USA Women Are The Four Time FIFA World Champs

Looks like Dolt 45 has a decision to make after the USA women handled their soccer business and completed their run to back to back titles for the first time in program history by defeating the Netherlands 2-0.

This was Team USA's fourth FIFA world championship, and they left no doubts about the fact they are the world's best team despite a stiff challenge from the Netherlands, the reigning European champions who were playing in their first FIFA women's World Cup final. 

The Netherlands was riding the hot goalkeeping of eventual Golden Glove winner Sari van Veenendaal, who kept the USA scoreless until  Alex Morgan drew a penalty in the 61 minute that led to Megan Rapinoe's sixth goal of the tournament.   That snapped van Veennedaal's scoreless streak at 314 minutes, and seven minutes later Rose Lavelle sent a scorching shot from 18 yards out past van Veenendaal to make it 2-0 and start the party in Lyon for te American fans there and back in the USA. 

Rapinoe not only captured the Golden Boot  award for the tournament's top scorer, she also snached the Golden Ball (MVP) trophy as the tournament's best player. 

Take that Donald Trump!

The Netherlands along with England and Sweden did walk away from this tournament knowing that they have qualified for the 2020 Olympics..    Sweden also won the Third Place game 2-1 against England.

But all hail the queens of the FIFA soccer pitch.    Will they threepeat in 2023?   We'll have to wait to find out the answer to this question.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch- Playing Colombia

FIFA number four ranked Team USA gets its first match in knockout round play later tonight against a familiar opponent in FIFA number 10 ranked Colombia.  

The last time these teams met, it was during group play in the 2012 London Games, and it resulted in a 3-0 USA victory.

It's also a match that Abby Wambach probably remembers well because of the not so ladylike sucker punch she received from Lady Andrade that earned her a two game suspension.

Here they are again, fighting to not only stay alive in the knockout rounds, but face China.

Should be a fun match, and go Team USA!

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch- On To The Knockout Round

Group play at the 2015 Women's World Cup has been concluded, and we now know which 16 teams are still alive in the chase for the FIFA women's world championship trophy and which ones are packing to go home.

For the rest of the tournament. you play until somebody wins or loses.  If the score is tied after 90 minutes plus stoppage time. you get 30 more minutes plus stoppage time to break the deadlock.  If it's still tied after that, a penalty kick shootout to determine who moves on.

The FIFA number four ranked USA is one of those sixteen teams.   They survived the 'Group Of Death' and advanced as the Group D winner.   By winning the group, they now reap the rewards of a less difficult road to the July 5 final in Vancouver.

But one of the burning questions in the inquiring minds of Team USA fans is are the struggles they've had generating offense lately over now that Alex Morgan is back in the lineup and getting her match fitness level back?

As long as they play defense the way they have been over the last three matches, all they need is to generate just enough offense to carry the day.   Hope Solo has been brilliant as usual in net, and is working on 243 minutes and counting in not allowing an opposing team's shot to pass her and enter the goal.

But first they will have to go through the Group F third place team in Colombia, who are making noise in this Women's World Cup tournament.   They were ranked 28th in the FIFA world rankings before it started, but after shocking FIFA number 3 ranked France 2-0 in Group F play, they have rocketed up to number 10 in the FIFA rankings.

So Team USA is acutely aware of the fact they can't fall asleep against this team.  Abby Wambach is probably more motivated than anyone else on Team USA to deliver some personal payback after she got sucker punched by Lady Andrade during the waning moments of a 3-0 USA win a 2012 Olympic tournament group match play.

Should they get past Colombia, the winner of the China-Cameroon match awaits in Ottawa on June 26.  Should they be successful in that match, they will play a semifinal match at Montreal's Olympic Stadium on June 30 with one of the teams in the other half of their bracket that include FIFA number one Germany, FIFA number 3 ranked France, a possible rematch with FIFA number 8 Sweden, and South Korea.

