Month: July 2023

Weeks 28 & 29: Uff Da

Weeks 28 & 29: Uff Da

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Summer illnesses are no fun. I was mostly spared on the illness front, but nursing everyone in the house back to health while also doing the jobs that a running a house requires left me with not much bandwith to write. So here’s a double week review (and hopefully my Dear Boys will post as normal)

Recap

Stranrear 1 – 5 Ross County (Cup)

Nothing says Scottish summer like visits to teams even smaller than County and rain on rain on rain. Simon Murray and Jordan White used their height to loom over Stranrear’s defense and capitalize on the clearest openings whenever they appeared to the tune of a hat trick for Mr. Murray. Which gave County a slightly bigger scoreline than they might have otherwise earned.

Minnesota United 1 – 1 LAFC (M)

Your mom and I went off to enjoy the match and some of the finest vegetarian vittles available. I regret to report that the samosas are to tiny for you, but was happy to see that the Loons held their own against the defending champions and arguably best team in America right now. The biggest help was Emanuel Reynoso breaking ankles and hearts. The biggest hindrance was that, once again, the previous sentence summarized the entirety of Minnesota’s strategy.

Rosenborg 2 – 1 Tromso (M)

The Trollboys have their first win under coach Svein Maalen, courtesy of some aggressive play by the attacking line of Holse, Nelson, and Saeter. (The nifty give and go of Saeter and Holse got the first goal, and our favorite Canadian attacker continued to stretch the defense). Tromso grew back into the game, and equalized, but their hero quickly was sent off and Rosenborg capitalized on their advantage with Ulrik Ytttergard Jennsen nailing the winner deep in injury time.

Emelec 0 – 0 Sporting Cristal (M-Copa)

This game happened. And while it was certainly disappointing not to score, the result was exactly what Los Bombillos needed. Romario Caicedo, Bryan Carabali and Pedro Ortiz don’t get as much press as the omnipresent Miller Bolanos, but they were vital to Emelec’s result and advancing on to the next round.

Ross County 2 – 1 Greenock Morton (Cup)

In the early stages it looked like Greenock Morton would have the opportunities to capitalize on gaffes in the County defense. But Ross Munro acquitted himself well again, and in the second half, the Staggies made the most of attacking the Jail End fans by scoring twice on Jay Henderson’s excellent volley and another bout of Simon Murray speed.

Stromsgodset 0 – 1 Rosenborg (M)

Sverre Nypan was able to flip the ball over a charging keeper to give Rosenborg another aggressive lead. But the team’s performance there after was textbook defensiveness with Erland Reitan returning to his defensive roots and Andre Hansen holding down the goal

Puebla 0 – 4 Minnesota United (US-Mex Cup)

There has been a long standing assumption that Liga MX is better than MLS. And an assumption that even subpar Mexican teams can dominate American peers. This game put that to the test. Puebla is struggling to start their season and while the Loons have looked adequate at best, they smoked Puebla here with Bongokhule Hlongwane charging down every bit of space and Emmanuel Reynoso delivering some gorgeous moments (and a free kick that rivals Leo Messi from earlier in the weekend).

FC Edinburgh 1 – 3 Ross County (Cup)

Simon Murray and Jordan White continued their strong showing, keeping their unbeaten run in the season opening Viaplay Cup going.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

As mentioned above, y’all were sick. So the number of actual highlights was pretty slim. Alex did get a chance to go play with both Mom and Grandpa Bruce watching, but they didn’t have the same detailed reviews of Alex’s play…almost like they don’t write a blog about soccer.

Women’s World Cup-Date

It’s been a surprisingly rough start to the cup for Norway. An upset at the hands of New Zealand and a draw against Switzerland has left Norway at the bottom of Group A and needing a big win against the Philippines to advance to the next round. Mathilde Harviken has done her best to hold down the defense, but my hope for a Julie Blakstad’s emergence as a dominant attacker has been tempered. Meanwhile, Rosenborg’s keeper Lene Christensen, pitched a clean sheet for Denmark against China.

