USMNT move on in Gold Cup, Benteke among best-selling jerseys, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday, and happy belated Juneteenth! I hope you all had a pleasant day yesterday, celebrating the end of the evil institution of slavery in America. Also celebrating, Loudoun United interviewed some players about what the holiday means to them, and Washington Spirit shared a poem by Croix Bethune.
USMNT vs. Saudi Arabia player ratings: Richards makes his mark (Pro Soccer Wire)
With a win over Saudi Arabia, the U.S. Men are guaranteed to advance to knock-out rounds of the Gold Cup. Pro Soccer Wire rated each of the players in the match. (Hooray for Chris Richards!)
Washington Spirit Duo Called Up to U.S. Women’s National Team (Washington Spirit)
Tara McKeown and Croix Bethune will join the USWNT for a trio of friendlies, including one in D.C., where they’ll face teammate Gabby Carle for Canada. Esme Morgan (England) and Narumi Miura (Japan) have also been called up to their national teams for the upcoming international window.
Lionel Messi leads MLS best-selling jerseys in 2025 (MLS)
MLS has released numbers for their top-selling jerseys this year, and Christian Benteke is once again among them, at number 17.
Ashley Hatch sat down with Sam Mewis on The Women’s Game to discuss her career, her podcast, and moving past her World Cup roster snub.
Why Jesse Marsch is under Concacaf investigation and Canada’s response (The Athletic $)
Some more details about why Concacaf is investigating a coach who wasn’t even on the sidelines for the match. The Athletic‘s sources say Jesse Marsch was instructed by match officials to watch the game from a specific suite, then later told he wasn’t allowed to be there, leading to the “offensive” language. My take: stupid if true.
For The District Press, Donald Wine covered the first D.C.-based match in the Club World Cup. Sounds like it was much better attended than some of the others, despite the stormy weather.
DC Power Football Club Signs University of Virginia Midfielder Alexis Theoret (DC Power FC)
After making end-of-season roster cuts last week, Power FC are already building back up for next season.
Finally, here’s your schedule of events for the weekend. With DC Power FC, Old Glory DC, and DC Defenders all out of season, and D.C. United off for the week, we’re surprisingly light on games. I would recommend that you try to catch the last Spirit game before a summer break, but I myself will have trouble staying awake past midnight on a Sunday to watch the whole thing.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudoun United FC vs. Hartford Athletic | Fri., June 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET | Hartford, CT | ESPN+ |
| Washington Spirit vs. San Diego Wave | Sun., June 22 at 10 p.m. ET | San Diego, CA | CBSSN |
Have a good weekend!
Is it bad that my first thought about no DCU game was “Hey look we don’t have to watch another loss as the team struggles to play offense or defense.”?
We will go undefeated this weekend–hurray for small victories!
As the Commentariat loads their rifles, and Talonesque gently blindfolds me, Mayor Rusk strikes the the match for my final cigarette….
I freely admit that my fiancee bought me a Messi Jersey. I accepted this out of obligation but yet of my own free will. I also confess to contracting syphillis and intentionally spread it amongst the Commentariat (ouch, wrong book, 1984, Orwell, sorry)
Please aim your rifles well. I do not deserve another breath…..
Bury me me in black and red, but I can say I look good in pink….
Bold of you to assume there’s anything “gentle” about the blind folding 😉.
I get that a “Messi came to America” jersey is objectively a valuable piece of merch, and I’m not upset you have it. I’m personally uninterested in having it for myself. I also wonder if the whole thing is hurting the league at the end of the day, with the league propping up Miami constantly, but that’s a different topic, I guess. Enjoy the merch.
You and I are lockstep on the league propping up this team. It is indisputable. I don’t blame Messi for it, no less than any professional (or college) financial relationship.
This jersey will find fun in the sun in Aruba or something like that. It will be packed with my Ajax #14 Cruyff jersey. That’s as far as I go for hero worship. (Man, Messi hit a cracker free kick yesterday, yowzers!)
If you still consider executing me, may the blindfold be Harris tweed? I’d appreciate that level of grace.
Messi Miami jerseys are everywhere in NoVA. And internally I’m thinking I know DCU sucks at the moment, but support your local teams!
My shame is evident. Ajax did play DC United at RFK. I have issues…..
(Will, I think I have about 20+ DC united jerseys, fwiw).
I do not, nor will ever, bleed pink….
My take is most people who buy Messi Jerseys support Messi regardless of the team he’s playing in. Messi, like C. Ronaldo, are a category of their own. I have a Messi jersey, the 10 for Argentina. I didn’t buy it though it was a gift from my co-workers when I left the organization. At that time, Messi wasn’t even my favorite Argentina player (Tevez was/Alvarez currently) but of course I’m glad to have it and while not my favorite I recognize that he’s without doubt the best player of his generation. Sorry CR7.
You know, Ronaldo is showing me some real grit at his age. I am warming up to that side of him. Comprehensive in vanity, but he is really giving the old soldier try. It is impressive.
My five year old was going to have his first soccer practice yesterday (it ended up getting rained out), so that morning, we went to Dick’s to get some gear. The clerk helped us find some cleats, and helpfully pointed out that one pair my kid was interested in were Messi-branded and $75, and steered us to an acceptable pair of $35 cleats. Thanks, Dick’s clerk!
They did also have some DC United stuff out there, which I was pleased enough to see. My son went over to Trinity Rodman’s Spirit jersey though, so his instincts are pretty solid!
Awwww. This made my day.
https://eagles.rugby/news/usa-mens-u23s-set-out-for-south-africa-tour-2025619
The US U-23 Men’s Rugby XVs are off to South Africa for 2 games next month.
Meanwhile the U-23 Women’s College All Stars championship returns to Quincy, MA home of the New England Free Jacks this summer. The all-star teams are regional.
https://eagles.rugby/news/womens-u23-all-star-championship-returns-to-quincy-for-2025-2025619
Washington Spirit have acquired another international spot (from San Diego). I believe it’s for our new Italian attacking talent. Various kinds of cash this year and next year. The slot is for 3 years.