The knockout round starts June 20, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch-Escaping The 'Group Of Death'

Last night Team USA played their final group match in Vancouver against Nigeria with much on the  line. 

A Team USA win over the Super Falcons would clinch Group D, send them into the knockout round with a favorable draw that would allow them to avoid a clash with FIFA number one ranked Germany until at least the semis, and they wouldn't play until June 22 in Edmonton against the third place team from either Group B, E or F.

While they were an unbeaten (4-0) against Nigeria coming into that match, there's always that chance the breakthrough win for the Super Falcons could come at any time, and with the team having come off a draw with Sweden and being dropped to number 4 in the FIFA world rankings, Team USA fans had a lot to be worried about.

But with Alex Morgan finally starting and being paired with her running buddy Abby Wambach, the team we were looking for offensively finally showed up.

They kept the pressure on Nigeria from the outset, and in the 8th minute finally broke through with a goal from Julie Johnston that was waved off due to a controversial offside call

But they kept attacking, and it was Abby Wambach to the rescue in stoppage time just before the half as she headed a corner kick from Megan Rapinoe into the back of the net for the only goal the USA would need.



It was Wambach's first of the tournament and 14th career World Cup goal, putting her at second all time behind Brazil's Marta. And to those of us in the US LGBT community, I loved the fact it was two of our LGBT family members teaming up to score against a Nigerian squad that bans gay players and sending them packing as a result.

Thanks to another clean sheet for Hope Solo, who has now gone 243 minutes without allowing a goal, the Red White and Blue have escaped the Group of Death and await their initial knockout round match against the third place team from either Group B, E or F

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch-Next Up Nigeria

The final group play match for now FIFA ranked number four Team USA is taking place in Vancouver against Nigeria with much at stake for the Red, White and Blue. (We have to come up with a cooler nickname for our team).

They also slipped two spots in the FIFA world rankings.

Thanks to Meghan Klingenberg's header that preserved the 0-0 draw against Sweden, a win by Team USA in tonight's match at BC Place Stadium will allow them to clinch the 'Group of Death', punch their ticket to the knockout round, have an easier bracket, and face off in Edmonton June 22 against the third place team from either Group B, E or F.

If the Nigerians do something they have never done in Women's World Cup  competition and either upset Team USA or draw with them, it could depending on the result of the Australia-Sweden match either have them facing the Germans in Ottawa on June 20 , finishing second with a less favorable knockout round draw or knock them completely out of the tournament well short of their goal of winning the World Cup.

The Super Falcons aren't going to roll over and let Team USA waltz into the knockout round, especially since they have a chance with a win for the ages to advance to the knockout round themselves. 

So Team USA better not fall asleep on the job tomorrow night because they have much riding on the outcome of this match.  While Team USA's defense has been improving, their offense is a concern for Team USA fans.   

Here's hoping that whatever is ailing Team USA on the offensive end will get rectified starting at 7 PM CDT and continue through the rest of the tournament.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch-Great Start In Winnipeg

The 2015 World Cup has completed its first week and Team USA is off to a great start in Group D play after getting positive results in their matches with two FIFA top ranked opponents.

They beat number 10 ranked Australia 3-1 and held number 5 ranked Sweden to a scoreless draw that has them atop the Group of Death with 4 points.  Australia has 3 points thanks to their win over Nigeria, and Sweden has just two after draws with Nigeria and the USA.

Now they head to Vancouver, where they wish to be playing on July 5 for their final group match against Nigeria Monday.   While the Nigerians are only ranked number 33 in the world, the Super Falcons have several players from their U-20 squad that finished as runner ups last year to Germany.

But after getting through their two toughest opponents in Group D, Team USA will be focused on getting the points they need to win the group and clinch their spot in the knockout round.

We'll see what happens at BC Place on Tuesday, but one thing that definitely needs to happen for Team USA is they need to score more goals while playing that defense they played in the second half against Australia and the entire game against Sweden.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup USA Watch-Next Up Sweden

Team USA got their redemption campaign off to a great start with a 3-1 over Australia on June 8 thanks to two goals from Megan Rapinoe.

