The UT Lady Longhorns had a big weekend, beating third-ranked Penn State, 2-1, and then 13th-ranked Illinois, 1-0 in double overtime. Kelsey Carpenter scored both game-winning goals, to earn national player-of-the-week honors, while the Horns jumped as high as eighth in the national polls; they're on the road this week, at New Mexico Thursday, Rice Sunday, and LSU on Wednesday. Qualifying for the 2008 European Championship got underway for real this week, with full slates on Saturday and Wednesday. Most notably, in Group B, Scotland started off with two wins, while world champ Italy managed only a home draw with Lithuania, and a 3-1 loss at France in a rematch of the WC final. (See full results on Soccer Watch Online.) Marco Materazzi, of World Cup head-butted fame, didn't play in that game; he's serving a two-game suspension for provoking Zinedine Zidane in the WC final, and revealed this week just what it was that did the trick. Zidane: "If you want my shirt I'll give it to you afterwards." Materazzi: "I'd prefer your sister."

The Lady Longhorns' first home game of the season could be the best one all year. The Penn State Nittany Lions, fresh off a 3-1 pasting of No. 1 UCLA (see below), are probably the best team UT will face. As for the Horns, they opened with a 1-0 loss at Auburn (on an own goal, ouch!), despite outshooting the Tigers 15-6. Let's hope that's not the continuation of a trend. Over the past couple of years, the Horns have consistently outshot opponents but had trouble finishing. Penn State: Friday, Sept. 1, 7pm; Illinois: Sunday, Sept. 3, 1pm; Myers Stadium. $7 ($4 students, or see "Soccer Watch Online" for $1 tix). Horns' captain Stephanie Logterman will miss those games -- gladly. She's still with the U.S. national team at the Under-20 World Champion­ships, where the U.S. advanced to a Thursday semifinal against China by thumping defending champion Germany, 4-1, avenging a 2004 loss in the semifinals. In a busy opening weekend in NCAA women's soccer, the top three preseason picks all lost on the road: Penn State knocked off UCLA, defending champ Portland lost to Florida State, and Texas A&M beat North Carolina, 1-0, before an NCAA record crowd of 8,204 in College Station. But I've still got the Bruins at No. 1; they'll soon get back five starters who are now in Russia with the national team. 1) UCLA (1-1-0) 2) Santa Clara (2-0-0) 3) Penn State (1-0-1) 4) Florida State (1-0-0) 5) Notre Dame (2-0-0) 6) Texas A&M (2-0-0) 7) North Carolina (1-1-0) 8) Virginia (2-0-0) 9) Portland (0-1-1) 10) California (2-0-0)

Third Qualifying Round
Second Leg: Results from Aug. 22-23

AEK Athens 3, Hearts 0 (AEK 5-1 on aggregate goals)
Steaua Bucharest 2, Standard Liege 1 (Steaua 4-3 agg.)
Mlada Boleslav 1, Galatasaray 1 (Galatasaray 4-3 agg.)
Ruzomberok 0, CSKA Moscow 2 (CSKA 5-0 agg.)
Rabotnicki 0, Lille 1 (Lille 4-0 agg.)
Spartak Moscow 2, Slovan Liberec 1 (Spartak 2-1 agg.)
Chievo Verona 2, Levski Sofia 2 (Levski 4-2 agg.)
Fenerbahçe 2, Dynamo Kiev 2 (Dynamo 5-3 agg.)
Legia Warsaw 2, Shakhtar Donetsk 3 (Shakhtar 4-2 agg.)
Ajax Amsterdam 0, FC Kobenhavn 2 (Kobenhavn 3-2 agg.)
Maccabi Haifa 1, Liverpool 1 (Liverpool 3-2 agg.)
Red Star Belgrade 1, AC Milan 2 (Milan 3-1 agg.)
Valencia 3, Salzburg 0 (Valencia 3-1 agg.)
Osasuna 1, Hamburg 1 (Hamburg 1-1, away goals)
Arsenal 2, Dinamo Zagreb 1 (Arsenal 5-1 agg.)
Benfica 3, Austria Vienna 0 (Benfica 4-1 agg.)

