On Top Of the World - Again

It's not surprising the U.S. women kept the World Cup that they won four years ago.  Not that it was easy.  After cruising through the group phase, the women defeated Spain, France and England, all by 2-1 scores, before facing the Netherlands in the final Sunday.

I thought the Americans dominated in the early going and but for the brilliant goalkeeping of Sari van Veenendaal would have had a one or two goal lead at the half.  But as coaches we always use to tell our players the longer you let a weaker opponent hang around, the more confident they become and if they score first it's a huge boost.   That didn't happen and when Megan Rapinoe nailed a PK in the 61st minute it was a huge boost.  When Rose Lavelle drilled a left footed laser into the lower right corner in the 69th minute you knew it was over.  The Dutch seemed to give up in the last 20 minutes.

Glad to see my former player Carli Lloyd, the star of the 2015 Cup but now relegated to a bench role, get on the field in the 87th minute.  Not sure how many caps this is for Carli, but if this was her last, what a career!

Not surprisingly, perhaps the best story of the Cup came from Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated.  The New York Times had extensive and first rate daily coverage, including Andrew Keh's report on the final. 

Much was written about how this Cup was meant to be a statement by the women that they deserved pay equal to the men.  (Of course they do!)  The Times wrote in an editorial on the subject: 

"It is difficult to understand the argument that the United States women’s national soccer team should get paid just as much as the men’s national soccer team.

The women are much more successful. They should earn more."

Here's hoping the success in France will lead to success women and girls in the U.S..

Three Shutouts in First Round, Spain Up Next

So the United States completed its stroll through the group phase of the Women's World Cup with 16 goals for, none against and three wins.  The most recent victory was 2-10 against Sweden in LeHavre Thursday.  Sweden, which hasd already clinched a spot in the knockout phase, will face Canada Monday, June 24 while the Americans take on Spain at the same time.

Andrew Keh and Andrew Das of the New York Times reported on the Sweden match.  The Times' Jere Longman reports on the growth of women's soccer in Spain.

On To The Sweet 16 - But First Sweden

Nobody expected 13 goals and although the U.S. scored "only" three against Chile, they dominated the match and would have had at least three more but for the brilliant goalkeeping of Christiane Endler, who robbed Christen Press of sure goals twice and did the same on other shots.  Endler, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, was named player of the match.

Good to see my former player, Carli Lloyd get back into the starting line-up and reward Coach Jill Ellis for the decision by scoring in the 11th and 35th minutes.  The first goal was a left footer one-timed into the corner and the second a header.  Sandwiched between these two was a goal by Julie Ertz off a corner.

Lloyd missed a chance for a hat trick when she hooked a PK wide left in the 81st minute.  I thought the penalty was questionable and was awarded after VAR review.  There was a foul, but it appeared to be just outside the 18.  Not so said the ref as she pointed to the penalty mark.

Sweden beat Thailand, 5-1 so the only question that remains is which team will finished first and which second.  Given the huge goal differential favoring the United States, Sweden would have to win Thursday's showdown,. but regardless of the result both teams will advance.

Andrew Das has game coverage in the New Yorks Times.

Forget Thailand. Chile's Up Today

Much has been written and said about the United States women's 13-0 thrashing of Thailand in the World Cup opener.  Many have defended the scoring as necessary because goal differential is the first tie-breaker in the group stage.  Agreed - but celebrating each goal like it was the World Cup winner was over the top.  Keep in mind, Eastern High School's team probably would have been a tougher opponent than Thailand.  In other words, the goals were expected so why act like it was such a big deal, even for women playing in their first World Cup?

The U.S. plays another less than stellar opponent - Chile - today before taking on powerhouse Sweden in the last match of the group stage.

13 Proves Lucky For U.S. in World Cup Opener

    JUNE 11, 2019 -- The United States women exploded for 13 goals in a rout of Thailand in the World Cup opener for both teams before 18,591 in Reims.  Alex Morgan scored five times for the U.S. and Carli Lloyd, who (along with Christen Press) came on in the 57th minute, netted the final goal in stoppage time.   Andrew Keh reports for the New York Times.

    In the other Group F match, as expected Sweden defeated Chile, 2-0.  The U.S. will face Chile and Sweden will take on Thailand on June 16.

If You Build It (Downtown) They will Come

Today's Boston Globe, reports with some envy how the MLS team Minnesota United opened a soccer-specific stadium in by a rail line St. Paul not quite two months ago, while the New England Revolution is stuck at the New England Patriots' stadium out in Foxboro.

The Globe notes that smaller soccer-only venues in downtowns have recently opened in Orlando, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C while others are in the works in Cincinnati, Nashville, and Austin.   

