Today was the first "official day" of the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup, meaning FIFA takes
over all the organization for the teams and that means the USA had its first training at an offical
training site, which just happens to be outside the game venue here in Hiroshima...the Hiroshima
Big Arch Stadium.
Courtesy: Richmond AthleticsBecca Wann (Chesterfield, Va.) has been selected to the U.S. Under-20
Women's National Team by head coach Steve Swanson to represent the United States at the 2012 FIFA
Under-20 Women's World Cup in Japan.
Becca Wann U.S. Soccer Bio: One of the two uncapped players on the roster, she made a late
run to make the squad and adds tremendous athleticism (she plays soccer and basketball at Richmond)
as well as a dangerous weapon on set plays due to her aerial dominance.
Minnesota native Eric Miller is again with the U.S. U-20 Men's National team. Head coach Tab Ramos
pulled in 24 players to start preparing for the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualifying tournament,
which will likely begin in early 2013. The World Cup will be held in Turkey in 2013, and every
player on the [.
Mexico will host the 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship and Panama will be the site for the U-17
Championship, the Confederation announced on Tuesday. The U-20's will kickoff on February 18th,
2013 running through March 2nd. Puebla will be the host city, using the Estadio Cuauhtemoc and
Estadio Universitario Lobos stadiums.
Marquette's Vanessa Legault-Cordisco and the University of Wisconsin's Diamond
Simpson might get a late start to their college seasons in the fall.
That's because they'll likely be at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup in Japan from Aug. 19 to
Sept. 8.
Legault-Cordisco played all 90 minutes at right back as Canada routed host Panama 6-0 Friday
night in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Under-20 Championships in Panama City to earn a berth in
the World Cup.
FC Milwaukee defender Brittany Von Rueden was called back into camp with the U.S.
Under-18 women's national team.
U.S. Soccer women's technical director April Heinrichs is overseeing the week-long camp,
which starts Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Von Rueden, a Notre Dame recruit,
also was part of the Under-18 national team camp in June.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 kicks of today with four matches on the calendar. With 2009
champions Ghana failing to qualify for the tournament, 2009 runners-up Brazil kicks off action
against Egypt at 9:45 PM ET tonight. The competition starts later this afternoon when England meets
Korea DPR.
The FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia 2011 kicks of today with four matches on the calendar. With 2009
champions Ghana failing to qualify for the tournament, 2009 runners-up Brazil kicks off action
against Egypt at 9:45 PM ET tonight. The competition starts later this afternoon when England meets
Korea DPR.
Alex Morgan and Team USA are ready for glory - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Some deem the Champions League as the most important event on the soccer calendar, others the
World Cup, however for the United States woman's team it is clear that the goal of winning the gold
in the Olympics this summer is their pinnacle.
It took almost two weeks since we announced that Chelsea had signed Oscar and today Chelsea made
the deal official with this simple statement on their web site:
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Oscar.
Oscar is believed to have signed a five-year contract after Chelsea paid £25m for his
services.
Reports in Tuesday's newspapers say that Chelsea have signed Brazilian wonderkid Oscar for
£25million, who is regarded as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Brazil in
years.
To make the purchase even sweeter, Chelsea reportedly outbid Spurs and Andre Villas-Boas for
the 20-year-old.
Reports in Tuesday's newspapers say that Chelsea have signed Brazilian wonderkid Oscar for
£25million, who is regarded as one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Brazil in
years.
To make the purchase even sweeter, Chelsea reportedly outbid Spurs and Andre Villas-Boas for the
20-year-old.
MLS lives by a simple creed, there is no such thing as too many drafts. Thus today we had our
fourth draft of the off-season with the 2012 Supplemental Draft. This is essentially rounds 3-7 of
the SuperDraft but in the interest of time, money and general interest, it's been split off in to
its own event.
LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. - Prior to November, the last time Jared Jeffrey suited up for a U.S. youth
national team was in 2009, and much has changed for him since then.
Since representing the United States at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup three summers ago, Jeffrey
has switched clubs, learned a new language and overcome the nagging hip injury that put him on the
shelf for much of last season.
U.S. Soccer referee Mark Geiger and assistant referee Sean Hurd have been selected to officiate
the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup between Brazil and Portugal in Bogota, Colombia.
The match will be broadcast live on ESPNU and ESPN3.com on Saturday, August 20, at 7 p.m. ET.
The American referees, along with Canada's Joe Fletcher, have also been on the referee crew for a
Group E match between Brazil and Austria, a Group B match featuring Uruguay and Cameroon and a
Round of 16 game between Spain and Korea Republic.
If Brazil intends to avoid the drama of another penalty shootout on Saturday when it takes on
Portugal in the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, Ney Franco's side must become the first team
to find the back of the net against Portugal, whose remarkable shutout streak in this tournament
reached 570 minutes following Wednesday's 2-0 semifinal victory over France.
