USW U-20 comeback win, Valot up for Goal of the Week, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Happy Tuesday, everyone! There’s plenty to be excited about today, including the nice fall weather (and possibility of an end to our mini-drought) and the fact that my Duolingo practice has paid off to the point that I understood one (1) Spanish question posed to Jona Giráldez this weekend. (He was asked about his favorite food.) Plus, we have a new Hey Spirits interview out today! That should be plenty to get us through the work week.
Now, let’s talk some soccer.
As usual, Tuesday means weekly awards voting. This week we have Florian Valot, whose diving header gave Loudoun United their fourth goal of the night.
USWNT produces insane comeback to reach U-20 World Cup semifinal (Pro Soccer Wire)
A wild result. The US was down 2-0 in the third minute of stoppage time and came back to tie and then win on penalties.
Explaining the lost generation of footballers who came after Messi and Ronaldo (The Athletic $)
Because of the dominance of Ronaldo and Messi, no one born after 1987 has ever won the Ballon d’Or. This article take a look at the “lost generation,” “a group of players now in their early-to-mid thirties” who were overshadowed by those two — and are now being eclipsed by the younger generation of stars.
Concacaf announces 2025 to 2029 women’s national team competitions (Concacaf)
Concacaf W Championship in 2026, Concacaf W Nations League in 2028, Concacaf W Gold Cup in 2029: that’s a lot of soccer!
San Diego FC Names Mikey Varas Head Coach (San Diego FC)
The newest MLS team now has their first coach.
Beckham, Brady and McElhenney watch Birmingham win ‘Hollywood derby (The Guardian)
I hear there were nearly as many camera shots of the celebrities at the match as players on the field!
Finally, let’s give our congratulations to former Spirit (but forever in our hearts), Ashley Sanchez who became the first NWSL player to score against all 14 of the current NWSL teams:
Have a good day, everyone!
Congrats to Ashley Sanchez. I will always miss her and Sam Staab. Both are outstanding players, class acts, good teammates. And that’s an amazing accomplishment by Sanchez–that Morgan or Smith didn’t beat her to it?
And I’m not sure I buy the “lost generation” hype. True, Messi and Ronaldo dominated the Ballon d’Or for 2 decades. But the Ballon d’Or is media hype anyway–just look at how Naomi Girma was excluded from the finalists. In short, there are plenty of players in their mid-30’s who won World Cups or European Championships or League glory (how many Premier titles have Messi and Ronaldo won in the past 15 years?).
You mean Premier League titles? Hard to win those when you don’t play in the Premier. I mean Messi is one of the top three to ever play the game but he’s not a sorcerer. 🙂
Exactly. I think Messi is the greatest to ever play the game. And yes, I’ve seen Pele play in-person multiple times when I make that statement. But my point is: just because you didn’t win a Ballon d’Or doesn’t mean you’re relegated to the shadows. During that time period, Messi won the WC exactly once. Ronaldo and Messi weren’t winning the Premier League or a range of other accomplishments.
Now none of that diminishes them as great players (and in my book, Messi is the greatest ever). But what the article is attempting to say is “oh, poor DeBruyne, alas for Wayne Rooney, cry for Mo Salah–none of them won the Ballon D’Or so they’re in the shadows as forgotten players who will never be appreciated.” And that’s bunk.
And not only has Messi never won the Premier league, he never won the Scudetto either! My point of this is simple: there are a lot of accomplishments out there for great players. The Ballon d’Or is only one of them.
I agree with your sentiment but what the article seems to allude to happens in all sports and sometimes in areas outside the sports world as well. You could be great but there will always be someone who is the best. Just how it goes. I mean Jordan stood in the way of tremendous players who would have won Championships if they didn’t co-exist at the same time as Jordan’s Bulls. Jordan winning 6 championships and numerous MVPs, doesn’t take away the greatness that was Barkley, Malone, etc.
