25 Hours Later....And the USA WINS!!!!

I am not sure how this post is going to look because things are looking kinda funky over here with the site. But we did make it..after nearly 25 hours of traveling we arrived in Tianjin and the US beat Englang 3-0 with goals by Abby, Boxx and Lilly..Congrats we cannot wait for the Semis...Most likely we will play Brazil. This was the trip that almost didnt happen, because at about 4am I fell asleep sitting next to my suitcase and I didnt wake up until 7am (by the grace of god I woke up then)...Anyways I did make it to the airport on time..I slept for a good portion of the flight over...I will post pictures and more information later if I can get the site working better..

Travel Update

I know many of you out there were worried about our travel situation within China. Not to fear, it took two days and a night, but we got it figured out. We got plane ticket confirmation this morning and we found a car service in both Shanghai and Tianjin. So immediate problems have been solved. Now we just need everyones' prayers that we will make the second flight to the quarterfinal game, please think good thoughts for us..aka our American Airlines flight gets in early or at the very least on time, the traffic in Shanghai isn't as horrible as we have heard it is, the first Shanghai airport is easy to navigate, lines move quickly and baggage comes promptly. If all goes well...we will be watching Leslie and the rest of the US Women beat England on Saturday in the quarterfinals...

T-Minus 24 Hours

Hello everyone...This is probably one of the last posts I will post before I leave tomorrow for China. So I thought I should give you one final update..
1)The whole rain storm thing blew over and everything is fine over there for our impending arrival.
2) I heard from Leslie and she is extremely excited for us to get there...She wants me to bring her gum and clothes...
3) Last night I got my toenails painted red, white and blue..So my feet are ready to go even if I am not..
4) Last night was pretty productive...The signs are almost all finished and the care packages are in the final stages of production...
5) Face paint, cow bells, beach ball and other fan goodies have been bought and are ready to be packed. I am not going to lie at this point I have about zero room for clothes...I do have a plan though, yesterday I went to Crate&Barrel and picked up a box (since they have the easy to carry boxes with the handles) if worst comes to worst I will check that as my second checked bag...
5) Speaking of packing..I am not...So tonight I am going to have to pull everything together...
6) I pick Heather and Erika up at 7am tomorrow morning and we are heading to the airport for our 10:30 flight...We will arrive in Shanghai at 2:05pm China Time (September 22)..
7) Once we arrive in China the race is on...We have to get through customs, pick up our bags and get to another airport in Shanghai all in about 3 or so hours..We have to catch a flight to Tiajin the venue for the quarterfinals at 5:30 (they couldnt just hold them in Shanghai..no no they had to make things complicated)..we are still working on where we are going to store our luggage during the game since we wont have time to go to the hotel..If anyone knows of a travel agent or has any suggestions please leave a comment...We are getting desperate over here...
I think that is all for now..the next post you get from me may be from China..Get excited...

Congrats to Ozzy & Tarp..

Leslie & Tarp

Congrats to Leslie and Tarp...Leslie got about 35 odd minutes in the second half and Tarp went in for Lilly in the second half as well. They played great in their second ever World Cup Match...

US WINS GROUP B...NEXT UP ENGLAND

The US beat Nigeria this morning to secure the #1 spot in Group B. Lori Chalupny scored the only goal of the game in the first 55 second to give the US the win of not only the game but also of the group. Next up is England in the quarterfinals on Saturday...By that time I will be blogging from China. England has been playing really good soccer..They tied Germany in their second game and they will have an extra day of rest to boot. It is sure to be an exciting game. Congrats to all the girls on the US Team.....USA ALL THE WAY!!!!

Leslie Is Now Not Only a World Cup Soccer Star...She is Also a TV Star

Leslie Osborne..TV SOCCER SUPERSTAR

Leslie is now a TV Star..Check her out on Studio 90 on the US Soccer Website..She is wearing pink and she is compared to Denis Rodman the famous Chicago Bull rebound king....Leslie is blowing up, she better not forget the little people... ..

The Round Up...

