Here’s our latest Soccer Babe. This is clearly and amateur babe that we ran into on the net. She seems to be a Boca Juniors fan given her choice of attire…and we don’t mean the thongs.
Remember to to check out our Babes section for more soccer-related eye candy including the Súper Clásico Boca Juniors vs. River Plate Battle of the Babes.
Final First Round Group Standings
Match Highlights (Updated Daily)
All the results
Korea DPR 5-1 Mexico
Norway 0-3 Brazil
Germany 2-1 Canada
Japan 3-1 Congo DR
Quarter Final Matchups (to be held on November 30, 2008 and December 1, 2008)
Nigeria-France
USA-England
Japan-Korea DPR
Brazil-Germany
Germany 2-1 Canada
Germany and Canada put on quite a show for the fans in Coquimbo, serving up a dramatic finale to cap an exciting encounter. Needing to win to go through, the Canadians pushed hard but it was the attack-minded Germans who dominated and created the better chances. Schmidt’s opener 13 minutes from time looked to have sealed the Canucks’ fate. Lam-Feist gave them renewed hope, however, before Schwab snuffed out Canada’s hopes with a late winner.
Norway 0-3 Brazil
Brazil have yet to find their best form in Chile but still managed to underline their title credentials with a 3-0 defeat of Norway in Group D. The final scoreline slightly flattered the South Americans, who went ahead in the first half and had to wait until the final ten minutes to make the game safe. That made it three wins out of three for the Auriverde, who, worryingly for their opponents, can only improve.
Korea DPR 5-1 Mexico
Qualifying just behind them in second place were reigning champions Korea DPR, who had little trouble in disposing of Mexico 5-1. Turning in another solid performance, the compact, industrious Koreans shared the goals around, with five different players getting on the scoresheet. The downcast Mexicans returned home, meanwhile, having now conceded more goals than any other nation in the history of the competition.
Japan 3-1 Congo DR
The only other team to match Brazil’s perfect record in the group phase was Japan, who made sure of top spot in Group C when their second-string saw off Congo DR 3-1. Goalless before today, the Congolese at least managed to open their account for the tournament when Oliva Amani’s 30-yard drive flew over Japan keeper Erina Yamane – the tallest player at Chile 2008 – and into the back of the net.
Match reports source: fifa.com/u20womensworldcup
Houston Dynamo’s 1-0 win against CD Luis Angel Firpo Wednesday night at Robertson Stadium ensured their passage to the Quarter Finals of the 2008-09 CONCACAF Champions League.
Striker Brian Ching scored the only goal of the game in the 13th minute while goalkeeper Pat Onstad made five saves during the game.
With their second win of group play, the Dynamo leapfrogged El Salvador’s Firpo in Group B and became the only MLS team to advance out of group play. Although their opponent will not be known until Dec. 10, the Dynamo will host the first match on Feb. 23, 24 or 25.
CD Luis Angel Firpo (0-1-0) vs. Houston Dynamo (1-0-0)
November 26, 2008 — Robertson Stadium
Scoring Summary:
HOU — Brian Ching 1 (Dwayne De Rosario ) 13
CD Luis Angel Firpo — Juan Jose Gomez, Emerson Veliz (Carlos Calderon 83), Salvador Morales, Manuel Salazar, Carlos Monteagudo, Jorge Sanchez, Dennis Alas, Leonardo Pekarnik, Christian Sanchez (Francisco Medrano 46), Patricio Gomez, Fernando Leguizamon.
Substitutes Not Used: Henry Hernandez, Ricardo Orellana, Mauricio Quintanilla
Houston Dynamo – Pat Onstad, Craig Waibel, Bobby Boswell, Eddie Robinson, Mike Chabala, Brian Mullan, Ricardo Clark, Dwayne De Rosario (Richard Mulrooney 81), Corey Ashe, Brian Ching (Patrick Ianni 85), Nate Jaqua (Kei Kamara 68).
