Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Mexico vs USA Pre-game thoughts.
Just getting ready for the showdown at Azteca.
Let's get the job done guys.
Let's get the job done guys.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
My Thoughts On The Mariah Carey's Glitter Isn't Gold Cup
Yep. Much like how lame the movie is itself, this is how the tournament is as well. This "All That Mariah Carey's Glitter Isn't Gold" Cup competition HAS ABSOLUTELY NO MEANING WHATSOEVER !!!!! This to me, as good as the usual USA-Mexico Final is set up to be, is just a B-C team rated tournament all in thanks to CONCACRAP for running this lame ass tournament with their lame ass referees (again), lame ass rules changes (why the USA's roster increase and not the other teams), lame ass venues (Mexico playing in Phoenix, Houston & Dallas? Shocking!!!) and lame ass schedules (Playing during the MLS, USL-1 **, the underrated & ignored U.S. Open Cup, & SUM's Euro Clubs Circus). To me the tournament should be held every four years instead of two AND have the tournament hosted by either Mexico Canada or the United States (rotating the hosts every 4 years) instead of always having the U.S. hosting it. But much like the other Heads of CONCACRAP, lead by Jack "My votes goes to England hosting the World Cup over U.S.A. but would love some of U.S.A.'s money" Warner, they would go out get all of the money from the fans and put it into their own corrupt pockets and make the Gold Cup competition looked foolishly incompetent in comparison to the other confederations' cup competitions like the Euro Cup, Copa America and even the Asian Cup. And I won't feel that the CONCACRAP officials won't get things right functionally in the future.
** Side Note: I even watched the Minnesota Thunder-Austin Aztex USL-1 match over the USA's match last week. That to me is sad from a die hard soccer fan. But other die hard soccer fans should not have to deal with either choosing club or country to watch or attend to when both are playing at the same time. It really diverges any growth of soccer in this country and continues to divides any progress made from it.
My Quote of the Day
"Soccer: A simple game ruined by complex people who run it."
And who are these complex people that I'm speaking of?
A) Heads of U.S. Soccer?
B) Heads of Major League Soccer?
C) Heads of United Soccer Leagues?
D) Heads of Soccer United Marketing?
E) Heads of CONCACAF?
F) Heads of FIFA?
G) All of Above
Answer: Nothing but a G thing.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Phil Rawlins On The Wake Up Call
Aztex president Phil Rawlins will be on AM1300 tomorrow AM @ 7:15 talking about the upcoming Copa Aztex match featuring Cruz Azul and Tigres. In fact Tigres last night defeated Santos Laguna 3-2 in the SuperLiga Semifinals. They will now advanced to the SuperLiga Final to faced the Chicago Fire. So stay turned to AM1300 for more information about the game.
In addition to that, Tigres will hold open practices to the public at 8:30 a.m. & Cruz Azul will hold theirs at 10:00 a.m. at Meyers Stadium.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Aztex News & Notes
Aztex Coach's Show airs on AM1300-The Zone tonight at 6:30pm!
Please don't forget to listen to it. I absent-minded forgot to listen to it last week. :-(
Taylor overcomes injury, heads to England
Very classy player. We will miss him here and wish him the best of luck in England. we will be following his progress at Forest Green Rovers FC.
Harwell shining with pros after injury
To me Harwell has been one of the bright spots on the Aztex team. Very good harding working flank midfielder.
Aztex Make More Roster Moves; Copa Aztex is Saturday
Very much needed player additions to the roster. Especially with all of the injuries and loan players that we've been dealing with all season. And I bet you that Kevin Sakuda is glad not to be on the Montreal Impact train wreak. ;-)
And here's a link to what I'm talking about:
Another Montreal Meltdown
Follow Up to Montreal Meltdown
Ouch!! That's a Caption Contest waiting to happen.
Don't forget that Copa Aztex between Cruz Azul & Tigres is this Saturday at 7 pm.
Petition To Get Mexico-U.S.A. Game On Major English Language Broadcast
There is news that there won't be any major English language TV broadcast of the Mexico-U.S.A. World Cup qualifiers on August 12 is downright insulting. Especially after the U.S.A. best performance in this year's Confederations Cup, you would think that any network (especially ESPN) would be able to get it. But no. The rights to the English based coverage is hold by Telemundo in which will show on their low market English language channel mun2.
