Soccer Watch
By Nick Barbaro, Fri., June 28, 2013
The Austin Aztex stayed undefeated Saturday in Oklahoma City, but the scoreless draw marked the first blemish on their heretofore perfect PDL season. This week, the 7-0-1 Aztex try to finish a season sweep of the Houston Dutch Lions, whom they've beaten three times already. Eberly's Army is holding a "Let's Kick Hunger Out" food drive at the game; bring nonperishable donations for the Capital Area Food Bank, which provides 20,000 meals a week to area children, who are in greater need now than ever during the summer holiday. 7:30pm, Saturday, June 29, at House Park, 13th & Lamar... Then on Friday, July 5, the Aztex host the West Texas Sockers; come out early for a full set of country music by Brass Buckle, featuring the ever-lovely Colin Clark, 6:30-7:15pm... Only one more regular season game after that: OKC on Saturday, July 13. And, taking a peek at prospective playoff matchups, I see the Orlando U23s have fallen into third place and out of playoff position in the PDL Southeast, which will provide the Aztex' first-round opponents, either here or in Florida, the weekend of July 26-28.
At the Confederations Cup in Brazil, the riots intensified, peaking at perhaps a million people over the weekend. FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke confirmed that "there's no plan B" for next year's World Cup, and said of the current situation, "We are definitely not under [siege]. There is security." The last two games of the tournament will be shown live this Sunday, June 30. Third Place: Uruguay vs. Spain or Italy, 11:45am, ESPN2 and Univision. Final: Brazil vs. Spain or Italy, 5:30pm, ESPN and Univision.
The U.S. is still alive in the Group of Death at the U-20 World Cup being played in Turkey. A 4-1 loss to Spain and a 1-1 draw with France leave the Americans needing a win over Ghana to advance to the final 16.
