal. Brittany¹s biggest impact will be felt on defense, where she is strong in tackles and tremendous in the air. She is also a leader with a great work rate and technically poised on the ball."

Helfrich spent a year living in Florence,Italy, where she played for the boys Rondinalla Scuola di Calcio, the soccer school that feeds players to Italian club Fiorentina.

Preps Press

Posted by Nick Green at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

English fans are predictably upset by the EPL proposal to stage regular season games overseas, but Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas is (equally predictably) happy about the idea.

And here's the Galaxy blog on why teams and the media don't pay a huge amount of attention to trialists in camp. Some have already received the dreaded tap on the shoulder:

The Galaxy's roster has seen its first cutdown of the year already as trialists Fed Bianchi, Prince Daye, Richard Duru and Jordan King were each let go. That leaves the Galaxy with 32 players still in camp.

No word on who was let go from the U.S. Women's National Team camp in Carson yet.

Finally, Manhattan Beach's Mira Costa High girls team has won (at least a share of) the league title.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

CFL fan?

Game (as usual) a blowout?

More excited about the opening Monday of the Chivas USA and Galaxy training camps?

Then try these new blogs, Web sites and grab bag of other non-pointyball stuff.

Following up from Saturday's post about Chivas USA goalkeeper Brad Guzan, a few more details from the presser are here.

An organization in a nascent stage, the North American Soccer Reporters, is a group of humble scribes (including yours truly) that has launched a Web site here. intended as a one-stop venue for blogs, articles and other info from reporters who regularly cover soccer in the U.S.

A blog with a narrower focus is the new Croatian Soccer Report blog written by San Pedro resident Ante Kvartuc and aimed at the community's estimated 35,000 Croatian Americans.

Another recommended blog: Women's Soccer USA. Among the newsworthy items: an update on former U.S. Women's National Team Coach Greg Ryan and new W-League expansion team Pali Blues based in Pacific Palisades.

With the MLS preseason almost upon us it's an apt (and long overdue) time to recognize the newest Galaxy supporters group, the Angel City Brigade, which despite the name is based in the OC.

Incidentally, a long-overdue spring cleaning of the links at 100 Percent Soccer is about to begin so recommendations are welcome.

Finally, there's weekend prep news from the Daily Breeze here and the Daily News here, here, here and here.

Posted by Nick Green at 3:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

CONCACAF Champions League

But here's the basics from today's CONCACAF press release:

CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) announced today the official launch of the new continental club championship, the CONCACAF Champions League which will commence in August 2008. The CONCACAF Champions League will replace the Champions’ Cup which will cease to exist after the 2008 edition.

The CONCACAF Champions League will see a Confederation record number of 24 teams from all sectors of the CONCACAF region participating. The preliminary round begins in August 2008 with the first CONCACAF Champions League winner to be crowned in late April 2009.

The CONCACAF Champions League will feature four teams from Mexico and USA; three Caribbean sides; two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama; and one representative coming from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua.

Eight clubs (two Mexican, two USA, one each from Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador) will be seeded and progress directly to the first round of the CONCACAF Champions League, while the Caribbean slots have been increased to three teams for this event.

The remaining 16 teams will be paired in eight home-and-away preliminary match-ups taking place from 26-28 August and 2-4 September.

The preliminary round winners will join the other eight seeded teams in the group stage that consists of four groups of four. All the teams in each group will play each other in a round-robin system during six match dates (three home games, three away games) from 16 September – 30 October.

The top two clubs from each group will advance to the knock out phase playing home-and-away elimination. The quarterfinals commence in February 2009; semifinals begin in March; and the Finals will take place in late April.

The CONCACAF Champions League winner will qualify as the CONCACAF’s representative to the 2009 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Three Dozen Looks (Or So)

The U.S. men are already in camp at the HDC.

Hall of Fame Builders Ballot

Speaking of......

Posted by Nick Green at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Will David Beckham be named to the England squad next week for Fabio Capello's first game as coach? Is Capello dumb enough to risk the ire of Beckham fans worldwide and run against strong public sentiment lobbying for GoldenBalls to win his 100th cap?

Highly unlikely, you gotta think. The speculation is well under way.

In Carson Saturday, fans can expect a high of 63 degrees and showers for Mia Hamm's 1 p.m. charity game at Home Depot Center. Among the soccer stars expected to play: Hamm, Landon Donovan, Chris Albright, Brad Guzan, Alexi Lalas (wonder if Albright will give the Galaxy GM a whack on the shin after his trade), Eric Wynalda, Taylor Twellman, Julie Foudy and Kristine Lilly.

Tickets are $20. Full details here.

Meanwhile, Tony DiCicco, head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Team from 1994-1999, was named today as head coach of the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team and is presumably waiting in the wings should Pia Sundhage fail during her short-term contract as national team coach.

The (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

DiCicco replaces Jillian Ellis, who has been hired by current U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Pia Sundhage as an assistant on her staff through the 2008 Olympics, should the USA qualify in April.

DiCicco, one of the most legendary coaches in U.S. women's soccer history, won 103 matches, the 1996 Olympics and the historic 1999 Women’s World Cup with the U.S. Women. DiCicco will be charged with taking over a team that will attempt to qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup being held in Chile from Nov. 20-Dec. 7. Dates and venues for the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament have yet to be set.

“When Jill agreed to join my staff as an assistant, it left a void in a very important position,” said Sundhage. “Tony has won gold medals at the highest levels. He knows what it takes to become a great player for the National Team and that knowledge will be very valuable for these young players. With the kind of experience these young players get from playing with the U-20s and other youth national teams, I’ve seen in the past that it’s especially important for the coach to share what it takes to reach the next level. It makes the players’ experience even better.

“I am also excited that Jill has joined our staff. She knows many of the players on the National Team now and her experience internationally and knowledge of the young players will be very valuable to us.”

Last fall, DiCicco was named head coach of the Boston Breakers in the new women’s professional league, the WPS (Women’s Professional Soccer), slated to start play in 2009. DiCicco currently serves as the technical director of FSASoccerPlus Football Club in Connecticut, a youth club that he founded in 2003. He is also the head coach of the SoccerPlus CT Reds of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) which won the USASA U-23 National Championship in 2007.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to coach an elite group of talented and motivated U.S. players,” said DiCicco, who went 103-8-8 as head coach of the USA. “Our goal is two-fold. In the last two youth world cups we have come up shy of the championship so one of our goals is to win the championship. Second, we want to help develop top international players for Pia Sundhage and our full women’s national team.”

Finally, Chivas USA defender Lawson Vaughn is out for up to six weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery today to remove scar tissue from his left ankle. And practically on the eve of training camp opening, too.

Posted by Nick Green at 6:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Goes the old British soccer saying. And in blogging.

Here's a quick recap of the last week while 100 Percent Soccer was 100 Percent Frozen in the white wilds of Canada.

With the Galaxy set to reintroduce Carlos Ruiz to the local media today, reports out of Newcastle, England suggest the Magpies' former Nigerian left back Celestene Babayaro is apparently heading to the Galaxy to link up with his former Chelsea manager Ruud Gullit, according to reports out of Newcastle and confirmed by Galaxy beat reporter Billy Witz.

Chris Albright sounded none too pleased with the Galaxy's devious move that ended with him heading to New England on draft day telling goal.com:

They could have dealt my rights [before they re-signed me]. They negotiated an offer with me to help them on their cap. It’s a bit of a slap in the face. I felt that I’d done enough to deserve that consideration.”

Read the entire interview here.

So with left back Ante Jazic out injured (again) and right back Albright traded it looks like two new outside defenders for the Galaxy next season then?

A recap of the UCLA contribution to the MLS draft is here.

Meanwhile, Chivas USA continued its policy of picking up journeymen MLS pros by picking up Chicago's Jim Curtin.

Kudos to Torrance's Shannon Boxx for her role in leading the U.S. to a win in the Four Nations Tournament.

Dumb ass quote of the (last) week goes to Carson Mayor Jim Dear who told the LA Weekly as he talked about the 2003 Women's World Cup held in part at Home Depot Center: "You remember the woman who took her blouse off (during the games)? She did that in Carson."

Um, that would be Brandi Chastain. In 1999. In Pasadena.

Doh!

Hawthorne-based AYSO has folowed the Galaxy's lead and signed a sponsorship deal with Herbalife, which has a significant presence in the South Bay. The clue as to why the deal was done is at the bottom of the (edited) press release:

The American Youth Soccer Organization and Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF), a global nutrition and direct selling company, announced a first-ever four-year agreement that makes Herbalife the Official Nutrition Advisor and Official Health and Wellness Provider of the country’s leading youth soccer organization.

Similar to Herbalife’s agreement with the Los Angeles Galaxy Major League Soccer club, the AYSO sponsorship gives Herbalife the rights to display its name and logo on the front of AYSO jerseys, a first for the non-profit national organization. The agreement also includes Herbalife’s presence on the AYSO Web site, signage at games, an on-site presence at national and sectional events, and a nutrition column in Play Soccer, AYSO’s online publication.

“With child obesity on the rise, it is imperative to educate children and their parents about proper nutrition and how to have a healthy, active lifestyle,” said Herbalife Chairman and CEO Michael O. Johnson. “Herbalife is on a mission for nutrition, while AYSO provides children, adolescents and teens an outlet to be active.”

“It’s a natural fit as our two organizations are engaged in improving the health of today’s youth,” said AYSO National President Mike Wade. The AYSO National Board of Directors unanimously approved the agreement. “We’re excited about our partnership with Herbalife and the role we’ll play together to reach out to kids and help educate them and their parents about the importance of healthy choices.”

The AYSO was started in Los Angeles in 1964 with nine teams. Today, the organization has more than 80,000 teams, in 1100 regions serving approximately one million kids located across the U.S. Its activities are based upon its five philosophies: Everyone Plays, Balanced Teams, Open Registration, Positive Coaching, and Good Sportsmanship.

According to the United States Department of Health & Human Services, “Childhood obesity has nearly tripled for adolescents in the past two decades The U.S. government agency points to lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns or a combination of the two as the leading factors in the rise of these frightening statistics.

In July 2006, Herbalife announced the launch of the Herbalife Kids™ line of nutrition products that includes shakes and multivitamins with protein, fiber, and 100 percent of key nutrients kids need daily.

Lastly, UNICEF ambassador David Beckham made a three-day trip to Sierra Leone that ended Sunday:

Posted by Nick Green at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's draft day and rumors swirl (scroll down), the U.S. plays Sweden in Carson Saturday, the U.S. women won today.

Scant to no blogging this weekend due to other commitments.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

USC striker Amy Rodriguez scored twice in the 4-0 U.S. win overnight in China against Canada to stake her claim for a spot replacing the pregnant Kristine Lilly on the forward line alongside Abby Wambach. The story is here.

“I coached Kristine Lilly with the Boston Breakers and I’ve seen her play many times," Coach Pia Sundhage said after her first game in charge of the team. "That is a great player, one of the best in the world, so I would love to see her on the field. But she is pregnant and I am happy that she will have a great family. That means that other players will have to step up and today we saw two goals from (Amy) Rodriguez and two goals from (Lindsay) Tarpley and that’s how it will be in the future, new players stepping up to become leaders and goal scorers.”

“(Rodriguez') speed is exceptional and the fact that she scored two good goals today is good confidence for her and for the team," Sundhage added. "There will be different players stepping up at different times and I think that can be one of our strengths. It’s not about one player, it will be about the whole team."

