WWC Pickem' Tournament

Watching high level soccer is very important. The more you watch, the more you know what is going to happen in the games you are playing. If you already have seen the scenario before you can let your instincts take over and you don't have to waste time thinking about what to do. To help motivate the girls to watch high level soccer we will be having the girls participate in our WWC 2007 Pickem' Tournament.

To play simply print out this sheet and circle the winner of each game. If you think that it will be a tie game the circle the entire game. Each correct pick gets you one point. After the round robin games we will make a bracket for the quarterfinals through the finals with a place to pick the winner and the score of each game. Picking the winner right in the knockout stages gets you 2 points. Predicting the correct score gets you a bonus point.

We are also going to be doing a sort of fantasy league for the tournament. For this each girl will get to pick 5 field players and one goalie for the tournament. Each goal or assist that is scored is worth one point for the field players and every save recorded by the goalie is worth .25 points and a shut out is worth 2 points.

Research the teams and players, then make educated picks and sit back and watch your teams perform.

For standings, stats, and research go here and ESPN will give you all the info you need.

Good luck to everyone

(All games are on ESPN or ESPN2 and all times are AM so set your Tivo or VCR's to record the games if you can't get up that early . . . or stay up that late)

Group A

Match 1 Sept 10 Germany v Argentina
Match 2 Sept 11 Japan v Englan
Match 9 Sept 14 Argentina v Japan
Match 10 Sept 14 England v Germany
Match 17 Sept 17 Germany v Japan
Match 18 Sept 17 England v Argentina

Group B

Match 3 Sept 11 USA v Korea DPR
Match 4 Sept 11 Nigeria v Sweden
Match 11 Sept 14 Sweden v USA
Match 12 Sept 14 Korea DPR v Nigeria
Match 19 Sept 18 Nigeria v USA
Match 20 Sept 18 Korea DPR v Sweden

Group C

Match 5 Sept 12 Ghana v Australia
Match 6 Sept 12 Norway v Canada
Match 13 Sept 15 Canada v Ghana
Match 14 Sept 15 Australia v Norway
Match 21 Sept 19 Norway v Ghana
Match 22 Sept 19 Australia v Canada

Group D

Match 7 Sept 12 New Zealand v Brazil
Match 8 Sept 12 China PR v Denmark
Match 15 Sept 15 Denmark v New Zealand
Match 16 Sept 15 Brazil v China PR
Match 23 Sept 19 China PR v New Zealand
Match 24 Sept 19 Brazil v Denmark

Official FIFA Women's World Cup Website

NSR Cup Semifinal vs Grand Rapids Crew Jrs

It was nice to make it through to the semifinals as group winners. I had no idea what to expect from this Grand Rapids Crew Juniors team with their ridiculous scores during the group phase. I was happy with our group play because each game had challenged us. As we warmed up I looked over at their team doing some one touch passing and I was impressed that all of the girls were keeping the ball on the ground with their toe up and ankle locked on all the passes. These girls might be pretty good I thought to myself.

Have you ever seen Billy Madison? Where Adam Sandler goes back to school and has to pass each grade in 2 weeks in order to win his dad’s hotel chain from the evil Erik Gordon. It all ends up coming down to an academic decathlon and one of the events is music. Gordon does an incredible violin solo and Billy follows it by failing horribly to play the clarinet (or some kind of wind instrument, I’m not sure what it was.) After a couple of notes that sound like a mule calling for help Sandler stops playing, laughs and says “He’s Good.”

That is how I felt during this game. We were both trying to play the same instrument but they were so much better. They were under control, had great vision and they made great runs. They were better than us.

About five minutes in they worked the ball down our left side and our midfielders dropped back into our box and occupied the same space as our defenders, leaving their mids wide open on top of the box. Most teams wont look at the players on top of the box when they are crossing and they will just hit it into the box and hope it gets to someone. Not these girls. Before their winger crossed the ball she looked up and spotted their center mid wide open just outside of the box and played a perfect ball to her. She took a touch and shot. It was a shot that AJ would stop 99 times out of 100 but this one got through her hands and ended up in the back of the net. They definitely deserved the goal, but I felt bad for AJ because of how it went in.

