Spirit Gear Up for Semis, USMNT Gear Up for Paraguay and Uruguay, FIFA REALLY?!, and More: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
Hey, District Press readers! Hope everyone had a good Veterans Day yesterday. I spent mine driving to that Egyptian themed movie theater in Arundel Mills (which is excellent, BTW) and meeting up with my veteran friend to see Predator: Badlands. I’ve enjoyed a few of this franchise’s offerings, but was skeptical of this film’s promotional offerings until the reviews started pouring in. Then I got curious. Anyway, it’s an incredibly well constructed movie that is a complete hoot for action/sci-fi fans.
Anyway, on to the news!
First off, check the comments. For some reason, the link isn’t strong enough for my laptop to fit it in the body of the article, but you’ll see why it was included below.
The Spirit are eschewing the spotlight of news coverage for now, as they buckle down and prepare for yet another home clash in this Saturday’s Semifinals, which will air or on Paramount+ at noon. However, the VIPs who host the Hey, Spirits podcast dedicated to discussing the team have come out with this criminally appealing new logo. You have no more excuses, listen in.
EDIT: Here’s an article that dropped after original posting.
How Washington Spirit rallied around grieving Gift Monday ahead of crucial NWSL playoff– ESPN
Read more about the inspiring story of how Gift Monday became a rallying point for the squad after a family tragedy.
Speaking of the league, Casey Krueger is featured in this article discussing the private side of motherhood.
Why did Bia Zaneratto play 114 minutes on a sprained MCL?– Pro Soccer Wire
The answer is lack of depth in forward positions, and Vlatko throwing the dice with her future. This revelation did not go down well on social media, and if I were more active on those platforms, I would have been, as well.
SBJ Women’s Sports: Spirit CEO Kim Stone breaks down NWSL club’s success– Sports Business Journal
If you want to nerd out on the financial situation The Spirit are in, here’s your stop.
The USMNT plays at 5 PM on Saturday against Paraguay, before taking on Uruguay on Tuesday in two home friendlies, so here follows some coverage of the current camp.
Gio Reyna’s latest (and probably last) opportunity to earn the trust of Pochettino on and off field and up his stock is certainly the main narrative of this camp, but not the only one.
USMNT finally has a full set of in-form strikers, and with it comes options– The Athletic
Pepi, Balogun, and Wright, all fit, all firing. Let’s go.
How Matt Freese, Max Arfsten became unlikely fixtures in the USMNT lineup– Yahoo
This was not on most of the fanbase’s bingo cards until recently, now it’s undeniably a thing.
The US U-17 boys are flying a bit under the radar in the noise department, but they have qualified for the knockout rounds in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Qatar with three group stage wins. It’s a solid experience for the young team, here’s hoping they can keep advancing.
Fifa accused of creating ‘fake’ player unions– BBC
It’s exactly what it sounds like. It’s incredible how every time I google FIFA for FKs, there’s a new heinous scheme right at the top of the searches. FIFA: You never have to search FIFA Scandal to find one.
Lionel Messi Explains Unusual Difference Between Barcelona, Miami and MLS– SI.com
Mainly posting this, cuz I still find it funny that Messi is taking interviews on the league like an anthropologist rather than a champion.
Atlanta, backed by Falcons owner Blank, get 17th NWSL team– ESPN
And, finally, it’s official. Atlanta will be the newest NSWL franchise, which gives the soccer rich hotbed in the deep southern regions of the US a chance to mine for young female prospects, as well. Should be a massive boon for the league.
That’s all I’ve got! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
https://thefootballweek.com/2025/11/10/who-is-dr-erkut-sogut/
This is the article that didn’t fit the article formatting, but it is ostensibly an independent interview with new FO head honcho, Erkut Sogut.
However, one of our writers (definitely not me) took the time to track down what this site is. It’s owned by Sogut. Just wow.
Part of me appreciates the hustle. The rest of me just face palmed and thought this is going to be a long off season.
“He’s the sharpest mind we’ve ever encountered!”
The evidence mounts that Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan are world-class dumbasses.
My head cannon is saying Sogut gave them a references from a bunch of “colleagues” who were suspiciously named the same as characters from his books.
Dear Casey Krueger,
Going from one child to two is not just twice as hard. It is exponentially harder. Best of luck to you, and the fact that someone can have two (or more) kids and be able to be a professional athlete is wild.
Sincerely,
The guy whose youngest turned 3 yesterday.
Before one my second daughter and youngest was born last year one of the pastor’s at my church pointed out that we went from double coverage to man to man. And if you have more than 2 then it goes to zone coverage.
Also, good call on that Cinemark (I think) Egyptian Theater. I like that place a bunch. Tons of screens, and who doesn’t like a themed theater?
It’s a very good theater, but also a bit of a drive. However, if I have a chance to catch a matinee, and can hang out with my Baltimore friend afterward, it’s worth a trip.
