Soccer Watch

The Austin Aztex's season ended Sunday evening in Florida with a loss in the PDL Southern Conference final, 4-2 to the Orlando U23s; the Aztex had beaten host Ocala, 3-2, on Friday in the semis (more details on the Chronicle Sports blog, The Score). Congrats to the whole organization for a great inaugural season; look for lots of developments during the long off-season.

Olympic soccer offers lots of intriguing storylines on both the men's and women's sides. For the USA, of course, it's all about the girls, because the guys didn't qualify. Hope Solo and company started off Wednesday by roaring back from an early two-goal deficit to dominate France, 4-2, in a rematch of the World Cup semifinal. They play Colombia (Sat., July 28, 11am) and North Korea (Tue., July 31, 11am) in the group stage; the knockout rounds start Friday, Aug. 3. Men's games are a day later, except the final is Sat., Aug. 11. All games are being shown live on MSNBC and NBCSN.

Lots of other action as well, in this busy "off-season": MLS heading into its stretch run, tons of transfer news – Michael Bradley to Roma, Clint Dempsey to Liverpool (?), Zlatan Ibrahimovi´c to Paris SG – and the ongoing U.S. tours by so many big European clubs. Phew!