Soccer Watch

The Mexican women's National Team will be in Austin next week for a scrimmage against the UT women, Friday, Feb. 13, 7pm at Myers Stadium, off Red River on the UT campus. Free.

The U.S. men opened Olympic qualifying on Tuesday with a 4-3 win over lightly regarded Panama. The U.S. – which blew a 3-0 halftime lead before scoring the winner with 10 minutes to play – faces Canada and Honduras later this week.

The U.S. women won the Four Nations tournament this week without allowing a single goal in wins over Sweden and Canada, and a draw with host China. UNC sophomore Lindsay Tarpley led the way with three goals in her first overseas appearance with the team.

The ... ummm ... dormant Women's United Soccer Association announced Wednesday that it will hold as many as three four-team tournaments in June, with a full re-launch of the eight-team league planned for 2005. Most of the U.S. national team will participate, including Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Abby Wambach, said Tony DiCicco, who was the WUSA commissioner and is co-chairman of the committee to relaunch the league.

With the European economy only slightly stronger than ours, and most Euro football teams feeling the pinch, the winter trading window in Europe ended Monday with no major action. Overall, only the top four English clubs made high-profile moves, and one of the bigger stories was how well American players fared – four Yanks scored jobs in the English Premier League and German Bundesliga. But Landon Donovan won't be one of them – as reported here last week, the 21-year-old star had an agreement to finish out the current season with Portsmouth in England. But the deal fell apart when FIFA insisted he'd have to skip next season with the MLS San Jose Earthquakes if he played for Portsmouth now.