Cliff Notes

At the USA's orientation meeting with FIFA referee instructor Sandy Hunt, defender Erika Tymrak was diligent in taking some notes. We snuck a peak at them after the meeting.

One note that Tymrak made to herself: No cleats up tackles. Good reminder for the feisty midfielder from Florida.

World Cup Time

The U.S. players met with FIFA officials today to get their passports and birthdays checked (gotta be born on or after Jan. 1, 1991 to play in this tournament) as well as sign the FIFA Fair Player Charter. The players also heard a 45-minute presentation on refereeing and the laws of the game from former U.S. FIFA ref and current FIFA referee instructor Sandy Hunt. All of this means that it's almost go-time here at the U-17 Women's World Cup.

Adding Friends?

There are just a few computers to share in the players' lounge, which certainly creates a log-jam for computer time with four teams of teenage girls staying at the hotel. U.S. forward Courtney Verloo was checking her Facebook page earlier this afternoon when a group of Paraguayan players gathered around her and started reading over her shoulder. Not wanting to give up her prized computer time, Verloo kept reading, "but after five minutes it got too awkward so I got off." We hope this story has a happy ending and Verloo ends up "Friending" a few of the Paraguayans.

Patriotic Manicures

With the opening of the U-17 Women's World Cup just days away, several members of the U.S. U-17s have adopted a long-time tradition on the U.S. Women's National Team, painting their nails red, white and blue for a world championship. While it's a small thing, the YNT Blog thinks it's pretty cool to put your hand over your heart, and the U.S. Soccer crest, during the National Anthem with the red, white and blue nails showing.

U-17 WWC Kicks Off: Kiwis vs. Canucks

The 2008 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup kicks off tomorrow (Oct. 28) in Auckland as the host Kiwis take on Canada in Group A action. New Zealand is certainly a slight underdog, but the hosts will no doubt be looking for a crackling start to the tournament. In such a small nation (NZ has just over four million people) the U-17 FIFA Women's World Cup has gotten a decent amount of media coverage and surely the home fans in such a great sporting country as this will be vocally supporting their team.

Said New Zealand head coach Paul Temple:

"We're quietly confident. The first game always sets the tone for a tournament but it will be all the more important for us as hosts because there will inevitably be a lot of nerves and anticipation. New Zealand is known for loving winners, so if we win, it could really get people up for the tournament and kick us on to bigger and better things."

Brock Arrives

Forward Hayley Brock, the USA's replacement for the injured Tani Costa, arrived in New Zealand yesterday, flying by herself from Massachusetts all the way to New Zealand. Since Costa was ruled out of the tournament about 36 hours before the USA departed for the World Cup, Brock couldn't make the team flight. She found out that she had been called in for the World Cup via a cell phone call from her mom, who picked her up a school and took her to lunch.

Brock celebrated her call-up at McDonald's with Chicken McNuggets.

"I didn’t really believe her when she told me," said Brock. "Mentally, I didn’t think I had a chance, so it was more of a shock than anything. It’s really sad that Tani got hurt, but I’m just going to come over here and work as hard as I can to help the team.”

Countdown to Japan

The U.S. team had two trainings today, working on some possession and set plays in the morning and then scrimmaging in the afternoon. It's pretty much been eat, sleep and play soccer (and studying their school work) since the team arrived on the morning of Oct. 25, but the young U.S. team is all about business as the U-17 Women's World Cup opener draws closer. The team's official training site at the Diocesan School for Girls has been excellent, with the field in excellent shape and the local organizers eager to make the team's stay as pleasant as possible. It's been raining on and off since the team arrived in Hamilton, but fortunately the off has been during training and the on has been when the team is at the hotel. The players have another full day tomorrow with training in the morning and some meetings with FIFA officials in the afternoon.

Two x Verloo

When the U.S. team checked into its hotel in Hamilton, it was greeted first thing by some Women's World Cup signage that featured U.S. forward Courtney Verloo playing against Germany from the Future Stars Tournament that was contested in New Zealand last January. Above is a picture of three-dimensional Courtney trying to replicate the moment with one-dimensional Courtney.

Mewis' R' Us

It seems the Mewis sisters - the first sisters to represent the USA at a world championship -- will be an intriguing story line at the U-17 Women's World Cup. Samantha (on the left) and Kristie were the subject of one of the USA's first interview requests in NZ and it's certainly not probably that two sisters (one 16 and one 17) would be on the same team in an FIFA age group competition. However, both have played major roles for the U.S. U-17s this year and ussoccer.com is interested in the story as well, so keep a lookout for an all_access video on the Mewis'.

First Training in The Books

The U.S. team held about a two-hour training in the afternoon on the first day in New Zealand and the players got a chance to get the legs moving after the long flight. Despite some high winds that gusted up to 25 miles per hour (ok, we admit we have no idea what the winds gusted to, but 25 MPH sounds pretty blustery and it did make hitting long balls difficult), the squad had a productive training session and now has just five days before the first game against Japan on Oct. 30. The Japanese and the French have arrived as well (we haven't seen the Paraguayans yet, though) and all the teams are staying at the same hotel. Some of the Japanese players are on the same floor as the USA. Awkward? Perhaps. But the players are being more than cordial thus far when passing each other in the lobbies and a Japanese player even tought Erika Tymrak a bit of Japanese while waiting for an elevator. While Tymrak's claim of being tri-lingual is probably a bit of a reach (she does speak English and Polish), it was still a nice moment of cultural diplomacy between the two first match opponents.

Baaa Baaa

It didn't take long to see the first sheep on the USA's drive from Auckland to Hamilton as defender Amber Brooks had the first confirmed sighting. Of course, there are around 50 million sheep in New Zealand so it was only a matter of minutes until one of those woolly beasts showed itself. Truth be told, though, there were more cows than sheep on the USA's beautiful drive to Hamilton through rolling countryside. There were no Hobbit sightings, but we'll keep you posted if the team takes an excursion to The Shire. It did rain a bit on the bus ride, but by the time the team got to Hamilton, the skies had cleared and the weather for training was actually quite refreshing, although very blustery. The weather is forecast for the high-60s for most of the U-17 Women's World Cup, which should make for great soccer weather as long as the wind doesn't play a factor.

Kia Ora New Zealand

After nine months of preparation this year, the historic 2008 FIFA Women's World Cup is almost ready to kick off and the U.S. team has arrived in New Zealand to put the finishing touches on its preparations. The squad arrived in Auckland early on Oct. 25 after the overnight flight from L.A. and were greeted with an extremely warm New Zealand welcome (see Morgan Brian (L to R), Mandy Laddish and Alexa Gaul above) as well as an efficient escort through customs, baggage claim and onto the bus. The team took a scenic 90-minute drive through the New Zealand countryside (whoever said this was the greenest country you'll ever see was absolutely correct) down south to Hamilton where it will play its first two group C matches. The team checked into the hotel (see Kate Bennett (L) and Jen Pettigrew below), got settled and then had lunch before enduring a tough few hours of staying awake until leaving for training. Oh yeah...Kia Ora is Hello in Maori. The Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand.