Nike Mancester United Premier Cup - US Finals

Note from MA - due to unforeseen family circumstances, I had to forego the trip this weekend to Portland for the Nike Manchester United Premier Cup.  Needless to say, I was totally bummed.  However, the girls are in very capable hands with Cook, and he has graciously decided to update us all with the happenings in Portland this weekend.   

I'm also going to try and post some video as PVK has been able to email out some .avi files for us.  Hopefully these post OK here! 

Posted by Mark Cook.

Here it goes, I am going to try and give the readers some updates from the Manchester United Cup (Man Cup) in Portland, Oregon.  First off this is not Mark (Abboud) writing this, it’s the other Mark (Cook) taking a shot at giving all of you the chance to hear what is happening in Oregon.  You may be wondering why I am writing this and not the other Mark.  Unfortunately, he had to stay at home with his wife and daughter because his wife was not feeling well, so you are going to have to deal with updates from me this weekend.  I will say that I am by no means the writer that the other Mark is and could probably use an editor for this (Schaefer); what can I say, I was a public speaking major, good at talking but not so much with typing.  So here it goes……Drum role please!

Arrival and opening ceremonies

Let me start by giving some background for those of you who don’t know what the Man Cup is.  This event is hosted at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon.  It is a U14 boys and girls only event, it is the United States Finals – with the winning boys and girls team will advancing to the World Finals.  The winning girls team will advance to the Gothia Cup in Sweden (I’m not sure where the Boys’ Finals are held), all expenses paid by Nike (not a bad little prize).  There were hundreds of teams that applied to play in this event and only 32 teams were chosen to participate this year.  Some teams qualified by winning certain tournaments (US Club Nationals, Jefferson Cup, Sockers Nike Cup, Sereno Classic, etc…), while the rest of the teams were excepted on merit.  We were fortunate enough to get in as the defending Region 2 Champions and believe me when I say fortunate, this list of teams is very impressive.

As any tournament does, we started this tournament with team check-in.  The unique thing with this event is that the girls were asked to come to check in to meet with a representative from Nike and the tournament organizers.  At check-in we were given six boxes of Nike gear for the players and coaches…very cool! The players were given a new backpack with the tournament logo, shirts and a miniature Manchester United soccer ball, all of which the kids were pumped about.  As for the coaches, we received the brand new Nike Manchester United jacket, which for me, this could not have been any cooler as I am a huge Manchester United fan. Oh, by the way did I mention that they had just won the Champions League the day before (glory, glory Man United!!!!).

From the team check in we went to the Nike World Headquarters and met at the Tiger Woods Event Center for the opening ceremonies. 

 

Let me tell you, this was one very amazing event.  Since becoming a Nike Premier Club I have been fortunate enough to attend a few events here at Nike and knew that the opening ceremonies was going to be first class.  I can honestly say that it was better than that.  As you walked into the Stanford Theater (yes, named after the college that Tiger attended) you were greeted with base-filled hip-hop music and a full-sized video screen slide show that showed the stars of Manchester United along with photos of them hoisting the Premier League and Champions League trophies this past season.  I did not realize how popular Christiano Ronaldo was with 14 year old girls – Wow!  Every time his photo came up you heard loud shrieks from hundreds of girls and I don’t think it was only because he is a great player!!  Once all the teams were seated the lights went down and we watched a video with some of the worlds best players speaking in there own native language (yes, we did have subtitles to read), I wish I could give you the entire video run down but the general message was:  “Are you willing to take the final kick in a shootout? Are you first to arrive to training?  Are you the last to leave?”  Essentially, “Do you have what it takes?”  I think you get the message.  After the video we were greeted by Allen Hopkins – soccer announcer from ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel.  Allen spoke about the event and what it means to play in this event, as well as how Manchester United is committed to promoting the game worldwide for young players to enjoy.  After Allen was done he introduced the guest of honor, none other than Brandi Chastain, hero of the 1999 World Cup.  Brandi told the players her story of overcoming two ACL surgeries in college, having to adopt a new position for the Women’s National Team, missing an important PK against China preparing for the World Cup, and finally coming back and eventually scoring the winning PK in the 1999 World Cup.   All in all it was a very inspirational speech from one of the greatest persons to ever don the American jersey. 

Finally, the moment we all have been waiting for arrives…    The Draw!  On the stage there were two bowls with ping-pong balls in it.  One bowl contained all of the Cal. South teams, and the other bowl contained the rest of the teams.  First each team from Cal South was placed in one of the eight groups.    They then pulled a ball from the other bowl to round out the 8 groups of four teams.  Our draw ended up with the Irvine Strikers, FC Portland and Sockers FC, for the most part a good draw and teams we look forward to competing against.  The opening ceremonies ended with the latest Nike marketing video, Take it to the Next Level.  Now, we begin to prepare for our opponents and hope that we too can “take it to the next level.”