Haiti did a great job keeping a tight hold on England turning what people had predicted to be a trouncing into a narrow defeat. Jennyfer Limage had to leave in the first half with an injury, but Sherly Jeudy performed well (as ever) and Florsie Joseph had a brief appearance.

Big Changes

Nicholas Delpine’s turn at the World Cup naturally gives him some opportunities to go beyond coaching a third division French club, so he will be moving on. So to will Maxwell Konadu at Legon Cities. He kept Legon up and surviving despite plenty of struggles, but I’m definitely more bummed that Michael Otouo is also leaving the club.

Players of the Week

Originally I would have had to choose between Emmanuel Reynoso’s great footwork and passes or Simon Murray’s excellent attacking week. But with two weeks to identify great players, we can rightly applaud both.

Standings

With Aurora’s season at an end and the TrollKvinner on their World Cup break, Punjab can breathe easily. They won’t have many threats to their position until they hit the field again after the Monsoon season ends and they take the field in October.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 7/27/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 27th

Crusaders v. Rosenborg (M–Europa Conference)

Minnesota United v. Chicago Fire (M- US-Mex Cup)

Friday, July 28th

Saturday, July 29th

Ross County v. Kelty Hearts (M-Cup)

Sunday, July 30th

Rosenborg v. Odd (M)

Monday, July 31st

Alebrijes v. Tapatio

Tuesday, August 1st

Emelec v. Defensa y Jusiticia (M-Copa Sudamericana)

Wednesday, August 2nd

82. Bring Your Best Attitude

82. Bring Your Best Attitude

by scruffyrube ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

In the preparation work for the Nobel XI writing experiment, I read a book by prize winner JM Coetzee where the South African writes about an unfair soccer match.

For context, a rag tag group of local boys, including protagonist David, is groomed to play against a local team with more resources (a group from a do-gooding orphanage). When the local boys are summarily drubbed by the orphans, David’s guardian storms on to the field and denounces the orphans and their teacher.

“This is not a football game, this is a slaughter of the innocents…They are bullies. They win by intimidating their opponents…If you really want to test your team, Senor, you should play against stronger opponents.”

JM Coetzee The Death of Jesus

That same despair of unfair treatment occurs in a few other spheres of our Soccer fandom, and with surprising frequency in the women’s game.

In the USL-W Heartland, Minnesota Aurora is patently the dominant force. The biggest market, the biggest ownership base, the most accomplished players leading to consecutive unbeaten seasons and local conference titles. To our rivals in Chicago, Green Bay and Kenosha, our lovable little Aurora is the biggest bully on the playground.

Dear Boys,

At the same time, half-way around the world, the Women’s World Cup has kicked off with its largest ever field. It will feature teams from 32 nations in action (the same as the men’s, though for less prize money). There’s been some celebration about the growth of the game, but there’s also been a lot of handwringing and cogitating about the lack of quality that comes with expanding the tournament. Many expect big sides like Sweden, Norway, England, France, and (of course) the United States to win, the only question is by how much.

To paraphrase the concern as voiced on a recent World Football by our one-time reader Mani Djazmi: these uncompetitive games can turn off viewers. People will know what will probably happen and therefore won’t watch until later rounds when a few true contenders are left standing. This will lead to lower ratings which leads to lower revenue which leads to a lower perceived value for the women’s game.

Better then to have the best teams play the best teams, and leave potential punching bags like New Zealand and Haiti, Zambia and Vietnam out of it.

But to me disliking the bully or wincing at blow outs is only one view of the situation.

Rather than viewing it as bullies and blowouts creating hurt feelings and lost value, what if we re-center around the perspective of those teams who are out on the field.

The teams who face Aurora might well be frustrated not to be winning trophies, but they are (like Aurora) largely college and High School kids who want to get better. Who are there most of all, to learn. They get a chance to spend a few summer weeks as semi-professional athletes with big crowd and televised matches and newly built friendships.