With Spaniards Osasuna and Italians Chievo Verona losing, England is the only country this season to advance four teams into the CL group stage; Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and Portugal have three apiece, and Greece, Russia, and Ukraine two each. Single entries from Bulgaria, Holland, Turkey, Romania, Denmark, Scotland, and Belgium round out the field.

England and Spain each have three top seeds, and Italy has two. (Presumably, Juventus would've been a top seed, were they not disqualified due to scandolo.)

Group Stage Draw
(Teams listed in order of seedings; group play begins Sept. 12-13)

GROUP A
Barcelona (ESP)
Chelsea (ENG)
Werder Bremen (GER)
Levski Sofia (BUL)

GROUP B
Inter Milan (ITA)
Bayern Munich (GER)
Sporting Lisbon (POR)
Spartak Moscow (RUS)

GROUP C
Liverpool (ENG)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Bordeaux (FRA)
Galatasaray (TUR)

GROUP D
Valencia (ESP)
AS Roma (ITA)
Olympiakos (GRE)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)

GROUP E
Real Madrid (ESP)
Lyon (FRA)
Steaua Bucharest (ROM)
Dynamo Kiev (UKR)

GROUP F
Manchester United (ENG)
Celtic Glasgow (SCO)
Benfica (POR)
FC København (DEN)

GROUP G
Arsenal (ENG)
FC Porto (POR)
CSKA Moscow (RUS)
Hamburg (GER)

GROUP H
AC Milan (ITA)
Lille (FRA)
AEK Athens (GRE)
Anderlecht (BEL)

As noted in the print edition, the Lady Longhorns are back in action this week; practices are open to the public:
Aug. 10-22, 8-10:30am and 8-9:30pm at Mike A. Myers Stadium (times are approximate and subject to change).
The Horns also play an exhibition game against UT-San Antonio, 7pm Friday, Aug. 18, before opening their regular season the next week at Auburn.
Here's a preview of the Horns squad, sight unseen:

Overall, the Horns return 15 lettermen, and all but one regular starter from last year. And where last season's team featured just one senior who got any playing time, and six freshman who stepped in to make major contributions, this year's model has six seniors for leadership, and it's hard to see any newcomers getting a lot of playing time.

The Horns will miss graduated defender Julie Gailey, a four-year fixture in the back, and also the team assists leader last season. But defense will still be a strength, led by two outstanding sophomore defenders who've had national team experience – Kasey Moore and Stephanie Logterman – and two experienced goalkeepers in Dianna Pfenninger and Dana Hall.
Austin native Logterman will miss the start of the season, since she's playing on the U.S. Under-20 team at the FIFA World Championships in Russia from Aug. 17-Sept. 3. If the U.S. goes all the way to the finals (as they should), the team captain will be out for the first three games.

Up front, the Horns return their entire front line, and every goal-scorer from last year, led by Kelsey Carpenter, Caitlin Kennedy, Amy Burlingham, and Ashley Foster, who combined for 21 goals and 15 assists last year. With another year playing together, this has the potential to be an explosive attack.

One place there will be some new faces is on the sidelines. (And interesting that the Horns open their season at Auburn.) Just a couple of weeks ago, UT coach Chris Petrucelli announced the hiring of Matthew Mott as an assistant coach; Mott had been a key member of the Auburn soccer program since 1999, rising from assistant, to assistant head coach, to associate head coach for the last two years. Petrucelli's other assistant is new as well – Nicole Nelson, who was an assistant coach at Baylor last year, after three years as the head coach at Stephen F. Austin.

European Champions League, Third Qualifying Round
First Leg results, Aug. 6-7
Most of the favorites came through unscathed in their first tests of the season. A few highlights:

Liverpool waited to the 87th minute before scoring the winner over Israel's Maccabi Haifa at home; for security reasons, that return leg will be played in either Cyprus or Kiev, Ukraine.

