Sunset Soccer Newsletter
By Toby
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In This Issue
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A Beautiful Holiday Soccer Story |
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The Boy Grew Up In SAN DIEGO! |
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US Men’s National Team Schedule |
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U-14 Girls Team Needs Players |
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Update On 2003 Women’s World Cup |
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Major League Soccer Injury Study |
A Beautiful Holiday Soccer Story
Bertie Felstead
By Richard Goldstein
New York Times
Bertie Felstead, the last known surviving member of the British battalion in World War I that laid down its weapons to play soccer with the Germans in the spontaneous and long remembered Christmas truce of 1915, died July 33 in Gloucester, England. He was 106.
The truce lasted perhaps half an hour and it meant nothing in the grand schemes of the Western Front generals. But the gesture by Mr. Felstead’s Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the Bavarians infantrymen who faced them resonates in the British consciousness as a poignant interlude of civility during a time of unrelenting carnage.
On Christmas Day 1914, there were many instances of British and German soldiers emerging from their trenches to fraternize. Commanders on both sides warned troops not to repeat it.
But it did happened the next year, on Christmas Day, near the snowy village of Laventie, France.
As Mr. Felstead recalled it two years ago, his mortar battalion was shivering on Christmas Eve when it heard “All Through the Night “ in the German lines.
“ It wasn’t long before we were singing as well, ‘ Good King Wenceslas,’ I think it was,” he remembered. “ Your couldn’t hear each other singing like that without it affecting your feelings for the other side.
“ Christmas Day, there was shouting between the trenches, ‘Hello Tommy, hello Fritz,’ and that broke a lot more ice. A few of the Germans came out first and started walking over. A whole mass of us went out to meet them. Nothing was planned.
“Some of them were smoking cigars and offered us cigarettes. We offered them some of ours and we chatted.”
The soldiers got by in English, German, French and sign language. “ We weren’t afraid,” Mr. Felstead remembered. “ We just sheltered each other. Nobody would shoot at us when we were all mixed up.” An informal soccer match began in the no-man’s –land between the trenches.
“ Somehow a ball was produced,” Mr. Felstead recalled. “ It wasn’t a game as such-more of a kick-around and a free-for-all. I remember scrambling around in the snow. There could have been 50 on each side. No one was keeping score.”
The Boy Grew Up SAN DIEGO!
Fulham
0-1 Birmingham
E-mail
your reaction to Football Talk
Birmingham's American
striker Jovan Kirovski scored his first goal for the club to give Steve Bruce's
men all three points at Fulham.
The Blues took full
advantage of the Cottagers' lacklustre display to climb above their opponents
in the Premiership table.
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Birmingham boss |
Kirovski scored after
just seven minutes with a precision finish from 18 yards after a neat exchange
of passes with strike partner Clinton Morrison.
Despite the sending-off
of Blues skipper Darren Purse 20 minutes from the end for two yellow cards,
Fulham could not find a way through.
Photo
Gallery: Pictures from Loftus Road
They should have snatched
a point in the second minute of injury time when Sylvain Legwinski had a clear
sight of goal, but he blasted over from six yards.
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Key incidents |
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7 mins: Kirovski puts Birmingham ahead 70 mins: Purse sent off for two bookings |
Kirovski opened the
scoring with the first real chance of the game seven minutes in and it was a
terrific strike, though the Fulham defending left much to be desired.
The American played a
one-two with Morrison and then from the edge of the penalty area curled the
ball beautifully into the far corner of Edwin van der Sar's net.
Legwinski had Fulham's
first opening after 18 minutes, controlling a long ball with great skill, but
he could only fire his shot over the bar.
A couple of minutes later
Legwinski should have done better again, when it looked as though he pulled out
of a challenge with Nico Vaesen chasing onto a through ball from Luis Boa
Morte.
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Kirovski slots home Birmingham's winner |
It was no surprise that
Fulham struggled in front of goal.
They did have all four
frontline forwards - Steve Marlet, Luis Saha, Facundo Sava and Barry Hayles -
missing through injury.
Although they saw plenty
of the ball, they found it difficult to break the Birmingham defence down,
shielded superbly by Aliou Cisse and Robbie Savage.
Legwinski had the last
chance of the first half, seeing a header cleared off the line by Purse just a
minute before the break.
Fulham picked the pace up
at the start of the second half, with Junichi Inamoto - on for Pierre Wome at
half-time - urging his side forward.
However, the home side
were dealt a severe blow after 52 minutes, when Inamoto had to be taken off due
to an Achilles injury.
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Fulham assistant boss |
Morrison could have
wrapped up the points after 65 minutes when he cut in from the right, but Van
der Sar pulled off a smart save with his feet to deny the striker.
