Lightning hopes to strike gold

In just its first season, indoor soccer program Louisville Lightning has reached the US Open Cup Final, where it will play the PASL champion and juggernaut San Diego Sockers tonight (Saturday, April 11) at Mockingbird Valley (7.30 p.m.)

The single-elimination, bracket style competition began last December with over 40 teams and is now down to the final two survivors.

On its way to the final, the Lightning has beaten West Virginia Quantum Force, Ohio Vortex, Detroit Waza, and Cincinnati. San Diego’s draw included a bye and three wins over top PASL-Premier (amateur) teams, the San Diego Fusion, Estadio Azteca All-Stars, and Vitesse Dallas.

Lightning Head Coach Scott Budnick won the league’s Coach of the Year honors after leading the expansion team to an 11-5 record despite having just one player (GM David Horne) on his roster with prior professional indoor experience.

“( San Diego Sockers) are a storied organization and have several championship banners to their name,” said Budnick. “To get a result against them for our fans would be quite an accomplishment.”

To purchase tickets, which are $10 or $35 for a family of four, check out the Lightning Web site (www.louisvillelightning.com), or call 502-727-9070.

World Cup Countdown – Underestimate Slovenia at your peril

When Slovenia qualified for its first ever World Cup in 2002, it became the smallest ever nation to play on soccer’s biggest stage.

Now the 19-year-old country, which split from Yugoslavia in 1991, has done it again and finds itself in Group C with the USA, England and Algeria.

The Slovenians have been dismissed by oddsmakers as 150-1 longshots to win the tournament and considered unlikely to progress beyond stage one, ranked 12-1 third favorites of four.

However, it would dangerous for anyone here in the United States to believe it’s going to be a cakewalk for Bob Bradley’s men and England to make the last 16 from a group dubbed as the ‘group of life’.

Beating hotly fancied Russia in a two legged play-off should be warning enough that Slovenia is not turning up to South Africa for a spot of wildlife sightseeing and to lose all three group games, like it did in 2002.

Coach Matjaz Kek was an unpopular choice when appointed nearly three years ago and was labeled ‘Kekec’, a slang term for a naïve fool. He even told Zlatko Dedic in a phone conversation in 2007 that the forward did not figure in his plans anymore. Dedic went on to score the all decisive goal against Russia which guaranteed Slovenia its place in South Africa.


However, Kek has won over critics, adopting a successful 4-4-2 formation which sees his team play a neat, short passing game.

It includes experienced central defender Bostjan Cesar, two attacking full-backs in Bojan Jokic and Miso Brecko, and West Bromwich Albion's Robert Koren, who is partnered in midfield by Aleksandar Radosavljevic.

Up front, Dedic partners the star of the team, Cologne striker Milivoje Novakovic.
Another to keep an eye out for is midfielder Rene Krhin, a 19-year-old who has begun to make waves at Inter Milan.

Slovenia’s clash with England on June 23 will be interesting to say the least, following a rather heated friendly game between the pair last September. Fabio Capello’s boys won that game 2-1, but Slovenia’s players vowed afterwards that they intend to wind up Wayne Rooney -- who won a rather dubious penalty -- and exact revenge on the English.

Before that, however, it plays against the United States in Johannesburg on June 18 and this game will have a critical bearing on who qualifies for the second stage.
It is hard to envisage the Slovenians losing every match this time round (it should at least overcome Algeria), and that means they will be in there with a shout of progression. England and USA - - you have been warned!

Above: Milivoje Novakovic

Academy news won’t deter local soccer superpowers

Javanon and Mockingbird’s combined proposal to join the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Development Academy may not have been among those chosen for next season, but that will not deter them in their continuing bid for inclusion in the future.

Louisville’s biggest youth soccer clubs – which feature a number of southern Indiana players – have joined forces in an attempt to have two elite teams involved in what can best be described as a national super league.

After an extensive review process which involved more than 200 applicants across the nation, two Minnesota clubs were selected at the weekend to join the academy — Minnesota Thunder and Shattuck-St Mary’s.

Additionally, the San Jose Earthquakes and Seattle Sounders will also field teams in 2010-11, as both Major League Soccer clubs have merged with local youth clubs to further player development.


U.S. Soccer said all clubs were evaluated to determine which ones had the best potential to generate future national team players. It was based on a number of categories, including geographic location, history of player production, coaching staff and administrative capabilities.

The Development Academy was created in 2007 in an effort to bring the game up to par with the rest of the world in terms of cultivating young talent. Focus is on developing the players rather than going after results, according to coaches.

The academy structure allows scouts identify a lot more players capable of becoming part of the national team pools, and long term it is hoped to change the quality of the player at all levels of American soccer.

However, it has also attracted some criticism as the nine month season, which starts in September, clashes with high school soccer in certain areas and prevents players kitting out for their HS teams.

There is a total of 77 top youth soccer clubs in the U.S. participating in the 2009-10 season. They field one team in each of the two academy mixed-age groups at U-15/16 and U-17/18 levels.

Teams are divided into 10 geographically based divisions and play approximately 30 games a year, training at least three days a week during the season.

The top 32 teams in each age group advance to the playoffs, where they compete for one of eight spots in the academy finals week at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, which has been televised in the past on ESPN.

Althought the announcement was made on its website at the weekend (www.ussoccer.com), sources at Javanon and Mockingbird said they believed they would be notified of a decision on May 1.