The Italian international Conti was on target in the 6:0 drubbing of her former club Levante UD by cheekily scoring a spectacular chip over the visitors’ Brazilian keeper Thais. Madrid native Mery also scored in the game that proved to be the worst defeat for Levante in years and more than compensated for Espanyol’s unfortunate 2:0 loss to the same opponent in Valencia earlier this season.

The Barcelona outfit continued their good form in Tarragona last weekend where the local Gimnastic was annihilated with a score of 8:1. Conti opened the scoring and Mery turned the real star of the show by scoring 4 second half goals which takes her tally for the season to 8 in 10 appearances.

Finally, Espanyol took a potentially tricky trip to the Balearic Island of Mallorca yesterday, where the local side UD Collerense hadn’t lost a game yet. However, the visitors proved too strong for the Superliga newcomers and went away with a convincing 4:1 victory. Mery was on the field for 90 minutes, and Conti again got herself on the scoresheet by netting the winning second and the fourth goals of the game. This success marks the 14th goal the Palermo native scored in 11 matches this season, which makes her the highest goalscorer of the team and currently 3rd best in the Superliga.

Already qualified for the final round of eight teams who will fight for the League championship beginning in January, RCD Espanyol will finish the first part of the season with a perennial city derby away to the second placed Barça at the Mini Estadi Camp Nou on December 20.

Pam Conti

Mery

]]> http://lta-agency.com/2009/12/conti-mery-fire-espanyol-to-the-top/feed/ 0 http://lta-agency.com/2009/11/picarelli-and-conti-feature-in-italy-win/ http://lta-agency.com/2009/11/picarelli-and-conti-feature-in-italy-win/#comments Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:34:49 +0000 Anton http://lta-agency.com/?p=849 LTA’s Anna Maria Picarelli earned her 4th consecutive shut-out and Pamela Conti scored her 3rd goal in two matches as Italy Women’s National Team blew away Armenia with a score of 7:0 to stay top of its group in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers Germany 2011.

With this win Italy collects its fourth win in four games to share the same points total with Finland but are ahead on goal difference to lead the UEFA Qualifying Group 7 before the winter break. Le Azurre, who are led by long-time Italian Men’s National Team assistant Pietro Ghedin, have scored a staggering 25 goals and haven’t conceded any in the group matches so far.

The match played at the Stadio di Francavilla al Mare proved quite easy for the hosts as Elisabetta Tona put Italy ahead already in the first minute with a well-taken header. LTA’s striker Pam Conti who plays her club football in Spain for RCD Espanyol Barcelona doubled the scoring just before half-time as she dribbled around Armenia’s keeper and put the ball into the empty net to secure the win.

LTA’s American-born goalkeeper, Anna Maria Picarelli didn’t have to face a single shot to preserve a shut-out, which marks the fourth straight match she keeps her opponents from scoring. The last person to score on Picarelli in official competition was Euro 2009 Best Goal Scorer and 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year Candidate Germany’s Inka Grings in the European Championship quarterfinal in Finland last September.

Italy resume their World Cup qualifying campaign with an away match to Portugal on March 27 of next year.

Full Italian Football Federation (FIGC) news release can be found here (in Italian):

Italy Destroy Armenia

Another shut-out for Picarelli

Conti scores again!

LTA are delighted to represent such a talented international as Kirsty Yallop. The busy central or outside midfielder has recently earned her 30th cap for the Football Ferns in a narrow 2:1 defeat to Japan. She also has 9 goals for the senior team and has captained the New Zealand at the 2006 FIFA Uder 20 World Cup in Russia.

Known for her ferocious long-range shots, good control, and tireless work ethic, Yallop helped American Pali Blues win the 2009 USL W-League Championship earning an all important assist on the winning goal in the final vs Washington Freedom.

Yallop started every game for New Zealand at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing and scored a goal in the draw against Japan. She has also scored long range goals against European powers France and the Netherlands at this year’s Cyprus Women’s Cup where the Football Ferns reached semifinals.

