Women’s Olympic soccer increases to 16 teams, Inter Miami to Concacaf Champions Cup semis, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
It’s Thursday, and we’re once again almost at the weekend. Here’s some of the news from yesterday (and Tuesday night) to get you through the day:
2028 Olympics: Women’s soccer to have more teams than men’s in L.A. (ESPN)
The 2028 Olympics will have 16 teams in women’s soccer, while the men’s soccer tournament is contracted to 12 teams. This should make the women’s qualifying even more interesting.
Lionel Messi heroics send Inter Miami into Concacaf Champions Cup semis (MLS)
Inter Miami gets past LAFC to move onto the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals, where they will face the Vancouver Whitecaps, who beat Pumas at the death to advance. And, should they get to the final, they will now host what is guaranteed to be MLS vs. Liga MX.
Emma Hayes is putting her USWNT players in the frying pan. Who can handle the heat? (The Athletic)
After the USWNT split friendlies against Brazil during this window – a 2-0 win on Saturday and a 2-1 loss on Tuesday night – Emma Hayes is still trying to figure out who can handle the pressure of producing for the team as they continue to build towards World Cup qualifying.
Break out your wallets, the leaked 2025 USWNT home kits are good… finally (SSFC)
These will likely not be just for the USWNT, but these are awesome. And could they be a precursor for what we could see next year for the World Cup?
US Soccer seems to have settled their lawsuit with Relevent, a company that already helps with summer club friendlies that wishes to help bring more foreign league matches to the United States.
DC Power drops close game to Carolina Ascent (DP)
From Tuesday night, DC Power dropped another match, and their time is quickly running out to make any kind of miraculous run to sneak into the playoffs.
Enjoy the day, y’all.
I gotta say, regardless of the serious talent at her disposal, it’s crazy that Hayes’ only two losses in twenty games have been 2-1 defeats to Japan and Brazil when she was basically trying out a slew of hopefuls against their A teams. Impressive doesn’t begin to cover it, and I think she’s finding out which players are the tools for various jobs. This process is definitely benefiting a large number of players, blooding them while also wetting their beaks and keeping them hungry for the moment. That said, the competition for places could basically not be more brutal for the new WC.
The View from Buenos Aires
Well, today the Peronist labor unions have called for a general strike and the country is basically shut down, except for fútbol where a full slate of games continues.
Meanwhile, both the House of Representatives and the judiciary are investigating $LIBRA, a cryptocurrency scandal where President Milei launched a new cryptocurrency, attracting $millions, then abruptly pulled the government’s support, creating $million windfall for insiders with advance information that he would do so. Benefactors include his sister, Karina Milei, who is his chief of staff. Sound familiar?
I realize that this blog should stay away from politics, but what we are witnessing in the USA is the Latinamericanization of US politics and governance.
It infuriates me how these right-wing psychos can get away with saying “it hurts now but it’ll be better later” all while continuing to reap the government pork. And their supporters don’t bat an eye. Just the tip of the iceberg for professional conmen.
Funny how seemingly nothing stops football (soccer or, gridiron in the states).
and Nancy Pelosi was a “master investor”…………..spare me……
Sorry, folks, many politicians of both parties have missed their calling: grift…..
David, I hope you are enjoying Argentina!
Let’s not forget, there’s lots of corruption in politics all around. Difficult to argue that one side is more innocent than the other?
That’s an insane statement.
Sorry, mon frer, world-wide, except Liechtenstein, corruption drives political ambition.
This whataboutism is quite rich, and I’m guessing those that push it out into the world aren’t exactly poor.
I’m aware of corruption within the Democratic Party, know why? Cuz it got investigated under the last administration, against the ruling party. It is not and will not be investigated under this one, they’re firing and intimidating anyone who would look into the absolutely staggering grift that is happening now. Trump has two forms of pump and dump.
