Fingers crossed.

But if anyone can screw it up, it's our Fed.

The new US head coach will be announced tomorrow

It's official:

Pia Sundhage Named Head Coach of the U.S. Women's National Team


CHICAGO (November 13, 2007) – Pia Sundhage has been named the new head coach of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, it was announced today by U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati. Sundhage, 47, brings an extensive and impressive resume to the position as both a player and coach, most recently as an assistant for the Chinese National Team during the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Sundhage has been hired to coach the U.S. team through 2008 and the Beijing Olympics, and will begin work immediately on preparation for Olympic qualifying. While final CONCACAF qualifying dates have not yet been announced, it is anticipated the tournament will take place early next year.

Sundhage (pronounced Soond-hahg-Eh) coached in the WUSA during all three years of its existence, serving as the top assistant for the Philadelphia Charge during the 2001and 2002 seasons before taking over as head coach of the Boston Breakers in 2003. She led the Breakers, a team that had not made the playoffs in its first two seasons, to the regular season championship and its first playoff berth.

“Pia is a highly accomplished player and coach with the vision to guide our Women’s National Team into this next phase,” said Gulati. “She brings a fresh perspective and a tremendous amount of experience to the job. She knows the international game and has a great track record of not only winning, but getting the most out of players and teams. We feel that she is a great fit for this team moving forward.”

One of the most respected coaches in the women’s game and widely regarded as one of the world’s all-time greatest female players during her international career that spanned 22 years, Sundhage becomes the sixth head coach in the history of a program that has compiled a record of 303-51-44 since its inception in 1985. She is the first foreign coach to take the helm of the U.S. team and second woman. This will not be her first assignment for U.S. Soccer. Sundhage served as a scout for the USA during the 2004 Olympics.

“Of course, I am very excited and happy that I have this opportunity,” said Sundhage. “I see myself as being a part of a group that wants to be challenged. In order to be successful, I do think it is important that the coaching staff and the players know that we create our own environment. We are the environment that brings out the best performances in each other. In coaching, it’s about communication, so feedback is important and that is something that will help improve our team as we develop the way we will play.”

Sundhage started her coaching career while still playing, serving as player-coach for the Hammarby club from 1992-1994. She also coached Sweden’s Youth National Teams for 11 years from 1990-2001, coaching the U-16s, the U-19s and U-21s. After her retirement from the international game in 1996, she became head coach of the Sweden Under-19 Women’s National Team, leading the team to one gold medal and two bronze medals at the European Championships. She has also served as a scout for Sweden during the 1997 European Championships, the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2000 Olympics. Sundhage has also worked for FIFA on its Technical Study Group staff for the 2004 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship in Thailand.

“When I started playing, I played with boys, and I wasn’t supposed to play because I was a girl,” said Sundhage. “Women’s soccer has evolved to the point where I played in the 1996 Olympics and 12 years later, I get this huge opportunity. It is a unique moment in many aspects, including U.S. Soccer hiring a foreigner. It takes brave people to make a change. If you want to make changes you have to be brave and like the situation, which I certainly do, moving to the USA to take on this responsibility and challenge while getting the chance to coach some of the best players in the world. I like that feeling.”

Sundhage played for a number of clubs in Sweden as her role on the field evolved over the years, although she played mostly as a forward, before moving to midfielder and then to sweeper. She started her club soccer career at age 11 with the women’s club Ulricehamn, as there were no girls teams at that time, playing with women as old as 30.

She then played with Falkoping KIK before moving to Jitex BK of Gothenburg where she played during three different stints in the 1980s. She won the Swedish Cup four times, twice with Jitex BK and twice with Hammarby, and the won the league title four times with Jitex BK. While playing with Osters in 1982 and 1983, she led the league in scoring with 30 and 35 goals, respectively. She had a brief stint with Lazio in Italy in 1985, helping the club to a second place finish in the league as she scored 17 goals. She played at Hammarby in 1986, then back to Jitex from 1987-89, but moved to Stockholm when she got the job with the Sweden Federation, and played at Hammarby from 1990-96.

