Rongen Gongen

So last week, former Striker player and manager Thomas Rongen was sacked by US Soccer after failing to qualify for this summer's U-20 FIFA World Cup. Tis a shame, but it was a long time coming for some and now we are left to wonder; will Rongen return to the Strikers to resurrect his coaching career?

On a real Striker tip, another tie on this road trip and another almost win ripped out from underneath us in the final minutes. Good thing is we are not losing these games and we are up by one with only minutes left. Chemistry and cohesion will be the fix, but the real problem is in the fact that all our goals are coming from the penalty spot.

Kudos to Chacho Coudet for being spot on from the penalty spot, but someone's gotta step up!

Wednesday night game this week against a surging Carolina, 7pm, hopefully the web feed will work this time around.

A Day to Remember

It was a Wednesday like no other. Jam-packed with soccer action and news and unfortunately, you won't see any of it on ESPN's Sportscenter.

First off, let's just say that this 4/20 was awesome!

The day began with the Benny Feilhaber saga. Here in the states you see, clubs don't buy players, the league does, then assigns them accordingly. Chivas USA were next in line for a player acquisition, but passed up on Feilhaber. Philly passed up too, leaving the New England Revolution no choice but to become instant title contenders. The MLS is shaping up quite nicely as now New England, New York and DC all have star quality to match the big names on the West Coast.

But back to the soccer on the field. First up was a pair of Premier League matches and the Arsenal-Tottenham game didn't disappoint (unless you are either an Arsenal or Tottenham fan). With title hopes and Champions League qualification on the line, neither team helped their cause in the 3-3 stunner at Tottenham's White Heart Lane.

Then came the Copa del Rey final, otherwise known as the second chapter of the 'Clasico' quartet. Over the weekend Real Madrid and Barcelona tied 1-1 in their league matchup. This matchup was also tied at the end of regulation, but Real Madrid took advantage of the slim chances when Christiano Ronaldo got onto a Angel DiMaria cross and headed home the 1-0 winner. The next two installments will be home and away Champions League semi final games.

And speaking of Champions League, Real Salt Lake took a huge step in becoming the first MLS team to make it to the annual FIFA World Club Cup with a dramatic 2-2 draw in Mexico. RSL came back twice and got a glorious 89th minute equalizer from Javier Morales to give themselves more than a fighting chance to become champions of North and Central America.

All in all it was just as exciting as the World Cup with multiple games going on, news breaking and speaking of things breaking, Real Madrid went back home after the game, boarded a bus, started driving around Madrid with their new trophy and then dropped it and watched the bus run right over it. Classic.

The soccer gods were smiling down on us today!

Striker Fans Stay Calm

It's extremely understandable that after this weekend's strong showing against Red Bull New York, Striker fans around the globe are in mass hysteria, parading their hometown streets as if we'd won the FIFA Club World Cup by beating Barcelona 5-0.

Low and behold this find gem recently available on ebay. It's a match-worn, 1981 Elías Figueroa adidas Striker away jersey and it's up for sale for approximately $1,624.87! Yes, the price is true. Chile's best ever player and a member of FIFA's top 125 of all time played for the Strikers and his shirt is going for a butt load.

This may be an attempt to play off the popularity of the Chilean Miners, who brave souls as they were, escaped their living tombs in full hooligan style, waving Chilean flags and chanting, "Chi, Chi, Chi, Le, Le, Le".

Anybody wanna post a grand plus for this piece of history?

Look Ma! I'm a Winner!

Should we be bitter? Yes.

We give FIFA too much power.

Congratu...This Hurts!

Winning the World Cup is an amazing achievement. Mix in the factors that only a few nations have ever won the tournament and the fact that it is played only once every four years and the odds are rarely in anyone's favor (unless your German or Brazilian).

In any case, a new country joined the list this time around and Spain, after a bleak start to the tournament), silenced doubters and hoisted the cup. But it definitely hurt to get there.

Know what else hurts? Having to wait until April to see the Strikers play. When are we seeing uniforms?

We are so easy to please.

It's Called Karma

As a Striker Liker its hard to put the Germans in their place. They were half of the star power that brought the Strikers to prominence, along with the Dutch in the late 70's. But I'm more of a fan of the late 80's Strikers, with their Argentine Three Amigos, so when I'm asked for sympathy for the Germans, I turn the other way.

So as Michael Ballack has his World Cup dreams destroyed by a non-sensical tackle in the FA Cup by a Ghanian international, I have no tears. So what you missed your shot at the final when you collected too many yellow cards in '02 to play the last game and you watched on the sidelines helpless as Ronaldo and Brazil had field day.