“The first half was a little bit quiet, there was not a lot going on," Rodriguez said. "Abby and I were trying to look for the ball and we didn’t get as much of the play as we’d like to. In the second half, things turned around. We definitely played a lot more offense and Abby and I were able to get in, I was making runs in behind and luckily the midfielder and defenders were able to play me in.”

Incidentally, the AP reporter in China was wrong that this was Rodriguez' first appearance for the U.S.; this was her sixth cap, but first start.

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz has more on Tuesday's trade that sent striker Carlos Ruiz back to the Galaxy, observing that LA has tied up half their salary cap on just three players.

Sounds like a helluva gamble to me for a team that hasn't made the playoffs the last two years, but U.S. international Jimmy Conrad was ready with the conspiracy theory:

"The league likes to make sure the large markets have as much an advantage over everybody else as they can," Kansas City captain Jimmy Conrad said. "It's an important year - I know the final is at the Home Depot Center this year and they want to make sure they have a good team. It's interesting they all end up there - they've got three Designated Players on their team."

Lastly, the Daily News explores the dilemma for top prep soccer players who must choose between playing for their high school or elite club team here.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Voters who will select this year's National Soccer Hall of Fame inductees received ballots today with the names of 35 eligible former players including Chivas USA Coach Preki among 13 new names and Joy Fawcett the most notable of 22 holdovers.

From the (edited) hall press release:

The top holdovers include U.S. National Team stalwarts Thomas Dooley (5th named on 51.8% of the ballots cast), Joy Fawcett (3rd on 67.4%), and Joe-Max Moore (6th on 48.2%). Among the newcomers are U.S. Men’s National Team stars Jeff Agoos, Preki, and Earnie Stewart. Top MLS players on the ballot include holdovers Marco Etcheverry (4th on 58.2%) of DC United, Peter Nowak (9th on 29.1%) of the Chicago Fire, and Carlos Valdarrama (7th on 46.8%) who finished his illustrious MLS career with the Colorado Rapids.

Players who receive votes on 75% of the ballots cast will be elected to the Hall of Fame. Induction 2008 is planned for the weekend of August 22 in Oneonta, N.Y.

Eligible players: Jeff Agoos, Brian Bliss, Mike Burns, Mark Chung, Mauricio Cienfuegos, Troy Dayak, Raul Diaz Arce, Thomas Dooley, John Doyle, Marco Etcheverry, Joy Fawcett, Danielle Fotopoulos, Robin Fraser, Brian Kamler, Dominic Kinnear, Frank Klopas, Manny Lagos, Roy Lassiter, Shannon MacMillan, Pato Margetic, Joe-Max Moore, Victor Nogueira, Peter Nowak, Oscar Pareja, Cindy Parlow, Preki, Mike Sorber, Earnie Stewart, Steve Trittschuh, Carlos Valderrama, Tisha Venturini-Hoch, Peter Vermes, Roy Wegerle, Evan Whitfield, Richie Williams.

Hall of Fame members should have had a lasting and influential effect on the game in the U.S. to win admission.

My nominees:
Mauricio Cienfuegos - Creative midfield architect of a formative Galaxy whose legacy may still overshadow the team today.
Marco Etcheverry - Three-time MLS Cup winner with D.C. United and MLS MVP who helped create the D.C. dynasty.
Joy Fawcett - Whose unjust omission when Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy were inducted prompted a rule change in the induction procedures, if I recall correctly.
Shannon MacMillan - World Cup, Olympic winner over 176 internationals.
Peter Nowak - Without whose tenacity and intelligence marshaling the midfield the Chicago Fire would not have won an MLS title.
Preki - MVP in MLS, MISL and CISL, who possessed an opponent-freezing cut-back and venomous shot and was instrumental in the Wizards 2000 MLS Cup-winning season.
Carlos Valderrama - The most amazing passer of the ball MLS has ever seen.

Disagree? Read biographies and cast a ballot in the (unofficial popular) vote here.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Christie Rampone was named to succeed the pregnant Kristine Lilly as captain of the U.S. Women's National Team today.

Meanwhile, the Under-23 women's team has opened its camp at Home Depot Center. UCLA and USC both have players on the roster.

Didn't know there was a women's U-23 team? U.S. Soccer has realigned its youth teams. More details here in this (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The U-21 WNT has been changed to a U-23 age group as a result of the Nordic Cup becoming a U-23 competition. As a result, the U.S. U-21s, who dominated the Nordic Cup for the past decade, will become a U-23 squad with no overage players for the summer tournament that brings the USA together with Europe’s top youth teams.

The U-23s serve a valuable purpose giving players on the fringe of the full WNT player pool, some of whom have finished their college soccer, a chance to keep training at a high level in National Team camps and international matches. This year the U.S. U-23s, led by head coach Bill Irwin, will compete in the Nordic Cup in Sweden against Europe’s top U-23 teams.

The U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team, under head coach Dean Duerst, who coached the U.S. U-17s last year, is being reinstituted (after having existed from 1998-2001). The purpose is to give international competition to players who have just finished a cycle with the U.S. U-17s, but are a year away from the next U-20 cycle. The U-18 WNT provides a transition for a number of those players that could possibly make up the core of the team that would attempt to qualify for the following U-20 Women’s World Cup. FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups are held every two years.

In addition, the U.S. Under-16 Girl’s National Team will be absorbed by the U.S. U-17s, much in the same way the Men’s U-17 Residency Program features two age groups of players every year.

Club America won InterLiga Saturday night in Carson before a capacity crowd on penalty kicks and fellow local blogger Luis Bueno was still excited about what he had witnessed at 1 a.m.

Playing a little weekend catch-up, Chivas USA has signed Coach Preki to a new contract, while Maykel Galindo and Jonathan Bornstein habe both undergone successful surgeries.

The Galaxy have released details of the open tryouts scheduled for next month. If you've got talent and $150 click here for details.

Prep action from the Daily News is here and from the Long Beach Press-Telegram here.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

LA is a college football town. Here's proof.

A-Rod, pictured on the penultimate day of camp Monday, is the top picture here. Cheney is seen in the two lower photos.

Two WNT coaching notes from U.S. Soccer:

Phil Wheddon, the Women’s National Team goalkeeper coach since the end of 2006, and also from 2002-2004, has been retained by Sundhage and will handle all the goalkeeper training duties. Sundhage has also hired fellow Swede Helena Andersson as the team’s strength and fitness coach. Rounding out her staff is former U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team head coach Erica Walsh, who will be with the WNT on a part-time basis. Walsh, who is the head women’s soccer coach at Penn State University, was also an assistant for the USA at the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women’s World Cup in Thailand.

The full Four Nations Tournament roster:

goalkeepers - Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Becky Sauerbrunn (St. Louis, Mo.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.); midfielders Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tina DiMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Lastly, prep action from the Daily Breeze is here, a brief Bay League preview after preseason games is here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mia Hamm appears today at Cal South's Soccer Nation Expo in part to promote her upcoming Jan. 26 charity game at Home Depot Center.

More on Mia and motherhood is here.

Prep action from the Daily Breeze is here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

InterLiga began Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco and only 8,504 fans took in the first doubleheader played in freezing temperatures.

Not surprisingly there are increasing calls to revamp or eliminate the tournament largely seen as an irrelevant cash cow for the organizers. I could have told them that five years ago.

Over in Blighty the David Beckham for England debate continues to rage.

You can almost hear Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas saying "just give Becks his 100th cap and then let him play out his career with the Galaxy."

A lack of passion and noise from the Galaxy's ever-larger corporate crowd has been increasingly evident at Home Depot Center. We're not alone in dealing with that affliction it seems.

Finally, if you drive by the HDC and wonder what all the activity is, U.S. Soccer has provided the answer in this (edited) press release:

As 2008 begins, U.S. Soccer will kick off the new year in full swing with a total of 11 Men’s, Women’s and Youth National Teams holding training camps during the month of January. The majority of the camps will take place in two locations: U.S. Soccer’s National Training Center at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., and IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. The HDC will be the most active location as a total of six different national teams will hold camps during the month, beginning on Thursday when the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams return to action.

Also training in Carson are the U-20 Women's National Team and U-23 Women's National Team from Jan. 12-20, the U-15 Girl's National Team from Jan. 20-25 and the U-23 (Olympic) Men's National Team from Jan. 26-Feb. 3.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

They throw you out of journalism clubs if you don't write at least one list story per year.

Here's mine.

Happy New Year!

Posted by Nick Green at 7:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pretty much the only way to generate soccer news in LA between Christmas and New Year's Day is to make it yourself.

So we did.

David Beckham is our LA Sports Person of the Year. His move to Carson (of all places) had the entire world watching, as Sports Editor Kevin Modesti puts it, "the LA Bloody Galaxy." His story is here and don't forget to vote on whether your agree with the selection.

At the moment most readers believe Kobe Bryant's trade threat/request was the biggest story of the year.

Just to catch up a little, U.S. Women's National Team Coach Pia Sundhage has called up a trio of players from USC and UCLA to the six-day camp that opens Thursday in Carson.

U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year Lauren Cheney and midfielder Tina DiMartino, both from UCLA, as well as forward Amy Rodriguez from the newly minted NCAA champion University of Southern California will get an opportunity to impress Sundhage.

Rodriguez, who scored twice in the NCAA semifinal, has played for the U.S. at the 2004 FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Championship in Thailand, and along with Cheney, DiMartino and Tobin Heath, at the 2006 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Championship in Russia. Rodriguez has five senior team caps, but did not play for the USA in 2007.

This is the first call-up to the full national team for DiMartino, while Cheney participated in residency training camp last year and has two caps and one goal. Heath will be participating in her third full national team training camp.

Here's the rest of the 27-player camp roster and some comments from Sundhage from the (edited) U.S. Soccer release:

Sundhage has called in 16 members of the USA’s 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup Team including striker Abby Wambach, who was recently named 2007 U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year. Defenders Kate Markgraf and Heather Mitts, and midfielder Aly Wagner were not named to the training camp roster as they continue to rehabilitate injuries. Veteran Kristine Lilly has not yet decided if she will pursue a spot on the roster for what would be her fourth Olympic games.

The additional 11 invitees range from numerous players with extensive youth national team experience to players getting their first-ever call-ups to the full national team as Sundhage continues to evaluate the player pool.

Sundhage called in seven players who recently finished their college seasons, including former University of Portland defender Stephanie Cox, a starter for the USA at the 2007 Women’s World Cup who missed the mini-camp in December, in part due to her wedding (she was formerly Stephanie Lopez).

Sundhage will select a 20-player roster to travel to China next month for the 2008 Four Nations Tournament.

“This is an exciting tournament as they will be the first games with the new coaching staff,” Sundhage said. “We want to continue to play with passion and start our change in attacking style. We want to try to dictate the tempo of the matches in the attack and while staying true to the principles in defending. The injuries we have to some veterans will most likely give some young players a chance (during the Four Nations), and it's important to find a good mix of young inspiration with experience.”

