Tango Yak

The local milongas usher in this grand festival starting with milonga Del Bario on Wednesday night then the traditional start of the festival at Tango Addicts where America will rock your world. The natives are restless but will gladly give you a lift to and from the venues. Friday afternoon will be the first milonga at the magnificent Kona Kai resort and Zeina (petite Yak) will do the music with the beautiful bay as a backdrop. You don’t have to die nor take a bus to go to heaven. The Friday night milonga is also at the resort and the DJ will be the wonderful Joe Leonardo.

Saturday afternoon will have the Happy New Yak alternative milonga then Hurricane Shorey will make landfall in the evening and welcome the New Year with her heavenly music (Yeah Baby). Sunday evening the very cool and master teacher Jay Abling will be our DJ. The all nighter will be at Patty Wells studio where the Greek Demigod, son of Zeus, Lampis the Z man will DJ.

Teachers: San Diego favorites Homer and Cristina Ladas arrive first and if it was up to us, we would never let them go. The great Shorey will teach as well as DJ, prayers have begun for a tanda with her. Am so happy to report that Brian Nguyen and Yuliana Basmajyan from LA will be teaching as well, these two have made us Californians so proud. I haven’t taken classes with Eric Lindgren and Rebecca Shulman so I read about them, asked around and watched their videos and they are just outstanding. Last but not least is Tom Stermitz with Amy Beaudet who are well respected and well liked as well.

A great team at an incredible venue in the finest city, truly you don’t have to die or take a bus to go to heaven. Get rid of the family, pack your stuff (bathing suit too) and come on down to San Diego, let us enjoy the weather but dance up a storm
Web Site: San Diego Tango Festival 2012

This team has great players and an excellent coach, but most of all they have heart and character. Fortress Hope Solo in goal, speedy Rampone on defense, slayer Rapinoe and mighty Oreilly on attack and Amy Wambach the assassin surrounded by a solid cast of team mates have arrived at the final game.They are relentless and determined. What exciting games they have played and what magnificent teams they have beaten.  They just beat a great French team full of goal scorers with a solid defense and excellent team play. Coach Pia made excellent substitutions during the game against France as well as Brazil. She is cool under fire and that transfers to her team. They just don’t get rattled. Highlights of USA vs. France

Japan destroyed an excellent team from Sweden, what a performance. They have unbelievable ball control, incredible strategy, crisp passing, solid defense and even scoring which was never their forte. Their poise is amazing with the goalie as the prime example. They play as a group and it is hard to pick out “stars” in the team, and although players like Sawa, Kawasumi and Maruyama stand out, they are all magnificent. Playing against them is like fighting a swarm of killer bees, they sting you till you are no more. Highlights of Japan vs. Sweden

Here we go with the championship game which pits the Samurais of the Rising Sun against the Calamities of Jane. The US team is on a mission and the Japanese are on a quest. Glory and national pride are at stake, what a battle it shall be. The championship game will be on this Sunday July 17 at 11 AM Pacific Time on ESPN.

Oh, and yes there is a game for third place between France and Sweden. Both are fantastic teams and this is a game definitely worth watching. It is scheduled for this Saturday July 16 at 8:30 AM Pacific Time on ESPN. A final salute from the Yak son of Shahtoul the Tibetan Ghoul, reporting from Germany.

Japan scores one goal late in overtime to upset Germany 1-0 (see picture). The Japanese players were pushed and shoved throughout the game in full view of the referee yet held on till they scored the lone goal, a brilliant far side shot by Maruyama(Goal Replay) . The Japanese players are smaller but they are also fast, determined and always swarming around the ball. These giant slayers will play Sweden next, a tough, strong and speedy opponent. The Swedes are emerging as the superior team and they are quite capable of winning the championship. They dismantled the US defense in the qualifying round and crushed the crafty Aussies in the Quarterfinals (Highlights). They will be a huge test for Japan as they excel on all positions. Players to watch would be Homare Sawa (midfield), Aya Miyama (midfield) and Karina Maruyama (forward) for Japan and Lisa Dahlqvist (midfield), Jessica Landstrom (forward) and Therese Sjogran (midfield) for Sweden. This Semifinal game will take place on Wednesday July 13 at 11:15AM (PT) on ESPN.

The US beats Brazil in one of the best soccer games ever. These mighty women overcame a good Brazilian team as well as a cretin of a referee. They rattled the great Marta and ran on fumes with a woman down and tied the game with seconds left in overtime. US defender Rampone showed her incredible speed and stayed toe to toe with Marta on the breakaways. Abby Wanbach scored “the” second goal on a feed from Rapinoe to tie the game (replay), I will watch this goal over and over. Goalie Hope Solo is a Goddess and coach Pia is as cool as they come. This one is for the books. As for France they are a most excellent team. They have great speed as well as superior possession skills. They defeated a strong British team albeit in penalty kicks (highlights for those who like penalty kicks). Players to watch are Rampone (middle back), Heather Oreilly (midfield) and Hope Solo (fantastic goalie) for the US as well as Camille Abily (midfield) and Gaetane Thiny (forward) for France. The best looking woman of this world cup is Marie-Laure Delie (French forward shown in picture) and she can be a great player if only she can get a little more aggressive and less tentative in her play, hopefully not till after the game with the US. Will the US have more emotion left for this game, YES they will. The coverage begins at 8:30 AM (PT) on Wed. July 13. This is the Yak reporting from Germany, peace out