Jean Tigana's men were
given a boost with 20 minutes left, as Blues defender Purse was sent off for
his second bookable offence.
Fulham's best chance of
the game came two minutes into injury time when Legwinski missed a clear
opening, firing over when he should have scored.
Try as they might,
though, Fulham could not grab the goal that would have given them a point.
Fulham: Van der Sar, Finnan, Melville,
Goma, Brevett, Djetou, Legwinski, Davis, Wome, Malbranque, Boa Morte. Subs:
Inamoto, Clark, Taylor, Goldbaek, Willock.
Birmingham: Vaesen, Tebily, Purse,
Cunningham, Kenna, Damien Johnson, Kirovski, Savage, Cisse, Morrison,
Horsfield. Subs: Bennett, Hughes, Powell, Woodhouse, Fagan.
Referee: A D'Urso (Essex)
US Men’s National Team Schedule
U.S. SCHEDULE: Here's a unofficial version of the
men's national
team schedule for the first half of 2003:
Jan. 18 -- Canada in Fort Lauderdale. Feb. 8 --
Argentina in Miami.
Feb. 12 -- at Jamaica in Kingston. March 29 --
either Japan or Brazil
on the West Coast. April 29 -- Mexico in Houston.
May 26 -- CONCACAF
team, perhaps Costa Rica. June 6 -- Portugal at
Gillette Stadium.
Another game would be scheduled, if possible, prior
to the team's
departure for the Confederations Cup in France that
kicks off June
18. Promoters are discussing a visit to the by Ecuador
in June, and
that nation could play Portugal as well as the U.S.
The Japanese federation has announced a game
against the U.S. for
March 29; discussions to play a game earlier this
month in Seattle
fell through.
A source says U.S. Soccer has reached agreement
with its broadcast
partners ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 on a new contract that
will run through
2006 but one of the three January and February
matches might appear
on one of those channels.
College basketball dominates ESPN and ESPN2 on both
Feb. 8 and Feb.
12, but air time has been cleared on ESPN2 for the
Argentina game by
moving up the kickoff time to noon from its
original 7:30 p.m. start.
The Jamaica game will be televised on pay-per-view
by Setanta Sport.
It's possible the Canada game could be aired on
pay-per-view, as a
source says an exclusivity clause will prohibit Fox
Sports World from
showing games the rights to which are owned by U.S.
Soccer. This
would not apply to CONCACAF events like the Gold
Cup or the
Confederations Cup, the U.S. English-language
rights to which have
not been acquired.
The Confederations Cup Spanish-language rights in
the U.S. are held
by Univision.
Inter-Forever Sports, rights holder for the next
two Gold Cup
tournaments, has been purchased by the Brazilian agency
Traffic and
will continue to market and promote those events.
From the U.S. Soccer Communications Center -- December
19, 2002
UNITED STATES TO MEET ASIAN CHAMPIONS JAPAN ON MARCH 29 IN SEATTLE
U.S. Faces Fellow World Cup Finalists in New Seattle Seahawks Stadium; Match To Be Aired Live on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. PT
CHICAGO (December 19, 2002) – The U.S. Men's National
Team will host fellow World Cup finalists Japan at Seattle Seahawks Stadium on
Saturday, March 29 in Seattle . Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. PT, and the
match will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Fans can follow the action live
online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
"The match against Japan gives us a chance to present a
different type of opponent to our team," said U.S. head coach Bruce
Arena. "Japan are a physical, aggressive side that runs extremely
well. This games gives us another opportunity to expand the
experience of our younger players while continuing preparation for both the
FIFA Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup this summer."
The United States and Japan have met only one time at the
senior international level, with Japan capturing a 3-1 victory on March 14,
1993 in Tokyo. The countries most recently clashed in the quarterfinals of
the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia. The United States, facing a Japanese
side that included European stars Hidetoshi Nakata and Junichi Inamoto,
captured a dramatic 5-4 win in penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw in regulation,
advancing the USA into the medal round.
The Japanese are coming off an impressive performance in the
2002 World Cup, an event which they co-hosted with Korea. In only their
second appearance in the World Cup Finals, Japan finished on top of Group H
with a win and two draws, advancing to the knockout phase where they fell to
eventual third-place finishers Turkey in the Round of 16. Now under the
charge of Brazilian World Cup legend Zico, the defending Asian Football
Confederation champions will join in the United States in competing in the 2003
FIFA Confederations Cup this summer in France.
The clash with Japan will be the first international soccer
match hosted by the newly minted Seattle Seahawks Stadium. The U.S. men are
making their third appearance in Seattle, each at a different venue.