The full camp roster - goalkeepers Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.); defenders Stephanie Cox (Elk Grove, Calif.), Marian Dalmy (Lakewood, Colo.), Keeley Dowling (Carmel, Ind.), Amy LePeilbet (Crystal Lake, Ill.), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Becky Sauerbrunn (St. Louis, Mo.), India Trotter (Plantation, Fla.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.);
midfielders Shannon Boxx (Torrance), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tina DiMartino (Massapequa Park, N.Y.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Angela Hucles (Virginia Beach, Va.), Ali Krieger (Dumfries, Va.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Joanna Lohman (Silver Spring, Md.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.); forwards Lauren Cheney (Indianapolis, Ind.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Amy Rodriguez (Lake Forest, Calif.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Finally, CONCACAF has announced the match schedule for the Olympic qualifying tournament that takes place in Tampa, Fla., and Carson in March:

Group A (Tampa, Raymond James Stadium)
March 11 Panama- Honduras 5:30 p.m. ET; U.S.-Cuba 8 p.m. ET.
March 13 Honduras- Cuba 5:30 p.m. ET; U.S.-Panama 8 p.m. ET.
March 15 Cuba-Panama 4:30 p.m. ET; U.S.-Honduras 7 p.m. ET.

Group B (Carson, Home Depot Center)
March 12 Haiti-Guatemala 5:30 p.m.; Canada-Mexico 8 p.m.
March 14 Canada-Haiti 5:30 p.m. PT; Mexico-Guatemala 8 p.m.
March 16 Guatemala-Canada 3:30 p.m. PT; Mexico-Haiti 6 p.m.

The semifinals are March 20 and the final is March 23 in Nashville, Tenn. Two from CONCACAF qualify for the Olympics.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Awards here and here

Preps here and here.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I Want To Go To Rehab, Yes, Yes, Yes

The mini-camp, essentially a get acquainted session, ends Wednesday for the 16 players on the World Cup squad and handful of collegians taking part.

The camp was hastily convened so nothing should be read into the absences of the likes of Kristine Lilly, although the veteran striker is still deciding whether to keep playing until the Olympics or retire.

Hopefully, we'll have some pictures from camp later today, but you can read all about it here.

A couple of things left out of the column for space reasons: Markgraf especially sounded pleased to be reunited with her former WUSA coach who has more creative and attacking expectations than former Coach Greg Ryan did.

"I shoot more with Pia than I ever did with Greg," Markgraf said after Monday's practice. "She emphasizes making the right decision. That's what soccer is all about."

There was no major team meeting to discuss goalkeeper Hope Solo's outburst, although Sundhage referred obliquely to the melt down.

"I have addressed the fact that the U.S. Women's National Team is a team with different individuals, but no one player is bigger than the team," she said.

Sundhage said this team has the capability to do for the attacking game in women's soccer what the Germans did for defense: take the offense to a dominating, withering next level.

Striker Abby Wambach is certainly looking to receive more support up front.

"You're going to see players play differently than they've ever played," she said. "It will be a lot more entertaining to watch and a lot more fun to play."

Meanwhile, Markgraf acknowledges this is a team whose PR image also needs a bit of rehab.

"I'm just happy people are still watching us and hopefully we can win them back," she said.

Mia Hamm to Play at the HDC

The celebrity challenge game includes Landon Donovan, Cobi Jones, Julie Foudy, Brad Guzan, Brandi Chastain and others.

More details are here and on MySpace.

Also, Hamm will appear from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Jan. 5 at the upcoming Cal South Soccer Nation Expo at the LA Convention Center.

From the (edited) press release:

Hamm will have two appearances on the Expo’s central pitch. One will be a 15-minute question-and-answer session, answering questions submitted by Soccer Nation Expo attendees. In the second, Hamm will participate in a 4-on-4 kids game as “Kingman,” in which she will switch sides with each possession. When not on the pitch, Hamm will be available to sign autographs and meet and greet Soccer Nation Expo attendees at the Nike exhibition booth.

During both pitch times, Hamm will promote the Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra Celebrity Soccer Challenge, January 26, 2008 at the Home Depot Center, an event that benefits Childrens Hospital Los Angeles bone marrow patients and their families. A bone marrow typing demonstration will be part of this segment. Bone marrow typing is used to find possible matches for patients needing marrow transplants. Representatives from the National Bone Marrow Donor Program at the City of Hope will be at the Expo to type attendees interested in becoming part of the program.

More details are here.

Prep Previews

High school soccer is gearing up and here are previews from the Pioneer League and Marine League.

A Bay League preview is here.

Prep scores from the South Bay are here and from the Long Beach Press-Telegram here.

Finally, the Daily News checks in with news from a tournament in La Canada Flintridge.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A couple of quick notes before I head off to the U.S. Women's National Team camp at Home Depot Center:

ESPN has belatedly realised what's missing from its schedule. No mention of the U.S. broadcast rights, but can it be far behind?

The Cerritos College women also won a championship Sunday.

The U.S. Under-17 ’92 Men’s National Team fell 2-0 to Turkey Sunday in its third and final international match of the Development Academy Nike Friendlies in Bradenton, Fla.

From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release -

The U.S. finished the weekend with two wins and a loss, taking 2-0 wins over Russia on Thursday and Brazil on Saturday. Carlos Martinez and Stefan Jerome each scored two goals on the weekend, while Earl Edwards added two shutouts in Wilmer Cabrera’s international coaching debut.

It's getting to be that time of year when everyone makes a list. There's two soccer names on this one.

Finally, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be inaugurated today as the first-ever accredited FIFA Medical Center of Excellence in the U.S.

From the (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

The vision behind creating a community of medical centers across the world is to ensure that players on all continents know where to go for expert care in football medical care, such as the prevention of injuries, early detection of risk factors for sudden cardiac death, as well as state-of-the-art diagnosis and therapy services.

“FIFA is committed to protecting and improving the health of football players worldwide,” said FIFA Sports Medical Committee chair Michel D’Hooghe. “We consider effective prevention and accurate diagnosis as top priorities and make a strong commitment by offering the football community Centers of Excellence. What is more, these centers will also be generally open to every player looking for therapy or a second opinion on a specific illness or injury.”

Building on the success of the first FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence opened at the Schulthess Clinic in Zurich in May 2005, the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Group will be the first of five medical centers to receive accreditation as an official medical center in the coming months. The St Marianna University School of Medicine in Kawasaki, Japan, will be inaugurated next on Dec. 14, followed by three more in New Zealand, South Africa and Germany in early 2008.

"This is an incredible honor for our multidisciplinary center to be recognized as a FIFA Medical Center of Excellence,” said Dr. Bert Mandelbaum. “Having the opportunity to be a part of the FIFA’s focus on research and education for prevention, injury care and rehabilitation, and performance optimization in soccer players here in the U.S. is a mission we are excited to be involved in.”

Mandelbaum has been a part of U.S. Soccer's Sports Medicine initiatives since 1990, working with thousands of athletes and virtually every U.S. National Team in that time. He has worked four World Cups for the men's and two for the women in that time.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Semifinal Shootout in Texas

I linked to the Daily Bruin and Daily Trojan previews of today's semifinal between the two schools Thursday; here's the Daily News' version.

There's more info here.

Sophomore USC starting goalkeeper Kristin Olsen of Orange has recorded 11 solo shutouts and three shared this season, equaling last year's program record program of 14 for the Trojans.

Here's a Q & A with Olsen.

For those of you playing hooky from work on a gray and rainy Friday in LA, the USC-UCLA semi begins at 4 p.m. on ESPNU (and will be replayed at 9 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2); the Notre Dame-Florida State semi precedes it at 2 p.m., also on ESPNU.

The weather is better in Texas.

Youth is Served II

Midfielder Carlos Martinez of Las Vegas and Stefan Jerome scored for the U.S.

The U.S. next faces Brazil at 11:30 a.m. Saturday live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Back in the South Bay, Red Bull starlet Jozy Altidore blogs for the New York Times about the U-23 USMNT Training Camp in Carson.

South Bay prep scores are here.

Solo Speaks

I plan to head out to training camp Monday, so look for more on the team's first training camp under new Coach Pia Sundhage then.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS 2008 is Here

Confirmed opening matches:
March 29
Los Angeles Galaxy at Colorado Rapids
Chicago Fire at Real Salt Lake
D.C. United at Kansas City Wizards
Houston Dynamo at New England Revolution
Toronto FC at Columbus Crew
The Red Bulls are reportedly visiting the expansion San Jose Earthquakes (the game may still being finalized).

March 30
Chivas USA at FC Dallas

April 3
New England Revolution at Chicago Fire

April 5
Toronto at D.C. United
The Columbus Crew are reportedly at New York Red Bulls

April 6
FC Dallas at Houston

April 19
Real Salt Lake at Toronto

The Galaxy will officially unveil its home opener Wednesday. The full MLS schedule will be released early next year.

Pia in Carson

The U.S. Women’s National Team will hold its first training camp under new head coach Pia Sundhage beginning Saturday at Home Depot Center in Carson.

Sundhage will bring in 24 players for the four-day mini-camp designed to give her a quick look at the core of the U.S. team, plus a handful of young players just coming off the college season, before the squad regroups in early January to prepare for the Four Nations Tournament in China.

The camp is basically the beginning of the run to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, with the USA preparing for the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Final Round qualifying tournament, being held April 2-13 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Two countries from the six-team tournament will advance to China.

“It’s a short camp, but it will be valuable time spent together as a team and a unique moment for me to have a chance to work with the best players in the United States for the first time,” said Sundhage. “It will give us the chance to get to know them as players a little bit more, they’ll get the chance to learn my style and I’ll also get the chance to get to know them off the field. It will be a good start to something new.”

The roster:
GOALKEEPERS: Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.);
DEFENDERS: Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Marian Dalmy (Lakewood, Colo.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.);
MIDFIELDERS: Yael Averbuch (Upper Montclair, N.J.), Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Nikki Washington (Mesquite, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.);
FORWARDS: Michelle Enyeart (Hemet, Calif.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Casey Nogueira (Raleigh, N.C.), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Posted by Nick Green at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guest-blogger Brian Boswell, coach of Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women of the Women's Premier Soccer League, a perennial national championship contender, has this take on the hiring of Pia Sundhage as coach of the U.S. Women's National Team. Incidentally, sources say Australian Women's National Team Coach Tom Sermani was also contacted about the job; he told U.S. Soccer he wasn't interested.

Is a Swede who we need?

The U.S. Women’s National Team’s new coach Pia Sundhage, one of the greats of Swedish women’s soccer, has been given the job to get us into the Olympics on a one-year contract.

She has a good coaching CV, with club and youth national level experience in Sweden, as well as serving as assistant coach for the Chinese Women’s National Team through the World Cup.

A foreign coach seems to be the in thing for soccer in and around the Home Depot Center, with Dutchman Ruud Gullit appointed Galaxy coach.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati said a list of 10 candidates was cut to three before Sundhage was chosen.

It would be a good guess to say the majority were college coaches with a smattering of former WUSA coaches, too.

Is the college game the best stepping stone to the national coaching job?

When the U.S. was at the top of women’s soccer the coaches all came from the college ranks. At this time the women’s college game was the best in the world. There were a few European leagues, but the level of play in the top college game was as good as anything out there and our college coaches matched up with the best.

Now the world is catching up, the European leagues rapidly improving and the national teams of the world getting better and better.

The great advantage the European teams and Brazil have over us is that they are able to turn to their national federations and use the success and experience of their men’s programs to develop the women’s side.

Is it surprising that the up and coming European teams - Germany, Norway, Sweden, England, France, Italy - have very strong men’s programs with tons of experience?

The U.S. men’s program has not been as successful as the women’s.

Although talented, the men have been coached by ex-college coaches pitting wits against some of the world’s best soccer brains.

The U.S. perform well in CONCACAF and in friendly games, but disappears when it comes to the World Cup.

The players are the same; it’s the experience of the coaches that lets us down.

Bottom line: Our women’s program doesn’t have anyone to lean on, learn from or try to emulate.