Scotland's Hearts of Midlothian suffered a surprising home loss to AEK Athens.

AC Milan edged Red Star Belgrade (Crvena Zvezda), 1-0; that return leg in Serbia could be brutal.

Italy's Chievo Verona, elevated into the CL by the three disqualifications ahead of them in Italy, was lifeless in Bulgaria.

Heavily favored Valencia hit a wall in Austria.

Both Ukrainian clubs, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev, continued to impress, following up on Ukraine's good showing in WC2006.

Ajax Amsterdam won on the road with a goal in the 84th minute in Copenhagen.

Arsenal looked to be in midseason form in a 3-0 road romp in Croatia.


The return leg games are Aug. 22-23. The 16 winners advance to the Champions League group stage, which will begin Sept. 12.

The full results:

Liverpool 2 - 1 Maccabi Haifa
Hearts 1 - 2 AEK Athens
AC Milan 1 - 0 Red Star Belgrade
Salzburg 1 - 0 Valencia
Standard Liege 2 - 2 Steaua Bucharest
FC Kobenhaven 1 - 2 Ajax Amsterdam
Hamburg 0 - 0 Osasuna
Slovan Liberec 0 - 0 Spartak Moscow
Galatasaray 5 - 2 Mlada Boleslav
Levski Sofia 2 - 0 Chievo Verona
Shakhtar Donetsk 1 - 0 Legia
CSKA Moscow 3 - 0 Ruzomberok
Lille 3 - 0 Rabotnicki
Dynamo Kiev 3 - 1 Fenerbahçe
Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 3 Arsenal
Austria Vienna 1 - 1 Benfica

Adult Soccer
Austin Women’s Soccer League
Austin Men’s Soccer Association
Austin Co-Ed Soccer Association
Texas State Soccer Association-South (state organization)
United States Adult Soccer Association (national organization)

Youth Soccer
University Interscholastic League (UIL) (runs high school sports in Texas)
Capital Area Youth Soccer Association (CAYSA) (regional association has links to all accredited youth clubs)
South Texas Youth Soccer Association (state association)
U.S. Youth Soccer (USYS) (national association)

Some Local Youth Clubs
CC United Soccer Club
Austin United Capitals Soccer Club
River City Rangers
North Austin Soccer Alliance
West Austin Youth Association (WAYA)
East Austin Soccer Club
University Hills Optimists: 401 W. St. Johns, 453-6852

Other
Austin Aztex (USL First Division and PDL teams)
Stoke City FC (English League Championship; affiliated with Austin Aztex) Austin Amp'd (Premier Arena Soccer League team)
Soccer Zone Austin (indoor soccer facilities and leagues)
Soccer Enterprise (Frank Allcorn’s site; lots of info)
Paisanos Soccer Club (national champ over-30 men’s team)
United Soccer Leagues (USL) (national pro/semi-pro leagues)
U.S. Soccer Federation (governing body of soccer in all forms in the U.S.)
Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) (world ruling body)

Local College Programs
University of Texas (NCAA Division I Women)
St. Edward’s Men and Women (NCAA Division II)
Concordia Men and Women (NCAA Division III)
Huston-Tillotson University Men (NAIA)