Earlier this year, more than 38,000 fans packed into Safeco Field to witness
the USA trounce Honduras 4-0, as Clint Mathis and Landon Donovan each netted a
pair in the shutout victory. The USA drew 1-1 with Russia at the Kingdome
in 1994, in a preparation match for the '94 World Cup.
Tickets ranging in price levels from $20 to $70 go on sale
starting Monday, December 23, at 12 p.m. PT at all Ticketmaster outlets
throughout Washington, Oregon and British Columbia, at the Seahawks Stadium
ticket office, by phone (Seattle 206-628-0888; Tacoma 253-627-8497), and
on-line at www.ussoccer.com. Groups of 20 or more can order through U.S. Soccer
at 312-528-1290.
The United States is continuing its preparation for
participation in two major tournaments this summer. Eight teams from the around
the world, led by 2002 World Cup champions Brazil, will compete for the FIFA
Confederations Cup championship from June 18-29 in France. The USA will
then look to defend its confederation championship in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold
Cup to be held from July 12-27 in the United States.
2003 USMNT SCHEDULE (confirmed)
Date
Opponent
Venue
Kickoff
Jan. 18
Canada
Lockhart Stadium - Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 7:30 p.m ET
Feb. 8
Argentina
Orange Bowl -
Miami
12 p.m. ET
Feb. 12
Jamaica
National Stadium - Kingston, Jamaica
2:30 p.m. ET
Mar. 29
Japan
Seattle Seahawks Stadium -
Seattle 1 p.m. PT
June 18-29
TBD
FIFA Confederations Cup -
France TBD
July 12-23
TBD
CONCACAF Gold Cup -
USA
TBD
- www.ussoccer.com -
From the U.S. Soccer Communications Center -- December 18, 2002
UNITED STATES TO
FACE TWO-TIME WORLD CUP CHAMPION ARGENTINA
ON FEBRUARY 8 IN MIAMI
U.S. Meets the Fifth Ranked
Team in the World Four Days Before Travelling
to Face Jamaica at "The Office" on Feb 12. in Kingston
CHICAGO (December 18, 2002) – The U.S. Men's National Team will host two-time World Cup champion Argentina in an international friendly Saturday, February 8, 2003 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Four days later, the USA will face Jamaica at the National Stadium in Kingston. Kickoff for the Feb.12 match is set for 2:30 p.m. ET. Fans can follow both matches live online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker, presented by Philips Electronics.
"Argentina is traditionally one of the finest teams in the world, and to have the opportunity to face a team of their caliber is invaluable to the developmental process of our team," said U.S. head coach Bruce Arena. "Our goal over the next two years is to face as much quality opposition as possible in order to prepare our newer players for the challenge of World Cup qualifying in 2004."
The United States holds a 2-4 lifetime record against Argentina, who are currently ranked fifth in the FIFA World Rankings. The Feb. 8 meeting will be the second ever on U.S. soil. The teams' last met June 13, 1999 in Washington, D.C., when a Joe-Max Moore lifted the United States a 1-0 victory and their second straight win against their South American neighbors. The previous victory came four years earlier, when the United States shocked Argentina 3-0 on July 14, 1995, en route to a fourth place finish at the Copa America in Uruguay.
The USA has played eight times at the Orange Bowl in Miami, compiling a 2-4-2 lifetime record. Over 49,000 fans witnessed the U.S. defeat Haiti 3-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup on February 12, 2000. The U.S. Men last visited Miami in February of last year, falling to Colombia by a score of 1-0.
The United States has never lost to Jamaica, holding a 7-0-5 record against the Reggae Boyz. Despite the unbeaten record, the USA has only one victory in five matches at "The Office" in Kingston, dating back more than eight years.
"Playing against Jamaica at the National Stadium is always a difficult challenge," said Arena. "The Jamaicans have an outstanding record playing at home, and with the heat and tremendous support of their fans it is especially tough to get a result."
The U.S. and Jamaica are no strangers to one another, as it was the Reggae Boyz that the U.S. topped 2-1 on October 7, 2001 to clinch a spot in the 2002 World Cup. The 2-1 win in Foxboro ended a string of four straight draws between the two nations. The teams last met May 16 of this year in the "NIKE Road to Korea", with United States delivering a 5-0 thrashing in their second to last match prior to departing for the World Cup..
Advance tickets ranging in price levels from $15 to $35 go on sale starting Monday, December 23, at 12 p.m. ET at all South Florida Ticketmaster outlets (including FYE, Spec’s Music and Ricky’s Records), by phone (Ft. Lauderdale 954-523-3309; Miami 305-358-5885; West Palm Beach 561-966-3309) and on-line at www.ussoccer.com. Groups of 20 or more can order immediately through U.S. Soccer at 312-528-1249.