What’s needed?

Our best men’s players play in Europe, maybe our coaches need to get over there, too.

So is a Swede what we need?

Why not? She brings great world experience, has been involved in coaching at the highest level and is female.

Sundhage has less than a year to show what she can do and bring back U.S. women’s soccer to the top.

Posted by Nick Green at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Melodrama: Playoff Formats

No, I don't mean that the first MLS playoff series of the opening round between D.C. United and the Chicago Fire concludes at 4:30 p.m. today on ESPN2, although there's that, too. (The Fire leads 1-0 in the total goals two-game series, by the way).

I meant that as predicted here with lower seeds holding 1-0 leads in three of the four series over opponents who finished higher in the regular season standings (as United did over the Fire), cue the annual angst over the MLS playoff format.

The New York Times weighs in here, while Yahoo's Martin Rogers has his say here.

Sorry, NYT but one table is never going to work in MLS because 13 teams is too many already (and MLS, of course, wants to add more franchises) to create meaningful games for those occupying the bottom rungs of the table. (At least until we have more than one division with tense relegation battles).

Meanwhile, Rogers' solution is novel, but will never happen (try explaining that one even to soccer fans).

As I have opined before, there are simpler solutions.

Break the long season into two with an Apertura and Clausura, as occurs in many Latin American countries, which also has the added benefit of giving a sense of familiarity to the season to those Mexican-Americans the league covets.

The two winners of the pair of shortened 15 to 16 game seasons meet at the MLS Cup to decide the grand champion. No playoff games, which are often more poorly attended than regular season games anyway because of the lack of time needed to promote them, should be held at all.

If not having playoffs is unAmerican then have the top two teams (or top four if you must) in each season playoff for the "title." That format reduces the likelihood of upsets and gives more consistent teams more opportunities to advance to MLS Cup (you would of course eliminate the Apertura winner from the second season playoffs).

It's a topic MLS has long wrestled with. Alternate ideas welcomed.

The Next U.S. Women's National Team Coach?

With his wife, former national team star Carin Gabarra (Jennings) coming from the area, there was an element of truth to that one (as there is to any good rumor).

The only problem: U.S. Soccer hasn't even conducted any job interviews yet.

Which leaves us free to continue to speculate over potential candidates.

The Daily Bruin talks up Jill Ellis, coach of top-ranked UCLA.

UCLA (12-1-2; 5-0 Pac-10), which has yet to concede a goal in five Pac-10 games so far, can all but wrap up the conference title this weekend with a pair of home games at Drake Stadium.

UCLA plays at 7 p.m. Friday against Arizona State (9-7-1; 3-2-1 Pac-10) and 1 p.m. Sunday against Arizona (1-4-1; 6-10-1 Pac-10).

Matador Update

Youth Soccer

From the press release:

The new position will head the US Youth Soccer Technical and Coaching Education Department and will be responsible for designing and systematically implementing player development and coaching education programs to improve the overall standard of play within the United States.

Ellinger will be responsible for all aspects of the association's coaching initiatives, including a renewed focus on player development with consistent themes and coaching education.

Before joining MLS, Ellinger was coach of the U.S. Under-17 Men's National Team for seven years.

Finally, the two Chivas USA players Coach Thomas Rongen took to the Limoges Tournament in France where the U.S. Men's Under-18 National Team is playing saw limited action Tuesday in the opening game against host France.

Forward Mario Ledezma of Sylmar played the final seven minutes in the 3-1 loss; defender Omar Elmasri of Arcadia never made it off the bench.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Guest-blogger Brian Boswell, coach of Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women of the Women's Premier Soccer League, a team that is usually a contender for the national championship, is familiar with many of the prospective candidates for the U.S. Women's National Team coaching job.

Here, he handicaps the field of potential successors to Greg Ryan, who was fired Monday:

There are two main female candidates, UCLA and Under-20 U.S. Women’s National Team coach Jill Ellis and Navy’s Carin Gabarra Jennings, a former U.S. National Team star who grew up on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Under Ellis, UCLA is a perennial NCAA championship contender.

As coach of the U.S. U-20 team, she has the twin advantages of access to the inner workings of the U.S. Soccer Federation and knowledge of up and coming young players.

I have always found her to easy to talk to and a good person to coach against.

Would Jill give up the security of UCLA for the national team job? Her ego may say “yes,” but I don’t know. She would do a good job if it was offered to her.

Gabarra has done a great job at Navy; military academies are difficult places to recruit players.

One of the original greats of U.S. soccer, she was MVP of the 1991 Women’s World Cup and an Olympic gold medal winner.

Her husband, Jim, who coaches the Washington Freedom, is another candidate for the job. While she would have no problem commanding the respect of the U.S. team, she’s had great offers before. Would she leave Jim in Washington D.C.? I don’t think so.

The male candidates are former U.S. National Team Coach Tony DiCicco, Santa Clara University Coach Jerry Smith, the aforementioned Jim Gabarra, former coach of the WUSA’s San Jose CyberRays Ian Sawyers and Australian National Team Coach Tom Sermanni.

DiCicco, coach of Soccer Plus Connecticut in the WPSL, has also just accepted the position of coach of the Boston franchise in the new women’s professional league.

If the U.S. are looking for a coach just through next year’s Olympics, DiCicco, the highest profile candidate is the man.

Advantage: he knows the players and more importantly the inner workings of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Disadvantage: he isn’t the coach now, so something was wrong for Tony and the job to part company previously.

I have coached against Tony, who is courteous, professional, knows the game and a competitor. The post for the short term would still leave Tony available for Boston.

Smith has created a soccer dynasty at Santa Clara, the little Catholic school near San Jose.

He has the knowledge and ability to do a great job with the U.S. and has interviewed before for the job.

The husband of outspoken former U.S. national team star Brandi Chastain, he is open and honest and likely told the U.S. Soccer Federation things that at the time they did not want to hear.

Now it’s time for them to listen.

Jim Gabarra, coached the Washington Freedom to the 2007 W-League championship and also coached the club in the WUSA when the roster included Mia Hamm (a member of the three-person U.S. Soccer coach search committee).

He has coached at the highest level with the best players, has great knowledge of the women’s game and has accepted a position to coach in the new women’s professional league with the Washington franchise.

But I don’t think he would leave Washington, Carin and their three kids to spend a lot of time in California.

Brit Sawyers, who has the instant credibility that comes from being married to former U.S. National Team star Julie Foudy, has been out of coaching at the top level for some time developing his wife’s camps. Still, that would not stop him doing a good job with the U.S.

Sermanni, whose Australian team has put in some good World Cup performances, is surely worth a look. A Scot with a great sense of humor, he was coach of the New York Power in the WUSA, so knows the women’s game on the national level and has great club experience.

If the U.S. Soccer Federation decide they need a quick fix, DiCicco has the inside track.

If it’s someone for the Olympics it could be Smith or Sermanni, although any of the others are capable of getting the U.S. back on top.

Posted by Nick Green at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As many expected it would after the conclusion of the three-match post-World Cup series between the U.S. and Mexico, the ax fell Monday on Women's National Team Coach Greg Ryan.

On a personal and professional level, I enjoyed dealing with the soft-spoken Ryan.

He was always accommodating and happy to give reporters the time they needed.

That was the case again Monday when Ryan returned my phone calls so I could include comments from him in today's column, while Torrance's Shannon Boxx also took the time to give her reaction. Read it here.

And Daily Breeze columnist John Bogert received a flood of e-mails from readers happy to see him call out a boorish AYSO parent in his column last week.

Here's the reader reaction.

Finally this morning, after the Galaxy season ended Sunday, the team wasted no time in rescheduling exhibition games in Vancouver, B.C. Nov. 7 and Minneapolis Nov. 11.

That's two games in five days for Beck's. Hope the ankle holds up.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati announced the firing Monday of U.S. Women's National Team Coach Greg Ryan.

Ryan was informed of the move Sunday morning by U.S. Soccer Executive Director Dan Flynn, the day after the last game of a three-match series against Mexico.

"We want to move in a different direction," Gulati said, adding that Ryan's player management in relation to the Hope Solo debacle played a role in the move. "I'm not going to point to any one factor or any one individual decision. Obviously, coach's decisions impact games and all of that was weighed in."

Gulati said a three-person search committee - consisting of himself, Flynn and soccer great Mia Hamm - would make a decision on a new coach within 30-45 days.

The new coach could be American or foreign, male or female, but must have experience at the highest level of the game and familiarity with the U.S. team given that Olympic qualifying begins in February, Gulati said.

In addition, Solo remains part of the national team pool and is not suspended, Gulati said.

"My guess is a number of participants ... if they could do it all over again would do it differently," he said of that situation. "I'm not sure the decision was made to ostracize (Solo)."

Ryan was appointed national team coach in January 2005 and led the U.S. to unprecedented success before the World Cup, but the team's humiliating performance in China convinced Gulati to oust Ryan.

Ryan finished with a 45-1-9 record.

I'll have more on Ryan's firing in Tuesday's column in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

Posted by Nick Green at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ryan Out

No mention of Ryan being on the call, so whether he resigned or was fired you gotta figure he's gone.

The Washington Post's Steven Goff is already speculating about Ryan's successor here.

College Roundup

Not mentioned in the roundup: The Cal State Northridge women’s (3-10-1) lost 3-1 to Cal State Fullerton (9-6-1) Sunday night at Titan Stadium, the Matadors' seventh consecutive loss to the Titans.

As for the men, Palos Verdes Estates' Kyle Nakazawa scored the game-winning goal in the last minute of the game to lead UCLA to a 3-2 win Sunday over Washington and lift them to first place in the Pac-10.

Nakazawa's clutch goal was his first of the season and the sophomore midfielder also had an assist in the game, which saw UCLA extend its unbeaten streak to four games.

The Bruins’ win, coupled with San Diego State’s 2-0 loss at Oregon State, gave UCLA (7-5-2) the Pac-10 lead with 10 points at the season's halfway mark.

Despite a Michael Clegg goal after just 62 seconds Sunday, Northridge and Maryland tied 1-1. Northridge dropped to 4-3-5 and Maryland to 6-4-4.

Cal State Dominguez Hills won 2-0 over visiting Chico State Sunday to improve to 14-3, 10-2 CCAA.

Sophomore forward Mario Guerrero out of Riverside's La Serra High scored the game-winner, while sophomore goalkeeper Derby Carrillo of La Mirada got his eighth shutout as CSUDH posted its fourth-consecutive win.

Loyola Marymount (2-9-1, 0-5-0 WCC) out-shot Saint Mary's 17-9, but still lost their fifth-straight game in a 1-0 defeat Sunday in a West Coast Conference game at Sullivan Field.

Chivas USA Playoff Tickets on Sale

Tickets start at $14 and fans who purchase them by calling (1-877) CHIVAS-1 receive a limited-edition Chivas USA Road to Glory Playoffs T-shirt.

Rogers Rips D.C.

"Two really big wins," Rogers said to The Columbus Dispatch. "So now it's, 'Gee, if we just could have got that other point here or that one there..."

Incidentally, in contrast Lawndale's Kei Kamara ended the season on a down note, reportedly getting dropped for the game by Crew Coach Sigi Schmid

Posted by Nick Green at 9:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

MLS Down To The Wire

Chivas USA beat writer Ivan Orozco has more on Chivas USA's motivation.

I have another commitment tonight so Ivan will guest-blog from the HDC.