There's a petition on the website for this situation.
The petition
This petition is an effort to impress upon Telemundo and its parent company, NBC Universal, the need to move the USA-Mexico World Cup qualifier on August 12th to one of their more widely-available TV outlets.
With ESPN passing on the English-language broadcast rights in the United States, Telemundo has decided to show the game on a little-known channel called "mun2". Millions of Americans are unable to get mun2, and many more would be forced to incur additional charges on the television bill to receive it.
For soccer fans who wish to watch a highly-anticipated match involving the regions two powers, this is unacceptable. Therefore, we the undersigned, respectfully, yet strongly, request that NBC move the English-language broadcast to the USA Network (or another network with equivalent availability).
Please do your duty to sign this petition on the link below:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/usamexicotv
Please let you vote and voice count in U.S. Soccer.
Brandi Chastain on The Wake Up Call
The Wake Up Call with Jon and Rod Babers spoke to Brandi Chastain this morning. In case you missed the interview, you can listen to it here:
Listen (popup). Or Podcast.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
3 vs 3 Aztex Challenge Tournament
The first annual 3v3 Live Aztex Challenge, brought to you locally by your own Austin Aztex FC, is going to be held this Saturday. The tournament starts at 9 a.m. in East Metro Park in Manor.
* 3v3 is the fastest growing soccer format in America!!
* Players love it because:
* It's a non-stop shooting and scoring party - no goalkeepers
* It's easy to understand - no offside rule
* It's easy to play - small playing field
* Everybody gets plenty of time on the ball - lots of touches
This deadline for this tournament is today. So hurry up if you want to participate in this fun tournament.
BONUS: All registered players will receive ONE FREE TICKET to the Aztex vs Timbers game THAT NIGHT.
Website: http://www.3v3live.com
Friday, July 3, 2009
Is It Time to Care About Soccer?
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Is it Time to Care About Soccer? | ||||
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| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Is it Time to Care About Soccer? - Alexi Lalas | ||||
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Dear Sepp Blatter..........
Dear Sepp Blatter,
Why?
Why must you always have something to pick on Major League Soccer's calendar season?
Why are we the target just because we don't follow the European soccer calender season?
Why?
Does it have something to do with Europeans playing here that have to travel back and forth to Europe during the International break?
"You are not in the good international season, specifically in Europe and some other countries. What is the result? The result is that you do not attract star players to play for six-seven months with the exceptional case of [David] Beckham]. On the other hand, your best players are in Europe."
Funny. Because the South American, African, Asian & North American players playing in Europe have to travel back and forth to their countries as well and you don't see them complaining. Yet the European players always have it all when traveling because they have little problems with their travel mileage.
"There is one big problem, as long as you don't have [their] own stadiums in MLS, then you have to use stadia from other sports, which is American football. Therefore, you play the season from March to October."
And since when do you have a interest of what's going on in the state of North American soccer? Do you have any sense of knowledge of what's going on in MLS? Sure you may heard about the league trying to get MLS clubs into their own stadiums instead of sharing with NFL teams. But try telling Toronto, New England, New York & Chicago fans to go to a soccer match in freezing & cold weather during the December-January calendar. You would expect a lot of postponements and cancellations of games let along road closures and fans having difficulties traveling to the game.
"This is not the right solution for MLS. They have to play and to adapt themselves to the international calendar. If they do that, they can have success."
Success? There's a thing called "getting any sports media attention on MLS" away from NFL, NBA, college football & NHL as well as the EPL that makes it even more difficult to get fans into MLS games. Try getting any success into that crowded market during that time period.
And while you're at it, why don't you say the same to Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ireland and other European countries that don't follow your European Calender?
Now mind you that he says during the press conference before the Brazil-USA match (good timing to make your opinion count Blatter) "International" Calender instead of European Calender. Personally I don't buy into his "imperialistic" attitude toward MLS and others that don't follow his idea of how other countries should run their leagues. Don't you have something to pick on the English Premier League? Oh that's right, it's Michel Platini's job. So why are you trying to turn FIFA into UEFA?
