This is from fansoccer.de: "Noch unglücklicher lief es für Pohlers und Omilade: beide wechseln erst zur kommenden Saison, wurden aber von Potsdams Trainer Bernd Schröder nach Bekanntwerden ihres Wechsels kaum noch eingesetzt, so dass sie kaum noch Spielpraxis sammeln und sich gegenüber ihren Konkurrentinnen um die Posten im Nationalteam nicht profilieren konnten." "Even more unlucky were Pohlers and Omilade: both will change (clubs) next season but after their change was made public, Potsdam's Trainer Bernd Schröder hardly let them play. Neither of them could get a lot of playing time and they couldn't distinguish themselves from their competitors for the places in the NT." I also read that Grings publicly announced a while back that if the coach of the club she was playing at at the time (Duisburg) wasn't let go, she'd leave. Hardly the kind of attitude any trainer would want in their team. Maybe that was one of the reasons she wasn't nominated ....
This makes more sense. Schröder benched Conny almost immediately. I thought Omilade was with Wolfsburg, though, so I don't know too much about the Potsdam coach hurting her chances. But I still would have thought Conny would have first dibbs over one of the kids, like Behringer or Bajramaj. Goes to show just how little I know.
Great story about air pollution in China, from NPRs "All Things Considered" August 9. Listen via link below: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12638588
ESPN's top 5 "Players to watch" - #1 is Kelly Smith of England? and top 5 "Teams to watch": http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=453846&cc=5901
They finally have a page dedicated to 2007 WWC news, as of yesterday it had old stories from 2003 plus stuff from last years WC.
Canada's roster is announced. Amy Walsh Andrea Neil Melanie Booth Brittany Timko Candace Chapman Christine Sinclair Diana Matheson Erin McLeod Jodi-Ann Robinson Kara Lang Karina Leblanc Katie Thorlakson Kristina Kiss Martina Franko Melissa Tancredi Randee Hermus Rhian Wilkinson Robyn Gayle Sophie Schmidt Tanya Dennis Taryn Swiatek No big surprises but the teenagers Jodi-Ann Robinson and Sophie Schmidt who were left at home during the Pan Ams made the roster and Amy Vermeulen and Sasha Andrews were left off. The other thing to note is that all the players who were injured and whose status was unknown have been included.
I heard that Vermeulen was brought in to replace Charmaine Hooper, which in my view it was a bit of a stretch as Hooper is unequaled. Now Vermeulen is left off, go figure.
This is a story that I think not enough people are paying attention to-- it sounds really bad. I heard it when it aired originally, and wondered who it will damage the most. Physically, the favorites (the US, let's face it) seem to be in great shape... does that mean that they will be sucking even more particulate matter and acidic compounds into their lungs than everyone else? Maybe by the third round, relying on physicality will not be working out so well for anyone. I have heard that some teams are keeping away from China until they absolutely must be there, and are warming up in Indonesia and places like that. Has anyone heard any reports yet from teams already in China about the air quality?
From Hope Solo's WWC Blog U.S. Women's National Team starting goalkeeper Hope Solo is in China preparing for the FIFA Women's World Cup and she will be sharing her experiences with US Club Soccer throughout the tournament. For the past week, the U.S. has been based in Shanghai, but will soon move to Chengdu where it opens the World Cup on Sept. 11 against North Korea at 4:55am ET / 1:55am PT on ESPN2. Be sure to set your alarms or DVRs as the U.S. goes for its third World Cup title! Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2007 Sunday was our first day off and it was a well-deserved day off. We have been training strong since the day we touched ground on Aug. 28. Training has been interesting, as we were welcomed with a field covered in frogs, and I mean covered! As Aly (Wagner) and I attempted to catch these frogs we soon found out that they were poisonous. Poisonous frogs had taken over our training field yet training must go on. The word must’ve spread that the Americans were in town because the very next day dragonflies joined the field. I couldn’t focus on a shot without having to dodge dragonflies. It literally feels like the Amazon here in Shanghai. We leave for Chengdu in two days. Chengdu is known for panda bears, but we’re all hoping the pandas don’t join us out on the training field. The team took several days to get adjusted to the time change and different foods. Finding protein for our muscles to recover has been tricky. Protein shakes just got delivered to the hotel to help us fill our bodies with nutrition. Without them we’d be eating rice for every meal! We’ve started to focus on North Korea the last two days. We’ve been watching film and studying their tendencies and key players. They look like a great team. With all this film people are getting more and more psyched to take the field come the 11th. It still seems just out of reach although it’s only 8 days away. When we’re not training or in meetings we tend to fill our time with many odd, but entertaining events. Last night we had a Bingo tournament. Yup, I said Bingo, and I was even the winner, winning a grand total of $40! It’s amazing how competitive even Bingo can become on this team! We’ve also had Scrabble, Connect Four, Catch Phrase, and card tournaments. At any given time there is a competitive event taking place within the hallways of our hotel. We also have Tash’s (Natasha Kai’s) hip hop 101 classes scheduled in the evenings. The DVD of the week is Season One of 90210 bringing us all back to our junior high days, and the popular movie has been the Illusionist starring my favorite actor, Edward Norton. My roommate is Cat (Whitehill), a college football fanatic. Needless to say we watch many football games now that college football season has just begun. There has been plenty for us to stay occupied with. Sometimes I even wish the days were longer so I could fit more in! We can only hope for the same in Chengdu. The people have been incredible to us, and to be quite honest it really doesn’t feel as though we’re out of the country until we leave the hotel. We are spoiled enough to have English television channels, an English speaking hotel staff, an American chef, and wireless internet to keep us all connected with our loved ones. In the days to come we are scheduling a pearl shopping outing, and a Fergie jam session with our doc on the guitar. We are a youthful team that never fails to have a blast. There never seems to be a shortage of laughs here in Shanghai. However, the real fun is still over a week away! 8 days and counting! - Hope Solo
Thank you for that journal hocho. Great to read Solo's recount of their soccer experiences in Shanghai.
No problem. Someone posted the official blog link, got this from another site but: http://wnt-ussoccer.blogspot.com/
Colonel to miss Germany clash Huge blow for Argentina: Mariela Colonel has been ruled out of their world cup opener against Germany on Monday with a knee injury. Colonel will be at least out for two weeks. Source: http://www.womensoccer.de/2007/09/08/schock-fuer-argentinien-wm-aus-fuer-beste-spielerin/
Apparently Mariela Coronel is out for the whole tournament. She has been replaced by Maria Emilia Mendieta who plays for River Plate. The referees for the opener will be Australians. Tammy Ogston, 37 years old will be assisted by Arlie Keen and Sarah Ho. The fourth official will be Pannipar Kamnueng from Thailand.
The FIFA writers are such biased wankers. Canada/Norway preview - no mention that Canada was a semi-finalist in 2003. - actually Canada came pretty close to a trip to the final (Canada was leading Sweden 1-0 with 11 minutes left in the game). Report on Pellerud going up against his former team, "Norway Hero turns Villain" . What kind of a stupid title is that - is FIFA cheering for Norway? Again, much ado about Norway and again no mention that while Norway were done after the 1/4 finals in 2003, Pellerud took Canada to the semi's. What a bunch of wankers.