Batcheba Louis and Alex Greenwood in action

The teams who are on the field are stepping up to a challenge. We could continue to focus on the teams that are likely going to win, but we could also set that aside and talk about how great it is to see a team like Nicholas Delpine’s Haiti stepping up to a challenge. Connecting women from a global diaspora to support their home country, learn, and grow.

Sports, and soccer in particular, isn’t just about who won and who lost. It’s about after the final whistle too.

If you boil it down to the end result then, yes, you don’t need to report much on Haiti because they don’t have much of a chance. But by that same logic, since the vast majority of teams around the world aren’t getting hardware this year, we probably could write about only two-three clubs in every country and ignore the rest. It’s the theory of the Superleague all over again, but more well-intentioned than that ill-begotten cash grab.

But if you consider what comes after the final whistle, then it’s not about who won or lost. It’s not even about why they won or lost. It’s about how teams learn from what they experience.

You can learn by doing like having success against the greatest opponents. But success need not be defined by winning: Sherly Jeudy set up some solid chances for her teammates in Haiti’s game against England. Those are great, and, knowing Sherly, she’ll look for ways to make them better.

And you can learn by seeing: there’s no shortage of great examples in your opponents. Whether you faced off against Tianna Harris or Cat Rapp, you can learn from what they did. After all, they aren’t your enemies, they’re just your opposition.

If it seems like your team doesn’t learn anything after these lopsided games, then you have learned one thing: you need a new coach.

And in addition to all those fuzzier outcomes, occasionally surprises and upsets happen and we’re all better for it (to wit the long standing giants in Norway getting beaten by New Zealand in the league opener, or the team that matched Aurora last year failing to make the playoffs this year).

In reality, everyone, every day, can only control two things: their actions, and their attitude.

The risks of blow out games (whether to goliaths of women’s soccer or a fictional team of orphans) may appear great. The actions of your beloved side may not match your opponents. But ultimately your attitude affects how you respond, and how you learn from the experience.

Bring your best attitude.

Week 27: End of the Line

Week 27: End of the Line

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Recap

Minnesota Aurora 1 – 0 Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)

This game might be the dictionary definition of the word “frustrating”. As I was home alone I got to watch and write along with the game and was stunned at first the weather (a sloppy, driving rain mixed with oppressive humidity) then the number of chances that Aurora missed, and finally the absolute apathy of the Chicago City side that clearly had been through enough facing Aurora this year. Ari Del Moral converted the vital penalty, and Minnesota advanced to the next round.

Minnesota Aurora 0 – 1 Indy XI (F-Playoffs)

Aurora met Indianapolis facing their fellow Central Conference division winner. The result was surprising in that Minnesota lost and went goalless for the first time this season. Full credit to goalie Amanda Poorbaugh (often left waiting around this season by a great defense). She stopped many Indy attempts but couldn’t stop the final free for all spot kick into the box.

It’s a discouraging end to Minnesotas excellent season as a league championship seemed thoroughly possible, but it doesn’t diminish a great year of growing and learning as a team.

Minnesota United 1 – 4 Austin FC (M)

A week after a great outing, the loons got the inverse service. Of course Austin is near the top of the Western conference and Portland is near the bottom, so it makes more sense.

Rosenborg 1 – 2 Lillestrom (M)

An early lead was promising for the Trolls with Ole Sæter scoring eleven minutes in. But the last seven minutes were a disaster, with LSK scoring twice to wipe out any chance for Rosenborg to get some credit.

Sporting Cristal 0 – 1 Emelec (M-Copa)

Emelec could not ask for a better way to start their knock out campaign in the Copa Sudamericana. They spent most of the game defending against Cristal’s attack. Jose Cevallos’ free kick set up his own off-ball run for the winning goal. Beyond winning this one game, they also got an away goal, so even if next week’s match ends 0-0 Emelec will advance.

Houston Dynamo 0 – 3 Minnesota United (M)

For several months Minnesota United games have been marked by two things: an offense that can’t score much, and a defense that is constantly having to save the day. While the game against Austin showed that the defense might be suffering a bit of fatigue, this game showed that the offense has started to click. It helps to have Emanuel Reynoso back, but it also helps to have new striker Teemu Puuki who helped set up the first goal for our buddy Bongi, and scored the second.

