USMNT September roster, Suárez retires from Uruguay, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday! We are back from the long weekend, and I hope all of your weekends felt as long and luxurious as mine did. I got to relax AND got a bunch done around the house! How delightful.
24-player USMNT September roster named (Stars and Stripes FC)
Interim coach Mikey Varas has named a roster for this month’s games against Canada and New Zealand. Players getting a first look include Aidan Morris and Auston Trusty.
Takeaways from Loudoun’s 1-0 loss to Phoenix (The District Press)
Loudoun are going through a bit of a rough patch, with no goals in the past two matches, and are looking at some tough games ahead. Ryan breaks it all down for us.
Luis Suárez to retire from Uruguay after Friday’s WC qualifier (ESPN)
Suárez, who is Uruguay’s all-time leading scorer, has not indicated a planned retirement from club soccer.
Timbers meet the moment, Dynamo send a message & more from Matchday 30 (MLS Soccer)
A look at all the games from this weekend.
Arsenal star Rice shown controversial red card vs. Brighton (Pro Soccer Wire)
I’m not sure I fully understand what this yellow card was for. The official word seems to be time-wasting, but Rice wasn’t really on the ground for that long.
In other-sports news, Francis Tiafoe, who was recently seen wearing a Trinity Rodman jersey, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. I think that’s neat.
That’s all I have for now. Have a good (short) week!
Strange for our GK situation to once again be in flux, despite having a great pool to choose from. And conversely, we have a pretty good selection of attacking players. Without McKennie or Adams in the midfield I kind of worry about being a little soft against Canada’s aggression.
With the win over Canada last Saturday night 28-15 the US is qualified for the Semifinal of the Pacifc Nations Cup. That puts them in a great place in terms of qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027. The game against Japan at 6:05 AM ET, on Peacock, decides whether we face Fiji, Samoa, or Tonga.
Much as I admire JoeW’s commentary, I must take issue with his criticism of the Spirit’s 1-1 draw with San Diego as featuring “lousy finishing by a range of players.”
Really? What caught my attention was that the Spirit had seven shots blocked, which struck me as a high number. I assume that a blocked shot would have been a shot on goal or damn close, including clearances off the line by defenders other than the keeper.
So I went back and constructed a spreadsheet of the Spirit’s 2024 NWSL season to date.
In their 18 matches Spirit have taken 244 shots with 97 on goal and 76 wide of the goal. Seven hit the woodwork and 71 were “blocked”. That means that 72% of shots were on target, including 67% of shots against San Diego last Sunday.
Not every match can be like the 4-1 victory over Kansas City. Only seven shots (second lowest of season) but four seemed to be directed by laser beams. Metayer’s 18 yard tucked inside the right post by the narrowest of margins; Sarr and Santos hit inside the side netting within a foot or so of the posts. And Rodman hit a waist high bullet that caromed off a defender into a looping goal over the keeper.
As a STM for both DC United and Spirit, I think Spirit are much more clinical in their finishing. Unlike DC United, Spirit rarely blast a long prayer over the bar into the Chico Stand.
An absence of machismo can be a good trait on the soccer pitch.