Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

So now we know… it’s all about the money. Always has been and always will be.

It doesn’t seem to matter what you’ve built, what you’ve created, what you’ve been working towards and what you’ve accomplished. It’s simply all about the money.

It’s now official. The MLS is expanding and the team that will join the ranks in 2015 is Manchester City. Oh sorry! I meant New York City Football Club.

Yep, that’s right. Despite other more valid claims, most certainly from a footballing (soccer) point of view, it’s money that matters most.

Manchester City have now announced their plans at the HQ of Major League Soccer on Fifth Avenue, New York.  The club revealed that although they will be the majority stakeholders, they will also form an alliance with the New York Yankees. A stadium will have to be built, mostly likely in Queens and it’s more than likely the team will also wear a sky blue strip.

City Chief Executive Ferran Soriano said “The New York City club will have an identity of its own, but obviously using the resources and synergies of Manchester City. We haven’t decided but it might well be that the team is going to play in sky blue. We will create a whole new organization. We will have a director of football, we will have a coach, but we don’t know yet if he will be American, South American or English. The first thing is appointing a director of football because we need to create a team from scratch within the next 18 months. We need to select players and ensure that when we start playing in April 2015, we have a competitive team on the pitch.”

So there we have it. That’s how you get to become an MLS team. You buy it and then worry about how you’ll create it. No more should team owners take time to build a winning team and whole structure to support it. Just write a check to “MLS – We Don’t Care Where It Comes From.”

Sorry Don Garber, but this isn’t us being bitter. It’s just our opinion that this is simply the wrong way to go about encouraging other teams, other owners and other investors to develop the game. When all someone has to do is wade into town, throw their check book around and be given the rights to a franchise, we worry about how the great game is going to develop in the United States.

PS. And quite why it’s been named “Football” Club instead of “Soccer” club is another mystery. Talk about confusing the American consumer even more.

It’s a big day for soccer in Florida today as not only do the U.S. Women’s National team take on Scotland in Jacksonville but additionally the 4th annual Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic starts at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.

The first game is an MLS Eastern Conference rematch as Columbus Crew and Toronto FC kick-off  the soccer feast at 1 p.m. today. Group play then continues Saturday as Montreal Impact take on Sporting KC at 3 p.m before United Soccer Leagues’ Orlando City battles Philadelphia Union at 6 p.m. That game is then followed by DC United verses the North American Soccer League’s Tampa Bay Rowdies ending day one of group play at 8 p.m.

Group play then continues through February 16^th and the top two teams will advance to championship game on February 23^rd at 8pm.

Single session tickets for the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic, which include entry into two games, are on sale for $20 through all Ticketmaster outlets and at the sports complex box office or by calling 407-949-GAME (4263). All-tournament passes are $99.

The Disney Pro Soccer Classic is just one of more than a dozen prestigious soccer events held at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which is the leading multi-sports venue in the nation and the official preseason training home of the AS Roma Football Club. Among the most high-profile soccer events at ESPN Wide World of Sports are Disney’s Soccer Showcase, the Disney Cup International and the MAAC Men’s Soccer Championships.

On this blog we like to bring you some of the exciting things happening all over Florida. One of those things happens this weekend as the US Women’s National Team is playing against Scotland in Jacksonville tonight.

It’s a case of doing new things for the Women’s National Team as not only are some new players getting a run out but they’re also doing it under the eyes of new national team Head Coach Tom Sermanni (pictured below). Ironically, Sermanni’s debut match is against the country of his birth, Scotland, at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field.

Sermanni was born in Glasgow and played as a midfielder in Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand. His career saw him start out at Cumbernauld United before moving on to Albion Rovers, Blackpool, Torquay United, Dumferline Athletic, Canberra City and Christchurch United.

He then turned to the coaching side once his playing career came to an end and he has coached several Australian club sides including Canberra Metros and Canberra Metros. In 2003 he was hired by New York Power after a spell at San Jose Cyber Rays, and he successfully managed to turn a poor record around in New York as the team manged to record a respectable fifth place finish after losing 17 games from their previous 21 games.