It added to a great day in which Nigeria forged a come from behind 3-3 draw with Sweden that left the Red White and Blue atop the 'Group of Death' with the crucial 3 points for the win..

They can clinch a spot in the Group of 16 stage with a win tonight in Winnipeg and Australia and Nigeria coming up with another draw.

However, they will have to get past FIFA number 5 ranked Sweden and their old coach Pia Sundhage to make that happen.

Should be a fun and interesting match, and me and the American Outlaws swarming Winnipeg right now hope that we get that win or no worse than a draw.

We'll see in a few hours.

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup USA Watch-Starting Group Play Today Versus Australia

The FIFA world number 2 ranked USA women finally get the Group D party started with their opening round FIFA Women's World Cup match against Australia later tonight in Winnipeg.

Group D is considered this tournament's 'Group of Death', because in addition to the FIFA number 2 ranked USA and FIFA number 10 ranked Australia, has FIFA number 5 ranked Sweden and FIFA number 33 ranked African champs Nigeria in the mix in this competitive group.

Only three teams will advance to the knockout round, so one of these four teams will have their dreams dashed.   So getting off to a winning start and getting points in these three group stage matches (3 for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss) will be critical in surviving and advancing from Group D..

Once the Red, White & Blue (gotta come up with a cooler nickname than this) completes their match with the Matildas, they will face Sweden and their old coach Pia Sundhage on June 12  in Winnipeg and finish up in Vancouver on June 16 against the Super Falcons of Nigeria.

But the road to the July 5 title match starts today, and Team USA will hopefully be at BC Place in Vancouver as one of the two teams playing for the title.

But they have to get past Australia first.

2015 Women's World Cup Starts Today!

This is the month that women's soccer fans have been waiting for since the last World Cup in Germany ended with Japan taking the title home after winning the final over the USA in a shootout. 

The 2015 Women's World Cup will start today and run until July 5 north of the border with the host Canadians taking on China later today in Edmonton. 

This tournament has an expanded field of 24 nations, and the FIFA number two ranked Team USA will be seeking their third title and first since 1999.   Germany after the heartbreak of losing on their home soil to Japan in the quarterfinals, will not only come into this tournament ranked number one, but will also be seeking to take the trophy back home for a record third time as well.

The host Canadians after not winning a game in the group stage in 2011, not only want to get to the knockout round, but play in the final in Vancouver.

Speaking of Team USA, their first Group D match will be played June 8 in Winnipeg against Australia.  They will play Sweden on June 12 and finish up in Vancouver on June 16 against Nigeria.

Going to be fun to see how this month of women's soccer plays out, and it starts in a few hours.

The Reggae Girlz Fail To Qualify For 2015 Women's World Cup

After their heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Costa Rica after fighting back to tie the match on a Shakira Duncan goal in the 77th minute, the Reggae Girlz found themselves in win or go home territory in their quest to qualify for the 2015 Women's World Cup 


Since Costa Rica had already clinched Group B with 6 points and the wins over both Mexico and Jamaica, both teams were playing for the Group B runner up spot and a semifinal date with FIFA world number one ranked Team USA.

Mexico and Jamaica came into the game at RFK Stadium with a win and a loss in group play and 3 points.  Because Mexico scored 10 goals on Martinique in their October 18 match with them while Jamaica scored a 6-0 win with Martinique back on the 16th,  they entered this final group match with a +9 goal differential to Jamaica's +5.  That meant that if both teams finished the game with a draw, Mexico would advance.

The Reggae Girlz struck hard and struck first with Donna-Kay Henry's third goal of the tournament in the 14th minute.  It was a  rocket fired just under the crossbar inside the far post from the right side of the box to take the early 1-0 lead.   But Mexico struck back with a Sandra Mayor goal in the 29th minute to send to match to halftime drawn at 1-1.

