Power FC and Loudoun Lose, More Spirit Call Ups, WCL Results, Italian Fallout, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
The less said about last night’s DC Power and Loudoun United matches the better, probably. Instead, I’d rather talk about the moon. Yesterday was a huge day, Artemis II, the mission that will take humanity back to lunar orbit for the first time in 50 years launched. For me the news kind of snuck up on me with everything else going on. That’s a shame. Space and space travel are fascinating. There should have been attention building up to this moment akin (maybe not quite as much) as the Apollo missions. Alas it wasn’t to be. Now on to the headlines because that is why we’re all here.
DC Power drops another crucial match to Lexington SC (DP)
Tough night for DC Power FC and their fans. First the match began 79 minutes late due to a weather delay. Then Lexington proceeded to blank the home team and put a dent in their playoff aspirations. Check out Donald’s recap here.
It was also a rough night for Loudoun as their US Open Cup tie against Richmond went deep into stoppage time before Richmond’s Lucca Dourada found a winner eliminating Loudoun from the tournament.
The Spirit’s Italian dynamic duo received call ups for Le Azzurre’s pair of World Cup qualifying matches against Serbia and Denmark.
In a bit of a surprise, Rodman receives the only Spirit USWNT call up for the trio of matches against AFC Women’s Asian Cup champions Japan.
Sophia Wilson, Tierna Davidson return as USWNT roster named (SSFC)
Donald breaks down the rest of the USWNT roster for the friendlies. We’re slowly working our way back to Triple Espresso time!
Huge news for Japan, they will be lead by an interim coach for the three friendlies with the USWNT.
It looks like part of the reason Japan is moving from Nielsen is they think they can be a better team under a different coach. Considering Nadeshiko just rampaged through the AFC WAC and won the SheBelieves Cup last year, that is a bit scary.
The logic behind this makes sense given the regional sports network industry is a mess. Major League Baseball still uses this model and the league has taken over production and distribution rights for nearly half the league for 2026. However, can MLS position itself to get a more lucrative and better deal than the one they have now? How do they do that in a post-World Cup, probably post-Messi environment.
Everything You Need to Know About the 2026 U.S. Open Cup Round of 32 Draw (US Soccer)
MLS enters the US Open Cup fray in the Round of 32 Draw. DC United is among the MLS teams identified as a home team for this round. Check out everything you need to know before this morning’s draw.
FCB Frauen have been on an absolute tear this season. Across all competitions, they are 29-2-1. Their only loss of the season was to Barcelona in WCL league play. Bayern awaits the winner of the Barcelona/Real Madrid pairing.
Chelsea boss Bompastor slams ref, VAR after Arsenal hair pull (ESPN)
Chelsea won the match, but Arsenal advanced on aggregate. Instead of the result the story at the end of the match was Katie McCabe’s injury time hair pull on Alyssa Thompson. McCabe avoided any sanction, but Chelsea coach Sonia Bompastor was not as lucky. Referee Frida Klarlund issued Bompastor two yellows in quick succession. Check out the incident below:
McCabe later commented on the incident.
Arsenal will face the winner of Wolfsburg/OL Lyonnes.
Italy’s loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina is going over about as well as one would expect.
Canada inch toward “tough choices” after March window (MLS)
Bosnia and Herzegovina will play in Canada’s group. Canada still has significant roster decisions to make before then.
Spain could face sanction for Islamophobic chants during Egypt friendly (Yahoo Sports)
It’s insane we keep having incidents like these. There is no place for them anywhere. I hope we make it through this summer without any similar incidents here.
I’ll end with this…..
As much as its kind of a disappointment to have a team like Italy not in the World Cup, I saw this clip of the reaction and Sarajevo and was happy. It’s a bit easy to forget how meaningful these first time appearances in the World Cup will be for Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan, as well as teams like Bosnia and Herzegovina which don’t qualify frequently.
The joy here made my day a little better.
What did I miss?
DC now has its Open Cup Round of 32 opponent: One Knoxville SC, game to be played at Audi Field. A bit surprised we didnt end up with Richmond
Watching last night’s Loudoun United vs Richmond USOC game felt like I was watching a DCU game from the last couple of years. They didn’t have much going forward at all though that was true for both teams in the 2nd half. The 2nd half was played primarily in the middle 3rd of the field though Richmond looked more threatening throughout the half. Pedro Santos kept getting fouled like crazy and it took till late in the 2nd half before the Ref started pulling out yellow cards. LUFC’s offense didn’t really get cranking until they’d already allowed the winning goal in the 90+7′. Plus the ref let the stoppage time go way past the 8 minute mark shown by the 4th official. Part of that was right at the 90 minute mark there was a free kick awarded to LUFC right at the top of the 18 just outside the penalty box in the middle. The initial shot was right into the wall but the rebound fell to Santos who put a low ball through traffic on target that was saved. That was LUFC’s real first shot on target the entire match.
Loudoun have a lot of pieces but they just don’t look they are gelling yet.
I was already incredibly impressed by Japan’s WNT.
But that they think they need a tactical upgrade when they posted a shutout win in a tournament final against Australia hosted in (checks notes) Sydney, Australia?! Now that’s some self respect
I was already really interested in these matches, but now I am really fascinated by them.
Does make you wonder whether the federation is genuinely interested in kicking the tires on this interim hire. Emma Hayes is a crazy adversary to have to face down in your early tenure, but he’ll get more time and games in this window than he normally would. He apparently was involved with the u-20s, and that familiarity with some of the talent at that age group can sometimes yield great outcomes- Messi and Iniesta were already familiar with Pep in La Masia, I believe, before he stepped into the Barca job.
The President of the Italian Football Federation has resigned.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7163681/2026/04/02/italy-world-cup-gravina-gattuso/
Donald Wine is reporting that Rene Weiler has said that Louis Munteanu and Aaron Herrera should be available on the bench on Saturday. I enjoy a Gavin Turner cameo as much as anyone, but it’s nice to have some more firepower available.
Aaron Herrera potentially playing RM and giving us some flexibility about Hopkins’ positioning is a bigger deal
than Louis, but still good
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7158483/2026/04/01/kyle-kelly-liverpool-st-kitts/
Cool read about a 20 year old in Liverpool’s academy who already has 8 caps for Saint Kitts and Nevis. I will admit the headline of the article could use some work though.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7165264/2026/04/02/mudryk-chelsea-uxbridge-fc-suspension-training/
Ukrainian international and Chelsea player Mykhailo Mudryk still training despite being banned from pro soccer. In June 2025, he was formally charged with a breach of the English FA’s anti-doping rules. But all this time later there is no details as to how or when the disciplinary process will end. He faces up to 4 years total, but hasn’t played in 16 months with his last game in November 2024 for Chelsea.