Soccer Watch

The Austin Aztex lost their preseason opener, 2-1 to Huston-Tillotson, but don't read much into that – of the 25 players on the roster, 16 won't arrive here until college ends in May, and even the makeshift lineup assembled Friday night hadn't had even a full workout together. After the game, head coach Paul Dalglish singled out goalscorer Chuy Cortes as the only player who "looked like he could start the season now." Cortes, a spark plug on the left wing for last season's Aztex, got his goal on a rare goalie assist from fellow returnee Josh Mikulewicz, a beautifully placed long punt up the middle that caught Cortes in full stride, running free past the Rams defense. The Aztex continue their preseason schedule with two games this weekend – Friday, April 19, 5:30pm, at Southwestern University in Georgetown, and Sunday, April 21, 5:30pm, at St. Edward's on South Congress – and another next Friday against the UT men, April 26, 7:30pm, at Whitaker Intramural Fields, 51st & Guadalupe. All preseason games are free and open to the public.

The high school State Championship tournament is this weekend in Georgetown, April 18-20 at Birkelbach Field, 2275 N. Austin Ave. Semifinals are Thursday for 4A, Friday for 5A (girls 11am, 1pm; boys 4pm, 6pm), and the state championship games are Saturday (4A girls, 4A boys, 5A girls, 5A boys, in that order). The Cedar Park girls are the only Centex entrant; they play undefeated Highland Park Thursday at 1pm. www.uiltexas.org/soccer/state.

European Champions League semifinals start April 23 & 24: Barcelona at Munich Tuesday, and Real Madrid at Dortmund Wednesday, both at 1:45pm on FSC. The return legs are the following week... The U.S. will miss the U-17 World Cup this year for the first time ever, after losing to Honduras in the CONCACAF championship quarterfinals.

It's been way too long since I've given a plug to Futbol En Vivo, Austin's homegrown soccer radio show on KOOP radio (91.7FM or www.koop.org, Tuesdays 1-2pm; first half in Spanish, second half in English). But Arch Bell and David Alvarez are there every week, with smart discussion of soccer issues local and worldwide. I'll join them next Tuesday, April 23 to discuss the Aztex – whom I plan to get a look at this weekend – and perhaps also AS Roma's scintillating Coppa Italia fightback Wednesday that set up the first-ever Roma-Lazio Coppa final (May 26; expect bloodshed in the streets). Meanwhile, see a podcast archive of past Futbol En Vivo shows (and much more) at www.eberlysarmy.com.