Less than two weeks ago Mr. Garber you made the following comment, among others, concerning players being held, clutched or dragged down by defenders inside the penalty box on set pieces.
"This is something that for me personally I really object to. I recall during the World Cup something that in my view there's way too much holding and pushing in the penalty area on set pieces.

Three U.S. players have been nominated for the Golden Ball at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Lauren Cheney, Hope Solo, Abby Wambach have been nomianted for the award recognizes the most outstanding player at the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. Twelve players from nominated by the FIFA Technical Study Group and the top three players will be tallied based on voting by the media.

Click here to view the embedded video.

ESPN SportsCenter advertising their Women's World Cup coverage with the assistance of USWNT striker Abby Wambach. Presented without comment. Bwahahahahaha! via ESPN

By FRANCO PANIZO

Well, at least one American national team won its friendly this weekend.

The U.S. women's national team won its final tune-up before the start of the World Cup, topping Mexico, 1-0, at Red Bull Arena on Sunday. Lauren Cheney scored a splendid goal from distance in second-half stoppage time to give the Americans the win.

I'm going to preface this photo with a couple points to avoid confusion and unneccsary accusations of me being a sore loser or whiner.

1. The Dynamo didn't do enough to win on Saturday. The Union had a game plan, found their goal and frustrated Houston's playmakers all night.

2. Dominic Oduro should have tied the match and had one of the worst shanks in the history of MLS.

Photo by Patricia Giobetti/ISIphotos.com

In a short time as a head coach, Portland Timbers boss John Spencer has made it quite clear that he won't hide his feelings.

Weeks after having a war of words with Seattle coach Sigi Schmid, Spencer publicly criticized referee Abby Okulaja and his crew for their series of decisions in Portland's 1-0 loss to Colorado on Saturday.

MagicJack and the Strikers both played this Saturday at almost the same time. While the Strikers attendance was apparently not hurt (they still average 5,000 a game) MagicJack had only approximately 860 people show up to watch them at FAU soccer field in Boca Raton.
MagicJack easily disposed of the Atlanta Beat by 4-0 with a hattrick from Abby Wambach!

We had a wonderfully impromptu U.S. WNT watch party on the campus of Marquette University today, as the game time was squeezed into the late morning/early afternoon before the Finals Weeks games kicked off.
There were teams, technical advisors, YNT coaches and referees all trying to get in lunch or even pre-game meals, not counting on there being an overtime to watch.

Thoughts on the USA win over Brazil;

Never say never. This game will go down in Woman's World Cup history as one of the all time greats. The U.S. women won their quarterfinal match in unbelievable fashion Sunday, overcoming bad referee decisions, being down a woman, and being down a goal with literally seconds remaining before beating Brazil on penalty kicks (5-3) to advance to the semifinals.

The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Final is just hours away. Game days - espcially when kickoff is late - move pretty slowly. And this day in particular has been crawling along at a snail's pace! Game day in the hotel generally consists of rest, meals, more rest, and a pre-game meal. Not much to do other than get mentally prepared for the game.

In a classic showdown the US women face Japan for the 2011 World Cup. Will Hope, Abby and Megan continue to rise up or will the highly skilled Japan squad prevail.
USA! USA! USA!
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Hope Solo and Abby Wambach discuss their defeat to Japan in the World Cup finals.

Wolves Women played the first round of the FA-Cup Saturday at home against Solihull Ladies. The last game I reported from was when they qualified by beating MK Dons away (HERE). Then came the big freeze and they didn't play for five weeks prior to the Saturday game. Abby Pope calmed their nerves after only [.

And it's the team's second loss in the last five games:

CHONGQING, China (AP) -- The U.S. women's team began World Cup preparations by losing a match in which it led for the first time in more than eight years.

Carli Lloyd's goal off an 11th-minute corner kick was offset when Stina Segerstrom scored in the 16th and Kosovare Asllani in the 60th to give Sweden a 2-1 victory over the Americans on Friday in the opening game of the Four Nations Tournament.