Sermanni then took on the job as coach of Australian women in December 2004 where he did well to get them to the quarterfinals of the World Cup on three occasions before deciding to accept the biggest challenge of his career so far, in coaching the US Women’s National Team.

“I’m excited to get out on the field and work with the team for the first time,” said Sermanni. “For this particular part of the cycle, it’s important to look at some established players in the squad but also the up and coming players  and the ones we think have the potential to really fight for positions on the team. For me, this period is really about observation and evaluation of some players who I know very well, some I’ve seen play only a bit and some who I will be seeing in a competitive environment for the first time.”

Forwards Abby Wambauch, (pictured above left), the 2012 FIFA Women’s Player of the Year, and Alex Morgan, (pictured above right) the 2012 US Soccer Female Athlete of the Year, are coming off a stellar year in which they combined to net 55 goals in the calendar year. The training camp also sees the return of defender Ali Kreiger for the first time since she suffered a serious knee injury in the Olympic Qualifying tournament.

There are also call ups for several players battling to make the roster and who have recently been playing in Europe. Midfielder Yael Averbuch (FC Goteborg – Sweden), defender Whitney Engen (Liverpool – England), goalkeeper Ashlyn Harris (FCR Duisburg – Germany), midfielder Keelin Winters (FCC Turbine Potsdam – Germany) and Christen Press (FC Goteborg) all have the chance to impress.

Also joining them, and perhaps in the squad for the experience and with a mind to the future are Crystal Dunn from the University of North Carolina, Julie Johnson from Santa Clara University,  Kristie Mewis of FC Kansas City and 17 year old goalkeeper Jane Campbell who is still in High School. Campbell, in being named to this squad, becomes the youngest goalkeeper named to the National Squad since an 18 year old Hope Solo (pictured above with yours truly) participated in her first training camp in 1999. And, talking of Solo, she won’t be playing in Jacksonville as she is currently nursing an injury but hopes to be back soon. (See my video interview with her below.)

The game against Scotland kicks off at 5pm and 18 players will be named from the 29 player training camp roster. The players then head to Nashville, Tennessee for a return match with Scotland on 13th February.

 More photo’s at www.FloridaLeisurePhotography.com

The Tampa Bay Rowdies were crowned champions of the 2012 NASL Soccer Bowl after a thrilling shootout victory in front of a large crowd of 6,208 last night at Al Lang Stadium. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg last weekend the Rowdies took the field knowing they had to attack if they were to get anything from the game.  The opening exchanges surprisingly saw the Minnesota Stars on the offensive as they created a couple of half chances before Tampa managed to get a look at goal.

Slowly the Rowdies started to exert some influence and went close on a couple of occasions before former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Newcastle forward Carl Cort (pictured below) smashed home a dramatic first goal to set the game up. In the 25th minute midfielder Keith Savage found some space on the right hand side of the ten yard box and a neat ball saw Carl Cort hammer the ball into the back of the net for his second goal since his arrival at the Rowdies.

Moments later, Cort nearly added a second when he rose powerfully to head a corner towards goal but some desperate defending denied him his second goal of the match.

The game then ebbed and flowed until half time and the Rowdies went into the break knowing one more goal would level things up.

USL PRO unveiled the 2012 regular season schedule, league alignment, and playoff format today.  The 24-game regular season kicks off for Orlando City on April 7 in Charlotte.  The home opener for the 2011 USL PRO Champion Lions is set for April 15 at 6 p.m. against the Wilmington Hammerheads at the Florida Citrus Bowl.

Highlighting the 2012 schedule for Orlando City are two visits from rivals Charleston Battery on June 9 and July 28.  The Lions and Battery faced off five times in 2011 with Orlando winning the series 4-1 including a 3-1 overtime victory in the first round of the playoffs.  In total, Orlando and Charleston will face off three times in the regular season, twice in Orlando and once in Charleston.

