The Aztexan

Via Inside Minnesota Soccer (home of the USL Week In Review I recommended in the last post) comes word of this really excellent-looking documentary: Footplay by The Soccer Project.

Footplay is the story of Luke and Gwendolyn, two former college soccer stars who couldn’t quite make it to the pros. Now in their mid-twenties and working 9-5 jobs, the two soccer has-beens decide they aren’t ready to quit the game. They take off around the globe, exploring the other, less glorified side of soccer: pick-up games, impromptu contests that happen anywhere and between anyone. From prisoners in Bolivia to moonshine brewers in Kenya, from the futevolie tricksters of Brazil to Chinese monks who play in their traditional robes, Footplay follows Luke and Gwendolyn’s adventures around the world and the people they meet through the game.

This is great stuff. This gets right to the core of why soccer is truly the world's game: because any group of men, women or children can kick around a ball and try to score between two posts. This film shows that in exotic locations the world over: from the highest plateaus of Bolivia to the lowest desert of Africa, from prisons to ghettos, from kids in Argentina to construction workers at South Africa's 2010 World Cup venues.

The problem is, it's not actually a documentary quite yet. It's still a work in progress, waiting for post-production and finishing. See The Soccer Project website for more info on how you can help bring this story to the big screen. The project is a finalist for MelroseMAC's $10,000 contest, so you can help for free by voting early & often (it's the last one, on the bottom right). At the very least, spam all your friends with a link to the trailer.

Labels: internacional, media

• 

  Women's Professional Soccer

  Women's Professional Soccer kicks off with their first game on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Sol hosting the Washington Freedom. Maybe we'll see former Longhorn Jill Gilbeau take the field with the Freedom against the Sol's Brazilian superstar, Marta.
  
  I had more or less randomly picked the Chicago Red Stars as "my team", but I've switched to support St. Louis Athletica instead. St. Louis is such a hotbed of soccer, and they're still getting the cold shoulder from MLS (though some are making the case for a USL-1 team there). Plus, they have one of the coolest crests around, hands down. And they have a Brazilian national team star, too: Daniela.
  
  If you haven't seen the WPS commercials, they're pretty good. Here's the one featuring the Freedom's Abby Wambach.
  
  


• Aztex announce four additions — USLSoccer.com
  

  The Austin Aztex have announced the signing of four players for their inaugural USL First Division season, inking local Aztex PDL product Josh Alcala as well as Mike Callahan, Ryan Caugherty and David Sias.

  Nothing against any of the other guys, but I'm especially glad to see fan favorite from last year's U23 squad (and fellow blogger) Josh Alcala be officially added to the roster.


• USL partners with NeuLion for exclusive online video service — USLSoccer.com
  

  Powered by NeuLion, USL Live will carry all USL-1 matches in 2009, both live and on demand, that are not part of the USL Fox Soccer Channel television broadcast schedule. The upcoming season will be the first year the service will be available for free. The NeuLion platform will also increase video availability for other USL clubs in addition to providing match highlights and other special video content such as press conferences, interviews and features.
  

  The company that provided online video of USL-1 games last year went out of business, and there was doubt whether a similar service would be available this year. With just one USL-1 game per week on Fox Soccer Channel (2009 FSC schedule), that leaves very little chance to see your team on the road.
  
  This is a real masterstroke by USL (how often do we get to say that?). I've subscribed to MLS' similar service, now called Match Center, for a couple of seasons now. I originally signed up so I could see more FC Dallas matches, but with access to so many other games, I found myself having those on frequently, too. Watching other teams, seeing other action, hearing more names - it all deepened my fandom for MLS. I expect that will happen even more in this case, where the barrier to entry is even lower.
  
  Now Chantico's Army just needs to find a local pub to watch away matches, one that can hook up the computer video to a big screen...

• USL Week In Review — Inside Minnesota Soccer

  Brian Quarstad of the blog Inside Minnesota Soccer, which covers our USL-1 rivals Minnesota Thunder, among other things, has started writing a periodic roundup of news around the league. Excellent & highly recommended.