After last season's disappointment, the Houston Dynamo wanted nothing more than to erase the bad taste in their mouths and get 2011 off to a strong start. Instead, an anemic offense and a defensive mistake on an early set piece set the tone for what was a wholly frustrating night in Houston.

The game couldn't have started any worse for the Dynamo.

Less than two weeks ago Mr. Garber you made the following comment, among others, concerning players being held, clutched or dragged down by defenders inside the penalty box on set pieces.

"This is something that for me personally I really object to. I recall during the World Cup something that in my view there's way too much holding and pushing in the penalty area on set pieces.

Coach Pia Sundhage named her 23 player roster for this summer's Women's World Cup in Germany.
Want to know more about the USWNT? Check out our contribution to The Shin Guardian, "The ABCs of the USWNT".
Goalkeepers (3): Nicole Barnhart, Jillian Loyden, Hope Solo
Defenders (7): Rachel Buehler, Stephanie Cox, Ali Krieger, Amy LePeilbet, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn
Midfielders (7): Shannon Boxx, Tobin Heath, Lori Lindsey, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly, Megan Rapinoe, Lindsay Tarpley
Forwards (4): Lauren Cheney, Alex Morgan, Amy Rodriguez, Abby Wambach
Support the Movement.

Yesterday US women's coach Pia Sundhage announced her 21-player roster for the upcoming Women's World Cup: Goalkeepers - Hope Solo, Nicole Barnhart, Jillian Loyden Defenders - Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone, Becky Sauerbrunn, Amy LePeilbet, Ali Krieger, Stephanie Cox, Rachel Buehler Midfielders - Lindsay Tarpley, Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd, Megan Rapinoe, Lori Lindsey, Tobin Heath Strikers - Amy Rodríguez, Lauren Cheney, Alex Morgan, Abby Wambach I am struck by how old this US team is, especially in the back line.

Rachel Scott (Catholic 2011) defends Emily Cline (Glendale 2011) in 2008

There are two High School games on tap tonight. At Harrison Stadium, the Central Bulldogs will host Camdenton in a Varsity-only match on Senior Night.

Further East, the Glendale Falcons will host Springfield Catholic in another Varsity-only match that will determine bragging rights for the season.

The Philadelphia Independence played their second game of the 2011 season which ended in a 2-1 defeat to magicJack on Sunday, May 1. The Indies went up early on a goal by Tina DiMartino in the 8th minute. Unfortunately, this was followed up by the goal by magicJack's Abby Wambach later in the first half.

MagicJack started their season with a victory over the Boston Breakers this past Saturday night at Florida Atlantic University.

Ella Masar scored in the 26th minute for magicJack, who dominated possession early in the first half. Abby Wambach set up Masar's goal, playing the ball across the box before Masar beat Breakers keeper Alyssa Naeher.

Pia's favorite place: The soccer field with great grass and blue skies
If you notice an vast increase in quality of the photos in this WNT Blog post, that's because Brad Smith from International Sports Images was at training today and shot these pics. Enjoy...
Abby doesn't reserve her ball-winning only for games.

There were wins for the favourites on the third day of the FIFA Women's World Cup as world No1 USA beat North Korea, while Sweden got past Colombia. However, once again the theme of the day was the closeness of competition. Five of the six games have been decided by only one goal, the USA the only team to win by two goals.

A strong header from forward Abby Wambach sealed the victory for the USWNT in their semifinal match against France. For most of the first 60 minutes France controlled possession and former Wambach...
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With a beautiful flick on, Laruen Cheney opened up the early scoring for the USWNT in the 9th minute. Cheney wasn't done though, she later set up a corner which Abby Wambach put into the back of the net with emphasis late in the second half to break open a tense draw that saw France dominating possession and getting a lion's share of the good shots.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you guys when and how to watch soccer, but I really hope you all didn't just head out to the absinthe parlor after the US game to celebrate, because Japan put on a special clinic in the second game. Either Sweden didn't see so much as a frame of the Japan-Germany game film, or Japan is so skillful they can completely neutralize teams that are bigger and stronger.

It all comes down to Sunday. We've all heard it before (many, many times).

