U.S. WNT

She's a 'Keeper

2008-05-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

The U.S. team had a very special guest at training today in Ashlyn Harris, the starting goalkeeper for the USA at both the 2002 and 2004 FIFA Under-19 Women's World Cups. (Harris is spending a month in California just chill-axin' -- it's what we do in California -- before she heads into the college season at UNC in the fall). In fact, Ashlyn played every minute of all 12 games during those tournaments, and was the youngest player on the field at age 16 when the USA defeated Canada to win the 2002 tournament in front of almost 50,000 shocked Canadians in Edmonton. Of course, also on the field that glorious day were current U.S. Women's National Team players Lori Chalupny, Heather O'Reilly and Lindsay Tarpley (above) as well as Leslie Osborne. From 2001-2004, Harris was arguably the best young goalkeeper in the world, but the last four or so years have been seen a difficult road as (long story short) she has been beset by injuries, including two torn ACLs. She finally got on the college soccer field for the first time during the NCAA Tournament in 2006 and helped UNC to the title. She is currently on the mend, looking strong and still has two years of eligibility remaining with the Tar Heels. With the new pro league on the horizon as well as the next Women's World Cup not until 2011, we are betting that Harris will once again wear the colors of her country at some point in the future.

A-Rod the Role Model

2008-05-25T21:42:00.000-07:00

Over the course of a year from March of 2004 to March of 2005, Amy Rodriguez worked her way from the U.S. U-17s to the U-19s to the U-21s to the full Women's National Team. An ascendancy that speedy is certainly not typical, but A-Rod developed her game on the highly competitive fields of Southern California, playing club soccer, high school and ODP, while earning Gatorade Player of the Year honors as a senior. Not to mention winning an NCAA title last fall at USC. Although just 21, she is certainly a role model to the thousands of girls in Southern California trying to do the best for their teams, in school and in life. After today's scrimmage, A-Rod took a few minutes to speak with some young players and answer some questions about her experiences on the road to the National Team.

Tribute to Osborne

2008-05-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

The U.S. team got some terrible news this past weekend as it was confirmed that midfielder Leslie Osborne had torn her ACL in training last Thursday.

http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_6422562.html

Known as a tremendous teammate and an extremely hard worker, the injury was a blow to the U.S. team, not only losing Osborne's world class talents on the field, but also her beloved personality off it. It's extremely difficult to describe the feelings an athlete must go through after suffering an injury of this sort just 76 days before the start of the Olympics, so we won't even try, but suffice it to say that Leslie has handled it as well as anyone could, and was actually back at training on Saturday cheering on her teammates from the sideline. Last year, the USA lost Heather Mitts to the same injury a few months before the Women's World Cup, and she is back strong competing for a spot on the Olympic Team, so we know that 25-year-old Osborne has a few more world championships left in her as well. For now, as they must, the team will move forward towards the Olympics without her on the field, missing her gritty, inspirational and always consistent play in the midfield, but surely she will still be in their hearts and minds over the next four months.

Big Sunday

2008-05-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

Today was scrimmage day for the U.S. team as the squad played two matches against boys teams in the afternoon. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage spilt the squad for two 90-minute matches (well, the second one was cut to 85 minutes) and both games were great workouts for the U.S. players at the end of a hard week of training. The team will have just one training tomorrow, in the morning, before re-grouping on Tuesday for a double-day that includes weights in the morning and training in the afternoon. This will be the last extended training camp for the U.S. team before the Olympics. The remaining pre-Olympic events are the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea in June that will feature three (and maybe four games if the USA makes the Final), a two-game, 10-day trip (including travel days) to Norway and Sweden in early July and the two matches against Brazil on an eight-day trip to Colorado and San Diego in mid-July. Above asst. coach Jillian Ellis chats with defender Heather Mitts about tactics at halftime of one of the games.

Congrats Ali!

