World Cup 2010 South Africa

Ladies and Gentlemen, Saturday, February 25, 2012, has been a great day to be a Georgia Bulldog.

In the early evening, the basketball team took down the 12th-ranked Florida Gators. (I hate Florida.) Prior to that triumph, however, the Georgia Soccer Dawgs continued their 2012 Spring exhibition schedule by defeating the 2011 NCAA tournament semifinalist Florida State Seminoles 1-0.

What makes this an even more impressive feat for the Dawgs is that they accomplished this feat without two major impact players, goalkeeper Ashley Baker and defender Nikki Hill, who are both away on international duty playing for England and Canada, respectively. In addition, the Red and Black have been hit by the injury bug recently, leaving them with only 13 players on the roster for this match. (That means there were only two subs available on the bench… the equivalent of playing with one sub on the bench for basketball.)

Georgia fought a strong, mostly-defensive battle over the whole game. They broke through on an Alexa Newfield goal in the 53rd minute of the second half. From there, they were able to hang on to the one-goal advantage to take the victory from the visiting Seminoles. (It’s also worth noting that Carli Shultis played in this game, despite being arrested on Tuesday for stealing $1.06 worth of hashbrowns from the Tate Center Bulldog Cafe. No, I’m not kidding.)

Congratulations to the Georgia Soccer team for prevailing against seemingly insurmountable odds and defeating a great Florida State team!

The unbeaten and nationally-ranked Alisal High boys soccer team was seeded No. 5 in the Central Coast Section Division I tourney Saturday.

The Trojans, 17-0-3, will play a first-round game at home Wednesday against No. 12 Sequoia (9-7-4) at 6 p.m.

Should Alisal win its tourney opener it would play No. 4 seed Serra (14-3-4) of the West Catholic Athletic League on Saturday at a place and time to be determined.

Salinas High (13-4-3) was seeded as the 11th seed in D-I and visits No. 6 Lincoln of San Jose (13-2-4) Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

If the Cowboys win their opener they would play No. 3 Watsonville (15-1-2) Saturday at a place and time to be announced.

Menlo Atherton (15-0-5) was the D-I top seed and would face Alisal if both teams reach the semifinal round.

Four Monterey County teams were seeded into the D-III tourney, two were awarded home games and one game will involve two Salinas-area teams.

North Monterey County (17-2-1) was seeded No. 5 and will play No. 12 Carmel (7-7-3) at home Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

This is the only soccer game — boys or girls — involving two local teams going head-to-head.

No. 8 Soledad (11-3-1) will also play a home game. The Aztecs meet No. 9 Del Mar (10-6-2) Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Stevenson School (9-7-0) was seeded No. 11 in D-III and plays No. 6 Harbor (10-5-4) at Soquel High Wednesday at 5 p.m.

The No. 1 seed in D-III is Santa Cruz (10-5-3), which earned a first-round bye.
Girls

The Salinas High girls, which went 11-2-5, were seeded No. 11 in D-I and travel to No. 6 Santa Teresa (13-4-3) Tuesday for a 2:30 p.m. match in San Jose.

In D-III, Stevenson (16-1-3) was the third seed and earned a first-round bye. The Pirates will play the winner of Wednesday’s No. 11 Sacred Heart Prep (10-5-5)-No. 6 Harbor (9-5-4) on Saturday at a place and time to be announced.

Pacific Grove (14-2-5) was seeded No. 9 and visits No. 8 Crystal Springs Upland (18-1-2) at Crystal Springs on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.

American Heritage (28-2-3) won its fifth state title by defeating Land O’ Lakes 3-1 at the University of South Florida’s Corbett Stadium on Saturday in the FHSAA Class 3A state championship soccer match.

Patriots coach Richard Jobson, who hails from Kingston, Jamaica, and is in his first year at the helm, was content to put the past two years of regional semifinal losses behind and quiet his team’s critics.

“At the start of the season, nobody expected us to win,” Jobson, whose Patriots were in their last state final game in 2008, said. “It has been a lot of hard work and discipline — we’ve always had the talent.”

Luis Betancur scored American Heritage’s first goal in the eighth minute (32:29) on an assist by Nicholas Kaupas.

“Luis hadn’t scored in three games, and we worked on it in practice,” Jobson said.

Land O’ Lakes answered as Miguel Laliberte headed a pass to Adam Weinstock, who headed a goal past senior Juan Cano with 30:55 left in a first half in which the Gators outshot the Patriots 5-2.

“That was a great play by them, and the header caught me off guard,” said Cano, who made nine saves. “I’ve had 120-plus saves this year and 20 shutouts, and I wanted to get another shutout.”

