Category: Sidewinder Insider

The World Cup begins on Thursday, and for casual soccer fans in the United States, that means it’s time to sit back and enjoy the U.S. Open.

Indeed, if you live in one of the 50 states and follow “The Beautiful Game” only when the U.S. is in the quadrennial competition, there’s nothing to see here. The Americans famously flopped in qualifying and didn’t make the 32-nation field.

This is the first time the team in red, white and blue has missed the cut since 1986 and it’s pretty damn embarrassing.

Thus, there’s some really good golf to watch over the next four days at Shinnecock Hills.

But there are many people who are going to watch the World Cup no matter what, and I’m one of them. Regardless of who’s in or who’s out, I see it as the premiere sporting event in the world and want to catch as many matches as I can.

Of course it’s hard to fully enjoy sportsball unless you have a team to root for, so I had to jump on a bandwagon.

And I’m riding with Nigeria.

I became a fan of the Super Eagles in 1996 when Atlanta hosted the Olympic Games. Birmingham’s Legion Field was one of the venues used for soccer, and I covered all the matches played at the facility.

One of those contests came on July 28 when Nigeria faced Mexico in the quarterfinals and won, 2-0. I loved the team’s grittiness – how it gutted its way through group play and then, when reaching the knockout stage, started playing with great confidence and tremendous flair.

It started out the tournament as longshots but won the gold medal, outscoring Brazil 4-3 in the semifinals and stunning Argentina, 3-2, in the final.

Ever since then the Eagles have been one of my favorite squads, and they’ll be at the top of my cheering table as long as they last in Russia. It’ll be a tough task, though; they’re placed in Group D with Argentina, Croatia and Iceland.

Still, with great attackers like Kelechi Iheanacho, Alex Iwobi and Victor Moses, they’ll have a puncher’s chance in every match.

From an ancestral standpoint, I’ll also have some rooting interest in England and Spain.

My paternal lineage goes from Scotland to Wales to England, while my mother’s people trekked from Spain to England to the U.S.

Considering I watch the English Premier League religiously throughout its season and Manchester United is my favorite EPL club, it makes sense to follow The Three Lions.

The 23-man roster features four Man U players and all are culled from the English league.

Harry Kane is the top player on a talented roster, although England has a tendency to, uh, soil the sheets in this particular competition.

As for Spain, they might be the most technically sound team in the field. Plus it’s always fun to watch Sergio Busquets, Gerard Piqué and Sergio Ramos play (although Gerard Piqué has had some knee issues during training).

But there is also some major off the field drama since gaffer Julen Lopetegui – who recently re-upped as national team coach through 2020 – announced he will instead take over managerial duties at Real Madrid after the World Cup and was fired by Spain this morning. Fernando Hierro is now in charge of La Roja.

Finally, I want to see Mexico do well.

Yes, El Tri are the main association football rivals of the U.S. but, as I mentioned earlier, the U.S. ain’t playing and I’m not much into that whole hate thing. Plus, Liga MX is one of my favorite professional leagues and I’ve seen many of Mexico’s players in action, so there’s a sense of familiarity when the squad takes the field.  I’ll be neighborly and pull for Javier Hernandez and his teammates in all of their Group F matches.

At any rate, the World Cup is here and I’m here for all of it.

If you are, too, then pick a team – any team – and enjoy the show.

And if you hear me chanting “Sa Ma Sin Wa Lo” over the next couple of weeks, don’t be alarmed.

It’s just something we fans of the Super Eagles like to do.

By Scott Adamson
Adamsonmedia.com

When their inaugural National Premier Soccer League season comes to a close, Greenville FC will mark many milestones – first practice, first game, first goal scored.

Few will be remembered as fondly, however, as their first victory.

That came last Saturday in New Orleans as the expansion team from the Upstate of South Carolina stunned the homestanding Jesters, 2-1.

Trailing 1-0 at the break and through the early part of the second half, Coach Lee Squires’ squad got the equalizer from South African forward Regsan Watkins in the 75^th minute and three minutes later, Furman defender Dalton Souder scored what proved to be the game-winner.

The team’s four goals in 2018 have all come from different players, with Michelangelo Dovidio scoring the first on opening night at Georgia Revolution FC and Malcom Frago putting GVLFC on the board in their home debut against Inter Nashville.

“That first win is always a big milestone,” said Squires, whose club stands at 1-2-0 through three matches. “It’s great to get that out of the way, and in the manner we did was pretty special. As you can imagine, the locker room was buzzing afterwards, with the boys enjoying the rewards for a great night’s work.”

Coming back on the road is always a difficult task, but Squires says his team is built to be resilient.

