More Footy

More soccer notes, just because. In no particular order:

1. Joanna Lohmann was not in the US player pool, but the current Philadephia Cheesesteak has been one of the better writer-athletes on my radar for a while now. She blogs occasionally here. She is also paired up with Lianne Sanderson, who has the most interesting hair in the England national player pool; unless I’m completely misreading all those tweets, they’re the most uncloseted couple in the WPS.

2. Hope Solo is a profoundly angry person.

3. Given that, Fake Hope Solo was probably inevitable.

4. I don’t mind Kelley O’Hara being left off the World Cup roster. She hasn’t particularly impressed so far in the couple of WPS games I’ve seen, and she would have had next to no chance of breaking into the ironclad Sundhage midfield anyway. Plus, this way she’ll get to drink beer while watching the matches, with the benefit of instant replay—neither of which are amenities she would have on the US bench, even in Germany.

5. Speaking of Solo, how has she been playing after surgery and rehab? I have no idea, and the dozens of people who have actually been to a magicJackass game aren’t talking. Whether that’s by choice or by being Borislowed, I cannot say. Barney isn’t as good with her feet, but she is preternaturally calm, and that might be the most important attribute any US keeper could have at this Cup with the back line we’re looking at. How many matches or minutes does Solo get if she looks rusty or significantly diminished in the pre-Cup friendlies? How will that go if she sits?

6. Speaking of surgery and rehab, my knees are still objecting to being used for much more than walking or rocking out on an elliptical machine. League play begins again at the first of June. I have to be able to get just one good game in; my son is finally old enough to join up with the adult team, and I want to play with him one time before hanging up the boots for good and for real. Maybe slotting a perfect ball for him to run onto and blast through the back of the net. One game!