The USL PRO Championship Game rematch between Orlando City and Harrisburg City Islanders will take place in Orlando on June 22.  The Lions and Islanders will also clash late in the season on August 1 in Harrisburg.  Including the Championship Game, Orlando went 3-0 against Harrisburg in 2011.

For the first time ever, City will face the Los Angeles Blues on May 24 in Orlando.  The Lions will face the Blues twice in LA in a Friday/Sunday series on July 6 and 8.  The Blues were the only USL PRO side Orlando did not face in 2011.  LA qualified for the playoffs last season, but were eliminated by Harrisburg.

The 2012 season sees one major change to the league format.  11 teams return to USL PRO in 2012.  FC New York is no longer a member of USL PRO.  The 11 teams will now be grouped into a single table, resulting in the elimination of the divisions.

The 2012 USL PRO Table:
Antigua Barracuda FC
Charleston Battery
Charlotte Eagles
Dayton Dutch Lions
Harrisburg City Islanders
Los Angeles Blues
Orlando City Lions
Pittsburgh Riverhounds
Richmond Kickers
Rochester Rhinos
Wilmington Hammerheads

The shift away from divisions also brings small changes to the playoff format.  The top 6 teams will qualify for the 2012 USL PRO Playoffs.  The top two teams will receive a bye in the first round, similar to the NFL format.  All playoffs will be single-elimination matches with the higher seed hosting each game.  The 2012 Championship Game is set for the weekend of September 7-9.

The full schedule of games is here.

Maybe it was the Orlando heat. Maybe it was the pitch . Maybe it was just a pre-season friendly. Whatever it was, it was quite simply an outstanding performance by Orlando City to beat their English Premiership opposition, Newcastle United tonight.

Truth be told, the scoreline didn’t do the game justice. Orlando were quite simply the better side and they out fought, out played and out gunned Newcastle.  In short, they really should have won by more than a 1-0 scoreline.

Many arriving at the stadium tonight expected an easy Newcastle win and the locals were hoping the scoreline would be kept respectable as per the 3-1 loss to Bolton a week ago. Instead, they witnessed a performance to be proud of and Newcastle and their admirable fans will leave feeling very disappointed with their side’s performance.

The lead up to the game started among odd circumstances as staff at the Citrus Bowl worked long and hard through the night to rip up the expensive newly laid grass surface that Newcastle had previously demanded before the game. Normally the Citrus Bowl has an artificial surface and while Bolton were OK to play on it last week, Newcastle were not. At a cost of over $100,000, Orlando City officials made the decision to install the grass after the Bolton game but when United manager Alan Pardew saw the new surface yesterday he was far from impressed. Up came the grass and Newcastle then agreed to play on the original surface.

The game opened with Orlando on the ascendancy and Newcastle misplacing pass after pass . Orlando controlled the game and by the 25th minute had racked up 4 or 5 corners to nil from Newcastle.  Slowly but surely Newcastle started to have more of the ball as the half went on but for all their approach play, they simply couldn’t find a way past a resolute Orlando defence.

The second half started in much the same way as the first half and around the hour mark, Orlando began to play with some real venom and began throwing everything they had at the men in black and white stripes. Twice they shaved a post as Max Griffin and Lewis Neal went close before Kevin Molino delivered the crucial blow in the 75th minute.  It was a move created by Orlando’s Dennis Chin who rolled a neat ball to the oncoming Molino and he delivered a clinical finish into the right hand corner of the net.

Minutes later, it was almost 2-0 to Orlando as Molino again broke from the right only to see his shot saved, somewhat luckily, by Forster in the Newcastle net, who really didn’t seem to know what had happened as it hit his hand and flew away for a corner.

Newcastle were clearly provoked by the upstarts of Orlando and decided they had better try and find an equaliser….and they did, so they thought, as Haris Vuckic slotted home a James Tavernier pass only to look up and see the flag up for offside. In truth though, it was the only real opportunity the Magpies created. They were never at the races and although this may have only been a pre-season friendly for them, their traveling fans would have expected so much more from them.