Mexico broke Jamaica's hearts in the 59th minute with the first of Veronica Corral's two second half goals.   She added an insurance goal in the 79th minute for the 3-1 win that allowed Mexico to finish 2-1 in Group B play while the Reggae Girlz finished 1-2.  

Jamaica came close, but dropping that match with Costa Rica turned out to be the death blow to their effort to become the first Caribbean based women's team to qualify for the Women's World Cup.

Hopefully the Reggae Girlz will get a chance to do so again in 2019, and the Jamaican Football Federation and some corporate sponsors step up with the funding.  

Let's hope they get enough funding so they can play the friendly matches they need against the international women's soccer powers to strengthen their team and make that World Cup dream a reality.

Countdown To FIFA Women's World Cup 2015

If you thought that the World Cup wasn't going to happen until 2018 in Russia, think again.   There will be FIFA World Cup action happening next summer, and it'll be right next door to us in Canada.

The seventh edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup will happen June 6-July 5 with an expanded field of 24 nations for the first time playing in the cities of Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal, Moncton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa.   The title game is set to be played at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver.   

The Women's World Cup Draw to set the groups will take place on December 6 in Ottawa and as of this writing, besides the host nation of Canada, six have qualified so far including defending world champions Japan, China, South Korea, Australia and first timers Thailand and Switzerland.

One team you won't see is North Korea, who is banned for this tournament for having several players test positive during the 2011 World Cup edition in Germany for banned substances.  

The official mascot for this upcoming Women's World Cup has already been unveiled, and she is the female great white owl named Shuéme

If you're wondering if FIFA world number one ranked and 2011 runners up Team USA has qualified yet, the CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament to determine three of the World Cup spots assigned to our federation isn't happening until October 14-26 somewhere here in the USA.  The fourth place CONCACAF team will have to fight a CONMEBOL (South America) third place finisher in a playoff for another World Cup spot. 

Team USA has had a turbulent year.  It has been 15 years since they captured their last world championship with the dramatic Rose Bowl penalty kick shootout win over with China.   But Team USA finished a shocking seventh in the Algarve Cup tournament with zero wins.   After the worst ever finish in the Algarve Cup tournament, the Stars and Stripes (need to come up with a cooler nickname) knocked off China's Steel Roses, then fired coach Tom Sermanni and replaced him with assistant Jill Ellis. 

While Team USA is deep, the question remains whether Ellis will have enough time to fashion Team USA into the dominating unit we all know and love that rolled though CONCACAF Olympic qualification by a cumulative score of 38-0 in 2012 

And yes, the host Canadians will be looking for payback next summer after being knocked out of the Olympic semifinals (they assert they were robbed) by Team USA.  They are also pissed that striker Sydney Leroux, one of the best north of the border players since Christine Sinclair, decided to play for Team USA.

Hey Canada (and Renee), don't hate because we got it like that. I'm glad sistah Sydney (yep, she's Black) is playing for my team. 

But like Canada, the rest of the world is catching up to our FIFA world number one ranked USA squad . The Germans have won two titles.  The French are a threat along with defending champion Japan and Pia Sundhage coached Sweden. And the Brazilians with Marta are always dangerous.

As far as the rest of the women's football world is concerned, the race is on to punch their tickets to Canada.  The CAF (Africa) will determine their three spots at a qualifying tournament to be held in Namibia October 11-25 while the 2014 South American Women's Football Championship will be held in Ecuador September 11-28 to determine two of the CONMEBOL spots.   UEFA (Europe) is still sorting out who will represent them and take their remaining seven spots, while New Zealand barring a monumental upset is probably going to get Oceania's lone tournament slot. 

So we still have a few months left before we know which teams will be playing in Canada next summer and which groups they will be competing in with the ultimate goal of being in Vancouver to hoist that trophy.   The only team that does know their group are the host Canadians, and they will be per FIFA tradition in Group A.

