Grant Wahl's Solution to PKs

In last week's Sports Illustrated, sidebars to the article about the NHL's switch to 3 v. 3 overtimes in an effort to avoid shootouts, made suggestions to improve other sports, including soccer.

Soccer writer Grant Wahl proposes removing a player every five minutes in overtime.  "Soccer games should be decided by soccer," Wahl writes.  He reasons that "soccer is a game about space: How to find it, how to use it, how to create it."  He goes on to say that his proposal would create more space and add interest because of the coaching decisions required.  And debates about these coaching moves would be soccer debates, which those about shootouts are not.

I greatly respect Wahl as a soccer journalist, but I think he's trying too hard here.  My problem with is proposal is it assumes someone will score once the teams are playing with less than the normal 10 field players.  But the more players who are removed, the more running those remaining on the field will have to do. And there are only so many miles in the legs of even the fittest professional players.

After 95 minutes it's 10 v. 10.  After 100 minutes, 9 v. 9.  At the 105 minute mark it becomes 8 v. 8, then at 110 7 v. 7.  At the end of 120 minutes, the normal amount of overtime, the teams would be down to four field players and a keeper.  Is Wahl suggesting that they keep going here?

Timbers Chop Down Crew For MLS Cup

In just their fifth Major League Soccer season the Portland Timbers won the MLS championship with a 2-1 victory over the Crew before 21,747 in Columbus yesterday.

The Timbers got off to a quick start when Crew keeper Steve Clark could not clear a passback and Portland midfielder Diego Valeri intercepted the attempt and scored just 35 seconds into the match.  The Timbers doubled the lead in the seventh minute after the assistant referee missed a ball over the touchline that should have been a Crew throw-in.  Portland took advantage and Rodney Wallace scored with a diving header off a cross from Lucas Melano,

The MLS webpage has an entertaining video of numerous calls and non-calls during the game.  The New York Times ran a comprehensive story by Brian Sciaretta on page D-5.

Cherry Pie

It only took 85 years, but AFC Bournemouth from the coast of England finally made it to the top division of English Soccer - the English Premier League - this season.  Bruce Schoenfeld wrote an entertaining piece about the team, known as "The Cherries," for ESPN - The Magazine a few weeks ago. 

Schoenfeld wrote, "The idea of a team advancing through England's 92-club, four-tier league system to the EPL is surprising enough. It rarely happens, even over a generation -- let alone in the span of five years. In English soccer, the same marginal sides tend to bob up and down from the top of the second-highest division to the bottom of the first. But if any club could do it ... well, Bournemouth would not be it." 

With a population of 180,000, Bournemouth is one of the smallest cities ever to play in the EPL and its stadium, with a capacity of only 11,464, is the smallest venue.

On the field the Cherries are off to a slow start and it will be tough to stay in the EPL.  They have two wins and four draws in the first 14 league matches, leaving them in the relegation zone - 18th place.  Although AFC has been competitive in most games, it is riding a 10-game winless streak since beating Sunderland, 2-1, back on September 19.

Bummer! HMHS Girls Fall in State Quarters, 2-0

Manchester Township scored a goal in each half to shut our Haddonfield, 2-0, in the South Jersey Group 2 quartefinals at HMHS Stadium today.  The Hawks go through to Monday's sectional semifinals against West Deptford.

It's a tough end to the season for the Bulldawgs, but they have nothing to be ashamed about.  Coach Quintavalle's young team at times started as many as six freshmen and sophomores, including the impressive Wayden Ay and Madison Bee.  After two losses to open the season the girls went a month - 12 games - without losing, including two defeats of West Deptford.  A 1-0 loss to Audubon at home under the lights on October 15 ended the streak. 

No problem.  The girl ran off another five straight wins, including a 1-0 shutout of Rancocas Valley and a 3-0 opening round State Cup victory.

For the season HMHS finished 15-4-2 (7-2-1 in the Colonial Liberty Division), scoring 54 goals and giving up only 15 (an average of .71 per game) and posted 10 shutouts.  Not a bad season in anybody's book.

I had hoped to see us play in the South Jersey finals a week from today, and beyond, but it will have to wait a year.

Good luck to Haddonfield boys, playing in the quarterfinals tomorrow against Delran.

 

Haddonfield Girls Off to Strong Start In State Playoffs

Freshman Madison Bee scored two goals and Taylor Sehdev pitched the shutout in goal as Haddonfield girls opened the NJSIAA play-offs with a 3-0 win over Lower Cape May today.
Isabella Nugent scored the other goal for the Bulldawgs while Nic Green had a pair of assists and Claudia Brong added an assist.

Fourth seeded Haddonfield hosts #12 Manchester Township Thursday in the sectional quarterfinals.  The other three matches include top-ranked Cedar Creek against # 8 West Deptford, #3 Cinnaminson squaring off against # 6 Middle Township and #7 Delran playing #2 Point Pleasant Boro.

