The Aztexan

photo: my iPhone (see the white streak of the
ball right above the 45 yard line? Action shot!)

Another beautiful night at House Park, another Aztex win. Yawn.

All right, all right: just kidding! Of course it was exciting, and fantastic, and Eddie Johnson‘s two goals were just as thrilling as the 11 others he’d scored so far this year.

There was one dark spot on an otherwise pretty perfect evening, however. A blemish that sullied — almost ruined — the experience. A failure on the part of those responsible that was so reprehensible that I hesitate to even bring it up. . .

The Amy’s tent ran out of ice cream. Gutted.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 3,744

• Aztex Outshine Minnesota; Return to First Place — AustinAztex.com
  

  In the 24th minute, Johnson struck for the first time in the game after receiving a through ball from Watson that set up a one-on-one against the Minnesota (7-12-7) keeper. After faking to the right, Johnson dodged back outside and left the helpless keeper with nothing to do but watch him put it in the back of the net.

• Austin Aztex 2, NSC Minnesota Stars 0 :: Match Report — Chantico’s Army
  

  Sometime in the second half though, the play took a bit nastier turn as a Minnesota Stars player, accidentally or not is not known, tagged Aztex Midfielder Lance Watson in the back of the head. The referee did not call the foul, even when Watson clearly showed him the blood flowing from his scalp.

  
  One last touch on the new fieldhouse: the stadium name

  Following treatment on the sideline, Lance was able to return to the pitch and complete the match. Eddie Johnson would then collect a yellow (the only of the match for the Aztex) in the 67′, although I felt the booking should’ve gone to the Stars player for a rough tackle.

• Aztex find bursts of energy to shut out Stars — Austin American-Statesman
  

  In the 80th minute, Patterson outran several Minnesota defenders for a loose ball deep in Austin’s attacking third and sent in a long cross. The pass found Jamie Watson on the other side of the field, who promptly sent another into the box. Johnson broke free of his defender and scored on a easy header from four yards away to seal the win and earn Austin its first shutout in six games.

• NSC Stars Fall to League Leader Austin Aztex — Inside Minnesota Soccer
  

  Neil Hlavaty was subbed into the game in the 82nd minute but didn’t even make it to the end of the game, being red carded off 3 minutes into extra time. He will be suspended for the next Stars game against AC St. Louis on Saturday, September 11.

• Austin Aztex Regain USL Conference Lead; Eddie Johnson Scores Twice — The NASL Fanatic
  

  Coach Manny Lagos’ Stars came out pressuring in the second half, and did some good work in Austin’s side of the field, but anytime they looked likely to get off a shot, an Austin defender was there to block it. Many admire Austin’s high-scoring attack, but it’s time to give a shout out to the Aztex defenders. Playing without the injured Jay Needham in the center, Yohance Marshall, Kevin Sakuda, Kieron Bernard and Leonard Griffin seemed to be everywhere, blanketing Stars’ forward Brian Cvilikas anytime he got a touch. Miguel Gallardo will be credited with another clean sheet, but only had to make two saves and perhaps should be buying dinner for his defenders, considering the quality work they did.

• Photos (10): Free Beer Movement in Action: “Danny Beerseed” in Austin — The Free Beer Movement

• Video: Aztex-Stars Highlights (3:17) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  
  

Next up for the Aztex is a 1-week, 3-game road trip that will send them to Puerto Rico, Tampa and St. Louis. The first of those games, against the Puerto Rico Islanders, is next Saturday, Sep. 11, at 7:05 PM CT.

Pro soccer returns to House Park on Saturday evening at 7:30, reclaiming AISD’s high school football venue for a few hours. Our Aztex will be hosting the NSC Minnesota Stars for their second and final matchup of the season (the first was a 2-1 Aztex win in Minnesota on May 1).

The Stars are coming off a bye week, not having played since Aug. 21. Their 7-11-7 record has them struggling to garner enough points to stay in playoff territory. Their last game, a 0-1 home loss to the Portland Timbers (match report/box score), was the second such result in a row for Minnesota, following 5 straight draws. They’ll bring their backup goalkeeper for Saturday’s match, leaving starter Joseph Warren home with the red card he picked up in the Portland game.

The Aztex will be missing a few players as well: Stephan Campbell, Jay Needham and Lawrence Olum are out with hamstring and groin injuries. Sullivan Silva and Joey Worthen will miss the game as well, after picking up injuries (knee and hamstring, respectively) this week in training.

The Rochester Rhinos, current league leaders by 2 points, have a bye themselves this week. That gives the Aztex the opportunity to reclaim the top spot with a win Saturday.

In addition to the customary pregame gathering at The Tavern (starting about 5:30, 2 hours before the 7:30 kickoff), there will be a tailgate party, sponsored in part by the Free Beer Movement, in recognition of Brazil’s Independence Day. Starting at 4:30 in the parking lot of the Thundercloud Subs across 12th Street from House Park, it will feature live music by the Brazilian group Manga Rosa.

Even the Aztex ticket office is getting in on the celebration. You can get tickets to the game for just $9 (regular $15) in honor of Brazilian Independence (note that you have to buy those in advance, prior to 2:00 PM on Saturday).

We’re coming down to the last few games now. This will be the next-to-last regular season home game; the last one will be Sat., Sep. 25 against AC St. Louis. And there will be at least one more home game after that, in early October, seeing as our Red & White have already punched their playoff ticket.

A good game, a chance to reclaim the top of the league, a great weather forecast and an open invitation to a tailgate party with live Brazilian music. What more could you ask for? See you there!

AustinChronicle.com — Best of Austin 2010

Best 2010 Aztex Comeback Player: Jamie Watson — Watson’s become a big fan favorite, and his penetrating pace on the left flank is one of the big reasons for the team’s surprising success this season.

Best 2010 Aztex Newcomer: Maxwell Griffin — the Aztex’s youngest starter burst out of UCLA to become the league’s third-leading scorer at press time (and second on the team, after last year’s player of the year Eddie Johnson).

Read it all.

AustinAztex.com — Austin Adds Midfielder to Playoff-Bound Club

For the second time in the last month, the Austin Aztex and Crystal Palace have reached an agreement to send a player from Baltimore to Austin. Midfielder Tsuyoshi Yoshitake will be joining the club on loan for the remainder of the season, beginning on September 8, to shore up the Aztex depth in the midfield, where the club has been ravaged by injuries all year long.

Read it all.

AustinAztex.com — Aztex Win Austin Chamber of Commerce Community Relations Award Two Years Running

For the second consecutive year, the Austin Aztex took home the Austin Chamber of Commerce Community Relations Award on Wednesday night at the Chamber’s Awards Banquet at the Hilton Austin.

Austin’s players and staff have appeared throughout the community more than 100 times throughout the 2010 calendar year to date and still have a plethora of events lined up to through the remainder of the season. The appearances have included partnering with 18 Austin (AISD) middle schools to improve cardiovascular fitness, providing training and fundraising opportunities for youth clubs, numerous volunteer and guest appearances to support local charities, visits to both elementary and middle school career fairs and involvement in Partners in Education classroom coaching.

Read it all.

Match Fit USA — Match Fit Reserve: 10 Stupid Questions with Jamie Watson

KH: No offense, you look like Tintin.

JW: That’s funny, I was just about to say Tintin is a strikingly handsome fellow. I’ve embraced it. Euan Holden tagged me with it back in ’08 and it’s stuck with the fans and I can’t shake it now.

Read it all.

I wrote recently about Dave Brett’s archive of old soccer videos. I received a copy of one of Dave’s DVDs since then: the 1977 NASL Soccer Bowl, New York Cosmos vs. Seattle Sounders. This was the league championship, complete with the “bowl” name, a clear attempt to place it on par with NFL’s Super Bowl (which itself is kind of a dumb name, if you think about it).

This was the Cosmos of Pelé, Beckenbauer and Chinaglia (and Shep Messing in goal – I’m not sure he’s quite the legend that those guys are, but he’s still around American soccer today, so that’s pretty cool). It was the Sounders of, well, nobody you’ve heard of unless you were a NASL fan in the late 70s.

Which I was not. I don’t remember hearing or seeing the slightest bit of soccer of any kind back then, when I was a kid. I therefore have zero nostalgia for the original NASL. I’m interested in it, fascinated, even; I have both seen and read Once In A Lifetime. I’m not knocking NASL nostalgia, I’m just putting it out there that I have none of my own. (One bonus this afforded me: I didn’t know who won this match.)

Nevertheless, watching this DVD was an absolute blast. The soccer itself is fun to watch, and it’s certainly bizarre to see those legends play a full game. And of course it’s not “just” a regular-season game, it’s the championship, as well as Pelé’s last game as a Cosmo (excepting the farewell match vs. Santos). This is the match that Brian Phillips wrote about on Run of Play during his recent “Pelé Week”. So it’s epic, but I’ll be honest: it was the retro aspects of the broadcast, the short shorts, the big mustaches, etc., that really made it for me.

