Benteke and Leal find new homes, Baltimore may struggle to build stadium, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday, and a belated happy New Year, everyone!
2025 was a tough year in a lot of ways, including the loss of one of our longtime and beloved commenters, but we also had a lot of incredible soccer moments to share together (some of which we will be recognizing in the Hey Spirits Awards soon!). I’m grateful, as always, to all of you for reading and taking part in our community and for my fellow writers and contributors, who stepped up and put in a lot of good work last year. I’m looking forward to more of the same, and hopefully better times, in 2026!
As the year begins, we already have a lot of signing news. First, Christian Benteke announced Al Wahda FC in Abu Dhabi:
Randall Leal, meanwhile, is moving on to Club Sport Herediano in Costa Rica:
Finally, although D.C. United has not yet announced his departure, Boris Enow’s new team is already introducing him to fans:
Bold USMNT predictions for 2026 (SSFC)
Predicting what the USWNT will do in 2026 (SSFC)
It’s also predictions season, and we have Donald’s thoughts on what both the USMNT and USWNT could do this year.
Bold predictions for the 2026 MLS season (MLSSoccer.com)
Plus, some predictions for MLS! I’m particularly hopeful for the first one to come true. Give someone else a chance to shine, Messi!
USL Players Association asks for ‘livable wages’ as talks stall before New Year deadline (The Athletic $)
The Athletic has some more details on the USLPA’s fight for a better contract. I remain shocked that the players don’t get health insurance from their teams. They’re athletes! Making sure they’re fit and healthy benefits both parties!
SUN: Baltimore faces steep climb in bid to land pro soccer team (Fox Baltimore)
Reporting by the Baltimore Sun, for those who have subscriptions: plans to build an outdoor soccer stadium in Baltimore appear to have slowed and lack a clear funding source. Disappointing, because I think it would be a great location for both D.C. United’s developmental squad and possibly a certain women’s team that would benefit from reaching a different audience in a smaller venue.
AFCON 2025 Round of 16 guide: Previews, schedule, head-to-head and how to stream live football from Africa Cup of Nations (Olympics.com)
The AFCON Round of 16 kicks off tomorrow and promises to be a lot of fun. Unfortunately the only place to stream games in the U.S. seems to be beIN Sports.
For some Friday fun, here’s Bobby Zamora’s take on Clint Dempsey:
Have a good weekend!
Levien and Co. need to get their act together on the MLS Next-Pro. Start it up and play matches at Audi or Loudoun until a base outside of the immediate area develops. But anyone with knowledge of MLS (and sees what Philly has done) or just someone smart financially can see how valuable it would be as an income source to DCU to make this happen a decade ago, let alone now.
Sorry to see Christian Benteke go but at least he’s not signing elsewhere in MLS where he’d come back to haunt us.
NWSL is really screwing over the Spirit. First, killing the contract on Rodman, then the “HIP” proposal that is difficult for Rodman to sign without looking like she’s flipping off the player’s association. Meanwhile, teams are acquiring talent and letting players go and the Spirit don’t have a clear idea of how much cap space they need to clear. We’ve already seen a bunch of players leave (either because the roster is full or it saves some money). Frankly, I think that while Hatch wants to stay here, an offer to send her to Utah will just end up making too much sense for everyone (she’ll start in Utah, she’s local there and has family in SLC, the Spirit need to clear roster and cap space and there is a lot of competition on the frontline.) But the Spirit have trouble pulling the trigger on a series of decisions because they don’t now what is happening with Rodman and what kind of cap hit it will be if she stays.
Hatch to Utah is slightly more complex now that Skundrich has retired and joined the staff at Loudoun instead. Not that I know how the money works out.
Skundrich is married to Andi Sullivan.
He had my head scratching :^)
LOL
Ahh shoot I am starting off the year great 🙃
Maybe Sunspot knows something the rest of us don’t!
I’m not too worried about Hatch leaving this year, largely because she’s about to have a baby. I don’t see her wanting to move with a newborn or most teams wanting to pick her up for a season in which she might not play any games.