Haddonfield boys, seeded #1, start their state title run tomorrow against  #16 Barnegat.

The girls bracket is here and the boys draw at this link.

Union Begins Turnaround Effort in Earnest

As part of its effort to turn reverse its fortunes on the field, the Union today announced the hiring of former U.S. National Team player Earnie Stewart as Sporting Director, effective January 1.  According to the announcement, in that role Stewart will  "oversee and guide all Union technical and soccer-related decisions working closely with the Union First Team, USL team and Youth Academy."

The Union needs to do something.  The team just finished a dismal 10-17-7, 9th out of 10 teams in the MLS Eastern Conference, and out a play-off spot for the fourth consecutive season.  In six years of play the Union has a total record of 61-82-57.  It has yet to have a winning season and is on its third head coach.  The CEO was recently fired.

Stewart earned 101 caps for the United States through 2005, played for an MLS champion at DC United and currently serves as Director of Football Affairs at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands, where he played professionally.  In that role he has guided the club to Europa League qualification for six consecutive seasons.

It looks like Stewart has a lot of work to do, but he also appears to have the experience and ability to get the job done.  Check back in a year when the MLS playoffs are getting underway.

Green Wave Snaps Haddonfield Streak

Last night's game had everything except a good result for Haddonfield.

Beautiful night for soccer.  Big crowd in the stadium.  Local conference rival in Audubon.  Two closely-matched teams who tied 1-1 0n September 28 at Green Wave Park.  And to top it off, the game was televised locally on Varsity Sports Network.

Neither team seriously threatened in the first half.  Freshman Wayden Ay made a quick turn and got off a hard shot late in the half, but too close to keeper Grace Borden.With 27:59 left in the second half, Audubon's Rebecca Van Arnam put in a rebound after Bulldawgs' keeper Taylor Sehdev tipped a shot up off the crossbar.  Haddonfield complained that the ball went up from the soccer crossbar and hit the football crossbar, which would have been out of play.  The referees disagreed and the goal stood.  From the pressbox it looked as though the refs got it right.

Haddonfield pressed for the equalizer but their best opportunity was a shot by freshman Maddie Bee that sailed just over the crossbar in the 61st minute.

Haddonfield was on a 10-game winning streak and 12-game unbeaten string going into last night's contest.  They'll have a chance to start a new streak Tuesday night against Woodbury.

The television was fun.  The announcers did a very good job and without thinking came up with a great line in the first half when Wayden Ay (pronounced like the letter "A") passed to Bee.  The play-by-play call was, "So that was from Ay to Bee.  I can't believe I just said that."

I watched the game on Comcast Channel 19 tonight and it wasn't bad for having only one camera and no replay capability.  The sound level could have been a little higher, but otherwise it was fun  to watch.  Below is one of our captains, Kate Walters, in a post-game interview.

The only downside - other than the loss - was that the stadium sound system failed, so I didn't get to announce or play the national anthem - which would have sounded good in the background of the TV broadcast.

Captain Kate Walters in post-game interview with Varsity Sports Network's Kevin Schules.

Union Locks Out Sakiewicz

Nick Sakiewicz made saves as a former goalkeeper but on Friday he could not save his job as the only CEO the Philadelphia Union has known in its six years of existence in Major League Soccer.  As Marc Narducci reported in yesterday;s Inquirer, he and chairman/owner Jay Sugarman apparently had different ideas on the future direction of the team.

The Union fell to 9-16-7 with last night's 3-1 loss in Toronto and was eliminated from contention for a play-off spot.

Sugarman sensed the unrest of the fans this season. "It is never good when fans aren't happy and I do take that as one of the signals we have to do better," he told Narducci.

Daily news sports columnist, John Smallwood, did a piece on the fans' role in ousting Sakiewicz.

"Winning has a way of solving a lot of issues," Smallwood quotes Sugarman as saying.

 Here's the e-mail the club sent Friday to its mailing list regarding the move:

I want to share some news with you directly.  We are making a change in the front office and parting ways with Nick Sakiewicz.  In the interim, Dave Rowan, current Chief Revenue Officer, will oversee day to day business operations.  Nick was instrumental in helping bring a team to Philadelphia and building our organization from the ground up, and we thank him for the dedication and perseverance he showed in those efforts and his passion for the club. 

Now it’s time for a new era of progress to begin.

Last year it was apparent our organizational structure needed to change in order to provide a stronger and more focused sporting direction for the Union.  Our plan was to bring aboard a Sporting Director with significant experience to add to the MLS knowledge of Jim Curtin and Chris Albright and help us materially improve our player acquisition processes, player evaluation methods and player development capabilities.  In addition, we wanted clear lines of responsibility throughout the organization, with our Youth Academy, USL team, and First Team all reporting up to a strong Sporting Director with a clear plan and a defined competitive strategy to guide recruitment, training, and teaching at all levels.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to fill this role yet.  We are committed to finding the right person for the Sporting Director position, and we want this person in place as soon as possible, to impact the upcoming player decisions needed to strengthen our roster and to oversee increased integration of all soccer operations. We are working to have this role filled by the end of the year.