This is all just pay back for that ugly handball non call that would have given the US a chance to tie their quarterfinal game with the Germans in South Korea/Japan. Oh what a difference that would have made.

But back to the story, time will only tell if the Ballack-less Germans can make their way through a not-so-easy group against Australia, Serbia, and Ghana. They might be making Prince Boateng a king.

I heard Thierry Henry is coming to MLS too.

May 1st Can't Come Any Sooner

The Tampa Bay Rowdies are coming to Lockhart Stadium. No double take necessary, it's actually happening. It's going to happen twice this year, so don't miss your chance to heckle and boo at Fort Lauderdale's most hated vermin.

Before I get into more details I must apologize for my long absence. It's been September since my last post. I have nothing to confess except that the Striker Liker is back, just in time for the re-emergence of the NASL and a newly revamped Miami FC.

So back to the Rowdies, May 1st is their first visit to Lockhart this season and I'm hoping to see a lot of red and yellow shirts there to greet them. If you don't have the gear you can find some here:

Zazzle

Also, did someone say that Miami FC will become the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in 2011? Now almost all my soggy dreams have come true.

Look Again, It's Not What You Think

No, it's not a professional soccer game in South Florida, actually the attendance here might exceed that of some Miami FC games. No, this is the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Egypt. This pic is from the Italy vs. Paraguay match. I wonder how South Florida would fare in staging this game. Sellout crowd at FIU perhaps?

Ah, to dream. September officially marks the end of Miami FCs season, so live professional soccer is now in the closet with the moth balls as we get our soccer fix through espn360, justin.tv, foxsoccer, setanta, etc., etc., etc.

But in an offseason there are always 'talks'. What these 'talks' will lead to no one can really tell. Let's hope they don't end up with the, "let's fold the team" scenario. If that be the case, then maybe this Striker Liker will move to Seattle and deal with the winter.

But for now, the middle of October is the finishing line for World Cup Qualifiers, who will fill out the draw and which heavyweight will watch South Africa 2010 from the comfort of their couch?

20 Years, Can You Believe It?

It's been 20 somewhat interesting years since the Fort Lauderdale Strikers have won a championship. It was actually their only championship, but it was a championship none the less. For a franchise that could call George Best and Nene Cubillas their own, it was the scrappy hardworking Strikers from 1989 that did the business, besting the San Diego Nomads in a cross country final.

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of that championship and although there were no ticker tape or parades, we did have an enormous amount of soccer being played around the world and emotions were either bolstered or utterly destroyed.

I'd like to thank FIFA for their Match Centre (pictured above) for keeping me up to the minute while I was at work. Cameroon's victory early in the day started it all off and by 2pm I had the luxury of a little espn360 for some interesting European matches.

Into the night came the games most important to me, although I must say Bahrain's 94th minute equalizer at Saudi Arabia might have been the most intriguing moment of the day - silencing King Fahd International Stadium and sending Bahrain to their second straight play-off to make the world cup. This time out they face New Zealand.

In any case, the Americas had plenty of action as USA and Mexico kept winning to stay atop their group and hopefully avoid a play-off of their own against South America's 5th ranked team.

In South America, Maradona continued to soil whatever he had left of his reputation by putting Argentina in more peril than ever before. Brazil and Paraguay stay atop the standings.

With two games to go, the pure excitement of World Cup Soccer is reaching the ever so famous 'fever pitch'. Small sidenote, the USA and South Africa are leading in ticket sales for the World Cup, we must have some soccer fans in this country.

But back to the Strikers. Sorry we couldn't raise a glass to commemorate you. Instead, we watched soccer from around the world unfold. In a week or so's time, a former Striker will take the US -20 to Egypt for the Youth World Cup. Good luck Thomas Rongen.

Here's to you 1989 Fort Lauderdale Strikers - we love you dearly.

Get On With Your Bad Self

Yeah, that's right. President Obama is a soccer fan. Blame it on those early days in Jakarta or having to raise two young girls in America. Either way you chalk it up, the Big Chief wants the World Cup back in the States, where it belongs.

Currently the USA bid for the tournament contains a few Florida destinations such as Dolphin Stadium, so this could be huge. The last World Cup game played in Florida, I believe, was the Ireland-Holland second round game at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando. I was their, Patrick "Packie" Bonner had a howler and later that day the USA bowed out of the competition with a 1-0 loss to Brazil and a hospital visit for Tab Ramos. Oh, those were the days.

Also of note, let us not forget that Lockhart Stadium is being dusted off for another soccer game this weekend when the Miami FC call it home in its USL-1 season opener Saturday. Some say this is more of a test between county fans, but seriously are we Striker Likers supposed to lay down our arms and support a team that thinks if you put Miami in the title it makes all the difference?