The answers to the rest of the Women's World Cup related questions we'll discover by the end of the year..
 

USA 2014 World Cup Watch-Escaping The 'Group Of Death'

The USA went into their final Group G match with FIFA number 2 ranked Germany in pretty good shape despite the disappointing draw with Portugal.   

A win would put them atop the group, and a draw would allow them to advance.as well.  There was also conspiracy theory chatter before the game that speculated because a draw would suit both nations purposes and with all the interlocking connections both sides had, both teams would park the bus and play keep away for 90 minutes and a 0-0 draw.  

Even if they lost to the Germans, as long as Portugal beat Ghana in Brasilia and didn't score more than 5 goals the USA would advance to the knockout round that way. 

But on a soggy pitch in Recife in which torrential rain rain fell in the city and during much of the match Die Mannschaft blew that speculation out of the window.   They came out of the gate relentlessly attacking the USA who had one less day rest than they did.   Thanks to Tim Howard making some outstanding saves and Omar Gonzales doing yeoman's work to clear the crosses peppering the USA box the game went into the half drawn at 0-0.

The other thing making American fans less nervous about the game was hearing that Portugal was up 1-0 in their match with Ghana thanks to a John Boye own goal

Things changed after halftime with the insertion of Miroslav Klose into the game for Germany.   In the 55th minute Howard punched out an initial Per Mertesacker's header that unfortunately went right to Thomas Muller.

Muller blasted it past a diving Howard into the right corner for his fourth goal of the tournament.

To make things worse two minutes later word came from Brasilia that Ghana's Asamoah Gyan scored an equalizing goal to level that match at 1-1.   But Cristiano Ronaldo saved the day once again for his nation by burying a horrendous clearance in the 80th minute for what turned out to be the winning goal for Portugal and the one that sent the USA through to the knockout round. 

Meanwhile in stoppage time the USA was fighting to get on the board and had its two best scoring chances of the match.  A counter attack in which Alejandro Bedoya unleashed a laser toward the German goal but Phillipp Lahm's sliding challenge blocked it.   Then the ensuing cross fell to Dempsey at point blank range, but his header went agonizing over the crossbar to end with the Germans on top 1-0. 

Germany takes Group G as expected, but the USA for the second straight World Cup advances out of the group stage as the surprising to the soccer pundits Group G runners-up .   

They get to rest after a brutal travel schedule and prep for a short 420 mile trip for them to their knockout round date Tuesday July 1 in Salvador against Group H winner Belgium. 
 

USA 2014 World Cup Watch-Missed Opportunity

Going into the USA's second Group G match in Manaus with FIFA number 3 ranked Portugal, thanks to their thrilling 2-1 win against Ghana, the USA with a win was in the unexpected position by international soccer pundits to clinch a spot into the knockout round.

But Portugal and their all-everythang player Cristiano Ronaldo were pissed off about the 4-0 buttkicking Germany handed them.   Ronaldo was even more pissed off about the criticism he was taking for not producing goals for his nation on his sports biggest stage. 

Portugal was playing for their World Cup lives.and the opening minutes of this match reflected it.  Just a mere five minutes into the match a failed clearance by Geoff Cameron was pounced on by Nani and he buried it into the upper left hand corner of the net over Tim Howard for a 1-0 Portugal lead they took into halftime.

But it wasn't for lack of trying by the USA.  In the 28th minute a Michael Bradley strike skidded agonizingly wide a few feet of the right goalpost.  

In the 55th minute came the USA's best chance to score and even the match.   A fantastic run by Fabian Johnson drew out the Portuguese keeper and Johnson crossed to a trailing Michael Bradley who had the goal and defender Ricardo Costa in front of him.   Costa got just enough of his knee out to deflect the almost sure goal to keep his side in the lead.

Then in the 64th minute came the equalizing laser from distance by Jermaine Jones to knot the score at one all and cause soccer fans across the USA to collectively exhale.