Immediately after it went in I remembered a conversation I had with AJ after the Eclipse game where I told her that no matter how another team scores on her, a great shot or a bad one, how she reacts affects our team. Remembering those words AJ got up right away got the ball out of the net and back up to midfield. While I knew she was upset she didn’t show it to her teammates, she just gave the look of someone who despite what had just happened she was going to be ok and it wasn’t going to happen again.

We escaped to half time the score with the score at 1-0.

At half time we talked about this game being the reason we come down to these events. We want to see teams like Grand Rapids so we can judge where we are. We talked about how we were going to react to playing a good team. Were we going to give up and let them destroy us like they had every other team in the tournament up until this point or were we going to come out and battle? We needed to raise our level of play to match theirs.

I elected to keep us in our 4-4-2 starting the second half knowing that we still needed to score and we hadn’t created many chances with just two forwards. I wanted to go to our 3-4-3 but I didn’t think we could defend well enough with just 3 defenders against their attack so I was hoping we could keep the score close for the first 15 minutes and then change it up for the last 15.

The second half was dominated again by Grand Rapids. But to our girls credit they never stopped fighting. Even though Grand Rapids had the lion’s share of the possession we were doing well to not give them many good opportunities. Ten minutes in they got their second goal. We had possession in their half, but I told our center defender to get closer to our weak side defender because while our weak side defender is a good player, she is not going to win a foot race with Grand Rapids fast forwards. Our center defender could. But she did not move over quickly enough, we lost the ball and it was played long to their forward who raced by our weak side defender and put in the second goal. A great learning experience for our girls.

* * * *You have to know what your strength’s are and you cannot be afraid to ask for help from your teammates.

* * * *

20 minutes in they scored a great third goal that was the culmination of great off the ball movement and a finish that ended up in the roof of our net. Great goal.

We had switched to our 3-4-3 by that point and we were getting a couple shots from distance but nothing to spectacular. The game finished 3-0.

After the game we talked to the players and parents, reiterating the fact that this game is why we come down here. We need to see where we are at and be able to set goals to strive for. Winning tournaments is great, but losing some games seems to put a little more glare your weaknesses and in doing so it gives you good reminders of what we need to work on.

We predicted that Grand Rapids would end up winning the final by a score of 6-0 over the Strikers and we were close. It ended 5-0. Congrats to them on a great tournament.

Goals=Frustration

As I was putting the final revisions on our semifinal game against the Grand Rapids Crew I had the US Open on t.v.  Roger Federer, the #1 player in the world for the last 3 and 1/2 years, vs Andy Roddick, typically #3-5 in the world at any given point.  It was a big match.  Roddick is the US's best player and the US Open is his best event.  Federer is simply the best.  Possibly the best ever.  Besides the French open, where he loses in the final most of the time, he wins everything.  His record against Roddick is 13-1. 

* * * *

Watching the match it got me thinking about how you get better as a player.  Tennis is all about reacting to the challenge of your opponent and dealing with the ups and downs of a match.  It is just like goal setting.  You set a goal or give yourself a challenge.  Then you try to reach that goal and at first you will get frustrated. You will get frustrated because, if it is a worthy goal, you wont be able to achieve it without some effort and set backs.  The key is how you react to the frustration.  Frustration is good, it means you are challenged.  But you cannot remain in a state of frustration. Do you become discouraged and give up?  Or do you become more focussed and find the determination to achieve your goal?  Then when you achieve your goal you will find that you want to set new goals and reach new heights.

The formula goes:

Goal= Frustration= Determination (or discouragement)= Achievement of the Goal= Setting of a harder goal- Then Repeat.

* * * *

Roddick had prepared hard for this match.  This was the one he wanted to win, and it showed.  Roddick played brilliantly from the start.  His 146mph serves were flying in for points.  He was powerful, playing smart and sticking to his game plan, after points he would get pumped up and look excited.  He was into it.  The only issue was that for every great Roddick point or game, Federer would have a smooth and perfect response. 

