Washed up at 20?

Good article in the Sports Illustrated that arrived today about the kid who was the future of MLS and perhaps US Soccer six years ago. Except it didn't turn out that way.

Freddy Adu signed with DC United at age 14, projected as the American Pele. But six years lateer, he is warmin g the bench for Aris FC in Greece, his sixth professional team. And he almost certainly will not be on the United States roster for the World Cup.

"What happened?" asks SI's Grant Wahl, one of the nation's top soccer writers, who has written another masterpiece. What happened is summed up by Jerome De Bontin, an American who is president of Monaco in the French league. De Bontin is quoted as saying, "Everybody has the same analysis. He had incredible talent, yet he was lacking standard tactical knowledge that most players his age had. It was tied to the fact he became professional at 14 and in some ways stopped learning at 15."

Somethin g to think about the next time MLS looks for a teenage saviour.

Union Home Opener: LeToux 3, United 2

Good game tonight as 34,870 at Lincoln Field watched the Union down winless DC United, 3-2 behind a hat trick from Sebastien LeToux. It was the first men's pro soccer league game in Philadelphia in some 30 years.

Unfortunately, one of the fans attending happened to be the Vice President of the United States and this caused chaos in entering the stadium, resulting in some very angry fans.

The weather was good and there was a festive atmosphere around the stadium as fans tailgated, cooking, drinking beer and kicking soccer balls around. We made our way to the stadium about 35 minutes before kick-off and when we saw the long lines to get in my wife jumped in line while I went to pick up the tickets at Will Call. We made it through Secret Service security and their metal detectors by about 5:45 and had to time to find our overpriced seats in the Club Level.

But I learned later that the gates were closed when Vice President Biden entered and quite a few fans missed the kick-off and as much as 20 minutes of the first half. It's not clear why they had to shut down the gates as opposed to driving Mr. Biden in an armored car through one of the private tunnels leading into the stadium and simply securing just that one area.

After the Vice President's granddaughter did the honors for the ceremonial first tap play got underway at 6:10,meaning it was not quite a quarter past 6 when LeToux scored the first goal in team history, a nice header into the right corner off a cross by Roger Torres. The play had started with a free kick by Torres after Alejandro Moreno was fouled. DC keeper Troy Perkins deflected the ball to Moreno, who passed out to Torres on the right. Torres made a perfect pass in the air to LeToux at the 6 and he buried it in the net.

Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz, speaking to a group of lawyers a few weeks earlier, had promised that the team would play an "attractive, fun-to-watch attacking style. It did not take long to see what he meant.

After the early goal, the blue and gold continued to press forward and dominate play. In the 39th minute Moreno on the left found LeToux in the middle of the field and fed a lead pass. LeToux ran onto the ball, with a defender in hot pursuit, carried, then at just the right moment calmly shot into the lower left corner for a 2-0 lead.

I though the Union should have been awarded a penalty kick in the 60th minute when the referee called a trip (and issued a caution) which appeared to be in the box but then placed the ball a yard outside the 18. The free kick sailed over the crossbar.

United drew within one in the 63rd minute when Santino Quaranta beat a defender and then shot past keeper Chris Seitz to make it 2-1. Seitz preserved the lead two minutes later when he made a nice save on a corner from the left. But in the 69th minute his costly mistake led to the equalizer. While attempting to punt Seitz dropped the ball outside the box in the vicinity of Jaime Moreno, who had an easy pass into an open net. Suddenly it was 2-2.

LeToux to the rescue. After The visitors' Dejean Jakovic was sent off for a hard foul in the 77th minute, Letoux drilled the resulting free kick into the net for the lead that stood up.

SOME THOUGHTS:

-- I would have liked to have bought a program of the historic home opener, but none was to be found.
-- Despite the price of tickets at the Club level, the concession stands were bargain basement in their menus, if not the prices. Hot dogs, pizza, beer and soda was about all that was available, unless you wanted to take the time to go to another level.
-- The team made a nice gesture by asking for a moment of silence before the game in memory of those from the Polish government killed in the plane crash in Russia the day before.
-- Someone needs to clue the P.A. announcer on redundancy. For example, is it necessary to say, "The referee has issued a yellow card to ...?" Who else would issue a yellow card? The vice president, maybe? Or, "The 4th official on the sideline has indicated there will be two minutes of stoppage time." Who cares that the 4th official holds up the sign? And where else would he be but on the sideline? The amount of time is in the referee's discretion anyway.
-- The video replay did not show either DC goal or the foul that earned Jakovic the red card.
-- Nice to hear some singing from the fans. It is common at European and South American soccer matches, but not seen in other sports in the United States. The Union's fan club, "Sons of Ben," sang somewhat sporadically in the north stands, while another group was more or less continuous with the vocals at the opposite end.
-- All in all a good game worth seeing. I'll be back and I expect many others will as well.

