USWNT forward Alex Morgan

I was starting to think that there really wasn’t anything particularly attention-grabbing for today’s DKA. Sure, we have the latest updates in MLS, including the tear Sporting K.C. is on, and the races for the FA Cup and EPL titles, but nothing caught my eye to say “wow, this is headline worthy.”

Then, this morning, as I was drinking coffee and getting ready to watch the Manchester United-Aston Villa match, I came across a link to a letter that U.S. Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan wrote to a high-school female soccer player, who tore her ACL in her senior year. Read on for this story on someone who’s not only talented, but whose perspective during times of adversity is incredibly inspirational.

U.S. Women’s National Team

It’s no secret that we’re big fans of Alex Morgan. She continues to establish herself among the elite of U.S. women’s soccer, with 22 international goals, scoring at a pace of 1.23 goals per 90 minutes as of the U.S.’s latest match vs Brazil. Her relatively quick rise toward the national spotlight is inspiring to many young women, but it’s her actions off the field which may have even more impact on the next generation of professional female soccer players. Rochester Democrat and Chronicle just published  this inspirational letter that Alex wrote to a local high-school player who she didn’t know, but heard was doubting her future after tearing her ACL in her senior year of high school, just as Alex did:

I heard that you have done extremely well for yourself in the past few years, but you just tore your ACL and got surgery less than a week ago. I want to first tell you that tearing your ACL will not be the end of your career.

You decide your destiny. I don’t know if you are religious, but I like to think of it as God testing our strength. You will become a stronger person because of this, and I’m sure you already are. If you know what you want, and if that is playing college soccer or professional soccer one day, do everything in your power to accomplish that.

You need to stay positive, look ahead not back, and use the time you have now in the present to create the future you want.

Make sure to click on the link above to read the full letter.

Abby Wambach is still fully entrenched as the USWNT’s No. 1 forward, but Pia Sundhage is preparing for the future with the addition of another young, dynamic forward to the national team roster. Christen Press, the No. 4 overall 2011 WPS draft pick, and WPS Rookie of the Year has finally been called up, as Pia Sundhage announced the 27-player roster for the Florida training camp, in preparation for their May 27 friendly against China. Press, the 2011 MAC Hermann Trophy winner at Stanford, who previously played with WPS magicJack until the league suspended its 2012 season in January, is currently playing with Sweden’s Göteborg FC.

Major League Soccer

Remember last week when we mentioned that Sporting K.C. set an MLS record for minutes without allowing a shot on goal? Well, that record was unfortunately broken last night, as Real Salt Lake ended the streak at 335 minutes. I’m sure they weren’t fretting too much over it, though.  Sporting beat RSL 1-0 to keep a much more important streak alive, starting the season 6-0. They are only the second MLS team to do so, after L.A. Galaxy’s 9-0 start in 1996.

Speaking of the Galaxy, they actually won! David Beckham was back on the field for Saturday’s match against the Portland Timbers, scoring in the 91st minute to ice the 3-1 victory for L.A.

The Red Bulls-Earthquakes match lived up to the hype, with a flurry of goals in the first half, finishing in a 2-2 draw. Unfortunately, it felt more like a loss to the home team, as the Red Bulls led twice early, only to have their defense betray them and forget how dangerous Chris Wondolowski can be. Despite the result, the Red Bulls goals were textbook lessons in brilliance, with the second coming off a beautiful cross from Richards at the end line, flicked back by Cooper and struck by Dax McCarty for his first goal with the Red Bulls. I can’t stop watching that one. Highlights are here.

Read Trista Lutgring’s Saturday MLS Rewind for more scores and details!

English Premier League

After a stunning 1-0 defeat at Wigan midweek, Manchester United could feel City breathing down their necks, only two points behind, after United led by eight just a week ago. Maybe they just needed a little extra pressure to get back to form, as United bludgeoned Aston Villa 4-0 to move back up by five. Kayla Knapp has the full recap.

FA Cup

Everton’s Sylvain Distin is going to be haunted for a while by a horrible back pass that set up an opening for Luis Suarez to knock home the tying goal in the 62nd minute of the FA Cup semifinal. Liverpool capped the win with an Andy Carroll goal off a free kick minutes before the end of the match, sending them to the final.