Why don't you pick on the way Argentine, Brazilian and Mexican soccer as well as others around the world is running their soccer season schedule? Unless you address the other leagues around the world into their schedule, please don't go on criticizing AGAIN on how MLS should run their schedule. It may not be perfect for all accounts (such as not playing MLS matches during the international games), but we should not be catering towards on how European thinks that we should run the league.
What are your thoughts on Blatter's comments? Is he right about MLS? Am I out of bounds on this subject matter? Please post your comments about this.
Why?
Why must you always have something to pick on Major League Soccer's calendar season?
Why are we the target just because we don't follow the European soccer calender season?
Why?
Does it have something to do with Europeans playing here that have to travel back and forth to Europe during the International break?
"You are not in the good international season, specifically in Europe and some other countries. What is the result? The result is that you do not attract star players to play for six-seven months with the exceptional case of [David] Beckham]. On the other hand, your best players are in Europe."
Funny. Because the South American, African, Asian & North American players playing in Europe have to travel back and forth to their countries as well and you don't see them complaining. Yet the European players always have it all when traveling because they have little problems with their travel mileage.
"There is one big problem, as long as you don't have [their] own stadiums in MLS, then you have to use stadia from other sports, which is American football. Therefore, you play the season from March to October."
And since when do you have a interest of what's going on in the state of North American soccer? Do you have any sense of knowledge of what's going on in MLS? Sure you may heard about the league trying to get MLS clubs into their own stadiums instead of sharing with NFL teams. But try telling Toronto, New England, New York & Chicago fans to go to a soccer match in freezing & cold weather during the December-January calendar. You would expect a lot of postponements and cancellations of games let along road closures and fans having difficulties traveling to the game.
"This is not the right solution for MLS. They have to play and to adapt themselves to the international calendar. If they do that, they can have success."
Success? There's a thing called "getting any sports media attention on MLS" away from NFL, NBA, college football & NHL as well as the EPL that makes it even more difficult to get fans into MLS games. Try getting any success into that crowded market during that time period.
And while you're at it, why don't you say the same to Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ireland and other European countries that don't follow your European Calender?
Now mind you that he says during the press conference before the Brazil-USA match (good timing to make your opinion count Blatter) "International" Calender instead of European Calender. Personally I don't buy into his "imperialistic" attitude toward MLS and others that don't follow his idea of how other countries should run their leagues. Don't you have something to pick on the English Premier League? Oh that's right, it's Michel Platini's job. So why are you trying to turn FIFA into UEFA?
Why don't you pick on the way Argentine, Brazilian and Mexican soccer as well as others around the world is running their soccer season schedule? Unless you address the other leagues around the world into their schedule, please don't go on criticizing AGAIN on how MLS should run their schedule. It may not be perfect for all accounts (such as not playing MLS matches during the international games), but we should not be catering towards on how European thinks that we should run the league.
What are your thoughts on Blatter's comments? Is he right about MLS? Am I out of bounds on this subject matter? Please post your comments about this.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Sunday, June 7, 2009
USA vs Honduras: My At-The-Pub Commentary
* Pre-game: About to head out to Cuatros to join with my other Chantico's Army members for the watching party. But first I wrote down the lineups for the USA's starting 11 and bench players:
Starters:
Howard
Spector; Onyewu; Bocanegra(c); Bornstein
Dempsey; Clark; Mastroeni; Donovan
Altidore; Casey
Bench:
Guzan, Feilhaber, Wynne, Kljestan, Beasley, DeMerit, Davies.
No Adu or Torres???? WTF??? Glad Spector & Casey got to start. But back to the old bucket formation again and I had a bad feeling that a Clark-Mastroeni midfield combo has red card written all over it. Is it to early to call Jurgen Klinsmann?
* 1' Looking at the crowd from Soldier Field, this has 2001 RFK written all over it. A sea of Honduran fans sprinkled with red, white & blue U.S. fans. So much for home field advantage. Thanks U.S. Soccer. Oh and today's referee is from Mexico. Nice.
