ERST LESEN! » cholas Willis of New Zealand captu

BINDURA, Zimbabwe -- Felistas Muzongondi used to be a house cleaner. Shes now an office clerk for a sugar manufacturer, and also the captain of the Zimbabwe womens soccer team at the Olympics.If you need a reminder that the Olympics are about more than just riches and rewards, then the Zimbabwean soccer team is one of the starkest in Rio de Janeiro.Apart from the joy of qualifying for the Olympics, the biggest feat was showing what we can do as women in this country, Muzongondi said. I dont think before this achievement we had the recognition we deserved as women footballers in this country, and womens football in general.Paid only $20 a day each when on national team duty, and just $50 each for playing in a match, its no wonder the Zimbabwean players all have day jobs.Until recently, they didnt have their own uniforms, making do with cast-offs from the mens national team. Their pre-Olympic training camp was at a university campus where they slept in dorm rooms usually occupied by students and ate plain food served up in the colleges dining hall. The training equipment was basic.Even Zimbabwean officials have been of little help, and instead jeopardized the teams chances of making the Olympics because they didnt provide enough money to fly the squad to a qualifier in Ivory Coast, forfeiting that game.Somehow, the Zimbabwe team still made it to Rio, battling through all these issues and more to now rub shoulders with the best in the world. They are the first soccer team -- men or women -- from Zimbabwe to qualify for the Olympics, striking a blow for the womens game back home, which is severely underfunded and neglected, Muzongondi said.Determined to make the federation take notice of them and respect them, the players went on strike in the buildup to the Olympics to demand better wages and treatment.Financially we struggle more than the men, yet we have done what no other Zimbabwean team has managed to do, Muzongondi said. We are looked down upon as women footballers.Zimbabwe lost to Germany 6-1 and to Canada 3-1 in its first two matches in Rio and plays its final group game against Australia on Tuesday. But forget those scores and concentrate, rather, on the fact that Zimbabwe is ranked No. 93 in the world and still made it to the top 12 teams in the world.They left their mark on other teams, too. Canada coach John Herdman said he showed his players newspaper reports on how the Zimbabweans had faced up to adversity. One of the stories told of how the Zimbabwe team, known as the Mighty Warriors, scrambled together $100 to pay for a medical scan for one of the players.And theres Muzongondis personal story, too.She left Zimbabwe and its ruined economy for neighboring South Africa looking for work. She found a job as a house cleaner but it didnt pay enough and she packed her bags and got back on a bus for home, committing as much as she could to soccer this time while making ends meet at the sugar manufacturer.Money aside -- the players got another $50 each for making soccer history for their country and qualifying for the Olympics -- Muzongondi thinks they have earned something important.Now everyone in the country is talking about the Mighty Warriors, she said. To us, thats the greatest thing we have achieved -- recognition.J. D. Smith Jersey . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Terry Kirby Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-larry-allen-jersey-large-1241f.html .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. George Mira Jersey .J. Jefferson has been charged with assaulting his girlfriend. J. J. Stokes Jersey . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Never bashful, Matthew Centrowitz always believed he could win at the Olympics.The American runner showed that supreme confidence on Saturday as he took the lead in the 1,500-meter race with two laps remaining and held off a late charge from the field to capture gold.It was the first title in the event for the United States since Mel Sheppard won the metric mile more than 100 years ago at the 1908 London Games.Doing my victory lap, I literally kept screaming to everyone I know, `Are you kidding me? Centrowitz said.Distance running just so happens to run in the Centrowitz family. His father, Matt, represented the United States at the 1976 Montreal Games. His sister, Lauren, competed in college for Stanford.Then theres Matthew, of course, the confident runner who always believed he was going to be the next big thing in the 1,500.He took a brazen approach in a race Saturday that was rather slow at the start. Centrowitz jumped to the front with about two laps to go and only got stronger with the finish line in sight. He finished in 3 minutes, 50 seconds, beatinng defending champion Taoufik Makhloufi of Algeria by 0.dddddddddddd11 seconds. Nicholas Willis of New Zealand captured bronze.After crossing the line, Centrowitz looked straight ahead, stunned at what he had just done. He then dropped to his knees and put his hands on top of his head.It was that unbelievable.His dad took in the entire scene from the stands. These two are tight, so much so that the son has a tattoo across his chest that reads, Like father, like son.Centrowitz went to the University of Oregon, home of the late Steve Prefontaine -- the training partner of his father before Pres death in a car accident at the age of 24.The 26-year-old Centrowitz grew up hearing all the stories. He even hung posters on his wall of Prefontaine, the charismatic and talented runner who finished fourth in the 5,000 meters at the 1972 Munich Olympics.Theres nothing like it, Centrowitz said of his win. It doesnt compare to anything else Ive won in my life. ' ' '