The United States is continuing preparation for participation in two major tournaments this summer. Eight teams from the around the world, led by 2002 World Cup champions Brazil, will compete for the FIFA Confederations Cup championship from June 18-29 in France. The USA will then look to defend its confederation championship in the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup to be held from July 12-23 in the United States.
2003 USMNT SCHEDULE (confirmed)
Date
Opponent
Venue
Kickoff
Jan. 18
Canada
Lockhart Stadium - Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. 7:30 p.m ET
Feb. 8
Argentina
Orange Bowl -
Miami
12 p.m. ET
Feb. 12
Jamaica
National Stadium - Kingston, Jamaica
2:30 p.m. ET
June 18-29
TBD
FIFA Confederations Cup - France
TBD
July 12-23
TBD
CONCACAF Gold Cup -
USA
TBD
UNITED STATES TO FACE TWO-TIME WORLD CUP CHAMPION
ARGENTINA ON FEBRUARY 8 IN MIAMI
U.S. Meets the Fifth Ranked Team in the World Four
Days Before Travelling to Face Jamaica at "The Office" on Feb. 12 in
Kingston
CHICAGO (Wednesday, December 18, 2002) - The U.S.
Men's National Team will host two-time World Cup champion Argentina in an
international friendly Saturday, February 8, 2003 at the Orange Bowl in Miami,
Florida. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on
ESPN2. Four days later, the USA will
face Jamaica at the National Stadium in Kingston. Kickoff for the February 12
match is set for 2:30 p.m. ET.
Continue:
http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=25520
U-14
Girls Team Needs Players
Hello Everyone,
Our team wants to play indoor but we're 2-3 players
short. We're the Hornets, a recreation level
Under 14 Girls' team.
We've played futsal for a number of years. If anyone has 2 or 3 players who would like
to join us for the winter, it will enable us to play in the league again this
year.
I'm hoping to complete our roster by Dec 26 so that
we can submit it by the Dec 27 deadline.
Thanks,
Steve Neuberger, Team Parent
w 476-5589
h 626-3981
Update On 2003 Women’s World Cup
From the U.S. Soccer Communications Center -- December 19, 2002
GHANA AND NIGERIA BOOK TICKETS
FOR
2003 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP IN CHINA
10 of 16 Teams Now Determined for 2003 Women's World Cup
CHICAGO (December 19, 2002) - Ghana and Nigeria have earned Africa's two berths into the 2003 Women's World Cup in China by virtue of their victories in the semifinals of the African Women's Championships, which are taking place in Warri and Oghara, Nigeria. The Black Queens of Ghana, which defeated Cameroon 3-2 in overtime on Tuesday, and the Super Falcons of Nigeria, which defeated South Africa 5-0 on Wednesday, will meet for the African title on Saturday in Warri.
The addition of Ghana and Nigeria, the same two countries which qualified from Africa for the 1999 Women's World Cup in the United States, means that 10 of the 16 2003 Women's World Cup squads have been determined. The Black Queens, which upset the Falcons 1-0 in group play, edged Cameroon in dramatic fashion in their semifinal, winning in overtime to earn their berth. The Bayana Bayana of South Africa, which was looking for its first Women's World Cup berth, suffered the cruel twist of fate of having to play perennial African champion Nigeria in the semifinal after the Falcons finished second in their group and South Africa finished first. Playing in front of a raucous crowd at home, Nigeria cruised to the victory and earned their fourth Women's World Cup berth after having played in the three previous competitions.
2003 Women's World Cup in China
The breakdown of qualified teams appears below:
AFRICA (2 of 2): Ghana and Nigeria.
ASIA (1 of 3.5): China (host); dates/venues of qualifying tournament yet
to be finalized.
CONCACAF (2 of 2.5): Canada, United States; Mexico will play the third
place finisher in Asia qualifying for a berth in China.
EUROPE (5 of 5): Germany, Norway, Russia, Sweden and France.
OCEANIA (0 of 1): Approximately 10 teams will compete in the OFC Women's
World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Australia in April of 2003.
SOUTH AMERICA (0 of 2): 10 teams will compete for two spots in South American
qualifying in Peru in April of 2003.
SF Rec and Park Futsal
Men and Women
Girls and Boys
RESOURCE CENTER - Sports Medicine
As part of our continuing effort to service and educate our membership, each
Thursday the U.S. Soccer Communications Center will send out an informative
article from one of its departments. Once a week, you will receive
an article/paper/essay that will hopefully enhance your enjoyment and
knowledge of the game of soccer - on and off the field.