These screenshots are a bit fuzzy — they’re not exactly from an HD broadcast — but I think they’ll give you a flavor of the game.

Title Screen!

U.S. National Team Coach Walt Chyzowych, right
(yes, really, the right)

Hey, who’s that guy?

At halftime, they showed the presentation of league MVP Franz Beckenbauer with a brand new Celica liftback. He was “very happy to drive so beautiful car.”

League MVP and Celica liftback owner Franz Beckenbauer gets a yellow card

Pelé again. Beckham sure wasn’t the first to get an inordinate amount of camera attention in his U.S. games

The commentary that accompanies this game is great, too. Like the game itself, it’s pretty good overall, but has quite the retro quaintness (quaint retro-ness?). Like the announcers explaining that the player can go out of bounds but the ball can’t, for example, or just the same kind of corny chit-chat that we hear today, but rewound a few decades.

And there are commercial breaks! The actual commercials are edited out (which from a time-capsule standpoint is unfortunate), but there are clear breaks. There’s even a goal scored during one of them.

I highly recommend checking out at least one of Dave’s videos. You’ve seen clips and plays and highlights of these players on YouTube, but seeing a full game, whistle to whistle, is a whole ‘nother thing. The site is davebrett.com. You can email Dave for ordering info; I believe he charges $20 per disc. It’s worth it; chip in with a few buddies if you want to lower the cost. (And speaking of buddies, if you know me in real life, let me know if you’d like to borrow this one.)

photo: Eric Flexyourhead on Flickr

Another nail-biter; another point for the Aztex. Despite a few handicaps, our Austin team put up a heck of a fight, and didn’t come up empty-handed for their trouble.

My two cents:

• Yay for Mister Tramps! We moved watch parties from Cuatro’s to this pub on 183 for a few reasons. We already knew it well it from its association with Austin’s American Outlaws chapter and the Free Beer Movement. But we were also fleeing increasingly poor service and increasingly throwball-centric clientele. Two watch events in, I’m happy to report that Mister Tramps is treating us right. We get the room with the big screen (and the soccer-pitch-painted floor) all to ourselves, and they even have a laptop there ready to plug in for our video streams. Waitstaff has been fast and attentive and prices aren’t bad. Keep up the good work, Trampers! (And you better shape up, Taverners . . .)

• Yay for Vancouver’s video server! Sure it was kind of pixelated and blocky on that giant screen, but there wasn’t a “buffering…” message in sight all game! It was like a live broadcast! I wonder if they can spare a couple of their gerbils to go run on the wheel in Portland’s server room.

• Cheers to Coach Heath, caught for a moment on video cruising the beer garden at halftime.

• The good news is, we had a new fan join us at the watch party. The bad news is, he was so thoroughly blitzed that he’s surely forgotten the entire evening.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

• It’s ‘painful’ says coach, as Caps twice blow leads — The Vancouver Sun
  

  Caps forward Cornelius Stewart opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he ran down a Martin Nash pass/clearance, broke through the Aztex defence and beat Austin keeper Miguel Gallardo with a low 20-yard strike.

  The speedy 20-year-old St. Vincent & Grenadines international nearly scored again just six minutes later when Gallardo mishandled a high ball and was forced to make a quick reaction save off Stewart from close range.

• Fulltime: Whitecaps 2 Aztex 2 — The Province
  

  Caps’ forward Ridge Mobulu, one of 10 players signed since Vancouver last played at home on July 25, produced a dazzling goal in the 52nd minute to again pull the home side ahead.

  Stewart sprung Mobulu on the left side and the Swiss-born 19-year-old dribbled around goalkeeper Gallardo before stopping dead on the end line, outwaiting defender Leonard Griffin on the post and chipping the ball in.

• Aztex Inch Closer to First Place With Draw — AustinAztex.com
  

  Two minutes after trotting onto the field in the 78th minute, Eddie Johnson snapped a header into the Vancouver Whitecaps goal to send the Austin Aztex home with a 2-2 draw at Swangard Stadium, giving Austin at least one point against every team in the USSF D-2 Pro League.

• Video: Austin Aztex @ Vancouver Whitecaps FC – Highlights (6:32) — VancouverWhitecapsFC on YouTube

  
  

Pro soccer returns to Austin on Saturday evening, Sep. 4, when the Aztex host the NSC Minnesota Stars at House Park at 7:30. Start Labor Day weekend right, spend it with the red & white!

The Austin Aztex venture into the Great White North to play the Vancouver Whitecaps today. Kickoff is 6:00 PM CT.

Vancouver is currently in 3rd place in the league, with a 9-3-12 record. Their last game was a 1-1 draw with FC Tampa Bay more than a week ago (match report/box score).

Though they’ve done well this season, they’re clearly starting to look more to next year’s MLS season, and less to this year’s Division-2 season. This piece in the Vancouver Sun tells the tale:

The last time the Vancouver Whitecaps played at home, Willis Forko was in Norway, Terry Dunfield was in England and Jonathan McDonald was in Costa Rica.

Now they are all members of a new-look Vancouver roster that features nine new players signed since the Caps tied Minnesota 1-1 at Swangard Stadium on July 25.

Seven of those players have joined the team — with Swiss internationals Alain Rochat and Davide Chiumiento still to arrive — and expect several to make their Swangard debut Sunday when the Whitecaps host the tough Austin Aztex.

Vancouver head coach Teitur Thordarson said the new players have clearly raised the team’s technical skill level but fans shouldn’t expect miraculous highlight-reel plays all over the field right away.

“Spectators should expect to see good talent but be a little patient,” he said after the Whitecaps trained on Friday. “These guys need some games before we can expect them to perform at their best.

“Some of them haven’t played for months and are not totally game fit right now.”

For their part, the Aztex aren’t exactly storming into Vancouver. They’ll be missing a couple of players who can’t leave the U.S. (Yordany Alverez, Tyler Hemming), an injured player (Lawrence Olum) and a couple of red-card bearers (Kieron Bernard and apparently anger-managment-challenged head coach Adrian Heath). But if Miguel can stay big in goal and the front-end firepower can find their mojo, the Red & White should do all right.

The supporters’ buffering, er, watch party will once again be held at Mister Tramps on 183, come on out and join us!

The Aztex had an eventful start to their 2-game trip in Portland on Thursday night. Though they gained a point, they lost some personnel for the trip to Vancouver. First Lawrence Olum injured his hamstring in practice, then both Kieron Bernard and coach Adrian Heath were ejected from the game, which of course earns them both a ban from the Vancouver match (at least).

Before I get to the match reports, allow me a moment to rant about the video. It was disgraceful. The amount of video buffering we had to endure, and the time delay that the buffering caused, made the game simply unwatchable. I was actually glad we didn’t have a bunch of new fans join us for this mid-week, late-night watch event, because it would have been about the worst first impression imaginable.

For all of the standards that the USSF is cooking up, here’s a humble suggestion for whoever runs the Division 2 league next year: make the teams’ video not totally suck.

These free broadcasts are clearly not intended to attract new fans; the quality is so poor that if anything, they would have the opposite effect anyway. Therefore they must be primarily watched — and given the quality, I honestly don’t know how much watching is actually happening — by hardcore supporters. For our sakes, I’d almost rather not have any video at all, than these broadcasts that would embarrass a middle-school audio/video class.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

• Aztex Steal a Draw at Portland — AustinAztex.com
  

  In the 56th minute, the tide changed in favor of Portland after Bernard was given a second yellow for a tackle on the Aztex defensive half of the field. Following the card, the Aztex defense tightened up and absorbed the plethora of shots to close out the remaining 30 minutes and improved to 1-2-2 against Portland all-time.

• Austin Aztex 1, Portland Timbers 1 :: Match Report — Chantico’s Army
  

  Sullivan Silva, who was making his first start in quite some time, seemed to take a giant leap in a return to form. Silva has had a hard time coming back from a knee injury early in the season, and although getting time in many matches, has done so coming off the bench. His touches have seemed uncharacteristically heavy, and his magic with the ball absent. However, on Thursday night he seemed to have some of that “Brazilian Samba” back, as he was able to break past Timbers defenders on multiple times. Finally, in the 27’, Silva took the next step in his recovery when he scored his second goal of the season, the first since the July 31 match against Miami FC.

  [Note: Chantico's Army gaffer Matthew Gray attended the game in person; don't miss this in-depth report.]

• 14,985 Witness a Wild One At PGE Park — Dropping Timber blog
  

  Suddenly, Aztex manager Adrian Heath is given a red card and ejected from the match after an exchange of words with an official on the sideline. Heath would then walk off the field and head towards the North End, first passing by Gavin Wilkinson and shaking his hand, then walking up into the stands, finding a seat in the rafters, leaning back with a dejected-look smeared across his face and proceed to watch the match amongst the fans. Strange. Simply bizarre and I’ll admit, also kinda awesome. Eventually, Heath was escorted back to the locker room.