After the WUSA ceased operations, Sundhage coached for one year in Norway at Kolbotn, one of that country’s top clubs, before returning to her native Sweden where she coached KIF Orebro in Sweden’s top division for two and half years. For several months in the spring 2005, U.S. veterans Kristine Lilly and Kate Markgraf, who played for her on the Breakers, played for her at Orebro.

A legendary player in Sweden, she played for her country in the 1991 and 1995 Women’s World Cups, and 1996 Olympics (where she ended her international career). She scored four goals for Sweden at the 1991 Women’s World Cup, helping the Swedes to a third-place finish. She scored one goal in the 1995 Women’s World Cup (against Germany) and played every minute of all three matches at the Atlanta Olympics.

She captained the National Team for many years, playing 146 international games while scoring 71 goals, for years a record until recently matched by Sweden’s star forward Hanna Llungberg. She debuted for Sweden at the age of 15 in 1975 against Finland and ended her 22-year international career at the 1996 Olympics in a win over Denmark. Sundhage led Sweden to the first European women’s championship in 1984, scoring the winning penalty kick against England to give her country to its only European title. She also helped Sweden to two silver medal finishes and one bronze at the European Women’s Championships.

During her international career, Sundhage played against the United States numerous times, including matches at the 1991 Women’s World Cup and in the 1996 Olympics. In 2000, she finished sixth in the voting for FIFA Women’s Player of the Century.

An accomplished guitar player and talented singer, Sundhage’s fame in Sweden reached new levels in the mid-1980s when her image was put on a postage stamp. A true women’s soccer pioneer who finished her schooling in the 1970s when European women’s soccer was still in its infancy, she held a variety of jobs, including working at a car wash and as a secretary before embarking on her prolific career in soccer. She holds the highest level of coaching license in Sweden.

Sundhage’s first games as head coach will come in January at the Four Nations Tournament in China, ironically the country she recently left after helping the 2007 Women’s World Cup hosts to the quarterfinals. With the Chinese National Team, Sundhage worked with then-head coach Marika-Domanski Lyfors, who was also Sweden’s head coach for years, including the entire time Sunghage coached the Sweden youth National Teams. Dates and venues for the Four Nations have yet to be confirmed.

Sundhage is actually the fourth foreign-born coach in U.S. Women's National Team history, after the team's first coach Mike Ryan (who was born in Ireland but relocated to the United States in 1958 at age 23), Anson Dorrance (born in India) and Greg Ryan (born in Germany).

The U.S. Women’s National Team has won four world championships – two Women’s World Cup and two Olympics -- and finished in the top three in all eight women’s world championships staged by FIFA since the inaugural Women’s World Cup in 1991, the only team in the world to medal in every tournament.

Great news , can only take the team forward

"An accomplished guitar player" - ah well, J-Axe will be taking an interest then

How is this appointment likely to affect the bother re Hope Solo etc?

It's hard to know really. But with the Olympics comming up shortly Hope is probably in the best position to get the job since she's the most talented proven women's gk in the US right now. She's done everything in her power since her comments to apologize to the team. So she clearly wants the job. With the somewhat objective eye that Sundhage will posses, I just don't think Scurry will get the job. I understand why people would want to defend the woman (because of her past accomplishments) but she just wasn't up to par in the WWC or the games after, plus everyone knows she can't kick. Barnhart was the third goalie, but she lacks experience.

Sundhage is known to be very good with players and communication and inspiring her teams to reach their potential. In Boston she turned a talented team that had never made the playoffs into champions in a year-the first thing she did on that team was give captain Kristine Lilly a co-captain. So she's willing to assert authority, but at the same time get her players behind her- since Lilly said way before this that Sundhage is the best coach she's ever had.

So I do think she'll shake things up, but I don't think it would effect Solo unless she sucks it up at camp in January.

So it looks promising, but it's a case of wait and see. then

As usually you are correct and more succinct than me twmcat.

