Soccer Team

A windstorm hit Santa Ana's Centennial Park particularly hard last Thursday just before dusk, kicking up debris on the mostly dirt field where the Long Beach Wilson girls' soccer team was earning its first-round victory in the Mater Dei tournament. The blustery conditions caused problems for airborne soccer balls and determined defenders sprinting to track them down.

Spain's Real Madrid and Italy's Juventus FC will face off Aug. 5 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas as part of the 2012 World Football Challenge.  MGM Resorts International is the title sponsor with Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino acting as the host hotel for the event. Tickets start at $68, at UNLVtickets.com or by calling toll free (855) 258-5425 . . . . Hostelling International USA will conduct a free travel workshop, “Budget Travel Europe,” Saturday at its Santa Monica store, 1434 2nd St. The workshop is designed for the first-time traveler going to Europe or for those who want a refresher before heading back overseas.

How nice for T.J. Simers that he toils in the cool shade of Page 2, where his many missteps under the daily pressure to fill a few inches of newsprint can pass easily without notice to the world at large. He should know a lot about choking, since he does it so regularly in his column, despite having hours, even days, to hone his words and sharpen his attacks on the mistakes of athletes who are required to make instantaneous decisions while performing against well-prepared and dangerous opponents who are equally skilled and determined to win. T.J. needs to be advised that no team enters a competition under an entitlement to victory.

  England's Football Assn. on Tuesday selected veteran West Bromwich manager Roy Hodgson to coach its national soccer team, replacing Fabio Capello, who resigned under pressure in February. Hodgson, 64, has coached 18 teams -- including the national squads of Switzerland, Finland and the United Arab Emirates -- during a 36-year career. His current 16-month contract with West Brom doesn't expire until next month, but the club has agreed to release him when the season ends May 13 so that Hodgson can begin preparing for Euro 2012.

Reporting from Houston -- No one needs to remind Mexican Coach Javier Aguirre that his team's World Cup opener is less than a month away. But if that makes him nervous, he's doing a good job hiding it. Aguirre's team ends its six-match U.S. tour Thursday night in Houston against Angola before flying back to Mexico City to meet Chile on Sunday in its World Cup sendoff. That gives Aguirre two more chances to tie up any remaining loose ends before his team takes a huge step up in class by playing England, the Netherlands and Italy — three countries ranked among the top eight in the world in the latest FIFA rankings — in its final tuneups for this summer's tournament in South Africa.

World Cup soccer officials are investigating reports that North Korea's outmatched national soccer team faced punishment by government officials back home after losing all three of its matches in South Africa. Sepp Blatter, president of the International Federation of Association Football, or Fifa, said this week that the organization had received tips that players and coaches "have been condemned or punished" after an embarrassing appearance in which they conceded the most goals of all 32 teams in the tournament.

After capturing both state and national championships in a record-breaking season, the Valley United Stars girls' soccer team will be honored Monday night at the Canoga Park Elks Lodge. Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and City Councilwoman Laura Chick will present the girls awards for athletic achievements and community involvement.

San Clemente and Woodland Hills El Camino Real will make their third and fourth consecutive championship game appearances, respectively, today, but neither girls' soccer team has been blase during its repeat run. Top-seeded San Clemente (17-2-7), ranked No.

Lost amid the hoopla over the U.S. team's performance in the Women's World Cup last summer is the fact that the Americans almost didn't make it to the tournament after losing to Mexico in CONCACAF qualifying. But U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage has not forgotten. And it's something she plans to remind her team of heading into the Olympic qualifier in Vancouver, Canada, that starts this week. "I think we learned from that [World Cup] experience," Sundhage said. "It's our job to make sure that we look at the next game and not get carried away and talk too much about a semifinal or the final and even the Olympics in London.

