March 15, 2002

WSW's Italian correspondent is let loose at Algarve Cup 2002

(Note: The free-lance reporters Frennstedt, Aldis, and Hennies mentioned along with Rimati are long time regular contributors to WSW)

Mario Rimati

I took the big leap from Rome to Portugal's Algarve region for the 9th edition of the Algarve Cup. The two and one half hour flight from Rome to Lisbon required a further 30 minute flight to the city of Faro, located not too far from the town of Albufeira where the Americans, Canadians, Norwegians and Swedes were staying at the four-star Hotel Montechoro.

The one thing that immediately impressed me (my first time-ever in Portugal) was just how many Portuguese speak the English language. It is a far cry from the linguistic capabilities of the average Italian. It also helps that up to 4 different public TV channels show movies in the evenings in English with Portuguese sub-titles, something

unthinkable at this moment in Italy. The area is very nice and it almost seems like being in the UK, as many restaurants in the area are geared towards the large influx of British tourists that frequent the resort area.

The beach is also not too far away and should be rather inviting in the summer when the water is slightly warmer than in March. All the Portuguese I bumped into were nice and hospitable.

My stay began somewhat poorly, for my luggage got lost somewhere between Lisbon and Faro. Fortunately, the staff of TAP airlines at Faro airport gave me a small survival kit with socks, t-shirt, shaving cream and toothbrush. I arrived on a Friday and by Sunday my luggage had not arrived. Worried because they could not trace it (sent on a flight to Rio?) I washed my underwear with the small detergent packet in the survival kit and used the room hair dryer to get it dried in time to go out, hoping that my underwear would not catch fire from the intense heat coming from the dryer. Monday morning I opened the room door and much to my relief there was my luggage! I was in a GREAT mood for the rest of that day!

The last time I had seen Aaron was near Rome awhile ago for the Italy-USA friendly. I would be meeting Colin Aldis for the very first time. Both were scurrying around gathering and writing information on the event. Aaron was nice to have taken an evening off from his national team commitments to share a dinner with me and to catch up on old news. The first evening, March 3rd, I had the pleasure of also sharing a beer in the hotel with San Diego head coach Carlos Juarez who was there to scout some future WUSA players (he eventually contacted a Chinese player). One of the thrills of being at the hotel was seeing in the lobby Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Joy Fawcett, Tiffeny Milbrett, as well as Hege Riise and Dagny Mellgren of Norway who I believe are two of the toughest players in the world.

It was also nice to meet for the first time U.S. National Team sports psychologist Colleen Hacker whom I had communicated with via e-mail for tips on motivating players. I met assistant coach Bill Palladino of UNC and when I went to shake his hand I said "Yes, I know who you are because you are in Anson Dorrance's training videos." I also had my picture taken at one of the games with April Heinrichs. All were great about meeting and talking to an Italian soccer aficionado.

The weather at the beginning was a little on the cool side, but towards the end of the event the sun finally came out enabling many of us to catch a few rays (and some even to take a dip in the ocean).

On Saturday I checked out U.S. practise along with Colin. It was quite a scene to watch Joy's husband leading the three young Fawcett girls to see their mom workout . Danielle Fotopoulos was also there with her young daughter, and her mother was there as babysitter. Soccer moms extraordinaire, without a doubt (and dads too)!

Upon my return to the hotel there in the lobby was a familiar group of people. May Fair (mother of Lorrie and Ronnie), Thorsten Frennstedt who has probably seen more national team games than anyone else in the world with attendance at over 250 of his beloved Swedish Team, and Germany's Rainer Hennies, a free lance journalist who is an expert on German soccer; both men and women.

With Colin and some photographers we all went out for dinner that night. As I walked into the lobby of the Hilton Hotel I saw and recognised Sun sitting on a couch. I looked at her and said "Aren't you Sun Wen? I am Mario." At that point May Fair looked at me and

said "Are you THE Mario?" I found that quite amazing because I did not know exactly what she meant by "THE." Apparently Roger Rogers, editor of Women's Soccer World, had told her that I would be there and to look out for me. It was a joy to see her again.

