FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2010
KLMNO
SOCCER
At the World Cup, it’s now a whole new ball game
world cup from D1
South Africa to adapt to the ball’s movement at altitude. In addi- tion to Saturday’s game against Australia, the three U.S. first- round World Cup matches will be played in thin air, starting next Saturday against group favorite England almost a mile above sea level in the Johannesburg suburb of Rustenburg. “The ball certainly takes off more — it does affect spin,” U.S. Coach Bob Bradley said at team headquarters in this farming vil- lage between Johannesburg and Pretoria. “We know the technol- ogy that they put into these balls these days is designed to make it lively, make it fly.” Not surprisingly, attacking
players have more favorable re- views.
“If you hit it just right — you
don’t even have to hit it as hard as you can, just hit it solid — you can get a good knuckle on the ball, and that causes problems for the goalie,” U.S. midfielder- forward Clint Dempsey said. Dempsey acknowledged, how-
ever, that maintaining posses- sion might become more difficult because “if you get the pass a lit- tle bit wrong, you can end up looking silly.”
Distress about the introduc- tion of a new ball seems to sur- face every four years. In 2002, then U.S. coach Bruce Arena tried to quell the hysteria, saying: “It’s a ball. Last time I checked, it was still round. If they make it square, I’ll start to worry about it.”
As for the match against Aus-
tralia, Bradley might be without starting forward Jozy Altidore, who suffered a mild sprained right ankle during Wednesday’s training session. He did not prac- tice Thursday. X-rays were nega- tive and he will be reevaluated Friday to determine his availabil- ity for the match at 15,000-seat Ruimsig Stadium. Meantime, central defender Oguchi Onyewu is likely to start after playing a total of 110 min- utes in the previous two friend- lies, which were held four days apart. It was his first action since recovering from a ruptured pa- tella tendon.
Bradley said he is weighing his other line- up options after starting mostly reserves against the Czech Republic and primarily regulars against Turkey. “We are still deter-
U.S. vs. Australia
8:30 a.m. Eastern time, Saturday (ESPN2)
mining how to balance it out,” Bradley said. “We want to contin- ue to move our team forward, and that sometimes involves a different plan for different guys.” Each side will be able to use as many as six substitutes, three
ELISE AMENDOLA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Marcus Hahnemann: “Technology is not everything. Scientists came up with the atom bomb; doesn’t mean we should have invented it.”
more than in a World Cup match. Dempsey is expected to face his Fulham team- mate, Australia goal- keeper Mark Schwarzer. “It would be nice to score against Mark be-
cause he is always running his mouth in training,” Dempsey joked. “A lot of the success of the team [at Fulham] goes to having that experience of having him be- tween the sticks.”
goffs@washpost.com
WORLD CUP NOTEBOOK
Sprained ankle sidelines Altidore
U.S. forward listed
day-to-day, may miss exhibition Saturday
Associated Press
U.S. forward Jozy Altidore
sprained an ankle during a training drill and is day to day. Altidore hurt his right ankle during a workout on a short- ened field Wednesday, U.S. Soc- cer Federation spokesman Neil Buethe said. Altidore was taken to a hospital for X-rays and had amild sprain diagnosed. “It’s nothing more than that,”
Buethe said Thursday. “He’ll un- dergo a fitness test tomorrow to determine whether he can play Saturday.” The U.S. faces Aus- tralia on Saturday in Roode- poort in the final exhibition for both teams ahead of the World Cup. The Americans open against England on June 12.
Onyewu to see more time
Look for Oguchi Onyewu to
see extended time in Saturday’s exhibition against Australia. Onyewu started against the Czech Republic last week, the central defender’s first game ac- tion since tearing his left patel- lar tendon in the last World Cup qualifier on Oct. 14. He played the second half of Saturday’s game against Turkey. “I think Gooch has made
good progress since we started the camp,” U.S. Coach Bob Brad- ley said Thursday. “We were cautious then as far as the way we brought him back for the Turkey match but I thought he had a good second half. So we will certainly use him more against Australia and try to again assess exactly where that fits in as we make the decisions for a starting 11 vs. England.”
