If you' re any sort of women's soccer fan, you know about Alex Morgan.

The 22-year-old wunderkind, known as the "super sub" during the Women's World Cup last summer and in the recent CONCACAF Olympic qualifying matches, has a nose for the goal. The former Cal soccer star has also been noted for her amazing mix of strength and beauty which makes her the epitome of Pretty Tough.

When Cuba's national women's team showed up for Monday night's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying match against Haiti in Vancouver, BC two players were conspicuously missing.

Unconfirmed reports say star forward Yesenia Gallardo Martinez, 20, and midfielder Yisel Rodriguez Llanes, 22, have defected from the Caribbean nation while playing Olympic qualifying matches in Canada.

USWNT Coach Pia Sundhage has said she wants to coach the Swedish national team when her contract with the U.S. expires in 2012. It would be a big loss for the U.S., but understandable as Sweden is Sundhage's home.

Sundhage told Swedish news agency TT on Sunday she would gladly say "yes, thank you!

Will this be the year that Marta will be dethroned as FIFA's women's world player of the year? The Brazilian striker has won the award for the past five years and was among the 10 players nominated for the 2011 award.

The United States has three players on the list all of whom played for the WNT at last summer's Women's World Cup in Germany.

Athletes usually fare pretty well on "Dancing with the Stars" but Ron Artest one of the most popular NBA players – failed to impress during Monday's night's season 13 premiere. Artest, aka Metta World Peace, only scored 14 out of 30 points after completing his cha cha with partner Peta Murgatroyd.

The women's national soccer team is back on the field this week, getting ready to play a friendly against Canada. It's their first training session since the FIFA Women's World Cup and they're excited to play at Livestrong Stadium, home of the MLS' Sporting Kansas City.

There are lots of soccer fans in KC and one super fan appears to be striker C.

Hope Solo & Maksim Chmerkovsky stop by the set of The View to talk about dancing and more.

When WNT stars Abby Wambach and Shannon Boxx threw out ceremonial first pitches before the MLB American League baseball game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Fenway last weekend, there were probably a lot of soccer fans watching baseball for the first time. Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc posted this pic of the players jumping before the big pitch.

On the morning of May 9th, 2011 U.S. Soccer released the roster for this year's 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup team in Germany. Who knew that a team so many "sports journalists" felt was in disarray, could seemingly overnight turn things around. Odd that this collection of young women transformed into a team that those same "experts" said they, "Never doubted them for a second.

For all the fans new and old of the USWNT, Liza Ellis and friends created this great rap/dance video and posted it on womenssoccerunited.com. Bring on 2012!

Find more videos like this on Womens Soccer United

By now, we all know how the Women's World Cup played out. Despite theheartbreaking outcome, the USWNT hasn't had much time to feel down about their loss to Japan on penalty kicks.

It's been 12 years since the US was in a Women's World Cup final and this American team showed such class, pride and respect that they captured the hearts of a nation.

As a recently graduated high school senior, attacking center midfielder Morgan Brian already has career stats that any soccer pro would envy. This past spring season she led her high school, Fredericka Academy in St. Simons, Georgia, to a 17-2-1 record and a fourth straight Georgia Independent School Association Class AA state title.

There was no more margin for error in today's WWC quarterfinal game between the US and Brazil. The team that lost goes home, while the winning team books a ticket to the semifinals on Wednesday. Twitter and Facebook blew up as the match progressed and more and more fans logged on to see what was happening.

There was no more margin for error in today's WWC quarterfinal game between the US and Brazil. The team that lost goes home, while the winning team books a ticket to the semifinals on Wednesday. Twitter and Facebook blew up as the match progressed and more and more fans logged on to see what was happening.

As the Women's World Cup is about to begin, the international governing organization for soccer launched a new initiative aimed at inspiring women and girls all over the world to participate in the game.

Featuring some of the stars of this summer's FIFA Women's World Cup™ in Germany, "Live Your Goals" will target the next generation of women's soccer players around the globe.

In the same week that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced her Women's World Cup initiative, aimed at empowering girls and women around the world through sports, comes news that FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, has disqualified the Iranian women's team from their Olympic qualifying match for showing up to play wearing the hijab.

Pretty Smart! On Monday June 6, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will launch the Women's World Cup Initiative: Empowering Women and Girls Through Sports. The event, which will be streamed live on www.state.gov. will take place 9:30 am ET at the Department of State with members of the U.

