Her Story: It's tough not to put Joy Fawcett higher up on this list, but I like her here at #5. She grew up in California and was a three time All-American at UC Berkeley. She would join the Nats in 1987 and would serve the squad well until 2004. For almost two decades, she would be a constant fixture on the backline for the powerhouse WNT.

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The US Women's National Soccer Team is perhaps the most dominant squad in all of soccer history. I am not talking about just women's soccer, I am talking about all soccer. Over the last two decades, the team has risen from obscurity to become a national treasure and a force to be reckoned with in every major tourney.

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With all the ongoing hullabaloo over the DC United / Prince George's County deal, it can be easy to miss out on the other local and US soccer news going on. Freedom Auditioning Players The Washington Freedom are permitted, by WPS rules, to have 28 players in camp in the preseason. With less than 28 players currently [. Click to continue reading...

Hope Solo is returning to China while Briana Scurry is staying home.
Less then a year after coach Greg Ryan set off a goalkeeper firestorm by benching Solo ahead of their World Cup semifinal match against Brazil in favor of Scurry, Hope will finally get her chance to win a big tournament in China. Click to continue reading...

Congratulations the US Women's team who beat Italy 2-0 today to win their group and a spot in the Peace Queen Cup finals on Saturday.
The win mean the women took all three-group games, including a 1-0 win against Brazil (a little better then their World Cup result from last year). Also, their offense seems to be back as they out scored their opposition 5-1. Click to continue reading...

The US Women's team suffered another injury blow this week as defender Catherine Whitehill was diagnosed with a torn ACL. This injury will prevent her from heading to China in an attempt to win back-to-back gold medals.

Whitehill played every minute of the 2007 World Cup and held her own under very strong attacks. Click to continue reading...

The DCU Primer is coming later, but amid all of this DC United stuff there is more news. The US WNT qualified for the Olympics by beating Costa Rica 3-0 on Wednesday night. Natasha Kai scored twice, and Heather O'Reilly capped the scoring. Canada beat Mexico to send their team through to Beijing, and the [. Click to continue reading...

As you might imagine, things around here have rightfully been pretty much all DC United, all the time. That isn't to say that this blog hasn't had its eye on other things... US Women one step from the Olympics After posting group victories over Jamaica (6-0) and host Mexico (3-1), the US WNT won their three-team group [. Click to continue reading...

I've been all about leg 2 of DC United/Harbour View FC of late, but there has been other soccer to note. Algarve Cup Final: US WNT 2 - 1 Denmark Carli Lloyd's 14th minute goal was answered by Denmark's Catherine Sorenson on 30′. Both goals were the first allowed by either defense to that point in the [. Click to continue reading...

There's soccer next to, in front of, and behind us this week. So, with that in mind... Examining (yesterday): A 0-0 halftime score turned into a 4-0 victory for the US WNT over Norway. Natasha Kai, Abby Wambach, Heather O'Reilly, and Amy Rodriguez tallied goals as the US booked a place in the finals against Denmark on [. Click to continue reading...

8:45am - I've made the decision to live blog the second Algarve Cup group match for the US against Italy by way of ussoccer.com's matchtracker. In their first match, Italy were beaten 4-2 by Norway. We now switch to match time. 1:00 - We're underway and the Italians get a quick shot on goal that's saved [. Click to continue reading...

The US WNT is in Portugal at the Algarve Cup. Their first match of 3 group matches was today against China, and through Lindsay Tarpley, juggler extraordinaire Tobin Heath, Abby Wambach, and Carli Lloyd, the US were victorious 4-0. Naturally games are not being shown live, but they can be followed via the ussoccer. Click to continue reading...

The US women know now who they are training to beat as Concacaf has released their 2008 Women's Olympic Qualification. Six nations will take part in the competition for the 2 Concacaf spots in Bejing.
The teams have been divided into 2 groups of 3. The top 2 teams from each group will advance to the semifinals. Click to continue reading...

The Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash is now a partner in the new Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league.
"I look at my childhood and realize how many athletes I had to look up to," Nash said in a phone interview. "I look at the opportunity to put some of these wonderfully talented athletes who are dedicated and committed and put them in a setting to inspire a whole generation below them. Click to continue reading...

The long awaited top-level women's soccer league now has a name and a logo. As you can see in the title, the name is Women's Professional Soccer (WPS). It might not be the most exciting of names, but it does tell you exactly what it is.
As far as the logo, much like the name, it gives you what it is, a woman playing the game of soccer. Click to continue reading...

Congratulations to US women's national team captain Kristine Lilly who is pregnant with her first child. Now the down side of this news, she will miss the Olympics and all of 2008.
Lilly is an excellent player and has been the key to so much of what the US women have done, but at age 36, chances are she has played her final competitive match for the red, white and blue. Click to continue reading...

The time of Greg Ryan as US Women's boss is over as US Soccer boss Sunil Gulati has pulled a Bruce Arena on Mr. Ryan and decided against renewal of his contract.
Here is the official, thanks for coming, it has been fun, now get off my property note from Gulati:

At the conclusion of each world championship cycle, every national team's performance is closely analyzed.