It was fun to see the difference between the two players.  Roddick, the underdog, showed tons of energy, emotion and power.  He was going at 100mph the whole time.  Federer, the unquestioned champ, used a variety of shots, showing off his wide range of skill, he used power when he had to but it was not his only weapon.  The only emotion he showed was a mild sign of annoyance when one of his shots didn't go in.  He expected everything to drop for him.

Federer was challenged by Roddick in the match.  But with each game that Roddick won, Federer would simply answer back with a win of his own until he had to win the tie breaks, which he always won. 

Roddice was great to watch.  He gave all he had to give.  But, I loved watching Federer.  Through all the ups and downs of the match he remained cool and confident.  He didn't have to prove that he was powerful all the time.  He did not go at 100mph all the time.  Actually 146mph to be exact. Instead he did what each individual situation called for.  He read the game and he was able to do everything that the game asked of him. 

Roddick took the first two sets to tie breakers with Federer winning both of them and then Federer cruised in the 3rd set.  The underdog had given the champ everything he had and Federer showed why he was the champ by taking everything Roddick had and doing that little extra.  That little something special all through the match.  Then he advanced to the semifinal to face an opponent whom he is 9-0 against and replied to a question about his opponent by saying: ``I've got a pretty good record against him. Never lost,'' Federer said. ``But let's not get ahead of ourselves.''

NSR Gold Cup Game #3 vs Sirens

I went to this game early because the game that was being played right before ours could have had an impact on us. Eclipse from the other bracket was playing Strikers FV. If Eclipse won the would win their group and Strikers FV would have strong chance of getting the wild card due to goal differential. We were hoping for a Strikers win to ensure that the wild card would come out of our group. Strikers ended up winning enabling us to just focus on winning and not needing to win by a certain amount of goals.

* * * *

I’ve found that anytime you let the kids know that they need to win by X amount of goals, they only focus on that. Because they become so focused on the final score, they don’t do the little things right that produce the final score. Or if they do get to the certain amount of goals they do one of two things: relax too much and allow a sloppy goal or they tense up and play with the fear of not letting in a goal and their play goes down hill as the fear creeps in. I was glad that the group of parents that I had at the tournament were not what I call “Scoreboard Junkies.” Parent’s who live and die by watching the scoreboard and playing out every possible scenario. They go through all the “What if’s” and “We need this team to do this and that team to do that.” It takes the focus off what we need to do. To clarify my stance, I actually have no issue with parents doing this as long as they keep the information for just the parents and the coaches. As long as the kids can go into the game and just focus on doing the little things right and having fun, the results will take care of themselves.

* * * *

So for the scoreboard junkies here is where we were at going into the game. If we won by one goal we would take the wild card spot. If we won by two goals or more we would win our group. If we tied we would more than likely be eliminated because I couldn’t imagine the Eclipse team that we played earlier losing to the Kickers.

Before the game we went over how I wanted us to play. We were going to play a 4-4-1-1. Sirens had a great sweeper who was one of the two stars of the game when they played Eclipse. She was fast, read the game well, and had a great leg. Eclipse had let her stay free the whole game and she ate up any through ball and any players who beat their marks one on one. Our plan was to have Sonic or Erika stay up high on her and beat her to any ball. Even if this meant being marked by one of their defenders and the sweeper. This is a confusing concept to most players. “So Coach, you want me to be marked by two players instead of one? Wont that make it tough for me?” The answer is yes; it could be tough for you. But if you read the game well, you can still get the ball and if you stay up high you can still get to through balls. The real key is that this player is creating space for everyone else and stretching the field for us.

We also talked about Siren’s outside mid #7. She also had lit up Eclipse with her speed on the wings. She had delivered great crosses and set up a couple of goals. I instructed the girls that whatever side she was on, I wanted Hannah to be playing defense on that side marking her and Carly playing outside mid on that side recovering early and helping Hannah out. We were not going to give her the space to run at us since Carly would be able to pressure her early and Hannah would be able to take anything away when she tried to run past us.