 

Game 1, Irvine Strikers

For our first game we were facing one of the Cal South teams, Irvine Strikers.  For anyone that follows youth soccer you know you are in for a battle anytime you face a team from Southern California. (I think it has something to do with the weather).  I spoke to each player before the game to prep them and build their confidence, as well as setting my expectations for their play.  The general message was that we needed to do a better job of winning balls and competing the entire game.  This was something that we did not do in our state cup final on Wednesday and it was a point of emphasis in last night’s team meeting.  I can honestly say that we accomplished that goal. Right from the opening whistle we dominated the 50/50 battle and took control of the game.  We created several good scoring chances, did a great job of getting our outside midfielders involved.  Both B.D. and Sophie had great first halves, we got good service in the box and we were unfortunate not to finish the chances we created. 

At halftime I made three changes and reinforced to the girls that we had to continue to change the point of attach and continue to get balls to our outside mids. 

Our first goal came on a ball played form Chilly our left mid into KK, who then played a pass to Nash about 40 yards from goal.  Nash’s fist look was to B.D. on the left flank.  The option was not there so she played a long diagonal ball into the box that Mac was able to run down and finish past the keeper. 

Irvine 1 from Mark Abboud on Vimeo.

With about seven minutes left in the game I added Maddie to the game, this was her first action in over a month due to a back injury.  Maddie made an immediate impact.  She received a great pass from Chilly on the left flank just outside the box, Maddie was able to beat her defender only to be fouled from behind for a PK.  Millie stepped up for the Pk and to all of our surprise, the keeper saved it.  Two minutes after the miss, Maddie forced their defender into a mistake and she played the ball out of bounds. Maddie quickly put the ball back into play for Millie who beat their last defender and shot far post for goal number 2. 

Irvine 2 from Mark Abboud on Vimeo.

Two minutes after goal number two we were able to force a mistake in midfield, Millie won the ball and played a quick give and go with Mac on top of the box, the quick combination sent Millie in on goal for number 3. 

Irvine 3 from Mark Abboud on Vimeo.

I have to give Millie lots of credit after the PK miss, she did slump her shoulders for a brief time but recovered mentally to put the game out of reach.  I will say that I was very pleased with our performance today and can only hope that we continue to play this well throughout.  I want to give special recognition to Nash, Maddie and Sophie for playing at “the next level” – just what we were hoping to see.  Let’s hope we do it all again tomorrow as we have two very difficult games ahead.

Day 1 Schedule/Scores 

Standings after Day 1 

U15 Premier League Game #3 vs Coon Rapids

I wasn't looking forward to this game.  Coon Rapids was a big, strong, physical team.  Not a group I wanted to see prior to our State Cup final game on Wednesday.  We've been playing so well, apart from a decent but not-spectacular-as-our-last-5-games showing against NL yesterday.  I was a bit worried about us picking up an injury today that would throw us out of sync for Wednesday.

I was tempted to forfeit the game today.  I've said it all along, our standing in our local Premier league is the least important of my concerns for this team this year. 

I didn't want to tell the girls to be careful of injuries in this game, for if they went into tackles thinking about not getting injured, that was a sure way to GET injured.  Instead, we talked a bunch about keeping the ball moving.  We'd avoid the 1v1 physical battles if CR couldn't get close to the ball.  If a player would hang onto the ball too long, they invited a tough tackle from an opposing CR player. 

It didn't help that Blondie was sick and not in attendance, and Lily had a school commitment and was also missing.  With Maddie still nursing a back injury, we had 3 subs for the game.  I would have no chance to rest some players for Wednesday, and the increased fatigue the girls would feel due to our low numbers on the night could lead to increased injury potential.  Not ideal.

I wanted to lighten the mood prior to the game with a fun warm-up.  Again, trying to minimize the focus on this game and on getting a result today.  We played Rugby for a good 15 minutes, with the girls whooping and hollering around the field, enjoying the lively warm-up game.  We finished with some fun shooting and the girls were ready.

 Last year, we had lost and tied this CR team.  We were the better soccer team in each of those encounters, but CR's size physicalness had been the great equalizers to our skill.  I told the girls last year that as our physical presence caught up with CR's in the coming years, our technical abilities would see us get the results.  I've been with younger play-up teams since 2001 and witnessed this "catch up" with my old Woodbury Inferno team.  We got beat by a Cottage Grove team 6-0 a couple times as U11s and U12s, mainly because they had one player who could run by all of us.  The rest of their team was physical and our strength was no match for them.  Then, in our U13 year, the games all of a sudden became much closer.  The following U14 year, there was no comparison between the two teams - with the Woodbury group showing complete dominance as the physical gap had been narrowed.  I know this is due in part to roster changes, but let me make my point.  Take the Woodbury team vs the CG team now at U16, and I bet it's close to double digits in the end result.