In the meantime we have continued to invest in the foundation of the Club.  Over the past two years, Ownership has committed over $15 million in capital to areas that we believe are critical to building long-term success.  The new training fields, new First Team Training Center, new USL team, and increased Academy commitments are all part of a plan to put in place the infrastructure necessary for success, and set the table for better performance on the field.  Now we need to attract a leader and an architect on the sporting side who can build on these investments and develop a strategy that will give us an edge in the league going forward.

One last, important, thing:  I and the other owners want to assure you that we are committed to winning.  We can also assure you that we will make mistakes - but we will acknowledge them, learn from them, and correct them until we succeed.  Your loyal support as we enter this new era is critical, and we remain deeply grateful for your continued commitment as we make the Philadelphia Union a team we are all proud of.

My sincere thanks,

Jay Sugarman
Chairman 

Imagine If He Had Started - Lewandowski Scores 5 Off the Bench

VfL Wolfsburg had to feel good at halftime yesterday, leading undefeated Bayern München, 1-0 in Munich.

Then Robert Lewandowski entered the match. 

Six minutes after coming off the bench to replace Thiago Alcantaro, Lewandowski took a pass at the 6 and tied the score.  A minute later he gave Bayern the lead for good from 20 yards out.  Then in the 55th minute came the hat trick, a goal that took three tries to score.  Again open on the 6, Lewandowski took a pass and hit the left post with a right-footed shot, hit the rebound off the keeper with his left foot and finally used his right to tap in the loose ball.

That wasn't his best goal of the match.  After scoring a (relatively speaking) mundane goal on a shot from straight away in the 57th minute, Lewandowski took a cross from the right touchline and vollied it in from the 18 with a scissors kick in the 60th minute. 

"You cannot be that good!" screamed the English-language announcer.

Andrew Das has the story of Lewandowski's amazing feat  - with a video clip of each goal - in today's New York Times.  He reports that this was the fastest hat trick in Bundesliga history and the first time a substitute had scored five goals. 

Lewansowski was quoted by Das as saying, "It was a crazy few minutes.  I'm very satisfied."  And Bayern coach, Pep Guardiola, who coached a guy named Lionel Messi at Barcelona, said "I don't think I'll ever see something like that again."  Probably not.

Fall Means High School Soccer

Haddonfield Girls are still looking for their first win after yesterday's 3-1 loss to non-conference Group 3 rival, Winslow Township.  Well, at least we scored our first goal of the year.

The Bulldawgs were blanked by Sterling, 2-0 in the season opener on Wednesday.  Yesterday was the home debut in the Haddonfield Stadium and when Winslow's heralded Taziarra King (featured a week ago in the Inquirer) rifled a shot into the upper right corner just 8:44 into the contest, it looked like it might be another long day.  To their credit, Haddonfield girls, who started three sophomores and three freshman, settled down and took control of play.

In the 30th minute the referees seemed to miss a call that would have given us a penalty kick, but 8:13 before the half freshman Wayden Ay found the goal and it was 1-1 at intermission.  Given our momentum and the outstanding goalkeeper we have in Taylor Sehdev (who is bound for my alma mater, Gettysburg College) things were looking good - until King took control and scored twice within 1:38 to put the game out of reach.

Collingswood is on tap in the stadium Tuesday night.

I didn't get to announce the game because the wireless mike was left in the school, but no matter.  I'll be that much more ready for Tuesday's game.  More important, so will the players.  Given the youth of the team and the outstanding coaching staff we have, I expect we will see tremendous growth and improvement all season.

As an aside, in the "I really feel old now" department, the assistant of Winslow is Wesley Roach, who played with Scott for the Medford Strikers for a year or two at U12 and against him for the Evesham Outlaws in some classic South Jersey Soccer League Premier Conference games back in the '90s.

Soccer in America - According to Carrard

Can't believe I haven't written anything in a month, but anyway, check out today's New York Times column by Juliet Macur.   It's about Francois Carrard, the Swiss lawyer named to heard FIFA's reform committee, and an interview he gave to the Swiss newspaper Le Matin.

All soccer fans in the United States need to know about Carrard is that he said soccer was "not a true American sport" and that “There, it’s just an ethnic sport for girls in schools.”  Macur wrote, "Let’s see him repeat those comments to Abby Wambach, Carli Lloyd or Hope Solo, or any of the other members of the United States team that just won the Women’s World Cup. Or to Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard, who helped lead the United States men’s team to the Round of 16 at last year’s World Cup. (That is the same round the Swiss men reached, by the way.)

Carrard’s words were fighting words, if fighting 77-year-old Swiss lawyers is your thing."