Brandi Chastain took the time out of a busy schedule that includes work as a member of the Capital One Cup Advisory Board, a player for the California Storm of the Women's Premier Soccer League, and raising her young son to talk a little bit about the USA and the World Cup, and the Capital One Cup standings.

As the Women's World Cup approaches, the goal is for everyone on the team to stay healthy. Unfortunately for the WNT, a key player went down in last night's game against Japan:

CHICAGO (May 15, 2011) U.S. Women's National Soccer Team midfielder Lindsay Tarpley, a member of the USA's Olympic gold medal winning team in 2004 and 2008 who was also a member of the USA's 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup Team, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee with 15 minutes remaining in the match against Japan on May 14 in Columbus, Ohio.

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) Jamaican-American singer Sean Kingston's 'Ready or Not' is the official song for the FIFA Women's World Cup to be held in Germany June 26-July 17. The track is a follow-up to last year's World Cup anthem "Waka Waka" by Shakira.

'Ready or Not' is a collaboration between Kingston and German house and dance producer duo Michael Mind Project, and it is expected to conquer the German soccer stadiums and international dance floors soon, said a statement.

Five-time Women's FIFA Player of the Year Marta Vieira da Silva dropped by the Sports Illustrated offices in NYC and responded to a couple fan questions.

The U.S. Women's National Soccer Team will play a pair of domestic matches in May to prepare for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, facing Japan on May 14 at Columbus Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, and on May 18 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

The match at Columbus Crew Stadium will kick off at 6:30 p.

The final day of group play was played in both the Algarve Cup and Cyprus Cup on March 7 and placements matches were set. The USA and Iceland will play for the title on March 9 at 12 pm ET.

In Group A, Norway defeated Japan with a score of 1-0, while the US dominated Finland and winning 4-0.

The Algarve Cup continued today with the second day of group play. Six matches were played across the southern region of Portugal and we learned a little bit about what the championship match will look like.

Day 2 of the Algarve Cup started off with Japan crushing Finland with 5 goals. Shinobu Ohno kicked things for Japan with her goal in the 16th minute of the match.

With preseason camp opening in about two weeks, each Women's Professional Soccer team has released it's preseason match schedule. Not all games will be open to fans. Visit your team's website for more information on games.

The Atlanta Beat will start things off with a match against the University of South Florida at KSU Soccer Stadium at 12:00 pm.

Following a seven-day camp in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., US head coach Pia Sundhage has named the 24-player roster that will travel to Portugal for the Algarve Cup (March 2-9). Sundhage will name a 20-player roster before the start of the tournament.

Hope Solo will go on this trip, but is not ready to compete in matches, and will be in Portugal to train as she enters the final stages of rehabilitation from shoulder surgery.

While the US Women's National Team was finishing a 6-day camp in Florida, US Soccer announced that they will be playing a friendly match against England on April 2. This will be the first match ever in England for the US Women.

The match will be played in Matchroom Stadium in East London, which is home to English League One side Leyton Orient.

After a loss to Sweden in the Four Nations Tournament, the USA came back strong against Canada winning 2-1, and then finished it off with a win against China by a score of 2-0. The USA and Canada were tied for first place in the end, but the first tie-breaker was the head-to-head result, and since the USA defeated Canada, they took the title.

(via U.S. Soccer)

CHICAGO (Jan. 13, 2011) – U.S. Women's National Team head coach Pia Sundhage has named 23 players to the roster for the 2011 Four Nations Tournament taking place in Chongqing, China, where the USA will face Sweden, Canada and the host.

With the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup commencing in late June, the tournament will be a key part of Sundhage's crafting of the eventual Women's World Cup roster as the USA takes on three strong nations, including Sweden, which is the USA's third Group C opponent at the Women's World Cup in Germany.

The amazing Marta won her fifth consecutive FIFA player of the year award Monday, ahead of Germany's Fatmire Bajramaj and Birgit Prinz.

Hosted at the Zurich Kongresshaus, the evening's FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala raised the curtain on the new decade in style. Attracting the cream of the soccer world, who had come to pay tribute to the leading players and coaches of 2010, the event reached its long-awaited climax with the award of the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or, a fusion of the FIFA World Player of the Year award and France Football magazine's Ballon d'Or.

Kudos to U.S. soccer legend Kristine LIlly for calling it a day while she's still got game. After 352 appearances for the national team, one of the most beloved figures in the history of women's soccer anounced she is retiring.

The 5-foot-4-inch midfielder hangs up her boots at age 39 as perhaps the game's most accomplished player and certainly one of the most successful and decorated female athletes in U.