Land O’ Lakes (23-4-2) hadn’t played a state title game since 1999 and outshot American Heritage 15-8 in the game.

But the Gators were forced by the Patriots defenders to take shots on goal from long range.

After the break, junior Ricardo Castro netted a shot past Gators’ goalie Mitchell McCuen less than 40 seconds into the second half (39:21) on an assist by Betancur.

Betancur, one of the nation’s top juniors, according to ESPN, gave the Patriots a two-goal cushion with 34:15 remaining in the game, putting the Patriots up 3-1.

“It feels great to win state, and I couldn’t do it without the team,” said Betancur, who scored 34 goals and had 17 assists this season. “They [the Gators] were tired out [in the second half], and we were pressuring and pressuring. We got the goals.”

Castro, who transferred from St. Thomas Aquinas and plays on the same club team at Weston Academy with Betancur, chipped in with the final assist to Betancur.

“We’ve known each other for quite a while now,” Castro said. “Now it’s natural — I know where he’s at [on the field].

“I have a lot of faith in him to make a play.”

Land O’ Lakes provided American Heritage with its first scare of the second half with 21:23 left as Cano was slapped with a yellow caution card and served penalty time for pulling down the Gators’ Nathan Dalton. Land O’ Lakes’ ensuing free kick was blocked by the Patriots’ first line of defenders.

In the 68th minute, Joseph Rodriguez was called for his second yellow card and was ejected from game for breaking the wall of Patriots defenders lined up to block another Gators’ free kick. Land O’ Lakes’ Jake Frahm was given another chance inside the box, but Cano made a diving save with his right foot and knocked the ball out of the box.

Cano, who said the South Carolina Gamecocks have shown interest in him, blocked two out of five penalty kicks in the state semifinal game against Tampa Jesuit to help American Heritage advance to the state final.

“I’ve seen him [Cano] better, but he did well [Saturday],” said Jobson, who was a standout goalie at St. Thomas University.

“A lot of these players sacrifice themselves for the team. They put back personal goals, and a lot of players changed their position for the team.

“Whenever we need someone to step up, they step up. We used 18 players [Saturday], and we tried to play good possession-type soccer.”

Said Castro: “He [Jobson] did an excellent job. He gave us motivational speeches. All our coaches [Christopher Williams, Dalton Knight and Thiago Oliveira] have a good style — last week we trained hard.

Although Ramona High School’s girls soccer team lost its Feb. 7 home game against Westview and its Feb. 9 match at Poway, both losses were by only one-goal margins.

“Both were very close games,” said Assistant Coach Rod Vandervort. “The girls played very good soccer. We’re very encouraged by the games this past week.”

The home game was played on a rainy day.

“The turf was a little slick,” Vandervort said.

That didn’t keep the teams from playing a close game. Bulldog goalkeeper Maria Solis made 12 saves, including eight in the first half. Solis also had the help of sweeper Lexi Hogan, outside defenders Emily Vandervort and Briana Gansch, stopper Bianca Scodellaro, defensive midfielder Julie Voorhes, and midfielder/defender Katie White.

“Our defense did a good job,” Vandervort said. “Even offensively we controlled the ball much better than we did in the first game against them.”

Ramona’s only goal Jan. 19 during a 6-1 loss at Westview was on a free kick. The lack of a goal Feb. 7 didn’t translate into a lack of execution by the Bulldogs.

“When we did get the ball, we did a good job of connecting short passes,” Vandervort said.

The Wolverines scored the game’s only goal about 15 minutes into the second half.

“They centered it with a nice pass,” Vandervort said. “We had our defense in pretty decent position. They just made a nice play.”

The deficit didn’t adversely affect the Bulldogs’ confidence.

“Even after they were up, we still played pretty well,” Vandervort said.

The Bulldogs overcame a Poway lead in the 2-1 game Feb. 9. The Titans scored the game’s first goal on a cross play about 18 minutes into the game. Approximately seven minutes later, Karli Njaa advanced the ball downfield before finding that Samantha Schmidt was able to take a shot from about 27 yards out.

Njaa gave Schmidt the opportunity for a goal, and Schmidt placed the ball into the top right corner of the net.

“She just nailed it,” Vandervort said.

The Titans had the second half’s only score.

“The second half we battled back and forth. Both teams had a few opportunities,” Vandervort said.

Solis made 13 saves against Poway.

The losses gave Ramona a 9-11-1 overall season record and a Palomar League figure of 0-7-1.

Thursday will be Senior Night when the Bulldogs close out their regular season at home against Torrey Pines.

The CIF playoff selection and seeding meeting will take place Saturday.

No related posts.