 

Basking in the Glow

Very cool to see the girl I coached from 8th through 11th grades holding the World Cup on the cover of Sports Illustrated.  Grant Wahl, arguably the country's top soccer writer (although Sam Borden and Jere Longman from the New York Times could make a case) wrote about Carli and her trainer, James Galanis.  I have known James for many years and recall meeting with him at the Medport Diner in Medford to discuss his becoming technical director of the club where Carli played and drafting his contract with the club.  Wahl tells the story of how he connected with Carli and motivated her to become the player she has.

Despite the fame that Carli has rightfully achieved, I suspect that she is still the same nice kid I remember.  May she and her teammates continue to bask in the glow of their historic achievement.

Carli In The Cartoons

I've gotten used to seeing Carli Lloyd, whom I have known since she was in 8th grade, be on television, score winning goals in big games from the Olympics to the recent World Cup.  But until today I never saw a player I had coached featured in an editorial cartoon.

That changed when Pulitzer Prize winning Philadelphia Daily News cartoonist, Signe Wilkinson, drew the cartoon below depicting Lloyd about to instruct Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie how to take a long shot - a reference to Lloyd's goal from midfield in the final against Japan.  That long shot resulted from great vision, quick thinking and an assessment of the risk of taking it.  Wonder if the governor will apply those same traits in his campaign.

World Champions!

It was really over by the time Carli Lloyd scored the third goal of her hat trick, just 16 minutes into the final.  When it was "only" 2-0, you thought maybe Japan will get organized, maybe get a goal before halftime, then come back in the second half to tie or even go ahead. Didn't happen.

Lauren Holiday made it 3-0 in the 14th minute, then Lloyd completed the hat trick with a wise decision: she saw Japanese keeper Aiyumi Kaihori out too far and lofted a long ball from near midfield past the startled goalie and into the net.  And then you knew for sure it was over.  Not a twinge of worry when Yuki Ogim narrowed the gap to three with a goal in the 27th minute.  It was over.

An own goal charged to Julie Johnston cut the lead to to two before Heath's score put it back at three. But it was over.

Coach Jill Ellis used two of her three subs to get Abby Wambach and Christy Rampone, each playing in her final World Cup, into the game.  In a classy gesture, Lloyd turned the captain's armband over to Wambach when she entered the field.  Afterwards it was Wambach and Rampone who accepted the cup foe the United States.

Jere Longman wrote the game story for the New York Times.

For the third straight match Lloyd was player of the match and she was rightfully awarded the golden boot as the tournament's MVP.

I'm very proud of Carli Lloyd and to have coached her way back when with the Medford Strikers.  Tonight showed what hard work and determination can do.

U.S v. Japan: It's Our Year

It all comes down to one game and that game is tonight: United States v. Japan in the Women's World Cup final, a rematch of the 2011 final.  But the realization that this is our year goes back to maybe the China game when the team picked it up a notch and continued through the semi-finals with a convincing 2-0 win over top seed Germany.

The Germans started out in control - for about 10 minutes, showing dazzling quick feet and pinpoint passing, but with nothing in the back of the net.  The U.S. received two breaks in the 63rd minute: one from the referee for not sending off Julie Johnston after a foul in the box; and the second from the tournament's leading scorer, Celis Saic, who sent the ensuing penalty kick wide left.  Nine minutes later a foul on Germany, which may have been outside the penalty area, led to a PK that Carli Lloyd nailed.

Lloyd has been player of the match in the last two games.

All this has brought a well-deserved round of favorable publicity to Lloyd.  Juliet Macur wrote in the New York Times after the victory over China, "In a significant way, then, with Coach Jill Ellis willing to tinker but not to renovate, this has become Lloyd’s team. As Lloyd showed against China, she can be the engine that makes it run at full speed and the leader who may decide how far it will go."

Today Macur wrote about Lloyd's former high school coach, Rudy Klobach, of Delran High School, whom I knew when he coached Carli in high school and she played on the club team that Joe Dadura and I coached. Sadly Rudy passed away back in January, much too early at age 70.
 

 People ask me about Carli and I tell them it never gets old seeing her play at this level, and especially the success she  has realized in this Cup.  I see the Facebook posts of our former Medford Strikers team supporting Carli and I know we will all be watching tonight - hopefully seeing her hoist the Cup.

My prediction: United States 2, Japan 1.

Lloyd's 200th Cap a Memorable One Against China

Carli Lloyd made her 200th cap a good one last Friday, serving as team captain and scoring the only goal (a header off a cross from Julie Johnston) in the USA's 1-0 quarterfinal win over China.

Equally important, Lloyd and her teammates took the level of play up a notch, which they will need to maintain in tomorrow's semi-final against Germany.  The Germans beat France in a shootout.

Juliet Macur wrote in The New York Times, "So with Rapinoe in the stands and Wambach on the bench, Lloyd wore the captain’s armband, and that armband turned her superhuman.  She and that armband were everywhere.  Pushing the ball forward.  Stealing it back.  Running it down. Grabbing the team by the scruff of its neck and leading it to a win."