  [Note: That blog post is also very lengthy, but I can summarize it for you: 'boo-hoo, the Aztex did exactly what every team on Earth would have done when they went a man down on the road at the beginning of the second half, boo-hoo, we like to think Portland is a great team this season despite all evidence to the contrary, therefore Austin must have cheated or been unsportsmanlike or something, boo-hoo.']

• Video: Aug. 26, 2010 Highlights vs. Austin Aztex (4:27) — TimbersFC on YouTube

  
  

The next game for Austin, just 3 days after this one, will be the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday, kickoff at 6 PM CT.

The Aztex play the first of a 2-game Pacific Northwest road trip Thursday night. Kickoff for the match against the Portland Timbers is at 9:00 PM CT.

Portland has 34 points from their 9-7-7 record, putting them 3rd in the USL Conference, 4th in the league overall. Their most recent match was a 1-0 win at the NSC Minnesota Stars last Saturday. That game was narrowly decided by a red card to Minnesota’s goalkeeper and the accompanying penalty kick, converted by league-leading scorer Ryan Pore (match report/box score).

This will be Austin’s last league game — ever — with the Timbers, as the franchise will be moving up to MLS next year. Portland’s only other meeting with the Aztex, here in Austin on June 9, resulted in a 0-0 draw.

Austin will be without the services of key defender Jay Needham, who didn’t make the trip due to the hamstring injury he picked up on Sunday. They’ll also be without Yordany Alvarez, who has a hard time traveling out of the country due to his exile status. On the other hand, we’re happy to have Jamie Watson on the trip, back from being on the injury list for a fractured collar bone.

Despite the distance, the Red & White will have at least two traveling fans on hand: Chase Hoffman won the Aztex Alliance grand prize drawing: a trip to Portland for this game. Chantico’s Army gaffer Matthew Gray will be with him, as well. Here’s hoping the guys have a great trip, and that they aren’t beaten up by a mob of angry Timbers Army members after the Aztex win. I also hope they packed their long underwear; the forecast calls for a downright frosty mid-60s temperature.

Back here in Austin, where it will still be a toasty 90 degrees an hour after sunset, loyal fans will be gathering at Mister Tramps on 183 to watch the action. Sure, kickoff isn’t until 9:00 PM, and sure, it’s a school and/or work night. But you wouldn’t want to miss the Aztex closing the gap with the Rhinos by 3 more points, would you? You wouldn’t want to pass up the chance to see who’s going to score Austin’s goals this time around, would you? You wouldn’t leave the person who’s on the hook to hook up the video (yours truly) to sit there all by himself, would you? Of course not! See you there! (Psst! If you get there early, and the setup works out right, I might have a pre-game treat for you: video of the 1977 NASL Soccer Bowl, Cosmos vs Sounders.)

School is starting back in Austin, from your neighborhood elementary all the way up to college. That means the University of Texas Longhorns soccer season is starting again, too.

You can be pretty sure that all the “UT football” hype you’re hearing (or promoting yourself, if you’re one of those people) is about that other of football: the one in which, despite the name, everyone uses their hands all the time, except for the one guy who kicks the ball a few times each game. Despite the impression you might get from most Longhorns fans, the school does field teams in other sports.

Which brings us to the UT women’s soccer team, which just started their 2010 season last weekend. They’re off to a good start, winning that opener with North Carolina State 2-1. (With the Aztex win over the Railhawks on Sunday, that makes two NC soccer teams going down to their TX rivals last weekend!) The Longhorns also won their sole preseason game, against Louisiana State, with the same 2-1 scoreline.

This UT squad boasts several players with international experience. Midfielder Lexi Harris and goalkeeper Alexa Gaul have both played for the United States U17, U20 or U23 teams, defender Nina Pederson has played for the Danish U23s, and Leah Fortune has been called to both the U20 and senior Brazilian national teams. As qualifying runs continue ahead of next year’s World Cup in Germany, we may see some of these Longhorn athletes on the world stage.

As you can see from the schedule, the season is pretty short, with the last regular season game on Oct. 29. There will be 11 home games on UT’s beautiful natural grass field at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The first two of those games are this weekend: Friday at 7:00 PM vs. the UT San Antonio Roadrunners, and Sunday at 1:00 PM vs. the USC Trojans. (I’m considering going to the Friday game; let me know via email, Twitter, in the comments, on BigSoccer or via carrier pigeon if you’re interested in joining me.) Tickets for home games are just $7, $4 for kids through 18. Despite the occasional weirdness of NCAA soccer rules (e.g., unlimited subs), these games are a good time, and a chance to see some excellent play.

Though Texas chooses to not field a men’s team, there is a UT “club” soccer program that includes men’s teams (as well as another women’s team). These guys actually had a booth set up at the Aztex-Railhawks game on Sunday, handing out copies of their schedule. Their home games are played at UT’s Whitaker Fields, field #10. I haven’t gone to any of these games myself, but may try to check one out (I assume they’re free admission).

So, if you’re missing live soccer games while the Aztex are on the road, or after they’ve finished winning the title, don’t forget the college options we have in Austin.

AustinAztex.com — Aztex Clinch Playoff Berth with Sunday Night’s Victory

A 3-2 victory over Carolina combined with the results from the rest of the USSF Division-2 Pro League over the weekend gave the Aztex a spot in the playoffs for the first time in their brief two-year history.

“I’m delighted that with nine games left in the regular season still, we’ve achieved our first goal for this year in reaching the playoffs,” Aztex President and Owner Phil Rawlins said. “I now look forward to pressing on with our next goal — bringing a championship to Austin.”

Read it all.

And mark your calendar: the playoff game date will be either Wed. Oct. 6, or Sat. Oct. 9. Pre-order tickets are on sale now: $15 for adults and $12 for children 15 & younger (tickets at the gate will be $20 and $15, respectively).

photo: AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

As promised, it was hotter than a stolen tamale at House Park on Sunday evening. But for another exciting game, and three more points for our Austin Aztex, we can stand a little heat.

Don’t let the low number of cards fool you: it was a pretty rough match. The ref must have only brought the two yellows he gave out, because if he’d had more in his pocket, he surely would have been dealing them left and right. (Either that, or the vision problems people were yelling at him about are real. . .) Most of them should have gone to those brutes from North Carolina, of course. I guess you can’t blame them for getting frustrated.

Oh, and a note to Rochester: look out behind you. You’re in our spot.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 4,188

• Austin Aztex beat Carolina RailHawks 3-2 — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Austin Aztex coach Adrian Heath believed his team would bounce back after falling out of the league’s top position with a poor outing last week in Puerto Rico.

  A long week of harder practices did the trick.

  “I wasn’t (worried) because I’ve raised enough of a stink this week that I knew I’d get a reaction,” Heath joked.

• Aztex Derail Carolina at House Park — AustinAztex.com
  

  Randi Patterson was welcomed to the Austin Aztex Sunday night with his first goal for the team that cemented a 3-2 victory over the Carolina RailHawks at House Park.

  The goal came on a pass lobbed into the center of the six-yard box from Max Griffin that was chested down by Patterson. After one touch on the ground, Patterson blasted it to the keeper’s left side, giving the Aztex a 3-1 lead.

• RailHawks fall short against Austin 3-2 — WRALSportsFan.com
  

  Despite going down by two goals with under 10 minutes to play, the RailHawks refused to quit. After a flurry in front of goal, Allan Russell picked up a loose ball and blasted it past Aztex goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo for his first goal as a RailHawk, to make it 3-2. The RailHawks nearly salvaged a tie in stoppage time when Gallardo misplayed the ball, but the RailHawks were unable to take advantage of the scramble.

• Photos (28): Aztex vs. Carolina, 8-22 — AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

  There are some really good ones in there – don’t miss this one of Coach Heath, or this one of Miguel. Too bad they’re not bigger, though.
  
  

• Video: Aztex vs Carolina Railhawks final 3 2 Aztex (1:18) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  
  

• Video: Aztex 3, Carolina 2 – Postgame Interviews (0:55) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  
  

We don’t have to wait long to find out if this is the beginning of another winning streak. The Aztex head to the Pacific Northwest this week, facing the Portland Timbers on Thursday, and the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday. The forecast for PGE Park on Thursday calls for a high of 67. 67! I just hope that our boys bundle up, and that nobody gets attacked by a polar bear or anything.

The next home game will be on Saturday, Sep. 4, when the NSC Minnesota Stars make their sole trip to the Lone Star State this season.

The Austin Aztex will return to House Park at 6:00 Sunday evening, playing the Carolina Railhawks for the first of just two matchups this season.

