Gabriel Pirani Exits to San Diego, DC Power Make Player Moves, World Cup Moves On, and More: Wednesday Freedom Kicks
Sometimes it’s tough to face the cold, hard light of day after a loss, but the way in which the US got nuked to make their Round of 16 game a no-win situation apparently requires multiple light of days for yours truly. The men’s program deserved better, no two ways about it. Through no actions taken by anyone within US Soccer, much less the team itself, they’re now tasked with rebuilding something they didn’t destroy. My heart goes out to the players and staff, especially.
On to the news
So passes the time of Gabriel Pirani after 83 appearances for DCU.
DC Power have made some signings, including a Maryland native.
It’s a romance series event hosted by The Spirit. Seems like fun for those who enjoy that crossover, but don’t ask me for any other details, that’s not my turf.
Tears of relief? Messi adds another incredible chapter to World Cup career– BBC
Egypt want officials kicked out of World Cup– BBC
Argentina’s late flurry of goals to reverse a two goal deficit lit up the internet. There are two very different takeaways from the respective sides in the aftermath.
Perhaps best to judge for yourself based on the plays which narrative you find the most accurate.
Switzerland overcome penalty ‘curse’ to oust Colombia at World Cup– ESPN
Switzerland win their first ever World Cup contest through a penalty kick shootout. “Curse” seems a bit strong for what they overcame to win this- they’ve only ever faced one penalty shootout at the tournament before in 2006 against Ukraine. However, given that this would make it one success in 6 across all competitions, I guess we can say, well done on that front. Colombia have played admirably this tournament, and will feel disappointed to not extend their knockout stay this summer.
The games are getting more sparse, so, here’s the highlight link.
FIFA reportedly suspended 2 U.S. Soccer officials before USMNT’s loss to Belgium– Yahoo
Unfortunately, there is no clarification from FIFA as yet for these suspensions, the article only provides surrounding details and minor speculation. Needless to say, this seems unhelpful by the international governing body, but, what else is new.
I personally find most of the takes on the US’s exit from the tournament that don’t include the words “emotional exhaustion,” “political interference,” and “interrupted training process” to be pretty off base, and therefore not gonna platform them here. So, here is instead an article detailing the current depth chart for the next cycle, which only truly needs a coaching decision to officially begin.
Morocco set a proud example for Africa as France await at World Cup– The Guardian
No opponent has or will benefit from overlooking Morocco as an opponent, but France have been imperious, and rarely bothered on the field so far this tournament. Both teams are astonishingly technically sharp, should be a great match for those who love skilled play to dominate on the field.
France vs Morocco at 4 PM Eastern on FOX
Ranking All Eight Teams Left in the 2026 World Cup– The Guardian
Finally, The Guardian assesses the teams that will compete in the quarterfinals, the 8 nations remaining who can contend for the trophy and World Cup history.
That’s all I’ve got for today! One-up me in the comments, and have a great sporting day!
The full All Star roster got revealed a few minutes ago, and it looks like there will not be any DC representation this year. I was holding out hope that Peltola (or maybe Baribo or Kurokawa) would get a look, but it doesn’t seem like that’ll be the case.
Regarding Peltola: Certainly deserves the acclaim, he’s by far one of the central midfield titans if the league can be said to have those, and I hope he doesn’t feel anything about it.
That said, their loss, and he gets to train for DC, instead.
As noted awhile back, Oscar Avilez will be playing in the prospects game or whatever that is.
Anyway, time to manifest.
Now that the US World Cup is over, DC is free to go out and sign Alex Zendejas.
I doubt his mental associations with playing in the US just got any more positive
I have zero trust and belief that this ownership will fork over the type of cash it would take to bring someone of his caliber to DC.
Hmmmmmm predicting the next World Cup roster after being eliminated is always a fun and useless exercise. I don’t think we’ll see Adams make it til then. Too oft-injured and his play relies on being fast enough to break up plays. McKennie could be ok given his otherwise good health.