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

Celebrating!

Alex was back in action with his weekly soccer practice, and while the team didn’t fare as well as the last time, Alex was doing it all once again. He was noticeably upset when the opponents got their fifth goal, but when we remembered that fun was the main purpose, and that supporting your team was the goal, things seemed better–as if to prove it, went out got another goal and an assist.

Gold Cup-Date

After Honduras was dumped out at the group stage, our attention turned entirely to Jamaica and Canada. Kemar Lawrence’s injury left him on the bench for Jamaica’s defeat against Mexico, and somehow the strong showings for both Jayden Nelson and Viktor Loturi, they too didn’t make it to the pitch but Canada held their own against the United States, thanks largely to the one player who did come back: Dayne St. Clair. Big Save Dayne had a great match, keeping the United States in check, until Canada came back with a pair of late goals to take the lead (unfortunately the US got their own late equalizer and then survived the shoot out, so Dayne was back to Minnesota in time for the match against Houston.

Women’s World Cup-Date

Vive l’haiti!

In one week the women’s world cup will kick off in Australia and New Zealand. Of the five women’s teams we follow, three will have players down under for the tournament. Freiburg’s lone representative will be Janina Minge, who is part of the reserve list for Germany (just in case someone gets hurt), Rosenborg will send four players, three for Norway (Sara Horte, Mathilde Harviken, and Anna Josendal) and the starting keeper for Denmark (Lene Christiansen). But Grenoble has five players plus coach Nicholas Delpine who will all be supporting Haiti. So naturally we’re excited about seeing Haiti, Chelsea Surpris, Jennyfer Limage, Sherly Jeudy, Maudeline Moreyl, and Florsie Joseph.

Player of the Week

Dayne St. Clair had two great games in two competitions. I was surprised that he hasn’t already gotten a Player of the Week award this year, but this is certainly deserved.

Standings

With Aurora’s season at an end and the TrollKvinner on their World Cup break, Punjab can breathe easily. They won’t have many threats to their position until they hit the field again after the Monsoon season ends and they take the field in October.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota22691.952.461.05
Rosenborg176131.581.670.94
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec7871.321.231.14
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 7/13/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 13th

Friday, July 14th

Saturday, July 15th

Stranrear v. Ross County (Cup)

Minnesota United v. LAFC (M)

Sunday, July 16th

Rosenborg v. Tromso (M)

Monday, July 17th

Tuesday, July 18th

Wednesday, July 19th

Emelec v. Sporting Cristal (M-Copa)

Week 26: Staycation the Second

Week 26: Staycation the Second

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Recap

Green Bay Glory 0 – 4 Minnesota Aurora (F)

Sophie French joined the dynamic duo of Rapp and Hansen in helping Aurora make the most of another trip to Wisconsin. Even more impressive: French was playing out of position as a defender before charging up and bringing her usual attacking brilliance and find the net.

Roa 0 – 3 Rosenborg BK (F)

Anna Josensdal continued to be an iron woman and netted another goal for the Trolls, young Synne Bronsted (only 20) did the same as Rosenborg rolled to victory.

Minnesota United 4 -1 Portland Timbers (M)

This was an absolutely wild match, and one that I got to go see with Alex! You had plenty of attacking football, you had a crazy number of calls by the referee (not all of them were dumb…no matter what the people sitting next to us said), you had a goal directly from the corner kick by Emanuel Reynoso. And that was just the half we watched! In the second half we had more goals, a brief bit of fear, and another goal from Alex’s new favorite Bongokhule Hlongwane (sorry Boxall, I was advocating for you but the kid likes goals)

Minnesota Aurora 7 – 0 Chicago City SC (F)

Aurora wrapped up their second unbeaten regular season with what amounted to a bit of a curtain call as Cat Rapp scored twice (9 for her this year), Maya Hansen once (12 goals for her), and Hannah Adler once (11 for her). Those three accounted for half of the team’s total 60 goals during the regular season.