Germany rallies, rolls
Bastian Schweinsteiger con-
verted on two penalties and Germany rallied with a strong second half to beat Bosnia-Her- zegovina, 3-1, on Thursday, giv- ing itself another confidence boost ahead of the World Cup. Edin Dzeko scored for Bosnia in the 15th minute when Philipp Lahm’s attempted clearance struck the Wolfsburg striker in
HIGH SCHOOLS
Defense is the name of the game for boys’ soccer in Virginia
by Paul Tenorio
Robinson Coach Jac Cicala calls central defenders his “twin towers” and takes very little time identifying the players early in the tryout process. Stone Bridge Coach Randy May said he looks for leadership qualities that part- ner with the necessary compo- sure on the back line, and York- town Coach David Wood has made spring break defensive ad- justments that have changed the fortunes of his team. All three programs have been to the Virginia AAA Northern Re- gion semifinals at least twice in the past four years — Robinson made its fourth and Yorktown its third consecutive appearance there on Wednesday — and the teams’ success hinges on an ideol- ogy of building a team around one thing: defense. In a high school game in which
a true goal scorer is a rare luxury, teams that are constructed around a solid back line of de- fenders or a game-changing goal- keeper have found success. “If you can settle that defense down and have a consistent group of players playing from one game to the next, day in and day out, you handicap what offenses can do against you,” Cicala said. “Which keeps games alive for you as a team because you’re not let- ting in a lot of goals. . . . We work hard at keeping them compact with a stingy defense. You add a solid keeper to the mix and you’re in the hunt every game.” In the past three years, only
Westfield in 2009 was a vastly successful team built around its offensive prowess. That team fea- tured two 20-plus goal scorers, in- cluding All-Met Player of the Year Sean Murnane (who played last fall as a freshman for national champion Virginia). But a player like Murnane is so uncommon — talent is spread among so many area schools — that in discussing philosophies this week more than one coach said they had to build through defense because they don’t have that type of dynamic offensive player. Cicala has constructed the core
Region boys’ soccer finals
Northern: Stone Bridge vs. McLean at Lake Braddock, 5:30 p.m. Northwest: Patrick Henry-Roanoke at Battlefield, 6 p.m. Region II: Potomac Falls at Broad Run, 8 p.m.
BUILDING FROM THE BACK
Comparing some of the area’s top defenses as the Virginia state tournament gets underway next week:
Team
Yorktown
Record GFA GAA How far they’ve gone
15-3-3
Stone Bridge 15-3-0 Robinson 13-4-1 Osbourn Park 14-1-3 Broad Run 17-2-1
2.14 0.71 Lost in Northern Region semifinals, 1-0, to McLean.
2.22 0.61 Play in Northern Region final tonight vs. McLean.
2.28 0.83 Lost in Northern Region semifinals, 2-0, to Stone Bridge.
2.28 0.56 Lost in Northwest Region quarterfinals to North Stafford.
2.25 0.85 Play in Region II final tonight vs. Potomac Falls.
of his Rams teams around de- fenders such as 2008 All-Met Player of the Year Seth Goldman (American), 2009 All-Met Jimmy Brewer and standout goalkeeper Samir Badr. This year’s team leaned on defender Matt Jordan and an all-senior back line. Similarly, Stone Bridge has found success with senior defend- er Abdul Shaban (George Wash- ington) organizing the back line and in the past with 2009 All-Met defender Chris Kamara and goal- keeper Matt Miscione (Bryant). Osbourn Park, which suffered its only loss on penalty kicks in the Northwest Region quarterfi- nals, had a reliable back four an- chored by senior defenders Matt Carey (Longwood) and Drew Ruggles (Georgia Southern) and consistent goalkeeping from Adrian Acosta and Dylan Ley- graaf. “You always want a solid back line and solid kids to keep ball out of net,” Wood said. “Everyone is not going to be [Spanish club power] Barcelona and have 15 chances and score six and let oth- er team score two.” Coaches differ in their ap- proaches to building a defense. At Robinson, Cicala first identi-
fies central defenders. Cicala moved Goldman to central de- fense to help the 2008 team,
which advanced to the state final, and similarly developed Jordan as a central back early in his ca- reer. Yorktown, by contrast, made adjustments midseason to find the right chemistry on the back line. Wood said his main goal was to take advantage of his two big center backs — both C.J. Bartho- lomew and Jake Weiss are more than 6 feet tall. Perhaps no component is more
important that a shutdown goal- keeper. Coaches pointed to the success of South County All-Met goalkeeper Javier Hernandez, who kept the Stallions in several games this season, and Robin- son’s standout netminder last year, Badr, who now plays profes- sionally with FC Porto in Portu- gal, as the biggest difference mak- ers.