The Railhawks are currently in second place in the NASL conference, their 8-6-7 record giving them 31 points. They’ve been on a busy schedule the last couple weeks; Sunday’s match will be their fifth in 15 days. Most recently, they beat Miami FC (because, come on, who doesn’t beat Miami?) 2-1 on Wednesday (match report/box score).

Railhawks head coach Martin Rennie had this incisive tactical observation about the contest:

[Austin's] record is very good this season and they are high up in the league standings because of their good results.

Well. He seems to have it all figured out. One can only hope Austin can come up with something to outfox him.

I expect the Aztex to field a lineup closer to their usual starting eleven than they did in last week’s 2-0 loss in Puerto Rico. They’ll have to do without Jamie Watson, who is still out with the fractured collarbone he picked up on Aug. 7, but I’m sure Max Griffin and Yordany Alvarez will start.

The game kicks off at 6:00, so the pregame gathering at The Tavern will start around 4:00. With temperatures predicted to top 245 degrees (Celsius), hydration will be key for supporters who want to last the full 90. If you get to feeling too sorry for yourself in the heat, you can take comfort in one fact: at least you’re not the poor wretch who has to wear the Sgt. Pepper costume at this game^*.

Kidding aside, don’t forget that after Sunday, there will be just two more regular-season home games (9/4 and 9/25). School starts back in Austin next week, so this is the last weekend of the summer for families with school-age kids. What better way to spend an August Sunday in Texas than coming down to House and watching your Austin Aztex whip up on some Tar Heels?

Yo si le voy, le voy a los Aztex!

^* Apologies to the poor wretch who has to wear the Sgt. Pepper costume at this game, if he or she reads this blog. Actually, more than apologies: if the supporters find out who wears that costume on Sunday, I’m sure that person will drink free all night at Cuatro’s after the game.

A blog post on a not-well-respected site called MLSRumors.com today suggested that the Austin Aztex and Rochester Rhinos are considering moving to Division 3 next year, in response to the Division 2 standards recently announced by USSF.

As you might guess from a site with “rumors” in its name, and which deals mostly in headlines with question marks at the end, they should be ignored. They’re trolling for page-views, and I’m not going to contribute by linking to them. (You can Google them easily enough, though I assure you: you’re not missing anything.)

Neither I nor anyone I know has heard the slightest hints of anything like this. Further, a fellow Aztex fan (thanks, Jeff!) sent me this statement, which he received from Aztex CEO Djorn Buchholz:

“I can assure you that the rumors you heard on MLSRumors.com are just that, rumors. This club has no intention of playing D3 soccer. Yes, the new D2 standards are quite strict, but our ownership group has assisted US Soccer in setting those guidelines and we meet them. I do appreciate your email and rest assured, we will play D2 Soccer for years to come.”

Update: Brian Quarstad at Inside Minnesota Soccer has more on this: Quelling Rumors – A USSF D2 Update. He adds a statement from Rochester Rhinos owner Rob Clark, and he has a good summary of what kind of shape all the teams, current as well as possible future, look like.

Humph. It’s been a while, but I remember now: losing isn’t nearly as much fun as winning. I summed up my opinion on Twitter last night late in the game: “Who are these people in red & white, and what have they done with my Aztex?” The team I saw on the video feed (in between bouts of camera-induced motion sickness) just seemed off. Off pace, off target and generally off their game.

There shouldn’t be too much shame in it: Puerto Rico ain’t a bad team. They did just knock the LA Galaxy out of the CONCACAF Champions League. That’s what makes their constant time-wasting tactics that much harder to take. Islanders! Cut it out! It’s embarrassing! Goalkeeper Bill “Not Yet” Gaudette, of course, is the worst. I heard they were going to give him a newly coined Time-Waster of the Match award . . . but were afraid of how long it would take him to accept it. I heard it takes him 10 minutes to make a 3-minute egg. I heard when he falls out of bed he doesn’t hit the floor till morning. I heard he doesn’t like molasses, because it pours too fast.

Ahem. You get the idea.

Meanwhile, Rochester‘s 2-1 win over Montreal lets them nose into first place (42 points to Austin’s 41). But the Aztex have 3 games in hand, which should make the Rhinos nervous in spite of last night’s showing in Bayamón.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

• Puerto Rico Ends Short-handed Aztex Streaks — AustinAztex.com
  

  Prior to tonight’s contest at J.R. Loubriel Stadium in Puerto Rico, the Austin Aztex had two seven-game streaks in the works — they had yet to be defeated on the road all season long and had not lost since June 12. The Islanders ended both of those marks though with a 2-0 victory over the short-handed Aztex, who were playing without two of its top three scorers or its top midfielder.

• Aztex 0, Puerto Rico 2 :: Match Report — Chantico’s Army
  

  In the first half, we knew right away that the Aztex were having difficulties. The passing and ball management, which had been so crisp and clean this year, really seemed to revert to the ball management of the 2009 Aztex. Passing was lethargic, there was propensity for long ball play, and the Islanders seemed to be on the other end of Aztex passes as much as we were. Although the Aztex may very well have had trouble with the pitch, which was very wet and pocked, the familiarity with the Bayamon field had to help the Islanders. This was evidenced by the number of opportunities Naranje had with multiple shots on goal in the first half, that test Aztex goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo.

• USSF D2 Saturday Action: Islanders Upset Aztex; Rhinos Win Again and Slip into First Place — The NASL Fanatic
  

  Although the Aztex were without key players Maxwell Griffin, Jamie Watson and Yordany Alvarex [sic], they still outshot the home team , 16-8. Props to veteran Islanders’ goalkeeper Bill Gaudette on keeping the clean sheet. Colin Clarke’s Islander squad is peaking at the right time, leveling their league record at 7-7-7. The Islanders begin group play in the CONCACAF Champions League this Tuesday when the match up with Honduran team CD Olimpia.

The Aztex return home this weekend, hosting the Carolina Railhawks at House Park on Sunday, Aug. 22 at 6:00 PM.

The Aztex start in on the road-heavy portion of their schedule this weekend. Over the next eleven games, eight will be away games. Saturday night’s match will be at Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium in Bayamón, facing the Puerto Rico Islanders.

This is the third of four matchups with the Islanders; the last will also be at Puerto Rico, on Sep. 11. In the two previous games, the Aztex got a 2-1 win on June 5 and a 1-1 draw on July 3.

Puerto Rico is 6-7-7 in regular season play. They’re on a kind of streak of draws lately, tying 5 of their last 6 (with a win being the 6th). Their most recent result was Wednesday night, when they gave up a 92nd-minute equalizer to draw 1-1 with FC Tampa Bay at home (match report/box score).

We’ll see whether Austin continues its impressive form on the road, currently 5-0-2. They’ll have to do it without a couple of key players:

Forward Jamie Watson will be held out of this weekend’s contest with a fractured collarbone and will be joined on the sidelines by Stephan Campbell (groin) and Max Griffin (rest). Watson’s injury could possibly put him out on August 22 as well, but he will be re-evaluated before then.

Kickoff will be 7:05 CT; video of the game will be streamed live online at austinaztex.com. As usual, everyone is invited to the Chantico’s Army-hosted watch party at Cuatro’s.

The Red & White will be back in Austin next Sunday, Aug. 22, playing the Carolina Railhawks for the first time this year.

The Sports007 — Goooooooal! (How Jamie Watson convinced me to check out the Austin Aztex)

From the time the first whistle was blown, I was hooked. The Aztex completed their season sweep of Miami during the July 31st contest, with a final score of 3-1. Austin goals were scored by Eddie Johnson (assisted by Leonard Griffin) ; Lawrence Olum (assisted by Jamie Watson) and Kendell McFayden (assisted by Yordany Alvarez). The game itself was exciting, but what really made the experience special was how the players interacted with the crowd. After the game concluded the team opens up the fence and allows fans to go on the field for autographs. It was really inspiring to see the athletes interacting with the children especially.

Good story by D’Ann Faught, a football and hockey fan giving soccer a shot. Read it all.

(This story was also run on the Aztex website, so I’m sure they saw this, but hint hint to the Aztex front office: read her About page, and hire her. ;-)

Inside Minnesota Soccer — USSF D2 Update; New Standards Set for League, Current and Future Owners

IMS has been told the standards that US Soccer presented to the team owners on Monday and that were passed by the Federation board on Tuesday will be released in the next several days. While some of the new standards may be negotiable the financial set of standards will not. Provisions are laid out in the documents that teams could ask for a wavier on certain aspects of the rules, However, US Soccer made it very clear to those in the room that the financial qualifications will be strictly adhered to.