No country has been more irritated by the emergence of Spain in recent years than Brazil, which
always took for granted being the main attraction at every tournament and the great purveyor of The
Beautiful Game. A quarterfinal clash at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup might not seem like much, but
Brazilians hope Sunday's triumph over Spain in penalty kicks was a small step towards putting their
universe back in order.
The field at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup has been narrowed to 16 teams.
Spain, Nigeria and host Colombia were the only teams to win all of their matches in the group
stage, with Nigeria boasting a tournament-best +10 goal differential.
On the other end of the spectrum, Guatemala managed to qualify for the group stage after a late
goal lifted the first-time participants to a 1-0 victory over Croatia in their final group
game.
Host Colombia isn't the only South American team enjoying a strong start to the FIFA Under-20
World Cup.
Brazil routed Panama, 4-0, to win Group E, and Argentina shut out North Korea, 3-0, to win Group
F as both powers advanced to the knockout stage of the tournament Thursday night.
FIFA Under-20 World Cup host Colombia won't be leaving its own party early.
Colombia defeated Mali, 2-0, on Tuesday to become the first team to seal a place in the knockout
stage of the tournament.
Jose Valencia and James Rodriguez scored the goals, and FC Dallas Designated Player Fabian
Castillo made his tournament debut, entering as a 61st-minute substitute for Colombia, which is
almost assured of winning Group A.
After a disappointing loss to Argentina, Mexico roared back to life in the FIFA Under-20 World
Cup with an impressive 3-0 victory over a fiesty North Korea side.
An own goal by North Korea moments before halftime gave Mexico the lead. El Tri doubled that
lead in the 54th minute when forward Taufic Guarch launched a laser from 30 yards out, and Mexico
midfielder Diego De Buen added a third goal four minutes into stoppage time to cap off the
victory.
Spain's dominance on the world stage has extended to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
The Spaniards opened their tournament with a thorough 4-1 beating of CONCACAF runner-up Costa
Rica behind two goals from Rodrigo on Sunday. Spain wasn't the only team to impress in the opening
round of games, either.
A busy summer of international soccer winds down with 24 countries vying to win the FIFA
Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, which takes place from July 29 to Aug. 20. Argentina and Mexico are
both back in the fold after failing to qualify two years ago, and the two teams clash Friday in one
of the very first matches of the tournament, as the South Americans begin their quest for a record
seventh title.
Good news today that Newcastle's 18 year-old goalkeeper Jak Alnwick has been named in the England
Under-20 squad for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which will take place in Colombia in July and
August. Jak Alnick talented young goalkeeper The youngster is Tottenham and former Sunderland
goalkeeper Ben Alnick's young brother, and he will [.
All media outlets appear to be suggesting that Juan Mata should sign sometime in the next 48
hours, which is great news. Also confirmed by our Chairman and this is a rarity, Arsenal never
comment on transfer news and every time Hill-Wood speaks it is to say something against the
existing players, Arsenal have made an offer for Jagielka.
Arsene Wenger must be on the look out for a striker this summer.
We know van Persie can score goals, but we are also aware that he is unlikely to go through the
season without a major injury keeping him out of action for 3 months. So long as RvP is fit he
will bang in goals for fun, but with an international break coming early September, this is the
call sign for an injury whilst playing for Holland.
Launched this summer, the Korea Republic 2012/13 home kit has seen action over the past few weeks
at the FIFA Under-20 Women's World Cup Japan 2012. The senior men's team...
New England natives Jami Kranich and Samantha Mewis are headed to the 2012 FIFA Under-20 Women's
World Cup in Japan after earning spots on the 21-player U.S. U-20 Women's National Team roster for
the tournament.
The tournament takes place from Aug. 19 through Sept. 8 and the U.S., drawn into Group D, opens
its tournament on Aug.
Former U.S. National Team youth star Lee Nguyen was selected by the Revolution in Waiver Draft,
the team announced on Friday.
Nguyen, who has played in the 2005 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in the Netherlands, also has three
caps on the senior level. The 25-year-old signed with MLS last year and was selected by Vancouver
via lottery, but was waived by the Whitecaps on Thursday prior to the MLS roster compliance
deadline.
Also file under: You probably already figured that out
The domestic soccer calendar really never provides a break. My MLS season goes right up through
Thanksgiving. The draft comes up in early January and I'll be in Phoenix watching pre-season
practices a month later. In between there might be time to squeeze in a, uh, "research" trip to
England to analyze and document the competition abroad.
BOGOTA – I know plenty of people who read this blog aren't into the FIFA Under-20
championships going on in Colombia. No problema. But you might enjoy this little bit:
I'm here in Colombia because I can get a little work and have a little fun – all at relatively
little expense.