This week we look at a study done on all of the injuries that occurred in
the first year of Major League Soccer. Dr. Don Kirkendall, who often
works with the U.S. Men's National Team, examines the study's findings and
their meaning to soccer players. In this study we will learn much about
the causes of injuries in soccer, when they occur and much more. We learn
that more injuries occur to players between ages 25-30, and that the ankle is
the most injured site.
The following article will teach you much more about the type of injuries that
occur in soccer.
Major
League Soccer Injury Study
Major
League Soccer Injury Study
By Dr. Don Kirkendall
A report came out after the first season of Major League Soccer that summarized the MLS experience in their first season. The group responsible for tracking the injuries was out of the San Jose area (East Bay Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Associates). These kinds of reports are important as valuable data is obtained that may be used for training improvement, rules changes, and injury reduction.
Before going into details, there are some limitations to using such data to compare to your own circumstances. For instance, these players are professionals whose job is dependent on performance and are extremely committed to training and competition. Any step up in competition brings new challenges, not the least of which is the speed, level of contact, skill, fitness and tactics. The age and experience of the pro players is also vastly different to you, as well as practice time. Most club players reading this do not have formal daily practice, have as many preseason practices, or have the level of medical supervision afforded to the professionals. What the youth teams do have is more games relative to practices.
That said, let’s see what happened. We know the MLS has 10 teams and the active roster is 20 players, but with injuries and ‘otherwise displaced players’ (a kind way of saying ‘cut’?), a total of 237 players were members of these 10 teams in year one of the league. The age range was 18-38 years of age with an average of 27-years-old. An injury is recorded as something reported to the trainer or physician and was classified as minor (interrupted participation for less than 1 week), moderate (over 1 week, but less than 1 month) and major (over 1 month).
An ‘incident’ was an injury resulting in no time loss (not discussed in the paper). A total of 199 games (preseason through playoffs) were played and the average training time was an average of 105 minutes a day. They practiced 8 times longer than they competed (some youth teams that ratio is just over 1:1). Injuries by position were based on a 4-4-2 alignment and by age as under 25 (67 injuries), 25-30 (129 injuries) and over 30 (38 injuries). The season was divided into 5 distinct sections (preseason, early, mid, late and postseason). Time of injury during practice or game was not reported (but should have been). I will offer some comparison of some of our own work on youth (ages 12-18) and the medical literature for comparison.
A total of 256 injuries were recorded for a gross rate of injury rate of 1.08 injuries per player. Overall, that suggests that each player sustained at least one injury (remember that is a statistic, not what actually happened to each player). Data from the Premier League in England is even higher at about 1.4 injuries per player.
Your team might go through a whole season and never see a single injury. 60% of the injuries were minor and 61% occurred during games. Roughly 15% of all injuries were major. Our data on youth show that games account for around 90% of all injuries. That is because most club teams don’t practice as much as the pros. Midfielders were the most frequently injured, followed by defenders, strikers and the goalkeeper. In our youth data and most published work, defenders were the most frequently injured. Interestingly 4% of the reported injuries were to staff (managers, coaches, assistant coaches, etc). The risk of injury in a game was over 2 times that of practice. Age was no factor in injuries.
There was a gradual increase in injuries with the length of the season (13% in the preseason compared to 29% in the late season). Injuries in the Premier League were concentrated in the preseason and November (due to additional ‘cup’ games). Injuries were, of course, focused on the legs with the knee the most injured site followed by the ankle.
Most reports list the ankle as the most injured site. Pulled (strained) muscles were mostly to the groin, hamstring and quad. This is almost the exact opposite of studies done in Scandinavia. Knee injuries were mostly MCL sprains and these happened 3 times as often as injuries to the cartilage. Knee injuries led to the greatest time loss and most operations.
What you probably see is that the game you play leads to fewer injuries than the game the professionals play. If you ever get the chance to see a professional game at field level, take it. You don’t get an appreciation for the speed of the game or the intensity of impacts from TV or the stands. You probably will be impressed that not more players are hurt. Moving up in class leads to greater risk of injury.
One of the best ways to prevent injuries is to improve your physical condition and skill, as the fittest and most skilled players tend to be the least injured.
The study shows us that injuries in soccer do occur - even at the game's highest level with some of the world's top athletes. However, the information in the above study is taken from a study done on professional athletes, and that such statistics differ with recreational and select youth teams.
For more information on injuries and soccer, please contact Hughie O'Malley, U.S. Soccer's Manager of Sports Medicine Administration. Hughie can be reached at homalley@ussoccer.org or at (312) 528 1225.
www.ussoccer.com