Labels: media, players, USL-1, WPS

The Aztex were in Sandy, Utah on Saturday for their fourth pre-season match against a high-quality MLS opponent. This time it was Real Salt Lake, a team that just barely missed a trip to the MLS Cup last year, and which is ranked highly by many for 2009, including ESPN & Ives Galarcep.

The match was part of a unique free open-house event put on by RSL to show off Rio Tinto, the newest soccer-specific stadium in MLS. It was a clever way to make lemonade out of the lemons they got by being the odd team out of MLS First Kick weekend.

The Better Than Nothing I Suppose award goes to the live streaming audio provided of the game via KALL700. Listeners were able to follow the score, and a few of the big plays, but had to endure approximately 85 minutes of pointless chit-chat. Some other post-match coverage:

• Real finish preseason with 3-1 victory & box score — MLSnet.com
  

  If the Utah side hoped for a good test before officially starting MLS play, its wish was granted in the form of the USL-1 Aztex. Austin gave RSL a run for its money, but ultimately could not do enough to slow down the club's offensive attack.
  
  ...The Aztex finally struck in the 72nd minute when reserve midfielder Alex Tapp delivered a pass perfectly on target to defender Kieron Bernard in front of the goalie box. Bernard mimicked what Olave did earlier and unleashed a header in one fluid motion that sailed right past Rimando and tied the score at 1-1.

• Real Salt Lake Defeats Austin Aztex 3-1 — Keepin' It Real!
  

  The game had a few chippy moments as Kyle Beckerman and an Aztex midfielder had several encounters, one bringing both sides together in the middle of the field for what appeared to be just a minor shoving and shouting match.

And a little video footage, including two of RSL's goals:



That leaves nearly 2 weeks until the next Aztex game: another tough preseason exhibition here at Nelson Field against the Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday, April 3.

Labels: exhibition, MLS, USL-1

MLS First Kick is this week, starting with Red Bull New York at Seattle Sounders Thursday night. And our Aztex season begins in almost exactly a month, so we won't have to slum it with leagues like the English Premier League much longer. But regardless, it's time again to check in on the fortunes of our newly-promoted English comrades at Stoke City FC. Another quarter, approximately, of the English Premier League's season is in the history books, with most teams having played 29 games of the 38-game season.

When we checked in after 10 games, Stoke had earned 10 points and stood in 15th place. At the 20 game mark, they had 20 points, and were sitting at 18th, barely in the relegation zone. I suggested at that time that if they kept to their average of (exactly!) one point per game, they'd probably be okay.

Which is (exactly!) what they've done: 29 games, 29 points. Unfortunately, their goal differential has been on almost the same pace (-19). So even though they're one of 3 teams with 29 points, they're still down there in the relegation zone.

P	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester United	28	20	5	3	49	16	+33	65
2	Chelsea	29	18	7	4	49	16	+33	61
3	Liverpool	29	17	10	2	49	21	+28	61
4	Arsenal	29	14	10	5	45	26	+19	52
5	Aston Villa	29	15	7	7	43	31	+12	52
6	Everton	29	13	9	7	39	29	+10	48
7	West Ham United	29	11	7	11	34	34	0	40
8	Wigan Athletic	29	10	8	11	29	28	+1	38
9	Fulham	29	9	10	10	28	26	+2	37
10	Manchester City	29	10	5	14	45	37	+8	35
11	Tottenham Hotspur	29	9	8	12	35	34	+1	35
12	Bolton Wanderers	29	10	3	16	31	43	−12	33
13	Hull City	29	8	9	12	35	51	−16	33
14	Sunderland	29	8	8	13	29	38	−9	32
15	Blackburn Rovers	29	7	9	13	32	48	−16	30
16	Newcastle United	29	6	11	12	35	46	−11	29
17	Portsmouth	28	7	8	13	30	45	−15	29
18	Stoke City	29	7	8	14	28	47	−19	29
19	Middlesbrough	29	6	9	14	21	41	−20	27
20	West Bromwich Albion	29	6	5	18	25	54	−29	23

They're down there, but so is everybody else. There's just a six point difference between Stoke and 10th place Manchester City, with 35 points.