The USA kept attacking and was rewarded in the 81st minute with captain and my fellow Texan Clint Dempsey's go ahead goal off a Graham Zusi cross.   2-1 USA!

All the USA had to do was play keep away for 15 minutes and they were headed out of Arena da Amazonia with a signature win over a Top 5 ranked FIFA squad and a punched ticket to the knockout round. 

The USA successfully did so for 14:30.  Then Ronaldo proved in stoppage time why he gets $40 million to play the beautiful game.   A midfield giveaway turned into a Portuguese counterattack led by Ronaldo, a perfectly crossed ball by him into the box that Silvestre Varela headed past Tim Howard for the goal that salvaged a draw and had Americans going WTF? 




Ronaldo salvaged a tie out of the jaws of World Cup defeat and elimination.  

While the USA got a point out of the disappointing draw and can still advance out of the 'Group of Death' with a win or draw against the FIFA number 2 ranked Germans, they could have made their lives a lot easier tomorrow had they handled their World Cup business in Manaus last Sunday.

Because if they fail to get out of the group, they will be thinking about that missed opportunity and that Varela goal for the next four years. 

We'll see what happens in Recife tomorrow.

USA World Cup 2014 Watch-Revenge!

When the World Cup draw happened a few months ago with the USA ending up in the Group G  'Group of Death' with Germany, Portugal and Ghana, the June 16th game with Ghana was the one the USA pointed to.

Ghana was responsible for eliminating the USA out of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup Finals knockout rounds and payback was on the menu in this 2014 Brazilian edition.

The USA wanted to get off to a fast start in their opening Group.G match played in Natal and they did. 

Clint Dempsey scored 32 seconds into the match with the sixth fastest goal scored in World Cup history to stake the USA to an early 1-0 lead they stubbornly held despite determined Ghanian counterattacks until the 82nd minute.

Andre Ayew received a gorgeous back heel pass that he blasted past USA goalkeeper Tim Howard to tie the game and give USA fans 'there they go again' nightmares of another World Cup loss to Ghana . 

But not on this night.   In the 86th minute sub John Brooks headed in the winning goal off a corner kick and made a little USA World Cup  history by doing so.  He became the first USA sub ever to score a World Cup goal.

The USA still had to navigate the rest of the second half and 5 nerve wracking minutes of extra time to secure their opening Group G win and a vital 3 points in the standings.

And oh yeah, beating Ghana was the most delicious part of it. 

But this win was costly as striker Jozy Altidore left in the first half with a hamstring injury, Matt Besler had a milder version of one in the second half and Clint Dempsey ended up with a broken nose after being kicked in the face.

It only gets tougher for Team USA.  They face a Portugal team in Manaus mauled by Germany 4-0 that will be pissed off, determined to show the world they can play better than they did June 16 and fighting for their World Cup lives.

And if Team USA survives that match, they will close out group play in Recife on June 26 against Germany.  

   

The USA Men's Soccer Team Will Play In...

One of the 'Groups of Death'.

Yours truly was tuned in along with much of the planet this morning to see how the 2014 FIFA World Cup draw was going to shake out for Team USA and their current head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.

Under Klinsmann the USA is 27-10-7.  They have been moving up the FIFA rankings and climbed to 14th.  They've had some historic firsts in their centennial year, had a best in program history 12 game winning streak and against FIFA Top 10 ranked clubs they are now 2-1-1 in the Klinsmann Era.

Klinsmann continues his commitment of not only building to team into an elite squad, but do so by having the US Men's team play the top European squads.   And surprise, surprise, as they get familiar with Klinsmann's system, increasingly they are beating them. 

Some of the European teams they beat this year were Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy on their way to a best ever total of 16 wins this year.  