Japan USA: Sunday, ESPN, 2:45 PM

The US women are in the World Cup final for the first time since 1999. Many wondered if they would have a letdown in their semifinal match against France following an emotional quarterfinal win over Brazil.

Josh Hunter (L-R) Becky Sauerbrunn And Abby Wambach Attend The USA Team Training Session At FIFA World Cup Stadium Frankfurt On Getty Images - http://sportshizle.com/world-s... 2 hours ago from Sports Buzz | SportShizle.com - Comment - Like

Japan are World Cup champions. The Japan women's soccer team won the World Cup Final on Sunday after defeating USA on penalty kicks in a closely fought game played in Frankfurt, Germany.

The United States women's national team created most of the chances but had to wait until the 67th minute when half-time substitute Alex Morgan slotted the ball into the back of the net against the advancing goalkeeper (see video below).

If you have not fallen already in love with Hope Solo, you will all over again. She has a demure voice for someone in goal, traditionally the most gestural and vocally animated of positions and at 150 lbs she is nicely proportioned. She becomes personal when asked about her benching in 2007 World Cup - not the best of times and gets back at Dave Letterman a little while later.

How could you not be pulling for the USWNT after that run to the final? The breathtaking win against all odds vs. Brazil. The late dominant surge against France. My girls teams were talking about it all summer and were pumped for the final. I had encouraged them to watch every game they could watching players off the ball, how they moved, how they reacted.

Of all the people on the train, the one I wanted to talk to the most was the middle-aged man with the graying goatee, traveling with wife and two children. He and his son were wearing Chelsea jerseys. It's not rare to see folks around Chicago in soccer gear, but considering this train and most of its occupants were heading toward Soldier Field, where Manchester United were to take on the Chicago Fire, those two bold blue shirts stuck out.

Abby's Back
As previously announced in the previous announcement of the games, but confirmed yesterday, all 21 players from the USA's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup Team will be in Kansas City and Portland for the two "WNT Celebration Series" matches, which will put a close on this roster for 2011.

Abby tallies in the 10th minute from the penalty spot
The U.S. WNT played its first match since the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup last night at the fantastic LIVESTRONG Sporting Park (the best medium-sized stadium in the country? Could be....) and while the Americans showed some flashes of dynamic soccer, there was also some rust to be shaken off, and probably the best part of the night was the crowd.

Japan are World Cup champions. The Japan women's soccer team won the World Cup Final on Sunday after defeating USA on penalty kicks in a closely fought game played in Frankfurt, Germany.

The United States women's national team created most of the chances but had to wait until the 67th minute when half-time substitute Alex Morgan slotted the ball into the back of the net against the advancing goalkeeper (see video below).

You think those kids wanted Abby's autograph? They got it...

The U.S. WNT arrived in Portland tonight at around 7:30 p.m. after a brief delay in their flight from Kansas City and received a rousing greeting from a few teams worth of young soccer players, who came out strong with signs, baloons, painted faces and quote a few things to autographs (including faces.

What a beautiful day it was for soccer (or pretty much anything else) today in Portland as the U.S. WNT held its first training since arriving in the Rose City on Sunday night. Pia turned the squad over to the folks at Nike, who ran the players through the Nike Elite Training 2.0, which consists of various physical and soccer tests, or more accurately:
PREMIUM FOOTBALL TRAINING EXPERIENCE TO ENABLE SKILLED AND COMMITTED FOOTBALLERS TO FULFILL THEIR POTENTIAL.

It's getting to be the end of the year, which means the buzz starts for year end awards, including the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (or Sportswoman as the case may be).
(Editor's Note: The U.S. Women's World Cup Team won the prestigious award in 1999 and surely had the USA won the Women's World Cup, this year's squad would have been in the conversation).

The volume of the screams of the U.S. fans have gotten a bit louder since the Women's World Cup, although of course the fan base for the U.S. women has always been young, energetic and tremendously supportive. That hasn't changed in Arizona, where the USA has gotten another great reception.
LONG LINE: No, Abby didn't sign every one of these autographs, but most of them


Alex Morgan signs for the next generation

This young lady came prepared.