May proved to be quite the trouper at the Algarve Cup, and she spent a lot of her time with me and two fun-loving Dutch women by the name of Linda and Monique who graciously chauffeured all of us around to the game venues and town restaurants. We took in most of the games together and spent more than one dinner discussing May's daughters in the WUSA. She is the third soccer mom I have had the pleasure of meeting. The others have been Stephanie Hamm, and Aly Wagner's mom who was at the Algarve tournament along with her husband. All of them are wonderful and very humble people.

The referees of the tournament were also staying in the Montechoro Hotel. I spoke with Sandra Hunt as I had recognised her from the wonderful WUSA inaugural video. We stopped and talked and when she found out that I was the Italian correspondent for WSW she was happy to know who was behind the articles and comments. Sandra got to referee the final match between China and Norway (1-0) and did a rather fine job.

USA's last match was against Denmark, just a hop, skip and a jump from our hotel. WUSA and national team fans would have probably freaked out watching this particular match. There were absolutely NO fences surrounding the pitch itself. If one wanted, you could literally walk on the field and play along with Shannon MacMillan and Denmark's Lene Terp! The only stands were located right behind one of the goals, about 5 yards from the net to be exact. There was no fencing there either, so in the second half when the U.S. was shooting on that goal you could practically reach out and touch

MacMillan every time she went to take the corners. For someone who lives in Italy, the so-called world capital of men's soccer, and where practically every men's match resembles tribal warfare amongst its fans (long spiked barriers surrounding the pitch, police dogs, overhead flying helicopters, cops in riot gear, etc.) the Algarve Cup proved indeed to be a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. After the match we got to chat with May and her daughter and mingled a bit with the rest of the WNT players who appeared to be pleased that the event was finally over (especially MacMillan who in that match scored a hat trick and became the tournament's leading goal scorer). Foudy and Lilly, not having played in that match, jogged back to the hotel to get a work out. Foudy was in her usual jovial mood with the rest of the players. The States was as always impressive in its style of play.

Portuguese organisers did something which is rarely seen in women's soccer in Italy, they had rock and samba music blaring before, during the half-time and after the match from two speakers positioned in front of the stands.

Not only was the ambience great for the players but it was a wonderful way to get the fans in the mood for the games. All the games were free. The only drawback is that the crowds present were rather low, not more than 200-300 at a time. I spoke with the tournament organisers who said that they had to work a bit more on the marketing side of the event. More than anything else, this would not only be important for the event itself but to get more attention for their own national team which placed 11th out of the 12 teams present.

The final took place in Loule, about 45 minutes from Albufeira.. At the awards ceremony all the teams joined China (winners of the event) and Norway on the field. Along with May and the others we went back to the hotel where there was a small dinner party for the U.S., Norway, Sweden, Canada and all the referees. The local organisers had put on a cultural show with young dancers in traditional dress from the Albufeira area. The Americans packed it in shortly after the show as they had a 4:00 am bus ride the following day to Lisbon. I bade farewell to May, Rainer, Thorsten and the Dutch ladies, hoping to see everyone again in China for the 2003 World Cup.

For those who have never made it to the Algarve Cup I highly recommend it. For North Americans it may be a bit of a haul all the way to the Algarve region but for European readers it really is a hop, skip and a jump. It was a pity though that Italy was not present. Apparently, they turned down the invitation, perhaps due to costs. Finland came in its place. This is a pity as it would have been a great preparation in light of the all-important 2003 qualifier against Spain at the end of this month. Italy has appeared ( 1995)when they placed 7th out of 8 teams. Personally, from what I saw of England (2-0 against the U.S. but the Americans required the 2nd half to score against the English) their program is coming along rather nicely. I got to speak to the Norwegian coaches of Fulham, the only women's professional team in England which is owned by Al-Fayed (owner of Harrods of London and Fulham FC). England has five Fulham players. Fulham trains 8 times per week and you could see it in their players at the event. Just awhile ago they had up to 9,000 people taking in England-Portugal in England. Hope Powell, their head coach, is also one of the few that I have seen who is hooked up via walkie-talkie and an earpiece with an assistant coach located in the stands. We were sitting next to him as he was pointing out to Hope some problems on the pitch. She in turn would yell out instructions to her players. High-tech soccer is here to stay.

Brazil has also been missing from the event. With their presence it would be without a doubt the world's greatest get together for a week's worth of high calibre soccer and fun. Next year will be the 10th anniversary. Do not miss it!