Wisconsin Soccer Central

The Chicago Fire is the first U.S. team invited to play in the Al Kass International Cup, an elite tournament in Qatar featuring Under-16 teams from some of the world's top clubs. And three Wisconsin players will be making the trip to Doha for the event.

Jack Shaw (Milwaukee Marquette), who plays for the Fire's Under-15/16 team in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy, will be joined by Sam Kornetzke (Grafton/North Shore United) and Connor Alba (Waukesha Catholic Memorial/SC Waukesha). Shaw previously played with Bavarian SC.

Kornetzke and Alba earned invitations to the tournament based on their participation with the Wisconsin Fire, the partnership between 10 state clubs, the Wisconsin Olympic Development Program and the Fire that started last fall.

There also will be a state presence on the sidelines, as University of Wisconsin men's assistant Stan Anderson (UW-Parkside) is on the Fire Academy coaching staff.

The Fire are scheduled to leave Jan. 11, with their first match against tournament co-host Aspire Qatar on Jan. 14 at 8:35 a.m. Central. The next day, they'll face England's Manchester City to finish out Group D play at 11:40 a.m. Central.

The other teams in the 12-team, invitation-only tournament are Spanish powers FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, French clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Auxerre, Brazil's Fluminense, Italy's AC Milan, Portugal's FC Porto, Japan's Kashiwa Reysol and Aspire International, the other tournament co-host.

The third-place teams from each of the four groups will play in the ninth- and 11th-place matches on Jan. 17, while the quarterfinals are set for Jan. 18 and 19. The semifinals are Jan. 21, with the final and third-place game on Jan. 23. Consolation semifinals and the fifth- and seventh-place matches are Jan. 20 and 22.

PSG won the inaugural Al Kass International Cup in 2012, outlasting Italy's Juventus on penalty kicks, then lost to Fluminense on penalties in last year's final.

Al Kass International Cup website
More on Kornetzke from MyCedarburgOnline

• FC Wisconsin Eclipse's Under-16 and Under-17 girls teams fared well at the Elite Clubs National League Florida Showcase in Sanford, combining for three wins and a tie in six matches. Mariah Downs (Whitefish Bay) had a tremendous event, scoring five of the six goals as the Under-17s beat Carolina Elite 3-1 and California's Santa Rosa United 2-0 sandwiched around a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas. UW recruit Steph Fabry (Milwaukee DSHA) also scored and Allison Jacobson assisted on all three goals in the win over Carolina Elite for the team, which extended its unbeaten streak to six (5-0-1) and improved to 8-11-3 on the season. Mary DeWalt (Slinger), Lindsey Weiss (Cedarburg) and Kate Del Fava had the goals for the Under-16 team (9-9-3), which opened with a 2-0 win over the Virginia Rush before falling to Ohio Elite 2-1 and Alabama's Birmingham United 2-0. The FC Wisconsin Eclipse Under-15, Under-16 and Under-17 sides will next play at the ECNL Texas Showcase from Feb. 21 to 23 in Fort Worth.
• The Under-16 team from Middleton's Rush Wisconsin won its final two games in the Championship White bracket at the girls Disney Showcase in Kissimmee, Fla., beating Florida sides Jacksonville Area Coastal Surge 2-0 and IRSA Premier 4-0 to finish 2-1-0 at the tournament. The only other result for a state team at the event was by North Shore United, which earned a 2-2 tie with New York's South Huntington Lightning to finish 0-2-1 in the boys Under-16 Showcase Gray divisio.
• The SC Waukesha Blue Under-18 boys team didn't play in the latest round of U.S. Youth Soccer National League matches in Florida, but the results left the Wisconsin side in good shape in the Blue Division heading into the final games of the season. SC Waukesha (3-0-1) has 10 points and is tied for first with Maryland's OBGC Rangers (2-1-4), who have completed their schedule. The top two finishers in the division earn berths in the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships, which are July 22 to 27 in Germantown, Md. The last round of matches are March 14 to 16 at a site to be determined; SC Waukesha's main competition for the top two spots looks to be California's West Coast FC (2-0-2) and Arizona's Scottsdale Blackhawks Burke (2-0-2). Standings/results/schedule