I encourage you, as always, to read it all, but here are the highlights, in my opinion:

• St. Louis‘ Jeff Cooper didn’t attend. That guy is just determined to make his mark on American soccer. Too bad it’s a skid mark.
• None of the 165 people involved in ownership of Puerto Rico Islanders attended. Way to fight for your team, folks.
• No representative from prospective teams in Atlanta, Orlando or New York City attended. Thumbs up to those movers & shakers. (But don’t worry about Atlanta, they’re just sitting out the season. Oh wait, that was 2009.)
• USSF will require lots more dough of franchise holders starting next year: a $750K season bond (up from $350K this year and $100K last year), plus owners’ proof that they’re worth at least $20MM.
• USSF has no intention of directly running second division soccer themselves next year.
• There’s no mention here of rumored soccer-specific stadium requirements.
• Brian lists the Aztex as one of the 5 U.S. “teams that should be able to pass the financial standards”.

I’ll see what the official statements say before I get too worked up or too relieved about anything. In honesty, I’ll probably be nervous until I’m sitting in the stands at the 2011 season opener. I applaud the USSF for finally bringing some adult supervision to this level of soccer. I just hope that enough of the teams’ ownership, present as well as future, is strong enough to rise to the occasion.

American Outlaws Austin — ‘Beat Brazil’ Dollar Beer Bash

The local soccer team, the Austin Aztex will be joining us at Mister Tramps bringing door prizes and more along with chances to win great American Outlaws gear, Free Beer Movement stuff, and gift certificates from Mister Tramps.

Courtesy of the FREE BEER MOVEMENT Mister Tramps will be serving up (nearly free!) $1 beers for the first 150 people through the door so get their early to get your beer and your chance to win some great prizes from the Aztex, American Outlaws, and the Free Beer Movement.

Kickoff is 7:00 PM CT. Read it all.

photo: AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

Another exciting game — well, an exciting first half, anyway — and another Aztex win. We’ve seen an amazing sixteen goals in total between these two teams in their first three meetings of the season. At this rate, Austin will win the fourth meetup, 26 to 3. (Don’t try to figure out where I got those numbers, they came right out of my . . . ear.)

(I’m going to try something a little different in this postgame report, by the way. Rather than try to be Mr. Junior Sportswriter — which, let’s face it, I ain’t fooling anyone on that account anyway — I’ll just give you a random jumble of observations, opinions and impressions. The links below will still give you as much straight match report verbiage as you want.)

• Five subs! Coach Heath used five subs! Some folks in the supporters’ section didn’t even know that USSF-D2 allows five subs, because we never see more than two.

• One of the Aztex goals was “controversial”. I believe it was the third one; Tampa Bay claimed it didn’t cross the goal-line, the linesman said it did. In the “postgame interviews” video below, the interviewer says it was a goal, and that he caught it on tape. Well, it happens fast, and it’s just YouTube video quality, but . . . I don’t see it. Not saying it didn’t happen; just saying I don’t see proof in that video.

• On the other side of the karmic scales of soccer justice: I heard from people with a better angle than we had in La Villa Aztex that the penalty that gave the Rowdies one of their two goals was bogus.

• Props to the Crocketteers, who roadtripped an hour and a half in that sweet red double-decker bus to see the Aztex. I also love the slogan on their shirts: “Cross the line“. It will almost be a shame if San Antonio gets a Div-2 team, and Austin has to humiliate them game in and game out.

• I like elaborate goal celebrations (in moderation), and you can see a good, jumprope-inspired one from our boys in the videos below. But it makes the superstitious part of me nervous. In the words of the immortal Han Solo: “Great, kid. Don’t get cocky.”

• We have a definite contender for the best chant of the year. After the obligatory “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” following Long Tan’s red card in the 38th minute, he was also treated to chants of “Long Tan; short game!” Credit, no surprise, to Dan the Free Beer Man.

• Speaking of young Mr. Tan, many of us were amazed that he was allowed to sit out on the front walk of the fieldhouse for most of the rest of the game, sipping mimosas under a bright yellow-and-green parasol. Okay, the mimosas and parasol bit is unconfirmed, but he really was sitting out there, watching the game. I thought red cards sentenced the receiver to the locker room, removed entirely from the game for the duration. In fact, I thought that our own Coach Heath received an additional one-game ban earlier this season when he didn’t vacate the field promptly. One of the supporters complained to the fourth official, who merely shrugged. Will this Rowdies player be allowed to flaunt the rules of the game without punishment?

• Or is having to wear that hideous strip week in and week out punishment enough? Seriously, those yellow-and-green uniforms are the worst. I thought after the first time the Rowdies were here that I might get used to them, but no. Maybe they do something for people trapped in the ’70s, or Florida, or both, but they make me queasy. If the Aztex had that kit, I think I’d join the Crocketteers.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 3,671

• Aztex again take win in scrap with Rowdies — Austin American-Statesman
  

  But controversy would help Tampa Bay respond when the following kickoff saw Aaron King chase down a loose ball in the box with Austin’s Kevin Sakuda pressuring him. As the two went for the ball, both got tangled up and fell.

  Head referee Niko Bratsis called a foul on Sakuda, giving a penalty kick for Tampa Bay and provoking a fierce protest from Austin’s players that included Sakuda kicking the ball downfield. Sakuda earned a yellow card, and Tampa Bay’s Ricardo Sanchez converted the penalty kick.

• Aztex Roll Rowdies; Remain Unbeaten in 7 Matches — AustinAztex.com
  

  With the man advantage, Austin cemented its lead in stoppage time of the first half when Max Griffin‘s effort put them ahead 4-2. Griffin received a ball from Austin midfielder Lawrence Olum at the top of the Tampa Bay goal box and used a tricky array of moves to get behind his defender and calmly put the ball into the back of the net.

• Austin Aztex 4, FC Tampa Bay 2 :: Match Report — Chantico’s Army
  

  In the 69′, the Aztex Nation got our first glimpse of the other new acquisition, when Randi Patterson (Forward, formerly of Crystal Palace Baltimore) made his first appearance by replacing Max Griffin. Randi’s first touch came moments later when his run down the left side resulted in a ball going out the end line resulting in a Rowdies goal kick.

• Photos (22): Aztex vs. Tampa Bay, 8-7-10 — AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

• Video: Aztex vs Tampa Bay Rowdies Highlights (2:19) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  
  

• Video: Postgame Interviews (3:00) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

The Aztex head down to Puerto Rico next Saturday, to take on the Islanders. They’ll return to Austin the following Sunday, Aug. 22, to face the Carolina Railhawks for the first time this season.

davebrett.com — Historic Soccer Videotapes and DVDs

I fell in love with soccer growing up in New York City in the 1970s. I was a fan of the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL). Fifteen years ago I started collecting videos of the original broadcasts of NASL games. I now have over 350 DVDs of NASL games, listed below.

In the late 1980s I started following the US National Soccer Team, and I now have about 250 videos of those games.

All of these games are the complete original broadcasts. I can record on DVD. I would prefer to trade for NASL matches. However, if you have nothing to trade, please e-mail me and I will send ordering instructions.

Dave has a truly amazing, one-of-a-kind archive of American soccer history. Check it out.

Another weekend, another home game against a Floridian opponent.

This weekend we’ll see the Tampa Bay Rowdies return to House Park for the second time this season, and for the third of four scheduled contests. The previous two have both ended in draws, despite a total 10 goals scored (2-2 on May 8 and 3-3 on May 19).

The Rowdies have a 6-7-6 record, putting them in next-to-last in our USL conference, though they’re in 7th place in overall league standings. They have been winless the last two months, with the sole exception of a 2-0 win over Miami FC on July 25. (And come on, who doesn’t beat Miami? Oh, wait: the Rowdies also drew with them on July 4.) Their most recent match, hosting the Portland Timbers last weekend, resulted in a 2-2 draw (match report/box score).

Though there is no random, stoner-autographed musical instrument on the line in this match, there will be a police car, fire truck and ambulance “for kids to play with” in the Kids’ Zone.

That’s part of “Austin Heroes Night”, which will see Austin Police, AISD Police, Austin Fire and Austin-Travis County EMS honored during halftime.

Also, regular Aztex fans will be bolstered by an expected 30 Crocketteers, who are road-tripping up from San Antonio to see the game. The coolest part? They’re coming in the Lion & Rose‘s old-fashioned double-decker bus.

As always, fans will start getting together at The Tavern at 5:30, about 2 hours before the 7:30 kickoff. And don’t miss the after-game (another victory celebration, probably) with fans, coaches & players at Cuatro’s.

Chantico’s Army — “In the Mixer” Episode 1 – Interview with Adrian Heath

On this, the inaugural release of the “In the Mixer” podcast, we are pleased to be joined by special guest, Adrian Heath, who discusses a variety of topics related to the Aztex 2010 season, the facilities (House Park & a future SSS), as well as his own position, including the important news on his contract with the Aztex.

Includes a brief appearance by yours truly, in the group discussion towards the end.

AustinAztex.com — Aztex Acquire Goal Scoring Patterson

The 25-year-old forward comes from Crystal Palace Baltimore where he notched four goals in 17 appearances for the club.