W-League

With the dissolution of the WPS for 2012, many players have moved on to the semi-professional W-League and WPSL for the season, but no team has benefited more than the Seattle Sounders Women, who grabbed up USWNT players Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, Sydney Leroux and Megan Rapinoe. Yep, it’s magicJack all over again, without Abby Wambach and crazy Dan Borislow. Naturally, the Sounders drew more than 4,000 to their first match — of the pre-season. Not too shabby. Even Morgan was impressed with the crowd:

“I’m really impressed with Seattle and the support that we’ve got for the women’s team. It’s been great so far. I was really surprised at how many fans came out to support us. With the WPS we were lucky getting a crowd like this. This was a crowd we would get maybe directly after the World Cup.”

Here are highlights from Friday night’s Sounders 5-0 win against Seattle University, including interview with Leroux, who had a hat trick, and midfielder Keelin Winters.

Keep up with @AerysSoccer on Twitter for our reactions to all the latest news in EPL, MLS, La Liga and U.S. Soccer.

Real Salt Lake defeated L.A. Galaxy 3-1 in the Galaxy's home opener. Photo courtesy of mlssoccer.com

Three words, ladies and gentlemen: MLS is baaaack! It feels like ages since the L.A. Galaxy hoisted that cup in November but now spring is in the air and that means MLS is here.

In today’s MLS First Kick Hangover DKA, we see the three of Saturday’s matches through the eyes of Kayla, Elizabeth and Trista, plus other fan perspectives. Day One may have spelled loss for a few of our favorite teams but there’s a whole season ahead so we’re just going to grab a bloody mary this morning, shake it off and look at the positives, as we have a a whole new season to look forward to.

Also, what’s slowing down Brazil’s preparation for the 2014 World Cup? Who got Mario Balotelli to open up about all the rumors swirling around him? And how is WPS Rookie of the Year Christen Press faring with her new club in Sweden? Read on.

 Major League Soccer

Kayla Knapp was at the Galaxy’s home opener against Real Salt Lake and offers her own perspective to L.A.’s first home loss since 2010 by a score of 3-1, where they allowed all three RSL goals in the last 15 minutes. One early-season loss is not what Kayla’s most worried about with the Galaxy, though.

So what went wrong for the Galaxy in those final minutes? Fatigue, according to Bruce Arena:

“We were obviously a tired team tonight, I thought we still could have won this game and I think that this loss is on me. It’s my fault, I think I should have used fresher bodies,” Arena told reporters after the match. “We hit the wall and made mistakes that are attributed to fatigue. I think that the travel and two games this week added up to being a pretty tired team over the last 24 minutes and it cost us the game. I take full responsibility for that.”

Moving along in other MLS first day action, 2012 expansion team Montreal Impact dropped their first match to fellow Canadian club Vancouver Whitecaps and Trista Lutgring offers a positive spin on her Columbus Crew’s opening loss to the Colorado Rapids.

Is there anything better than being on Twitter during a live match? Maybe only being at the game itself. Personally, I love feeding off of others’ reactions — explosions of cheering at a goal, sarcastic commentary when something is going wrong. It’s like having a bar filled with your favorite people in your living room. If you love running Twitter commentary, don’t miss The Bent Musket’s “recap” of the Revolution-Earthquakes opener: The Match in Tweets: Revolution 0-1 Earthquakes.

Finally, have you joined Women United FC yet? It’s a new community for female MLS fans, co-founded by our very own Kayla Knapp. Check out their blog, join the group for your favorite MLS club and contribute to this amazing new community of fans!

Keep tuned into Aerys Soccer for more on today’s MLS First Kick matches.

English Premier League

Manchester City suddenly finds themselves looking up in the EPL standings as they were knocked off the top rung of the ladder in a 1-0 defeat to Swansea City with an 83′ goal from Luke Moore. For Swansea, the win most likely keeps them in the EPL for another season.

Mario Balotelli hates the media and avoids interviews. So how to get information on him that doesn’t have a 99% chance of being made up? When the lead singer of one of his favorite bands is the one conducting the interview. Balotelli recently opened up to Oasis’ Noel Gallagher for BBC’s Football Focus, putting a rest to several myths in the lore of Balotelli.

FIFA

Things aren’t going so smoothly in Brazil’s preparation to host the 2014 World Cup. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke caused a stir when he proclaimed that “Brazil needed a kick up the backside to speed up preparations for the tournament.” Valcke later offered a backtracking apology and Sepp Blatter had to step in to apologize as well. So what are the issues that are slowing down preparation? Could it be stadium infrastructure? Nope. One of the culprits, my friends, is beer.

