Heading into their second professional season, the Austin Aztex are starting to take on a very different look. Last year’s squad featured a lot of talented young prospects with little or no pro experience, and while they certainly had their moments, the play was uneven, and the team suffered under the grind of the long season and tough road trips. This year’s squad will be a lot more seasoned. On Monday the Aztex signed defender Jay Needham to a three-year contract; the Dallas native was a first-team All-American and finalist for college player of the year while at SMU and most recently team captain at Alta in the Norwegian First Division. He’s the ninth player on the official roster, and everyone has not just experience but success at the pro level (though only Kevin Sakuda is over 25 years old). No doubt there will be some youngsters added – especially after the Feb. 13-14 open tryouts – but it looks like they’ll be the exception rather than the rule.
The U.S. women won the 2010 CONCACAF U-20 Championship Saturday in Guatemala, beating Mexico, 1-0, on a goal by UCLA’s Sydney Leroux. Both finalists qualify for this summer’s U-20 Women’s World Cup… Also on Sunday, Egypt beat Ghana, 1-0, to win their third straight Africa Cup of Nations title. That was somewhat overshadowed by the announcement the day before that Togo will be banned from the next two championships for their decision to drop out of this year’s event after a terrorist attack on their team bus left three dead… Women’s Professional Soccer suffered a blow when their marquee team, the Los Angeles Sol, folded Jan. 28… If you’re looking for a football game to watch Sunday, there’s a great one from England, as league leaders Chelsea host third-place Arsenal, live on FSC at 10am.
This article appears in February 5 • 2010.