From USSoccer.com: Mark That Calendar A stern reminder about an upcoming U.S. Soccer-related event, whether you plan to check it out live and in person, on the "telly" or that wacky world wide web. U-19 WNT vs. Dominican Republic – Fri., May 28 – 7 p.m. ET U-19 WNT vs. T&T – Sun., May 30 – 6 p.m. ET U-19 WNT vs. Costa Rica – Tue., June 1 – 7 p.m. ET [Live on PHILIPS MatchTracker] More... Center Circle Extra: Four Vets Look to Lead U-19 WNT New coach says U.S. girls soccer faces world challenges By JERRY TRECKER The Hartford Courant
Check out Concacaf.com for the preliminary rosters and more. 2004 CONCACAF Under-19 Final Round Qualification starts this week in Canada
US U-19 WNT News & Notes from Ottawa Canada. U-19 WNT To Begin CONCACAF Qualifying Tournament USSOCCER.com Thursday, May 27, 2004
Hey ... just to say, i'm in ottawa working with the CSA and i was supposed to be assigned to one team as the liason, and i'm right now working for 2 teams ... and i'm dead tired. team usa is staying on the same floor as me, and i've seen them around here and there ... haven't really interacted with them since they seem to know what they are doing .. i'm working with the team from dominican republic and panama ... visit Go Big Red!! for tidbits about my day and some photos that i have taken etc. elaine
1st Series of Games Results [R] Elaine must be exhausted, with everything that she is doing. Check out all the stuff that she has posted at her sight! Go Big Red dot CA CONCACAF on first days games US Soccer Story - 1st Game
U.S. Under-19 WNT Dominates Dominican Republic 14-0 in Opening Match of CONCACAF Qualifying http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=65811&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 Kia McNeill scores four, Kerri Hanks nets three in American romp http://www.socceramerica.com/article.asp?Art_ID=562134598
this is the prove that in 2 years period of time, there is no improvement in women youth soccer in this region (out of USA), the score is similar to the one couple years ago, i was hoping the score would be smaller margin this time around but i was wrong, it's clear to me that those countries not really care for women soccer except US & Canada.
Mexico is a good team (I watched them play against Jamaica this afternoon). They are quick, have good possession and are offensive. Their only downside is that they are a little weak in the back. Oh yeah, the US beat T&T 11-1 today. Interesting fact of the game is that T&T scored three (yes three!) own goals.
2nd Games CONCACAF on 2nd games US Soccer game story I was glad to see that the 2 San Diego area players were able to get in on the scoring.
Costa Rica is also making improvements but it will take time for many countries to take the women's game more seriously.
The USA v Costa Rica game didn't quite turn out as expected. http://www.ussoccer.com/home/default.sps Semi finals should be interesting. Canada defeated Mexico 3-0 in Group A action. The play definitely favored Canada in the first half and the second was all Canada. Canada's shots and corners were well into the double digits by the final whistle. A well organized and tough Mexican defense kept the score from running up further than it did.
CONCACAF Story Hmmm - I wonder if US Soccer knows something that everyone else doesn't. They list Costa Rica's #15 as "Amanda Eoqutuel Flores"; while she has been listed as "Amanda Esquivel" in CONCACAF and SDWFC stories. US Soccer Story
After watching the 2002 World Championships in Edmonton I'm a big fan of the U19 game. Now two years have gone by and the 2002 Gold and Silver medalists have a fight on their hands to just get through CONCACAF qualifications. Friday's semi's are not done deals. The USA and Canada cannot just sleep-walk through these games, not by a long shot. A loss tomorrow and the USA and/or Canada are out of the 2004 World Championships. Hard to believe the USA media isn't more into it.
Things didn't turn out as close as it appeared they might. USA 6 Mexico 0 Canada 4 Costa Rica 0 Sets up for an intriguing, but meaningless final as both the USA and Canada are now looking forward to Thailand. Still it will be interesting to see the 2002 Gold and Silver medalists go head-to-head two years later.
Ssan Diegan Angie Woznuk scores the first 3 goals of the game as the U.S. qualifies for the U-19 championships in Thailand. Kerri Hanks scored twice more and Ashlyn Harris got another shut-out. You can still check the MatchTracker to get a flavor of what the game was like. US Soccer account of the game And here is the CONCACAF short article on the two games: Canada, US qualify as CONCACAF reps
No surprises in this qualifications the World champions and Canada are in as expected. Kerry Hanks leading all scores with 9 goals It should be an interesting final this Sunday who will win it this time? Check out 'Towards the Goal' the USWNT song An update on U.S. U-19 defender Rachel Buehler: Buehler's Long Trek Back To the Field
The goal came off of a header from a free kick about 40-yards out. I didn't think Canada would be able to win this game, because the Americans just looked like the better team for a good part of the game. The Americans looked great passing the ball on the ground, but didn't attack that much. They had much more success when they played through balls.
here's the stats: Shots On Canada 15 USA 7 Corners Canada 6 USA 3 Fouls 18-18 offsides usa 3 canada 1 Awards top goalscorer - Hanks (USA) top keeper - VanBoxmeer (Canada) mvp - Zurrer (Canada) fair play (mexico) from the beginning, canada looked the better of the two. The US had their moments but couldn't really get much going.
Great match report from Grizzly over on the Voyageurs board... http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3283 The post is about half way down the page.
Stats on ussoccer.com are somewhat different: Statistical Summary: USA CAN Shots 8 14 Shots on goal 8 9 Saves 7 7 Corner Kick 2 6 Fouls 24 24 Offside 4 0 Some thoughts: 1. Between the two teams I'd have to say that the USA played much closer to their potential. While it was a strong outing for the USA, Canada looked quite disorganized and panicky in comparison to the composed play they showed earlier in the tournament. A great number of wayward passes and poor playmaking decisions by the Canadians had nothing to do with pressure from the USA. As a team, Canada just never got to the point where they settled down and took the time to execute their game properly. The notion that Canada had an off day and still beat the USA says a lot about what that team is capable of. The USA on the other hand looked very composed and had no problem stringing together beautiful passing plays. Also some very impressive individual talents all over the pitch, maybe none moreso than in Hanks and Woznuk. Despite their overall composure and ball skills, the USA had some real weaknesses. First, most US attacks just fizzled out or resulted in soft, routine saves by the Canadian keeper. The US actually scored on the only dangerous shot they had in the game. Second, the USA gave up a number of serious scoring opportunities to the Canadians by playing too casual deep in their own end and getting stripped of the ball by the aggressive Canadian strikers. The end result was the USA had better possession but the Canadians created more deep pressure and scoring opportunities. 2. Nice to see Canadians, Zurer and Van Boxmeer get tournament awards. Always on the lookout for new defensive talent, I paid close attention to Zurer in all the televised games and was very impressed with her. Obviously she opened a few other eyes as well, defenders rarely get selected as MVP. Canada's keeper, Van Boxmeer reminds me of Rottenberg from Germany, the master of her domain. She was actually in position to stop the USA scoring shot before it was deflected by a Canadian defender. 3. Kara Lang's right foot is a weapon from almost anywhere on the field. It was never more obvious than today. She was a scoring threat from rediculous distances. Truly exceptional. 4. Canada beat the USA on a great physical effort from the entire team and an ability to create and finish scoring opportunities. As impressive as that was, it was the skill and composure they showed in earlier matches that really impressed. They play that way in Thailand and Canadians are in for a fun ride.