We’re not even midway through the European soccer seasons, but I think Hull City’s Jimmy Bullard already has wrapped up goal celebration of the season.

After Bullard’s 82nd-minute penalty kick gave the Tigers a 1-1 draw with host Manchester City in a Premier League match Saturday, the mercurial midfielder gathered all of his teammates and pretended to give them a stern lecture – mocking manager Phil Brown, who was roundly criticized after lambasting his team at halftime of last year’s loss at Manchester City.

Brown lauded Bullard’s celebration, saying that “great comedy is about timing.”

UW sophomore forward and leading scorer Laurie Nosbusch (Mequon Homestead) chatted with the Big Ten Network last week after the Badgers’ impressive season ended with a 1-0 loss to Boston College in the Sweet 16.

The Association Football blog recently uncovered what apparently are the U.S. shirts for next year’s World Cup in South Africa.

I really could see myself buying the red one.

On a related note, the draw for the 2010 World Cup is Friday at 11 a.m. on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com.

This blog will no longer be updated, as all news and notes will be posted on the main site. It will be kept up for archival purposes until it can be incorporated into the site.

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WISCONSIN SOCCER COACHES ASSOCIATION STATE POLLS
Records through Sunday, followed by previous ranking
Division 1
1, Brookfield East (8-1-3) 3
2, Waunakee (13-0) 2
3, Milwaukee DSHA (10-1-1) 1
4, Middleton (9-0-2) 5
5, Mequon Homestead (9-1-1) 4
6, Germantown (8-0-3) 6
7, Waukesha West (11-1-2) 10
8, Verona (7-2-1) 7
9, Whitefish Bay (6-5-2) 8
10, Appleton North (9-1-1) 9
Honorable mention: Muskego (11-2-1), DePere (8-2-2), Madison Memorial (6-4-1), Neenah (8-3-1), Bay Port (8-1-2).

Division 2
1, Waukesha Catholic Memorial (15-1-1) 1
2, Green Bay Notre Dame (10-3-3) 2
3, Appleton Xavier (9-1-2) 3
4, New Berlin West (8-1-1) 5
5, McFarland (5-1-2) 4
Honorable mention: New Berlin Eisenhower (8-2), Shorewood (3-2), Waupaca (9-1-3), Sugar River (9-2-2), Madison Edgewood (7-7-1).

Division 3
1, Neenah St. Mary Central (12-3) 1
2, La Crosse Aquinas (9-1) 2
3, Racine St. Catherine’s (7-1-2) 3
4, Wrightstown (10-0-1) 4
5, Racine Prairie School (4-4) 5
Honorable mention: Fond du Lac Springs (10-1), Milwaukee University School (6-0), Oostburg (9-2), Ozaukee (5-5-2).

Madison native Lindsay Tarpley scored her 24th and 25th career goals as the U.S. women’s national team posted its second straight narrow victory over Australia, winning 5-4 on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

Leslie Osborne (Brookfield/Waukesha Catholic Memorial) was an unused sub for the U.S., which is 12-0-1 in 2008 heading into Saturday’s match against Canada in Washington, D.C.

• Notre Dame defender Elise Weber, a former University of Wisconsin athlete, and Marquette forward Allison Mallams were named to the U.S. Under-23 women’s national team for a trip to Germany May 16-24. Madison native and former UW coach Dean Duerst is an assistant for the U.S. team, which is scheduled to play women’s Bundesliga club TSV Crailsheim and the German Under-23 national team.

• Former Cedarburg forward Casey Nogueira was invited to the U.S. Under-20 women’s national team training camp May 12-27 in Clemson, S.C., as the team gears up for CONCACAF World Cup qualifying June 17-28 in Puebla, Mexico.

• Defender David Caban (Kenosha) is headed to Spain with the U.S. Under-15 national team for an 11-day trip that starts Friday. The side is slated to play youth teams from Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano and Rayo Majadahonda—the former club of current UW midfielder Pablo Delgado.