The conflict between club and high school soccer — at least for the boys — is officially over. Club soccer wins.

On Feb. 10, the five-year-old U.S. Soccer Development Academy, which consists of 78 elite clubs nationwide blessed by U.S. Soccer as integral to its elite player development, announced that all teams will be on a 10-month schedule beginning with the 2012-13 season. (Some regions had already moved to 10 months, but everyone else had played seven.) So that means about 3,000 players of high school age will effectively be barred from playing for their high school teams. Simply, there won’t be time, and, frankly, the time on high school soccer was wasted, anyway. The folks at U.S. Soccer don’t say that exactly, but they might as well have. From the FAQ on the scheduling change:

Is U.S. Soccer saying that kids can no longer play high school soccer?

Every player has a choice to play high school soccer or in the Development Academy. We believe that for those elite soccer players who are committed to pursuing the goal of reaching the highest levels they can in the sport, making this decision will provide them a big advantage in their development and increase their exposure to top coaches in the United States and from around the world.

We are talking about a group of players that want to continue at the next level, whether that is professional or college, which is still the destination for a majority of our graduates.

Sure, you can player high school soccer — if you’re a spazz!

U.S. National Coach Jurgen Klinsmann, in the news release announcing the extended schedule, said elite players eschewing high school soccer is the price we as a nation must pay to reach World Cup-winning status, like Klinsmann’s native country, Germany.

“If we want our players to someday compete against the best in the world, it is critical for their development that they train and play as much as possible and in the right environment. The Development Academy 10-month season is the right formula and provides a good balance between training time and playing competitive matches. This is the model that the best countries around the world use for their programs, and I think it makes perfect sense that we do as well.”

Of course, in other soccer-playing nations, school sports were not the core of soccer, or just about any other sport. But this is America, darn it, and kids like to play for the glory of their school, too, right?

It will come as no surprise that high school soccer coaches aren’t totally on board with U.S. Soccer taking the best players out of high school programs. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

While area high school coaches Terry Michler of CBC and Chaminade’s Mike Gauvain can understand U.S. Soccer’s plan in theory, they do not agree with this approach.

“If they were going to target the top 60 or 80 or even 100 top kids in an age group and work to develop them, maybe that’s something I could understand,” Gauvain said. “But the scope of this is just too big. The Academy system has something like 72 teams nationwide; there’s just no way there are that many elite-level players out there for a system like this.”

Added Michler: “They’re going to try to sell this to players and their parents as the path to college or professional soccer, and that’s just not true. If you’re a top player, a truly elite player, you’re going to be found, no matter where you play.”

Michler, the winningest high school soccer coach in America, added: “There’s something special about being able to represent your school in a rivalry game in front of your friends and family and classmates. And you just don’t get that in club soccer, even at the top level.

“What we’re doing is asking these players and their families to make extremely difficult decisions in a system that didn’t need to be changed.”

Now, it might be overstating things to say that high school soccer will die when elite players go elsewhere. After all, sports such as tennis and gymnastics survive at the high school level, even though it’s been known for decades that those aren’t the paths to stardom. And the bigger risk, as Michler points out, is for the kids and families who decide to spend the money and time on the Academy path. There’s no way 3,000 players will make it to the highest levels. Are these children going to be sacrificed on the altar of a potential World Cup?

However, for those coaching and participating in high school soccer, their being squeezed out by elite programs is a short-term threat to their existence. If the elite system devalues high school soccer, will high school soccer then be devalued in the eyes of others? High school soccer is likely going to have to forget about any aspirations to training future college and pro players. Instead, it will thrive only if it sells kids on the experience of representing your school. Having seen how excited my kids have been to represent their school in sports and activities, that’s not a hard sell.

There aren’t a ton of live soccer matches airing on TV in the United States during the week following Super Bowl Sunday. You’ll have to wait one more week for Champions League action to return, but that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with just match replays up until Friday. Premier League, FA Cup and La Liga action will hold you over during the upcoming four days. The Super Bowl isn’t the only reason to give yourself a three-day weekend this year, as a different kind of Monday Night Football contest could turn out to be a game of the week candidate.

All times listed are ET

Live soccer games on US TV for February 6

ESPN2 is the only station with a match on Monday, but it’s one that could have a significant impact on the EPL top four. Liverpool host Tottenham Hotspur, and coverage of that contest begins at 2:55 pm.

Live soccer games on US TV for February 7

This Tuesday, tune into FOX Soccer Plus for your fix of live soccer action. FSP has an FA Cup Replay Tuesday afternoon, as Sheffield Wednesday host Blackpool at 2:40 pm.