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy doesn't play today, but it's still the most important day of their season, too. Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz will spend the day following the Galaxy's playoff fate on MLSnet.com

He breaks down what needs to happen (and what doesn't) here.

Ryan's Hope

Estranged former first-choice goalkeeper Hope Solo didn't dress for the first game (in a supposed gesture of reconciliation), and third-choice Nicole Barnhart got the start in the second, so it will be interesting to see what happens today.

Cynical observers might say Coach Greg Ryan will get fired after the final whistle no matter who plays in goal, but U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati isn't known for pulling the trigger quickly.

Still, the soap opera gives extra resonance to the accompanying magazine cover as well as the fact that before the tournament Ryan told me he thought Solo would be the most likely player on the U.S. team to emerge from the tournament as a star. I'm guessing he didn't mean like this.

The USA has outscored Mexico, 9-1, in the previous two games so there's unlikely to be much suspense about the outcome.

Still, since there's no TV, the curious can check out the MatchTracker at ussoccer.com

Kick off is at 3:30 p.m.

College Update

In another college game, the Cal State Northridge women’s team (3-9-1) defeated UC Riverside (8-6-1), 3-1, Friday afternoon at the UCR Soccer Stadium in Riverside.

A frightening collision between Northridge goalkeeper Ivette Esqueda and Riverside’s Jill Del Rosario delayed the final 12 minutes of the game for nearly half an hour.

Esqueda, making her fourth start of the season for the Matadors, left the field under her own power; Del Rosario had to be carted off the field by ambulance.

The win snapped the Matadors’ five-game losing streak and was their first win in 2007 on the road and in the Big West Conference.

The Matadors wrap up the road portion of their 2007 schedule at 6 p.m. Sunday against Cal State Fullerton.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Of Cobi, Angel and Beck's

Beat writer Billy Witz has a Cobi profile and explains the substitution rule and how it relates to Beckham for soccer illiterates.

Kick off is at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 and I'll blog as usual.

Given the quality of the designated players on the field tonight, (and no, I'm not going to explain what that means) MLS has just released a timely YouTube clip of the pricey imports' season highlights:

U.S. Wins & Mexico Loses

I don't even want to talk about England.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

El Tri Time

Ivan Orozco has a preview.

Former Galaxy striker Carlos Ruiz is on the Guatemala roster, by the way.

No Time For Beckham Thursday?

Beck's (still) isn't talking to local soccer writers, but Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz takes a look at the pros and cons of that decision.

Prediction: Expect Beck's to come off the bench if needed.

Meanwhile, columnist Paul Oberjuerge has more on the Galaxy's resurrection.

Finally, Barefootballer.com, a site run by D.C. United's Jamil Walker that focuses on training methods and soccer drills posted this video interview with the Galaxy's Kyle Martino.

Swiss Time

• A total of 11 players on the roster, which has an average age of 24, are age-eligible for the 2008 Olympic Games : Freddy Adu, Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, Robbie Findley, Tally Hall, Steve Purdy, Chris Seitz, Danny Szetela, Preston Zimmerman and Sal Zizzo.

The U.S. has never beaten the Swiss in seven attempts. The Swiss warmed up for the game with a 3-1 victory Oct. 13 against fellow 2008 European Championship hosts Austria.

Up to the minute info, including the starting line-up, will be posted just before kick off here.

Hope Time?

Striker Abby Wambach will be recognized before the game for reaching 100 caps (which actually occurred in the World Cup quarterfinal against England).

Naturally, there's no mention of goalkeeper Hope Solo's status on the U.S. Soccer Web site.

Will she be on the bench this time, get a start or just not worry about the whole thing since Coach Greg Ryan could be fired after the third Mexico game anyway?

College Time

Posted by Nick Green at 8:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Razov Crocked

The Rapids must win to stay alive in then playoff race, but even then the post-season is a long shot.

But Chivas USA will have to do it all without veteran striker Ante Razov.

The game is on Prime.

I'll be blogging as usual from Home Depot Center.

Hope Springs in St. Louis

The U.S. crushed Mexico 5-1, by the way, with Abby Wambach getting two goals and Kristine Lilly another after the Americans had fallen behind to an early goal.

U.S. Coach Greg Ryan, who many observers believe will be fired as soon as this three-game series with Mexico is over, made nice, too:

“I think Hope has shown tremendous courage by coming in and initiating reconciliation with the team. I’m proud of her and she’s shown a lot of courage. I think she has done the right thing, and that’s hard to do. All athletes, it’s passionate, it’s emotional, but I think she’s making the right decisions and I’m proud of her.”

The next game against Mexico is Wednesday.

Matador Singh remembered

Posted by Nick Green at 10:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Galaxy are set to feast on Canadian cutlets shaped like Toronto FC soccer players at Home Depot Center tonight with LA seeking a five-game winning streak against the worst team in MLS.

(The last time the Galaxy won five regular season games in succession: the magical 1998 season when a free-scoring front line with such strikers as Welton, Carlos Hermosillo and Clint Mathis were racking up 5-1 and 8-1 victories).

Toronto are weakened yet further by the loss of Carl Robinson (Wales); Andrew Boyens (New Zealand); and potential Rookie of the Year candidate Maurice Edu (USA), who are all on international duty this weekend.

At least Toronto may feel slightly at home on what will likely be a cool night in Carson.

Beat writer Billy Witz has a preview that focuses on the Galaxy's maturing (and inexpensive) youngsters.

Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. and I'll blog from the game as usual.

Meanwhile, the suspicion is Chivas USA's Ante Razov is gone for the rest of the season (although the club is awaiting the results of an MRI) and there's more soap opera out of the U.S. Women's National Team camp ahead of today's (non-televised) game against Mexico. More details here.

In college soccer, the UCLA men and Stanford tied 0-0 Friday. With the tie, UCLA moves to 4-5-2 on the year and 0-1-1 in the Pac-10. Stanford moves to 4-2-5 overall and 1-0-2 in the Pac-10. The Bruins play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday against California.

In the other game of the doubleheader, a goal in the 82nd minute by Bruin midfielder Christina DiMartino helped the top-ranked UCLA women’s team to a 1-0 victory over Oregon State before 1,492 fans at Drake Stadium. With the win, the Bruins move to 8-1-2 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-10. UCLA also extended its home winning streak to 33 matches, the longest streak in the nation. The Beavers fell to 7-4-1 and 0-1 in conference action.

Notable: Bruin goalkeeper Valerie Henderson broke the school record for career shutouts. She now has 32.

UCLA hosts Oregon at noon Sunday at Drake Stadium.

Also, Gonzaga struck twice in the second half to win 3-1 over the Loyola Marymount men in a West Coast Conference match Friday in Spokane, Wash.

Next for the the 2-6-1 Lions is a game Sunday in Portland.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. Women's national Team plays the first of three games Saturday against Mexico in the wake of the World Cup (and yes, goalkeeper Hope Solo is on the squad).

But 100 Percent Soccer guest-blogger Brian Boswell, coach of Southern California WPSL team Ajax America Women, looks even further ahead and argues the U.S. must rethink its long ball style ahead of next year's Olympics:


The World Cup and Brazil in particular changed the priorities in the future selection of U.S. players in the women's game.

Developing players with good technical abilities, the ability to dribble, who are comfortable in possession and creative is critical.

Yet with the Olympics nine months away, wholesale changes should not happen no matter the thoughts of the coach in charge.

The current team as a whole is very capable of changing their style of play and doing well in the tournament. The players who can dribble and comfortable in possession should be encouraged to do so and given the opportunity to work on this in practice.

Goalkeeper Hope Solo said what she and many others truly believed, even though she picked the wrong time to say it. If she has apologized to Briana Scurry and the team she should be back in the squad. Except for the first World Cup game against North Korea she looked good and has the talent and experience needed for the Olympics. Nine months is not long enough to find and blood a new starting goalkeeper.

The defense is solid. They were opened up by Brazil, but if you consider the goalkeeper change and the own goal the defense was already on their collective back foot before having time to settle.

Full back Stephanie Lopez is young, played all but 45 minutes of the World Cup and has a great future. She did not have a good game against Brazil, but who did. Lopez has good speed, is comfortable on the ball and hits a dead ball well; two goals against Norway came from her corners.

Christie Rampone, the old head in the defense, tackles well, boasts tons of experience and if allowed can play the ball out of the back.

Cat Whitehill, who can play in the middle or on the outside goes forward well, is good on the ball, and has a dangerous throw, especially when Abby Wambach is the target.

The defense must be encouraged to play the ball out, look for their midfield players and play through them.

It has to be very frustrating to be a midfield player in the current style of the US with the long ball out of the back passing them by. In the difficult games they appear to get more of the ball by winning it defensively than when its played through to them.

Shannon Boxx is the best holding midfield player in the game. Her game is almost back to her dominating self after a year out with knee surgery. Good in the tackle and in the air, she reads the game well and if given the opportunity can distribute well.

Leslie Osborne is also a more defensive midfield player who works well with Boxxy, but when they are both in the team the needed creative player is missing.

Attacking central midfielder Aly Wagner has had a groin problem throughout this year and has seen little playing time. Her only World Cup minutes came during the demolition of Norway. If the style changes to a possession game, Ali can be the link in the midfield. With good technical ability, she passes well and can attack defenses.

Outside attacking midfielders Lori Chalupny and Heather O’Reilly both like to go for goal and O’Reilly in particular has the speed to stretch defenses. Again, they need to be encouraged to keep possession and not play full speed ahead as in the past.

The attacking pair of Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly is as potent as any forward combination in the world.

Whether veteran striker Kristine Lilly returns for the Olympics after her fifth World Cup only she knows, but the U.S. could use her leadership through one more tournament.

But a change to a possession game can only help Lilly, who would not have to run and chase balls with little support and could even play a little behind two forwards as the midfield link or a deep lying third attacking threat.

Wambach remains the best pure goal scorer in the world. A great target player, she can dominate physically and loves to score with feet or head. But in the team’s present style she receives the long ball and has two choices, go for goal or hold it to await arriving players. With a possession game Wambach would have more support players to lay balls off to and receive shorter balls from.

Defender Marian Dalmy, 22, got her first start at full back against Norway, did a good job and is one to watch for the future.

Defender Tina Ellertson, who has great speed and was converted from forward, is one of the best markers in the women’s game, but is not going to help retain much possession.

Natasha Kai, a forward with great speed, is a free spirit who gives you something a little different up front. She would also benefit from through balls from a possession team rather than the long ball forward.

The U.S. can succeed at the Olympics by basically retaining the same squad, adding a few fresh faces, but most crucially changing its style.

The U.S. must become a possession team that encourages creativity and allows for mistakes.

Posted by Nick Green at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the best women's soccer coaches in the world, Brian Boswell of Women's Premier Soccer League team Ajax America Women, provided expert analysis for 100 percent Soccer throughout the Women's World Cup.

Does his take on the U.S. Women's National Team coaching debacle sound like 1998 all over again?


Greg Ryan needs to go.

He did a good job with the team in playing 51 games without a loss, but they are the U.S.

It’s expected.

The Scurry/Solo episode brought his job stability to the fore, but that's only a part of the story.

The World Cup showed that the U.S. style of soccer is no longer good enough to keep us on top of the world. The day has gone when we had the fittest, strongest, fastest athletes who, if they have good soccer ability, would beat everyone.

Anson Dorrance's philosophy of win every individual battle, get the ball up front and run harder and faster than the other team worked in the early years. Add that to the skill of the likes of Carin Gabarra et al and the U.S. were unbeatable.

