DC United Sign Dozzell, Champions League Final is Set, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks
Hello DC Footy Folks! You get a double dose of me this week as I’m covering for Ryan who regularly does Thursday Freedom Kicks. Let’s dive into the footy news!
D.C. United Signs Former Portsmouth FC Midfielder Andre Dozzell (DC United)
The big DC area soccer news that dropped yesterday was the signing of EFL Championship player, Andre Dozzell. It appears as though he will likely line up alongside Peltola in the midfield. He joins the team once the summer transfer window opens on July 13th.
Power FC took a huge hit in the playoff race and sit just below the playoff line. They have one more game in the regular season, but they have to hope that Heather Stainbrook’s Dallas Trinity drop both their remaining games to stand any chance of advancing to the post season.
Could D.C. United rookie defender Nikola Markovic make CanMNT World Cup roster? (Waking the Red)
Came across this Canadian NT blog that seems to think highly of the DC United rookie. Is this likely to happen? In my opinion, no. But crazier things have happened (uncapped 16 year old Theo Walcott going to the World Cup with England back in 2006 anyone?!)
This is an interesting docuseries about American soccer produced by Vice that includes well known DC soccer reporter, Pablo Maurer. I’m a fan of Vice (I also ran into Vice founder, Shane Smith, at a farmers market in Santa Monica once) and I look forward to the remaining two episodes.
PSG hold off Bayern to set up UCL final with Arsenal (ESPN)
The second leg of his semifinal didn’t quite live up to the hype after the first game, but it did come with it’s moments of controversy. Apparently we all learned the handball rule that states:
“According to the laws of the game, it is not a handball if ‘hit on the hand/arm by the ball which has been played by a team-mate (unless the ball goes directly into the opponents’ goal or the player scores immediately afterwards, in which case a direct free-kick is awarded to the other team)”.
Still, that will be of little consolation to the Bayern fans who feel wronged.
Inside Man City’s WSL title-winning season
Sam Coffey joined Man City at the right time and already has her hands on the WSL trophy. This is the teams’s first WSL title in 10 years and only their second in club history.
FIFA president defends World Cup ticket prices with dubious claim (USA Today)
Infantino is trying to justify the absurd pricing of World Cup tickets by pointing at tickets for college football games going for $300. That is cherry picking at best as the article shows other comparisons such as the average cost for an MLS game this weekend being around $26. How much have you paid for other sporting events in the US? Sound off in the comments! I know I’ve gotten MLB tickets for $11…
Sounds like my dream job! But what happens after July 19th…
Intersting article from Jonathan Wilson. What sort of identity will each host country try to project during this World Cup?
That’s all from me folks! See you in the comments!
On Infantino’s comment that you can’t get college football tickets for $300, I’ve NEVER paid $300 for a college football ticket, and I’ve been to some of the biggest stadiums on this planet.
When I was a Duke Football season ticket holder and we had the Alabama game, they raised the price of season tickets cuz they knew that our season ticket price was cheaper than the average ticket to a Bama home game. I bought 4 season tickets for $270…total. $67.50/season ticket, and that gave me 7 home games.
That comment was totally asinine. Did he think no one would check?
Lucille Bluth does not google anything, much less banana prices
He’s taking notes from the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Just say stuff as if it’s fact and hope no one checks
IMO, it’s never the wrong time to get Sam Coffey in your team.
For those interested, she really dives into the Man City of it all in this podcast interview with Sam Mewis from a few weeks ago.
Her teammates apparently are befuddled by her American-ness, and definitely tease her a bit about some of it, but they have nothing but respect for what she feels is a very American sense of relentless competitiveness and “on” mentality, and she’s already a big influence.
She also talks about how her and Hutton talk cerebrally off the field about their partnership in camp, and it makes me want to jettison Heaps all the more.
https://youtu.be/gn1zrA0aRIE?si=EXknuPPhUgSwiUUo
A general admission ticket (east side bleachers) for Old Glory’s home game at George Mason Stadium on Sunday afternoon is $26.00 ($25.00 ticket + $1.00 fees). I think that’s normal for a Major League Rugby game.
Tom Bogert takes a look at how MLS clubs in “less-glamorous markets” bring in big stars.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7259007/2026/05/07/mls-transfer-targets-small-market-stars/
Loudoun United 2 announced that they’ve signed Graham Jones for their season. I’m trying to confirm with Roche, but if I remember correctly, I think he’s one of DC’s more highly touted academy kids thats currently playing at UVA. Will be interesting to see how he does there if that is still the case.
He’s a fullback, if I recall. And this is where we will point out that Keisuke Kurokawa has played every single minute of the season and Open Cup, and that we don’t have a left back on the roster besides him, counting on Conner Antley I guess to be the backup.
Antley is an incredibly decent backup, contributes admirably every time he gets minutes, but I do worry when you’ve got a single player so vital to your depth. His injury was not an insignificant factor in us tanking for a dismally endless stretch as the starters got run into the ground
I’m a fan of Antley, but he’s a right back first, then a center back, and then maybe a left back. I’m actually not sure if he’s ever played left back for us. So, could he do the job? Sure, probably. But I’d still like to have an actual left back on the roster as depth for Kurokawa.
He has definitely played left back, does it pretty decently, I don’t think it’s even the case that he’s utterly futile distributing with his left foot.
In fact, I’m almost certain he was starting at left back when he got his indefinite (at the time) injury.
But we do need depth just period, so I’m 💯 on board with us getting a left back specialist in, even an international slot user if that’s what it takes at this juncture. The league is good enough that you can’t put a wad of gum in that spot and still be remotely viable.
I’m just speaking to Antley as a player you friggin keep and keep happy in the squad, even if it’s not gonna be the 11.
If Nikola Markovic doesn’t make the Canadian World Cup squad this year, I have pretty high hopes for him in 2030. He’s been very impressive so far, and I look forward to him getting more time.
I would consider taking him if I’m Marsch.
Canada have 4 very effective forwards and maybe 2 quality midfielders in their pool, and the rest are role playing scrubs.
Markovic has the kind of quality in a game of inches, and I can’t imagine they could bring on someone better at CB off the bench.
He can also play CDM apparently, in a pinch, and seems to do pretty well with throwing up top in crunch time.
Apparently prices outside of FIFA’s sale and resale prices are falling and in some cases are less than FIFA’s list price.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7260127/2026/05/07/world-cup-tickets-resale-prices-falling-usa-paraguay/
Really the only people who benefit are those who live in host cities. I suspect a lot of group stage matches will have last minute fire sales both on resale market and from FIFA directly. But anything round of 32 and onwards will be expensive.
Johnny Cardoso has a high ankle sprain:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7261106/2026/05/07/johnny-cardoso-atletico-usmnt-injury-news/
Even though I think he’ll make the team, a) I wouldn’t be devastated if he missed the cut, and b) I don’t think he’d be an asset the way he’s played under Pochettino. There’s not a wealth of options at DM unfortunately.
I kinda don’t understand how Cardoso cannot manage to lock in for the US, but the team will be better off seeing if he can figure it out next cycle. He’s been a liability in this one.
Cool story out of the Swiss Super League as FC Thun despite their loss on Sunday sealed their first major trophy in their 128 year history with 2nd place St Gallen losing 3-0 today. That leaves Thun 10 points clear at the top of the Swiss Super League standings. They spent 5 years outside Switzerland’s top division before winning promotion last season.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7246732/2026/05/03/fc-thun-switzerland-title-champions/