At the risk of outing myself, I am an elected party committee member. I am contractually obligated to support elected Democrats, but it is greatly misleading to say the corruption within the Democratic Party was investigated. A handful of Democratic officials were prosecuted for great abuse of their office — but most corruption is far more subtle than that, and…legal. Much of the leadership is benefiting, getting rich from investments, but so much happens along the edges — note all the texts you receive trying to shame you into giving to PACs you’ve never heard of, which do a great job of shoveling lots of money into activities which produce very high incomes for the same crappy consultants who lose election after election.
That’s a larger discussion of what should be illegal. I know about the elements you mentioned, but there’s also no billionaires walking out on stages with million dollar checks for chosen voters.
Based on your other comment, I don’t think there’s a ton of distance between our viewpoints. I personally would love to vote to the left of the Democratic Party and think campaign finance reform is a huge of the current political ballgame. I just have no patience for the “who’s to say who is more corrupt” delusion that is passed off as sagacity when it is closer to outright cowardice.
Not so. Since 1996 Transparency International puts out a Corruption Perception Index for (now) 180 countries.
Top ten least corrupt countries for 2024 (in descending order): Denmark Finland Singapore New Zealand Switzerland Sweden Netherlands Australia Iceland Ireland
Bottom five most corrupt societies (in ascending order): Yemen Syria Venezuela Somalia South Sudan
USA 28th in 2024; was 18th in 2016
Argentina 99th in 2024; was 95th in 2016
Mexico 140th in 2024
Liechtenstein was too small to be rated.
Careful, Doc99 my friend. Governance within the USA and, to lesser degree, worldwide is my field.
Liechtenstein is not too small, it is mighty!
(Curious, was the Vatican on the list?)
I beg to differ. Though there are certainly crooks on both sides (e.g. Democrat Dan Rostenkovski), Democrats tend to believe in government and public service; in recent decades, Republicans are generally anti government and see public office as an occasion for self enrichment. Check out the number of indictments of Republican and Democratic administrations from Nixon forward.
Yes, and even if there is corruption on both sides. Which yes, there is, because the are always individuals who will go for the ‘take all that you can’ mentality. The truth is that the difference in levels of corruption and accountability is astonishing and whataboutism is rather harmful because it leads to normalization. A blind eye at some point leads to total blindness. I was born in South America but I have lived most of my life here. I missed the dirty war years in my native region of the world, I was born just as my continent was coming out of those dark times but my generation was still acutely aware of it and of course, then came Venezuela. Don’t be fool by left or right, be aware of autocrats of all ‘pretend ideologies’. Americans have never seen this in person, never experience it and it worries me that a majority cannot see the warning signs and what it may lead to. Then again, some humans need to get burn to learn to stay away from a hot stove.
In fact, it is not difficult to argue in terms of scale as to which is more corrupt, but there is little innocence to go around. It’s true that Dem leadership manages to enrich itself at the federal level, and at the state level, often allows powerful business interests to sway what gets passed. But, only one side is committed to rule of law, and only one side is trying to make financial usury and fraud epidemic.
I’m down with general strikes here. There are groups calling for it, but like trees falling in the forest….unheard
Alright fellow commenters, I’ll be going to my first DC United game since 2013 when they play Colorado in early May. I went to a bunch of games at RFK before moving away from the area for grad school, and haven’t been able to attend anything at Audi Field yet. Anyone have any suggestions or tips I should know before going? We’ll be riding the metro in so we don’t have to deal with finding parking, and plan on getting to the stadium early, so those should be covered
Arrive early, although lines may never be an issue anymore. Also, there are all kinds of establishments around Nats Park to vacuum your wallet. Easy walk from those places to stadium. If you plan on concessions (fact check me as I am in the club section), it is all phone driven payments (see DC United site). They have bag restrictions, which silly because terrorists don’t bother attending, again see the DC website.
Obey the fan code of conduct rules at all times! (see DC United website).
