Celebrating Abby's 100th: Becoming a Great Forward in Soccer

Abby Wambach is EVERYTHING that a great soccer forward should be...

great personality that is not afraid of the spotlight
fearless and mentally tough
strong
mobile
soft feet
goal thirsty
great celebrations!

We have been huge fans of Abby's since her playing days at Florida. And, in our opinion, she is one of the top 3 or 4 players in the world. She was a big and strong forward and has added many other dimensions to her game through hard work.



We work hard with our forwards here at the U. And we try to emulate the things that Abby is able to do in front of the opponent's goal. We have some great young forwards such as Lauren Hair and Erin Dalley.

We celebrated this weekend when Abby scored her 100th goal for the U.S. team in a 1-0 victory over Canada. What an incredible accomplishment. Even better, she got the goal in her hometown of Rochester, New York.

She has scored with her head, with long shots, by dribbling through the defense, PK's, both feet, incredible collections in the box...Wow!

She scored one of the most important goals in the history of U.S. soccer with her overtime goal in the 2004 Olympics gold medal game against Brazil...

Check it out here: 2004 USA vs. Brazil Olympic Final

And Abby grew even more in our eyes with this comment after breaking her leg in a warm-up game for the 2008 Olympics and being knocked out through injury:

“I want to thank all the fans, the doctors, the players on the team and Tasha Kai for scoring the winning goal,” said Wambach from the emergency room. ”Obviously, it’s devastating, but above everything else, I’m only one player, and you can never win a championship with just one player. I have the utmost confidence in this team bringing home the gold.”


“I’m excited to watch them and cheer them on during this challenge they’ve been presented with,” said Wambach. “It’s really going to take everyone coming together. I love them all so much, and appreciate so many people involved with this game and the team. I put my heart and soul into this game every day, but sometimes accidents happen. I’ve gotten so many calls already, and I just want to say how much I appreciate that.”

We think that her comments laid the foundation for the 2008 US Olympic team incredibly winning the Gold Medal without her. She told the team publicly that she will be okay and that she had confidence that they could win...wow!


Okay...so watch this great compilation of some of her 100 goals for the U.S. team...
Great job, Abby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZdu04ziO6s

Sunday Games Provide Great Drama and Lessons

We've been working on finishing quite a bit and, as always, there were some great goals scored over the weekend....dramatic games and incredible skills on display from all over the world. A couple of games we'd like to mention...

First, Barcelona went to Madrid to play Atletico Madrid...a 4-3 Clasico in favor of the home team, with two late goals...this has it all...Henry and Messi for Barcelona....Forlan and Aguero for Atletico... Goals from great strikes...great dribbling...beating an offsides trap...from a goalie punt...PK's...1-2 in the box...wow!

Click here to check it out for yourself (Barca in yellow- Atletico in red & white stripes)

Also, from the EPL, Aston Villa vs. Stoke....Villa is in 4th place (ahead of Arsenal) and Stoke WAY down low and trying to avoid relegation...2-0 to Villa late and with two lightning bolts...Stoke fights their way to a draw...incredible! I guess it's a lesson to never give up...

UEFA Champions League: Benayoun's Goal A Classic

Lots of good soccer to watch and talk about this week. The UEFA Champions League was in full force as the "Sweet Sixteen" kicked of with their first legs on Tuesday and Wednesday. Many of the games were played very conservatively, with lots of defense. The FC Porto vs. Atletico Madrid match (a 2-2 tie) was "highlighted" by some awful goal keeping. And Bayern Munich seems to have clinched advancement after a 5-0 drubbing of Sporting Lisbon. But the others appear to be up for grabs with the return legs on March 10 and March 11.

The Liverpool match at Real Madrid pitted two of the most decorated clubs in Europe against each other. We like both teams (although it's hard for the Utes not to root for a team whose nickname is "the Reds"! AND Fernando Torres is one of our favorite strikers!

The Reds stunned the home crowd with a gorgeous set piece with just 8 minutes left. From the right side of the field, defender Fábio Aurélio hit a left-footed, in-swinger curling to about the 8 yard line...it had the perfect pace and bend...and it caught Real Madrid 'keeper, Ilker Casillas, in no man's land...and midfielder Yossi Benayoun rose above the crowd to head it home...a CRUCIAL away goal heading into the return leg. And a classic "shot/cross" that would rival anything David Beckham has done.

Champions League highlights are hard to come by with rights fees, etc. But, you have to watch Yossi Benayoun's spectacular goal in the closing moments of this classic game in Madrid, Spain.

We also recommend the CONCACAF Champions League, which is going on right now as well. The Houston Dynamo tied 1-1 with Atlante from Mexico on Tuesday night and will have to get a result in Mexico next week (CONCACAF Champions League is on Fox Soccer Channel). We're big fans of the Dynamo as they play great team soccer and handle the ball well.

Working on Finishing

Our early morning training continues...like the old Army commercial goes..."we do more before 9 AM than most people do in the entire day!" (Well, it's almost like the old slogan). The players are working extremely hard and starting to see the benefits of their efforts.

This week has been focused on what we call "box work"...for the attacking players it's getting to spots in the penalty box and finishing...for the defenders it's pressuring at the right spots and clearing...

And of course the goal keepers are getting LOTS of great work...Shay Kennedy has been taking the big load of work and doing well. Hannah Turpen is back in the nets with some restrictions on contact...and Emalee Rogers has made a quick recovery from a broken leg suffered over Christmas...she is taking some shots and crosses already.

The Golden Boot for Wednesday goes to Mallory Mitamura, who put on an impressive display of goals in our 3 vs. 2 game...volleys, 1-timers, benders, toe-pokes...you name it, Mallory performed it...Great job!

Speaking of finishing...the Women's Professional Soccer league is starting up next month and the teams are starting their training camps this week. Brazilian great Marta has signed with the Los Angeles Sol.

We found a nice article in the Los Angeles Times about some of her background and how she found soccer (not hard to find in Brazil!)

Click here to read.




(Photo from Si.com)