There has been plenty of player news for the Potters in the last couple months. Striker Dave Kitson returned to Reading. As one Stoke City blog put it:

The term "expensive flop" is used a lot to describe footballers, but few fit the requirements to be one as well as Dave Kitson did at Stoke. The 29 year old striker made the move from Reading to the Potters back in July for a fee of £5.5 million, almost three times as much as we had ever paid for any other player, and then proceeded to do absolutely nothing; sixteen games, no goals and barely a notable contribution.

Amid such lackluster performances on the field (and some less than stellar performances off it as well, such as Ricardo Fuller's "driving offences"), one bright spot has been mid-season signing James Beattie:

James Beattie continues to prove a fabulously astute signing. His opener on 14 minutes being his 5th goal in 7 starts. Class by anyone's standards. Who made the goal for him? Mr Whelan! His thrust through the centre and header forward to set Beattie clear was superb. Beattie one on one with the keeper.....you just knew he was going to score....its been a long while since we have had a striker who inspires such confidence.

The remainder of the schedule seems to favor Stoke. For one thing, five of the remaining nine matches are at Stoke's formidable home ground, Britannia Stadium. The opposition could be worse, too. The next few matches are: Middlesbrough (19th place), West Brom (20th) and Newcastle (16th). The Potters better work on upping their one-point-per-match average a bit before it comes down to the wire, though. The last match of the season will be Arsenal, at The Emirates.

Labels: Stoke City

It was another good game last night to wrap up MLS Madness. The crowd was definitely smaller than last week's Dynamo match, but the weather wasn't nearly as bad as I'd braced myself for.

The You Had To Be There Moment of the Match: supporter Alejo Loco's mad dash across the entire width of the stands (and back again!), a giant Texas flag streaming behind him. Here's a rundown of other post-match coverage.

• Aztex beat Columbus Crew 1-0 in exhibition — Austin American-Statesman
  

  Even as captain and center forward Gifton Noel Williams looked on from the bench Saturday with an ankle injury, the Aztex controlled the game from the first kick. The home side took the lead in the 25th minute courtesy of a 20-yard strike from forward Eddie Johnson. He turned his man outside the box and fired a low shot to the far post, beyond the reach of goalkeeper William Hesmer.

• Austin Aztex 1, Crew 0 — Covering The Crew (Columbus Dispatch)
  

  Gino Padula was sent off in the 35th for a hard but late single-leg tackle. He was going for the ball, but the referee deemed it egregious.
  
  ...The USL-1 Aztex were not at full strength roster-wise but were pretty impressive. They are a skillful bunch and were a good test for the Crew. Too bad the playing surface, while not horrible, was not what the Crew needed to be playing on in its final tune-up.
  
  ...The always affable Dominic Kinnear and his staff were watching from the press box. The Dynamo tied Chivas USA 2-2 in the Home Depot Center last night. Kinnear and Co. flew home to Houston this morning, hopped in the car and made the trip to Austin.

• Austin Aztex 1 - Columbus Crew 0 — Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith

  

• Austin Aztex FC defeat MLS Champion Columbus Crew 1-0 — AustinAztex.com
  

  Aztex head coach Adrian Heath was obviously pleased with the result. “The first half was good. I saw some of the stuff that we’ve been working on during training. It actually looks as though I know what I’m doing for the moment,” Heath joked . “We’ve come an awful long way. Sullivan excited people in first half. I’m really happy Eddie got his first goal. And Jarius made some terrific runs in the box.
  
  “I was pleased with the shape of the team. When you’re doing two sessions a day and working them hard, (a result like this) is a bit of vindication of what you’re doing. I can’t be too hasty though. I know we’ve got an awful long way to go to be where I want to be.”

Next week the Aztex will be dancing with the odd girl out from MLS' "First Kick" season opening weekend, Real Salt Lake. The next home game will be another tough preseason exhibition that was just announced last night: the Puerto Rico Islanders on Friday, April 3. The Islanders will be gearing up for the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal against Mexico's Cruz Azul the following week.

Labels: exhibition, MLS, USL-1

Last but certainly not least in the Aztex's "MLS Madness" preseason is this Saturday's match against reigning MLS champions and Supporters' Shield winners Columbus Crew.

