Metayer returns from injury, DCU trade for draft pick, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday, everyone! After weeks of intense heat, the weather has finally cooled down, just in time for the NWSL’s return! May it stay under 90 for the rest of the year! (Unlikely, I know)
Washington Spirit Defender Paige Metayer Returns to Active Roster (Washington Spirit)
After missing the first half of the season with an injury, Paige Metayer has been returned to the active roster. The team will definitely benefit from her speed on the wing and having another option, especially as it sounds like Casey Krueger did not fully participate in training earlier this week.
Hugo Fauroux successfully appealed a red card and will be available to play in Loudoun’s next Jägermeister Cup game on August 20. Fauroux initially earned the red for a tackle outside of the box in last weekend’s game against North Carolina FC.
It was previously announced that Trinity Rodman had partnered with Adidas to develop their first cleat designed specifically for women. Now, they’re selling a version branded just for her. I think these are very cute, but when will they develop a street version?
D.C. United Acquire a 2026 Third Round SuperDraft Selection from FC Cincinnati for the Right of First Refusal for Goalkeeper Nate Crockford (D.C. United)
A third round pick trade isn’t the most exciting news, but I guess it’s good to get something out of a right of first refusal?
For more on D.C. United’s recruitment plans, Donald Wine and José Umaña shared some quotes from yesterday’s press conference on Bluesky:
Why I Joined: After a life in soccer, an opportunity I could never have dreamed of (The Athletic $)
Charlie Davies reflects on his career and decision to join The Athletic. It’s interesting that they’re touting his hire as part of their efforts “expand our coverage of the sport in this country leading up to the men’s World Cup in 2026,” when they began that “expansion” by firing one of the best soccer journalists out there.
6 Matches to watch in the 2025/26 Gainbridge Super League season (USL Super League)
The Gainbridge Super League begins their second season later this month, and DC Power features in this list of matches to watch when they play the first game against expansion team Sporting JAX.
Can you watch TikTok on here? For some Friday fun, we’ll try. Sandy MacIver celebrated Esme Morgan’s return from winning the Euros by trying to embarrass her at the airport.
Finally, here’s the schedule of events for the weekend. The Spirit are back from summer break, and D.C. United are playing a friendly against Ethiopia.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loudoun United FC vs. FC Tulsa | Fri., Aug. 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET | Tulsa, OK | ESPN+ |
| D.C. United vs. Ethiopia | Sat., Aug. 2 at 5 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | – |
| Washington Spirit vs. Portland Thorns | Sun., Aug. 3 at 12:30 p.m. ET | Washington, DC | ABC |
Hey, Annie, thanks for the revelation Spirit will be on ABC! Last I checked, it was only on ESPN Deportes for TV, but awesome it’s on network TV
You are missing the US Women Eagles taking on Canada tonight at 7 PM EDT with the game being streamed on Paramount+. Its a Women’s Rugby World Cup warmup match for both teams.
Well that sucked. Had a great first 15 mins to go up 7-0 and went into half down 14-10. Then mistakes by the US and dominance by Canada in the 2nd half. Final score 42-10 in favor of Canada. The US women next play in the opening match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup at a sold out Stadium of Light in Sunderland against #1 England.
Also it was very much the Canadian broadcast from Toronto.
A weird consequence of DC United’s miserable run of form over years now is this site isn’t offering coverage of Leagues Cup. It’s been great stuff, even if the competition clearly seems to disadvantage Mexican teams somehow.
Some great goals created by and finished by some of the most talented players in North American club teams. Messi, Evander (a great goal along with 2 remarkably cheeky outside of the foot pass assists), “El Chamaco” Mora (right-footed and left-footed efforts from the guy we’ll probably be calling the greatest North American player ever, when he grows up), Canales, De la Vega, etc.
Here’s a great piece on the sudden rise of Gilberto Mora from the Athletic (sorry about the timing, given the totally correct diss above for letting go professional journalist extraordinaire Pablo Maurer only to bring in soccer celeb bro Charlie Davies):
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6477947/2025/07/08/gilberto-mora-mexico-yamal-record-gold-cup/
You don’t need to diss Davies just because the Athletic made the horrible decision to dump Pablo
Davies is a well known figure in the soccer broadcasting space. It’s valid to call him a celebrity personality more than an analytical force. We talked about this another day, this is a downgrade in quality reporting and committed professionalism.
Major League Rugby could potentially see both Utah and Miami not play next year due to funding issues. That would reduce a league already reduced to 9 teams down to 7 teams. With San Diego merging with LA earlier this week only 3 of the original 7 remain in the league Seattle, Utah, and Houston.
The CEO of Utah is comparing the current state of MLR to MLS in 2002-2003 timeframe.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/aug/01/mlr-faces-crisis-utah-miami-funding-uncertainty
Also not a great look for Old Glory DC as one of their players was arrested on a rape charge and several other sexually related offenses…
https://www.fox5dc.com/news/old-glory-dc-rugby-player-charged-rape-other-sexual-offenses
Matt Turner is now officially back in New England (on loan for one year). I think he really stunted his growth and career by making the move abroad that he did, but at least he’ll get some playing time (at the expense of Alex Bono)
Going to Arsenal as a mature goalkeeper when they had a surging Aaron Ramsdale was dumb as a box of rocks. Ah well, he knows that now. His camp let him down in that period, did no one have sense or an iota of courage to tell him?
I feel like, generally speaking in recent time, most “MLS player goes straight from MLS to the Premier League” transfers have ended badly for the player. Especially when that transfer is to one of the top end teams. Almiron at Newcastle worked out alright, but it seems like any of the American players that have made that move have just ended up shooting themselves in the foot
I feel its more teams trying to advertise to the US audience by saying “Hey look see we have an American player”
I literally felt like both Steffen and Turner were used to make hardcore Americans tune into Carabao Cup games…
“should target older Premier players”–ugh!!! We should have a clear and realistic sense of what we want to be as a team. And then sign talent that fits that. This comment about “sign older Prem players” sounds like someone who wanders in to an Estate sale with no particular objective and just goes “oh hey–this used to sell for a lot before it got old and scrapped up–I think I’ll buy it!”
DC United Match Day!!
I wonder if we’ll ever get any reporting on the game — who played, scored, etc?
According to the http://www.dcunited.com web site, the gates open today at 6 PM. And the match starts at 5 PM. Fans are probably streaming into Audi Field at this time?
Going based on DCU’s X (formerly Twitter):
Starting XI was:
#9 Academy Player
#29 Academy Player
#17 Murrell
#25 Hopkins (Captain)
#77 Kijima
#44 Zouhir
#5 Academy Player
#4 Academy Player
#2 Academy Player
#3 Academy Player
#1 Kim
They were down 2-0 at half and lost 3-0.
Some DCU fans may be thinking that they didn’t have a great experience yesterday at Audi Field?