And Now, A Word From The Aztex Gaffer

Please read Adrian Heath's Postcard From Texas from the Daily Mail in the UK. Very interesting stuff on what he has to say about the state of soccer in the U.S. BTW Beckham wasn't the first soccer player on SI's cover.

And Mr. Peter Reid, need any sunscreen lotion? ;-)

Houston, We Have A (Stadium) Problem

After seeing highlights of the awful & crappy field conditions at Robinson Stadium last Saturday between Houston and Columbus, you hope to pray that the Dynamo will get their own stadium soon. Things were looking up when they announced on Tuesday that financing for Dynamo stadium is nearly a done deal and that they would share the stadium with Texas Southern University. Then according to Glenn Davis of the Soccer Hour, the deal just hit a snag thanks in part to the local Houston council members. The biggest fear from this is that Houston could lose their team (St. Louis a most likely destination). It's bad enough when MLS keeps promoting expansion teams like Seattle, Vancouver & Portland and yet totally ignores the stadium problems that their current teams are still facing like San Jose, New England, D.C. United & Houston. I for one personally (as a FC Dallas fan) doesn't not want Houston to move out of Texas especially when we are starting to grow the sport in the Lone Star State and that they already established a core fan based in the area. We can not let politics take away our passion for the game.

Yep. Another Aztex Signing And USL Live Is Free!

This evening the Austin Aztex announced that they signed Josh Alcala to the squad making him the 19th player on the team. The Buda native was a standout for the Aztex PDL team last season. Congrats to him on fulfilling him dream to play pro soccer in his hometown. He's one of Chantico's Army favorites.

In other news, USL announced that USL Live will broadcast non-Fox Soccer Channel matches free online this season. This comes with USL's partnership with NeuLion. This is very excellent news for USL fans across U.S. and Canada who want to see their team away from home if they can't make it to their game.

Another Aztex Signing.

Wow. Things are getting started up here. After signing 2 new players yesterday, the Aztex sign another one this time coming out from the University of North Carolina. Midfeilder Mike Callahan is the newest member to the team which makes him the fourth player from the ACC signed by the team, and third in two weeks. According to Buzz from 3rd Degree, "he’s so calm and confident in possession that his demeanor rubbed off on his teammates who just kept coming. He’s just a real nice, well rounded central midfielder that would do well in a two man flat four." So Callahan would fit nicely in the central midfield. I would like to see how all three would do next Friday against Puerto Rico. Hopefully there will be more signings for days to come just to wrap up our squad for next month. I can't wait.

No Title Header Needed

Normally I believed that cheerleaders or dance squads have no place in pro soccer.

So tell me why they're now there in Dallas? Better yet, don't answer that. ;-)

But then again, there's plenty of them in Mexico & South America (NSFW).

Austin Signs Two More Players; Watson 's Now A Hammerhead

Today the Austin Aztex signed midfielder Ryan Caugherty and defender David Sias to the squad for the upcoming season. Caugherty has playing experiences with the Carolina Dynamo & Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL as well as other European clubs. Silas was Chicago Fire's 2009 draft pick coming from University of California-Irvine and was Big West Conference Defender of the Year.

Meanwhile former Austin Aztex U-23 and FC Dallas player Jamie Watson signed a contract with the Wilmington Hammerheads of USL-2. Even though some of us wished he was here with the Aztex, we wish Jamie to best of luck with his new club.

Special 1 TV - EP06

Here is the latest one from Special 1 TV. Happy tweetering!

Fulltime: Real Salt Lake vs Austin Aztex [R]

Real Salt Lake 3 Austin Aztex 1

Bernard scores in the 72nd minute from a corner kick assisted by Alex Tapp to equalize at 1-1. But Yura Movsisyan was able to score in the 82nd minutes and Javier Morales puts the game away in stoppage time for a RSL win.

Perhaps the defense ran out of gas at the end. But they were able to get an equalizer in the 2nd half which is a plus for the attacker.