I just wanted to give everyone an updated on the group standing...You can check out the official FIFA site for everything, but here are the highlights...
GROUP A: Germany and England tied..Which is huge after Germany won its last game 11-0 and England walked away with a tie v. Japan on a bad call in the final seconds of the game. Germany is still on top in Group A.
GROUP B (AKA The Group of Death): The USA as you know blanked Sweden 2-0..However North Korea beat Nigria by the same margin (2-0)..Meaning we are stilled neck and neck with North Korea....The next game will decide who goes #1 and who goes #2 in Group B. We are slightly lucky in that we play second so we will know how the North Korea v. Sweden game comes out. Consequently knowing exactly what we need to do to win.
GROUP C: Australia and Norway are at the top of this Group each with one win. They have yet to play their second game of the tournament. Australia has the slight edge at this point with 4 goals to Norway's 2.
GROUP D: Brazil and China are at the top this Group each with one win. They have yet to play their second of the tournament. Brazil has the slight edge at this point with 5 goals to China's 3.

Coaches Comment

Tarp in Action

On the two changes to the staring lineup:

"Leslie has done so well against Sweden and she is just great in the air, and you saw that tonight -- that she won so many head balls. She was very composed, helped us play and did a great job. Tarpley, Abby and Lilly combine really well together, so that was the thought going in. We knew very likely that Boxx would be in early and that Heather O'Reilly would come in pretty early too. I feel great to know that my first 11 and my next players can all do what it takes at this level."

Here's What Leslie Had To Say...

U.S. midfielder LESLIE OSBORNE On playing her first Women’s World Cup game:

“I wasn’t nervous. I think I was more excited than anything. This is my first World Cup start and my coach is telling me ‘I have confidence in you to mark their best player and I want you to play your game.’ I’ve been training for this for the last two years. I think all my nerves got out on the way during the National Anthem so once the whistle blew it was just fun from there.”

On why she was chosen to mark Sweden’s Victoria Svensson:

“I’m a physical player and I can mark one-v-one pretty well, so he wanted me on Svensson, their best player. I think that I match up against them because I play like them. I know their tendencies and I play that way, so I think that helps. I’ve done it before, marking top attacking players.”

On Wambach’s second goal:

“The ball Lil played to her was unbelievable, and the touch that Abby had with her chest was awesome. Her and Lil score those kinds of goals in practice all the time, so I’m not surprised that she can do it, but it was huge. The ball, Tarpley’s pass leading up to it, it was great.”

On facing Nigeria:

“We know what kind of game it’s going to be. They’re not only athletic, but they can play. They are going to mark us man to man all up and down the field. We know it’s going to be a back and forth game, kind of like the North Korea game. We’re ready for it. We keep getting better each game. Tonight was good for us to just get a rhythm possession wise, and I think we will do well against them but they are definitely good.”

Any Dream Will Do...

Last night I had a dream that the US would win 2-0 today. And I know some people might not believe me, but yesterday morning I told my friends in Con Law that I had the dream and that I thought the US would win 2-0..And they did...So I will keep you all posted on any further dreams because clearly I have psychic powers now....

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU...WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!!!

OZZY & TARP With the Rest of the Starters Before the Game

Leslie Osborne started her first ever World Cup Game today and she did AWESOME...We are all so proud of how she represented the good old Red, White and Blue today. She has worked so hard to get to this World Cup and today she proved why she deserves to be on the field to help the USA to their 3rd World Cup title. Also congrats to Tarpley who also started her first World Cup Game ever today...We love you guys and can't wait to see you this time next week.

USA WINS..USA WINS

Congrats to the US Women's National Team on an amazing win v. third ranked Sweden. The US won 2-0 on two great goals be Abby. The first was a PK and the second was an absolutely amazing half-volley. All I can say is GO USA!!!

GOOD LUCK OZZY & THE USA OF COURSE

I wanted to write a quick post wishing Leslie good luck with her first ever World Cup start...We are all soo excited for her and we will all be up (at 4am) cheering her on from here in the US until we can get over there to see her in person...Good luck to the etnire US Team as well..We are pulling for you....GOOD LUCK BEAT SWEDEN!!!

Team Pictures From China

Leslie & Some Of Her Teammates

The National Team

Leslie sent me some team photos from China so I thought I would post them for everyone to check out. I am getting more and more excited to leave for the big adventure and I CANNOT wait to get over to see Leslie...The care packages are almost done, I dont want to say too much about them because I know Leslie and Co. are checking the blog..so more on them when I get over there.

