Concacaf Champions Cup match delayed, our MLS Fantasy League returns, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
My long weekend has come to an end, but it’s a short work week with the promise of soccer awaiting us on the other side. Hopefully, we will also get some fun soccer news to carry us through. Here’s what I have so far!
Concacaf moves Miami-Sporting KC game to Feb. 19 due to storm (ESPN)
Sounds like we will be missing the worst of this storm, but I’ll cross my fingers for improved weather this weekend.
Rick’s MLS Fantasy League is back. Sign up here:
For those interested in amateur soccer, the semifinals of Maryland State Soccer Association’s Stewart Cup are taking place tomorrow evening. The event will feature Baltimore teams Baltimore Kickers, Christos FC, Steel Pulse FC, and Das Bierhalle FC; and it looks like the matches might be streamed on YouTube.
Preseason Roundup – Leggett scores twice, Loudoun plays to wild draw with Union (USL Championship)
Sounds like Wesley Leggett is having a promising preseason with Loudoun United. He scored a brace in Loudoun’s 4-4 draw with Philadelphia Union this weekend.
Want to try the other football? Picking soccer equivalents for all 32 NFL teams (The Athletic $)
I’m a bigger fan of the idea for this article than the execution, but also I would very much like to see an MLS-to-NFL version.
D.C. United Q&A with Garrison Tubbs: Black History Month (D.C. United)
To celebrate Black History Month, D.C. United asked Garrison Tubbs about what it means to him.
Black Excellence in the DMV: Kim Crabbe (Washington Spirit)
For their part, Washington Spirit profiled Kim Crabbe, the first Black woman to play for the USWNT. I had no idea she was from Reston!
Washington Spirit signees Deborah Abiodun (#6) and Tamara Bolt (#16) both got some playing time in their first match since being loaned to Dallas Trinity FC. You may be able to spot one or both in this highlights video:
Thank you, Rebeca Bernal (All for XI)
Until she signs somewhere else, I am treating the Rebeca Bernal-to-Washington rumors as a distinct possibility. Check out this article for a good summary of her career so far.
For a fun comparison, enjoy this gif of 2025 MLS jerseys side-by-side with their 2023 counterparts.
Have a good week everyone!
I know there are a bunch of things to comment in your post. But I initially want to call out and emphasize that I am thankful that you’re not one of the organizations that suddenly had “Black History Month” disappear. Thanks for continuing to recognize BHM and provide some links to relevant stories on that.
I’m honestly shocked by how quickly institutions have repudiated an event that’s been recognized by this country since the Ford administration. Can’t speak for everyone at The District Press, but I still think there’s value in celebrating the contributions Black Americans have made to soccer (and beyond).
Just wanted to associate myself with these comments. That any government would actively chill the remembrance of black contributions to our society and culture is, Jesus, it’s fucking wrong.
To put a finer point on it, it’s no secret that black contributions exist in literally every area, despite attempted stifling in myriad ways throughout our history, but there has not been a popular style of music since at least Ragtime that hasn’t originated from black culture. That’s not an exaggeration. So, those in favor of quashing the observance of this month should be forced to listen to nothing but Wagner’s ring cycle till the end of time.
I mean, it would be great if our schools really taught the history, and if our society truly lifted the contributions of great, good and average black Americans every day, rather than artificially confining it to February. But none of that happens. That is why Black History Month was created, and why it’s still needed.
I was a history major in college, and have definitely learned much more about Black history from readings I’ve done after I graduated. Much, much more.
Yeah, the value is there on its face. And there’s value now in being vocal about that recognition. Kudos to you, and kudos to DC United for highlighting the importance of Black players and especially Black Americans like Garrison Tubbs.
(BTW I wasn’t trying to cast aspersions on my fellow DP writers; I just didn’t talk to them before posting and wasn’t trying to put words in anyone’s mouth.)
And I for one, didn’t take your comments that way. The way I read them was that you didn’t go to everyone at DP and say “is it OK if I post some links about BHM?” but instead just did it naturally and didn’t think that you were doing anything provocative or contrary to the values of the organization.
If anyone is interested this article has the tweets from The Rugby Network showing the chaos of the play and how Old Glory tied it up after regulation expired Saturday evening.
https://www.planetrugby.com/news/major-league-rugby-starts-in-dramatic-fashion-as-unforgivable-blunder-hands-argentina-star-game-winning-hat-trick
By the way, the Old Glory DC vs Miami Sharks game was the first game to kick off for the 2025 MLR season.
Full highlights: https://youtu.be/f8vhbR5jcng
Goff is reporting that Kristian Fletcher has scored for the third game in a row and now has 5 goals in 18 games for Nottingham Forest’s U-21 team. I think he’s making a good case for himself to make that deal permanent.
Still sitting around waiting to hear about Lukas MacNaughton’s green card. And, relatedly, the signing of Rida Zouhir.
J. Sam Jones has us starting at #24 and says that feels a little high in his Power Rankings on the MLS website.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings-where-does-your-team-start-the-2025-mls-season
Honestly, I was surprised to see us above 29. So, yay for us!
MLS website writer’s bureau has us finishing 14th in the East.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/expert-predictions-2025-mls-eastern-conference-western-conference-standings
Ignoring us for just a second, I kind of feel like LAFC is not going to do as well as predicted. Probably will still be up at the top with all that proven veteran talent, but something’s been missing since their win against Philadelphia in 2022.