Live soccer games on US TV for February 8

FOX Soccer: FOX Soccer has one FA Cup Replay on Wednesday. Coverage of the Middlesbrough vs. Sunderland contest begins at 2:30 pm.

GolTV: GolTV joins the action on Wednesday with a match that involves arguably the greatest club on the planet. Barcelona take on Valencia, and that game starts at approximately 3:00 pm.

Live soccer games on US TV for February 9

Neither FOX Soccer station nor ESPN2 have any live soccer action on Thursday. GolTV steps in to save the day, however, with two live games. Siena take on Napoli in a Coppa Italia contest at 2:45 pm. The station then airs Sao Paulo vs. Comercial at 6:45 pm.

As always, check your local listings during the week for channel availability and for a list of match replays airing on the four channels throughout the midweek. Remember to check the schedules daily, as kickoff times may change due to weather. For example, snow has caused the postponement of several Italian matches in the past week. Don’t forget to check the ESPN3 schedule for a list of games not showing on TV. ESPN3 has games each day during the upcoming midweek.

Clashes between protesters and security forces left five people dead on Friday in an escalation of violence that threatened to undo Egypt’s halting steps toward stability after the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak one year ago.
The protests began Thursday in anger at the police for failing to prevent a post-match fight between rival groups of soccer fans in Port Said in which 70 people were killed on Wednesday night.

But as the protests continued for a second day Friday, the original riot had become a metaphor for the failure of the military-led government to resolve the underlying complaints that fuel recurring street violence, including brutal but capricious police officers, a lack of accountability and implausible attempts to blame mysterious third parties for social unrest.

If the ruling military council cannot control a soccer game, many asked, how can they run a country of more than 80 million? “If you can’t secure a match, tell me how will you secure Egypt?” demonstrators chanted on their way to the headquarters of the Interior Ministry.

The violence erupted just days after two much-anticipated and potentially combustible occasions managed to pass in Egypt with unexpected calm: the first anniversary of the revolt against Mr. Mubarak and the installation of a new Parliament.

Now, though, the soccer riot has come to epitomize a new wave of miscellaneous crimes around the country, from a bank robbery in Cairo last week to the kidnapping of two American tourists and their guide for six hours in the Sinai on Friday.

Addressing the resulting public anger at the police and the military-led government is the first challenge for the new Parliament and its Islamist leaders.

Initially led by die-hard soccer fans — known as ultras — the protests that began around the country on Thursday were the first since Mr. Mubarak’s ouster that at least some demonstrators began not in peace but with the avowed intent to inflict violence on security forces.

By Friday, however, the ultras still on the front lines had been joined by thousands of other protesters. They marched after prayers from mosques around the city and chanted for the end of military rule.

In both Suez and Cairo, rock-throwing protesters continued to surround and attack the Interior Ministry headquarters for a second day, after battling through the night. And in both places, the police fought back with heavy, round-the-clock volleys of tear gas, then with birdshot.

In Suez, hospital officials reported wounds from live ammunition as well. Three protesters were killed there, hospital officials said, and one was killed in Cairo. An army officer was also killed during the fighting in Cairo when he was accidentally run over by a security truck. More than 1,400 were injured, state media reported.

The fighting in Cairo resembled battles fought in some of the same streets in November, when more than 40 people died, and again in December, when more than 15 more were killed.

Whether because of the depth of the public anger over the soccer riot or because of the potential supervision of the new Parliament, the security forces seemed, if anything, more restrained. But the protesters quickly fell back into the patterns of previous battles.

Vendors sold hospital masks to protect against tear gas. Young women dispensed vinegar and other home remedies. And after working through the night, gleeful protesters partially tore down a wall of concrete blocks that the military had erected to keep them from the Interior Ministry.

Racing to respond to the outcry over the soccer riot, officials of the military-led government announced that it had imposed travel bans on certain police officials under scrutiny in an investigation into who was responsible for security at the match.

The ruling military council, which has pledged to hand over power after the writing of a constitution and the election of a president by the end of June, urged in a statement that Egyptians “confront the attempts at escalation by foreign and domestic parties.” The council did not explain who those parties were.

The Asian Football Confederation has urged soccer’s rule-making body to approve a headscarf with new safety features for use by Islamic female players.

AFC acting chief Zhang Jilong said in a statement Monday that a favorable decision when the International Football Association Board debates the issue on March 3 in London is crucial to the future of women’s soccer worldwide.

“Many women footballers in Asia wear headscarves. I would like to request the IFAB to favorably consider FIFA’s proposal and review the rule and allow women players to play wearing a safe headscarf that covers the neck,” he said in a statement.