When I went in February, I believe I was able to pay for concessions with a credit card and did not have to use my phone, but it probably can’t hurt to download the app just in case.
Appreciate the clarification on the credit card front! But I’ll be sure to set up a phone payment system just in case
That’s really good to know, thanks! It sounds like Annie credit cards should be ok outside of the club section, but I’ll definitely look into getting a phone payment system set up just in case. We definitely plan on getting there pretty early and just checking out the stadium. I have one of those commemorative brick things that I’ve never seen in person either, so I want to make sure to try to hunt that down too
You can definitely use credit cards. The App (DCU wallet) is best for season ticket holders, but doesn’t always work.
Thanks for clarifying for me, Fischy. I really don’t buy anything being the club, I just remember getting some weird email for an app for purchase a few weeks/months ago. I would think it would be financial suicide for the club to not accept credit cards.
Check where your seats are. In past years, Gate C (northwest corner – Fort McNair side) was obscenely slow — but they’ve split the entrance into two approaches, and I think may also have doubled the number of scanners. Almost no line now. So, you may want to go in there, especially if you’re sitting on that side. And, thus you may want to get off at Waterfront, instead of Navy Yard.
Food is pretty good. Pupusas. and Tacos are standouts, but good chicken sandwiches, arepas, and jerk chicken sandwiches can be had. Alas, unlike Nats Park, you cannot bring in your own water or food.
Thanks for all the info! It’s appreciated! It does seem like Waterfront and Gate C will be the way to go for where our seats are, so that’s good to know. And the info on the metro is also appreciated. We’ll be staying in Greenbelt, so not sure how feasible driving to Anacostia for the metro would be, but it sounds like it shouldn’t be too bad regardless.
It’s been a couple of years since I’ve gone to a game, but taking Metro is absolutely the way to go. I tend to prefer getting off at the Waterfront stop versus the Navy Yard stop, as I think that’s a more pleasing route (more trees, some nice buildings, Fort McNair). You can also park at the Anacostia station and walk over the Douglass Bridge from there, but it’s a bit more of a hike and the new traffic circles make walking a little dodgier.
Glad to know that metro was the right call. I don’t expect any real issues getting to the stadium, but how is getting on the metro after games, from what you remember? I can imagine with a lot of people leaving at the same time, it could get pretty backed up, but I honestly don’t have a ton of experience with the metro to really be able to judge. Thankfully there’s not a National’s home game that day, so that should help things too
See my comment above. It’s not packed nearly as bad as Nat games — there can be waits to even get into the Navy Yard station after Nats games, but there are also fewer trains. If you do park at Anacostia metro, however, that side of hte platform and the trains are almost empty.
The walk from Anacostia can be grueling — but one time, at the urging of a much younger friend, we took scooters to head back there. That was delightful. However, the free parking one stop from the stadium is a huge plus — and bonus is that trains toward Anacostia aren’t packed like the ones heading toward Gallery Place after the game.
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, the best seats in the house are in the West Stands (even closer to the field than club seats and moderately priced). Row 12 and higher and you won’t be rained upon unless there’s a very strong wind blowing directly from the east.
Also, you can use credit cards for concessions.
If West Stands (gate C), get off at Waterfront Metro station. All others, Navy Yard station.
Good to know! My tickets are in section 129, I’m admittedly not sure if that’s east or west side, but I think it might be on the west. And we actually got row 15 just in case of rain, so I’m very glad to hear that row 12 is generally the cut-off for that unless there’s a monsoon. I appreciate the feedback!
Section 129 is West Stands about the 30 meter mark. Good thinking re rain.
I’m in Sec. 129 this year (after years in 130). Moved closer to midfield, and a little higher up. Row 11.
The west stands are a decent value for sure. I’ll wave across the field to ya’ll.
Oh my God. It’s full of stars!!
Does this mean DC United legends will be returning to play? Coming our a big black chalkboard?