2008-05-24T22:18:00.001-07:00

Today in Germany, U.S. National Team defender Ali Krieger did something pretty special. She (we think?) became the first American to win a UEFA Women's Cup, basically the Champions League of Europe for women's soccer. Krieger plays for German powerhouse FFC Frankfurt, which defeated Swedish powerhouse Umea 3-2 (after the teams tied 1-1 during the first leg in Sweden) to take the Cup on a 4-3 aggregate. Krieger played the full 90 minutes in front of a German record crowd for a women's match of 27,640, and next to at least six members of the full Germany Women's National Team (probably more, but we don't feel like looking up German National Team players right now). She squared off against a team that featured a number of Swedish National Team players as well as Danish and Japanese National Team players, not to mention...yeah, Marta. She's Brazilian. Frankfurt managed to keep Marta off the scoresheet and got two goals from former WUSA player Conny Pohlers. Krieger, who earned her first two full National Team caps in January at the Four Nations Tournament, has been fulfilling club commitments in Germany ever since, but will arrive at U.S. camp tomorrow and spend a week doing her best to show well and be considered for a spot on the Olympic Team. Krieger has yet to play for the USA in a FIFA youth or senior world championship, but now she has a very unique accomplishment on her soccer resume. See above right.

A Night With David

2008-05-24T22:00:00.000-07:00

About a dozen U.S. players took advantage of one of the perks of having its training base at The Home Depot Center, taking in the Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Kansas City Wizards match this evening. It was an entertaining battle with plenty of chances for both teams and featured a Galaxy comeback from 1-0 down to win 3-1. The final goal was scored by David Beckham from deep inside his own half. Kansas City GK Kevin Hartman has come into the penalty box for a corner kick when the score was 2-1. The ball was cleared out to Beckham, who took a look at the opposing net and fired from at least 70 yards away, bouncing it into the open the goal! The legend grows. Unfortunately, most of the U.S. players had left the stadium to beat traffic! Well, it sometimes is tough to get out of the HDC with such a big crowd. And they can check it out on MLSnet.com tomorrow. It's well worth the mouse clicks.

We Knew Cats Were Good Jumpers...

2008-05-22T18:17:00.000-07:00

The U.S. team had its combo on-field weight and agility / soccer workout this morning, with half the team running through the circuit while the other half played soccer before switching after 45 minutes. It was a high intensity, efficient training with tons of touches on the ball for all the players. That set the tone for another hard workout in the afternoon that featured some 3 v 3 and 4 v 4 games as well as finishing. With Friday off, the team will train once on Saturday before head coach Pia Sundhage splits the squad on Sunday for two 90-minute scrimmages.

Hau`oli Lā Hānau Tash!

2008-05-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today is the (gulp) 25th birthday of forward Natasha Kai. Yeah, she's halfway to 50, but if there was ever a person young at heart, it's Natasha Kai. To celebrate her B-day, and the May birthdays of Kristin Luckenbill, Leslie Osborne and Tobin Heath, the team is going to team captain Christie Rampone's house tonight for a home cooked dinner. With tomorrow off from training, the team can relax and stuff themselves before enjoying some great California weather on Friday. What? It's supposed to rain on Friday? Well, that would put a damper on things, but after several days of hard training, a day of rest will be good, whether its spent in a movie theatre, at an indoor mall or just relaxing in your hotel room. For now, Hau`oli Lā Hānau to Natasha Kai (Hawaiian for Happy Birthday) and the team will hit the field again on Saturday.

The Price is Right

2008-05-21T20:07:00.001-07:00

The U.S. team certainly had a full day today. After a hard morning training session this a.m., and after watching most of the UEFA Champions League Final in the locker room (most of the players were rooting for Man U), the team boarded a bus to the Fairfax district of Los Angeles and the CBS studios at Television City to make a special appearance on legendary game show The Price is Right. The show is hosted by huge soccer fan and MLS Seattle investor Drew Carey, who was tabbed a little less than a year ago to take over from the iconic Bob Barker, who retired after hosting the show for 35 years. We can't give away too many details, but suffice it to say that all the folks at The Price is Right were great to the team and the players had a fantastic time. The air date for the show featuring the U.S. team is June 13, so set your DVRs, and get ready to COME ON DOWN! Ok, the U.S. players weren't actually bidding on any prizes, much to the chagrin of Heather O'Reilly, who was sure she could win the Showcase Showdown. A few players did get to spin The Big Wheel before the show, which Natasha Kai called, "a dream come true." Of course, there are a few more dreams on the table for the next few months, namely making the Olympic Team and competing for a gold medal.