Substitutes Not Used: Wade Barrett, Chris Wondolowski, Tony Caig, John Michael Hayden
Final First Round Group Standings
Match Highlights (Updated Daily)
USA 0 – China PR 2
The United States lost out 2-0 to China PR in their last Group B game at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008 on Wednesday, but the result made no difference as the Americans stroll through as section winners. France’s 3-1 win against Argentina means that China’s efforts were too-little-too-late, as they head for home at the end of the group stage.
US coach Tony DiCicco made five changes from the side that won their first two games here in Chile, and the side looked out of sorts as a result. The Chinese tried to take advantage of the situation in the first half, but their best chances were coming from long distance and the best of those tries came from Li Wen in the 40th minute, but US keeper Chantel Jones was equal to the task.
The Chinese managed to pick up the pace in the second period and they grabbed an opener in the 52nd minute when an unsure Jones bobbled a corner kick and Li Wen popped up in front of her to hammer home and make it 1-0 to China.
The US net-minder was again at the heart of the move that lead to China’s second goal in the 58th minute. Liu Shunkun’s long-range shot was not well handled by the keeper and it ended up in the back of the net.
The result was a good one for the Chinese, but it brings their bitter-sweet campaign to an end. The Americans, for their part, win Group B and will take on the second-place finisher of Group A on 30 November.
Argentina 1 – France 3
France came from a goal behind to beat Argentina 3-1 in Santiago on Wednesday and put themselves through to the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008. The result, spurred in large part by the fine play of Eugenie Le Somme, also banished Argentina to an early exit from these youth finals.
It was the Europeans that were asking all of the early questions, putting Argentina under heavy pressure from the start. But it was the South American who managed to get the ball in the net first. After the French wasted a handful of clear chances in the early going, the Albiceleste made them pay just before the half. Florencia Jaimes headed home a Carina Nunez free kick in the 42nd minute to put the Argentines ahead well against the run of play and with virtually their only chance of the opening period.
The second half saw the Europeans finally find their form and touch in front of goal, with Eugenie Le Sommer leading the way. Twenty minutes into the period, the equaliser finally came. Charlotte Loze dashed up the right side and delivered a brilliant cross that Le Sommer who slammed home on the full volley to level the score.
Spurred on by a fine qualiser, the French continued to heap pressure on the demoralised Argentines. On 80 minutes, Melissa Plaza sent Le Sommer clean through on the goal and the in-form striker made no mistake hammering home from 14 yards out.
The French weren’t done yet and Julie Machart poked home from close range deep into stoppage time to seal 3-1 win for France, who finish second in Group B behind section winners the USA, who lost to China in their last game.
England 1 - New Zealand 1
It was the latest of late goals, but it counted. Toni Duggan’s equaliser in the last minute of injury time put England into the quarter-finals of Chile 2008 at the expense of their opponents, New Zealand.
New Zealand took the lead on 27 minutes when Sarah McLaughlin received the ball 25 yards from goal, advanced, and slammed in a low shot which buried itself in the far corner of Rebecca Spencer’s net. The England keeper had no chance of saving the strike.
England went into the ascendancy from then on, but New Zealand’s tight marking in midfield meant that the Young Lionesses had few genuine chances. Twelve minutes into the second period, a fine run and shot from Toni Duggan brought an equally good save from Charlotte Wood in the New Zealand goal.
On 71 minutes, the Kiwis were reduced to ten when captain Katie Hoyle was dismissed for her second bookable offence. Not surprisingly, England surged forward from that point on, giving it everything in the search for the equaliser.
After three good chances near the end, for Remi Allen, Rachel Williams and Duggan, it was England’s No7 who finally broke Kiwi hearts. Wriggling her way inside the New Zealand box, Duggan let fly with a cross-shot from 16 yards, which flew into the top right-hand corner of the New Zealand net to send England into the last eight.
Nigeria 2 - Chile 0
Nigeria sealed top spot in Group A of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Chile 2008 after a 2-0 win over eliminated hosts Chile in Temuco on Wednesday.