• The U.S. national futsal team, which includes Milwaukee Wave goalkeeper Nick Vorberg and is coached by the Wave’s Keith Tozer, is training and playing matches in Brazil to prepare for CONCACAF World Cup qualifying June 3-8 in Guatemala.

Jay DeMerit and Watford had a nerve-wracking final day of the Coca-Cola Championship season Sunday in England. But when the dust settled, the Hornets were still in the hunt for promotion back to the Premier League—just barely.

Watford fell behind relegation-threatened Blackpool in the second minute, then had leading scorer Darius Henderson sent off for his second yellow card in the 59th minute. But Tommy Smith got the equalizer three minutes later as Watford pulled out a 1-1 draw, then waited to see if that one point would be enough to earn a spot in the promotion playoffs.

Wins by Crystal Palace and Sheffield United would keep Watford from finishing in the top six, and both teams took 2-0 leads in their respective matches. Palace went on to a 5-0 rout of Burnley, but Southampton rallied to beat Sheffield United 3-2, keeping the Saints from being relegated to League One and sending the final spot to a tiebreaker.

Watford and Wolverhampton finished tied for sixth place with 70 points and 18-12-16 records. The first tiebreaker is goal differential—the Hornets were plus-6; Wolves were plus-5.

DeMerit, a Green Bay native, wasn’t named to the team for the Blackpool match.

Watford, which is 1-4-9 since Feb. 12, faces third-place Hull City in a two-leg semifinal series. Saturday’s match is at Watford’s Vicarage Road, with the return leg next Wednesday at KC Stadium. The teams split their meetings this season, each winning at home—Watford 1-0 on Oct. 20 and Hull City 3-0 on March 29.

The winner of the series will play Crystal Palace or Bristol City for a spot in the Premier League.

With just more than two weeks left in the regular season, the title races in three area girls soccer conferences should come into focus this week.

Two teams in their final season in the Southern Badger meet at
5 p.m. today in Verona, and both control their own destiny.

McFarland (5-1-2 overall, 4-0-1 Southern Badger), which will join the new Rock Valley Conference next season, can win its first conference title since winning the last of six straight Capitol championships in 2000. The Wildcats (7-2-1, 3-0), meanwhile, can claim their fifth Southern Badger championship by winning their final three league matches before heading to the Big Eight in 2009.

Also tonight, the only teams to have the title of Northern Badger champions face off at 7 p.m. in Waunakee. The host Warriors (13-0, 4-0) have won or shared the championship all six years the conference has existed—their opponent tonight, Sauk Prairie (9-2-1, 4-0), shared the title in 2003.

Surprising Madison La Follette (8-3, 5-0) continues its quest for the program’s first Big Eight title. The Lancers play at Madison West at 7 p.m. Tuesday night, then at Middleton (9-0-2, 5-0) at
7 p.m. Thursday. In the history of the Big Eight—and before that the Metro Conference—West, Middleton and Madison Memorial have won or shared the championship all previous 29 years. Madison East, which shared a four-way title in 2001, is the only other team to win a championship.

Sugar River (9-2-2, 5-0) is in control in the Capitol Area. The Raiders close the conference season next week against two of the three teams currently tied for second—Lake Mills (May 13) and Lodi (May 15).

Green Bay native Jay DeMerit and Watford have won just once in their last 13 matches in England’s Coca-Cola Championship, but a win in Sunday’s season finale would make up for the late slide.

The Hornets can assure themselves a spot in the four-team promotion playoffs by winning at Blackpool. Two years ago, DeMerit scored the winning goal in the final as Watford won the playoffs and spent the 2006-07 season in the Premier League.

It likely won’t be an easy day for Watford, which is 1-4-8 since Feb. 12.

Blackpool, which drew 1-1 at Watford in September, needs at least one point to ensure that it won’t be relegated to League One. And Watford has won only once at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road, that coming way back in 1922.