Unfortunately, Ryan followed in that mode, coaching the women in a men's long ball style with a big target player and power soccer.

But, the Brazilians showed what individual talent, flair and the ability to keep the ball could do. Then Germany showed that discipline, good possession, teamwork and individual skill is even better.

Possession was key to both teams' success.

The U.S. could not possess the ball, meaning we had to do something wonderful with it when we had it and were always fighting to get it back.

Moreover, on listening to some of the U.S. players, Ryan was not an easy person to approach.

Players said if you had a question over some part of playing time, position etc., you did not go to the coach for an explanation.

That's perhaps acceptable in the men's game. But it does not work with the women.

They need answers - good or bad - they need to know where they stand and what they need to do.

That's why the head coaches in England's professional ranks are called a managers; it's all about player management. Keep the players happy and amazing things can happen.

Tactically Ryan followed his playing philosophy and emphasis on the long ball, which will work and did against most teams in the world. You don't need to be too tactically aware.

But in the semifinal, when under the biggest coaching pressure of his career, his subbing and tactics left some questions, especially when 2-0 down and replacing defenders when we needed to score twice to tie.

I also question the long residential camps.

Neither Brazil or Germany had extended camps.

Their players were playing in the European leagues during the spring and early summer.

This kept them game fit and had them playing in many instances against club teams who were as good as many national teams. They were able to play against different styles and systems and hone their individual talent.

Then as the men's national teams do, they were brought into camp for training, bonding and games. The players come in fresh and had something to prove. I've got to believe that constantly being in camp around the same players takes the edge off and can make you stale.

Who could do the job as Ryan's successor?

Tony DiCicco has been suggested as a get-us-through-the-Olympics coach. He's been there, knows the ropes and could do the job.

But, I think we need someone fresh whose first priority is the Olympics, but also the years beyond.

There's Jerry Smith (Brandi Chastain's husband) if you could pry him away from Santa Clara.

Ian Sawyers (Julie Foudy's husband) did a very good job with San Jose in the WUSA,.

Jim Gabarra (husband of the former Carin Jennings) did a good job with Washington in the WUSA and has continued to do it this year in the W-League.

From outside the U.S., Australian coach Tom Sermanni performed a good job with the Australian National Team and New York in the WUSA.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Galaxy Still Glowing

A brief game summary is here.

The Crew perspective is here.
Improbably, the Galaxy are now just two wins away from catching Chicago for the eighth and final playoff spot. (Scroll down to see the league as one division, giving the clearest view of the playoff race).

Here's a playoff update from MLS that provides a little perspective:

With only three weeks left in the 2007 MLS regular season four teams have clinched playoff berths, while the remaining four spots are up for grabs in a tightly contested race to the finish. FC Dallas, Kansas City and New York can punch their tickets to the playoffs this week, while Real Salt Lake was eliminated and Toronto FC’s chances hang by a thread.

Heading into the last weekend of September, FC Dallas and New York had a chance to clinch a playoff berth, but could not overcome tough opponents as FC Dallas lost 3-0 to Western Conference-leading Houston Dynamo and the New York Red Bulls tied Real Salt Lake – a team eliminated from playoff contention, but trying to end the season on a strong note.

The Red Bulls travel to face Toronto FC on Thursday, Oct. 4 in the ESPN2 primetime match at 7 p.m. ET, and they could clinch a playoff berth with a win, or if Columbus and Los Angeles fail to win over the weekend.

FC Dallas will clinch a spot with a win or tie over Columbus on Saturday, as Columbus is the only team that could catch them in the overall standings with 40 points. The Crew sits in ninth place with 31 points, but can earn a maximum of 40 points if they win the remainder of their games. The Wizards are the only other team that can clinch a spot this weekend, but they need to win and hope that the Crew and the Los Angeles Galaxy both fail to win.

When the regular season ends Oct. 21, the team with the most points will win the Supporters’ Shield and will qualify for the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Ten MLS teams have three games remaining and three teams have four games left, including the Los Angeles Galaxy who are 3-0-1 in their last four games.

I'll have more on the Galaxy in Tuesday's weekly column in the Daily News and Daily Breeze.

World Cup Comment

College Roundup

I'm feeling a little under the weather today, so to find out most of Sunday's scores click on the appropriate college link to the right.

But one e-mail that made it through observed that the Cal Sate Northridge women's team fell 3-1 to Pepperdine Sunday afternoon in Malibu. With the loss, Cal State Northridge fell to 2-6-1, while Pepperdine improved to 2-4-3.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Late and light post this morning, since some of the boys in the press box hung out at the bar at Alpine Village, a true kitschy South Bay institution, after the Chivas USA game and I got home at 2 a.m. just in time to watch the U.S.-Norway game.

If you didn't stay up, you can catch up on the action here.

The U.S. found a measure of redemption with its win, but here's a memo for U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati: hire Germany Coach Neid Silvia.

Discipline beat flair in the World Cup final, with Germany showing the U.S. how to stifle Brazil.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy continue their improbable playoff slog today against former Coach Sigi Schmid's Columbus Crew.

The game is sold out (thanks to Beckham) and the Crew are asking fans to wear black in what the team is dubbing a "black out."

Galaxy beat writer Billy Witz has a preview of the game and its playoff implications. The game is delayed three hours until 5 p.m. on FSN.

The Crew have plenty to play for as well, sitting just two points behind Chicago for the last playoff spot.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blanco en Fuego

It will be no where near as friendly as at LAX Thursday when Blanco was greeted by Club America fans.

I'll blog from the press box as usual.

Chivas USA beat writer Ivan Orozco filed this Blanco profile and game preview.

World Cup Final Preview

Torrance's Shannon Boxx is suspended for the game after her red card that really wasn't in the loss to Brazil.

Meanwhile, Ajax America Coach Brian Boswell provides the pregame analysis of the enticing Brazil-Germany matchup in the final set for 4:55 a.m. Sunday on ESPN that's mandatory viewing for any soccer fan:

Current champions Germany, with four wins, a tie and most importantly, no goals conceded, are extremely well organized.

Prediction: Brazil will win 2-1 or 3-2.

Friday's College Roundup

Lang, whose last game college game happened to be against Portland (7-2) in the 2005 NCAA Final, opened the scoring after just eight minutes with a 30-yard strike. Portland equalized eight minutes from time, but Lang scored her second seven minutes into overtime.

UCLA (5-1-2) extended their home winning streak to 31 matches.

Next: San Diego State Friday in San Diego.

Senior Jamie Bell continued her goal-scoring binge for the Lady Lions, finding the net for the third consecutive game as Loyola Marymount defeated 3-1 Friday afternoon at Sullivan Field. The Lions have won five straight to post the program's longest winning streak since 1998 and tie the school record.

The 5-3-1 Lions can break that record 1 p.m. Sunday against UC Riverside at Sullivan Field.

No. 14-ranked USC (7-1-1) beat Long Beach State (6-4-0) 3-0 Friday before a record crowd of 954 for a women's soccer match at LBSU.

Posted by Nick Green at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Evoking memories of the 1998 World Cup debacle that rightfully focused on then U.S. Men's National Team Coach Steve Sampson, pressure on U.S. Women's Coach Greg Ryan is intensifying in the wake of the humiliating 4-0 loss to Brazil.

Even though Hope Solo backtracked on any perceived criticism of backup Briana Scurry on her MySpace page (click on the "2007worldcup" link for her statement) after her angry words in the wake of the Brazil game, Solo pointedly did not express any regrets in regard to Ryan.

Fans have the knives out.

Over on BigSoccer.com they're discussing potential successors.

There's also a poll asking when (not if) Ryan will be fired.

And Nike's World Cup advertising campaign around its "the greatest team you've never heard of" slogan (am I the only one who found those ads incredibly annoying?) isn't immune either from general derision.

Meanwhile, former U.S. Women's National Team stars are also calling for Ryan's head.

As usual, the outspoken Brandi Chastain was particularly damning in her assessment:

“People say this is a step back, but I think Greg Ryan has put us three steps back – all the way to the starting gate," said Chastain, the 1999 World Cup hero who watched Thursday's loss from her home in Northern California. "He lacks the ability to communicate and is not in tune with his players, and he's obviously not a tactician or he wouldn't have made the decisions he did.”

For what it's worth, I e-mailed U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati for his view. No, I haven't heard back, but if I do, I'll post the response here.

Updated 4:45 p.m.: Sunil got back to me via e-mail, gave me a quote, then told me it wasn't for use. So, to ensure the president of U.S. Soccer does talk to me again I'll respect his request and won't use it for publication.

I'll say this though, Ryan is in trouble. (I can read between the lines).

Posted by Nick Green at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Crashes Out of World Cup

Bad luck, questionable coaching decisions and uninspired play all combined to work against the U.S. and gave Coach Greg Ryan his first and possibly last loss since his 2005 appointment, rendering a two-year undefeated streak meaningless.

It was the worst U.S. defeat ever and it could have been even worse: Brazil hit the post shortly before the end of the game.

Brazil's players celebrate the victory over the U.S. after their semifinal match

Game details here.

The U.S. now turns its attention to the Olympics next year. But questions arise: has the rest of the world caught up to the U.S.? And will Ryan remain the coach?

Galaxy Preview

David Beckham, by the way, took the first flight to London he could after learning late last night that his father had suffered a heart attack. Details here.

Beat writer Billy Witz has the game preview.

And just to catch up with Wednesday's stories: Cobi Jones said he may not retire.

And columnist Paul Oberjuerge has this take on the Galaxy's season.

Blanco Ball

From the Chivas USA press release:

There will be brief media availability with Blanco and Fire personnel upon arrival at the airport, where scores of fans are expected to greet the controversial Mexican National Team and ex-Club América icon ahead of his only scheduled appearance of 2007 in Southern California.

Blanco, reportedly Major League Soccer’s second-highest paid Designated Player after David Beckham, signed with the Chicago Fire in June and in just 10 games since his MLS debut has scored three goals and registered six assists, leading the Fire to a 4-2-4 record (W-L-T) and, for now, the eighth and final spot in the race to the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs.

Mexican-owned Chivas USA (14-6-5, 47 pts) is currently in first place in MLS’s Western Conference with five regular season games remaining. Led by three-time Mexican World Cup star Claudio Suárez, Chivas USA will look to extend their unbeaten streak to nine games on Saturday against the Fire and Blanco, who for over a decade represented Club América, the Mexican archrival of Chivas USA’s parent club, Chivas de Guadalajara.

Chivas USA and the Chicago Fire face off this Saturday, Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. PT at The Home Depot Center in a preview of a potential first-round 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs matchup.

Posted by Nick Green at 6:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

It's a first half disaster for the U.S.

A 20th minute own goal from a corner kick, a second Brazilian goal scored seven minutes later in a manner usually athletic goalkeeper Briana Scurry was brought in precisely to save and Torrance's Shannon Boxx sent off just before half time. That Boxx should not have been given a second yellow card - replays showed she was clipped by a Brazilian player and not vice versa - is no consolation for the U.S.

Down to 10 players, the U.S. has just 45 minutes left in the 2007 World Cup unless it scores at least two goals.

The game is on ESPN2, by the way.

Posted by Nick Green at 5:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ajax America Women Coach Brian Boswell returns to provide 100 Percent Soccer with a match analysis of the U.S.-Brazil semifinal:

The U.S. have been preparing for this game since the end of the 2003 World Cup, whereas the Brazilian team disbanded that year and did not come together until early 2007 for the Pan American Games.