This is cool. Yesterday in Aldershot, England the Royal Army Rugby Team took on a combined US Military Rugby team in a Remembrance Day Event. The Royal army proved victorious in a grueling rain soaked physical test match 31-12. Though it was close and had the USA scored with their last possession it would’ve been 24-19 with only a few minutes to go and anyone’s game.
https://goffrugbyreport.com/news/heroic-battle-mud-usa-military-takes-british-army
The Captain of the USA military side Collin Grosse has played the last several seasons for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby after graduating from The United States Military Academy at West Point. He’s also been called up to the USA Mens’ Eagles XVs a handful of times.
Currently showing at Regal Gallery Place theaters is “Brothers on Three”. Its a documentary of the 2023 Men’s Rugby season for West Point a year after their first ever national championship in the 2022 season.
https://www.brothersonthreefilm.com/
Soccer betting scandal in Turkey has expanded from 149 referees being suspended to add 1,024 players being suspended s well as part of the investigation.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6798488/2025/11/12/turkey-betting-scandal-players-explained/
Yeah, I saw like 2/3rds of the referees in Turkey have an active sports betting account. Just fucking wild.
Jose Mourinho gets the last laugh?
Walker Zimmerman is officially departing Nashville and he’ll become a free-agent. Will be interesting to see if DC makes a run at him at all, and to see what kind of contract he’s even looking for (is a 32- year-old center back worth a DP spot? Will he take a TAM deal?)
I wouldn’t mind getting him, although I think folks like he and Tim Parker could well be far enough along on the decline side of things that they wouldn’t be worth the contract. Zimmerman should NOT be a DP for us, but I’m certainly open to a TAM deal. One year would be ideal, but I don’t think there’s any way that happens. I’d say so long as we could keep it at two, that would be fine.
I have one concern about potentially signing Zimmerman. Admittedly, I haven’t paid as close attention to the USMNT depth chart as I should, but what is the likelihood he is with the team at the WC next year? I would be concerned if there is the potential we could be without him, Rowles, and Herrera for an extended period next year. If it’s unlikely, no issues at the right compensation level.
Think Zimmerman is well down the pecking order.
MLS team executives are apparently going to meet tomorrow (Thursday) to vote on the calendar shift
Hmm, this is interesting. Cristian Espinoza’s contract with San Jose is up, and they didn’t find a way to extend him. He’s a free agent. I believe he plays primarily right wing, and has 83 assists in his time with the Quakes, getting at least 8 assists in every season he played. He’s also a decent goal scoring threat.
He was a DP for San Jose, making about $1.8 million. Tom Bogert speculates that he may well be the top free agent available this year. I think he would fit DC’s needs very well, and would be fine with them spending a DP slot on him. He is 30 now, so still some productive years ahead. He knows the league, and is a proven producer. He’s incredibly durable. And he doesn’t take up an international slot. DC would have to make a very nice offer to convince him to come here (same with anybody of any real quality), but he is a player that I think would be worth the overpay.
Not a bad shout. With his salary being only $1.8M, they might be able to get him down to a high or max-TAM level (which I think is close to $1.7M). He’d probably find it difficult to get anyone to commit to giving him a DP salary if its *that* close to being able to be bought down
That’s kind of the ideal scenario, sort of what I hoped could happen with Mateusz Klich. But I don’t think DC is going to find itself on the happy end of any ideal scenarios. So I’m happy to overpay him, ensure that he’s a DP, and let him do his thing on the right wing.
Much more the type of player we seemed to have wanted Pirani to be. If we get rid of Benteke, I do find it hard to see who gets on the end of his passes though. He’s had some good players to work with even while SJ has been pretty bad. Murrell and Badji are no Martinez (or even Ebobisse, who’s been up and down).
I’m assuming that if Benteke does go, we would be signing a DP striker to replace him. No idea who that would be, or what kind of production they would bring, but just for the serotonin release in my head, I’m pretending it’s a clone of Cucho Hernandez.
With a brain chip curbing maladaptive behavior
Some kudos to the team for doing something good. They posted their first of what they plan to be a weekly series called Offseason Files, where they check in with players and see what their plans are for the offseason.
The first one is with Aaron Herrera, who has a couple of World Cup qualifiers with Guatemala coming up. He also reveals that he and his wife are expecting a baby, so congratulations to them! He seems motivated to perform better next year, which is certainly nice to hear since he seemed a little checked out at points during last season.
This would also seem to be further indication that his contract option for 2026 was indeed picked up, but nobody has mentioned it.
FWIW, it apparently was kinda mentioned when they picked up his option for 2025 (it was picked up for both years).
Interesting. The roster releases that they did in May for all the teams showed Herrera as under contract for 2025 with an option for 2026. In September, those same roster files showed him as under contract through 2026 with no options. But I think they had done similar things with Klich, and apparently his 2025 option was triggered after hitting performance benchmarks in 2023.
Just went back and looked at the conversation I had with Jason Anderson and Matt Doyle on Bluesky during the game he got his red card in. Jose Umana chimed in to say:
“Went back to my convo with former GM Ally Mackay at the end of the 2024 season. He said United exercised the option on his (Herrera) contract, keeping him with the Black and Red for 2 more seasons”
So they either picked up both years at once, or it was a package sort of deal. But that’s the most concrete “announcement” on it we’ve had. No idea why it didnt show up in the May roster breakdown though, thats still a mystery