OT:US Women's Soccer. The Algarve Cup starts Wednesday.

[Olde Coach]

The Algarve Cup is held in Portugal. It a very prestigious International Tournament.
Group A has Germany, Norway, Japan, Denmark.
Group B has USA, Iceland, China, Sweden.
Group C has Portugal, Hungary, Wales, Mexico.

First round games are March 6, 8, 11.

All games are available Pay per View for $14.95 on Dish Network and Direct TV.

Check USsoccer.com for all the details. Games start at 9:00 AM EST.

I'll be watching. Hope you are too.

 

[Kait14]

I didn't know you liked soccer, Coach. I got to meet Abby and Megan this summer when they came into my bar lol. Can't wait for this tournament, I'm impressed with the new coach so far

 

[Olde Coach]

I didn't know you liked soccer, Coach. I got to meet Abby and Megan this summer when they came into my bar lol. Can't wait for this tournament, I'm impressed with the new coach so far

Hi Kait. I played high school and college and semi-pro soccer. Have coached college and high school. And I started the first summer soccer league in Vermont and northern New York. I was a player/coach for the Lake Placid team for about five years. Also used to referee both High School and college.

The new national team coach, Tom Sermanni, is a super guy, and a very good coach. The girls are very excited to work with/for him. There are four newbies on the roster for the Algarve games. One who has gone straight from high school to the pros. And others just out of college. Two are super athletic forwards/strikers. It will be hard to get playing time for them as strikers with Morgan and Wambach as good as they are, and Sydney Laroux and Christen Press already backing them up. A couple of the newbies may soon replace Boxx, Wambach, and O'Reilly -- all of whom who are 30+.

The future looks bright for the US National Team.

Hope Solo is having wrist surgery and will not play for most (or maybe all) of this season. There are no back-up goalies as good as Hope. She is the best in the world, and second place isn't even close. Without Solo, the US would not have won the Olympic Gold. It will be interesting to see who (may be plural) plays goalie at the Algarve games and throughout this new year.

Love and stuff from OC.

 

[Sakibomb25]

It is interesting that Horan decided to forgo UNC to turn pro. Then again, if she is making six figures (reported by one newspaper), that's a pretty good base to build off of. I am hoping she turns out to be the real deal and not just part of the hype machine. It would be great to get another scorer once Wambach retires. The devilish duo of Horan and Morgan?

I am also glad to see Press is getting some recognition. She probably won't play, due to all the experienced starters ahead of her, but it's still a great tournament to learn from, even if it is from the bench.

 

[meyers7]

The Algarve Cup is held in Portugal. It a very prestigious International Tournament.
Group A has Germany, Norway, Japan, Denmark.
Group B has USA, Iceland, China, Sweden.
Group C has Portugal, Hungary, Wales, Mexico.

First round games are March 6, 8, 11.

All games are available Pay per View for $14.95 on Dish Network and Direct TV.

Check USsoccer.com for all the details. Games start at 9:00 AM EST.

I'll be watching. Hope you are too.

Wow, Group C is weak. Really weak. That's a pretty messed up split of the groups. Mexico, the highest ranked team in Group C, is ranked 7 places lower than China, the lowest ranked team in A or B.

Ok, nevermind, after looking into it, only teams from Group A or B can compete for the title. Group C can compete for 7-12 places. That makes more sense.

USA should not have too much trouble winning their group. Nice to to see Krieger back. Still wish Chalupny could play.

 

[meyers7]

The new national team coach, Tom Sermanni, is a super guy, and a very good coach. The girls are very excited to work with/for him. There are four newbies on the roster for the Algarve games. One who has gone straight from high school to the pros. And others just out of college. Two are super athletic forwards/strikers. It will be hard to get playing time for them as strikers with Morgan and Wambach as good as they are, and Sydney Laroux and Christen Press already backing them up. A couple of the newbies may soon replace Boxx, Wambach, and O'Reilly -- all of whom who are 30+.

Actually O'Reilly is only 28. I imagine she'll stick around for awhile. Maybe you are thinking of Lloyd? Though she's only 30. She probably has a couple more years in her. I'm hoping she drops back to Boxx's position. Boxx is at 35 now.

Hope Solo is having wrist surgery and will not play for most (or maybe all) of this season. There are no back-up goalies as good as Hope. She is the best in the world, and second place isn't even close. Without Solo, the US would not have won the Olympic Gold. It will be interesting to see who (may be plural) plays goalie at the Algarve games and throughout this new year.

Granted the backups are not as good as Hope, but they may well be the 2nd/3rd best keepers in the world. No slouches there.

 

[Kait14]

Hi Kait. I played high school and college and semi-pro soccer. Have coached college and high school. And I started the first summer soccer league in Vermont and northern New York. I was a player/coach for the Lake Placid team for about five years. Also used to referee both High School and college.

The new national team coach, Tom Sermanni, is a super guy, and a very good coach. The girls are very excited to work with/for him. There are four newbies on the roster for the Algarve games. One who has gone straight from high school to the pros. And others just out of college. Two are super athletic forwards/strikers. It will be hard to get playing time for them as strikers with Morgan and Wambach as good as they are, and Sydney Laroux and Christen Press already backing them up. A couple of the newbies may soon replace Boxx, Wambach, and O'Reilly -- all of whom who are 30+.

The future looks bright for the US National Team.

Hope Solo is having wrist surgery and will not play for most (or maybe all) of this season. There are no back-up goalies as good as Hope. She is the best in the world, and second place isn't even close. Without Solo, the US would not have won the Olympic Gold. It will be interesting to see who (may be plural) plays goalie at the Algarve games and throughout this new year.

Love and stuff from OC.

I do agree no one is as good as Hope, which I hate to admit since she's a Husky. But I think with time, Ashlyn Harris can be really good

 

[Kait14]

It is interesting that Horan decided to forgo UNC to turn pro. Then again, if she is making six figures (reported by one newspaper), that's a pretty good base to build off of. I am hoping she turns out to be the real deal and not just part of the hype machine. It would be great to get another scorer once Wambach retires. The devilish duo of Horan and Morgan?

I am also glad to see Press is getting some recognition. She probably won't play, due to all the experienced starters ahead of her, but it's still a great tournament to learn from, even if it is from the bench.

Don't sleep on Syd.. Morgan and Syd will be a great combo once Abby retires

 

[Sakibomb25]

Don't sleep on Syd.. Morgan and Syd will be a great combo once Abby retires

I'm just glad Laroux decided to play for the United States and not for Canada... I can only imagine what kind of hurt the combo of Sinclair and Laroux would put on opposing teams... yikes!

 

[Scotter]

Granted the backups are not as good as Hope, but they may well be the 2nd/3rd best keepers in the world. No slouches there.

Maybe the US could have made that claim previously, but I just don't see it with the current group of backups. The athleticism and dynamic play just isn't there from any of the backups.

 

[Olde Coach]

I'm just glad Laroux decided to play for the United States and not for Canada... I can only imagine what kind of hurt the combo of Sinclair and Laroux would put on opposing teams... yikes!

It looks like Team USA will have multiple prolific scorers for the next decade. Alex Morgan is my favorite female athlete in the world -- all sports considered. "Baby Horse" demonstrates an extraordinary passion for the game, and joy in her play. She decided at age 6 that she wanted to be a professional athlete when she grew up.

Dream reached!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!