In addition to winning the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the fifth time with six straight wins, the USA enroute to qualifying for the seventh straight time for the FIFA World Cup finals also finished at the top of the CONCACAF hexagonal qualifying for the second consecutive cycle.  They compiled a 7-1-2 record including a thrilling 3-2 extra time comeback win in Panama at the end of the campaign and the dos a cero clinching match against Mexico in Columbus,.OH that secured the ticket to Brazil

While this centennial year of USA soccer was a spectacular one on the men's side and we all know how awesome the women's team is, in order for the USA men to make that next leap into the elite echelons of the FIFA men's soccer ranks, you have to not only consistently beat the top teams, but shine on the World Cup stage.    

If Team USA was looking to prove to themselves and to the soccer world that 2013 wasn't a fluke and were looking for a challenge in World Cup group play, they just got their opportunity to do so.

They ended up in Group G, one of the 'Groups of Death' in which they will be playing against FIFA number 2 ranked Germany, FIFA number 5 ranked Portugal and FIFA number 24 ranked Ghana.

And unlike 2010's World Cup Final in South Africa, where they clocked 192 miles total of group stage bus travel from their training base in Pretoria to matches in Rustenburg, Johannesburg and a game in Pretoria, their travel script is flipped for this one.  From their training base in São Paulo, they'll be adding to their frequent flyer miles by going to Natal, Manaus and Recife for a total of 9,000 miles in the 5th largest country on our planet.  

"It couldn't get any more difficult or any bigger," said Klinsmann at the draw in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil. "It's a real challenge. And we'll take it. We'll take it on, and hopefully we're going to surprise some people there."

“What’s exciting about this draw is that it’s time for us as a National Team to show how far soccer has come in this country and to earn the respect that we worked hard to have. If you go back to the 2006 World Cup and look at where the team was to where the team is now, we have a lot more guys playing consistently in the big leagues and gaining experience within our National Team. That’s making us a stronger National Team. When we face these European teams and bigger teams, [we are] pulling out results in the past three to four years like getting a good result in Italy and playing against the bigger teams like Germany in D.C. For us, and for the rest of the world, it shows how far we’ve come, and we couldn’t ask for a better draw than Germany Portugal and Ghana.” - See more at: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-national-team/2013/12/131206-mnt-player-quotes.aspx#sthash.kHJzSzSn.dpuf

“What’s exciting about this draw is that it’s time for us as a National Team to show how far soccer has come in this country and to earn the respect that we worked hard to have. If you go back to the 2006 World Cup and look at where the team was to where the team is now, we have a lot more guys playing consistently in the big leagues and gaining experience within our National Team. That’s making us a stronger National Team. When we face these European teams and bigger teams, [we are] pulling out results in the past three to four years like getting a good result in Italy and playing against the bigger teams like Germany in D.C. For us, and for the rest of the world, it shows how far we’ve come, and we couldn’t ask for a better draw than Germany Portugal and Ghana.” - See more at: http://www.ussoccer.com/news/mens-national-team/2013/12/131206-mnt-player-quotes.aspx#sthash.kHJzSzSn.dpuf

Team USA opens their 2014 World Cup tournament group stage play in Natal on June 16 against Ghana, the team that has knocked them out of the 2006 and 2010 quarterfinals. 

After tangling with the Black Stars, they face Cristian Ronaldo and Portugal June 22.in what will probably be a critical group match in Manaus, and then Jurgen Klinsmann and Team USA close out group play on June 26 by facing in Recife the team he coached and played for in his homeboys from Germany.

While most international soccer pundits and fans consider the USA long 200-1 underdogs to take the trophy back to US soil, much less get out of their group to face whoever comes out of Group H, the Team USA members are looking forward to the challenge.

'What's exciting about this draw is that it is time for us as a national team to show how far soccer has come in this country and to earn the respect that we have worked so hard to have." said forward Eddie Johnson. 

"If you go back to the 2006 World Cup and look at where the team was to where the team is now, we have a lot more guys playing consistently in the big leagues and gaining experience within our National Team. That's making us a stronger National Team," he added.

