Soccer Watch

The UT Lady Longhorns open their season this weekend with a trip to North Carolina for exhibition games at Wake Forest and UNC-Greensboro, before beginning the regular season at home next weekend against SMU and Auburn (Aug. 26 & 28, 7:30pm Friday, 7pm Sunday). The Horns, hit hard by graduation last year, have a young, but very talented squad; I'll have more of a preview next week. Until then, see www.texassports.com for more details.

Qualifying for next year's 2006 World Cup headed into the homestretch Wednesday with a smattering of games around the world. The U.S. hosted Trinidad, too late for press time; in the only really meaningful results elsewhere, Uzbekistan stormed back from two goals down to upset Kuwait, 3-2, and advance to the Asian playoffs; Tunisia beat Kenya, 1-0, to leapfrog Morocco into the top spot in their group; tiny Liechtenstein damaged Slovakia with a scoreless draw; and Russia drew 1-1 at Latvia, which hurts both teams. Full results at "Soccer Watch Online."

Reports this week have young American defender Oguchi Onyewu being pursued by Manchester United. The 23-year-old D.C. native has quickly become a force on the U.S. national team; a season at the top level in England should toughen him up even more, in advance of next year's World Cup – although playing time at loaded Man U would be a concern.