My Check Tire Pressure indicator had popped on right as I arrived in the Bielenberg parking lot.  I called someone to come and check it out, not wanting to drive more and risk damage to a rim to to a semi-flat tire.  The help arrived right as the game kicked off, so I spent the first 10 minutes or so in the parking lot with the Ford Roadside Assistance crew.  I couldn't see much of what was happening in the game as all the play was down at the far end of the field.  This was a good thing though as that was the end we were attacking :)

As I finished in the parking lot and headed back to the bench, I heard a cheer go up.  Apparently, we had scored a great goal, a quick little Give & Go between Millie (LF) and Jilly (RF), ending with a good strike by Millie to give us the lead.

I settled onto the bench and begun watching another simply fantastic performance by the girls.  We were on absolute fire.  Composed and relaxed on the ball, sharp and creative in the attack, solid and tough on defense.  CR had some very fast players, but our back three, even without Blondie, were up to the task.  It was a joy to watch. 

Our pressure finally paid off just past the 30 minute mark as Macky (RF) headed a CR goal kick back into the area.  Bidi (RM) raced to the ball, colliding with the CR GK as she slipped the ball into the net from 6 or 7 yards out. 

Again, like I like it, not much to change or correct at halftime.  The girls were playing some fantastic soccer.

8 minutes into the second half, we got the all important 3rd goal as Millie (RF) was hip checked in the box by a CR defender.  She converted the PK with a hard shot to her left.

Another 10 minutes later, we got our fourth.  Ripper hit a free kick from about 35 yards out.  It skipped right in front of the CR GK and squirted past her into the net.  Not a high percentage shot, but not an easy one for the GK either with the wet surface and pace on the ball.  That took any wind left in the CR players' sails out of them, while giving us additional though unneeded confidence.

We then proceeded to put two more in in the span of the next 4 minutes.  If we had a Top 10 Best Goals, these two would likely be in there.  Both involved too many sequential passes to list all the players involved here. 

For the first, the ball got to Nash (LD) about 15 yards in our half right in front of our bench.  She played a 20 yard ball up to Macky (LF), following her pass and demanding Macky hold the ball ("Hold it!), triggering the overlap combination.  Macky chose to use the overlapping run as a decoy, turned inside the field on her right foot and served a ball to Millie (RF).  The ball was cleared out to Korky (Def Mid) at the top of the cirle.  Korky took the ball out of the air well and ran right at the defenders, forcing someone to commit to her.  As the CR central defender stepped up, Millie pulled away from her to create a passing lane for herself, and Korky found her with a slotted through pass.  Millie took a touch and hammered the ball home from about 16 yards out.  Lots of great coaching points in this goal.

A few minutes later we had another terrific passing sequence that must have seen 7 or 8 players involved.  The ball eventually was played to Bidi (RM) on our right flank, 20 yards from the endline.  She used her patented Stop & Go move to create some space, then served in a driven cross to the near post.  Getch (Att Mid) got there on the run and flicked the ball into the net with a volley.  

Cook and I, in bad taste in some hindsight, couldn't help LOLing.  The goals were so pretty, so well worked, so cooperative.  It was just fun to watch.  

6-0 on a team we have never scored on until this year.  Are we 6 goals better than them?  No, but we were today.  Could they beat us next time.  Of course they could.  But we play better soccer.  More importantly, we are playing excellent soccer at the right time of the year for our other desired team goals. 

And no one got hurt :) 

State Cup Semifinal vs Northern Lights

Our semifinal State Cup game against the wild card winner, Northern Lights.

I came into the game a little nervous.  We were playing well.  Very well.  But I had no idea what to expect from NL.  I had seen them play a few minutes against Wayzata, then another few minutes against Wings earlier in the tournament, but didn't get much from the games.  They had some athletic girls but were no match for us technically.  However, a less technical team could find a way to bunker in and make scoring difficult for us.  0-0 into PKs and anything could happen.  

Sunny but Chill May morning in Coon Rapids.  I arrived early so that I could grab the side of the touchline that had small bleachers.  For us shorter guys on a field with a big crown, I preferred to be elevated during the game if I could.  Hannah was there early as well, so we left the cars to practice her PKs.  Hannh, right footed, preferred to strike the ball with the inside of her foot to her right.  She wasn't able to get a lot of power behind the shot though.  Not that that is needed, but when nerves hit at crunch time, I prefer that the girls step up and strike the ball with some pace. 