Ah - you obviously haven't seen the posts where I ramble on

Or - maybe you started reading them then went to sleep

I hope she wil bring back our dear Hope Solo
what do you guys think

i think here chances are fine now

I think Hope will be back , she is the best keeper in the world at the moment as it would be wrong to have her on the bench. I do think Lilly should be dropped as captain and from the starting line-up. What she did to have Hope dropped was disgusting and her performance at the w/c was slow , she wasn't on the ball at all. Lilly should now move over and the let the younger ones take over. Sundhage needs to be strong and do this but with their past I doubt it will happen. I'm hoping Scurry is dropped altogether and Barnhart given a chance as the number two.

I agree with Smithy for the most part. But no one will ask Lilly to step down as captain, they'll ask her to full out retire because being removed as captain would be seen as a huge insult that neither Lilly, Sundhage and especially the Fed would like to project to the public. She's very conspiciously said that she doesn't know if she's going to retire before the Olympics, it's gotten to the point that she might be wondering if with the new coaching situation she'll be welcomed back. I mean none of us actually know what really happened within the team to make it implode like it did, but we do know it imploded, who the "team leaders" were, and that the team seemed to consistently suffer from leadership on the field, if fans catch that there's no way Sundhage isn't very aware of the same thing. The same thing can be said about the Scurry situation, plus if you're being objective (which I'm not) I think you would see that both are past their prime.

The Fed has finally shown a willingness to listen to the fans: putting Solo on the Mexico roster, firing Ryan (A guy on an American board said he was one of the people who called to complain and apparently the guy at the Fed said that they were shocked at the amount of emails and phone calls received, and very aware of the board activity generated by the issue) so if Sundhage thinks some big named players need to retire the Fed will probably allow it now.

I wouldn't be suprised if Lilly and Scurry "retire" in January or even after the mini-camp Sundhage announced for December.

Below are comments from Sundhage during the Press Conference:

On whether she has any reservations about calling in goalkeeper Hope Solo:
“First of all, I haven’t met the team yet. I think coaching is about communication. Of course, we will respect each other. Hope is a good goalkeeper and we have to move on. It’s important that everybody feels that the team is important and you treat every individual with respect. If I could communicate, I’m good at that, and I think that will be no problem. You talk to people and be yourself and sort it out. Hope is a good goalkeeper and that’s a good start.”

On whether all the players, including the veteran players, have to prove themselves to her:
“This is about leadership and to treat everybody with respect. I don’t want to go into how exactly how I would treat them because I haven’t met any of them yet. Just give me some time and I will tell you what kind of leadership that will be. What is important for me is communication and to treat everyone with respect. That, I think, will solve any kind of problem.”

That seems pretty reasonable - let's see how it all works out

Looks like she's giving everyone a chance. Can't really complain at that.

Weipenguigumbi I totally agree with you , Scurry and Lilly are both past their prime but I will say Lilly can change a game but I don't want her starting every game. The young player's weren't learn anything on the bench. For Lilly to start on the bench then come on would be ok. Scurry get rid altogether.

Nothing new about the team but here's an interesting article from the NYTimes about a scary vacation a few of them took in Italy.


A vacation in Italy was about to come to an appropriate end, a trip to a soccer game between Roma and Cagliari. Leslie Osborne, Heather O’Reilly and Lindsay Tarpley, members of the United States women’s national team, were on a bus, and Rome’s Olympic Stadium was in view.

Instead of ending their post-World Cup trip watching a Serie A match, they found themselves facedown on the floor of the bus as irate fans pelted it with rocks on Nov. 11. That was the night a Lazio fan, on his way to a game in Milan, was shot and killed by a policeman at a highway rest stop.

“It was the most scared I’ve ever been,” Osborne said last week in an interview. “We were petrified and thought we were going to die.”

In the Women’s World Cup in China, Osborne, a 24-year-old defender from Brookfield, Wis., started four of the six games. She scored an own goal in the 4-0 semifinal loss to Brazil. For that game, Coach Greg Ryan benched goalkeeper Hope Solo for Briana Scurry. It was a decision that led to Ryan’s dismissal.