Andrew Keh's game story in the Times also featured Lloyd, whose goal was her 65th in international play.

On to Montreal to face the powerful German side.

Bring on China

"Underwhelmed but not surprising," was how Alexi Lalas described the U.S. 2-0 Round of 16 win over Columbia in Edmonton last night.  A bit harsh, I think.  Team USA did what it took to win and that's always the sign of a good team.

There was an apparent goal by Abby Wambach in the 4th minute that was called back by an offsides.  (Good call.)  Colombian keeper Catalina Perez, who plays for the University of Miami, made three tough saves.  But there were times when it looked as though Colombia might score first.

Never happened and the half ended scoreless.  The toughest moments of the opening half for the U.S. were not injuries (thankfully there were none) or missed opportunities.  Rather they were the yellow cards shown to Lauren Holiday in the 17th minute and to Megan Rapinoe in the 41st,  Because of prior yellow cards each player will have to sit out the China game.  Both plays were fouls but neither deserved a card.

The U.S. got a huge break just two minutes into the second half when Perez came out to challenge Alex Morgan, missed the ball and clipped Morgan's feet, bringing her down.  It was an "obvious goal scoring opportunity" within the meaning of Law 12, so Perez was justifiably sent off, forcing Colombia to play 43 minutes a player short.  To make matters worse, the foul was just inside the penalty area, giving the U.S. a penalty kick.

Surprisingly, Abby Wambach went wide left on the PK, a miss that good have energized Colombia.  It did not and Alex Morgan finally broke the ice with a goal in the 53rd minute.  When Rapinoe was taken down in the box in the 66th minute, Coach Jill Ellis went with Carli Lloyd over Wambach.  Lloyd went right and the keeper went the wrong way to give the U.S. a 2-0 lead.  According to Wambach, as quoted in this morning's Inquirer, "I could have taken it, but that's my punishment. Carli gave me the opportunity to take it and I said, 'No, you get it. Bury it.' " 

So the U.S. is open of eight teams still playing but no one seems overly impressed.  "At times, the best team in the world didn't look that good as a result of the way we performed," Colombia coach Fabian Taborda was quoted as saying said through an interpreter.


Lloyd was a bit more positive:  "I know the goals will come," she was quoted as saying in the Inquirer.  . "We've just got to keep moving forward, keep plugging away, and have the confidence to know that chances will fall."


They may have scored only six goals in four games, but then they've allowed just one, the last one being by Australia 27 minutes into the opening match.  That's 333 minutes of scoreless soccer.

I like the chances against China.

After Sweden

Sweden needed the win more than we did and after a hard-fought scoreless draw Friday night, probably needs a win against Australia Tuesday to advance.  The United States, meanwhile, is in a good position with four points, although if we lost to Nigeria and Australia beat Sweden, Australia would win the group with six points.  The U.S and Nigeria would be tied but the second place spot would probably go the the Americans on goal differential.

There are six groups of four and the top two in each group go through, as will four of the six third place teams.  In other words, after two weeks of play, only eight of 24 teams will be eliminated.

Back to the Sweden match: the New York Times story is here.  Both teams had chances and both were victimized by a bad call.  Somehow the officials missed Nilla Fischer's mugging of a U.S player in the box but they later missed a hand ball by Sydney Leroux in the box.  Swedish keeper Hedwig Lindahl, who was properly named player of the match, came up big a number of times, including on a hard shot by Carli Lloyd which was a great chance.


The American defense of Meghan Klingenberg, Becky Saerbrunn and Julie Johnston played well and it was Klingenberg who saved the game in the 77th minute.  Caroline Seger was open about 10 yards out to the left and looped a ball towards the upper right corner, past keeper Hope Solo, only to see Klingenberg, the shortest player on the field, head it off the line into the underside of the cross bar and out, where it was cleared.  The goalline cameras showed the ball had not crossed the line.

Off the field the Hope Solo story will not go away.  After recent reports that she was really the aggressor in a domestic violence incident last year (the charges were dismissed on procedural grounds, which the prosecutor appealed), a United States senator called for Solo to be kicked off the team, the president of U.S. Soccer defended her and her roommate, Lloyd, was asked about it after the Sweden match.  She replied,"Hope Solo news, that's so old news. Hope is my roommate, and we don't even talk about it. It's all old news, we just laugh about it."  The laughing about it comment caused some to criticize Lloyd because obviously domestic violence is no laughing matter. 

In an interview with Philly.com's Jonathan Tannenwald, Lloyd explained her remarks: ""Obviously, it wasn't the best choice of words," she said. "The laughing bit of it was the fact that, you know, we're a couple games deep into the World Cup, and the team is solely focused on the World Cup, the games, and the preparation. The fact that we're still being asked these questions about Hope's case is kind of tough."

 Back on the field, today was a rest day.  The final games of the first stage begin tomorrow.  Thus far, only Japan and Brazil have won both of their first two matches.

