D.C. United June call-ups, Poch responds to Milan rumors, and more: Friday Freedom Kicks
Happy Friday! We’ve had a nice short week, and I am looking forward to some more temperate weather this weekend while I enjoy Petworth Porchfest and a Washington Spirit home game. I might even do some baking to really get the party going!
Takeaways from Loudoun’s waterlogged draw with Detroit (The District Press)
Ryan analyzes Loudoun’s draw from last weekend and looks ahead to what he thinks could be a good stretch of matches coming up.
We listed a slew of Washington Spirit call-ups yesterday, but D.C. United players are feeling the love too. LOUIS Munteanu, Matti Peltola, and Aaron Herrera will all be joining their national teams for June friendlies.
Pochettino: Committed to USMNT at World Cup despite Milan talks (ESPN)
Poch responds to rumors that he’s in talks with AC Milan about his next gig. (He says he didn’t, but his reps probably did.) Why do this right before the tournament? Couldn’t it wait a few weeks?
The US U-23 Women’s National Team announced call-ups for some matches in Brazil (just like the senior team, fun!). It’s kind of crazy to me to look at these lists and see how many players are in the NWSL instead of college. Things have changed a lot in the last few years!
It’s about the money: Michele Kang, Alexia Putellas and multi-club ownership’s hypocritical paradox (The Athletic $)
It may not surprise you to learn that some people really don’t like Michele Kang, or at least her multi-club ownership and willingness to spend. I have my own concerns about the former, but I find it difficult to get too worked up about her raising salaries in the women’s game.
Diageo and Washington Spirit Enter Year Two and Renew Purpose-Driven Partnership (Washington Spirit)
I felt like a detective reading this press release and trying to figure out what a Diageo is.
NWSL unveils “Summer of Soccer” initiative around global Men’s World Cup Moment (NSWL)
Similar problems here. We’ve got “activations,” “integrations,” “marquee soccer moments,” but what does it all mean, and more importantly, will it be any fun?
Neymar injury blow haunts Brazil’s 2026 World Cup preparations (Sports Illustrated)
Neymar is now expected to be out for two-to-three weeks with a calf issue. Brazil may already have been planning not to rely too heavily on the injury-prone star, but they’ll certainly have to now!
Hey Spirits episode: Chat are we cooked? (The District Press)
Over on Hey Spirits, we talked about Washington’s Concacaf W Champions Cup loss to Club America and what it says about their ability to win championships. We also previewed tomorrow’s match against Seattle Reign, which we’re a little nervous about, given how well-prepared Seattle was when they played three weeks ago.
GOOOOOOOOOAL!! (USPS)
For those of you inclined to send letters, the Postal Service has released soccer stamps to celebrate the World Cup. (Please do send letters; I need them to keep paying my salary.)
Finally, here’s your schedule of games for the weekend. I didn’t realize until putting this together just how long MLS’s World Cup break is: no D.C. United games until July 22! Wild. Well, if you’re already itching for some international soccer, we have a USMNT warm-up match against Senegal to look forward to.
| Teams | When | Where | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Old Glory DC vs. Chicago Hounds | Sat., May 30 at 4 p.m. | Fairfax, VA | ESPN+ |
| Washington Spirit vs. Seattle Reign | Sat., May 30 at 6:30 p.m. | Washington, DC | ION |
| Loudoun United vs. Monterey Bay FC | Sat., May 30 at 10 p.m. | Seaside, CA | ESPN+ |
| DC Defenders vs. Orlando Storm | Sun., May 31 at 12 p.m. | Washington, DC | ABC |
| USMNT vs. Senegal | Sun., May 31 at 3:30 p.m. | Charlotte, NC | TBS |
Enjoy!
Old Glory faces a must win game against the undefeated 1st place Chicago Hounds if they hope to make the playoffs with the current standings.
A Barcelona Femini player openly sniping at Kang about buying and saying something terse about La Masia was also weird.
These ownership groups wanted their women’s team operations to be a sorta kids table, and assumed prestige was more important than investment. If y’all gonna choose to let your player salaries be kelp, don’t fucking hate the whale.
Diageo is a company that is publicly traded on the NY stock exchange. Essentially a alcoholic spirits vendor. (Johnny Walker, Captain Morgan, etc)
Spirits for the Spirit?
I can hear it now at Rowdy Audi:
D-C!!! (Pause, pause) Get-Drunk!!!
I LOATHE the corporate speak in that NWSL press release. Can executives just speak like normal human beings?!
No
UNITE HERE Local 11 the union for food service workers at SoFi Stadium is threatening a strike and broken off negotiations right before the stadium hosts World Cup games. The previous CBA between the union and Legends Global who operates the stadium has expired. Among the concerns are ICE agents being present and restrictions on subcontractors. Additionally, the union claims that Legends has been unable to share with the union the contract between itself and FIFA’s hospitality provider OnLocation. So they don’t know work start times, shift lengths, how service charge will be allocated or tip distribution.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7317374/2026/05/29/sofi-stadium-strike-world-cup/
The new USPS stamp is cool–definitely going to get some. And I still have a sheet (unused) from the 1994 World Cup!