“I think the change in goal affected all of us,” Osborne said. “As a team, you need to come together no matter what the coach does. It’s just unfortunate things happened that way, but now we have a new coach, the Olympics next summer, and we need to move on.”

Osborne said she did not know the team’s new coach, Pia Sundhage, “but I’ve heard good things about her.”

“It’s going to be a really busy, crazy year,” Osborne said, referring to a minicamp in January, then tournaments in China and Portugal, before Olympic qualifying matches, which will be played in Mexico in April. “We’ve got a new coach, and we all still need to prove ourselves every day in training — no matter who the coach is. I’m excited to get started and turn the page.”

They were lucky to get out that situation in one piece.

It sounds like Ozzy was one them who was on Hope's side.

She needed someone on her side

Jeez that must have been scary! Glad their all OK

Pia Sundhage then, hmm...hopefully the team will be back on track. I'm sure they'll get far in the Olympics as usual.

USWNT WWC players not on the below training camp roster: Ellerton, Hucles, Jobson, Lopez, LILLY

The first three being dropped would not be a shocker. The other two are much, much more interesting, and at this point the reasons are unknown. Although I do believe Lopez is getting married shortly.




U.S. WNT To Have First Training Camp Under New Head Coach Pia Sundhage

- 24 Players Will Come to The Home Depot Center for Four Day Mini-Camp



CHICAGO (December 4, 2007) – The U.S. Women’s National Team will hold its last training camp of 2007, and first under new head coach Pia Sundhage, from Dec. 8-12 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Sundhage will bring in 24 players for the mini-camp designed to give her a quick look at the core of the U.S. team, plus a handful of young players just coming off the college season, before the squad regroups in early January to prepare for the Four Nations Tournament in China.

The camp is basically the beginning of the run to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, with the USA preparing for the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Final Round qualifying tournament, being held April 2-13 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Two countries from the six-team tournament will advance to China.

“It’s a short camp, but it will be valuable time spent together as a team and a unique moment for me to have a chance to work with the best players in the United States for the first time,” said Sundhage. “It will give us the chance to get to know them as players a little bit more, they’ll get the chance to learn my style and I’ll also get the chance to get to know them off the field. It will be a good start to something new.”

The mini-camp roster features 16 players from the 2007 U.S. Womens’ World Cup Team, along with seven players who recently finished their collegiate seasons. Defender Heather Mitts has regained her fitness and makes a return to the squad after suffering an ACL tear on May 12, 2007, which required surgery and caused her to miss out on the Women’s World Cup in China.

Of the seven players coming in from the college ranks, all have considerable youth National Team experience, with five (Yael Averbuch, Rachel Buehler, Tobin Heath, Casey Nogueira and Angie Woznuk) having represented the USA at a FIFA youth world championship while the other two (Michelle Enyeart and Nikki Washington) are in the running for a spot on the U.S. U-20 team that will attempt to qualify for the 2008 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Of the seven collegians, four come from the University of North Carolina, two from the University of Portland and one from Stanford. Buehler and Woznuk, both of whom have trained with the full National Team during Residency Training Camps, are the only two seniors, having finished their college eligibility with their school’s runs in the NCAA playoffs.

UNITED STATES WOMEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM
TRAINING CAMP ROSTER
December 8-12, 2007
The Home Depot Center - Carson, Calif.

