Are You As Excited As We Are?

Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Niersbach,
German National Ministers of Fun.







Yes, its a few years away still, but we love international football tournaments! Now that the Olympics are over, we look forward to the 2011 Women's World Cup in Germany. The Germans have announced the 9 city sites so you can make your plans now.

*Steffi Jones, who fans of 1.FFC Frankfurt and Washington Freedom will remember, is President of the Organizing Committee.

* The other announcement of consequence is that FIFA has decided to keep the participating team number to 16, instead of raising it to 24 teams. Given the German's 11-0 victory over Argentina in the 2007 World Cup, team parity may not be an issue yet!

*If you're wondering why this matters, qualification presumably starts in 2009 in Europe and 2010 in North America. Stay tuned!

Dear Anja: Come On-A Our House! Bitte!

Well, after all the talk (summarized here) about how no German women will come over to the WPS, Bay Area has added Anja Mittag to their post-International Draft Discovery List. Mittag is a top-tier MF for 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam and a World Cup winner and Bronze Medalist with the German WNT.

Oddly enough, there is no mention of this event on Mittag's website, but we encourage you to visit her site anyway! It's very professional and has all the info an Anja-follower could want. Plus you can add a plea for her to come to the US! Sadly, she and the other German players will probably stay in Germany until after the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup.

PS - Thank you, Bay Area, for trailblazing a path to Germany. Good on ya, Mates! It make us feel somewhat bad for all the criticism we level at your team.