* 4' Just as I was about to take another bite out of my Cuatros Nachos, U.S. gives up a (Carlos) Costly goal. Great. That was a good way to start the match. UGH! Thanks to Dempsey for giving away the ball which allowed Honduras to score early.
* 10' Another loss possession by Dempsey. He not looking good. At least the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
* 11' Almost a shot on goal by Casey. He needs to finish it.
* 19' Where the hell is the U.S. shooting boots. My blood pressure is rising.
* 20' Yellow card to Casey for giving Costly his fake Oscar acting tips. And after seeing Ramon Nunez's hair, he needs to stop getting hair tips from Arturo "Frosty Tips" Alvarez.
* 21" It's hard enough watching the match while college baseball is on. Especially when UT baseball is showing on the big screen TV while we are watching it on other smaller TV screens. Hopefully by the time the baseball game is over, we are to watch it on the big screen.
* 22' Conor Casey's shot goes high. Wasted chances. And the Nachos are muy bueno.
*24' Typical Latin American time wasting from the goalkeeper for his thigh injury. Might as well get a Brazilian wax on your legs while you're at it.
30' UT's baseball is over (they won if you really want to know) and the U.S. is still losing the game.
* 32' Spector with a nice cross to the box but no one wasn't able to get thier foot on the ball. So close.
* 35' Donovan's cross goes to Altidore who side nets it. But the ref called a foul on Gooch.
* 38' Clark runs towards the box and is foul in there. BUT NO CALL!!!! That's total b***s***! Clear penalty.
* 41' Handball by the Honduran player (#6) in the box. Penalty call! And a yellow card to the player.
* 43' After 2 minutes of Donovan squatting down doing his strange, odd & weird voodoo rituals, he buries the PK to make it 1-1. And my blood pressure has gone down.
* 45' 3 minutes of stoppage time and the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
Half Time: 1-1. Very fortunate to get that PK call. Poor crossing, lack of possession & lack of finishing is hurting the U.S. We going to move to the big screen TV for the 2nd half.
* 46' 2nd half begins and Feilharber is in fot Mastroleni. Thank God. Not that I'm a fan of Benny, but Pablo was not very effective at all.
* 47' Too close for a Honduran 2nd goal from the header but it was cleared by Clark. Blood pressure rising up again.
* 54' Dempsey's shot from Jozy's pass goes high.
* 56' Dempsey's cross too low for Casey in the box.
* 57' very good string of passes but in the end Jozy couldn't get the foot on the ball in the box.
* 61' Was that a shot from Dempsey? God that was awful!!! He was effective playing for Fulham this past season and yet he looks very ineffective playing for the U.S.? I hope it's just fatigue and fitness that's the problem.
* 62' Dempsey's shot goes high.
* 63' Yellow card to Donovan because Mexicans (including the referee) don't like him.
* 64" Another poor cross. This time from Donovan. Need to focus on crossing practices more often.
* 68' GOAL USA!!!! From the corner kick, Donovan send it to Dempsey in the far post who's then sends his header towards a dive Bocanegra for the goal.
* 70' Bocanegra is down injured due to his right hamstring. Jay DeMerit replaces him. And my friend Ed criticizes my handwriting skills on my notebook. Thank Grammar Nazi. I should have been a doctor.
* 71' A good Spector cross forces the Honduran goalkeeper to concede a corner kick. But the corner kick goes begging.
* 75' Beasley in for Casey. CRAP!!! Why is Beasley still on the squad when he's not getting any minutes for his club team due to injuries and fitness?
* 81' Bornstein cramping up and to my surprise the Honduran fans are quiet. And my friend Ed thinks I should have girlfriend. Gee.... Thanks Ed.
* And yes Ladies I'm available. I'm tall, dark, romantic and handsome. I like quiet walks in the park and a very passionate for soccer. Contact me if you interested in a date. ;-)
* 83' Mad scramble and chaos in the U.S.box. Honduras almost got a goal. Come on U.S.!!! And I need to stop writing on my notebook as if I was Juan Carlos Osorio. Otherwise I would go insane. Ed would probably agree with me.