After this season, we’ll have to see, but if she’s able to get back to similar form to this year, the Spirit would be smart to try to keep her. She was definitely the starting striker over Gift Monday before she went on maternity leave, and the only other option for that role is Sofia Cantore, who I think is as good or better as a winger.
Its been brought up a few times if Munteanu could potentially be a Young DP or not, so I decided to do some digging in the MLS Roster Rules to see if I could figure it out or not. Turns out, that specific rule is kinda vague compared to other similar ones, so the answer is: maybe?
The relevant part of the Young DP rule is this:
“A Designated Player who is 23 years old (or younger than the age of 23) during the League Year (the age of the player is determined by year – not date – of birth) will carry the following Young Designated Player Salary Budget Charge: Ages 21-23: $200,000”
Compare that to the stipulations for the U22 rule: “A player must be twenty-two years old or younger in the first year he is eligible to play in an MLS game (e.g., not eligible for 2025 if he turns 23 in 2025).”
With Munteanu being 23 already (and turning 24 in June), he’s certainly an edge case. Given that he is currently 23 though, and would start next season as a 23 year-old, I think he’s eligible for a Young DP contract, if we’re following the “League Year: distinction. But, if the interpretation is more like that of the U22 slot, without explicitly saying it, then he may not be. Either way its a DP spot, but it could be a difference of roughly $550k in cap space every year of his contract if they’re able to designate him as a Young DP
Just put him in a Miami jersey and it’ll happen……
Real talk
I am a big fan of Benteke and glad he found a club to play at.
Probably my favorite DC United player of all time. Been a fan since 2010 and I feel like he bleed for the badge even when ownership didn’t.
I’m of a similar timeframe and thought. He’s right up there with Hamid among my favorites. He was a true professional.
So interesting. Never thought about how “newer” fans regard the team and its players. I’ve been a fan since the very beginning, back when I was finishing high school, and while I like and appreciated Benteke he would not make my top ten favorite DC United player list. But I guess for newer fans, he is most definitely the model of an exemplary/professional player. Don’t get me wrong, he is and that’s the way he carried himself throughout his years here and deserved better than what he got. Being a fan for much longer than you though, it is just sad that the “newer” fans never got to experienced the DC United from 1996-2010. Back when DCU legends were created. Kind of fascinating that your “bleed for the badge” is Benteke and mine is Ben Olsen. 🙂
Yeah. I never got to see Olsen play live. He bled for the badge as on the bench coaxing better results from teams than he should have. I know of his playing days through word of mouth and everything I’ve read. To me he gets a his own category because of how special he has been to the club.
I definitely missed the era with all those legendary players. For me, players like Kitchen, Pontius, Hamid, Birnbaum, and Benteke have been the players I admire. Nothing like you OG fans saw play tho.
I’m a mix of both. I attended my first game through a Children’s Hospital event in ~2003 and didn’t know anything about soccer. Had a fun time, and Ben Olsen scored the only goal that game, so as a 10 year old I obviously decided he was my favorite player. Followed the team a bit over the next couple of years, got to attend the championship ceremony thing in 2004, but fell off a bit after that. Got back into it in college in 2010 with Ben running the team, and players like Pontius, Mullins, Najar, and Arriola have been some of my favorites since. Got exposed enough to some of the older generation to have an appreciation for them, but with both being young then and paying closer attention to it since 2010, some of the more recent guys tend to stick more with me.
For me, it’s Christian Gomez at the top. He was so driven, and really soared with DCU. Eddie Pope may be my second favorite. Etcheverry was amazing to watch. Jaime Moreno was such a great contributor for so many years. Agoos, Sanneh. Olsen. More recently, Bill Hamid stands out. Though their stars shone only briefly for DCU, I’d have to put Rooney and Acosta up there for the moments of exceptional quality and thrills they delivered.
Honorable mention or part of a favorite/Best XI would be De Rosario
I celebrated a big birthday by holding a tailgate party in Lot 8 in the team’s first year. If you put a gun to my head forced me to choose one favorite player, I’d go with Jaime Moreno. But there are so many to choose from and Benteke is a great choice even for a life-long fan: he didn’t raise any trophies but in some ways that made his work and commitment and dominance even more remarkable.