I recall how the Philadelphia Atoms of the old North American Soccer League played at Veterans Stadium, the multi-purpose facility that housed the Eagles and the Phillies.  The current MLS team, the Union, plays in a vey nice soccer-only stadium, but it's out of the way in Chester, a difficult to reach decrepit place south of Philadelphia. 

Challenging Cup Final for Penn Fusion U13s

There is something about the Cup, whether it's the World Cup or the Medford Cup.

When every minute is important and every goal counts, the intensity picks up whether there is a stadium full of fans and a TV audience, or nothing more than a few dozen family and friends standing on the sideline.

"Relax," I told one of my players before my first State Cup final as a coach back in 1994.  "It's just another game."  "Another game?" she shrieked.  "It's the freakin' State Cup final."  (I'm happy to say we won that final.)

This past week my granddaughter, Allison, got to experience the "freakin' State Cup Final" when she played goal for her Penn Fusion U13 girls team in the Eastern Pennsylvania Challenge Cup against the Lionville team in Manheim, Pennsylvania.  For those unaware, in U.S. Youth Soccer, Eastern and Western Pennsylvania are separate "states" so winning an Eastern Pennsylvania cup is the same as winning a New Jersey cup.

One of the Cup traditions is the pre-game parade used in international matches when the teams march onto the field and line up in the center.  It was exciting for me as a coach to watch the girls I'd coached walk out there, and even more so to see my own son in the parade in 1995 and then 24 years later to see my granddaughter, wearing the orange keeper's shirt and the captain's armband, take the walk to center field.

The game itself was exiting and well-played, but the results didn't go our way.  Lionville, in blue, went on the board in the 12th minute with a well-placed shot to the lower left corner, then added another in the 49th (35 minute halves) on a crazy bounce.  Penn Fusion couldn't solve Lionville's pressing flat back four and tenacious defense and it ended 2-0.

Nothing to be ashamed of.  As I told Allison, 28 teams started the Challenge Cup and last Saturday only two remained and hers was one of them.   The girls played their hardest and no one could ask for more.

Almost World Cup Time

With the dismal (U.S. not qualifying and Germany not advancing) 2018 World Cup far in the past, it's time to look to the Women's World Cup, where the Americans will begin defense of their title June 11 against Thailand in Reims, France.  We hope to see them in the final come July 7.

The bookies seem to like the red, white and blue, setting the odds for an American repeat at 2-1.  CBS Sports has a story on the odds for all the teams.

Follow all the results at the official FIFA site.

After the opener, the U.S. will face Chile on June 16 in Paris and wrap up group play against Sweden in LeHavre June 20.  Assuming U.S. advances out of Group F, they would play in the Round of 16 on June 24.

And finally, Jonathan Tannenwald had a piece in today's Inquirer about Team USA goalie, Alyssa Naeher, a Penn State graduate, Class of '09.  Fellow Nittany Lion Ali Krieger, Class of '06, is also on the roster and will be appearing in her third World Cup.

First Cup Final As A Grandparent

Proud of granddaughter Allison Werner and her U13 Penn Fusion SA United team, who came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit yesterday to defeat Rose Tree Blast, 3-2 in the semi-finals of the Eastern Pennsylvania Youth Soccer Association (EPYSA) Challenge Cup May 11 in Media.  It was an exciting game, well-played by both sides.

Allison is a goalie and this was the first time she'd given up a goal in five cup matches.  Who cares?  They won.

I have been to five State Cup finals in New Jersey.  Four as a coach - won them all.  One as a parent - won it.  Here's hoping the streak continues as a grandparent.

The final is tentatively scheduled for June 1.

Penn Fusion SA United U13 Girls - Challenge Cup finalists

Coach P and granddaughter Allison

DMV Too PC For FFC Fan?

This strikes me as being a bit over the top.

Jon Kotler, a lawyer and constitutional scholar at University of Southern California, is a big fan of Fulham F.C. in the English Premier League.  Fulham is known as "The Whites" and their slogan is "Come On You whites," or COYW.  It was these four letters that Kotler wanted on a California vanity license plate.  Pretty routine, right?  How many people ion Southern California know what COYW means?

Doesn't matter.  Some bureaucrat at the state's Department of Motor Vehicles rejected the application.  Kotler was told the four letters said the COYW  could be considered hostile, insulting, or racially degrading.  

Kotler has filed suit in federal court claiming his First Amendment rights have been violated.  The story is in the New York Post and on the BBC website.  I am all in favor of maintaining good taste in license plates and the like, but I think the DMV is wrong on this one.  Here's wishing the professor good luck in his suit.  

Kotler flies to England - an 11 hour flight from the West Coast - eight to ten times a year to watch Fulham play.  Next year he'll most likely  have to watch them in the English Football League (f/k/a The Second Division) as The Whites are in 19th place of 20 teams with five matches remaining. 

