Me & this Sapporo ’bout to get comfortable and whip up a WPS preview

By: Melissa | April 24th, 2009

How long do you think it will take Ally Wagner to sneak a reference to Advocare into a tweet? Not only is it the drink for athletes but I bet it’s a huge hit at Burning Man. Speaking of (sorta), did anyone go to Coachella? My friends’ big ol’ mechanical fire breathing serpent was there. I’ve spent some time cleaning rust off a few of those scales. Oh wait, I’m supposed to write about soccer…

Saint Louis Athletica vs Los Angeles Sol Saturday, 4pm ET. So the theme of this week is international week! Woo Hoo! Key players are off in Europe where it’s a friendly frenzy. This includes (I think) all the WPS Brazillians since they’ve got games against Germany and Sweden. So the Sol are without their only players in season who’ve scored so far (Marta and Camille Abily). I’m thinking this is finally STL’s opportunity to maybe regain some of their pre-season mojo and eek out a win here. Saint Louis are merely (depending on flights and such) missing Eniola Aluko and this is their home game and I really like the green jerseys. They’re totally gonna win.

Chicago Red Stars vs Boston Breakers Saturday, 8:30pm ET. And this one will be available to watch online at chicagoredstars.com! Boston are doing very well for sure but their success has a lot to do with Kelly Smith who just happens to be over in Europe and perhaps a bit busy celebrating England’s 3-0 win over Norway. She didn’t score any of those goals btw, but Red Star Karen Carney did provide an assist. No word on whether those two will make it back to the States by Saturday. Also missing from the Red Stars this week is Christiane while Alex Scott may or may not be available for the Breakers. So I guess the question is whether the rest of Boston’s overflowing offensive talent will step up to fill Smith’s shoes. We’re looking at you, Amy Rodriguez. As or the Red Stars, Christine’s absence won’t be a terrible blow this early in the season as she still appears to still be recovering from injury. And losing Carney won’t automatically mean the team’s offensive chemistry gels like an eerie Vulcan mind meld (or will it?). Hmmmm, I predict a tie.

FC Gold Pride vs Washington Freedom Sunday, 6pm ET. Fox Soccer Channel. The Bay Area are missing Formiga and Erika while the Freedom are missing Sonia Bompastor. This one’s really a tough call and I think it’s all gonna boil down to whether the Freedom’s “supporting cast” (looking at you, Allie Long) can step up and provide the kind of vision Bompastor seems to be able to produce blindfolded. And then there’s the other thing about Wambach and DeVanna’s inability to score. Seriously ladies – is it the water? As for the Loinzzz, their Brazillian anchors are gone but Osborne’s & Chastain’s experience should slip right in to fill up the void. But I’m gonna predict the Bay Area take this one only because after Chastain found out her famous bra got locked up in a storage facility in New Jersey when the Sports Museum of America filed for bankruptcy, she commented: “thank goodness I have another one.” And THAT’S the kind of attitude that gets you the WIN people.