As for Messi, I still give the slight edge to Maradona over Messi. It would have been nice to have seen a Maradona without the drug problems that came after his stay in Napoli but he was an indominable force of nature. Messi edges him on natural talent and technique but Maradona could will his teams to win just on personality alone. Messi being such an introvert didn’t become that type of leader until his 30s and that is what I think finally allowed him to lead his national teams to winning titles. But I learned to love futbol watching Maradona as a kid so in my eyes he’s still the best I’ve have seen.
I simply don’t get the “drugs aside” argument with Maradonna. He was doing it to juice his play, as well.
That is complete speculation. He was doing it because he was drug addict, drug addicts are just that addicts. They often can’t quit their harmful behavior even though they know is harmful. Maradona was already a force of nature before he joined Napoli and Napoli is when he got a taste for drugs. Cocaine did not make Maradona more skillful, he developed whatever natural talent he had while playing in muddied fields in whatever villa he happened to grow up in. I would argue that cocaine destroyed his career, not enhanced it. You make it sound like he was Lance Armstroing it out there. He wasn’t. But regardless, his cocaine use later in his career, and/or even his abrasive and often times unlikable personality, did not take away from the talent that he was.
I think it’s pretty clear he burned brighter and shorter cuz of drugs. Just because it wasn’t as sophisticated a method as Armstrong doesn’t mean he didn’t do it to give himself more pep on the field. Messi is better. 🤷♂️
Difference of opinion, I guess. I don’t think cocaine had any positive effects on either Maradona or Caniggia for that matter. Maradona himself said that had he not taken cocaine, he would have been a better player because during his drug addicted years he felt like a zombie. Their addiction and what happened to their careers because of it, may have had a positive effect on the generations that followed though and that’s something. I guess.
One more thing to note on the Maradona vs Messi debate. When Maradona play, other players would just take Maradona out. They would literally go and take his legs out because that was the way to stop him. Messi usually never went through that type of treatment, except when he was playing against Ramos or Pepe, who were just aholes.
Lewandoski!!!! 1988….I fact checked….
Girma>>>ballon d’or (not even up for debate)
I could only find a two minute highlight reel of the U-20 comeback, but the timeline is insane! Well done, ladies!
Gavin Turner has committed to play at UVA for college. He and Graham Jones seem like they’re probably the next two targets for Homegrown signings for DC, but the lack of an MLS Next Pro team is really hurting the team here. Would Turner be ready to step in and get MLS minutes next year? I’m not sure. College could actually be the better place for his development right now.
This stupid team…
Don’t this ownership group still control Swansea City? Along with Power FC? Seems like there’s plenty of negligence to go around
MLS came out with the fall version of their roster designations and theres some…weird…things going on with DC’s. Things I’ve seen that have stood out:
What on earth is the supplemental roster?
Ok, lets see if I can make any sense of it!
The supplemental roster is composed of up to 10 players per team (player slots 21-30). These players do NOT count against the salary cap, but the players are limited to making either the Senior Roster Minimum (~$90k) or the Reserve Roster Minimum (~$71k). Generally speaking, the supplemental roster is generally filled with Homegrowns, draft picks, and general backup players. DC’s currently includes Akinmbony, Bartlett, Crockford, Fletcher, Garay, Hopkins, Murrell, Sargis, and Tubbs. Looking at the MLSPA salary release from earlier this year, Bartlett is actually on the senior roster minimum salary. My guess as to why he wasn’t on it before, but is now, was to free up salary cap space, as moving him to the supplemental would have freed up ~$89k in cap space, since he wouldn’t count against the cap if he’s on the supplemental roster. But that’s entirely a guess on my part. DC currently has 19 out of a possible 20 players on the senior team, so there is space for him to be there, but I suppose they can save the cap hit and use it on someone else this way
Thanks for the explanation. Although MLS roster rules are so convoluted and Byzantine that even the clearest explanation will leave you scratching your head and wondering why this can’t be simpler