With Badr in net last season, Robinson did not allow a goal in its final 11 games before losing on penalty kicks in the state quarter- finals. “Last year we played Robinson [in the Northern Region semifi- nals] and Samir made four or five huge saves,” Wood said. “Goal- keepers are huge. . . . If you can find a quality goalkeeper who does his job and makes saves, it can make you win games some- times you’re not supposed to.”
HUNTER MARTIN/GETTY IMAGES
Jozy Altidore makes a move against Turkey on May 29. He was taken to a hospital for X-rays and had a mild sprain diagnosed.
the chest and the ball looped over goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. Lahm made amends by scor- ing the equalizer in the 50th and Bastian Schweinsteiger hit penalties in the 73rd and 77th to put Germany ahead for good in the last warmup before the three-time champion travels to South Africa.
Mexico downs Italy
Carlos Vela and Alberto Medi-
na exposed a slow, ragged Italy defense in Mexico’s 2-1 victory over the defending World Cup champions Thursday, giving the Mexicans a major lift heading to the tournament. Vela took a high pass from
Giovani Dos Santos in the cen- ter and without any serious challenge, lined up a drive from 12 yards that gave goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon no chance in the 16th minute. Ten minutes from the final whistle, substitute Medina beat Italy’s offside trap, and from a tight right angle beat Buffon. Italy pulled one back in the
89th minute when defender Le- onardo Bonucci scored from close range after Salvatore Boc-
chetti hit the goal post. In Italy’s first preparation game for the World Cup, the Az- zurri looked sluggish for long stretches and were mostly run- ning after the ball, dictating play far too little. The Azzurri have been train-
ing at high altitude in the Ital- ian Alps, and Coach Marcello Lippi attributed the disappoint- ing performance to a lack of fit- ness.
Spain gets a boost
Midfielder Jesus Navas scored his first goal for Spain to earn the European champion a 1-0 win over South Korea in a World Cup warmup Thursday. Navas found the net in the
85th minute with a powerful 25- yard shot just after South Korea goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong de- nied Spain striker David Villa. Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fa- bregas appeared in Spain’s starting lineup for the first time since fracturing his leg early in April and played for almost an hour. But striker Fernando Tor- res was kept on the sideline as he continues his battle to fully recover from a knee injury.
S
D7
RICHARD A. LIPSKI FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Behind goalie Nick Lowey, left, Stone Bridge has given up just 11 goals this season. Coach Randy May says tough defense is the key to success. “You find moments to stay in the game and capitalize when you can.”
Having a dynamic player or a leader that can keep a team orga- nized along the back line can also override the lack of a game- changing presence on the attack- ing end, coaches agreed. “When you lack a true striker,
that consistent goal scorer, you’ve got to find a way to stay in the match and then you can find mo- ments — be it counters, be it re- starts, or throw-ins on the fields
we have now — you find moments to stay in the game and capitalize when you can,” May said. Of the four teams in the North- ern Region semifinals only one, McLean, had allowed more than 15 goals. (The Highlanders have allowed 23, or 1.15 per game). Stone Bridge has given up just 11, Osbourn Park allowed just 10 be- fore being upset in penalties, and Battlefield, which is advancing to
the state tournament out of the Northwest Region, has allowed 18 goals in 19 games. “That’s just become the formu- la for success,” Cicala said. “It’s so rare to find a striker who is going to be a game-changer for you. . . . You really have to have a solid goalkeeper and a good organiza- tional scheme in the back if you want to be successful.”
tenoriop@washpost.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116