Big Pro Soccer Weekend

Pro soccer retruns to Philadelphia with a vengeance this weekend as both new teams play their home opener.

The men's Union, which opened in Seattle last weekend, will face DC United Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Linc, while the women's Independence opens the season Sunday at 6 p.m. at West Chester University against the Atlanta Beat featuring #1 WPS draft pick, Tobin Heath. Both should be good games and I'm hoping for good crowds.

Coach P plans to be at both games and looks forward to the return of pro soccer to the City. Has it really been seven years since the Charge last played at Villanova? And 30 years after the last Fury game at the Vet? Where have you gone, Jenny Benson?

World Cup Advertising.

An article in today's New York Times takes a quick look at how advertisers are gearing up for the World Cup, set to begin June 11. The column focuses on Hyundai and Powerade, which is sold by Coca Cola. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/business/media/31adco.html?ref=business

Coach P Got Married!

Despite heavy rains that caused problems at the Jersey Shore and elsewhere, the wedding came off without a problem (and with no yellow cards) on March 13 at the Church of the Messiah in Gwynedd, PA. Debbie and I met in this church close to 50 years ago and have been friends ever since and now we are husband and wife.

Although Debbie rejected my suggestion that she dribble a ball down the aisle, there was a soccer influence at the wedding. In the bridal party alone we had six current or former players including me; my brother, Gary, a teacher and Episcopal priest who married us; my daughter, Kirsten and her husband, Chris Chesla, who both played in high school and now play for FC Hansa in Minneapolis; my son, Scott; and Debbie's grandson, Zachary Werner, the ringbearer, who plays on a 5-year old team near West Chester.

I was also happy to have representatives from all three Medford Strikers teams I have coached and from Haddonfield H.S. From the '78-'79 team were parents Mark and Angela Adlen. Coach Jerry Ciser was in Florida and could not make it. From the great '81-'82 team was Coach Joe Dadura ("Mr. D") and his wife Bobbie. And the Medford Strikers Xtreme were represented by GM John Makowski and his wife, Sandy; Coach Mike Grimes and his wife Linda, both former players; and parents Bettie and George Sierra.

We had quite a team at one of the tables with Scott, who played for the Strikers U14 1994 state champions; Kirsten and Chris; and my good friend, Lauren Konopka, a great player for the Strikers, Holy Cross H.S. and Wheaton College, Mass. (Class of '08).

Coaches Steve Barbagiovanni and George Rhea from the Xtreme could not make it, but not surprisingly the best line of the day came from George. (This is the guy who gave me the saying, "Free is me," among others.) George texted me congratulations on the morning of the wedding and I texted back thanking him. To which he replied, "Remember 'I do.'" Thanks, George. And I did.

At this instant, no replay in soccer

Instant replay is not happening in soccer. Good.

A Reuters article in today's NY Times reports that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) rejected the use of goalline and video technology to assist referees. Said FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke, “It’s an end to the potential use of technology within football.”
FIFA made the right call.

Even if it were limited to decisions involving whether a goal had been scored, instant replay would alter the nature of the game by breaking up the flow of play while officials looked at video. If a goalkeeper made a save on the line and the attacking team claimed the ball had crossed the line, would play then be stopped for a video review, thus depriving the keeper of the opportunity to punt or throw the ball? And forget it on other plays, such as a hand ball. (The non-call of an apparent hand ball by France's Thierry Henry on a scoring play against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier renewed calls for use of video technology.) Even if a replay could show that a ball touched a player's hand, how could it determine intent.

Soccer rule changes over the years have tended to speed up the game. For example forbidding a keeper's use of hands on a passback from a teammate cut down on delaying tactics. Instant relay would have the opposite effect and would slow down the game.

Blowin' in the Wind

Check out the following video on You Tube of this recent game in Baden-Würtemburg, Germany between first place TSV Grunbach and second place TSV Wimsheim:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYJttBJq6lw&feature=topvideos

It's a funny clip and appears to show a player taking a 6-yard kick into heavy wind, only to see the ball blown into his net for an apparent goal for the other team. (I'm not sure which team is which here.)

However, the goal should not count. Law 16 says, "A goal may be scored direct from a goal kick but only against the opposing team." It appears no one touched the ball after it was kicked, so the kick should be re-taken.