Gamesmanship or Pia Being Pia?

The U.S. women's team continues to be in the news off the field as well as on.

First it was Hope Solo's various issues.  Then Tuesday the New York Times published an interview with former U.S. and now Sweden coach Pia Sundhage in which she said Carli Lloyd was "a challenger to coach," Abby Wambach would not be a starter if she were still coaching the United States and Hope Solo was one of the most challenging players she ever coached, "especially when it came to trouble."  Sam Borden did the interview in Sweden last spring.  It's unclear why the Times waited until now to run it.

Lloyd, to her credit, said in the Inquirer simply that she would "respond on the field."  For the record, Lloyd was never a challenge to coach when she played for Joe Dadura and me from ages 14 through 17. 

Conveniently, Lloyd and her teammates will get their chance very soon, like tomorrow night when the U.S. plays Sweden in Winnipeg.  In an Inquirer report Sundhage denied any gamesmanship, saying, "I'm not smart enough to do that."  But you have to wonder.

Meanwhile, the games went on today with the biggest surprise being Germany's 1-1 draw with Norway, leaving the two teams atop Group B with four points each.

U.S. In Driver's Seat After Day 1

The Women's National Team needed some sensational saves from Hope Solo to overcome a sluggish start before getting things together in the second half and downing Australia, 23-1, in the World Cup opener for both teams.

The Matildas seemed to take charge early but Solo made a diving save in the 5th minute to keep the game scoreless.  Megan Rapinoe put the Americans on the board when her shot in the 12th minute deflected off a defender and into the net.  But after two more great saves by Solo, Australia equalized when Lisa De Vanna scored in the 27th minute.

The U.S started to put it together in the second half and took the lead for good when Christen press scored in the 61st minute.  After picking up a yellow card in the 64th minute, Rapinoe provided the insurance with a goal in the 78th minute and Australia never seriously challenged again.

Some of the commentators questioned the quality of the U.S. play, but looking at the positives: they got better as they went along.  Solo was spectacular on three saves and made all the plays.  And they came away with three points.  With Nigeria's surprise draw with Sweden, the United States sits atop Group D with 3 points, 2 ahead of Sweden and Nigeria and can afford a draw or even a loss to Sweden Friday.  

Lots Of Soccer In Today's Media

Good stuff for soccer fans in today's newspapers.  First, a nice piece in the Inquirer about Carli Lloyd, written by Phil Anastasia.  Then there's Jere Longman's story on Canadian captain Christine Sinclair in the New York Times.  (Sinclair scored the winning goal for Canada against China in yesterday's opener.) 

Then there's the essay in the Times by soccer legend Michelle Akers, who happened to score the winning goal in the first Women's World Cup final, about the U.S. chances in this World Cup.  She won't come out and predict a title for the Americans, saying only that on paper they have a chance.  But she says the team is "soft in critical areas."  Akers writes, ". . . the defense isn’t tight enough in the penalty area, allowing too many opportunities for opponents to score; and even though some recent opponents haven’t capitalized, the good ones will. The team’s defending must also be better — and more punishing. I haven’t seen many crunching tackles or messages sent to opponents to not dare enter the United States’ half of the field.The midfield needs to better control the pace and variety in the attack, too, and to transition quicker into a more balanced defensive shape through the middle when it doesn’t have the ball."

The Times' Sam Borden reported from Berlin on Barcelona's 3-1 win over Juventus for its fifth Champions League championship. 

Well, all the press today wasn't all good.  A report by the Associated Press quoted an ESPN story that U.S. National team goalie Hope Solo was not the victim but the "primary aggressor" in a brawl at her half sister's house a year ago that led to two counts of domestic violence being lodged against her.  Solo pleaded not guilty ad the charges were later dismissed.

Meanwhile, in the World Cup, the Netherlands edged New Zealand, 1-0 in Edmonton yesterday, the identical score to Canada's defeat of China.  Today's matches in Ottawa weren't quite as close as Norway shut out Thailand, 4-0 and Germany had an easy time in a 10-0 rout of the Ivory Coast.

Tomorrow Cameroon plays Equador and Japan faces Switzerland in as Group C gets underway in Vancouver while in Winnipeg the United States opens against Australia and Sweden plays Nigeria in Group D> 

Oh, Canda: Off To A Good Start

With the largest crowd ever to watch a soccer game in Canada on hand - 53,058 in Edmonton -   Christine Sinclair nudged a PK just inside the left post in the second minute of stoppage time to give the Canadians a 1-0 win in the FIFA Women's World Cup opener.

Canada had begun  to dominate in the last 15 minutes but when the clock hit 90 it appeared as though they might have to settle for one point instead of three.  But a foul called on Rong Zhao sent Sinclair to the line and moments later the celebration was on.  And yes, I thought referee Kateryna Monzul of the Ukraine made the right call.  The early game story in the World Cup website is here.