"When we face these European teams and bigger teams, we are pulling out results in the past three to four tears like getting a good result in Italy and playing against the bigger teams like Germany in DC.  For us, and for the rest of the world, it shows how far we have come and we couldn't ask for a better draw than Germany, Portugal and Ghana." 

Can the USA men shock the world and not only get results, but get out of Group G into the knockout round?   We'll find out in six months.
   
    

Upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup Draw Friday

203 of FIFA's 208 member nations started playing matches on June 15, 2011 in order to earn one of the 32 spots in the 2014 World Cup tournament.  After two years of qualifying matches played around the globe that ended November 23, we now know the 32 nations that qualified to go to Brazil and play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. 

For the seventh consecutive qualifying cycle the USA is amongst those 32 nations along with defending champion Spain.

What we don't know besides the host Brazilians are in Group A is which one of the eight groups they and the other 30 nations will be playing the opening round of games in from June 12-June 26.

On Friday the soccer world's millions of fans will turn their eyes toward Bahia as FIFA conducts the World Cup Final Draw at 1 PM local Bahia time (11 AM Houston time) to set up those eight groups as the world holds its breath to see the results, then pontificate on them once they are announced.

The 32 teams will be divided into four Pots, with Pot 1 containing the host Brazilians and the top seven seeded teams according to the October 2013 FIFA world rankings.   Those top seven teams in order are Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay and Switzerland.   The Pot 1 seeding carries a huge advantage in that you don't have to play the other seven seeded teams in the group stage. 

Pot 2 is comprised of the CONCACAF teams (USA, Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras) plus the four AFC Asian qualifiers (Japan, Iran, South Korea and Australia).

Pot 3 will be made up of the five CAF African teams (Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria and Cameroon), two from the South American CONMEBOL federation (Chile and Ecuador) and the lowest-ranked UEFA European country, France.

Pot 4 is comprised of the remaining eight UEFA European nations (Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Russia) 

The draw will be conducted based on a format to be decided upon no later than tomorrow. and as the groups are assembled not more than two European nations will be allowed in any of the eight groups.  

The draw is critical to your chances of advancing in the tournament final at Maracanã Stadium since only the top two teams in each group advance to the knockout rounds and the composition of teams in that four team group is determined by it. 

So we'll find out how the final group compositions and the paths of those teams to the July 13 final shake out on Friday.      

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Team USA Watch-Foiled In Frankfurt

Team USA spent the last two weeks in Germany competing in a World Cup run that was full of highs, lows and featured one incredible comeback for the ages from the brink of World Cup extinction.

But it wasn't enough to beat a Japanese team of destiny that is winging their way back to their homeland with the trophy and their first FIFA world championship.

You can't call it any other way.   The Nadeshiko Japan enroute to the title had never beaten European competition but knocked off the two time defending champions and host Germans, and knocked out Sweden in the semifinal.    Japan had never beaten the USA in 25 matches, including two warm up matches they lost.before the World Cup started .  They finished a title run for the ages by beating the FIFA number one ranked USA women 3-1 on penalty kicks.   

"This is obviously going to hurt for a while," said Abby Wambach in an AP interview.

It definitely will.   Team USA is going to think long and hard for the next four years about the multiple shots and scoring chances that either just missed the goal, hit crossbars or were off target.

They'll ponder being up late in the game twice after scoring goals in the 70th minute and in extra time in the 104th minute only to see Japan come storming back to tie it.      

They will also think about the penalty kick shootout in which until today, Team USA had never missed putting one in the back of the net in their World Cup history.  They opened up this one by missing three straight.

As Herman Edwards once said, that's why you play the games.   Japan was playing for much more than another FIFA world championship.  They were playing for their country, destiny was on their side and they delivered big time.

Congratulations to Japan, the new FIFA Women's World Champions.

As for the Team USA women, at least they have a chance to qualify for the Olympic Games and try to win their third straight Olympic gold medal in London..