Women’s Professional Soccer

When news spread in late January about WPS folding for the 2012 season, one of the biggest concerns was where some of the non-USWNT players would go for the season. The window for transfers into European leagues was closing the following day, nearly impossible for any of the players to have hope of playing abroad. However, WPS Rookie of the Year Christen Press, who thought she was going from magicJack to the Atlanta Beat for the season, was able to sign with Sweden’s Göteborg FC. Now, Press is chronicling her first season in Sweden on a blog for Stanford University women’s soccer, her alma mater. In her first two posts, Press tells us about an early “bonehead move” and  tips for a rookie to survive in Sweden, including “Try to avoid using a Spanish accent when speaking Swedish…Espanswenglish?!”

Enjoy today’s full slate of matches, and don’t forget to follow Aerys Soccer on Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest for more coverage of your favorite leagues!

There have been a few updates lately in the world of U.S. women’s soccer, so rather than wait for the next Daily Kick Around, we have an extra special afternoon update for you today.

Abby Wambach was named one of three finalists for FIFA’s Women’s World Player of the Year, along with Homare Sawa (Japan) and Marta (Brazil). Marta has won the award the last five years, but if I were to make a prediction I’d say Sawa, who led Japan to stunning victories over Germany, Sweden and the USA en route to a World Cup win, will win this year. USA head coach Pia Sundhage is one of three final nominees for World Coach of the Year. The awards will be presented at the FIFA Ballon d’Or Gala on January 9, 2012 in Zurich. [via USSoccer.com]

Following Stanford’s 1-0 win over Duke in the College Cup Final on Sunday, support poured in via Twitter from Stanford alumni:

Julie Foudy (@juliefoudy): Ecstatic for @StanfordWSoccer. Proud to have been there, called game, and seen it come full circle. Awesome. Congrats! #collegecup

Kelley O’Hara (@kohara19): Words can not describe how happy and proud I am of @StanfordWSoccer Much deserved for that group and about damn time! #nattychamps

Ali Riley (@RileyThree): Never a more deserving bunch! No more talk of heartbreak. @StanfordWSoccer are champions!

U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer_wnt): Congrats to Stanford from the #USWNT & proud alumni @kohara19 & Rachel Buehler on your first NCAA women’s soccer title.

photo credit: @ussoccer_wnt

Riley, who plays for New Zealand’s national team and WPS’s Western New York Flash, also tweeted:

Anyone else want to see those @StanfordWSoccer seniors play again in this country? #savethewps

Many of the women who played in this tournament will be future international players, but as the future of WPS looks murky, will they have a place to play professionally inbetween international appearances? And what of those who don’t get called up to represent their home country?

• We may find out soon if WPS will be sanctioned by U.S. Soccer for having too few teams in a Division 1 status league. Currently, they have five and are required to have eight, though could get by with a waiver for six, as they did last season, if they can add a new franchise soon. If WPS stays alive through 2012, where will some of the graduating college seniors, and those who played for the recently terminated magicJack franchise, go?

• Christen Press, Stanford’s all-time leading scorer, the #4 pick in the 2011 WPS draft and WPS’s Rookie of the Year with magicJack, has already signed with the Atlanta Beat. The Beat finished last in the WPS rankings last year and will have the first pick in the 2012 draft. Last year, Western New York Flash used their first pick to select Cal’s Alex Morgan, who went on to win the WPS Championship with them, and contributed to the U.S. National Team’s second place finish in the World Cup.

Stay with Aerys Soccer for all your women’s soccer updates!

Christen Press and Lindsay Tarpley of WPS's magicJack celebrate happier times.

When the 2011 Women’s World Cup came to its dramatic finish, there was hope in the air that the miraculous comeback of the U.S. Women’s National Team against Brazil in the quarterfinals and their down-to-the-wire performance against Japan in the Final would invigorate the lukewarm interest in women’s soccer in the U.S.

The first WPS game after the Cup in Rochester, NY drew over 15,000 fans, five times their pre-WWC average attendance of 3,000. They were there to see young U.S. spark-plug Alex Morgan and her teammates Christine Sinclair of Canada and Marta of Brazil face South Florida’s magicJack club, featuring World Cup stars Abby Wambach (a Rochester native), Christie Rampone, Shannon Boxx and newly acquired Megan Rapinoe.  magicJack’s starting goalkeeper, Hope Solo, didn’t even play due to the need to rest her surgically repaired shoulder after the tournament.

For the remainder of the WPS season, all six teams continued to draw record attendance numbers, with magicJack being the greatest beneficiary of the World Cup-fueled spotlight. Despite losing their core players for a month in the middle of the WPS season to the Cup, Solo after that, and their coach, magicJack went to the semifinals of the WPS Playoffs with Wambach at the helm, where they ultimately lost to the Philadelphia Independence.