US opens with Australia Monday night.

Let The Games Begin: World Cup Starts Tomorrow

Put all the negative news about FIFA of the past two weeks aside.  A month's worth of world class soccer kicks off in Edmonton tomorrow as host Canada faces the Peoples Republic of China at 6 p.m. Eastern in the opening match of the Women's World Cup.

Speaking of which, good to see the Cup on the current covers of both Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine.   And especially good seeing Carli Lloyd, a girl I've known since 8th grade and had the privilege of coaching on the Medford Strikers way back when, on the cover of SI.  Despite her cover girl status, Lloyd gets only a small blurb along with the other 22 players inside the magazine.  But there is a good profile of her online.

SI's Grant Wahl, one of the world's top soccer experts, picks the U.S. to win it all.  Carli has scored the winning goal in the last two Olympic gold medal games.  So here's a prediction that on July 5 in Vancouver, Carli will score the winning goal as the US. wins its first World Cup since 1999.

Never Mind: FIFA's Sepp Blatter Resigns After 17 years

Less than a week after being re-elected for a fifth term as head of the governing body of world soccer, Sepp Blatter announced in Zurich yesterday that he will resign.  The New York Times provides thorough coverage.

“FIFA needs a profound restructuring,” Blatter is quoted as saying. Referring to his re-election, he then added, “Although the members of FIFA have given me the new mandate, this mandate does not seem to be supported by everybody in the world of football.” 

You think?

Hamburg Hangs On To History in Karlsruhe Thriller

The German Bundesliga was founded in 1963 and Hamburger Sport Verein (HSV) is the only team to have played in the first division in all 52 seasons since then.  But tonight HSV came within a few seconds on the referee's watch of being relegated to the second division (the 2nd Bundesliga).

In a thrilling match played before 27,986 in Karlsruhe, Marcello Diaz scored on a free kick from 20 yards out to tie the match at 1-1 in the first minute of stoppage time.

Hamburg, a bustling port city on the Elbe River in northern Germany, found itself in this predicament by finishing in 16th place out of 18 teams in the first division.  And that was only with an upset of FC Schalke on the last day of the season - putting Hamburg one point ahead of SC Freiburg and four above SC Paderborn 07, both of which will play in the second division come August.  By finishing third from the bottom, Hamburg had to play the third place team in the Second Bundelisga, Karlsruhe, in a two-game, home and away, total goals win, series with the winner playing in the first division next season and the loser in the second.

Ironically, Hamburg had been in this position a year ago and staved off relegation by one goal in a play-off of the first division's third worst and the 2nd division's third best.

This year, it looked as though HSV's luck had run out when KSC's Reinhold Yabo, who had come on just six minutes earlier, scored in the 78th minute.  Karlsruhe was 12 minutes from the Bundesliga.  The home side was looking better and better as Hamburg headed a ball off the post in the 82nd minute then saw the Karlsruhe defense clear one the follow-up off the line.

It wasn't until Diaz put the ball into the upper left corner that Hamburg fans began to think they were a team of destiny.  That destiny became reality when Nikolai Müller buried a cross from the left in the 115th minute to make it 2-1.  But HSV wasn't there yet.  Keeper Rene Adler had to make a spectacular diving stop to his left on a penalty kick in the last minute to preserve the victory and Hamburg's history.

Watch a video of the highlights (commentary in English) here.

Giants Beat Phillies, 5-0 -- In Soccer??

Although he is  not a soccer fan by any means and can at times be sarcastic and caustic, I always like reading Frank Fitzpatrick's columns in the Inquirer.  He is close to my age and often writes (very well I might add) about Philadelphia sports history that I am old enough to remember - to a point.

In today's paper Fitzpatrick writes about the fabled Lighthouse Boys Club in Kensington, home of seven Hall of Famers.   (Fitzpatrick mentions one of the seven, Walt Bahr, but does not say that he assisted on the most famous goal in U.S. Soccer history in a 1-0 upset of England in the 1950 World Cup.)

Having played against and with numerous Lighthouse alumni myself, that aspect of the article was of great interest and will be to anyone who grew up playing in the Philadelphia area.  But what was even more fascinating was the latter half of the column about the American League of Professional Football, founded by Major League baseball owners in 1894.  Most of the seven teams took the names of their baseball counterparts, an exception being the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.

As Fitzpatrick points out, "These owners lacked any useful knowledge of soccer."  As an example, he cites the selection of Phillies baseball manager, Arthur Irwin, a Canadian, as league president.  He was also coach of the soccer Phillies.  And so it was that on October 6, 1894 an estimated 500 fans paid 25 cents each at the Baker Bowl on Broad Street to watch the New York Giants beat the Phillies, 5-0.

