On Saturday, The US, rated #1 in the World will meet Italy, rated #11 in Padua, Italy, and the return match will be on November 27 in Chicago, Illinois, with the winner qualifying for the 2011 FIFA Cup Final 16 Round in Germany. 

An Interesting sidelight is that the Biggest Obstacle to the US is the aggressive and acrobatic goalkeeper for Italy, Anna Picarelli, though she is only 5'4", and not Italian, (But Italian American).

CHICAGO -- U.S. women's striker Abby Wambach admitted this week the team was thankful for a "second chance" to qualify for the 2011 FIFA World Cup and "we don't want to throw it away."

The U.S. remained No. 1 in the FIFA World rankings Friday despite a 2-1 defeat to Mexico earlier this month in CONCACAF qualifying, and now has to win a two- legged series against 11th-ranked Italy to advance to next summer's World Cup.

Wambach said "you can't be perfect all the time," referring to the surprising loss to Mexico and that the U.S. just has to "accept what happened and move on and we'll prove it ... against Italy."

The U.S. visits Italy on Saturday for the first leg at 10:30 a.m. (ET), and is hoping its first victory on Italian soil will give it the edge after the first game of the total-goals series. The second leg is Nov. 27 in Chicago.

Italy, which finished fifth in UEFA qualifying, has never lost to the U.S. on home soil, with the most recent meeting in 2001. The Italians are well versed on the playoff format, beating Ukraine and Switzerland in European qualifying.....

"We've done our homework when it comes to Italy. They're a technical team and that will make it important for us to win the ball higher and move on the transition," Sundhage said.

American captain Christie Rampone believes it was important to realize losing to Mexico was just one game, and getting back to the style its used to - like going 55-2-6 since the last World Cup - will produce more wins.......

The 2011 Women's World Cup will be held in Germany from June 26 to July 17.

Australia, Canada, England, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway and Sweden have already qualified, leaving just three of the 16 spots remaining to be decided.

In addition to U.S.-Italy playoff winner, two teams from South America will round out the field. South American qualifying ends Sunday and the World Cup draw is set for Nov. 29.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/soccer/
2010/11/19/16223926.html

The U.S. women's soccer team begins a crucial home-and-home playoff series against Italy on Saturday, the matches to determine whether the No. 1-ranked Americans qualify for the last spot in next year's World Cup in Germany. The biggest obstacle they figure to face is Italy's aggressive and acrobatic goalkeeper Anna Picarelli, though she's actually not that big and not that Italian.

In fact, the biggest obstacle the U.S. women will face Saturday is a U.S. woman.

Anna Picarelli was born and raised in Southern California. She attended St. Joseph High in Lakewood, played college soccer at Pepperdine and had been to Italy a total of two times " at 7 and 17 " before she went there to play professionally in 2006, knowing so little Italian that conversations with teammates and folks at the market amounted to "a lot of pointing and saying words really slow in English, which pretty much never worked."

But Anna's father, Angelo, was born in Italy and that made her eligible to play for the national team.

She got her first cap in 2008 and had a rather remarkable coming out at the 2009 European Women's Championships during which she led Italy to an upset of England, a shutout of Russia and a narrow, 2-1 loss to Germany, the world and European champion.

The reason Picarelli went to Italy has everything to do with her height: She doesn't have a lot for an elite goalkeeper. They usually start around 5 feet 8; the U.S.' Hope Solo is 5-9. Picarelli stands 5-4, a fact that many people who run professional and national teams here in the States believe makes her vulnerable to high balls and headers.

What they fail to fathom is that Anna Picarelli rarely stands anywhere for long.  "One of the most athletic kids I've ever seen," said Tim Ward, Pepperdine women's soccer coach. "An absolute jumping bean and very aggressive. In fact, there were times when we had to rein her in."

Picarelli, 26, has maintained that aggression playing with what Ward calls "a chip on her shoulder," and American forward Abby Wambach says is "a presence" on the pitch. If others don't know this about her, Picarelli says that's fine - in fact, she thinks it's best.

"I imagine other players sometimes want to laugh when they first see me because I'm probably shorter than their entire team," she said. "All of a sudden they just want to shoot high and that's my strength and it throws them off. A lot of female keepers are very timid, especially when going after the ball or coming out for a cross. They'd rather stay on their line. I don't care. I'll go after a high ball rather than stay on my line."

The U.S. plays at Padua, Italy, on Saturday, with the second match Nov. 27 in Bridgeview, Ill. The two-game series determines the final spot in the 2011 Women's World Cup. If the series is tied in total goals, the first tiebreak is which team scored more goals as the visitor. If neither team has an advantage, the winner is decided by a 30-minute overtime, followed, if necessary, by penalty kicks.

Picarelli no longer plays professionally in Italy. She lives in Marina del Rey and plays for Ajax America, a semiprofessional team based out of the South Bay, in the Women's Premier Soccer League. She flies back to Italy for national team matches and is surprised as anyone that the next one will come against the Americans.

"When I heard about it, I just sat there with my jaw open for a minute or two," she said. "I was speechless."

She knows that the Americans would provide the Italian women with an opportunity to do something big enough to finally break through on the Italian sports scene. Beating the Americans would be huge by anyone's measure and Ward, for one, thinks Picarelli is up to it.

"Anna's a winner," he said. "Never underestimate a winner. No matter the size."

latimes.com/sports/la-sp-soccer-italy-usa-20101119,0,73572.story
 
 
 
 
 

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