Carle called up to Canada, Austin FC SG boycotts Leagues Cup, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday! I am up very early for an 8 a.m. call today, but I’ve got a mix of fresh news, Olympics previews, and a couple of things you may have missed over the weekend.
What to know: 2024 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge presented by AT&T (MLS)
The Skills Challenge will be streaming on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV this evening. As someone who watched last year’s NWSL Skills Challenge on someone’s Instagram stream, I’m jealous.
D.C. United Sign Cameroonian Midfielder Boris Enow from Maccabi Netanya (D.C. United)
The 24-year-old midfielder most recently played in the Israeli first division league. He’s been signed through 2027 with an option for 2028, but D.C. didn’t provide details on contract amount.
With injury to Sydney Collins, Bev Priestman shuffles Canada’s Olympic roster (The Equalizer)
A teammate breaking her leg is far from the ideal way to get to the Olympics, but Gabby Carle absolutely deserves to be on the roster for Canada. Looking forward to watching her this week!
In protest of MLS’s decision not to allow teams to participate in the Open Cup, one supporters’ group is boycotting the Leagues Cup. Seems like a bit of a pointless protest to me, but maybe I’m being too cynical.
Analyzing the USWNT Olympic roster for Paris 2024 (The Athletic $)
A look at every player on the USWNT roster for the Olympics, although I think it’s selling Casey Krueger a little short.
2024 Olympic Men’s Tournament: Group A Preview (Stars and Stripes FC)
On the men’s side, here’s Donald’s preview of Group A, which includes the US, France, Guinea, and New Zealand.
Fish cake fury sees Norwegian game cancelled after VAR protest (ESPN)
Sharing largely because I find the picture of the lonely fish cake on the field so funny.
Just one midweek game this week, as Loudoun United tries to keep their unbeaten streak going at home tomorrow morning.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudoun United vs. Charleston Battery | Wed., July 24 at 11 a.m. ET | Leesburg, VA | ESPN+ |
Yes, the photo of the “lonely fishcake” is a winner. How can you not write a story about that?
Congrats to Carle on the call-up. Ironic that Canada didn’t bring their alternates with them to Paris–a cheap move by the Canadian FA. I wonder if this means that the Spirit can sign an extra replacement player for roster size issues?
And I’m eager to see what Enow brings and what the new, improved DCU starting lineup will look like. Not just–who starts? But also what formation/approach does Lesesne bring?
And you’re absolutely correct–boycotting the Open Cup because MLS isn’t participating is kind of nonsensical. A more accurate move would be to find ways to boost attendance of the Open Cup (a kind of “in your face MLS” response). This stunt reminds me of the Monty Python skit about the organized crime family the Dinsdales. Where originally they had a protection racket where they threatened to not beat people up if they didn’t pay them protection money.
I think the distinction here is that they are boycotting attending Leagues Cup games, not Open Cup games. And them doing that I think makes a lot of sense. If MLS is going to use the excuse of “schedule congestion” to get rid of the Open Cup, but they essentially stop the entire season for a month to play games against Liga MX, then they don’t really have an argument. I’m honestly a bit surprised even more supporter groups (cough DC cough) haven’t had this same approach.
The FO wreaked havoc with the DC supporters groups back in 2018 with the transition to Buzzard Point. IMHO from an outsider’s perspective they haven’t been the same since we left RFK.
Not even close.
I moved away right after the RFK final game and have been back to about 4 games and yeah not the same
I have a feeling our offensive output may tick up a little bit, but we’re going to continue to give up goals (albeit not at the annual 5-0 pace). Our CBs just aren’t totally up for it, and our goalies can’t bail us out of every attack. One of Bartlett or McVey would probably be a good partner with a top-tier CB (which should be an off-season priority now that Birnbaum has retired).
Fish cake….
Lunch….
Hmmmm…..
You know, just to show how backwards our front office is….THERE ARE NO FISH CAKES at the stadium. Not even in the all inclusive club. No wonder Norwegian fans of DC United wander around in a sense of loss, isolation and discontent…
No Lutefisk either.
However, in all fairness, I thought all DC United fans (not just Norwegian ones) were wandering around in a sense of loss, isolation, and discontent.
Fair point
How do DCU supporters groups meaningfully boycott Leagues Cup matches when they’re all in Chester PA and Richmond?
?? Santos Laguna coming to Audi Field
The fans boycotting the Leagues Cup seems logical to me. MLS named congestion as the reason for limited participation in the Open Cup; a major factor in congestion is MLS running the Leagues Cup for a month in the summer.
As to it being pointless, I’m not so sure. It may be, but if the atmosphere at games and image of the Leagues Cup were to suffer at several teams, perhaps not.
Anyway, at least they aren’t throwing fishcakes at Q2…yet!
3.5 years guaranteed with an option year for Enow? That’s a HUGE vote of confidence! Encouraging.
Wanted to note that DCU may have a huge burgeoning talent in the Academy with midfielder Nelson Hernandez, who was probably the best player in the MLS Next All-star game. If anyone has more info or insight about the young man. please share.
Today — Wednesday — is a USA Men’s Olympics Matchday. It’s been 16 years…
With Rugby 7s starting at the Olympics tomorrow. I wanted to point out that the last time Rugby Union XVs was an Olympic sport was back at Paris 1924. The US beat France in the gold medal game, so the US is the reigning Olympics champ for Men’s XVs and has been for a century.
https://www.planetrugby.com/news/usa-are-still-olympic-rugby-champions-and-have-been-for-a-century
I was wrong it was today. The US tied hosts France 12-12, but then got savaged 38-12 by a Fijian team they beat in May in Madrid to stay up in the HSBC 7s Series for the 2024-2025 season. Such a heavy loss is detrimental as points differential is a tiebreaker. The US need to beat Uruguay tomorrow in their final pool game to be in a good place for a quarterfinal berth.
https://www.goffrugbyreport.com/news/good-enough-usa-loss-and-tie-paris-day-one