The league folded after the Phillies had played nine games - more than any other team.  They finished just above the last place Washington Senators.  Not much better on the soccer pitch than their current day namesake is on the baseball field, the soccer Phillies won two and lost seven, and were outscored 37-15.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Women's World Cup TV Schedule

The Cup kicks off in less than a week.  The full television schedule is in today's Inquirer.  The U.S. begins a week from tomorrow with an opening match against Australia in Vancouver.  The Americans final tune-up was last night, a listless 0-0 draw with Korea in Red Bull Stadium in Harrison, NJ. 

FIFA Re-elects Sepp Blatter - Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss.

What's a little bribery and corruption scandal?  Not much for Sepp Blatter who today in Zurich was elected to his fifth consecutive term as president of FIFA just several days after 14 soccer and marketing officials were arrested on various charges of what the New York Times called :staggering levels of corruption." Didn't seem to both the 133 countries that voted for Blatter.

The official press release on the FIFA website is here while the Times' soccer superwriter, Sam Borden, provides a more objective account of the vote.

Christie Rampone and the World Cup

Lost in the hubub over the arrests of numerous top FIFA officials and others on charges of bribery and the like is the fact that the Women's World Cup begins in less than 10 days when host Canada faces the Peoples Republic of China on June 6 at 2:00 p.m. eastern time in Edmonton.

Related to the tournament is yesterday's article by Juliet Macur in the New York Times about American veteran Christie Rampone.  Macur always writes good stuff, usually from a point of view, and this article is no exception, although the headline (which she did not write) is a bit overly dramatic.  A fax certainly rewrote Rampone's career, but not U.S. soccer history.  Given the talent, I suspect the United States would have reached the World Cup final, and probably won it, without Rampone.  But it was sure nice having her on the field with all the others.

More on the World Cup in the days to come.

Uncle Sam Goes After FIFA

Early this morning - too late for the newsprint editions of the morning newspapers - Swiss authorities arrested eight top officials of soccer's governing body, FIFA, on corruption charges filed in the United States.  The New York Times on-line edition has full coverage.

A Bicycle (Kick) Built For Two

Check out this video of a high school play-off game on May 5, 2015 in South Carolina.  It starts with a corner kick on the left by the white team.  The kick goes over to the right and the white player there sends it in the middle but the red fullback at about the 6 does a poor job of clearing and the ball loops back out to the same guy in the white team who had just kicked it.  This time he controls it then does a bicycle kick and sends the ball on a line drive into the middle where a teammate does another bicycle kick and puts the ball into the net.  Spectacular sequence.

Black Days in Blackpool

Five years ago, Blackpool played in the English Premier League.  Now the Seasiders are on their way down to the Third Division with a record of just four wins, thirteen draws and a whopping 28 defeats.

But fans in this cit of 140,000 on the coast of the Irish Sea in Northwestern England aren't taking relegation lightly.  As reported by David Goldblatt in the May 2 editions of The New York Times, have taken to the streets and the pitch to protest the apparent mismanagement of the club by chairman Karl Oysten.  Since the fans' displeasure was made public in April 2014, Goldblatt wwrites that ". . . there have been boycotts and walkouts, flash mobs and smoke bombs in the Oystons’ village, as well as sabotage of the signage of Oyston real estate agencies. After relegation was assured, thousands of supporters protested inside and outside the stadium during a game against Reading. Flares and fireworks were set off, and eggs were thrown at the directors’ box."

At least one group of supporters,  the Blackpool Supporters Trust, is seeking to have the team controlled by fans.  Whether they are successful remains to be seen.  For now they need to get used to the Third Division this August.

No JAGS Tournament Again This Year - Or Ever?

As readers of this blog know, the JAGS Tournament was a big part of my life for many years, as a parent, coach and for more than 10 years as college coordinator.  During that time I had the pleasure of working with so many good people dedicated to the sport and the girls, most of whom I saw only once a year; and of getting to know many many college coaches from around the East Coast.

Last year it was announced that after 33 years there would be no JAGS Tournament because the fields were being used by the Special Olympics and no other weekend would work.  Some said it was the end of JAGS, others held out hope it would return in 2015.  There was a glimmer last September when long-time director (and JAGS League VP), Rick Firth e-mailed committee members inquiring as to their interest in working in 2015.  Count me in, I'll be there.  Looking forward to see everyone.

In January Rick sent another e-mail around saying the tournament would be U9 through U15.  OK, some colleges are looking at U15s in the spring these days and it would have been a good excuse for me to go watch soccer for a weekend.

But two days ago came the death blow when Rick e-mailed us:
 

It comes with great regret that we are forced to cancel this years event. We do not have enough teams in any age bracket to make it work. For those who have paid, you will receive your original check back as they have not been cashed. You should have them by Monday. Enjoy the rest of your season and best of luck to all.

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of for your time and effort in this and previous years tournaments. I wish continued success to you and your teams.

Thanks again,

Rick

While I still hold out hope of a return in 2016, I am afraid two years in a row with no tournament will be more than any event can survive, even one as long-running and with as dedicated people as JAGS has.  But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.