Prior to playing with Baltimore, Patterson suited up for the Charleston Battery [USL-1], New York Red Bulls [MLS] and the Carolina Dynamo [PDL]. Through his entire professional career, Patterson has scored 39 goals and added three assists in 101 total appearances.

Read it all.

On paper, it was a match that the Aztex shouldn’t have had much trouble with, and in the end, they didn’t. I give Miami FC some credit, though. They went down one goal just before halftime, and another just after. Other than maybe the very first minutes of the game, those are about the most dispiriting times to give up goals. But Miami didn’t wilt. They kept fighting, and even pulled one back in the 75th.

But it was too little, too late. Once Kendall McFayden sealed the deal with a stoppage-time goal in his first pro appearance, it was a perfect 4 wins from 4 games against the Blues. More importantly, it was another 3 points in the 2010 bank.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

  Attendance: 3,228

• Aztex roll past Miami — Austin American-Statesman
  

  “To be honest, I’m a little bit disappointed with us tonight,” Aztex head coach Adrian Heath said. “Having been a striker, I’m always wary to have a go at strikers because I know it’s a difficult job, but we were wasteful tonight with chances.”

• Aztex Crush Rival at Home; Sweep Season Series — AustinAztex.com
  

  In the 44th minute, defender Leonard Griffin played a fantastic ball across the field to the head of [Eddie] Johnson who was standing all alone on the edge of the Miami six-yard box. Johnson was able to head the ball back across the goal leaving the Miami keeper with no chance of making the save.

  The goal was his ninth of the season.

• USSF D2 Recap for July 31st: Aztex continue to roll! — The NASL Fanatic
  

  While the result isn’t exactly what Shore was looking for, he was somewhat pleased with their play.
  “I don’t think the score was indicative of the way we played,” Miami FC Head Coach Daryl Shore said, according to the official website. “Once again we did well to keep possession, but possession doesn’t get you results.”

• Video: Austin Aztex 3, Miami FC 1 (1:24) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  
  

• Video: Postgame Interviews – Aztex 3, Miami FC 1 (0:56) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

Next week Austin will host their other Florida opponent: the FC Tampa Bay Rowdies will be at House Park on Saturday, Aug. 7, at 7:30. Tell a buddy, and bring a friend!

And . . . we’re back! After a week off, the Aztex will return to league action Saturday evening, hosting Miami FC here in Austin at 7:30.

This will be the fourth and final meeting between the two teams this season. Austin has won all three of the previous matchups, and will be looking to take another three points.

Miami, meanwhile, will be looking to break a winless streak that stretches back 7 games (0-5-2; two of those losses were to the Aztex). Their most recent result was a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay (match report/box score). The team has made changes to try to climb out of last place: last week they hired a new head coach, Daryl Shore. Shore goes to Miami after a 10-year stint as assistant coach with MLS’ Chicago Fire.

The Aztex, meanwhile, should be rested and raring to go. With the recent signing of Tyler Hemming and some trialists in town, we may see some new players on the field.

Austin continues to lead the league with 35 points, even though it has 3 games in hand over the two closest challengers (Vancouver and Rochester, both at 33). The final third of the Aztex’s schedule is heavy with road games, and though their road record this year has been great, I’m sure that they won’t be taking these next home games for granted. Though this game has all the markings of three points for the Red & White, in this sport you never know the outcome for sure until that final whistle blows.

If you need tickets, you can get a good deal today (Friday, July 30) at Eversave.com: ticket vouchers are just $8. You can buy up to 10, and they’re also valid for next weekend’s game against the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Proceeds of those tickets, as well as an auction of autographed players’ warm-up shirts at the game, will benefit Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas.

There are just five home games left in the season, so don’t miss this one! As always, fans will start getting together at The Tavern at 5:30, about 2 hours before the 7:30 kickoff. And don’t miss the after-game (hopefully another victory celebration) at Cuatro’s.

Let’s go Aztex!

I just finished reading The Boys From Little Mexico – A Season Chasing the American Dream, by Steve Wilson. It was excellent, and thoroughly enjoyable, and I recommend it.

The book is about a high school soccer team in Woodburn, Oregon, and their quest for the state championship. What makes their story more interesting is the fact that, unlike almost every other team in the state, the team is almost entirely Hispanic.

At first it seemed a little incongruous that there would be a large community of Mexican immigrants in the Pacific Northwest, closer to Canada than Mexico. But the explanation of how that came to be, dating back to the World War II-era Bracero Program, is just the start of the story Wilson has written.

It’s a good example of one of my favorite aspects of this book: Wilson’s ability to zoom out from the details of the story in Woodburn, give a thorough, “big picture” background, and then zoom back in to the the people at the heart of the story. He does this many times, covering everything from historical immigration, to ESL (English as a second language) instruction, to the physics behind “bending it like Beckham”, to Major League Soccer’s evolving relationship to Latino players and fans:

In an interview on ThisIsAmericanSoccer.com^[link], Sports Illustrated soccer writer Luis Bueno said that he felt MLS clubs need to work harder to find Mexican American athletes because Latinos tend to play in less-established, less-wealthy leagues.

“I have a cousin who’s pretty good at soccer, I think he’s 15. I’m thinking, “Alright, is he going to have the chance to go to college?” Probably not. I’m just being honest. He plays on club teams right now. They’re not the big club teams that the Sacha Kljestans played for and the Bornsteins and the Benny Feilhabers. Those guys had the opportunities to play on those teams whereas someone like my cousin doesn’t. Maybe he plays high school and then that’s it. There are a lot of players like that, who for financial reasons just can’t afford it.”

Bueno, like other MLS critics, wonders if the coaches of MLS and U.S. national teams realize how much talent may be in their own backyard.

“We don’t know,” he said. “There could be the next Landon [Donovan] out here, the next [Jozy] Altidore. We don’t know since it’s something that’s never really been explored.”

But I don’t mean to say this book is an academic essay at all; far from it. The remarkable thing about these zoom-outs of big picture information is that they’re able to add so much to the story in spite of how brief they are.

For it’s the story, and the people in it, that are central here. This book will introduce you to a rich cast of characters, not just the boys on the team, but also their coaches, teachers and foster parents.

The boys on his team were like the boys in his classroom, who never raised their hands and were reluctant to voice an opinion. They were afraid to fail. They were the first generation, or immigrants themselves, and they were supposed to make everything better. By winning the championship. By learning English. By graduating from high school. By going to college. By making a good living. His guys were supposed to break the pattern, and they knew it and it weighed on them.

One of the these characters is Octavio, whose story is traced from the Mexican village where he was born, to his time with the Club Atlas youth program, to his harrowing journey over the border into the U.S., and of course, to his quest for the Oregon high school soccer championship with Woodburn High. Octavio’s story in particular is one that I won’t soon forget, and that I know will come to mind whenever the subject of immigration in America comes up.

Another aspect of the book that impressed me is the soccer writing itself. Wilson really brings to life the action and excitement of the team’s games. The glory of victory and the crush of defeat both feel as vivid as if you were there — maybe more so, given the omniscient coverage of players, coaches and fans.

Reading this during the month-long World Cup, I was struck by the idea of the power of soccer (or sports in general) to transform people, communities, etc. Whether it’s immigrant high school kids in Oregon having something positive to work and fight for, or an African nation wanting to show that it deserves respect on the world stage, it’s quite a theme. But is it real?

I think the paradox of it is that such a storyline is both true and false. Yes, the chance to be on the Woodburn Bulldogs soccer team (or Los Perros, as it’s now more commonly known) is an important, even crucial, part of those young mens’ lives. But at the same time, it’s not magic fairy dust. The team gives them something to work and fight for, but they still have to do the working and fighting.

This fine book brings it all to vivid life. Pick up a copy, I’m confident you’ll find a lot to enjoy from it.

[Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but the time I spent reading and reviewing it was my own. I wouldn't have bothered with either if it wasn't worth it.]

AustinAztex.com — Aztex Add Depth to Midfield with Addition of Hemming

The Austin Aztex made a move to sure up [sic] their midfield on Tuesday by trading for the Montreal Impact’s Tyler Hemming for future considerations. Hemming, a capped Canadian international, has played in five matches for the Impact this season, four of those in a starting role.

“We are delighted to add Tyler to the team,” Head Coach Adrian Heath said. “Tyler is going to add much-needed depth to the midfield as we make our push to the playoffs and look to maintain our position on top of the league table.”

Maybe we’ll see Hemming, or some of the trialists in town this week, in this Saturday’s home game against Miami FC.

The Aztex have (finally!) opened an online store. This is good news not only for those of us in Texas, but for Aztex fans around the world (and due in part to the team’s affiliation with Stoke City, you can be sure that that market exists).