Actually, this won't be the last preseason game the Aztex play against an MLS side, just the last home game. Official word was out Tuesday that the team will travel to Salt Lake City to play MLS' Real Salt Lake. The game is part of a free open house event that RSL is using to show off the brand new and highly acclaimed Rio Tinto Stadium.

Meanwhile, back here in Austin, Saturday is the the last officially announced Aztex action before the season starts on April 18, with our opener against Minnesota Thunder.

The Columbus Dispatch's Crew beat writer Shawn Mitchell is in town with the team. His Dispatch-hosted blog included this post yesterday: Crew reserves 4, St. Edward's University 0. Along with details of a slight hamstring strain suffered by forward Robbie Rogers and a mention of Austin native and former Crew player Jacob Thomas was this item:

Word is the Crew attempted to get out of Saturday's game against the Austin Aztex after it found out the exhibition will be played on an artificial turf field but were unable to do so because of contractual obligations.

Discussion of the field at Nelson merits its own post(s), but I'm not sure what to make of that little tidbit. Surely the Crew knew before they agreed to the trip that the match would be on artificial turf? Is the surface at Nelson Field somehow worse than they thought? And is it substantially worse than the handful of MLS stadiums with plastic grass? I don't mean these as rhetorical questions, I'd really like to know.

Unfortunately the weather hasn't been cooperating this week. It has been, and will continue to be, chilly and wet. Game-time temperatures are predicted to be in the low 50s, with a "slight chance" of rain. With crummy weather, without a boost from lots of opposition fans, but playing against the best team in MLS, it will be interesting to see what the crowd turns out to be.

As always, kickoff is at 7:30 at Nelson Field. Supporters warmup (i.e., 12-ounce weightlifting, etc.) starts at 5:00, this week at the Nomad Bar (map) rather than La Palapa.

Labels: exhibition, gameday, MLS

Great game last night, as the traveling Dynamo fans swelled the crowd at Nelson Field to nearly 4,200. The weather was much warmer than last week, as predicted, but the March wind was still roaring.

• Aztex get 1st pro goal in club history, tie Houston Dynamo — Austin American-Statesman
  

  The Austin Aztex pulled ahead twice in the first half of Saturday night's exhibition against two-time MLS champion Houston, but the Dynamo rallied with goals on either side of the break to produce a 2-2 draw.
  
  There was plenty of history made for the Aztex, who are playing their first pro season: first goal, first lead and first red card. Aztex captain Gifton Noel-Williams was sent off in the first half after earning two yellow cards. In a move of sportsmanship that stood out sharply in contrast with the physical nature of the game, the Dynamo allowed Austin to replace Noel-Williams with another player to keep the game going as a contest.

  I especially liked the description of the first goal (emphasis added):
  

  Noel-Williams won a header near the halfway line and released winger Sullivan Silva with a perfectly weighed chip. The Brazilian outran the Dynamo defense before beating goalkeeper Tally Hall with a composed finish. The first goal in team history was Silva's final contribution on the night before he limped off with a hamstring injury.

  Here's hoping the hamstring is no problem, and we start seeing that sentence a lot, fill-in-the-blank style: The Brazilian outran the _________ defense before beating goalkeeper ____________ with a composed finish.


• Aztex secure 2-2 tie against Dynamo — AustinAztex.com
  

  With the valuable lessons learned from last week’s defeat against the Revolution and another solid week of practice, Heath said he expected this type of performance from his team. "I thought we would be better and we were. We had some good performances out there tonight including some of the younger guys. Sullivan Silva can be a good player. Jarius Holmes can be a good player. For being just 12 days in, I’m pleased with the result."

• Austin Aztex vs. Houston Dynamo — Austin Photographer Patrick Meredith
  


• 2009 Spring Break Camps — AustinAztex.com
  Not directly related to the game, but there was a postcard for this on everyone's windshields after the game, so I'll mention it, too.
  

  The Austin Aztex Spring Break Youth Soccer Camps will be held March 16-20 at two locations in Austin. English soccer star and Aztex USL-1 Head Coach Adrian Heath will oversee the camps, which are designed for children ages 5 to 15.
  