New 'do

2008-05-20T20:28:00.000-07:00

U.S. midfielder Tobin Heath showed up to training camp with a new look, cutting off nine inches of brown locks. While she can barely put her hair in a ponytail, the bob has drawn great reviews from her teammates, who can't decide whether it makes her look older or younger, but definitely are in agreement that it's "super cute." The motivation for the new 'do was more than looking for some low-maintenance hair for the hot summer ahead. Heath donated her hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a charitable organization created to bring people together to share their strength and donate their beautiful, healthy hair to create free wigs for women who have lost their hair due to cancer treatment. Well done, Tobin. Today at training, pre-wrap hairband expert Heather O'Reilly was seen giving some tips to Heath, who will definitely need the bands to keep her hair out of her eyes until she can go full ponytail again.

Back in Blog

2008-05-20T15:15:00.004-07:00

After what seemed like a very short break after a great win over Canada on May 10 in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Women's National Team is back in action for a training camp at The Home Depot Center. This two-weeker will be the USA's final training before leaving for the Peace Queen Cup in South Korea on June 8. This being the beginning of a training camp, that of course means the team ran the Beep Test today. This is sort of a bad news, good news sort of situation. The bad news is that they had to run the Beep Test. The good news is that most everyone did extremely well, including Heather O'Reilly and Heather Mitts, who seemed to be Cyborg fitness machines sent from the future to dominate the Beep Test. Mitts sweated and sprinted to the best score by far and probably one of the best marks in recent U.S. WNT history. The other good news is that this was the last Beep Test of the year for the team! While of course the players will continue to work on fitness leading into the Olympics, the Beep Test is in the rear view mirror, at least for 2008.

Kate and Christie on CNN

2008-05-14T10:42:00.002-07:00

When the USA was in Birmingham, Ala., a few weeks ago, CNN cameras came out to follow the USA's Soccer Moms, Kate Markgraf and Christie Rampone, for a day. They even went to the zoo, where Keegan Markgraf hand-fed a giraffe. Man, it's fun to be a kid sometimes. Click below to see the excellent CNN Mother's Day piece that ran last Sunday.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/sports/2008/05/11/smith.us.soccer.moms.cnn

Happy Mother's Day from the WNT

2008-05-11T18:04:00.003-07:00

We all know that the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "Soccer Mom" but the latest all_access video brings it to another level. While in Washington, D.C., the team took time out after a training to thank their moms for, among other things, all that time driving them to practices and tournaments and sitting in the lawn chairs on the sidelines, as well as all the love and support over the years. So, here is a special Mother's Day Tribute from the WNT.

Technically Difficult

2008-05-11T15:05:00.002-07:00

We would like to apologize for the problems with MatchACCESS last night during the Canada game. Best laid plans can come unravelled and we had some major difficulty with the Internet connection for the web stream. We were going to show you the match on ussoccer.com today, but once again, some unforeseen circumstances reared their ugly head in addition to the gremlins invading our technology. We will get some highlights of the game up on the site ASAP as there were some fantastic goals last night (in fact, all six were pretty darn good) and they do deserve to be seen. Thank you for your patience.

Yesterday and TODAY

2008-05-11T12:30:00.002-07:00

Coming off the rousing 6-0 victory over Canada last night at RFK Stadium, four U.S. players are scheduled for a brief appearance on the NBC Today Show in New York on Monday morning. Jersey girls Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd and Tobin Heath, along with Rochester, N.Y.'s Abby Wambach should be on live with the Today Show crew at around 8:30 a.m. ET. The weather is forecast to be, in meteorological terms, "yucky" so we're not sure how that will impact the appearance, but after the USA's match in Cary, N.C. n April 27 against Australia that was played in a virtual monsoon, a little rain and wind won't bother these players.