There’s a good selection: just about anything one would want, I think. Jerseys, scarves and t-shirts, of course; also jackets, seat cushions and vuvuzelas (yes, really).

Though there isn’t currently a way to specify personalization options, such as a name on the back of a jersey, you can get that by contacting the team via email along with your order. (That’s one thing holding me back from buying a 2010 jersey: deciding what to get on the back. It’s down to either “Aztexan” or “Soccerette”. . .)

One nice feature of the store: local customers can save on shipping by picking up their order at the Aztex office (13359 N. US 183, map ) or the next Aztex home game.

Check out the Aztex Merchandise online store.

News 8 — Athlete of the Week: Griffin maxing out potential with the Aztex

News 8 Austin’s commendably good coverage of the Aztex continues with this nice video (1 min 39 sec). Unfortunately it’s not embeddable, so you’ll have to click the link to watch it. The charming bit at the end, about why Max and his brother Leonard both play for the Aztex, made me laugh.

photo: AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

It was a hot one at House Park on Saturday night. And the same way that the thermometer doesn’t always reflect how hot it really feels, so too, a final scoreline doesn’t always tell the whole story, either. That was certainly the case at House Park this weekend.

The 3,702 fans in attendance found the Aztex pressing hard from the opening whistle, barely letting St. Louis have the ball. The shot stats give a better idea of the heat the Red & White were pouring on: they took 15 in the first half, vs. St. Louis’ 1. Though the visitors fought back with intensity in the second half, they were a man down by that point, and it was too little, too late.

Though it was a solid win, I can’t help but feel that Austin should have really crushed this one. Playing at home, having the clearly stronger offense, with the benefit of a 1-man advantage, St. Louis was lucky (or did well defensively, depending on how you look at it) to not get really clobbered in this game.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

• Aztex Blank AC St. Louis; Further Stretch League Lead — AustinAztex.com
  

  Ten minutes later, Jamie Watson was able to deliver a ball to Lance Watson that put the midfielder in a favorable scoring position. In an effort to halt Lance’s scoring chance, Dufty took him down inside the six-yard box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Aztex.

  Eddie Johnson stepped up to take the kick for the Aztex and attempted to place it to the Dufty’s left. With a quick reaction, Dufty was able to push the ball away from goal, denying Johnson his 10th tally this season.

• Austin Aztex beat St. Louis — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Austin earned redemption in the 34th when a Yordany Alvarez free kick floated toward a contested Jay Needham in the box. In the middle of the scrum Needham’s header deflected off St. Louis’ Jeff Cosgriff, who was given a red card for a handball, setting up another penalty kick. This time Jamie Watson stepped up to take the penalty and sent the shot into the lower right for the goal.

• AC St. Louis Lose 2-0 at Austin — The AC St. Louis Fanatic
  

  AC St. Louis in the second half had the daunting task of trying to win being a man down against the best offense in USSF D2 on the road. Coach Dale Schilly made liberal use of his substitutes, as Ryan Moore, John Lesko, Elvir Kafedzic and Alex Titton came in — Brad Stisser came in during the first half when Chris Salvaggione took a hard knock and was stretchered off the field. And although AC St. Louis made a game effort, the Aztex were able to double the lead in the 69th minute on a Maxwell Griffin goal. Being a man down in the 90-plus degree Texas heat was too tall of an order for the Saints to overcome, although they did force Aztex goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo into making some good saves on some hard, long-range shots.

• Photos (20): Aztex vs. AC St. Louis, 7-17 — AustinAztex.com Photo Gallery

• Video: Aztex extend unbeaten streak blanking St. Louis 2-0 (1:35) — News 8 Austin

• Video: Aztex 2, AC St. Louis 0 – Highlights (1:13) — AztexSoccer on YouTube

  Don’t miss the unbelievable defensive save St. Louis’s Jack Traynor makes of a lovely little chip from Eddie Johnson; see it from 0:18 to 0:28.

The Aztex won’t play again for two weeks, when they host Miami FC again on Saturday, July 31. I understand the players will be given some days off, and have a chance to really relax, visit family, etc. Congratulations to the team on a great season so far, enjoy a well-earned rest and good bragging rights with friends and family, and see you all back dominating the league in a couple of weeks!

Bleacher Report — This Is the Los Angeles Galaxy: Yohance Marshall

Football shares a few parallels with life in general. One of those parallels is a significant one: Getting a chance to prove yourself isn’t always a given.

For Yohance Marshall, it’s a parallel he knows very well. Standing tall at 6’2″ (1.88 m), this defender from Trinidad & Tobago has yet to shine on game day for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Currently, he is playing for the Austin Aztex in the USSF Division 2 Professional League on loan from the Gs. One day, his experience playing on the back line at House Park will translate to many memorable matches at the Home Depot Center.

Read it all.

The Aztex return to Austin to host AC St. Louis for their first match after the completion of the 2010 World Cup. Will we see some of those huge numbers of Cup final viewers? While Austin vs. St. Louis may not have quite the cachet of Spain vs. Netherlands, we’ve seen some exciting soccer at House Park, and I hope Saturday evening is no exception.

St. Louis continues to struggle through their inaugural season. Their 3-8-4 record gives them just 13 points from 15 games, putting them right at the bottom of the league table. The pregame story on the Aztex website calls them “streaking” over the last 6 games, but I think that’s a generous description of a 2-1-3 run.

Saturday’s game will be the second of a four-game road-trip for St. Louis. The first was just Wednesday night against the NSC Minnesota Stars. Though they got a point from the 2-2 draw, to St. Louis it must have felt like a loss: they were leading 2-0 until the 87th minute (match report/box score).

Austin will be looking to regain its offensive firepower in this game. Having averaged 2 goals per game for the first 14 games of the year, the Red & White haven’t scored at all in the last two matches. Perhaps the return of midfielder Lance Watson, just back last weekend after being absent since early June with hamstring trouble, will spark the Aztex offense.

Unfortunately, on the defensive end, stalwart Kieron Bernard is listed as questionable for Saturday with a groin injury.

The Aztex have teamed up with “Austin Pets Alive!” (APA), an organization working to stop the practice of killing stray cats and dogs in Austin. If you order your tickets from this fundraising page, the Aztex will donate 20% of your ticket price to APA.

Kickoff is the usual time: 7:30 PM. And the pre-match gathering at The Tavern is the usual time, as well: 5:30. And don’t forget the after-match spot, Cuatro’s, which is sure to be a victory celebration. Come on out and have a great Austin evening of live, pro soccer. Go Aztex!

ESPN MediaZone — 2010 World Cup Final on ABC: Most-Watched Men’s World Cup Game Ever

Sunday’s 2010 FIFA World Cup Final on ABC – a 1-0 victory by Spain in extra time over the Netherlands – ranks as the most-watched Men’s World Cup game ever among viewers.

The top 10 metered markets for Sunday’s four-hour telecast (including pre- and post-match programming) were:

1. San Francisco (14.7)
2. San Diego (13.6)
3. New York (13.1)
4. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale (12.0)
5. Washington, D.C. (11.9)
6. Los Angeles (11.3)
7. Austin, Texas (10.4)
8. Seattle-Tacoma (10.0)
9. Cincinnati (9.5)
10. Boston (9.1)

Again: welcome, Austin soccer fans! Now, come check out live, local soccer!

Red Bull USA — Red Bull Battle del Toro:

Red Bull Battle Del Toro is a spirited, fiercely competitive homage to the Battle of the Alamo – soccer style. Throughout this three-day tournament, four U16 teams from Texas featuring some of the state’s biggest phenoms will clash cleats with four U16 teams from Mexico boasting some of the country’s top emerging stars.

Qualifying games are 6 & 8 PM on Thursday and Friday, final round games at 6 and 8 on Saturday. Admission to San Antonio’s STAR Soccer Complex is $5 per day.

The U16 Mexican teams are Club America, Tigres UANL, Atlas and Chivas de Guadalajara; the U16 Texan teams are Classics Elite (San Antonio), Dallas Texans, FC Dallas and Albion Hurricanes (Houston).

(Via Austin Chronicle.)

Austin Pets Alive! — Soccer Fever:

If you can’t get enough of soccer watching, check out Austin’s own soccer team, the Aztex. The Aztex will donate 20% of all ticket sales for the game on Saturday, July 17th that come from this link: http://aztex-soccer.com/apa

It’s just a few hours after the final whistle of the final game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Spain’s players are still getting used to being Champions of the World. After a month full of soccer day and night, I’m not going through full withdrawal quite yet. Just a little bit of the shakes so far.

Inevitably, this feeling reminds me of the end of the 2006 World Cup, when I really fell in love with soccer. I’d gotten hooked on the daily dosage in the group stages, they were a gateway drug to the bigger and bigger games, and then: the end. It’s over, cold turkey. What now? Where’s my fix?!