The U.S. is fresh off of a 3-0 victory over a good English side, despite starting slowly and allowing England to play at a comfortable pace, ceding most of the possession.

Upping the tempo of the game in the second half, the U.S. put the English on the back foot and scored three goals in 15 minutes. They played better possession soccer and looked like a team capable of winning the World Cup, with good goals from key players Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx and Kristine Lilly.

Brazil beat a plucky, hard-working Australian team 3-2. Although out-shooting Australia 20-4 and leading 2-0, they found it very difficult to put the Aussies away.

The U.S. is getting better with every game.

It played the England game with Shannon Boxx and Leslie Osborne as the central midfielders. Although both have been used primarily as holding midfield players, they played well together. Boxxy was able to go forward more often and this resulted in a great left-footed goal. The U.S. played the ball wider than they have in previous games and cut out a lot of the ”Route 1” long balls, which allowed the midfield to support Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly up front. This put a lot more pressure on the England defense.

Expect to see this on Thursday.

The U.S. will try to dictate the pace against Brazil, speed it up and put the Brazilians on their heels. Look for the U.S. to be dangerous on set pieces; the U.S. is the best women’s team in the air and Brazil does not mark well from set pieces.

The U.S. will play more down the lines to try to get around the back of Brazil and use Abby’s prowess in the air with Lilly, Lori Chalupny and Heather O’Reilly picking up the knock downs and Boxxy coming through.

When defending the U.S. must pressure the ball quickly as Brazil has great individual talent and loves to shoot from outside the penalty area.

The Brazilians are the most entertaining of the women’s teams.

Good team work and great individual skill make them fun to watch, plus they have in Marta the No. 1 player in the world.

They play like their men’s team.

They beat Australia 3-2 after dominating the first 30 minutes and leading 2-0. Australia didn’t quit, were able to narrow the field and congest the midfield and claw two goals back, which shows the Brazilian defense is not at the same standard as its attack.

When Brazil are allowed to play they attack quickly, push their outside backs up and into your penalty area. They will then shoot from anywhere looking for goals, deflections, balls knocked down, anything that gives them a chance of scoring. They play well as a team, but rely on individual skill to win games.

Brazil play a 4-4-2 with forwards Marta and Christiane and attacking midfielders Formiga and Daniella interchanging positions, making them very difficult to mark. Marta is very dangerous from free kicks in scoring positions.

They are not as well organized when defending, which comes from lack of preparation time as a team. Defending is more about organization than individual ability and they've missed some of the finer points. Vulnerable at set pieces, Brazil has had the easier games to the semifinal, so the defense has not been tested in the way it will be against the U.S.

Expect the U.S. to start quickly and prevent Brazil from developing a rhythm.

To do this they will need to pressure quickly when Brazil have possession and then attack quickly on the flanks, getting midfield support to the forwards. Even though they need to attack quickly they will need to show patience and avoid the long ball that has stretched the U.S. team in previous games.

I think this will be a fun game to watch, a game of goals, Brazil loves to attack and with their individual talent they should score. The U.S., with talent, strength and organization, should score more.

Prediction: U.S. 3 Brazil 1.

Updated: Ryan has taken the unusual step of dropping goalkeeper Hope Solo for the game in favor of veteran backup Brianna Scurry.

Solo has looked shaky on a couple of occasions in group play, but the torrential rain obviously played a huge factor.

Still, it's another sign from a coach who has been with most of this squad for two years, that no one is sure of their place.

Even Shannon Boxx sat out the opening 45 minutes of the second group game against Sweden.

Was this a bold move on Ryan's part, a harsh one or simply indicative of indecision?

We'll find out within hours.

If the U.S. wins, it faces Germany in the final. Germany have yet to concede a goal in the tournament and beat Norway 3-0 earlier today.

Updated: The star of the Brazilian team, Marta, is a widely considered the best female soccer player in the world. What's the U.S. up against? Check out her skills.

Posted by Nick Green at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

World Cup Semifinals Begin Wednesday

K.C. Compensates Fans For Beckham No Show

Parking is free.

Buy one playoff ticket, get one free playoff ticket for the first home playoff game (for fans with) the ticket stub from the Wizards versus Galaxy game

A drawing for three kids to have a Wizards starting player (as chosen by the Wizards staff) visit their school.

The Wizards have already arranged for numerous attractions surrounding the match, including an expanded soccer celebration east of the stadium (which includes 40 booths), NASCAR driver David Ragan signing autographs before the game, a performance by the band Liverpool: A Tribute to the Beatles, a special pre-game tribute to Galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones and much more. The first 10,000 fans into the stadium will receive blue and white thundersticks courtesy of game-sponsor M&I Bank, and the game ball will be delivered to mid-field by jet pack. After the game there will be a fireworks show and then Wizards players signing autographs.

By comparison, Galaxy season ticket holders got a "hey, we won't jack up the prices for next season if you renew by such and such a date."

Beck's on Best World XI List

Here are the nominees, as voted on by players, with the winners announced in October:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy/ Juventus), Iker Casillas (Spain/ Real Madrid), Petr Cech (Czech Republic/ Chelsea), Nelson de Jesus Silva ‘Dida’ (Brazil/ AC Milan), Edwin van der Sar (Holland/ Manchester United)

Defenders: Éric Abidal (France/ Olympique Lyon), Daniel Alves (Brazil/ Sevilla), Roberto Ayala (Argentina/ Valencia), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy/ Real Madrid), Roberto Carlos da Silva (Brazil/ Real Madrid), Jamie Carragher (England/ Liverpool), Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal/ Chelsea), Cristian Chivu (Romania/ AS Roma), Ashley Cole (England/ Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (England/ Manchester United), Philipp Lahm (Germany/ Bayern Munich), Ferreira Lucio (Brazil/Bayern Munich), Paolo Maldini (Italy/ AC Milan), Marco Materazzi (Italy/ Inter), Alessandro Nesta (Italy/ AC Milan), Carles Puyol (Spain/ Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Spain/ Real Madrid), John Terry (England/ Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia/ Manchester United), Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy/ Juventus).

Midfielders: David Beckham (England/ Real Madrid), Anderson Deco (Portugal/ Barcelona), Mickaël Essien (Ghana/ Chelsea), Gennaro Gattuso (Italy/ AC Milan), Steven Gerrard (England/ Liverpool), Andrès Iniesta (Spain/ Barcelona), Ricardo Kaká (Brazil/ AC Milan), Frank Lampard (England/ Chelsea), Claude Makélélé (France/ Chelsea), Andrea Pirlo (Italy/ AC Milan), Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina/ Villareal/Boca Juniors), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal/ Manchester United), Paul Scholes (England/ Manchester United), Clarence Seedorf (Holland/ AC Milan), Xavi (Spain/ Barcelona).

Forwards: Dimitar Berbatov (Bulgaria/ Tottenham Hotspur), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/ Chelsea), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon/ Barcelona), Thierry Henry (France/ Arsenal), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden/ Inter), Filippo Inzaghi (Italy/ AC Milan), Lionel Messi (Argentina/ Barcelona), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Holland/ Real Madrid), Ronaldinho (Brazil/ Barcelona), Ronaldo (Brazil/ Real Madrid/ AC Milan), Wayne Rooney (England/ Manchester United), Carlos Tévez (Argentina/ West Ham United), Luca Toni (Italy/ Fiorentina), Francesco Totti (Italy/ AS Roma), David Villa (Spain/ Valencia).

Hail Haley

Toros Triumph

CSUDH, now 8-2 overall, concludes its six-game homestand at 7 p.m. Saturday against nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women, meanwhile, beat Cal State San Marcos 3-0 Monday with Melissa Livergood (North Torrance High) and Kristen Boskovich (Peninsula High) combining for the three goals.

The 7-1-3 Toros concludes its six-game homestand 7 p.m. Tuesday against Western Washington.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I asked Torrance's Shannon Boxx to blog while she was in China at the World Cup representing the U.S. Women's National Team.

She had trouble connecting to the Internet in China Friday , but persevered and kindly took the time to blog these thoughts that landed in my in box at 11:50 p.m. Friday PT mere hours before the 4:55 a.m. US-England game that's live on ESPN2.

Here's what Boxxy had to say:

Ni Hao from China: It’s game day here in Tianjin.

We are now in the playoff rounds of the tournament and it’s either win or go home.

After coming in first in our group we now face a good England team at 8 p.m. local time.

We have had three good days to rest our legs after playing in our third group game against Nigeria in Shanghai. The team is now itching to get back on the field.

My game day routine is not much different over here than it is back in the States. The hotels we have been staying in have been great about cooking us the food that we like to eat.

This morning I woke up and had my banana pancakes and coffee, a game day ritual for me.

I have taken a walk by the river that runs next to our hotel and have visited with my mom and sister who have come over to watch. Now it’s just about staying relaxed and getting hydrated.

Our pre-game meal is in about an hour and I'm thinking about watching a couple “Rescue Me” episodes, which I have become hooked on while being here.

Even though I am counting down the days till I can have my first El Burrito Jr. meal I hope tonight will be successful and we will continue on the road to bringing home the World Cup trophy.

-Shannon

Posted by Nick Green at 2:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The U.S. meets England at 4:55 a.m. Saturday on ESPN2 in the World Cup quarterfinals as the knockout phase of the tournament begins.

South Bay resident Brian Boswell, coach of Women's Premiere Soccer League team Ajax America Women agreed to provide a pre-match analysis for 100 Percent Soccer.

Ajax America Women are the current U.S. Open Women’s Cup Champions and ranked No. 4 team in the world by Womensworldfootball.com.

Under Boswell, Ajax America Women have won the U.S.Women’s Open Cup five times since 1998. Boswell is ranked the No. 5 women’s coach in the world behind U.S. coach Greg Ryan by the same ranking service. Boswell is a native of London, England.

Former South (Torrance) High star Shannon Boxx and Abby Wambach played for Ajax America before joining before the U.S. Women’s team camp.

Here's Brian's view of the contest:

One of the tournament favorites, the U.S., plays an up and coming England team, with the Americans winning their group and England finishing second to a powerful Germany.

Before the start of the tournament forecasting this result was easy, with the U.S. ranked No. 1 in the world and unbeaten in 42 games playing the tenth-ranked England team who just made it out of Europe to qualify for the World Cup.

But now the tournament has started things are a little different.

The U.S. battled to a tie with North Korea in their first group game after being 2-1 down. The U.S. was lucky not to concede a third in the final minutes to a Korean team that had more possession, better movement off the ball and matched the U. S. athletically.

The second game against a Swedish side that plays similarly to the U.S. finished with a fairly comfortable 2-0 victory for the Americans.

In the third game a deflection off a soft shot gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead against Nigeria after 57 seconds and the Americans were able to hold onto that lead for the next 90 minutes.

England also tied their first game against Japan after being ahead twice. Japan tied the game with two great free kicks from just outside the penalty area, although England should have won.

England’s second game was a 0-0 tie with Germany which had just come off of an 11-0 demolition of Argentina. England defended for most of the game but was able to keep the free-scoring Germans at bay.

England’s third game was a 6-1 thrashing of hapless Argentina.

So how do they match up now?

The U.S. certainly has not hit their stride yet. Is it the pressure of being pre tournament favorites or knowing they were in the group of death with the third, fifth, and nineteenth ranked teams in the world? Or the expectations of their soccer playing homeland that feel anything less than a championship would be failure?

I think it was all these.

I have got to know a number of the U.S. players and I know the pressure and expectation has been intense. Comparisons with previous American teams have also been thrust upon them. Can they compare with the teams of Mia, Julie, Brandi, and Joy etc.?