The Weekend

Over this past weekend my dad and I prepared for China. We hit Walgreens, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. We stocked up on everything from cold-medicine to travel pillows. I pretty much wanted to buy everything at Walgreens "just in case." My dad suggested that we just take an entire Walgreens Store with us over there..my dad is convinced we arent going to have any room for clothes with everything you bought. In addition we got some USA stuff..including necklaces, flag shorts, beach balls and many other things I am sure you will see in pictures while we are over there. I have been working hard on signs and buttons to take with us (yes I own a button maker). Look for signs on TV that says things like, "Osborne is Awesome".."Tarpley is Terrific"..."Brought To You Courtesy of RED, WHITE & BLUE" and much much more..I am also considering making a few buttons with Leslie's picture on them....I think it would be very "Soccer Mom." Until next time...

Its All Tied Up In Group B

FYI: Sweden and Nigria tied 1-1 this morning. This is the best result the US could hope for. With Sweden up next the US needs a win to help secure the number 1 spot in Group B. Yesterday Germany won 11-0, meaning they will win their Group and play the number 2 team in Group B. For those of you who dont know soccer..we dont want to play Germany#2 in the quarters....meeting them in the finals will be tough enough considering they are going to get way more rest than the US. People are calling Group B (USA#1, Sweden #3, N. Korea #5 and Nigria#25) the Death Group/Death March and after today it is easy to see why. Ideally from here we need to beat Sweden on Friday and then we need North Korea and Nigria to tie. What it may come down to is goals..so we need to score some.. as of now we have one more than Sweden and Nigria, so essientally we would be at the top of the group with North Korea because we both have two goals and Sweden and Nigria only have one. Alright...everyone needs to gear up for Friday..its another early one (4am)....GO USA....

US Ties North Korea

Congrats to the US on their tie v. North Korea...The US saw great goals by Abby and Heather O...Up next Sweden on September 14, 2007. GO USA!!!

Leslie Loved Those Pandas

Leslie and the team got to check out the Pandas a few days ago in China. Leslie loved them, I think she may have tried to take one home with her (She had to settle for a stuffed one in the end). You can check out the video on the ussoccer website, but I thought I would post some pics for you other panda lovers out there.

Why China..Why Now..

I thought I should give everyone out there who doesnt know me, a little background info on why I am going to China for the World Cup...I guess the biggest reason is that one of my best friends from high school Leslie Osborne #12 is actually on the Women's National Soccer Team (GO OZZY)...So she invited me and my dad to head over and support the Team in China..Joining us on our little adventure are Heather, Erica and Ethel Sorgatz...Heather and I played with Leslie back in the day on our club team Eclipse. We will be traveling with the friend and family group that US Soccer as set up, so look for posts that include everything from the Great Wall to Team Receptions...Through Leslie I have gotten to meet a number of the players on the team so I am extremely excited to get to go over and cheer them on to victory on the world's greatest stage for soccer players. Leslie has fought extremely hard to get to the World Cup and we are all so proud of her...Team Osborne as we are calling ourselves, leaves for China September 21, 2007 at 10:30am..We hope to catch the quarterfinal game on the 22nd, the semis on the 27th and then cheer the team onto World Cup Victory on the 30th..Stay tuned for posts as we all prepare for this amazing trip..

The Count to China Begins-15 Days Til Lift Off

Since the first game of the Women's World Cup in China is only a few days away, I thought it was time to start blogging to keep everyone updated on my preparations for the big trip. Yesterday I applied for my Visa and I got my #12 Osborne Jersey. When I got home I received a package from Ozzy (Leslie Osborne #12) , so it was defiantly a World Cup kinda day. I dropped by my Dad's office to drop off his Jersey today in between work and school and this weekend we are going out to stock up on travel EVERYTHING for the trip (travel pillows, food, water, medicine). I will also be working on the care packages and the signs I am preparing for Ozzy #12 and Tarp #5. Tuesday morning at 4am I will be getting up to watch the US play their first game vs. North Korea, I am excited for the game and less excited about getting up ( I was thinking maybe I would just stay up to start preparing for the time change..haha.) Stay posted for pictures and more exciting info.