So first, I just want to apologize that this is the first Free Kicks of the week (and it’s even late today to boot!). Life takes no breaks, and so sometimes, we’re just inconveniently unavailable. My alibi, a poor one I admit, is that I have contractors over periodically giving quotes for a leaky roof while my evenings are spent going to various travel clinics trying to find the right vaccines in-stock for my trip to India in two (!) weeks. I yearn for the days when I was more in-touch with the soccer world around me.
Now is my chance to catch up on the same news you all may have learned before me! To the kicks!
Match Preview: D.C. United vs. Atlanta United (D.C. United): A midweek United Day! D.C. United hosts an Atlanta team that’s found new life in their offense of late. Incidentally, D.C. United seems to have channeled their entire offensive energy toward securing 332 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. Newton’s first law of motion will be tested tonight.
DC United goalkeeper Tyler Miller out with shoulder surgery (MLS): Bono will have the rest of the season to keep that shutout streak alive. If the team needs a third goalie…
NWSL confirms Boston expansion team for 2026 season (Pro Soccer Wire): This will be the NWSL’s 15th team. The league has a goal of reaching 16 teams by 2026, so one spot is still open.
MLS’s Seattle Sounders to Release ‘Brand Evolution’ on Sept. 26 (SportsLogos.net): I think the current Seattle Sounders logo is iconic. A staple of MLS 2.0 dominance. Perhaps that’s part of the reason the team wants to change it. With the Sounders’ 50th anniversary coming up, the team looks to be taking inspiration from the past for their new logo.
Lastly, a familiar face scoring a game-winning PK in shootouts… If D.C. United needs some depth, this Kristian Fletcher guy looks pretty good.
That’s all for today’s brief kicks. As always, get kicking in the comments with what I left out!
Boston is rejoining the NWSL even though it is a new expansion franchise. The Boston Breakers were an NWSL team up until they folded prior to the 2018 season. The Breakers were also in the previous Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) and Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS). The Washington Freedom were the DC team in both of those leagues.
https://theathletic.com/4877901/2023/09/19/nwsl-boston-expansion-team/
Unlike Utah, which is also rejoining, but is coming back in as the previously defunct Utah Royals. Add that to the San Francisco team, and it’s great to see the NWSL expanding.
Lazio’s goalie scored a stoppage time equalizer yesterday in UEFA Champion’s League Play.
https://prosoccerwire.usatoday.com/lists/provedel-lazio-goal-champions-league-atletico-madrid-video/
A goalie has no business being that good at making a run on goal.
…or he has every business because he’s seen it done to him a million times.
And apparently the goalie had scored a headed goal down in Serie B in 2020 as well.
Why would Seattle change their logo? It is iconic, like you said Kerry.
See ya’ll tonight. Forecast looks great; Saturday, not so much so.
I dislike Seattle immensely, but their crest and their colors work for them. I don’t know why they’d change, other than everybody changes from time to time, not often for seemingly good reasons. But Seattle has also known what they’re doing more often than not, so I’ll wait to see what they come up with before calling it a dumb idea.
I agree, I hope they stick with their colors. They work for them.
Christian Benteke has played 34 games for DC. He’s got 11 goals and 4 assists. So that’s essentially one full season, and the numbers are… okay? Probably would want a little more from your club’s all-time record contract spend, though.
Rugby World Cup news: 19 year old Australian uncapped Outside Back Max Jorgensen is out of the Rugby World Cup without playing a game. He fractured his fibula during training today. https://www.espn.com/rugby/story/_/id/38445804/wallabies-max-jorgensen-rugby-world-cup-playing-game
Rugby World Cup News: 24 year old Portuguese winger Vincent Pinto is suspended 2 games for kicking Wales’s Josh Adams in the head while catching a high ball: https://www.espn.com/rugby/story/_/id/38442871/rwc2023-kung-fu-kick-costs-portugal-wing-vincent-pinto-two-matches
Not gonna lie, I’m hung up on the “Hamid” news.
Unlikely that he plays for United again, and unlikely we make the playoffs, but neither is an impossibility….
Maybe sign him for a day, so he can retire as a DCU player?
Miller is out for the season, Bono has looked close to being knocked out, as well, and if Hamid is a possibility, I’d rather roll the dice with him.
Edit: if those two can’t go, I mean
I don’t think he’s ready to retire. I’m not sure what exactly led to his departure from Memphis, but I think he’s still spending time with his family. But, who knows. It is pretty incredible that he never got a sendoff game, despite leaving the team twice.
Anyway, as the apparent Champions League carer here, Pulisic and Musah added some much needed “give a damn” to the Milan vs Newcastle proceedings, both made a case they should be starting in these games.
Btw, looks like the noonce and editing problems went away, so keep these settings!
CL continues today, Union Berlin massively disappointed to go to sleep on a short corner in the depths of stoppage time, allowing Valverde to blast in a shot that deflects kindly into Bellingham’s path on the 6, 1-0 Madrid
That’s the difference between the elite and everyone else, isn’t it? How many times has RM or Bayern put a game away from one opening?
For sure, and Union really didn’t do a ton going forward. That said, it was just sad to see a fun narrative get killed by the bigger narrative, “Bellingham is a scoring inevitability.”