Soccer Watch

First-year striker Maxwell Griffin scored the first hat trick in Austin Aztex history Saturday night, as the Aztex beat Miami 3-1 after having their nine-game unbeaten streak broken in the previous game. With the win, the Aztex improve to 8-2-3 on the season – three wins more than anyone else in the league. Just three nights later, the Aztex got their second-ever hat trick – this one from new roster addition Peri Marosevic, who's here on loan from FC Dallas – in a 3-1 win over the Arizona Sahuaros in the second round of the U.S. Open Cup at House Park. The Aztex's hectic WC month continues, as they're on both coasts in the next five days: at Miami Saturday; in Fullerton, Calif., on Tuesday to face Chivas USA in the Open Cup third round; then back in the House next Saturday to host the Puerto Rico Islanders: Saturday, July 3, 7:30pm; House Park, 13th & Lamar. www.austinaztex.com.

World Cup: As we go to press, half of the field is set for the 16-team knockout round, and eight teams have been sent home. The other spots will be filled Thursday and Friday, and round-of-16 games are Saturday-Tuesday, June 26-29; full schedule on the next page.

This weekend: Organizers couldn't have asked for a better lineup for the U.S. TV audience, with the USA-Ghana and Mexico-Argentina as the 1:30pm games Saturday and Sunday (respectively), plus a renewal of the England-Germany rivalry for the Sunday 9am tilt. (And speaking of rivalries, recall that it was Ghana that knocked the U.S. out of the last WC.)

African teams have fizzled – only Ghana will eke through to the second round, on a tiebreaker at that... But their neighbors across the sea in South America are still undefeated – Argentina and Paraguay won their groups, and the other three teams lead theirs as well... Chile-Spain, the final game of the group stage (Friday, June 25, 1:30pm) could be the toughest game of the entire stage. One of these very good teams could be out early, and indeed Spain, the pretourney overall favorite, probably needs a win to stay alive... Goals – at a premium the first week – came in droves in the second: seven of the 16 games had at least three tallies, led by Portugal's 7-0 romp over North Korea... Landon Donovan's extra-time winner against Algeria, keeping the U.S. alive, is the dramatic highlight of the tournament so far, and saved us from four years of media whining about bad refereeing.