With the No. 1 pick of the 2006 NFL draft, the Houston Texans select … Mario Williams. Mario Williams? With Reggie Bush and Vince Young on the board, the Texans chose to go for a relatively unknown defensive end, thereby bypassing two of college football's greatest players of all time. Whether this is a monumental blunder in line with many of the Texans' previous upper-management mishaps or a shrewd maneuver inevitably guiding them toward their first-ever Super Bowl appearance will play out over these players' careers. Regardless of the outcome, their decision has left many Texans' fans bewildered and stunned and has baffled the hardcore football world in general. EA Sports NFL Head Coach allows all the armchair Tom Landrys and Don Shulas out there a chance to step into the role of all-powerful head coach for an NFL team and to handle the tasks and duties thereof: hiring a managerial staff, drafting college players, signing free agents, creating and adding plays to the playbook, motivating and training players, adjusting the depth chart, conferring with the coaching staff, etc. As fun as that may sound (not much fun at all), NFL Head Coach is one of the most boring, tedious, and unsatisfying video-game experiences known to mankind and nothing more than a glorified version of Madden's franchise mode with all of the gameplay removed. Sure, you can call the plays on "game day," but that's it – the computer simulates all of the actual football action. On top of the total lack of gameplay, simming, loading, and saving take a torturously long time, and many of the tasks are lifelike in the sense that they actually feel like work and are neither entertaining nor satisfying. How about an exciting "chat" with your defensive coordinator? It's in the game. Feel like choosing the outfit for your coach? NFL Head Coach brings that dream to reality. Head Coach's possible success could pave the way for future titles like NFL Equipment Manager (must be hard getting all those grass stains out), NFL Beer and Peanut Vendor (bad for the back), or Fat, Drunk, and Obnoxious NFL Fanatic (try not to puke on the guy in front you). EA Sports is known for producing quality sports titles, but this attempt to feed off America's raging appetite for all things football places commerce above entertainment.

The Italian match-fixing scandal boiled over last Friday, as Juventus, Lazio, and Fiorentina were demoted to the second division, while Silvio Berlusconi's AC Milan avoided demotion but got a 15-point penalty for the coming season, and a ban from European play. Juve was also stripped of its last two Serie A titles, and given a 30-point penalty for next season, meaning it's almost certain to spend at least two years in the minor league. All four clubs will appeal the ruling; meanwhile, criminal probes are ongoing as well.

Also on Friday, U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena was axed by the U.S. Soccer Federation. His likely successor? Speculation centers on Juergen Klinsmann, who lives in California, and resigned as the German head coach just after the World Cup. As for Arena, he was out of a job for just three days, before being hired by the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday.

Reigning European champs FC Barcelona will be at Houston's Reliant Stadium on Wednesday, Aug. 9 to play Mexican side Club America, current CONCACAF champions, as part of a doubleheader with the Houston Dynamo and L.A. Galaxy. Barcelona's U.S. tour will also take them to Los Angeles on Aug. 6 and New York on Aug. 12.

You hate to see a game, let alone a championship, get decided by penalty kicks, but it does make for perhaps the most exciting five minutes in sports. Great ending to a great World Cup.

Afterwards, of course, all the talk has been about the head-butt (see below for some links and video clips). Crack teams of lipreaders at The Guardian and elsewhere have come up with various interpretations of what Marco Materazzi may have said to Zizou, mostly centering on his mother, his sister, their nipples, terrorism, and an accusation of being a French collaborator during Algeria’s war for independence – but ultimately, the incident had little effect on the outcome.

National team coaches Marcello Lippi of Italy and Juergen Klinsmann of Germany both announced their resignations Wednesday. Lippi goes out a hero, but also under scrutiny in the ongoing match-fixing scandal in Italy. Klinsmann also leaves on good terms, with a reported 93% public-approval rating, and with the prospect of another job coming open closer to his California home; U.S. coach Bruce Arena is said to be on his way out; he’ll meet with USSF officials this week.

The new coaches won’t have much time to settle in; the qualifying campaign for Euro 2008 begins Sept. 21.

FIFA released their redesigned world rankings on Wednesday, weighted more toward more recent games, and with an enhanced “strength of schedule” component. Brazil remains number one, Italy rose from 11th to second, and Germany, France, England, and Argentina moved up as well. On the other hand, the U.S. dropped from fifth to 16th, and Mexico from fourth to 18th.

A Few Head-Butt links and resources:
Materazzi Hit Lists:
Sports Illustrated
New York Times
World Cup 365
Zidane speaks
Zidane's mother speaks: "I want his balls on a platter"
Materazzi's agent: "My personal wish would be that one day they could meet again and maybe make a nice moment.'
An Arcade Game