But all was not magical in Palm Beach. As we reported in Thursday’s Daily Kick Around, WPS decided Thursday to terminate the franchise after its inaugural season due to disputes with its owner, Dan Borislow.

“After careful consideration, the Board of Governors of Women’s Professional Soccer [WPS] voted on Tuesday to terminate the Boca Raton-based MagicJack franchise. WPS will continue to deliver to its players and fans the world’s top women’s soccer league, with plans to make 2012 the most competitive and successful season to date.”

Coach Abby Wambach had this to say:

“It is certainly a sad day for MagicJack fans and fans of the WPS. I want to personally thank Dan Borislow and the fans of South Florida for their support, and I hope to get an opportunity to come back to South Florida to play in the future. We love this game and want what is best for women’s soccer so we will continue to do whatever it takes to help it grow.”

In 2011 the WPS featured only six teams, all along the East Coast, after four franchises folded the season before - St. Louis Athletica, L.A. Sol, FC Gold Pride and Chicago Red Stars, the latter moving to the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL). magicJack, the formerly DC-based Washington Freedom club, packed up and moved south, to Palm Beach, FL under Borislow. The  name was changed to that of the product he founded in 2005, which allowed people to plug their phones into a computer and talk for free over the Internet, and they stocked top-tier players, adding Rapinoe to their loot after Philadelphia let her go post-World Cup. They even were rumored to be offering a contract to defender Ali Krieger, the only USWNT player not in the WPS, before she decided to return to the German Bundesliga with her Frankfurt club.

Now the players are left to be picked up by other teams or find alternate employment next season. Boxx and Rampone, the two oldest players in the league at 34 and 36, respectively, may retire after the 2012 Olympic Games. Will they return to a shaken-up WPS next spring? Will WPS remain at five teams, or can they capitalize on the rise in fans after the World Cup to expand into more markets for the 2012 season and beyond?

If there’s a bright side, at least we won’t have to see Wambach pimp the magicJack product three times each commercial break during WPS games anymore. But I feel for the South Florida fans who came out and packed the stadium to see this team, and not only got to see Wambach, Rapinoe, Boxx and Rampone, but up-and-comers like WPS Rookie of the Year Christen Press, and Solo’s incredibly underrated backup Jillian Loyden.

Another casualty will be the WPSmagicJack Twitter account, which was by and far the best use of social media to connect with fans among any of the six teams. Not only did the team’s account tweet multiple times a day during the World Cup, WPS season and USWNT friendlies, but it has kept fans up to date with everything going on with magicJack players during the offseason, including encouraging fans to vote for Hope Solo on Dancing with the Stars and live-tweeting Canada’s run to the gold medal in the Pan-American Games in support of  Canadian magicJack players Sophie Schmidt and Karina LeBlanc, mixing team news with humor and sarcasm. The author behind the account just announced yesterday that she’s off to Rwanda to volunteer in an orphanage for the next month (is she a SAINT?) but intends to be back for the Olympic qualifiers and 2012 WPS season. I hope WPS gives her a job with another team.

What do you think will happen to the WPS next season? Will it expand with new franchises and stronger clubs buoyed by the interest in the World Cup and summer Olympics, or is this the beginning of the end for another women’s soccer league in the U.S.?

It may only be the Super Semifinal round, but today’s matchup between Abby Wambach’s magicJack of Boca Raton and Tasha Kai’s Philadelphia Independence has all the feel of a championship game.

Philadelphia comes in as the #2 seed, though they led the league for the much of the season, spurred by a 6-game win streak from June 12-July 16 before the Western New York Flash won their last 5 games to capture the top seed. They feature one of the top 3 goal-scorers in the league in Kai, a key piece of last year’s Sky Blue FC championship team and a constant threat to blow past any defender and find unbelievable ways to put the ball in the net. Forward Veronica “Vero” Boquete of the Spanish National Team was just named Michelle Akers Player of the Year, having scored three game-winning goals in the last month of the season. And they’re led by WPS Coach of the Year Paul Riley. Not too shabby.

But as Philly’s Joanna Lohman wrote in a blog post titled “Jack and Cheese,” this is no gimme game for the Independence.

