Has anybody seen games from this tourney? I know some kids who are playing in the U18/19 divisions. Any news would be appreciated.
I saw several games--all four games of the team I was following, two more from teams in the same group--and bits of countless others. Seeing that you're from the Heart of Dixie, I can mention that I saw the Hoover Phantoms play twice. (I believe they are the Alabama state champions for u18). Anyway, what specifically would you like to know?
AL teams I know that neither the Phantoms nor the U19 Vestavia Steamers made it out of their group. How did Hoover look? Vestavia didn't lose a game(2-0-2) but missed out by 1 pt on the semis.
The Phantoms won their only game against the team I was following, the Arlington Shadows. It was the last game for both teams as both teams would not advance from the group--making the game meaningless. The Phantoms really aren't that bad of a team. I also saw them lose to a team from North Carolina 2-0. That team from NC advanced from the group, and honestly they weren't very good except for the fact that their defense was well organized (and therefore receiving a lot of favorable offside calls). However, the Phantoms exploited their defense FOUR times and didn't get a goal. FOUR times the Phantoms had the same striker one on one with the NC goalkeeper. All four times, the shots went wide or high (and just barely). Some bad luck, I guess. Arlington was hoping the Phantoms would win, because then they would have had a chance to advance. They lost a bitter game to the NC team 2-1. The NC team received 12!!! offside calls in their favor. I would say at least 4 of those calls were terrible and negated a chance for Arlington to equalize. Additionally Arlington was pulled down flagrantly in the box in the final minutes and everyone (including NC) was surprised there was a no call. I guess sometimes there's just luck because the NC team was the worst (IMO) of the group and as I expected they got hammered in their knockout game 5-1. I would have said the Alabama team was better than the NC team talentwise, but they were not as good as the other 3 teams in the group. However, the players seemed like the most sportsmanlike, classy all the way around (which unfortunately was not the case for the parents). I actually felt kind of glad for them to finally win a game, even though that meant they beat 'my' team. Their last game was marked by crisp passing and good possession in the midfield--looked like a completely different team than the one that lossed to the NC team. cheers