Real Salt Lake should improve this upcoming season just as long as they don't hit the woodwork too much. ;-)

The coverage of the game (from the Salt Lake radio to the MLS matchtracker) really sucked. I don't know if it's MLS' way to disrespect a USL club or the league itself, but this lack of knowledge and respect from both sides has got to stop. Jason from Match Fit USA wrote a blog about this MLS & USL dysfunctional relationship. The last thing that we need is a soccer civil war in this country.

Please tell me what you think about the coverage of the game or the relationship between the leagues and what should be done to fix this situation.

Halftime: Real Salt Lake vs Austin Aztex [R]

Real Salt Lake 1 Austin Aztex 0.

Olave's 41st minute goal from a corner kick by Morales is the difference in the match. As I'm listening to the "homer" online radio, they talk too much about the RSL's season more than what was going on the field. Is there one thing that really needs to improve from the soccer radio & TV announcers is to CONCENTRATE WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE GAME. Plus they really need to do some serious homework on not only the Austin Aztex but USL in general. But they're MLS so it doesn't surprise me about their ill informed comments and errors:

* Come on now. We are a new team, NOT a promoted team from the PDL.

* Heath won honors at Everton, not Stoke.

* And the season starts on April 18, not April 4.

Overall the radio announcers suck.

Also did I mentioned that they misspell the word Aztex with Astex on the MLS website?

March 21, 2009		Rio Tinto Stadium
Austin Astex	vs.	Real Salt Lake

0	45:00 halftime	1
Scoring:
RSL -- Jamison Olave 1 (Javier Morales ) 37
Discipline:
RSL -- Clint Mathis (caution; Dissent) 30
Audio | Video | Play-by-Play

Good Grief!

Real Salt Lake vs Austin Aztex on the Radio

Thanks to the Aztex blog, the Real Salt Lake vs Austin Aztex game will be available on the radio online at RSL's local radio: http://www.kall700sports.com/. So turn in at 2pm CST and click on the "Listen Live" link for the game.

EDIT: Matchtracker for the game here.

Austin Astex

Starting Lineup

1 - Miguel Gallardo (GK) 2 - Zack Pope 3 - Lyle Adams 4 - Ryan Caugherty 5 - Kieron Bernard 6 - Gareth Evans 7 - Sullivan Silva 8 - Eddie Johnson 9 - Gifton Noel Williams 14 - Yordany Alvarez 17 - Ryan McMahen

Substitutes

18 - Sam Reynolds (GK) 10 - Kyle Brown 11 - Jarius Holmes 12 - Alex Tapp 15 - Wes Allen 16 - Josh Alcala

USL News & Notes 3-19-2009

The Austin Aztex signed a Jamaican-born defender Lyle Adams yesterday. He will join his new teammates on Saturday when the Aztex travel to Sandy, Utah to take on Real Salt Lake.

Meanwhile the Aztex's next home preseason game opponent the Puerto Rico Islanders defeated Cruz Azul 2-0 in their first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League semifinals. The 2nd leg will be played at Estadio Azul on Tuesday, April 7 in Mexico City.

And most of USL-1 fans know that the Vancouver Whitecaps are moving to MLS in 2011 and most likely that the Portland Timbers will follow them as well. USL issued a statement regarding Vancouver MLS expansion. If the Portland situation follows, then the Pacific Northwest soccer fans would be looking forward to the 2011 season and their continued regional rivalry between Seattle, Vancouver & Portland.

Now the situation for USL-1 is what to do with finding new teams to join the league knowing that Tampa Bay and New York are in the cards for 2010. What about the situation in Orlando with Pachuca? What about Phoenix, Arizona? Is Atlanta getting it's soccer team back? At least one bright spot is that Miami FC is going to play this season. I hope Miami would get it's club going and grow in a stable manner.

BTW check out what the Cleveland City Stars "cut" as their new stadium. And you thought their new player's name was odd. ;-)

Jozy's Revenge?

As a frustrated Yank supporter like myself, I hate to see the likes of Jozy Altidore not get any playing time at Xerez where he's on loan. The coach says that it's lack of fitness and work ethic is the reason why he wasn't picked on the game day squad.

Yeah right.