We also talked about the importance of keeping possession of the ball and trying to make quick passes instead of booting the ball down the field. In the game against Eclipse we had played too much boot ball and our play struggled because of it. We need to try and play skilled soccer for us to be successful.

The game started and we were on fire. The girls did everything I asked of them and they saw it working. The more we passed the more confident we became. 15 minutes into the half we had the ball in their end and our forwards and mids were pressuring the ball. Ricky, our right defender, had pushed up into the space I talk about a lot. It is a magical space that the ball always gets cleared too or just happens to go to. As she moved into the space the ball came rolling to her and she hammered the ball from about 35 yards out into the far corner of the net and a 1-0 lead.

At half time we talked about how important it was for us to stay with the game plan. Don’t allow the sweeper to be free and don’t allow #7 to beat us on the outside. We also talked about how our quick passing was working and how we were so confident because of it. The only adjustment I had to add to that was that when we are playing at the regional level against good teams, there are going to be times that we are going to be trapped in our end for 3-5 minutes at a time and not be able to get out. When we find our selves in these situations we can try to pass the first time we win the ball and the second time we win the ball. But if we’ve tried to pass the ball out twice and we haven’t gotten the ball up the field we need to play the ball long, get it in their half and try to pressure them up there.

* * * *

Positioning of the ball on the field can be more important than who actually has possession of the ball.

* * * *

The second half started and we got trapped in our end. We kept trying to make short passes and after one or two we would lose it and still be in our end. The toughest thing that I am working on with my coaching is not yelling out a lot of instructions when we are in trouble, but instead letting the kids work it out on their own. If I can have positive body language on the sideline and look calm, even when we are under pressure, then the girls on the field know that I trust them and they can handle the situation. If I start yelling and screaming it can make the girls panic and no matter how well intentioned the instructions are, they can end up hurting us.

We ended up weathering the storm at the start of the half and despite being stuck in our end for the first seven minutes we didn’t give up any real chances. After that we started rolling. 12 minutes in Gaffer laced another goal into the far corner for her 3^rd of the tournament, not bad for someone who has spent a lot of the tournament playing center back, and in the 18^th minute we sealed the win with Bella putting home her first goal of the tournament. I was confident being up 3 goals, and the girls remembered from the first game how important goal differential can be so they continued playing well and the game finished 3-0 to the good guys.

I was very happy after the game. Our forwards had done such a good job in the first half of disrupting their sweeper that they didn’t play with one in the second half and their team was lost without her back there. Carly and Hannah didn’t let #7 free once the whole game. At one time in the second half their coach switched her to the other side to see if she could get free, but as soon as we could our outside players switched sides so they could be by her. I was curious to see if their coach would keep having her switch sides and how that would affect the game, but it never happened.

With the 3-0 win we ended up winning the group and we get to play the Grand Rapids Crew Jr team in the Semifinal tomorrow. The good and the bad of winning the group is that if we had placed second we would have gotten an easier opponent in the semifinal. The Crew has outscored their opponents 27-1 in their three group games. I would have liked to meet them in the final, but I am glad we get a chance to play a team of their caliber.

Mini Magic

Before our third game against the Sirens I arrived at the field early to watch another game. As I went up to the field I saw Magic and her family hanging out in a nice shaded area. I started talking with them when I noticed Mini Magic. Magic’s 7 year old brother. He was a 3 foot tall juggling machine. He informed me that he could juggle 79 times with just his feet. As the girls showed up I asked him to juggle a little bit for them. They were all in awe of him and I heard comments like; “I could never do that many juggles with my feet.” When I heard those comments I had Mini M stop and I asked him how he got so good at juggling with his tiny feet. He said that he just works on it a lot. If he can do it, there is no reason that you girls cannot do it if you have the desire to, I informed the girls.

Then I showed Mini Magic a trick where you juggle the ball and catch it between your ankles and do a side rainbow out of it. He watched me do it three times, thought about it for a minute. Threw the ball up in the air and on his fourth try he caught it and did the side rainbow. Wow I can’t wait to show him some more tricks.