In the end it was a great night for Orlando and manager Adrian Heath can be very proud of his players. “Everything happens for a reason. I am just excited to be here,” said Molino at the post-game press conference. “It was an incredible feeling to score against Newcastle. I’m just happy that I am here.”

Keep playing like that and this team may well attract the attention of the MLS.

Teams:

Orlando City: Miguel Gallardo, Jerome Mechalk, Kieron Bernard, Rob Valentino, Jack Traynor. Jamie Watson (46th), Yordany Alarez, Luke Bode, Lewis Neal. Max Griffin (74th), Matt Luzunaris (79th). Subs- Sean Kelley, Wes Allen, Adama Mbengue, Justin Fojo, Kevin Molino (46th), Charlie Campbell (79th), Ian Fuller, Dennis Chin (74th), Devorn Jorsling.

Newcastle United: Fraser Forster, Ryan Taylor (25th), Steven Taylor, Fabricio Coloccini (C), James Tavernier. Dan Gosling (70th), Alan Smith (73rd), Cheik Tiote, Jonas Gutierrez. Peter Lovenkrands (73rd), Leon Best (73rd). Subs- Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Jose Enrique (25th), Mehdi Abeid (73rd), Haris Vuckic (70th), Demba Ba (73rd), Shola Ameobi (73rd).

Attendance:  10,889

More photo’s here.

The Japanese women’s soccer team won the World Cup after defeating the United States on penalty kicks this afternoon. The Japanese twice came from being a goal down and took their first-ever world title. Naturally, they had come into the tournament as sentimental favorites, helping to rally a nation that had been devastated by the devastating March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear disaster.

For the United States, it felt like an opportunity lost. Despite dominating the play and creating the most chances during the game the US really only had themselves to blame for the game going into extra time and then penalties. They outgunned Japan 31 to 14 on shots on goal and put over 21 crosses to Japan’s 8.

The first half started well for the USA as they dominated play and created several chances. They hit a post, hit the cross bar and recorded eight of their 31 total shots in the first 20 minutes, but just couldn’t find the net. It seemed fate was against them.

It was more of the same in the second half, with the lively Alex Morgan (pictured above) ringing a ball off the post from several feet away just three minutes in. Then, Japanese goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori tapped an Abby Wambach header just over the crossbar 15 minutes later. Finally a goal came and a terrific strike from Morgan gave the U.S. the lead in the 68th minute as she broke away down the left and hammered home a powerful shot just inside the right hand post with her left foot.

The USA then looked composed and comfortable until a dreadful defensive mix up handed Aya Miyama (above) and Japan their first goal in the 80th minute. It was a hammer blow and the game went to extra time.

One thing you can say about this US team is that they never give up and in the first period of extra time, 31-year-old Wambach (above) headed home from a Morgan cross in the 104th minute. The US then looked to shut up shop but Japan were not to be thwarted and three minutes from the end of extra time, Homare Sawa (below) headed home an equalizer that was to prove crucial.

The game went to penalty kicks. It was the second FIFA Women’s World Cup Final to ever reach penalty kicks and previously the Americans, who had never missed a penalty kick in two previous shootouts at the Women’s World Cup, missed their first three. The Japanese took full advantage and Saki Kumagai (below) scored Japans fourth kick to secure the World Cup 3-1 on penalties.

“We lost to a great team, we really did,” remarked U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo. “I truly believe that something bigger was pulling for this team.”

It was hard to argue with that. It seemed fate had indeed intervened and Japan were destined to win this World Cup all along.

In all, it was a fabulous match and so refreshing to see. The men’s game is all about money, power and prestige and because of that the seedy side of the game can often creep in. Football was the overall winner here as both teams played with a passion and flair and it shouldn’t go unnoticed that the game was 22 minutes in before the referee blew for the first foul. Men take note, the women’s game is just about to flower. Congratulations Japan. Better luck next time USA.