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MLS Commissioner Don Garber and league president Mark Abbott will be in Portland today to revisit PGE Park. The two are interested in seeing the park in full 'game condition' ahead of tonight's US Women's match against Mexico.
Garber first looked at PGE Park in March but at the time, it was not setup for a full soccer experience. The two will talk with Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson about the requirements needed to make PGE MLS ready. Click to continue reading...

So another World Cup has come and gone and what do you know, the Germans won it all. Hard to believe the three weeks went by as fast as it did.
So what did I learn? Getting up early is fun however it really hurts the blogging. Also, to relate this to the '06 men's World Cup, the US played the role of Brazil, Germany played the role of Italy and Brazil played the role of Germany. Click to continue reading...

Wowwwwww. I don't even know where to start. Hope Solo's not happy, and she's definitely not hiding it. "It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. Um... There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves, and the fact of the matter is it's not [...] Click to continue reading...

If you're watching this later on DVR, turn away now. I actually don't have as much to say about this match as I thought I would. The shocking 4-0 scoreline in favor of Brazil doesn't tell the story on the surface. The match was fraught with questionable, and in some cases terrible decisions. It began with coach [...] Click to continue reading...

Okay so that live-blogging thing didn't really work out. In case you didn't know, the US 1-0 victory over Nigeria combined with Sweden's 2-1 victory over North Korea means that the US wins their group and advances to play England on Saturday (7:55am, ESPN2). Lori Chalupny did the business for the US, running onto an Abby [...] Click to continue reading...

Anyone who let their DVR do the watching for this morning's 5am kickoff of the USA v. Sweden Women's World Cup match will want to turn away right about... now. On the strength of two Abby Wambach goals, one from the penalty spot in the first half, and one on a gorgeous chest/half volley combination, the [...] Click to continue reading...

US (1pt) vs. Sweden (1pt)
5am ET/2am PT
TV: ESPN
This game might be the biggest game for US women's soccer ever. After a hard, unsatisfying tie against North Korea, the US women are all but in a must win position. And what is riding on this game? Perhaps the successful launch of the women's domestic league in 2009. With the new league counting on a strong World Cup and Olympic run, and failure could be a huge set back. Click to continue reading...

You US Soccer fans that did not get up at 4:55am EST to watch the US Women's National Team play North Korea in the Women's World Cup and let your DVR do the watching will want to stop reading now. Spoiler below. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [...] Click to continue reading...

US (0pts) vs. North Korea (0pts)
5am ET/2am PT
TV: ESPN2
The top team in the world takes the pitch tomorrow (or later today for them) against one of the less known sides in the world. North Korea always fields a quality team but little is known about them so even though it is safe to say the US is the better team, they might be caught off guard by their opposition. Click to continue reading...

I cannot adequately review the DC United/New England Revolution match yesterday because I didn't see a moment of it live. I can say, however, that a 4-2 result is more than I predicted we would see, and is huge both in terms of the Supporters' Shield and the Eastern Conference. Chivas, the 2nd hottest team [...] Click to continue reading...

The women's World Cup gets underway tomorrow (10 Sept) when Germany (2003 Champions) take on Argentina in Shanghai. The 16 teams in China represent the best the world has to offer. Favorites coming in are Germany, the US, Sweden and host China. There is going to be a lot of great soccer played over the next 20 days, but most of it will take place during late, late night hours here in the states. Click to continue reading...

In case you didn't already know, the US Women's National Team is in China preparing for the World Cup. The tournament is scheduled to kick off on Monday September 10, though strangely host country China is not participating until the third day of matches. The US kicks off in Chengdu on Tuesday the 11th at [...] Click to continue reading...

DC United 0 - 1 Bunch of Bull It probably should've finished 2-1 Bunch of Bull, but the beloved center ref spent much of the match staring at his rectum. Burch played well for his first start, but no other United player really distinguished himself. Well, except for Fred, who did so for the wrong reason. [...] Click to continue reading...

Marian Dalmy. Angela Hucles. Natasha Kai. Joanna Lohman. India Trotter. What do these US WNT players have in common? They're the 5 players that are vying for 3 remaining roster slots on Greg Ryan's incomplete World Cup roster. I'm not going to get far into whether I think it was a good idea to announce 18 of [...] Click to continue reading...

USA vs. Austria
2:15pm ET/11:15am PT
TV: ESPNU, TeleFutura (Spanish)
The U-20 men continue their run for history this afternoon as they face a defensive Austrian team in the quarterfinals. Austria has not looked overly strong during the tournament, but they do have the means to frustrate and confuse an attack. The US is coming off a weak outing against Uruguay where they had trouble putting connecting passes or clearing the ball. Click to continue reading...

Greg Ryan has named 18 of the 21 players he will take to the 2007 Women's World Cup this September in China. Ryan did not have to turn in his roster at this time but he felt that he owed it to the players to let them know where they stood.
"We named the 18 now because we've been in Residency Camp two years in a row, we've spent two years together and we know these players inside out," said Ryan, who will coach in his first FIFA Women's World Cup. Click to continue reading...