Leone Chooses Under-19 Team
After evaluating 57 players in 37 matches over two years, Tracy Leone finally made up her mind Monday.
The former women’s world champion and now coach of the United States under-19 women’s national team selected 18 players to compete in the first FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Championship in Canada next month.
The roster, which features four Californians, has six college sophomores-to-be, eight incoming college freshmen, three high school seniors-to-be and one surprise.
The surprise is Ashlyn Harris, a 16-year-old from Satellite Beach, Fla., who is the youngest player selected and also the team’s backup goalkeeper. If starting goalkeeper Megan Rivera is injured or ill, Harris will be playing in the world championship.
“It was a very difficult roster to pick because we knew we had more than 18 players who could help us,” said Leone, who as Tracy Bates was a member of the U.S. team that won the first FIFA Women’s World Championship (now the Women’s World Cup) in China in 1991.
The Americans begin play against England in Victoria, Canada, on opening day of the Aug. 17-Sept. 1 tournament. They also play Australia on Aug. 19 and Taiwan on Aug. 21 in the first round of the 12-nation event.
Of the 37 preparatory and qualifying games the U.S. played during the last two years, 17 were full internationals, and the U.S. went 15-1-1, outscoring opponents, 93-18.
The full roster:
Goalkeepers: Harris and Rivera. Defenders: Jessica Ballweg, Rachel Buehler (Del Mar), Keeley Dowling, Kendall Fletcher and Amy Steadman.
Midfielders: Lori Chalupny, Sarah Huffman, Manya Makoski, Jill Oakes (West Hills), Leslie Osborne and Annie Schefter.
Forwards: Megan Kakadelas (Carlsbad), Heather O’Reilly, Lindsay Tarpley, Kelly Wilson and Angela Woznuk (El Cajon).
WUSA All-Star Game Set
The Women’s United Soccer Assn. (WUSA) announced that the league would stage its first All-Star game Sept. 21 at PGE Park in Portland, Ore.
The city is one of several being considered for an expansion franchise by the eight-team league, said Tony DiCicco, the WUSA commissioner and former world championship and Olympic gold medal-winning coach of the U.S. women’s national team.
South African Cutbacks
Two teams from South Africa’s Premier Soccer League went out of business Monday when the league bought and closed the Free State Stars and Ria Stars to reduce its size from 18 teams to 16.
Both teams had been struggling financially, and the reported $785,000 that each received for folding, plus what they can receive from the sale of their players, will relieve their debts. The move is intended to ease scheduling problems and make the league more competitive.
Kubala Honored
Hungarian-born Ladislao Kubala, who achieved fame as a player and coach in Spain, was honored posthumously by FIFA.
World soccer’s governing body awarded him its Order of Merit for, in the words of FIFA President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, “the distinguished services that he gave to football during his long career.”
Kubala, who died in May at 74, scored 256 goals in 329 games for Barcelona and helped the Catalan club win four Spanish league championships, five Spanish Cups and two European Fairs Cups before retiring in 1962.
He coached Spain’s national team from 1969 to 1980, producing a record of 31-21-16, and also coached the national teams of Saudi Arabia and Paraguay.
Korea’s Lee Signed
Lee Eul-Yong, whose play in midfield helped South Korea earn fourth place at the World Cup, signed a one-year contract with Trabzonspor in the Turkish league.
Lee, 26, scored one of South Korea’s goals in a 3-2 loss to Turkey in the game for third place and impressed Trabzonspor Coach Samet Aybaba, who acquired him from Puchon of the K-League. Terms of the contract were not revealed.
Argentine to Coach Armenia
Argentine Coach Oscar Lopez, who last season led Pyunik Yerevan to the league and cup double in Armenia, Monday was named coach of the country’s national team.
The announcement was made by Ruben Airapetyan, the oil tycoon recently elected president of the Armenian soccer federation.
“I came to the conclusion that Armenian coaches are just not capable of achieving anything worthwhile in the international arena,” Airapetyan said.
Lopez, 65, might not have any better luck.
Starting in September, Armenia will play Spain, Northern Ireland, Ukraine and Greece in its qualifying group for the 2004 European Championship in Portugal.