Aalesund 1 – 0 Rosenborg (M)

Coach Svein Malen’s second game in charge of Rosenborg went a lot like his first. Rosenborg looked okay, competent for sure…and then they gave up a second half goal and sunk deeper down the table.

Alex cheers and hits the guy in front of us…

News & Notes

Weekly Kids Highlights

We completed our two weeks of vacation with a fourth of July celebration that included grandparents, and all the assorted aunties, uncles, and cousins. While I was kind of hoping that Alex would get to challenge goalie Uncle Simon or midfielder Uncle Matt, we settled for seeing the MacKenzie kids deliver a thorough water balloon drubbing to the MacKenzie dads.

Gold Cup-Date

The Gold Cup’s opening round came to an end. Kemar Lawrence started for Jamaica against St. Kitt’s and Nevis. He was strong in distribution but not the best at stopping and spent the second half on the bench. ,Joseph Rosales did an excellent job with his usual two-way play for Honduras in a draw against Qatar and a win over Haiti. But, that wasn’t enough to pull El H into the second round.

Video from AP News

The real story that got us fired up though was the tournament saving win for Canada against Cuba. The Maple Leafs could have been knocked out in the first round (a major come down for the team after their first world cup in 3 decades). But that was why they clearly used our favorite players: Dayne St. Clair of Minnesota was in goal, Jayden Nelson of Rosenborg was an attacking substitute in the first half and Viktor Loturi of Ross County came in for the end of the game. (Sidebar one: Okay, yes, one of Cuba’s goals came after Dayne gave up a foul…but c’mon…it’s Bootroom or Bust for the Canucks!)

(Sidebar two: we somehow missed that Matthais Phaeton led the Guadaloupe team throughout the cup including a tie against Canada and a win–with two goals–against Cuba, but a missed penalty cost them a draw that would have pulled them through to the second round)

Transfer Time

Au Revoir Matthais

Last week I covered most teams, but failed to account for changes coming to Grenoble’s men’s side. While some of the strong willed GF38 back line (Loris Nery and Bart Straalman) reached the end of their contracts, the big change was seeing lead creator Matthais Phaeton depart for CSKA Sofia in Hungary. Aside from Hungary’s abysmal politics, we hope Mathais can step up to the Conference League and draw more attention by playing against Europe’s best.

But Grenoble brought on several strong young players, poaching players who have impressed them the last few seasons with Eddy Sylvestre and Mattheo Xanthippe coming in, the big fresh blood for the team is Belgian Dante Rigo coming in to settle the midfield.

One other team we haven’t discussed much (as they continue preseason before the league stars at the end of the month) is Alebrijes de Oxaca. Their primary change was to say so long to long time coach Jorge Manrique Islas and bring in new coach Carlos Guttierez

From Fox News 9

Player of the Week

Cat Rapp has been utterly outstanding all season long for Minnesota Aurora and if she wanted to be mad at us for not recognizing her as player of the week sooner we couldn’t blame her. But hopefully she’s understanding.

Standing

Half way through the summer holidays Punjab should be grateful to the guys in Minnesota and Rosenborg, becuase while the women’s teams might well be charging towards the title by now, the mens teams in each club setting are simply surviving. What happens when the Loons join Aurora in bringing the heat? Well…you can see how close it’s gotten.

TeamWDLPPGGFAGAA
Punjab–b12232.242.290.94
Minnesota20672.002.611.06
Rosenborg176121.631.690.91
Legon Cities–b9781.421.251.29
Grenoble–b156171.341.161.13
Emelec6871.241.241.19
Freiburg–b127191.131.241.66
Alebrijes–b5581.111.331.39
Ross County–b64121.001.231.50
Vozdovac–b43110.830.671.65
Montana–b000———
Table Updated 6/22/23
b–Team is between seasons

What’s Next

Thursday, July 6th

Minnesota Aurora v. Chicago City SC (F–Playoffs)