If the Hornets draw or lose, they would need help from other teams this weekend to make the playoffs, as Crystal Palace, Wolves, Ipswich Town and Sheffield United are all within three points of Watford.

There are two playoff berths available, as West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, Hull City and Bristol City are all assured of finishing in the top six. The top two teams are automatically promoted to the Premier League, with the next four clubs making the playoffs.

The Championship playoff final is considered the richest soccer game in the world, as promotion to the Premier League is worth an estimated $118 million.

In its most recent Big Ten Conference regular-season game, the University of Wisconsin men’s soccer team tied Indiana 0-0 on Nov. 4, ending a 14-game losing streak to the Hoosiers.

The Badgers will get a chance to end their 13-year winless streak against Indiana right off the bat next fall.

UW opens Big Ten play Sept. 21 against the Hoosiers in Bloomington, Ind., according to the 2008 schedule released by the school on Friday.

The highlight of the schedule is that the Badgers will play host to the Big Ten Tournament for just the third time in the event’s 18-year history.

The conference’s seven teams will head to the McClimon Complex for the tournament Nov. 13, 14 and 16, with the champion awarded an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

UW has advanced to the Big Ten tournament final only twice—but one of those was at home in 1993, when the Badgers lost to Penn State 1-0 in the championship. UW most recently hosted the event in 2001, losing to Michigan 1-0 in the first round.

As usual, the Badgers open their season with three tournaments.

First is the Dayton Flyer Classic, where UW opens the season Wright State on Aug. 29 and also faces Denver.

Next up is the Middleton Sports & Fitness Invitational, which includes the home opener against Santa Clara on Sept. 5 and a match against Dayton.

The following weekend, the Badgers return to the UW-Milwaukee Panther Classic for games against Cal State Northridge and Binghamton.

The rest of UW’s non-conference schedule includes its annual matches against state rivals Marquette, UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay—the latter two at home—along with home games against Western Illinois and Drake and a match at Northern Illinois.

Four of the Badgers’ opponents finished the 2007 season ranked: NCAA runner-up Ohio State, Big Ten champion Indiana, Northwestern and Santa Clara.

2008 UW MEN’S SCHEDULE
Sunday, Aug. 17: UW-Parkside, 1 p.m. (exh)
Friday, Aug. 22: Edgewood College, 7 p.m. (exh)
Friday, Aug. 29: Dayton Flyer Classic—Wright State, 4 p.m. (nc)
Sunday, Aug. 31: Dayton Flyer Classic—Denver, 10:30 a.m. (nc)
Friday, Sept. 5: Middleton Sports & Fitness Invitational—Santa Clara, 7:30 p.m. (nc)
Sunday, Sept. 7: Middleton Sports & Fitness Invitational—Dayton, 2:30 p.m. (nc)
Friday, Sept. 12: UW-Milwaukee Panther Classic—Cal State Northridge, 5 p.m. (nc)
Sunday, Sept. 14: UW-Milwaukee Panther Classic—Binghamton, noon (nc)
Sunday, Sept. 21: at Indiana, 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 24: at Marquette, 7:05 p.m. (nc)
Saturday, Sept. 27: Michigan, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 1: Western Illinois, 7 p.m. (nc)
Sunday Oct. 5: at Michigan State, time TBA
Wednesday, Oct. 8: UW-Milwaukee, 7 p.m. (nc)
Sunday, Oct. 12: Northwestern, 1 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 15: UW-Green Bay, 7 p.m. (nc)
Saturday, Oct. 18: at Ohio State, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 26: Penn State, 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 29: at Northern Illinois, 7 p.m. (nc)
Wednesday, Nov. 5: Drake, 7 p.m. (nc)
Thursday, Nov. 13: Big Ten Tournament at McClimon Complex—Quarterfinals.
Friday, Nov. 14: Big Ten Tournament at McClimon Complex—Semifinals.
Sunday, Nov. 16: Big Ten Tournament at McClimon Complex—Championship.
All times Central
Home matches at McClimon Complex
Subject to change