Perhaps the clubs is working on other "fitness & work ethic" issues at well:

From Ives: Xerez president arrested in brothel shooting

And now there are reports that he resigns after the brothel shooting.

Can you say Karma? Now I can only hope that Jozy can get a deal to join Levante for the rest of the season and leave Xerez ASAP. It's obvious that the coach or the team didn't need him in the first place.

Oh BTW Jozy was called into USA camp. ;-)


UPDATE: Jozy's interview from the New York Times: In Spain, Altidore Seems Stuck in Limbo

Monday Morning Midfielder: Aztex vs Crew

Aztex 1 Crew 0. We actually beat the defending MLS & Supporters Shield champs.

First win for the Aztex in front of 1,959 at Nelson Field was great. The weather was cold but not windy. And the funky drummers were providing the energy from the first minute to the end of the game.

Apparently news were coming out mentioning that the Columbus Crew were not looking forward to playing the Aztex at Nelson Field to the artificial turf. They already had Robbie Rogers out for the game due to picking up an injury during a scrimmage. But the crew will have to deal with it during the season seeing that they have to play at New York, New England, Seattle & Toronto (if they didn't change it to grass). That turf issue is what MLS should have tackled in the first place but their priorities in my opinion are more about expansion and less on the playing field (plus the level of play).



The way the Crew play that night showed it. The Aztex dominated on possession, totals shots & fouls. The Crew had 2 good chances all evening and one of those shots were save by Gallardo. Then Eddie Johnson was able to find space in the middle and shoot a 20-yard low shot past Hesmer for a 1-nil lead. Then in the 35th minute Gino Padula's bad tackle on Sullivan Silva produced a red card and the Crew were forced to play 10 men for the entire match. Surprising the Aztex were able to hold on for the win.



Instead of the Crew heading back to the bus, the players stayed on the field and did after the game practice. The coach and coaching staff were not pleased with the performance. The only ones from the Crew that I can think of that showed up for the game were Schelotto (frustrated game for him)& Hedjuk (busy on the flanks defending & attacking).



Here are other news and reports from the game:

Austin Aztex: Austin Aztex FC defeat MLS Champion Columbus Crew 1-0

The Statesman: Aztex beat Columbus Crew 1-0 in exhibition

News 8 Austin: Aztex defeat MLS Champion Columbus Crew 1-0

Columbus Dispatch Crew Xtra Blog: Austin Aztex 1, Crew 0



Chantico's Army: Match Report :: Austin Aztex USL1 v. Columbus Crew

The Aztex's next preseason game will be at Real Salt Lake next Saturday and then after that on April 3 there's a preseason game at Nelson Field against the USL-1 Supporter Shield Champs & USL-1 Finalists the Puerto Rico Islanders. It's a nice turn up for both Real Salt Lake & Puerto Rico since they will be preparing for the upcoming MLS Season & the CONCACAF Champions League Semi-finals.

Pre-Game Thoughts - Aztex vs Crew

This Saturday will be the final preseason home game for the Aztex to prepare for the upcoming season that begins on April 18. Their next preseason match will be against Real Salt Lake in their new digs at Rio Tinto Stadium.

Now the players that you should look out for from the Columbus Crew are:

* Guillermo Barros Schelotto who is the heart of the Crew's attack and MVP of MLS Cup 2008. And it helps that he's a Boca Juniors legend.

* Robbie Rogers who is very dangerous on the flanks. However according to Chris from The Aztexan, he suffered a slight hamstring strain during a scrimmage against St. Edwards yesterday.

* Frankie Hejduk - despite his age he's still a speedy fullback. Plus he's the team captain, still a member of the U.S. National team, surfer dude, and a fan favorite (especially with the Hudson Street Hooligans). Just search on Youtube to see why. ;-)

The game starts at 7:30pm (CST). The Chantico Army members will gather at Nomads at 5:00pm and then drive over to Nelson Field around 7:00pm. I'm going to rest up after work to save some energy for the game. So I hope to see you there and bundle up because the weather is going to be chilly out there. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Phil Rawlins on AM 1300 Tomorrow

Just to let you know that Austin Aztex owner Phil Rawlins will be on The Wake Up Call on AM 1300 The Zone tomorrow morning to discuss this Saturday's Aztex's game against the defending MLS Cup Champs the Columbus Crew. He's also is going to pick the grand prize winner of the radio contest to send the winner on an all expenses paid trip (IIRC) to England to see Stoke City take on West Ham in a EPL game. I'm not too sure if a member of the Columbus Crew is going to be on the radio show as well. So stay turn to that.