Players Pos. Ht. DOB Hometown College Caps/Goals
Averbuch, Yael M 5-10 11/03/86 Upper Montclair, N.J. UNC 2/0
Barnhart, Nicole GK 5-10 10/10/81 Gilbertsville, Pa. Stanford 4
Boxx, Shannon M 5-8 06/29/77 Redondo Beach, Calif. Notre Dame 77/17
Buehler, Rachel D 5-5 08/26/85 Del Mar, Calif. Stanford 0/0
Chalupny, Lori M 5-4 01/29/84 St. Louis, Mo. UNC 53/6
Dalmy, Marian D 5-10 11/25/84 Lakewood, Colo. Santa Clara 5/0
Enyeart, Michelle F 5-6 07/26/88 Hemet, Calif. Portland 0/0
Heath, Tobin M 5-6 05/29/88 Basking Ridge, N.J. UNC 0/0
Kai, Natasha F 5-8 05/22/83 Kahuku, Hawaii Hawaii 35/8
Lloyd, Carli M 5-8 07/16/82 Delran, N.J. Rutgers 44/10
Markgraf, Kate D 5-7 08/23/76 Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Notre Dame 168/0
Mitts, Heather D 5-5 06/09/78 Cincinatti, Ohio Florida 71/2
Nogueira, Casey F 5-6 02/23/89 Raleigh, N.C. UNC 1/0
O’Reilly, Heather F 5-5 01/02/85 East Brunswick, N.J. UNC 72/15
Osborne, Leslie M 5-8 05/27/83 Brookfield, Wis. Santa Clara 52/2
Rampone, Christie D 5-6 06/24/75 Point Pleasant, N.J. Monmouth 177/4
Scurry, Briana GK 5-8 09/07/71 Dayton, Minn. UMass 167
Solo, Hope GK 5-9 07/30/81 Richland, Wash. Washington 52
Tarpley, Lindsay F 5-6 09/22/83 Kalamazoo, Mich. UNC 79/17
Wagner, Aly M 5-5 08/10/80 San Jose, Calif. Santa Clara 117/21
Wambach, Abby F 5-11 06/02/80 Rochester, N.Y. Florida 105/86
Washington, Nikki M 5-5 08/01/88 Mesquite, Texas UNC 0/0
Whitehill, Cat D 5-7 02/10/82 Birmingham, Ala. UNC 123/11
Woznuk, Angie M 5-5 03/29/85 El Cajon, Calif. Portland 1/0


GOALKEEPERS (3): Nicole Barnhart (Gilbertsville, Pa.), Briana Scurry (Dayton, Minn.), Hope Solo (Richland, Wash.);
DEFENDERS (6): Rachel Buehler (Del Mar, Calif.), Marian Dalmy (Lakewood, Colo.), Kate Markgraf (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Heather Mitts (Cincinnati, Ohio), Christie Rampone (Point Pleasant, N.J.), Cat Whitehill (Birmingham, Ala.);
MIDFIELDERS (9): Yael Averbuch (Upper Montclair, N.J.), Shannon Boxx (Redondo Beach, Calif.), Lori Chalupny (St. Louis, Mo.), Tobin Heath (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Carli Lloyd (Delran, N.J.), Leslie Osborne (Brookfield, Wis.), Aly Wagner (San Jose, Calif.), Nikki Washington (Mesquite, Texas), Angie Woznuk (El Cajon, Calif.);
FORWARDS (6): Michelle Enyeart (Hemet, Calif.), Natasha Kai (Kahuku, Hawaii), Casey Nogueira (Raleigh, N.C.), Heather O’Reilly (East Brunswick, N.J.), Lindsay Tarpley (Kalamazoo, Mich.), Abby Wambach (Rochester, N.Y.).

Team Staff:
Head Coach: Pia Sundhage Stockholm, Sweden
Asst. Coach: Mark Krikorian Tallahassee, Fla.
Asst. Coach: Erica Walsh State College, Pa.
GK Coach: Phil Wheddon Monroe, Conn.
General Manager: Cheryl Bailey Redondo Beach, Calif.
Medical Trainer: Gigi Garcia Miami, Florida
Massage Therapist: Jenny Pishko Chicago, Ill.
Massage Therapist: Mark Higgins Chicago, Ill
Equipment Manager: Angie Garza San Diego, Calif.
Videographer: Noelle Jouglet San Diego, Calif.
Press Officer: Aaron Heifetz Cypress, Calif.
Team Security: Ben Payne Atlanta, Ga.


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Nothing makes you want to read into something than something that tells you, "Nothing is to be read into..." Rampone and Markgraf are both older and injured during the WWC and they're not "too tired." If I were to read into it, I would think she is seriously considering retirement.