“We said at halftime that we were the younger team with the deeper bench, so it was important we didn’t go 2-0 down, as we felt we could make some changes in the second half to finish strong,” he said. “That turned out to be the case and the late goals showed our energy was still there late in the game. Training does have to change given the games and the traveling. Most of these guys are going back to college seasons in the fall, so we have to be mindful to set them back in good condition. We can add an extra day off and go lighter at times to help manage that.”

The result was another example of the team’s rapid improvement. The players have embraced the system and come together nicely since a 3-1 season opening loss to Georgia.

“It could be as simple as just more time together, and trusting and believing in a game plan,” Squires said of the turnaround. “It’s important to back a game plan up with a win, though, as it validates what you’re trying to do. We’ve stayed patient and trusted the process, so it’s nice to get the reward of a win.

“We now have to back it up with another on Thursday.”

This week Greenville has a chance to climb the table of the South Region’s Southeast Conference with two matches over three days.

Tonight. Emerald Force SC (0-3-0) out of Knoxville comes to Stone Stadium for a 7 p.m. clash, and on Saturday the “Boys In Green” face the Revolution (2-0-2) in a rematch, also in the friendly confines of Furman University’s campus.

“We’ll see what we can find out about the opposition team,” Squires said. “It’s usually more difficult early in the season, as Emerald will be a new opponent, but then the Revs we’ve seen already. Every little detail helps, but the main focus is always on ourselves first.”

Squires add that while there were several big moments in the team’s first “W,” the glory was evenly distributed.

“Every single player was massive and just as important as the other, and it was a real team win,” Squires said. “Everyone bought in and whether they scored the game winner and played 90 minutes or played the last two minutes, each player was crucial. Sometimes you have a star player that makes a difference, but in this game, the collective was the hero.”

For ticket information, go to www.gvlfc.com.

 

Before last Saturday, I’m guessing many of the 2,077 people who showed up for the National Premier Soccer League’s debut in Greenville weren’t familiar with the concept of “community soccer.”

Now that they’ve had a taste of it, though, they’ll be back – and they might just bring some friends.

The events at Eugene Stone Stadium weren’t an unqualified success since Greenville FC fell to Inter Nashville FC, 2-1, in the home debut of G-Vegas’ home club.

But let’s not dwell on that detail.

You only get one shot at making a good first impression, and I can’t imagine anyone feeling cheated by the end of the night.

Coach Lee Squires and his “Boys In Green” showed marked improvement from their inaugural match, playing an attack-oriented, entertaining brand of soccer against a quality opponent.

It was enjoyable for the full 90-plus minutes, with the outcome in doubt up to the final whistle.

And hat’s off to the folks at Furman who “ran the show.”

From parking to ticket-distribution to all-around helpfulness, they were first class. They always are, of course, but they performed as though they’d been coordinating NPSL events for years instead of just one night.

Marco Carrizales, president and majority owner of Greenville FC, spent much of his time gripping and grinning, and he had to be happy with the number of happy people he met.

After all, this is a grassroots team in a grassroots league. Supporters will be the reason it survives and thrives.

When my wife and I arrived, we sat on the back row of the visitors’ side of the stadium near the Spinks Field House. To our right was a senior couple, to our left a young family of four, and we were among a mixture of children and adults – many wearing Greenville FC attire and some sporting colors of their favorite international clubs.

Soon the Mill Town Operatives marched in – in full voice – and set the tone for the rest of the supporters.

It was a blast.

Malcom Frago scored the first home goal in Greenville FC history when he put the hosts head in the seventh minute, but the visitors got the goal back in the ninth minute and went ahead to stay in the 12th.

Still, it was nerve-wracking (in a good way) the rest of the contest.

Had the goal been six inches wider, the “good guys” would’ve had five goals in the first half alone.

Beyond the quality of play, however, what impressed me most was how quickly the team and the town developed an attachment.

Most of us have gone to sporting events for the novelty of it all, cheering out of obligation even though – in all honesty – we don’t really care.

But the supporters did care last Saturday.

They knew names and numbers.

They knew formations.

They blamed the referees for slights both real and imagined.

They understood the game, and they understood that in community soccer, the community extends beyond the field and to every person in the stands.

Greenville FC (0-2-0) returns to league competition on Saturday in New Orleans when they face the Jesters. The next home match is May 24 when Emerald Force FC comes in for a 7 p.m. start.

According to the NPSL website, the philosophy of the league is pretty clear:

“We compete for 90 minutes on the field, we are business partners…always. We all work together to grow the game, build the NPSL, and develop our respective clubs.”

That was evident on May 12.

But the biggest achievement was the successful mixture of business and pleasure.

And while Greenville FC’s business is playing good soccer, it’ll be a pleasure to watch them do just that.

Editor’s note: This column has been updated to reflect the postponement of Wednesday’s friendly against Savannah.