Americans still underdogs at women’s World Cup
The American women opened the 2011 World Cup with a solid 2-0 victory against North Korea, but they didn’t do anything to change their underdog status.
The United States struggled to gain its footing in the first half before Lauren Cheney and Rachel Buehler finally found the goal in the second half. After having to go through a playoff just to qualify for the tournament, the Americans have to be a little uneasy about Tuesday’s performance against one of the weaker teams in the World Cup.
In struggling, however, the Americans were right in line with the Cup favorites, host Germany and Brazil, though those two countries played tougher competition in Canada and Australia. The United States was the only team to win through the first group-play games by more than 1 goal.
Still, the Americans’ left side — Cheney and Crystal Lake native Amy LePeilbet — had a tough day defensively against the North Koreans. And the competition only gets tougher. Colombia is up next on Saturday, with Sweden to round out group play. The top two teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals.
Open season:The Fire keeps rolling in U.S. Open Cup play, defeating the Rochester Rhinos 1-0 Tuesday night in upstate New York.
Forward Diego Chaves tallied the goal, his first in any first-team action in two months.
#147;It was great,#148; technical director/interim coach Frank Klopas said. #147;One thing about Diego is that he doesn#146;t have any loss of confidence. The opportunities that he gets, he knows, he#146;s a forward and he#146;s got to put that behind and then the next one is coming. In a game he gets good opportunities. It#146;s going to come, as long as he keeps working and putting himself in the right spots. It was great to see the team win and him as a striker get the goal.#148;
Defender Pari Pantazopoulos, a Mount Prospect native, saw first-team action for the first time in the Open Cup victory as the Fire gave some first-team players a rest.
The players were back at work in Bridgeview on Wednesday afternoon after their return flight, though of the players who saw action Tuesday, only starter Gabriel Ferrari and 49th-minute substitute Jalil Anibaba hit the training field with their teammates. The others went through regeneration work in the training room.
It#146;s another short turnaround for the Fire (2-4-11, 17 points in MLS play), which catches a flight after training Thursday for Los Angeles and Saturday night#146;s game at Chivas USA (9 p.m., Galavision).
#147;No game on the road is going to be easy, and I#146;m sure they#146;re feeling some pressure at home,#148; said defender Gonzalo Segares of Chivas. #147;They have 3 losses in a row, so I#146;m sure they want to turn things around and they#146;re going to come out flying and pressure us from the beginning, so we#146;ve got to be ready. This week is going to be really important for the guys to recover from yesterday#146;s game, long flight as well, but we#146;ve got to prepare ourselves to be ready mentally to expect anything from them.#148;
For a team that#146;s setting records for earning draws, the Fire has to hope the Open Cup wins will translate to league play.
#147;We#146;re trying to get over the hump and trying to get some wins,#148; captain Logan Pause said. #147;We#146;re trying to turn the corner, and hopefully, last night getting the win in Rochester catapults that into league play.#148;
Saturday#146;s game will complete a stretch of five games in two weeks for the Fire, testing the team#146;s depth and fitness. But Tuesday#146;s Open Cup victory adds another game to the hectic schedule; the Fire hosts the New York Red Bulls in the Open Cup quarterfinals July 12.
#147;It#146;s a little bit of a juggling act, but it#146;s one of the luxuries of having a 30-man roster because you#146;ve got tons of games being thrown at you, whether it#146;s three or four days rest, whether it#146;s two days rest with a travel day, it#146;s just all part of it,#148; Pause said. #147;We#146;re not a group that makes excuses. Every other team is somewhat going through the same thing, so we#146;re counting on guys and we#146;ve got a young group and guys are learning on the fly.#148;
Tickets for the July 12 game are available at Ticketmaster, at chicago-fire.com, or by calling (888) MLS-Fire.
The Fire#146;s Premier Development League squad was eliminated from the tournament with Tuesday#146;s 3-0 loss at Sporting Kansas City.
The big game:The Fire has sold more than 50,000 tickets for the July 23 friendly against Manchester United at Soldier Field. Tickets are still available at Ticketmaster, at chicago-fire.com, or by calling (888) MLS-Fire.
Head games:Fire captain Logan Pause will sport a new look when he returns from a concussion, possibly this weekend at Chivas USA. Pause practiced Wednesday with protective headgear like the kind worn by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech.
#147;I had a pretty severe one in 2007,#148; Pause said of his concussion history. #147;There is a life after soccer. I#146;m just trying to protect myself, and this is one step in this direction.#148;
Fire waives Paul:After Wednesday#146;s training session the Fire put rookie midfielder Davis Paul, a third-round draft pick out of California, on waivers. He appeared in one match. The move could be in anticipation of adding a player during the upcoming transfer window.
Magee finds a new position:Somehow Los Angeles Galaxy forward Mike Magee volunteered to play goalkeeper last weekend against San Jose.
After starter Donovan Ricketts broke his arm early in Saturday#146;s game, substitute Josh Saunders earned a red card just before halftime. The Galaxy found itself down a player and without a goalkeeper.
#147;I have no idea why I nominated myself,#148; the Long Grove native and nine-year MLS veteran told reporters after playing 47 minutes and helping his team to a 0-0 draw. #147;When I first went in there, I wasn#146;t nervous at all. I only thought I had to make it 10 minutes, and then we#146;d have a great plan at halftime where I#146;d be back on the field. Then we got back in (the locker room), and it started hitting me that I was going back in goal. That was pretty nerve-racking.#148;
Magee#146;s efforts earned him the MLS Player of the Week award, as voted by the North American Soccer Reporters.
Back at forward Tuesday night, Magee, 26, capped his week by scoring the game-winning goal in the Galaxy#146;s 2-1 U.S. Open Cup victory against the Los Angeles Blues.
#147;I told him the other day it#146;d be nice if he helped us in the field once in a while,#148; Galaxy coach Bruce Arena said with a grin. #147;It was a great goal for him tonight. He played a good, smart game.#148;
oschwarz@dailyherald.com