Go Time

2008-05-09T20:27:00.003-07:00

The USA's pre-game practice today was quite a wet one as a steady rain fell during the entire hour. The team trained on turf at Georgetown, so the rain was hardly noticed, although the players were drenched when getting back onto the bus. It is supposed to rain a little bit tomorrow morning, but it should be cleared up by game time, which is a good thing as we don't want anything to interrupt the ussoccer.com MatchACCESS web stream. Would rain impact a live webcast? Probably not, but we don't know how that stuff works, so better safe than sorry. Fans can watch the game and/or follow on ussoccer.com's MatchTracker. The team has been training hard this week so suffice it to say, the players are excited to get on the field for an actual game after kicking each other all week. The U.S. team will go on a week break after this game before re-grouping in Los Angeles for a two-week training camp. FYI: The USA's opening match in the Olympics is 79 days away.

RFK Preview/Rewind

2008-05-08T20:49:00.004-07:00

The U.S. team took in the first 45 minutes of the D.C. United-Chicago Fire game tonight at RFK Stadium. The players got to walk on (well, next to) the field before the game and were impressed with the plushness of the surface, which surely made everyone even more excited to play on Saturday night. Interesting note about RFK Stadium. Back in 1995, RFK hosted the first-ever domestic WNT match that was played in a big stadium. It was actually the final game of that year at the Nike U.S. Women's Cup, which came just after the USA returned from the third-place finish at 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup in Sweden. The USA beat Norway that day (the same team that had knocked them out of the WWC and gone on to take the title), winning 2-1, on goals from Mia Hamm and player named Tammy Pearman, who came off the bench in her first-ever cap to score the winning goal, which turned out to be the only goal of her career. She would play in just eight more games for the USA spanning 230 minutes. That game was watched by 7,083 fans, which was at the time the largest crowd ever to watch the U.S. women in the United States. Just under a year later, 76,489 would watch the Olympic gold medal game in Athens, Ga...thus introducing the WNT to America and the world.

Rain, Of Course

2008-05-08T20:42:00.002-07:00

The U.S. WNT has encountered rain at every stop on this three-game domestic tour and this morning there was a little spritzing during training, but nothing major. Tonight, the skies opened, thunder roared and lightning struck! Ok, so we heard a bit of thunder and it rained a bit harder. The rain is supposed to last through tomorrow morning and afternoon (and maybe evening), which should make the pre-game practice a bit wet, but hopefully it will clear up on game day. In Cary, N.C. for the first game against Australia, of course it rained and stormed so hard that the game was delayed for about an hour. In Birmingham, Ala., it rained on the morning of game day, but cleared up quickly and the weather was glorious for the match. The pitch at RFK is in fantastic condition, so it surely can absorb some rain, but it would be nice for the fans to have a clear day on Saturday in what will be the USA's last visit to the Eastern part of the United States before the 2008 Olympics.

UFT

2008-05-07T18:11:00.003-07:00

No, the UFT is not a new mixed martial arts league, it's the Ultimate Fan Ticket and it's pretty cool. We thought we'd bring it up in the Blog because we just got this great pic of Abby and Ultimate Fan Ashley Mimaki at the match in Cary, N.C. Ashley and her dad braved terrible weather conditions to get the Ultimate Fan Experience. What is the Ultimate Fan experience you ask? Read on...

The Ultimate Fan Ticket is a unique fan experience that provides dedicated U.S. Soccer fans with a unique game-day view of the Men's and Women's National Teams by bringing fans as close as possible to the action on and off the field.

While the exact itinerary for the UFT experience changes with each game, the package includes:
Top Level Ticket
Customized U.S. jersey
Pre-Game field access
Behind the scenes guided stadium tour
And more!
Call 312.528.1227 or e-mail tickets@ussoccer.org for more information on what the UFT includes for upcoming U.S. National Team games.

Now, we certainly can't promise that every Ultimate Fan will get an up-close-and-personal meeting with their favorite player (Ashley is one luuuckeeee girl), or that they will get their boot as a special gift, but we can promise that it will be pretty fun to get a not-often seen look at what happens at the stadium on game day.

