The WNT Blog will take a break now until the team hits the shores of South Korea and begins preparation for the 2008 Peace Queen Cup. While the team will be about 6,000 miles from its training base in Los Angeles, we'll do our best to keep you up to speed on the tournament and the activities of the U.S. WNT. For now, if you live anywhere near Denver, Colo. (Tickets) or San Diego, Calif., (Tickets) get your tickets now to cheer on the USA in its final games before leaving for the 2008 Olympics.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Osborne Update
U.S. midfielder Leslie Osborne had surgery this morning on both her left torn ACL and her left ankle. She figured she'd go for the two-for-one as she was already on the operating table, right?Needless to say, her left side will be out of commission for a while, but the WNT Blog would like to report that everything went very well and that she was feeling good this afternoon. The ankle will be in a cast for about four weeks and her knee will be in a brace for 2-3 weeks for the first part of her rehabilitation. She'll spend about two weeks in Northern California where she had the surgeries before coming back down to SoCal to continue her rehab and start the road back to the National Team and the new pro league. Every journey begins with the first step...She'll be taking hers shortly...well, in about a month.
The Real Girls Are Ready
U.S. Soccer's creative team is putting together a series of six Webisodes on the WNT leading into the Olympics and the first one is up. Click Here.
U.S. Soccer has also launched its own MySpace page, literally like within the last hour, and we are in desperate need of some friends so please check it out. The site has some downloadable fun stuff as well. And who doesn't love downloadable fun stuff?
The WNT Blog will keep you updated when a new Webisode is released, and stay tuned to ussoccer.com as the all access videos kick back into gear after the team arrives in South Korea for the Peace Queen Cup.
Celebration Dinner
On Sunday night, the U.S. team and staff went out to an big Italian dinner as the final 22 players celebrated getting one step closer to the Olympics. There is always a feeling of relief and euphoria when major roster deadlines are passed, although the final group has one more hurdle before Pia Sundhage names the 18 players who will represent the USA at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While the players certainly feel for those who did not make it this far, everyone knows the competition for roster spots is always intense and there are only 18 players for the Olympics. So, those who did make it let loose a little steam on Sunday night and gorged on appetizers, salads and pasta. They even helped sing a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday for a group of teenage volleyball players sitting at the next table (several of whom could not quite believe the U.S. Women's Soccer Team had walked in and sat down right next to them). The players will keep up their training and fitness this week on their own before the loooooooooong flight to Seoul next weekend.
On to Korea...
Training camp is over. Ended yesterday, in fact. Now the team will have a week-long break before leaving for the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea. The two-week camp marked the final chance for some players to make an impact on head coach Pia Sundhage and her coaching staff as they have pared the number of players eligible for the Olympic Team down to 22. See below.
This weekend was pretty light for the U.S. team. Saturday featured scrimmage matches and Sunday was just weights. Monday morning was a light session featuring the final 22. The team played some intense 6 v. 6 matches and finished with some finishing, before most players went straight to the airport to hop flights home and get some rest before traveling to the Peace Queen Cup. If we haven't mentioned it before, the Peace Queen Cup is a superbly organized event with great stadiums and great games. It should be an excellent tournament for the U.S. team as the final pieces of the Olympic puzzle come together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
