Worcester World Cup: Brazil Advances

(Brazilian players are seen here exiting the field after beating Iran.)

In a game that featured a bicycle kick to break a zero to zero game, Brazil found their swagger and won, beating Iran 2-0.

Now, Brazil awaits the winner of the Albania vs. El Salvador game, with the Finals taking place at 7 p.m. tonight.

WWC: El Salvador vs. Togo Final

The final score:
El Salvador (1) vs. Togo (0).

El Salvador advances to the semi-finals verus Albania.

Worcester World Cup: El Salvador vs. Togo

This is a great game, and El Salvador is winning 1-0 at the half.

Stay tuned!

Soccer ATTITUDE! (Worc. Youth Soccer League)

If you know nothing about soccer, it's alright because 5-years ago, I barely understood the game myself, but appreciated it.

Well, that changed when the family decided that our daughter should learn to play the game, and thus the family needed to learn the game, too.

Miss C (which is what we call her) loves the game and has progressed to be a very good defensive player, but before we get to the present, allow me to reminisce for a bit.

Miss C started playing when she was 5-years-old and played on a co-educational team where the goals was very simple: learn what it means to be a part of a team, respect yourself and respect others, and always try your best.  She learned all of those things.

Fast forward to Miss C being 8-years-old, and it was the last season for co-educational teams, and then it was onto same sex teams. 

I looked around and there a number of parents who, just like myself, knew very little about the game, but appreciate the game and knew it was a fun game for any child to play.  Also, it's an inexpensive game to play because players don't need alot of equipment.  

So, I volunteered to become an Under 10 coach at the Recreational Level.

The Worcester Youth Soccer League (WYSL) is very good at providing educational and training programs for coaches. Thus, began my foray into the world of American soccer.

Coaching girls who are learning the game and giving their all is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life, and I love when a child surprises themselves by making a move that they may have practiced for hours to execute it, flawlessly, in a game.  (Yeah, we ALL sport a Kool-Aid-like smile on our faces.)

I've been coaching for 3-years and have had teams that have won every game, and I've also had teams that have lost every game during the season, but I tell them all on the first day of practice that I won't give up on them, and, thus, I expect them to never give up on themselves and their teammates. 

I use a mathematical word: ATTITUDE ( I encourage them to apply it to every aspect of their life.)

A= 1

T=20

T=20

I=   9

T=20

U=21

D=  4

E=  5

----------------

100 (The numbers always equal 100.)

Miss C has heard this all of her life, and I use it in my everyday life, "Your ATTITUDE always determines YOUR outcome!"

And, that ATTITUDE was very visible on the largest stage yesterday during the 2011 FIFA World Cup match between USA and Brazil, in Germany.

If you saw the game, you know exactly what I'm referring to.  

If you missed the match and only caught the highlights on ESPN, then you saw women who believed in one another and showed the world their winning ATTITUDE.

So, if you'd like your son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, niece or nephew to play during the Fall 2011 season, you can do so before Saturday, July 16th.  Which, after this date, there's a late-registration fee of $20 that you'd have to pay on top of the registration fee.

Visit www.WYSL.org to register and pay by debit/ credit card or print a copy of the Registration Form and mail it with a check or money order to:

WYSL

P.O. Box 20763

Worcester, MA 01602  

Lastly, if you have questions about the League, you can send an email to registrar[at]wysl.org.

World Cup 2010: Stadium

Beginning on June 11, 2010, the World Cup kicks off in South Africa and what is being billed as "Soccer City is the best", the 69,070-seat Cape Town Stadium is nearly soundproof.

Thanks to engineering, the open-air stadium, which German design team Schlaich Bergermann assembled, the stadium features the world's largest glass ceiling.

The 398,265-square-foot roof consists of 9,000 half-inch-thick glass panels, arranged in a ring above the stands, and a Teflon and fiberglass mesh suspended below the glass. Together they reflect the crowd's roar back onto the field and stands (potentially handing an advantage to the team with the loudest cheering section) to prevent noise from escaping through the roof's central hole.