* 85' Honduras is starting to put pressure on the U.S. Did I mentioned that the Cuatros waitresses are cute?
* 88' Shot by Feilharber straight to the goalkeeper.
* 89' Big save by Timmy in the near post.
* 90' 4 minutes of stoppage time
Full Time: U.S.A. 2 Honduras 1. Blood pressure back to normal.
* 96' Ed has left the building.
Summery: And good yet not satisfactory result for the U.S. That type of performance isn't going to cut it when they travel to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. For me, I was surprised that Clark did well in that match as well as Spector. Dempsey needs to find his mojo back again.
So that's my write up. Sorry if it wasn't as good as D.J.'s Steam of Consciousness (can't live up to the legend there), but at least it's worth reading of what's going though my mind during the game. I'm pretty sure Ed does. ;-)
Starters:
Howard
Spector; Onyewu; Bocanegra(c); Bornstein
Dempsey; Clark; Mastroeni; Donovan
Altidore; Casey
Bench:
Guzan, Feilhaber, Wynne, Kljestan, Beasley, DeMerit, Davies.
No Adu or Torres???? WTF??? Glad Spector & Casey got to start. But back to the old bucket formation again and I had a bad feeling that a Clark-Mastroeni midfield combo has red card written all over it. Is it to early to call Jurgen Klinsmann?
* 1' Looking at the crowd from Soldier Field, this has 2001 RFK written all over it. A sea of Honduran fans sprinkled with red, white & blue U.S. fans. So much for home field advantage. Thanks U.S. Soccer. Oh and today's referee is from Mexico. Nice.
* 4' Just as I was about to take another bite out of my Cuatros Nachos, U.S. gives up a (Carlos) Costly goal. Great. That was a good way to start the match. UGH! Thanks to Dempsey for giving away the ball which allowed Honduras to score early.
* 10' Another loss possession by Dempsey. He not looking good. At least the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
* 11' Almost a shot on goal by Casey. He needs to finish it.
* 19' Where the hell is the U.S. shooting boots. My blood pressure is rising.
* 20' Yellow card to Casey for giving Costly his fake Oscar acting tips. And after seeing Ramon Nunez's hair, he needs to stop getting hair tips from Arturo "Frosty Tips" Alvarez.
* 21" It's hard enough watching the match while college baseball is on. Especially when UT baseball is showing on the big screen TV while we are watching it on other smaller TV screens. Hopefully by the time the baseball game is over, we are to watch it on the big screen.
* 22' Conor Casey's shot goes high. Wasted chances. And the Nachos are muy bueno.
*24' Typical Latin American time wasting from the goalkeeper for his thigh injury. Might as well get a Brazilian wax on your legs while you're at it.
30' UT's baseball is over (they won if you really want to know) and the U.S. is still losing the game.
* 32' Spector with a nice cross to the box but no one wasn't able to get thier foot on the ball. So close.
* 35' Donovan's cross goes to Altidore who side nets it. But the ref called a foul on Gooch.
* 38' Clark runs towards the box and is foul in there. BUT NO CALL!!!! That's total b***s***! Clear penalty.
* 41' Handball by the Honduran player (#6) in the box. Penalty call! And a yellow card to the player.
* 43' After 2 minutes of Donovan squatting down doing his strange, odd & weird voodoo rituals, he buries the PK to make it 1-1. And my blood pressure has gone down.
* 45' 3 minutes of stoppage time and the Cuatros waitresses are cute.
Half Time: 1-1. Very fortunate to get that PK call. Poor crossing, lack of possession & lack of finishing is hurting the U.S. We going to move to the big screen TV for the 2nd half.
* 46' 2nd half begins and Feilharber is in fot Mastroleni. Thank God. Not that I'm a fan of Benny, but Pablo was not very effective at all.
* 47' Too close for a Honduran 2nd goal from the header but it was cleared by Clark. Blood pressure rising up again.
* 54' Dempsey's shot from Jozy's pass goes high.
* 56' Dempsey's cross too low for Casey in the box.
* 57' very good string of passes but in the end Jozy couldn't get the foot on the ball in the box.