BBQ in BHAM

2008-05-07T10:43:00.003-07:00

Last week when the USA was in Alabama preparing to play Australia at Legion Field, the team went to the childhood home of Cat Whitehill (formely Reddick) for good 'ole fashioned Southern BBQ. The meal was arranged by Cat's parents, Phil and Anne Reddick, who ooze Southern hospitality. It was a fantastic meal (although we had to roll a few players and staff out of there such was the massive consumption of the scrumptious food), with some great company and it's always nice to visit the Reddicks when the team comes to Birmingham. We caught a bit of the festivities on camera, and while this video will be up on ussoccer.com's all_accesss video, we thought we'd show it to you on the WNT Blog as well.

Training at Georgetown

2008-05-06T20:52:00.003-07:00

The U.S. team hit the field at Georgetown University this afternoon on a magnificent day and trained for almost two hours. The team had been off for almost three days, having played last Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, traveled on Sunday and had Monday off. It was a pretty intense session which included some four v. four games, some one v. one drills and of course, some shooting. Afterwards, the team signed autographs for some young girls, including the above trio from the Bethesda Soccer Club. Thanks Kacey and A-Rod!

WNT in the Community

2008-05-06T20:36:00.004-07:00

Yesterday we wrote about a couple events the WNT did for Athletes for Hope in and around Washington, D.C. Today we bring you a few pics. A few players are going to read for kids on Thursday at the hospital as well.

Day Off, To Give Back

2008-05-05T20:52:00.004-07:00

Today was a day off from training for the players of the U.S. WNT, but that doesn't mean they weren't busy. In between some much deserved R&R, several players spent the day giving back to D.C. area children on behalf of the charitable organization Athletes for Hope. A baker's dozen of U.S. WNTeamers went to the Children’s National Medical Center in Northwest Washington in the morning and then five players went to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington in Southeast Washington, D.C. in the afternoon. At the hospital, the players visited four different divisions and met with children during bedside, playroom, and classroom visits. Later that evening, five of the players held a soccer clinic for over 30 D.C. area children at the Robert V. Murray Metropolitan Police Clubhouse #11. “This was a wonderful opportunity,” said midfielder Leslie Osborne, “I’m so glad we were able to get involved on our day off. Both of these organizations do amazing work, and we were all happy to help out and make the day special for these kids. I know that they made it very special for all of us.” Well said, Leslie.

Touch Down in D.C.

2008-05-04T19:12:00.003-07:00

The U.S. WNT traveled from Alabama to Washington, D.C. today (direct flight) and got to the hotel in the nation's capitol about 6 p.m. This is the first time the USA has been in D.C. since facing Sweden in its opening match of the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The team actually flew into Baltimore and then drove to D.C., watching most of the movie "Juno" during the drive, which of course almost the whole team had already seen. The team arrived a bit later than usual so the late lunch turned into an early dinner. For some reason this late lunch was a veritable feast (although the WNT almost always has a tasty spread at team hotels), meaning that the late dinner was probably a bit much. Most of the players ate anyway. We have told you this in the past, but these players burn a lot of calories every day. Not tomorrow, though, which is a day off for rest and relaxation. Almost the whole team will go to a local hospital tomorrow morning to visit with some children and then the rest of the day is there own. We're not sure if any sightseeing is in the cards, but for sure there will be some mall shopping and movie going. The team returns to training on Tuesday.

MatchACCESS is Back

2008-05-03T21:02:00.004-07:00

This just in: Fans will be able to watch next weekend's USA vs. Canada game on May 10 via web streaming on ussoccer.com's MatchACCESS. The game will be streamed live at 7 p.m. ET from RFK Stadium, the USA's first visit to the historic venue since the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. The USA will travel from Birmingham, Alabama, to Washington, D.C. tomorrow to set up camp in the nation's capitol. The squad will have Monday off before hitting the training field on Tuesday in preparation for the Canada match. U.S. head coach Pia Sundhage's boxer -- which she named Cruyff Pele Beckenbauer -- will surely be watching from Sweden, where he stays with her sister while Pia is in the USA.