LTA Agency capped a productive weekend in Germany by attending a German Women’s Cup round of 16 match between hosts 1. FFC Frankfurt and SC Freiburg at the Stadion am Brentanobad on Saturday.

Frankfurt’s Spanish international striker LTA’s Laura Del Rio finished the scoring in what was a lopsided 6:0 win for the hosts. The goal was Laura’s 8th in 10 appearances this season in all competitions. She leads the team in scoring together with three-time World Player of the Year Birgit Prinz.

During the weekend, Hansen and Maksimov held a meeting with 1.FFC Frankfurt’s manager and SIDI-Sportmanagement chairman Siegfried Dietrich and discussed current situation for Del Rio in Frankfurt, as well as future cooperation between LTA and SIDI-Sportmanagement. 1.FFC Frankfurt is very satisfied with the incorporation of Del Rio and her production for the team, and the overall results of the meeting were very positive.

LTA representatives also met with Germany FIFA World Cup 2003 Golden Goal scorer Nia Künzer (pictured) who is represented by SIDI-Sportmanagement and 1.FFC Frankfurt Vice President Bodo Adler.

The next meeting between LTA and SIDI-Sportmanagement will be scheduled for February-March of next year. 

Hansen, Del Rio, Dietrich, and Maksimov

Künzer and Maksimov

]]> http://lta-agency.com/2009/11/lta-agency-visit-frankfurt/feed/ 0 http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-hired-to-challenge-in-europe/ http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-hired-to-challenge-in-europe/#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 21:33:23 +0000 Anton http://lta-agency.com/?p=666 LTA’s Shek Borkowski and Kaloyan Petkov were officially presented as the new coaches of the Russian champions WFC Zvezda-2005. Below are some highlights of the press conference held at the Zvezda Stadium in Perm Tuesday.

Gennadiy Shilov, president WFC Zvezda-2005:
- We are 3-time defending Champions of Russia, 2007 Russian Cup Winners, 2008/09 UEFA Women’s Cup Finalists. The main task facing the club is to win the UEFA Champions League. To tackle this task, we have just hired a new head coach from the US. He led his previous team FC Indiana to two US League Championships and two US Cup titles.
- The contract was signed on October 26 for 2 years.
- Shek was here at the most recent games, saw the players in action, and by now knows a lot about the team. Of course, it will not be possible to rebuild the team in a short period of 10 days that are left before the match vs Røa.
- In terms of possible transfers, we want to sign primarily Russian players; we will also look to bring in 4-5 foreign players to help fulfill our goals.

Stanislav Kharitonov, sporting director WFC Zvezda-2005:
- I am very pleased with this appointment and believe that with Shek Borkowski we can solve the task, which our president set for us.

Shek Borkowski, head coach WFC Zvezda-2005:
- I am glad to find the team in good form both technically and physically. Players have impressed me so far both individually and as a team, and I like the way the team approaches important games.
- In both men’s and women’s football, there are high expectations for any new coach, not to mention a foreign coach. However, I have worked in a number of clubs in my career, and I am ready to face the increased attention from fans and the media.
- It is a good opportunity for me as a coach to try to take the team to a new level, especially knowing the ambitions of Zvezda-2005. It is a great honor to challenge the top European teams.
- As to the squad, we will check prospective players not only from Europe, but also from the other parts of the world.
- Football is my main occupation. The rest of the time I dedicate to my family. I have four daughters. My family are not going to move to Perm, but I will try to visit them as often as possible.

Kaloyan Petkov, strength and conditioning coach WFC Zvezda-2005:
- During the time that we have left in the season, we can’t do much about the players’ fitness. We just have to try to maintain their current form. By the next pre-season, we’ll create a special conditioning program.