Tomorrow I will post my pre-game thoughts about the Columbus Crew. Hopefully the rain will go away by Saturday's kick off. But the cold will be here so bundle up. Somebody in Chantcio's Army mentioned that the Crew were training in England last week and they brought that English raining weather with them on their way to Austin.

Monday Morning Midfielder: Aztex vs Dynamo Post-Game

What can I say.

Good crowd of 4,000+ at Nelson Field.
1st Aztex goal.
1st Aztex red card.
Electric atmosphere.
Smoke bombs & flares (from the Houston supporters that is). Not encouraged at Nelson Field.

And a 2-2 final score. Very good result for the Aztex. Much improved from last week's game against the Revs. But there are things that still need improving on. You can get the game summaries and reports from:

The Stateman: Aztex get 1st pro goal in club history, tie Houston Dynamo

Chantico's Army: Austin Aztex vs Houston Dynamo Match Report

Houston Dynamo: Dynamo tie Aztex 2-2 in friendly

Austin Aztex: Aztex secure 2-2 tie against Dynamo



My thoughts on the game:

* Sullivan Silva's goal was the highlight of the match even though he lasted only 20 minutes of the game. He had to come off with a hamstring injury. Let's hope the injury isn't serious and he can be able to perform this upcoming Saturday's game against the current MLS Champs the Columbus Crew.

* The referee's decision to give Gift's first yellow card was a joke. The second yellow maybe or maybe not. But it was harsh in my honest opinion.

* Is there one thing that the Aztex can not do is to conceded goals early in the half. Sadly that happen in the 2nd half.

* How sweet would it have been if Alvarez's last strike went in the back of the net instead of hitting the left post. That would've been an awesome result.

* Houston could have scored from both occasion: One in the 1st half from Ching's shot from the left edge of the box that went past Gallardo but wide of the right post. Then in the 2nd half Corey Ashe running down the left flank 1-on-1 with the keeper but his shot was way off target.



* Little disappointed that the Texian Army didn't bring a large number of supporters. Note the emphasizes on the word "little".

* Not surprised about El Batallón's number of supporters though.



After this incident the very next day, Capitol Metro Bus called for Ozone Action Day due to the heavy smog left behind from those Houston supporters. ;-)

Well that's all that I could think of. What do you think about the game? Please share your thoughts and post comments about about the game. Until then, I'll see you this Saturday when the Austin Aztex will take on the Village People from Columbus, Ohio. ;-)

Game Day - Aztex vs Dynamo

It's currently cloudy and windy here in Austin which is way better than last week's cold & windy weather. Hopefully tonight's game will be more spring-like weather instead of freezing winter-like weather. Knowing the El Batallón and Texian Army will be there will make the game even more passionate.

Now the question for Houston in this game is that are they going to start their reserve players after crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League by Atlante 3-0 (4-1 on agg.) or are they going to start their usual starters for the 1st half anf reserves in the 2nd half. Either way, they now must concentrate on their prepararion for the upcoming 2009 season and put their CCL exit behind them. But it's not going to be easy after losing Eddie Robinson 4-6 months with a knee injury. So will see if Julius James & Bobby Boswell can get the job done in the central defense. So of the key players that you should look for in the game are Ricardo Clark, Brian Ching, Corey Ashe & Stuart Holden (who sadly lost his father last week - our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family).

