That's All Folks!

This is likely the final WNT Blog post of 2008. No tears, please. All good things must come to an end you know, and for now, so too must the WNT Blog. At least for the remainder of this year. We'll be back in late January when the U.S. women reconvene for a training camp, but for now it's time to focus on family and loved ones during the holidays and reflect warmly on all the great things that happened this year, on the field and off. So to all you WNT fans out there, thanks for the great support and we'll see you in 2009. Porky says Peace Out.

Happy Holidays from the WNT!

This guy says it all. The WNT players and staff wish you and yours a very Happy Holidays and a great New Year.

Thanks Detroit

Kudos also to the more than 11,000 fans who showed up on a freezing Wednesday night at Ford Field to watch the final match of the year for the U.S. women. Of course, it was 70 degrees inside Ford Field, but the fans had to drive through the snow and sludge to get there. It was a great way to end an historic year, not only with a victory - the USA's 25th shutout of the year -- but with a big and appreciative crowd. The team wishes it could have put a few more in the net, but once again great defense by the USA earned the victory. So thanks to all those who came out to make the 2008 finale a fun one and hopefully it won't be another 15 years before the WNT gets back to Detroit.

I'll Have the Double-Double

Kudos to Heather O'Reilly for scoring her 10th goal of the year last night against China, which along with her 10 assists, make her just the sixth player in U.S. history to score double-figures in goals and assists in a calendar year. The others? Well, you've probably heard of Mia Hamm, who did it five times. Carin Gabarra, the MVP of the 1991 WWC did it once, as did Shannon MacMillan and Tiffeny Milbrett. Abby Wambach has done it twice, including this year, when she scored 13 goals with 10 assists before breaking her leg.

The Snow is Glistening...

It's snowing in Detroit.

About 3-4 inches are expected to fall tonight which of course won't impact the match against China tomorrow as it's being played indoors and according to locals, won't impact the locals too much either, who apparently treat 3-4 inches of snow as a Californian would treat one inch of rain.

The team went out to dinner at a restaurant that was a short distance from the hotel, but it was a snowy walk through a winter wonderland that everyone seemed to enjoy, including Christie Rampone who crafted some snowballs (above), and her daughter Rylie, who seemed to rejoice in throwing mini-snowballs at Rampone's teammates, and her mom.

Italian dinner...gooooood.

Welcome Home, Michiganders

Gold Medal Michiganders Markgraf and Tarpley

It will be a special match tomorrow night for two U.S. players who will be playing in their home state for the first time with the U.S. Women's National Team. Both Kate Markgraf (formerly Kate Sobrero when she attended Detroit Country Day) and Lindsay Tarpley endured some cold winters of training during their formative years to get to the National Team so it seems only appropriate that they will get to play indoors at Ford Field where the weather will be a balmy 70 degrees! The Michiganders have certainly left their mark on the National Team, with both players' bios chocked full of accomplishments that have secured their spots in U.S. WNT history and both have surely made the soccer community in Michigan very proud. Markgraf will have a least 35 friends/family at the match. Tarpley, who hails from Kalamazoo, where she attended Portage Central High School and as a senior was named Michigan’s Miss Soccer and the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year, should have a large group coming down from K-Zoo, depending on how much snow falls tonight, that is. I think now is the time to say, "Can we get a Region II shout out please?" "Region II!"

Q&A w/ Pia

Pia Sundhage took some time after training today to speak with a group of youth soccer coaches from Michigan, talking about the USA's run to the gold medal as well as the strengths of her team and what the U.S. women need to improve to stay on top of the world. After her talk, she answered a bunch of questions. During one answer, she shared a quote that crystallized her goals of moving the USA towards a more technical, creative and unpredictable attack, while still maintaining the fantastic defense and legendary winning mentality so closley associated with the U.S. team. To paraphrase, she compared the growth of women's soccer in the southern European countries to the historic strengths of the nothern European countries saying, "(in the north), we take care of the goal, (in the south), they take care of the ball." Bounce that around in the 'noggin for a bit.