I still remember heading to The Google with a question that seems absurd now, and will strike regular readers of this blog as silly, as well: “Do they play soccer in the U.S., too?”

If you wondered the same thing, and your search brought you here, I have good news: Indeed they do play soccer in the U.S. They play it at all levels, and in lots of cities across the country. They even play soccer right here in Austin!

Here’s a quick overview of what’s on offer here in Austin, elsewhere in Texas and elsewhere in America.

Major League Soccer (MLS) — This is the top level of U.S. soccer, the best of the best. Like any pro league, it features players from all over the world, not just Americans. David Beckham (LA Galaxy), for example; you might have heard of him. He’s on the injury list at the moment, but there are other relatively famous players plying their trade in MLS: Mexico’s Cuauhtémoc Blanco (Chicago Fire) and Sweden’s Freddie Ljungberg (Seattle Sounders) to name a couple. They’ll be joined later this month by France’s Thierry Henry (Red Bull New York).

Some of the guys you saw play for the U.S. men’s national team also play in MLS: Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy) and — last but certainly not least — Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy).

There are 16 teams in MLS this year, with 2 more (Portland and Vancouver) next season. That includes 2 Texas teams: FC Dallas and the Houston Dynamo. Dallas is “my” MLS team, the one I landed on after my search four years ago. To this day that’s who I follow, including a trip or two per season to Dallas to see them in person.

Division 2 (USSF-D2) — As is pretty obvious from the name, this is the second level of soccer in the U.S. It was formerly called “USL-1″, but due to some ownership and league drama that I won’t go into here, it’s being run this year directly by the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF). Like MLS, it’s a league of paid professional athletes. The 12 teams are in smaller cities, and the players aren’t as famous (yet), but the play can still be very good.

This is where Austin comes in: the Austin Aztex are a USSF-D2 team. (In fact, so far this season, they’re the best USSF-D2 team.) The Aztex franchise launched here in 2008, and now I can go to a lot more games, and without road-tripping four hours up I-35 first.

Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) — This is a new league, in just its second season. Despite some growing pains (two teams have been added, but two others have folded since last year), the quality of play from these 7 teams is also excellent. Some of the very best women players in the world play in WPS. These include U.S. national team stars like Hope Solo (Atlanta Beat), Abby Wambach (D.C.’s Washington Freedom) and Natasha Kai (New Jersey’s Sky Blue FC), as well as foreign stars like England’s Eniola Aluko (Atlanta), France’s Sonia Bompastor (Washington) and Brazil’s 4-time FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, Marta (San Jose’s FC Gold Pride).

Premier Development League (PDL) — Broadly speaking, most of the more than 70 teams that make up the PDL are college players getting game time on their summer break. So, their season is short (May to July), and many of the teams are amateur. The Aztex fielded a team at this level in 2008 and 2009 (the Aztex U-23s), but not this season.

There are other leagues, USL-2, PASL, MISL and W-League, not to mention college teams, but these are the ones I’m most familiar with. Hopefully this overview will get you started in your search for soccer closer to home than Johannesburg.

In addition to the jumping-off point that I hope this list of leagues, teams and players will give you, I’ll add this editorial, free of charge.

You may have heard, or will hear, that soccer in the U.S. isn’t as good as soccer in England. Or Mexico, or Italy, or Spain, or the 63rd moon of Jupiter, or wherever. In some cases that’s obviously true. The West Texas United Sockers are a decent PDL team, but they’ll never hold a candle to FC Barcelona. In other cases it’s less clear-cut: the LA Galaxy on a good day would give most Premier League teams a run for their money, at least.

But even supposing for a minute that it’s a fact that U.S. soccer is somehow inherently inferior than Fox Soccer Channel’s marquee match of the week, I still urge you to find a local team and go to a few games. (One game isn’t really enough. If you watched enough World Cup you already know that sometimes, matches between even the best teams can be less than thrilling.)

But if you can watch the top teams from across the world play all weekend long on ESPN, why bother? For one thing, for the sport to evolve here to the level of those other countries (and moons), there needs to be fan support, butts in seats, tickets sold, nachos bought, salaries paid, etc. It’s a whole supply-and-demand kind of thing. Or demand-and-supply, or something. Look, this isn’t an economics blog.

But completely aside from any “for the good of the sport” sermon, live soccer is different than — better than — soccer on TV. It’s a hi-def, surround-sound, panoramic view and you don’t need special glasses to see it in 3D. Get to know your team, your players, at your home ground. Feel the glory of the wins, the crush of the losses and the everything-in-between of the draws, right there in the stands with your fellow fans.

Also, you may not realize what you’re missing watching on TV, where the camera naturally follows the ball most of the time. There’s more going on than where the ball happens to be at any given moment. There’s the flow, the formation, the positioning of the players. Not to mention the tension and excitement of the crowd around you. When you’re sitting in the stands, you can take it all in.

It’s a beautiful game. See you there.

[This post is not really related to the original Hi, America. Welcome to Soccer post in anything but title. In fact, it's aimed at a completely opposite audience. Oh, well. I started with wanting to tell the legions of new soccer fans that I'm sure now exist in Austin about the Aztex, but it kind of spiraled out of control. I also wanted to make sure search sites know I'm in Austin, writing about pro soccer, specifically the Aztex soccer team. Soccer. Austin. Catch that, Google?]

Update, 7/12/10: This post by photographer AustinPixels gets to the point I was originally after. It manages to do it with far fewer words, and without straying to Jupiter or WPS. In defense of my wordiness, he used pictures, and those are worth a thousand words each.

photo: DemocratAndChronicle.com

I had to miss a fair bit of this game, but what I saw was a rain-soaked standoff between two of the toughest teams in the league. Props to the Aztex for holding on to the “undefeated on the road” mantle, that’s not insignificant. And it was nice to have Lance Watson back in the starting 11. But somebody in red & white needs to start scoring again.

Here’s a rundown of other post-match coverage:

• box score — USSF

• Aztex Play Rochester to Scoreless Tie — AustinAztex.com
  

  As the clock neared the 90-minute mark, the frenzied shots picked up, including a cross from the right side of the pitch that landed safely in Gallardo’s hands – until the rain-soaked ball slipped out right to a waiting Rhinos player who fired a rocket on net. Fortunately for the visitors, Bernard had not given up on the play and was able to get enough of the ball to send it back on its way and away from danger.

• Rochester Rhinos tie Austin Aztex — Democrat and Chronicle
  

  “I don’t think we took enough risk,” [Rhinos coach Bob Lilley] said after his second-place team failed to gain ground on Austin, which maintained its six-point lead in the USL Conference at the midway point of Rochester’s schedule.

  “If you want to win these games we have to do more. I don’t feel like we were poor, we just didn’t do enough. Games like this aren’t generally going to be decided by a mistake. Teams that are playing well, you’re going to have to find a good goal.” Austin led 10-8 in shots and 8-3 in corner kicks.

• Photos (10): Austin Aztex vs. Rochester Rhinos — Democrat and Chronicle

The Aztex return to House Park next Saturday, July 17, to face last-place AC St. Louis for the second of four times this season.

The Aztex are in New York, preparing for Friday night’s game against the Rochester Rhinos. This will be a rematch of one of Austin’s two losses of the year, from all the way back in April, when the Rhinos handed our boys a 1-2 loss at House Park.

Since then, Rochester has kept up a good record. At 7-3-4, they’re in 2nd place in our conference, and 3rd place in the league, and with at least one game in hand over both teams they’re chasing (Austin and Vancouver).

Similar to the Aztex’s U.S. Open Cup fortunes, the Rhinos exited in the third round, to an MLS opponent. They were knocked out by the Columbus Crew after Felix Motagalvan got ejected with a straight red in the 85th minute, and they gave up the winning goal in the 2-1 game to Steve Lenhart in the 94th.

Friday’s game will be the third and final of a short home stand for the Rhinos, and hopefully an end to an unbeaten streak (not counting the Open Cup loss) that stretches back to May 22. Their most recent match was a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact last Saturday (match report/box score).

Kickoff for the Aztex-Rhinos match is 6:30 PM CT. It can be watched live at rhinossoccer.tv. You’re also invited to join Chantico’s Army’s watch party at Cuatro’s, starting at 6:00.

U.S. Soccer: Austin Aztex Forward Max Griffin Named June Player of the Month

The Palmdale, Calif., native opened the month with a goal at home in Austin’s 2-1 win on June 3 against the Puerto Rico Islanders. He then recorded the first hat trick in franchise history in the 3-1 home win against Miami FC on June. With the help of his 13 shots from the point of attack, the Aztex jumped out to a 3-1-1 record for the month in league play.

Griffin now finds himself in the top five of every major offensive category in the league in just his first year with the club, including points (13), goals (5), assists (3) and shots (30).

It was Eddie Johnson last month (for May), now it’s Max. Check back next month to see whose turn it will be in July.

Read it all.