All of these factors heaped upon the shoulders of the least experienced team the U.S. has sent to a World Cup since 1991 made for a difficult beginning to the tournament. The group of death has gone, it's time to play. I think it is easier now the games are must win.

England is certainly living up to expectations. They had a tie that should have been a win against a Japanese team that was almost playing at home. A great game against Germany and a resounding win against Argentina.

How do the teams stack up against each other?

U.S. Coach Greg Ryan has tinkered with the formation playing 4-3-3 against North Korea and reverting back to a more comfortable 3-4-3 against Sweden and Nigeria.

The U.S. plays forward quickly and has great attacking options in Abby Wambach and Kristine Lilly.

The problem in the early games is that the defense was bypassing the midfield and going straight to the forwards, asking too much of the forwards without support from their midfield. I’m sure that in the last few days the coaching staff has emphasized more midfield possession and playing the ball wide earlier. The nerves should be gone and the confidence to play the ball out of trouble will again be apart of the U.S. game. Abby and Kristine will get more support and you will see Carli Lloyd become much more of an attacking option. The U.S. is the fittest, most athletic team in the tournament and when their game comes together they will be very, very difficult to beat. They need to possess the ball more and not rush to get it forward.

England on the other hand seem set in their 4-4-2 formation.

They possess the ball well, but I feel with the U.S. pressure this will become more difficult.

Look for them to defend in numbers and try to hit the U.S. on the counter attack.

They rely greatly on Kelly Smith (four goals so far) who is one of the best-kept secrets in the World Cup. Kelly was with Philadelphia in the WUSA before tearing her ACL. She now plays for the Arsenal women’s team along with seven others in the England squad. Arsenal are the English League Champions, F.A. Cup champions, League Cup Champions and European Champions. This core of players adds greatly to the England success. They have all played many high profile matches, which is helping them in their first World Cup.

Both teams have some great players, but I feel the U.S. has more.

The attacking pair of Wambach and Lilly is probably the most potent in the world and should be too much for the England defense.

The U.S. midfield is young, but it is anchored by Shannon Boxx who when on her game is the best holding female midfield player in the world. She started off slowly against North Korea but now seems to be back into stride.

The defense is anchored by two veterans, Christie Rampone and Kate Markgraf. Stephanie Lopez, still at college, seems to get better with each game. Behind all of these is Hope Solo, possibly the best goalkeeper in the World Cup, although she did let a soft one in against North Korea.

Expect deep-lying Smith to battle with Boxxy.

Katie Chapman is England’s Boxx; She did not play against Argentina due to yellow card accumulation, but will be well rested for the U.S.

England will depend on her to win balls and settle things down. Faye White, the player of the game against Germany, is the glue for the defense.

England is playing better as a team, although their group was easier, but the U.S. just has too many weapons.

The game should be tight, but I think the U.S. pressure will wear the English down.

Prediction: 3-1 U.S.

Updated:
Boxxy sat down for an interview with U.S. Soccer before Saturday's game.

AP has more on the game here.

Also, one of the best American soccer reporters, Steven Goff of The Washington Post, has been blogging from China.

A couple of notes from U.S. Soccer:

“FAIR PLAY DAY - FIFA will hold World Fair Play Days during the quarterfinal matches to coincide with the United Nations International Day of Peace Friday, an invitation to all nations and people to honor a cessation of hostilities around the world. Shortly before kick-off, both team captains will read a declaration to support fair play on the pitch and in society. The special activity will be broadcast to 200 territories across all six confederations. FIFA has celebrated Fair Play Days since 1997 and this year is the fourth time that the events will be linked to the International Day of Peace.

ABBY TO HIT 100 - The England match will be the 100th career cap for Wambach, making her the 20th U.S. player to hit the century mark. The 27-year-old has the best goals per game ratio in U.S. history, having found the net 80 times in her 99 matches, and averages a goal for about every 90 minutes she plays for the national team.

WEATHER REPORT - A crowd of more than 30,000 is expected in what will likely be the first match in the Women’s World Cup for the USA played in good weather and on a pitch in excellent condition.”

Posted by Nick Green at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite a fast start to the game for the U.S. against Nigeria this morning, the Americans couldn't put the Africans away in the 1-0 win. Nigeria actually had a couple of good opportunities to equalize in the last 15 minutes, almost making the U.S. pay for not being more ruthless in what were admittedly extremely difficult conditions.

Still, the U.S. tops its group and plays Saturday against England.

Here's the game story.

To give you an idea of how awful the weather for the game was, here is what Shanghai is bracing for.

Not surprisingly, that's meant some adjustments to the World Cup schedule.

Meanwhile, I took a look at what the recent hiring of former AEG exec Shawn Hunter means for Chivas USA in my regular weekly column.

Chivas USA co-owner Antonio Cue, right, welcomes new club president
and CEO Shawn Hunter with a team jersey. El Cazador means "the hunter" in
Spanish.

Finally, the UEFA Champions League resumes for another season today with ESPN2 televising the Liverpool-Porto game (kick off is 11:30 a.m.). Here's the complete television schedule.

Posted by Nick Green at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dont forget to set up that TiVo: the second U.S. group game at the World Cup against Sweden begins at 1:55 a.m. Friday on ESPN.

The last two games between the U.S. and third-ranked Sweden, in July 2006 in Blaine, Minn. and at the Algarve Cup in Portugal in March, ended in 3-2 victories for the Americans.

These are experienced teams: Sweden has five players on the roster with more than 100 caps, the U.S. six, while striker Abby Wambach will make her 98th appearance for the national team.

Both team's sport dangerous forward partnerships: Sweden boasts Hanna Ljungberg (71 international goals) and Victoria Svensson (59 goals), while the U.S. answers with Kristine Lilly (126 goals) and Wambach (78).

"This group is like playing a semifinal and a final in our first two games," said U.S. Coach Greg Ryan. "That's the quality of the teams. North Korea is fantastic and Sweden was in the final game of the last World Cup. We got Greece in the Olympics in our first game, so this start is unbelievably challenging."

"We're ready to get back out there," said South Bay native Shannon Boxx. "We're both great in the air, so you are going to see a battle there. I think the biggest thing is that it's going to be an up and down game. We are going to defend, but we're going to get forward and so are they.”

Unlike the first game, torrential rain is not expected. AP has a preview.

Posted by Nick Green at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, that's an exaggeration for the sake of a punny headline.

But at least the jammed toe that forced the U.S. Women's National Team's top scorer out of the Finland game Saturday in Carson is nothing serious, if we are to believe the folks at U.S. Soccer. They filed this story today on ussoccer.com.

And those who want the "inside" scoop on the USWNT in China can check out the official blog written by press officer Aaron Heifetz here.

Diverting and well-written, if not earth-shattering stuff.

Posted by Nick Green at 11:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

World Cup Bound

Columnist Paul Oberjuerge has more on the declining profile of the women's game. Still, to be fair the Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain et al generation was akin to capturing lightning in a bottle. This version of the team is undoubtedly better, it's just that most Americans respond better to hype because of a lack of knowledge about the game.

Looking Good, Playing Bad

The modern-day version of this are the Galaxy with their splendid new team suits and horrible record. One of two MLS teams without a road win this season, today they come up against the Colorado Rapids.

The Galaxy had a slow start to the season, but pointed to what turned out to be the mirage-like number of games they had in hand as their ace in the hole.

Of course, their other ace (David Beckham) is injured, exhausted, and for this game, absent, the game schedule is murderous, the squad's lack of depth is being brutally exposed and no-one has any sympathy for the flagship MLS franchise many believe has always received preferential treatment.

"I wish the public at large had a better understanding of what this organization is going through," GM Alexi Lalas said after the loss to Chivas USA. "When we say it, it sounds like excuses."

Yes, it does.

Chivas USA are much more fun to watch.

Here are today's game previews.

Soccer Roundup

Posted by Nick Green at 10:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The story of the game: target practice.

Finland didn't get in its first shot in until the 80th minute; the U.S. ended up with 38 shots to Finland's two and neither of those hit the target.

Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly got the two U.S. goals in the second half.

Both were well-worked pieces up the right wing, but the Finnish defense was largely snoozing this evening.

Still, it took a half hour into the game before the U.S. broke down the Finns, which as Coach Greg Ryan observed played a 4-5-1 and kept 10 players behind the ball for most of the first half.

Boxxy gave reporters the most alarming news of the game: "I think I broke my toe," Boxx said Wambach told her as she left the field. She's getting an X-ray at a local hospital and we won't know more for a while.

Ryan said that Boxx, who was playing in front of about 30 family and friends who were among the crowd of just 7,118 appeared back to her old self after her serious knee injury.

"She looked like a forward tonight, taking on players," he said.

"It must be the home crowd or something," Boxx said with a big smile, adding that she loves playing in the South Bay. "I'm not considered a goal scorer, but here I get up for scoring goals."

Posted by Nick Green at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Perhaps the most significant news of the first half was that U.S. striker Abby Wambach was forced out of the game in the 27th minute with what turned out to be a jammed toe on the right foot.

She looked pretty glum sitting on the bench, but it isn't supposed to be a big deal. Carli Lloyd came in for her.

Torrance's Shannon Boxx scored the game's first goal, a header from about eight yards off a Kristine Lilly free kick. Lilly now joins Mia Hamm as the only U.S. player with 100 goals and 100 assists.

She's now scored five goals in five games at the HDC and more than 25 percent of her 15 career goals have come at her home stadium, where she made her national team debut back in 2003.

Veteran Kristine Lilly scored an easy second from five yards out after receiveing a square ball from Lori Chalupny in the 36th minute.

The Finns have had few attacks and the result isn't in doubt. The Finns have had zero shots, the U.S. 15 with eight on target.

The floodlights went out in the 40th minute and they played the last five minutes in an unusual twilight.

They're back on now.

Posted by Nick Green at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

U.S. Coach Greg Ryan starts the same 11 he did in the victory over New Zealand: Hope Solo is in goal, while the back four consists of Christie Rampone, Cat Whitehill, Kate Markgraf and Stephanie Lopez.

In midfield are Shannon Boxx, Lori Chalupny, Heather O'Reilly and Kristine Lilly.

The attacking duo consists of Lindsay Tarpley and Abby Wambach.

Looks like this is the starting line-up we'll see in the opening game of the World Cup against North Korea.

The game is on ESPN2.

Posted by Nick Green at 6:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sean Hiller / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Shannon Boxx in action Sunday at Home Depot Center.


Sean Hiller / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
A determined Abby Wambach practices for the Finland game.

Former South (Torrance) High star Shannon Boxx, Hermosa Beach resident Abby Wambach and the rest of the World Cup-bound U.S. Women's National Team as they prepare for the final tune-up game Saturday against Finland in Carson is the subject of this week's column.

Incidentally, I asked both Coach Greg Ryan and striker Abby Wambach who among the young(er) Americans they believed capable of emerging as a star in the tournament.

Ryan, who knows the value of a good defense, went with goalkeeper Hope Solo, who has now displaced Briana Scurry as the number one between the posts for the U.S.

Wambach went with midfielder Carlie Lloyd, who was named tournament MVP while scoring four goals at the Algarve Cup earlier this year in Portugal.

"When she's faced with a bigger challenge she rises to the occasion," said Wambach, adding that the Rutgers product has the potential to emerge as the new face of the U.S. team.

"I'd like to get that off my back," Wambach said.

Posted by Nick Green at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)