* 61' Was that a shot from Dempsey? God that was awful!!! He was effective playing for Fulham this past season and yet he looks very ineffective playing for the U.S.? I hope it's just fatigue and fitness that's the problem.
* 62' Dempsey's shot goes high.
* 63' Yellow card to Donovan because Mexicans (including the referee) don't like him.
* 64" Another poor cross. This time from Donovan. Need to focus on crossing practices more often.
* 68' GOAL USA!!!! From the corner kick, Donovan send it to Dempsey in the far post who's then sends his header towards a dive Bocanegra for the goal.
* 70' Bocanegra is down injured due to his right hamstring. Jay DeMerit replaces him. And my friend Ed criticizes my handwriting skills on my notebook. Thank Grammar Nazi. I should have been a doctor.
* 71' A good Spector cross forces the Honduran goalkeeper to concede a corner kick. But the corner kick goes begging.
* 75' Beasley in for Casey. CRAP!!! Why is Beasley still on the squad when he's not getting any minutes for his club team due to injuries and fitness?
* 81' Bornstein cramping up and to my surprise the Honduran fans are quiet. And my friend Ed thinks I should have girlfriend. Gee.... Thanks Ed.
* And yes Ladies I'm available. I'm tall, dark, romantic and handsome. I like quiet walks in the park and a very passionate for soccer. Contact me if you interested in a date. ;-)
* 83' Mad scramble and chaos in the U.S.box. Honduras almost got a goal. Come on U.S.!!! And I need to stop writing on my notebook as if I was Juan Carlos Osorio. Otherwise I would go insane. Ed would probably agree with me.
* 85' Honduras is starting to put pressure on the U.S. Did I mentioned that the Cuatros waitresses are cute?
* 88' Shot by Feilharber straight to the goalkeeper.
* 89' Big save by Timmy in the near post.
* 90' 4 minutes of stoppage time
Full Time: U.S.A. 2 Honduras 1. Blood pressure back to normal.
* 96' Ed has left the building.
Summery: And good yet not satisfactory result for the U.S. That type of performance isn't going to cut it when they travel to South Africa for the Confederations Cup. For me, I was surprised that Clark did well in that match as well as Spector. Dempsey needs to find his mojo back again.
So that's my write up. Sorry if it wasn't as good as D.J.'s Steam of Consciousness (can't live up to the legend there), but at least it's worth reading of what's going though my mind during the game. I'm pretty sure Ed does. ;-)
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Weekend Thoughts
So far my soccer weekend is a little more bad than good in terms of game results. You have the U.S.A. lack of heart & passion let alone their defense in their 3-1 loss at Costa Rica on Wednesday. And then there's last night's Aztex flat effort against the still unbeaten Charleston Battery. I hope both U.S.A & Austin can bounce back tonight and tomorrow and get some wins under the belt. I will post my thoughts about the qualifiers as well as the Aztex games in my next blog.
The bright spot is that the Aztex U-23 put on a clinic against Houston on Thursday in Bastrop. Tony from Chantico's Army has his summery of the match right here. And base on that, it looked like a very good turnout for the match. much props for those attending the match.
And finally I was able to meet with members of the Crocketteers who were at Cuatros for the U.S.-Costa Rica match on Wednesday & the Aztex-Battery match last night. It was a please to meet their leader & founder Michael Macia along with Daniel Rodriguez and others who are trying to get a soccer team in San Antonio. They're having a good time here in Austin and looking forward to good & positive things ahead.
Until then, GO USA !!! COME ON YOU AZTEX!!!!
The bright spot is that the Aztex U-23 put on a clinic against Houston on Thursday in Bastrop. Tony from Chantico's Army has his summery of the match right here. And base on that, it looked like a very good turnout for the match. much props for those attending the match.
And finally I was able to meet with members of the Crocketteers who were at Cuatros for the U.S.-Costa Rica match on Wednesday & the Aztex-Battery match last night. It was a please to meet their leader & founder Michael Macia along with Daniel Rodriguez and others who are trying to get a soccer team in San Antonio. They're having a good time here in Austin and looking forward to good & positive things ahead.
Until then, GO USA !!! COME ON YOU AZTEX!!!!
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