The interesting thing is that the Cheesesteaks are going into this game as the higher ranked team, hence the home field advantage, but on paper, we will be the underdog. I imagine that not many WPS followers expect the Independence to win this game, regardless of the venue and the lack of rest for the opponent. The common spectator will see names like Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Christie Rampone, Shannon Boxx and automatically write off this game as an easy win for magicJack.

magicJack’s record was hurt by many of their core players having spent a month in Germany from mid-June to mid-July in a little tournament called the FIFA World Cup. But they roared back in the final month of the regular season, winning four out of their last five matches, and dispatching the Boston Breakers in the first round of the playoffs Wednesday behind two goals from Wambach, one from Rapinoe, and a fantastic game from U.S. Soccer Federation Rookie of the Year Christen Press and midfielder Sarah Huffman. As Lohman said, “Now that all the players are back from the World Cup, our 6-0 and 3-1 victories seem like they came against a different team during a completely different season.”

And don’t forget that magicJack beat Philly 2-1 in the final game of the regular season when they were resting Wambach, Rapinoe and goalkeeper Jill Loyden.

Both teams are stocked with dangerous offensive power so I think it will come down to which defense will make fewer mistakes.  magicJack’s Tina Ellertson injured her hamstring in the first round against the Breakers, but according to a tweet from the magicJack official account, she is not listed as injured for the match. Christie Rampone is playing like a mere twenty-something these days. Can Philly’s defense keep up with Rapinoe’s creativity, Press’s speed and Wamach’s head?

Prediction: 1-0. Don’t ask me to tell you who.

Catch the game at 4:00pm EST on FOX Sports Net (not FOX Soccer Channel), Comcast Sports Net and MSG+ and follow @AerysSoccer for live commentary.

Photo via womensprosoccer.com

The Boston Breakers sneaked into the WPS playoffs on the last day of the regular season with a huge win over defending WPS champions Sky Blue FC, but their luck ran out when they faced Abby Wambach’s magicJack in the tournament’s opening round Wednesday night. Wambach scored two goals – one in the 6th minute and another off a penalty kick in the 57th, and Megan Rapinoe headed another in just four minutes later to give magicJack a 3-1 lead and a trip to Philadelphia for the Super Semifinal.

magicJack opened the game with early pressure, controlling possession in the midfield and getting some early chances at the goal from Sophie Schmidt and Shannon Boxx. It wasn’t long before they capitalized. In the sixth minute, newly crowned U.S. Soccer Federation Rookie of the Year Christen Press – Stanford University’s all-time leading scorer in women’s soccer – corralled the ball in the middle of the field off a Breakers goal kick. She spotted a wide open Sarah Huffman racing up the right flank, who crossed it inside toward the goal. A diving Alyssa Naeher just got a hand on the ball to swat it out, but right toward Wambach, who poked it into an open net for the early 1-0 lead.

After magicJack’s Tina Ellertson had to leave the match just midway through the first half due to injury, Boston took advantage of their numbers off a free kick. Defender Amy LePeilbet sent the ball in from midfield and a magicJack attempt to clear it out bounced toward Boston’s Leslie Osborne. Osborne headed it toward their own Rookie of the Year candidate, Keelin Winters, who sent a right-footed shot into the near corner past magicJack’s keeper Jill Loyden.

Out of halftime magicJack grabbed the momentum right back, drawing a penalty kick in the 57th minute when Boston defender Rachel Buehler was yellow carded for a foul on Huffman in the box. Wambach took the kick and easily sent it in to put magicJack up by a goal.

Just a few minutes later magicJack sealed their fate on another heads-up play by Christen Press. Press sped up the right side and drove the ball into the box, beating Rachel Buehler and forcing Naeher to come off her line. As soon as Naeher came diving forward toward the ball, Press scrambled back toward it and sent it inside to Megan Rapinoe, who headed the pass into a wide open net for a 3-1 lead they would not relinquish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tew6F87OWxM

Boston’s Lauren Cheney, who just a few days earlier sent her team to the playoffs with two goals, including the fastest goal ever scored in U.S. Women’s Soccer history, was held scoreless.

magicJack heads to Philadelphia on Saturday, August 20 to take on the #2 seed Philadelphia Independence, featuring Player of the Year Veronica “Vero” Bouquet, Tasha Kai and Amy Rodriguez, in the Super Semifinals at PPL Park. magicJack beat Philly 2-1 on the final date of the regular season, though the Independence holds an 11-5 advantage in goals scored in head-to-head competition this season. The game will be broadcast on FOX Sports Net, MSG+ and webcast on womensprosoccer.com starting at 4:00pm EST.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for live coverage and check back after the match for a full recap.