Soccer Watch

Lady Longhorns Season ends; Club Teams at Nationals

Well, the UT women have still never won a game in the NCAA tournament. They lost to Mississippi on Friday, 1-0, and once again it was a lack of finishing that did them in. As in every one of their conference and tournament losses this year, they outshot their opponents, but failed to get results. This is a very young team, though, with seven freshmen who played regularly, and only one senior starter; they'll be back next year. The Big 12 as a whole held their own in the first weekend, with four of eight teams winning their first-round games and two -- Kansas and Texas A&M -- advancing to the Sweet 16. Nationally, the one big upset was No. 3 Notre Dame losing early to Michigan.

UT is still in contention for a couple of national championships, though, as both men's and women's Club teams are off to Tuscaloosa, Ala., this weekend, to vie for the national Sport Club (i.e. non-varsity) championship. See www.nirsa.net/sc/soccer for more info, and results.

Fire vs. Earthquakes in the MLS Cup Final: The Chicago Fire advanced past the New England Revolution last weekend, as the San Jose Earthquakes ousted the Kansas City Wizards. The title game is next Sunday, Nov. 23, at 2:30pm, broadcast live on ABC.

Freddy stays home: The signing of 14-year-old phenom Freddy Adu to a six-year contract with the MLS made front-page headlines across the country. What? No Manchester United? No Inter Milan? There had been rumors, but relax, folks: The kid gets to live at home in Maryland while he plays at D.C. United, and if he stays the whole six years -- a long stretch in any pro sports contract -- he'll jump into the world market at the ripe old age of 20, with six years seasoning in what is truly becoming a world-class pro league. There's time enough.

Europe: At press time, the last five qualifiers for Euro2004 have just been decided, in a Saturday/Wednesday home-and-home playoff (right). The winners round out the field of 16 for next summer's tourney in Portugal, second in prestige only to the World Cup. Favored Holland avoided their second straight humiliation after not making WC2002, WC semifinalists Turkey were shocked by Latvia, and Scotland and Wales joined Ireland on the sidelines. "International weekend" -- when all the players go off and play for their national teams -- meant a week off in league play across the continent; they're back this weekend, and in Champions League action Tuesday-Wednesday, Nov. 25-26. This is the next-to-last Champs League game day; key matchups include Arsenal at Inter Milan, Tuesday, 1:30pm, to be shown live on ESPN2.

Euro 2004 Playoff Results

Russia over Wales: 0-0, 1-0

Croatia over Slovenia: 1-1, 1-0

Latvia over Turkey, 0-1, 2-2

Spain over Norway: 2-1, 3-0