Meanwhile the Austin Aztex are looking to inprove from last week's lost to the New England Revolution and hope not to conceded early goals in each half. There was a nice artilce in the Statesmen this week about Gifton Noel-Williams and how he is settling into his new club and hopes to bring in his experiences to the Aztex. Then you have newly signed Aztex player Eddie Johnson (no, not that American striker Eddie Johnson ;-) ). The English midfielder comes over to the Aztex after playing for numerious clubs including Manchester United, Coverntry City & Bradford City. I would imagine that Adrian Heath is looking to solidify his starting 11 in this match. But I also think that he's looking to add new players comimg from the MLS, especially after the waiver draft. This author hopes that former FC Dallas & former Austin Aztex U-23 PDL player Jamie Watson returns to Austin and partners up with Gifton on the attack. The keey players to look for on the Aztex are Zach Pope, Kyle Brown (who was on the Wake Up Call on 1300 The Zone radio with Adrian Heath and is an ex-Houston Dynamo player) & Sullivan Silva. Now Silva is one that you should really want to watch especially with his pace, quick dribbling skills and isn't afraid to go 1-0n-1 against defenders. I hope he gets to start to see if he be able to get past the Dynamo defenders.

So the Aztex-Dynamo game starts at 7:30 pm. Members of Chantico's Army will be at La Palapa at 5:00 pm for pregame bevvie. La Palapa is located right next to Reagan High School and Nelson Field on Cameron Road & 290. Then we will be marching up to Nelson Field around 6:00-6:30pm for the game. ONE MAJOR NOTE: Chantico's Army will now be at Section A in the upper stands of the stadium instead of the lower stands of Section Z. We received positive feedback from fans saying that moving from Section Z to Section A in the 2nd half was much better than the 1st half. So hopefully that energy will continue on through the season.

So I hope to see everyone there. GO AZTEX!!!!!

Adrian Heath on the Morning Wake Up Call; Houston Dynamo out of the CONCACAF Champions League

Adrian Heath and a yet unnamed player will be on 1300AM The Zone tomorrow during the Morning Wake Up Call. The show starts at 6am CST, so keep it tuned in to the station.

Sadly (for Houston fans), the Houston Dynamo will travel to Austin from Cancun after crashing out of the CONCACAF Champions League 3-0 against Atlante in the 2nd leg. Atlante wins 4-1 on aggregate and advances to face the Montreal Impact-Santos Laguna winner. The second leg will be on Thursday in Torreon, Mexico and Montreal lead 2-0 on aggregate. This painfully extends MLS clubs to go win less south of the border and does not help MLS and it's clubs to gain any international respect. Lets hope that our USL clubs Montreal & Puerto Rico do well in their 2nd leg matches. Here's a debate question: What does MLS clubs have to do to perform better than the USL clubs in these competitions? One could argue that cutting the roster size and salary cap issues have hurt MLS.

Don't forget that the Aztex will take on the Dynamo this Saturday evening starting at 7:30pm. I know for sure that the stadium will be pack knowing that the traveling Houston Dynamo supporters will be at Nelson Field. So it will be an electric atmosphere......and hopefully warmer weather. ;-)

Statewide PDL Tryouts.

RGV Bravos FC wrap up open tryout phase

Sockers Announce Three More Tryout Dates

Heat Announces Try-Out Dates

DFW Tornados PDL Team 09 Tryouts

Aztex' Phil Rawlins & Gifton Noel-Williams on KXAN's GameNight

Rotten Cherry

You know sometimes people who know their own sport do not appreciate the good things in life about it and put their own narrow politics in front of it. Here's one of those examples.

Minus xenophobia and racism, Cherry has point about Ovechkin





Now all of a sudden Don Cherry wants the NHL to act like the NFL (No Fun League) and doesn't want Canadians to act and celebrate like soccer-like "non-Canadians". Let me remind him that if it wasn't for American teams in the NHL (NATIONAL, not Canadian, Hockey League) and the Americans, Russian, Czech and other hockey players of different nationalities, race & ethnicity around the world, the league would be struggling financially and be in a terrible condition compared to their current one.

A black eye in NHL = good momentum for MLS and soccer in the USA and Canada.

Austin Aztex vs New England Revolution Results

Austin Aztex 0 New England Revolution 2

Goals: 7' Videria 57' Papandrea (OG)

Gameday Tracker from the Rev's Blog

Game Report from the Austin Aztex.

Game Summary from the Statesman