Bob Bradley, who coached the U.S. men's soccer team into the second round at the World Cup in South Africa last summer, might try to do the same thing or better at the Olympic Games in London in 2012. On Wednesday, the opening day of the national team's January camp at the Home Depot Center, Bradley said taking charge of the American Olympic squad is something that is of interest to him. "It is, it just has to fit with everything that we do," he said. "The reason that it is [appealing]

  The U.S. women's soccer team, top-ranked in the world, was drawn into Group G for this summer's Olympic Games, where it has been matched with 2011 World Cup qualifiers France, Colombia and North Korea. The U.S. will begin play July 25 -- two days before the Games officially open -- against France at Hampden Park, Scotland's national stadium in Glasgow. The U.S. will play Colombia in its second match in Glasgow on July 28 before finishing group play against North Korea on July 31 at Old Trafford in Manchester, the home of Manchester United.

Galaxy midfielder David Beckham, who has made no secret of his desire to play for Britain in this summer's Olympic Games in London, moved another step closer to that goal Wednesday when he survived the latest round of cuts in the pool of players from which Coach Stuart Pearce will select his squad. Since January, Pearce has eliminated more than 110 players from consideration for the 18-man team. But the list of candidates still numbers 80, so Beckham isn't packing just yet. Pearce is expected to name his final roster in June.

Real Madrid plans to open a $1 billion soccer-centric theme park on a United Arab Emirates man-made island in January 2015 that celebrates the history, triumphs and hubris of the richest football club in the world. PHOTOS: Real Madrid Resort Island in the Middle East The 100-acre Real Madrid Resort Island  will feature a roller coaster that extends out over the water, a SeaWorld-style dolphin show and a hologram soccer movie inside a climate-controlled theme park.

There were so many names, most of them vaguely known in the sports pages, that it always seemed a near impossible task to handicap the litany of potential new owners of the Dodgers . Only now the brackets have narrowed, now reportedly only four bidders remain standing. As we grow near a final April 1 decision on what probably will be the biggest sports story in Los Angeles this year, it's odd how its daily news has drifted to the back of sports sections. Beyond the sheer numbers of bidders, the other aspect that always made this process difficult to forecast is that ultimately the winner will be selected by Frank McCourt.

The U.S. women's soccer team dominated the first round of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada, outscoring its three opponents 31-0 and rolling into the semifinals undefeated. But that won't mean anything if the U.S. does not beat Costa Rica on Friday, since the winner advances not only to the tournament final Sunday, but to the London Games this summer as well. "We always throw those statistics out. We need to bring it," U.S. captain Christie Rampone said.

Lost amid the hoopla over the U.S. team's performance in the Women's World Cup last summer is the fact that the Americans almost didn't make it to the tournament after losing to Mexico in CONCACAF qualifying. But U.S. Coach Pia Sundhage has not forgotten. And it's something she plans to remind her team of heading into the Olympic qualifier in Vancouver, Canada, that starts this week. "I think we learned from that [World Cup] experience," Sundhage said. "It's our job to make sure that we look at the next game and not get carried away and talk too much about a semifinal or the final and even the Olympics in London.

The U.S. women's soccer team begins a crucial home-and-home playoff series against Italy on Saturday, the matches to determine whether the No. 1-ranked Americans qualify for the last spot in next year's World Cup in Germany. The biggest obstacle they figure to face is Italy's aggressive and acrobatic goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, though she's actually not that big and not that Italian. In fact, the biggest obstacle the U.S. women will face Saturday is a U.S. woman. Anna Picarelli was born and raised in Southern California.

Coach Pia Sundhage gets stopped in airports and recognized while on her morning runs. Goalkeeper Hope Solo threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game and competed on "Dancing With the Stars. " And six other members of the U.S. women's soccer team — a group that captured the nation's imagination and was the runner-up in the Women's World Cup this summer in Germany — were invited to the White House to play soccer with first lady Michelle Obama. Women's soccer hasn't been this hot in the U.S. since Brandi Chastain put her jersey back on. Yet in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately world of American sports, it's what the national team does for an encore in the Olympic Games next summer in London that will determine how long the public's love affair with it will last.