So we worked to change her PK shot to her left, and she proceeded to hit 5 or 6 in a row to the lower left corner.  With really good pace.  Nice.  Hopefully we wouldn't need it.

My challenge to the girls pre-game was for them to get themselves warm-up well to try and get an early lead.  For teams like NL who are somewhat intimidated by a team like ours, an early goal would be a huge advantage for us.  How do I know they are intimidated by us?  Because I know their coaches were calling around asking others how they could possibly beat us :)   

We came out in our 3-5-2 formation that had seen us play some of our best soccer over the last 4 games.

We got on the score sheet 12 minutes in as Millie (LF) beat two defenders at the top of the penalty box to the left of goal, and fired a low, left foot shot far post.  Good start.

We had chance after chance to find our second.  Our wide mids were finding a ton of space weak side (when the ball was on the other side of the field) but we struggled to finish off long diagonals and crosses.  We finally capitalized in the 30th when Blondie (LD) hit a long diagonal from about 40 out that bounced behind the NL defenders and Nash (RM) finished on the volley at the far post.

A few minutes later, Soph (LM) served a ball in that Millie (LF) did a good job of fighting for in the box, to the left of goal near the endline.  She pulled the ball back to Jill (RF) who took her chance well for our third.

3-0 at half.  We were playing OK.  Just OK.  Nothing brilliant, nothing flashy, but nothing bad either.

No changes at halftime, just encouragement to the girls to take some pride in their play, clean up our touches a bit, and look to make better decisions when in possession. 

2 minutes into the half, we half cleared a ball to a NL player about 30 yards out from goal.  She took a touch and hit a high, looping shot that sailed over Zazu and dropped under the crossbar, hitting the far post side netting.  I could feel the slight momentum shift now as the NL team started to believe that they were in this.  I could hear their coaches cheering and yelling out to their players that they now had the wind behind them and to keep shooting, as if that was the difference in the first half. 

It took some time for the girls to settle in again after that goal.  We lost a bit of composure on the ball and the game got ugly for a spell.  However, 10 minutes later we regained our 3 goal cushion.  Getch (Att Mid) received a pass near midfield, in front of our bench at the left side of the field.  She cut inside and began dribbling to the center of the field, looking to spring Bidi (RM) with a diagonal.  She cocked her leg back to hit the long ball, but a NL forward stuck her leg between the descending foot and the ball, and Getch kicked the ball and the leg at the same time.  The girls went down and the ball squirted to Ripper (Def Mid) a few yards away.  Ripper took a touch and played a through ball to Millie.  Millie raced onto the ball past the NL lights defenders to goal, and I saw the AR's flag on the far side of the field go up.  That's not offside I screamed - in my head.  I began to shake my head but the whistle never came.  I snuck a peek at Millie as she finished her breakaway at the near post, glanced to the lineman with her flag still raised, and then looked at the ref, who was heading back to midfield to look after the injured NL player who was still down.  We might have just caught a break, I thought.  It wasn't offside in the first place, and I'm not just saying that.  I was right there and I know the rule.  But that hasn't stopped refs from blowing the call in the past (I use "blowing" here as a double entendre).

The AP eventually put her flag down (put her flag down!), and the game went on.  I would eventually  overhear the AR talking to the ref after the game as we were walking off the field.  "Bangu's 4th goal was offside.  I had my flag up but you didn't see me.  I would have made a bigger deal about it if the goal had mattered more."  Hmm.  Mattered more, huh?  I always tell my players that a 2 goal lead is the most dangerous lead in soccer.  The next goal is always huge.  If the team that is behind gets it to make it a 1 goal game, it sets up the rest of the game as a tough contest.  If the leading team get the next goal to go up by 3, that team makes things a bit easier for themselves from then on.  It was 3-1 at this point of our game. 

10 minutes later, we effectively put the game away with another goal off a cross, this time from Nash (RM) into the box for Bidi (LM) to finish with her second touch.  

At the 28th minute, Millie (now at Att Mid), beat two players up the right flank and cut into goal.  She spotted a wide open Gratz (LF) at the top of the 6 yard box, and Gratz 1-touched the ball home. 

2 minutes later we tallied our final stike of the game, as Millie (Att Mid) once again (instrumental in 5 of our 6 goals on the day) was on the mark finishing a long ball over the top.

7-1 and rolling on into the final on Wednesday.

* * * * *

Our U14 White team pulled out a come-from-behind victory, beating Wayzata 2-1 in double overtime.  Our U12s upset the Tonka United 13s in PKs to win their semifinal, setting up the all Bangu U13 and U14 finals on Wednesday.