Though FIFA originally banned the hijab or headscarf in 2007 as a possible strangulation hazard, the executive committee of world soccer’s governing body agreed in December to put forward a proposal to amend the rules. It was prompted by a presentation from AFC vice president Prince Ali Bin Hussein of Jordan, who called on the IFAB to sanction a Velcro-opening headscarf for players and officials.

FIFA’s ban was condemned by Islamic leaders and Iran forfeited a 2012 Olympic women’s qualifier against Jordan in June because the players refused to play without the hijabs.

Zhang, who also is also a member of FIFA’s executive committee, said several new headscarf designs that ensure player safety were now available.

“I have personally seen the new designs with a Velcro joined at the neck, which releases if the headscarf is pulled, ensuring the player’s safety,” he said.

While FIFA is soccer’s world governing body, the IFAB determines the rules of the game.

In the end, what matters is that the U.S. women’s soccer team is going to the Olympics. What the players won’t soon forget is how hard they had to work get there.

The Americans booked their way to London on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament at Vancouver, Canada, a game more suspenseful than most anyone expected.

Tobin Heath scored in the 16th minute to give U.S. all the scoring it needed, and goals by Carli Lloyd (72nd) and Alex Morgan (89th) put the game away late.

But the top-ranked Americans were less crisp than when they were beating teams by a combined 31-0 earlier in the tournament and drawing criticism for running up the score.

Costa Rica is ranked No. 41 in the world, has never qualified for an Olympics or a World Cup and has never scored on the U.S. in eight meetings. Las Ticas proved to be scrappy opponents, however, occasionally frustrating the Americans with physical play and just missing on two solid scoring chances in the first half in the London-or-bust match. As the possibility of an upset lingered deep into the second half, the underdogs gained the rousing support of the Canadian fans at BC Place.

In the end, a speedy, unflappable quartet of American defenders — Kelley O’Hara, Rachel Buehler, Christie Rampone and Amy LePeilbet — combined with goalkeeper Hope Solo to keep Costa Rica out of the net. Solo played despite a slightly pulled right quadriceps that had been bothering her all week.

The U.S. will be the two-time defending champions in London, having taken gold in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008. It will be the third straight Olympics in which the Americans will be trying to make amends for World Cup disappointment from the previous year. They finished second at last year’s World Cup in Germany, losing to Japan in the final.

The victory also puts the Americans into the tournament final Sunday, a bragging-rights-only game against the winner of Friday’s late game between Mexico and Canada.

Donovan shines in London

Landon Donovan set up both goals for Everton, which rallied to beat Fulham and Clint Dempsey, 2-1, Friday night in London for a berth in the fifth round of the FA Cup.

With the two biggest stars on the U.S. national team facing each other for the first time in six years, Danny Murphy put Fulham ahead at Goodison Park with a 14th-minute penalty kick that beat American goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Donovan’s cross from the right flank was headed in by Denis Stracqualursi in the 27th minute for his first goal for Everton. Again passing the extreme right side, Donovan’s cross was headed in by Marouane Fellaini in the 73rd minute.

“Landon’s been great since he’s been here,” Everton assistant manager Steve Round said.

Selig expects expanded playoffs this year

Commissioner Bud Selig expects baseball to expand its playoffs this season.

Players and owners have already agreed to add an additional wild-card team in each league, but are still deciding whether it would take effect this year or in 2013. Selig said there are scheduling issues to be worked out — once they are, the new 10-team format would begin with a one-game playoff.

Right fielder Hunter Pence and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed Friday to a $10.4-million, one-year contract.

Pence hit .314 with 22 homers and a career-high 97 RBIs for Houston and Philadelphia last season, when he made $6.9 million. Outfielder Juan Pierre agreed to a minor league contract with the Phillies.

The Texas Tech soccer team announced its spring schedule Monday afternoon, which features five matches away from Lubbock, while the Red Raiders will play one home match on April 7th when they host New Mexico at the John Walker Soccer Complex.

“The spring is a crucial time in our sport– and a very important one for this team in particular with the veterans we return and the excellent class we have coming in,” head coach Tom Stone said. “Foundations can be built this time of year in a way that gives you a great edge in the fall season. We will be going at it hard from day one and play a spring schedule that will challenge us to keep improving.”

Texas Tech is coming off one of the best campaigns in school history finishing the 2011 season with a 10-7 record and a fourth place finish in the Big 12, which was the highest conference finish in school history.

Texas Tech returns 20 players who saw action last season and accounted for 75 percent of the team’s minutes. The returning players include All-Big 12 Second Team selection and unanimous All-Big 12 Newcomer Team selection Jaelene Hinkle along with All-Big 12 Newcomer selection Victoria Esson.