There are two problems with projections before the season has started. (1) people tend to operate on how a team did last year. So the champions are treated as if they’ll win a second consecutive title (cuz the last time we saw them, they were good). Except it’s a new season. Some guys who were impressive last season will slump. Others who were healthy will get injured. Can’t put your foot in the same river twice. And (2) because MLS isn’t a top 3 league, you see a lot of influential talent (like Cucho) depart for other leagues. And a lot of unknowns, unproven players come in. So projecting before an official game has been played is inherently flawed.
I get people putting us low in the rankings. (1) we haven’t made the playoffs in a while and (2) we didn’t go out an acquire a bunch of top-end talent–no Miggy Almiron for us, no sir. I think the keys to our season (other than health) are: does the offense feed Benteke effectively? If he stays healthy and the answer to my question about the offense is “yes” then I think he wins the Golden Boot again and with a much higher tally. And (2) do we learn to play transition defense better so we don’t give up so many goals? And if the answer is yes, then we are a significantly better team. And frankly, we don’t know the answer to those two questions.
Is anybody watching LAFC at CO tonight? 10 o’clock (ET) on FS2.
I am standing by my assertion that DC will finish better in the standings than Philly this year, at least with how Philly’s roster currently stands (that being said, I can see Philly still beating DC by a combined 10 goals or something, since that’s just how that works). I also think Nashville is going to struggle. Montreal, Chicago, and New England are also all toss-ups. If I had to put a number on it, I think DC is going to be closer to 9th or 10th, sort of fighting for that last playoff spot
The USA Eagles (Men’s XVs rugby) (#16 in the world) has booked a return date with Scotland (#7 in the world) after losing at Buzzard Point last July. The November 1st test match will be the first time the US has played Scotland in Scotland since 2000. All time the US has 1 victory to Scotland’s 6.
The US will also play England (#6 in the world) in July as well as a rematch with Spain (#18 in the world) and the Netherlands (#24 in the world). England, Scotland, and Spain are all bound for Rugby World Cup 2027. The US needs to be one of the top 3 finishers beyond Japan and Fiji in this year’s Pacific Nations Cup to qualify.
https://www.americasrugbynews.com/2025/02/18/usa-eagles-secure-november-clash-against-scotland/
ESPN FC’s Jeff Carlisle talks the future of MLS.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/43889702/mls-turns-30-pro-rel-big-spending-fuel-next-30-years
MLS Writer’s Bureau gives us their predictions for MLS Cup, Supporter’s Shield, MLS MVP, Golden Boot, Comeback Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, and Young Player of the Year. And not a single mention of DC United.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/expert-predictions-2025-mls-cup-supporters-shield-mvp-more
Benteke was an “other vote getter” for Golden Boot.
It’s a funny exercise. ATL United got the most votes (4) on the panel to win the Shield, but the only one who voted for them to win MLS Cup picked the Sounders instead for the Shield. But, Dax agrees with him about the Sounders, so that’s probably right.
Also, there are 3 votes for Almiron for MVP, and each of those pundits picked ATL Utd to win either Cup or Shield. Personally, I think they’re wildly over-estimating how effective he will be back in MLS. He struggled this year with Newcastle. As for the 2 who picked Evander, if they want to bet with me on that one, I’m willing to take it. I was so impressed with Evander in his first games with Portland, but he couldn’t sustain that. Cincy wildly overpaid to get him.
3 Old Glory DC players made the Major League Rugby First XV for week 1.
https://www.majorleague.rugby/news/first-xv-wk1-2025/
Fly-half, Jason Robertson – OLD GLORY DC
Left Wing, Axel Muller – OLD GLORY DC
Fullback, Damien Hoyland – Old Glory DC
Axel was also named the Player of the Week for Major League Rugby Week 1.
The LA Galaxy have bought out newly acquired Sean Davis. He came over from Nashville, and before that was with Red Bulls. He made $910,000 last year, but with the buyout I believe he could be gotten for much less.
Also, apparently Dortmund want to move on from Gio Reyna after this season. Could that be our summer signing?
I came here to post this too. Sean Davis seems like the perfect fit for DC: A free and very cheap TAM-level player that recently played for Nashville. Not sure if he fits in positionally, really, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up here
We need some depth at defensive midfield, but I think he may be more like a Brandon Servania type.
I’d still give him a call.
I’ve harped intermittantly about the green card for Lukas MacNaughton, but I checked his Wiki today and saw that he was born in New York and holds American citizenship. So I guess he doesn’t need a green card after all. Problem solved!
That’s strange, because according to the MLS Roster Profiles that they released back in September, he occupied an international spot for Nashville. Odd to see that him being born in NY doesn’t seemingly count
Yeah. I checked the Roster pages on MLSsoccer.com just now, but those were pretty useless. The one player they had marked as an International was Randall Leal, and he acquired a green card in 2023.
Yeah the rosters listed on the league website are useless, but the Box page is actually up to date:
https://mlssoccer.app.box.com/s/97pbd256zqyzsgxbag50ji50v2d2x9nb
Not that I trust Wikipedia, but his Wikipedia page indicates he’s Canadian and has 1 cap for Canada. He’s born in the US, raised in Belgium, but represents Canada internationally.
Right, I know about his Canadian-ness, and there was reporting awhile back that both he and Kijima were close to getting their green cards. Kijima got his, but then there’s been silence around MacNaughton. However, since he was born in New York and still has triple citizenship (per Wiki) between the US, Canada, and Belgium, I don’t think a green card would be necessary. Or at least not an MLS International roster slot designation.
I found a match stream for the Canada – China Pinatar Cup game today, in case anyone else feels like watching. Gabby Carle played well in the first half and assisted Canada’s only goal.
https://www.youtube.com/live/hqefePKe2rY?si=F5IGd1Tt9kjh8hYa
https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/43923123/us-travel-system-not-ready-world-cup-olympics