  "We are very excited to present our Austin Aztex soccer camps during the 2009 Spring Break. Players will have several new camps to choose from this Spring as I have added a skills school, shot stoppers-GK and striker school, and a basic Soccer 101 to our usual rec/select player camp offering."

That does it for Houston. And look at me, I managed to be nice and not say a word about what a bunch of bland, generic losers they are, or how they totally blew it in the CONCACAF Champions League, or how their kit is hands-down the ugliest combination of ugly colors to ever mar a soccer pitch. Oops, well, I almost managed it.

Next weekend we'll see our third and final MLS exhibition (unless rumors about going to Dallas or Salt Lake City pan out), when we host the reigning MLS champions, Columbus Crew. Is it Saturday yet?

Labels: exhibition, MLS, USL-1

Next up in the Aztex's preseason MLS lineup is the Houston Dynamo this Saturday, March 7. As the Chronicle reports, they're coming off a 3-0 loss Tuesday night to Atlante of Mexico's Primera División, which eliminated them from the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.

With Houston being our closest pro soccer neighbor, plus their renowned supporters groups (El Batallón and Texian Army), we could have quite a crowd at this one. And if you can round up 11 or more friends, you can all get in for the new group discount price of just $15.

The Aztex are expected to once again be trialing a good number of players, though the roster did officially grow by one this week with the signing of English midfielder Eddie Johnson:

The 24-year-old Johnson comes to the United States after a successful career in England, which included stints on the U16-U20 English national teams as well as his first professional job with Manchester United back in 2001 at age 17.

United loaned Johnson to the Belgian club Royal Antwerp in January 2004 where he made 11 appearances, scoring five goals. In July 2004, Johnson went on loan to Championship-side Coventry City for the 2004–05 season where he gained valuable first-team experience.

Eddie and I will see you at Nelson on Saturday night. Once again, an open invitation to meet up with other fans at La Palapa at 5:00; kickoff is at 7:30. Best of all: you can leave your winter coat and mittens at home this week. The current forecast calls for temperatures in the 70s.

Labels: exhibition, gameday, MLS

No big news or announcements or anything, but here's last night's video interview with Aztex owner Phil Rawlins and striker Gifton Noel-Williams on Austin's local NBC affiliate, KXAN.

Labels: media, USL-1

In a month or two, temperatures in the 40s at Nelson Field will seem impossible, but that's what we endured last night.

Considering how young the Aztex team is — remember, they haven't even announced enough signings yet to field a full eleven — they held their own very respectably against the New England Revolution. Sure it was a 2-0 scoreline, but the Revs only scored one of those goals themselves!

Following is a rundown of post-match coverage. The best part of the game that's not covered in any of these stories was the One-Man Chris Albright Hate Club, who verbally assaulted the Revs defender throughout the second half.

• Gameday: Revs at Aztex— New England Revolution Blog

  "This feels like classic New England fall weather with the chill in the air and heavy wind."
  "It’s so chilly out that [acting head coach Paul] Mariner has brought a towel out from the locker room to wrap around his legs on the bench."

  [Ha ha!]


• Aztex Fall Short Against Revolution in Exhibition Match, 2-0 — AustinAztex.com

  More than 2,000 fans braved blustery conditions Saturday night at Nelson Field to see what professional soccer under the Aztex brand name would look like...
  
  Aztex Head Coach Adrian Heath was understandably disappointed in his team’s shaky start. “We started off quite poorly. I think we actually started both halves very nervous. That’s something we’ll have to speak about. But after the initial 10 minutes we played some really good football.”

• Aztex get a quick dose of reality from MLS power New England — Austin American-Statesman

  Despite missing talismanic striker Taylor Twellman and several other starters, the Revolution and All-Star midfielder Shalrie Joseph bossed possession for most of the match.
  
  see also: Statesman photo gallery

  [How's that for a nickname: Taylor "The Talisman" Twellman?]

Next week: soon-to-be-CONCACAF-Champions-League-losers Houston Dynamo come to town. And bring some warmer weather with them, I hope!

Labels: exhibition, gameday, MLS, USL-1