R.I.P Evelyn Partenheimer

My mother, Evelyn M. Partenheimer, died Thursday, March 14, 2019 in Ft. Washington, PA, at age 98.  She was quite the athlete at Friends Select School in Philadelphia, Class of 1938, starring in field hockey, basketball and tennis.  She was married to my father, Raymond Partenheimer, from 1945 until his death in October 2001.

Over the years my mother saw a lot of soccer games, watching my brother, Gary, and me play for Penn Charter, me at Gettysburg College, and then Kirsten and Scott over the years.

As she grew older my mother was devoted to family and loved the holidays at the Werners' in West Chester or at my house.  She was fond of her eight greatgrandchildren: Kirsten's four (Oliver, Soren, Kiera and Matteo) ; Scott's son (Neale) and Sarah's three (Zachary, Allison and Maggie).  She had quite a few friends at Gwynedd Estates, where she lived until moving to skilled nursing, at Ft. Washington Estates, and at her church.

She will be missed.

U.S. Women Back in Court

Three years after the Women's National Team was sued by the U.S. Soccer Federation the team sued USSF alleging gender discrimination in pay and working conditions.  The lawsuit is reported by Andrew Das in today's New York Times.  The Times also ran a piece about eight times when women fought inequality in sports.

More later when I've had a chance to review the complaint, filed in federal court in California.

Ajax Past and Present

Founded in 1900, Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax,  known simply as "Ajax", is one of the most famous clubs in Europe, if not the world.  I of course knew of the legendary Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels and of the Ajax rivalries with Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven.  But I was not aware of the support for the team among Amsterdam's Jewish population.

Sports Illustrated  recently ran an article about Eddy Hamel a Dutch Jew born in New York, who became the first Jewish player for Ajax and later died at Auschwitz.  The story describes the Ajax-Jewish connection.  It is a sobering piece about life in Nazi-controlled areas in World War II.  Hamel was apparently arrested because he was not wearing his "Judenstern" or Jewish star that Jews were required to wear.  The story took me back to my visit to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the time I saw Dachau, a concentration camp in Bavaria.

Fast forward to 2019.  Rory Smith wrote an article in The New York Times a few weeks ago about how Ajax uses its history and tradition to retain star players who might otherwise transfer to another European side for more Euros.

Rutgers' Wright's Dream Comes True

  

Many years ago, an 8-year old girl in Mt. Laurel, NJ declared she would someday be a professional soccer player.  That dream came true for Rutgers senior Kenie Wright last week, when Sky Blue FC of the National Women's Soccer League drafted her in the 4th round, 26th overall.

Kenie's grandfather, Pete McCorkle, is a long-time (35 years) running buddy of mine and he told me last weekend how hard Kenie had worked, how she went all out for 90 minutes every game and how she was deadly on set pieces.  She was a co-captain this year, earned South Jersey Collegiate Player of the Year honors as well as being Third Team All Region and Second Team All Big Ten.  Oh, yes, and she won the sportsmanship award.

Wright will be joining Rutgers alumnae Carli Lloyd, Madison Tiernan and Erica Skroski on the Sky Blue squad, which is coached by Scarlet Knight alum Denise Reddy.  Appropriately, Sky Blue plays homes matches at Rutgers' Yurcak Field.

We're looking forward to seeing Kenie live out the dream when the NWSL season begins.

FA Cup Has Lost Its Luster

I just noticed that I wrote the fewest posts (20) in 2018 of any year since I started this blog back in '09.  It's not a lack of interest but a lack of time.  I'll try to do better in 2019.

I'm starting off with the English FA Cup, the world's oldest soccer competition, dating back to 1871.  It is open to all levels of English soccer, although the top two levels of pro teams, the Premier League and Championship teams do not enter until the third round.

Today's New York Times reports on how the Cup has diminished in appeal; in recent years, due in part to the fiscal lure of the Champions League for some of the top teams and of promotion to the Premier League for others.  It is not unusual for a coach to rest his top players at a Cup match, saving them for a game that could mean promotion - or just staying in the Premier of Championship League. "Looked at from a distance, it is hard to see much magic left: teams of reserves contesting games they do not care about in front of half-empty stadiums, for the right to stay in a competition everyone involved sees as an afterthought," write Rory Smith and Tariq Panja in the Times.

The article focuses on Accrington Stanley, a Level 1 (i.e. Third Division) side that defeated Championship (Second) Division Ipswich Town, thus earning £125,000, 10 percent of its annual revenue, in one day.  The take for the fourth round match could be 10 times that if Accrington draws one of the top Premier League teams and the match is televised.  Should that be the case, no one will care if the other side sends its third string out.

Accrington will face either Derby County or the Premier League's Southampton in the next round.  Those two sides will replay a third round draw with the winner advancing.