Men’s Olympics final set, Ream to Charlotte rumors, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday! I’m dealing with a mountain of work in advance of taking a couple days off for a family wedding in New York later this week, and I can’t imagine my productivity will be helped by today’s USWNT match. Here are some soccer articles for you to check out while I’m focusing on all that.
USWNT’s Rodman, Smith, Swanson having fun as fearsome front three (ESPN)
Though fans are still searching for the perfect nickname for the group, USWNT’s trio of forwards are really clicking. Here, Rodman attributes some of that to new head coach Emma Hayes.
7 Young Standouts that stood apart in Week 22 of the USL Championship (USL Championship)
Loudoun United’s Abdellatif Aboukoura just scored his fifth goal of the season and is getting some well-deserved attention.
France, Spain to meet in Olympics men’s soccer final after thrilling semifinal comebacks (USA Today)
Yesterday’s games had promise and some excitement, but I fear we’ve ended up with the most boring combination of teams for the finals. Think how interesting a Morocco-Egypt match would have been!
USL is having a moment: New stadiums, record player sales, and promotion and relegation maybe on the horizon (CBS Sports)
I’d be pretty surprised to see a U.S. league try out pro/rel, but USL officials say it could be in their future. Is this something fans would want to see?
Relatedly, D.C. Power FC may need to look out if that becomes a reality:
USWNT to play Argentina in October friendly (SSFC)
The first time they’ve played in Louisville in 20 years is crazy!
Sources: Charlotte finalizing deal to sign Tim Ream from Fulham (Give Me Sport)
MLS may be reviving their old “retirement league” reputation with deals like this, but the rumor does interest me.
For the first time in a while, there are no midweek matches, so we’ll all have to content ourselves with international soccer until the weekend. Enjoy!
The new DC women’s team is a half baked Levien project?? Now I’ve seen everything!! (Again and again)
Also, I wonder how many call the DC Power ticket office when there’s an outage after a hasty google search?
Also, Annie, be kind to your future self, and get that work done… after 2 PM plus possible extra time 😉
Why did Levien decide to compete with Y. Michelle Kang? Why put a semipro (at best) team in the same stadium that star professionals like Christian Benteke and Trinity Rodman call home? How is that even going to recoup the costs of running the stadium?
I just don’t get it.
Imo, a blatant attempt to try and catch the women’s soccer wave while it’s still cheap to get it. Except of course you can’t cheap your way into it either because that’s long since passed.
They’re just trying to squeeze money out of any sports thing they can. Women’s soccer is a brilliant investment at this point as a growing industry and marketing opportunity, but having a shit club is never a good idea
The attendance at the Major League Rugby Championship game this past Sunday set a new single game attendance record for the league at 12,085. The game was played at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego as MLR does neutral site championship games.
Looks like DC United has a home match at Audi Field vs. Mazatlan on Friday?!
At least, that’s how the match is currently listed at http://www.mlssoccer.com “Leagues Cup 2024”
Newly sodded and absolutely drenched by the wettest tropical storm ever.
What could go wrong?
I’d be shocked if they do this. But they should move the game back a day to Saturday evening instead of Friday evening. Most forecasts estimate we could have 4 or 5 inches rain form Debby on Friday followed by a nice sunny weekend.
But that makes sense…is the FO allowed to do that?
Kevin Paredes makes ESPN FC’S list of top u-23 players from the Olympics.
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/40715939/breakout-soccer-stars-2024-olympic-men-restes-lopez-paredes
Deserved, IMHO.
Curious if our renewed form in the Leagues Cup will carry over into the actual league. We’re still shuffling the lineup quite a bit – people back from injury and the new arrivals.