Race to the Cup is On

The opening games of the 2011 Women's World Cup - or Frauen WM (Weltmeisterschaft) as it's called in Germany where it's being played - are in the books and not surprisingly, France and host Germany are atop the standings with 3 points each.

France edged Nigeria, 1-0, on a 56th-minute goal by Marie-Laure Delie. Germany, playing before 73,680, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, in the Berlin Olympic Stadium, downed tougher-than-expected Canada, 2-1.

I watched the Germany-Canada match, in which German used a head ball from 5'-11" Kersten Garefrekes in the 10th minute to take a lead it would never relinquish. But it wasn't as easy as some thought it would be. Canada's Christine Sinclair missed a golden opportunity to even the score when she broke through Germany's central defense but sent the ball over the bar. Celia Okoyinoi Da Mbabi gave the hosts a 2-0 lead three minutes before intermission. Germany had other chances but Canadian keeper, Erin McLeod, was strong in the net.

Germany couldn't break it open and in the 82nd minute Sinclair made things interesting with a goal for Canada - the first score Germany has allowed in World Cup play since the '03 final. But that was it for Canada and Germany had the anticipated three points.

The United States opens Tuesday against North Korea in Dresden, the only venue in the former East Germany.

JAGS Countdown

More on the FIFA controversy and the Women's World Cup in the future. For now what matters in my soccer life is that JAGS is two weeks away.

This means the e-mails and calls from college coaches will start picking up and I'll undoubtedly get e-mails from team parents and coaches asking why we don't list college coaches attending the tournament on our website. I have a form response which explains the several reasons: the list changes daily; some coaches sign up on gotsoccer.com without planning to attend; some coaches register with every intention of attending and their plans change at the last minute for reasons ranging from the weather to spousal edit; some coaches don;t register and then show up. I always tell parents and players to let the schools in which they are interested know they are playing at JAGS (and their other tournaments).

I already messed up by sending out a mass mailing to several hundred college coaches and forgetting to attach the list of hotels I mentioned. I suppose if anyone needs a hotel they'll contact me. Every year I get a few requests for hotel recommendations, some for directions and lots about fields and schedules. But the most unusual request from a college coach was five or six years ago when a coach asked me for a recommendation for a golf course for a late Saturday round. I've never played golf, but fortunately my good buddy and Medford Strikers Xtreme parent George Sierra, is a golf fanatic and was able to help me out. Never heard from the coach how he played that afternoon.