Reyna needs to actually play soccer. I’m beyond done with the drivel about him being immensely talented and young. He’s becoming the American João Félix – some great skills on the ball, lacking in so many other areas.
On Gio:
There was something about his appearances this tournament that made me wonder if he’s mentally turning a corner
He didn’t start, even against Türkiye, but his influence off bench was a key game state decision, and he seemed more robust than I’ve seen before.
He’s never done it at club level consistently.
He has to get it going when it opens this time.
But, as a person who has doubted him more than most, my interest is currently piqued.
Big update from Bogert on the Pirani news:
“San Diego will pay a $350k GAM loan fee to acquire Gabriel Pirani, per sources.
Another $650k GAM in add-ons in the deal. Could be up to $1m if all hits.”
That’s a pretty impressive return for a guy that we had no plans on playing
That could buy more than one international roster slot, if any are up for sale.
So it says “loan fee”. That tells me temporary. So at least until the end of the contract and he becomes a free agent.
I missed much of the Egypt-Argentina game live. I’ve watched the 2nd half on replays.. Based on clips I’ve seen, the officiating in this game wasn’t great — but the one call that seems really missed was a sliding tackle that took out Salah — maybe red-card worthy, and it didn’t get even a yellow card.
But on the controversial plays? I haven’t decided about McAllister pulling down an Egyptian in the box with the score at 2-2, but one thing I’m convinced of is that the showing of tiny slices of a challenge from one angle or another, in super slo-mo, is not very helpful. One angle feeds one narrative, another feeds the opposite take.
That said, I think VAR exists for a reason — to try and get it right, if not to get it perfect, as Dave Johnson is saying it’s being over-used to do. Was there a foul leading up to the waved off Egyptian goal? The run up the filed was a thing of beauty, and it’s a shame that this won’t be a highlight for decades, but there was a foul. As I wrote in response to Dave Johnson, not every potential foul is whistled. That’s true of offside and more true of contact plays. It would be disruptive to call them all, and too often the refs might even get the calls wrong. But, that’s what VAR is there for.
VAR isn’t just for when there’s a missed illegal tackle in the box, to award a PK. If there’s a goal, they should look for an uncalled offside, or a missed handball, or even an uncalled foul in the build-up. There have even been goals reversed, and penalty kicks awarded for the other team, when the foul in the build-up should actually have been a penalty kick. That’s an extreme case, but why give the scoring team pass if the same foul occurs outside the penalty box?
Can’t call every foul, but VAR checks every goal, to make sure it should stand, from the start of the play to the finish.
Was it a foul on Egypt? I think probably so. Was Salah fouled by Alvarez? IO don’t think so. I think Salah had already lost possession, knew it, and tried steal a PK call sticking his foot out to hunt for contact with Alvarez’s foot. I think Alvarez tried to pull his foot away, but Salah still hooked it and went down.
The earlier play by McAllister who very briefly put his arm around an Eqyptian attacker, who also went down awfully quickly? I’m not sure. The Egyptian ran to the ref, showing off a torn jersey. Pretty damning evidence, except it doesn’t seem likely that it was caused by Mac’s quick pull on the back. Also, a shirt is not reviewable evidence. Only the video of the incident is, and it’s just not conclusive for me. And, I assume, not conclusive for the VAR room.
“I personally find most of the takes on the US’s exit from the tournament that don’t include the words “emotional exhaustion,” “political interference,” and “interrupted training process” to be pretty off base…” quoted for truth. I think Belgium was incredibly motivated and energized–they felt they were playing for the integrity of the sport, representing the world.
I think they were certainly happy to take that mantle.
Trump murdered the US home momentum and good will, they actively wanted to put it in the ground.
There was a lot of cynicism in that camp- the coach telling Balo it wasn’t his fault only happens as a personal exchange after the whistle for a reason.
We’ve parted with two guys (Herrera and now Pirani) who were regarded as starters at the beginning of the season. Ownership needs to pony up and at minimum replace them with starter caliber talent (let alone the rationale for another DP and an upgrade).