Friday, July 7th

Saturday, July 8th

Minnesota United v. Austin FC (M)

Sunday, July 9th

Rosenborg v. Lillestrom (M)

USL-W 2nd Round Playoff (Minnesota/Chicago winner versus Flint City/Indy XI winner)

Gold Cup 2nd Round (with Canada’s Bootroom connection, and Kemar Lawrence in action)

Monday, July 10th

Tuesday, July 11th

Wednesday, July 12th

Sporting Cristal v. Emelec (M-Copa)

Houston Dynamo v. Minnesota United (M)

Plus tracking results for Gold Cup matches and the impending Women’s World Cup.

Nobel FC: Giorgios Seferis

Nobel FC: Giorgios Seferis

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Background

The winner of the 1963 Nobel Prize in Literature, Giorgios Seferis was often a stranger in a strange land (not unlike the wandering heroes of Greek legend). From a childhood in Smyrna that was marked by a Greek invasion of the Ottoman empire, Seferis moved to France to study law and poetry, then back to Greece to help the government. When World War II broke out, Seferis helped the government in exile and then continued a long career as a diplomat around Europe. The award gave particular citation to ” his eminent lyrical writing, inspired by a deep feeling for the Hellenic world of culture” (Nobel Prize site)

Works

From: “Erotikos Logos Pt. V”

On the stone of patience we wait for the miracle
that opens the heavens and makes all things possible
we wait for the herald as in the ancient drama
at the moment when the open roses of twilight

disappear…Red rose of the wind and of fate,
you remained in memory only, a heavy rhythm
rose of the night, you passed, undulating purple
undulation of the sea…The world is simple

–1930

From: “The Light”

As the years go by
the judges who condemn you grow in number;
as the years go by and you converse with fewer voices,
you see the sun with different eyes:
you know that those who stayed behind were deceiving you
the delirium of flesh, the lovely dance
that ends in nakedness.

–1946

Message

I had never heard of Seferis before, I found him for this project. So it was kind of amazing when I found a collection of his poems from Edmund Keely and Phillip Sherrard that included this line: “”The distinguishing attribute of Seferis’ genius–one that he shares with Yeats and Eliot–has always been his ability to make out of local politics, out of personal history or mythology, some sort of general statement or metaphor.”

I mean, how amazingly convenient that Seferis shares a stylistic trait with the other two poets I wrote about this year.

Also, how…uh…underwhelming it made this feel.

It’s certainly not bad poetry. Believe me, I write bad poetry, this ain’t it. It’s just very familiar. Reading all these poems gave me a sense that Seferis has a sense of history that justifies the modern sensibility of somber doom. Lots of poets allude to mythology and history, but few of them have the personal and cultural connection that Seferis has. The examples I gave above capture that whatever we feel now, will fade and vanish. He’s able to bring that out in other poems by evoking forgotten Kings in tossed off lines of the Iliad, or empires that crumbled. I didn’t see as much of the “genius [or] personal history” use that Keely and Sherrard did, but the overriding general statement of our present as an echo of our past certainly came through.

Position:

Given that Seferis has some clear comparisons with Yeats and Eliot, it was easy to see him as a defender. The common perception of Greek football as extremely defensive didn’t hurt matters either. But for me, there was something that didn’t quite fit with Seferis being an outfield player. Certainly, outside backs can get a little wild and wander through things (just as Seferis wanders through centuries of Greek history) but to me, he seemed less like an outfield player and more of a goalkeeper. He seems to alternate between letting his mind wander and suddenly feeling an impending sense of doom…as I expect goalkeepers far removed from action often would. And given his fondness for mythology and closeness to the Mediterranean I thought he fit best as part of FK Vozdovac (hence the red and white shield provided here).

What do you think? Greek scholars, I’m looking particularly at you as I’m a little out of my depth here. Do you have a different view of Greek soccer than I do, please bring on the corrections!

Not to give too much away, but after all these defensive writers, I’m excited for the next one to shake things up a bit…

Next Time: 1983 Honoree–William Golding