See the club’s news release and complete summary of the press-conference in Russian here:

http://bit.ly/3SOEaJ

See the video report of the press-conference and first training conducted by Borkowski and Petkov in Perm here:

Shek Borkowski

Kaloyan Petkov

]]> http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-hired-to-challenge-in-europe/feed/ 1 http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-petkov-to-coach-russian-champions/ http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-petkov-to-coach-russian-champions/#comments Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:45:44 +0000 Anton http://lta-agency.com/?p=623 Three-time defending Russian Premier League champions and last season’s UEFA Women’s Cup finalists Zvezda-2005 are set to unveil LTA’s Leszek (Shek) Borkowski as their new head coach next week.

The Russian club, which is preparing to take on Norway’s champions Røa IL in the UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 16 next month are making a statement of intent by signing the two-time league and cup winning coach. The Polish-born coach led his previous club, US powerhouse FC Indiana, to Women’s Premier Soccer League titles in 2005 and 2007 and US Open Cup titles in 2005 and 2008.

With Borkowski now installed as Aleksandr Grigoryan’s replacement at Zvezda-2005, the club located in the most easterly European city of Perm, questions are being raised over the future of the squad, with some significant signings expected to be made in the off-season after the Pole vowed to “take the club forward.”

Borkowski’s appointment shows the serious commitment from the club’s president Gennadiy Shilov, reinforcing the belief that the club’s emphasis next season will be placed on success in Europe. As such, Borkowski is believed to be looking to bring key changes to a squad based on Russian and Ukrainian internationals who, while claiming the last three Russian League titles, have fallen just short of getting the coveted European crown.

Zvezda-2005 sporting director, Stanislav Kharitonov said: “We are delighted that we were able to replace a great coach Grigoriyan with another great coach – Borkowski. We hope that our team will continue to improve and will move only forward as we target winning every tournament that we participate in.”

With regards to player changes, Borkowski who has worked with players from 21 countries during his term in the US, has been linked with several internationals including Mexican midfielder Fatima Leyva. Leyva, who flourished under Borkowski in America and was FC Indiana’s and her National Team captain, is a likely import.

LTA Agency Director of Women’s Football, Anton Maksimov, who was involved in Zvezda’s approach for Borkowski, said: “I always thought that Europe was ideal for Borkowski. After winning titles in America, it is a natural transition for him to coach in a European setting, and the Russian club’s international ambitions match his desire for success perfectly. Fully committed to the women’s game, he is one of the most hard-working, driven, and tactically astute coaches around.”

To be officially presented to journalists in Perm next Tuesday October 27th, Borkowski will be joined in Russia by his long-time assistant LTA’s Bulgarian strength and conditioning coach Kaloyan Petkov.

The press-conference will take place at Zvezda Stadium at 5pm local time. See the club’s news release here:

http://bit.ly/2VuGC3

]]> http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/borkowski-petkov-to-coach-russian-champions/feed/ 0 http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/spanish-striker-mery-joins-lta-agency/ http://lta-agency.com/2009/10/spanish-striker-mery-joins-lta-agency/#comments Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:00:25 +0000 Anton http://lta-agency.com/?p=420 RCD Espanyol de Barcelona forward Maria Ruiz, better known as Mery, has signed a representation agreement with LTA.

Mery has just started her first season back in Spain after a highly successful 5-year spell in the United States where she won the National Championship and the US Open Cup with FC Indiana and led a new Buffalo Flash franchise to the USL W-League Play-Offs in their debut season.

The Madrid-born trickster is very dangerous both as a goalscorer and the assist getter and has reached double figures in goals scored in each of the last five seasons. Mery was instrumental in FC Indiana’s run to the 2007 Women’s Premier League National Championship (WPSL), and she was named that year’s WPSL National Championship Final Four Most Valuable Player (MVP).

You can see one of her most spectacular goals scored in the 2007 US Open Cup Final versus Ajax America of California by following this link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B5Du2kCwUs

Mery has returned to Spain with the aspirations of helping RCD Espanyol regain the Spanish Superliga title and earning her spot on the Spanish National Team in the current FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 qualification cycle.