The Nigerians, who finish their section with seven points from two wins and a draw, started in lively fashion against the South Americans and needed only 15 minutes to open the scoring. Javiera Guajardo unfortunately tapped through her own goal to the put the African champions in the driving seat. Ebere Orji then doubled up on the lead four minute from the break to make the score 2-0 at the interval and effectively end the game as a contest.
The second half had very little by way of goal-threatening action at either end of the pitch as the Chileans failed to get on the score sheet in their last match at these finals. The Nigerians, for their part, are contemplating a much sunnier immediate future and will take on France – second-place finisher from Group A – in their quarter-final on 30 November in Coquimbo.
Match reports source: fifa.com/u20womensworldcup
Major League Soccer’s deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis is leaving to become the chief executive of top English Premier League Arsenal.
Arsenal announced Wednesday that Gazidis has been hired to help oversee team operations, handling such duties as transfer and contract negotiations. Gazidis, 44, will begin his new role in January and will fill an organizational gap left when David Dein quit as vice chairman last year.
We haven’t received word on whether Arsenal captain until last week and club talisman William Gallas was consulted during Ivan Gazidis’ hiring process.
Many outside of the US are wondering who Gazidis is. After all, the chief executive of Arsenal is a very visible position in world soccer. Here’s the Major League Soccer website biography of him:
“Ivan Gazidis joined Major League Soccer in April 1994, two year’s before the League’s inaugural game, as a member of its founding management team. He provides vision on all key strategic and business decisions made by the League.
Gazidis oversees all aspects of competition for Major League Soccer, including, under the League’s single-entity structure, the negotiation and administration of all international and domestic player contracts. Gazidis led the team that negotiated MLS’s groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement in 2004 and has spearheaded the development and implementation of such innovative player initiatives as the Designated Player Rule, the MLS Reserve Division, the MLS Youth Development Initiative and the MLS Diversity Program. He also manages all day-to-day operations for the league, including stadium event and security issues, disciplinary issues, and player, coaching and refereeing matters.
Between 2002 and 2006, in addition to his MLS duties, Gazidis led the development of Soccer United Marketing’s International division as its President. During this time, SUM entered a difficult game promotion environment in the United States to emerge as a highly successful business and one of the leading commercial soccer companies in the world, developing and implementing winning strategies for the Mexican Soccer Federation and the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the innovative concepts for thriving new club competitions such as InterLiga and SuperLiga and highly successful American tours for teams such as FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and the England and Argentinean National Teams, among others.
Gazidis is a member of MLS’ Competition and Technical Committees and the Chairman of the League Disciplinary Committee. He has also served on the National Board of Directors of the United States Soccer Federation and is the Co-Chairman of the historic and important Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup competition. He is the Chairman of CONCACAF’s Statutes and Regulations Committee, and serves on U.S. Soccer’s Technical and Rules Committees. Gazidis also sits on the Industry Council of the United States Stadium Managers Association. In 2003, Gazidis was honored as the recipient of the Commissioner’s Award, presented to the group or individual that has made a difference in the League and the sport in America.
In recognition of his extensive experience in the area of player contracts and international transfers, Gazidis serves as one of ten worldwide club representatives on FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber, which decides international contract disputes arising within the field of soccer.
Born September 13, 1964, in Johannesburg, South Africa, Gazidis moved to England when he was four years old. Gazidis attended Oxford University, graduating in 1986 with a Master’s Degree in Law. While at Oxford University, he was twice awarded an Oxford soccer “Blue,” playing against Cambridge University at Wembley Stadium in 1984 and 1985. He took the Solicitor’s Final Examination at the Guildford College of Law in 1987 and worked as a corporate lawyer in London and Los Angeles until 1994, when he was recruited by Major League Soccer. Gazidis is a lifelong soccer fan and continues to play in local Connecticut leagues.
Gazidis resides in Connecticut with his wife and two sons.”
