Spirit Fall, DC United Rumors, Liga MX All Stars, and more: Thursday Freedom Kicks.
Happy Thursday. I’ve been a bit under the weather of late and the Spirit match didn’t really help matters. Today’s Freedom Kicks will be a bit briefer than normal as a result. Let’s get to it.
Gotham continue to haunt the Washington Spirit, win their ‘Queen’s Classic’ 1-0 (DP))
There were so many things that were frustrating about this match: the conditions players and fans were exposed to, the pitch, the broadcast, the opponent, and the result. André provides your recap of the first ever “Queens Classic”.
Jason provides additional context here. One thing he mentioned on Bluesky that struck me was the Spirit had a higher xG from the 90th minute into stoppage time than the Bats managed all game. Yet Gotham walked out walked out with a clean sheet. That’s frustrating.
If you were unable to watch and were curious about just how grim the conditions were, this image from ESPN made the rounds on social media following the game.
Trinity Rodman needing oxygen in a match that by rule needed four hydration breaks speaks volumes to how the conditions were in Queens.
Because it was a special event, NWSL’s commissioner, Jessica Berman, was in attendance and held court. She shared some insight into what next season will look like with the Women’s World Cup taking place during the season.
On the DC United side of things, a new potential transfer rumor broke.
Rumors suggest DC United has already made an offer on Kimito Kono, a 24 year old attacking right back. As many noted Erkut Sogut posted recently about travels in Japan. Definitely explains the travel. I wonder what it would take to get Rockapella to do a remix of the Carmen San Diego theme for the good Doctor’s future travels.
Keylor Navas headlines Liga MX squad for MLS ASG (ESPN)
The MLS All Star Game is in 13 days, and Liga MX announced 26 of the 28 players who will face of against their MLS counterparts in Charlotte. Included on the roster is 17 year old Gilberto Mora, who featured for Mexico in the World Cup, and seems positioned to be a thorn in the side of the USMNT for years to come.
Fifa hit by injunction in Germany over World Cup ticket resale prices (The Guardian)
This is your semi-regular reminder that many of the elements of the ticket buying process we deal with regularly are not normal for the rest of the world. As much as I know that, the line about other countries not allowing tickets to be resold for profit caught me by surprise.
Liberian national team says it was denied visas, calls off Loons friendly (TwinCities.com)
5DC United canceled their scheduled friendly against the Ethiopian National Team about a month ago. Now the Loons have had to cancel their friendly against Liberia. At this point its clear, the US’s suitability to host the 2028 Summer Olympics and serve as a co-host for a future Women’s World Cup should be called into question.
Lionel Messi fuels Argentina’s stunning late rally past England into World Cup final (Yahoo Sports)
The Three Lions failed to grasp the lesson Argentina has been teaching teams all tournament; grabbing a lead and then sitting back and hoping to hold for dear life is not a great strategy against Messi and company. La Albiceleste scored twice in the last 10 minutes of regulation to dash English hopes and keep “it” from coming home for at least another four years. Argentina will face Spain in the final on Sunday in New Jersey, while the English head to the ignominious third place match against France.
What did I miss?
You missed slamming Tuchel. He put England in an inexplicable and baffling position. I was texting with friends and essentially wrote, that he just put the nail into England’s coffin. Three Lions went out like Three Lambs, thank to his misguided strategy.
He should have let them keep it up. Lose or not an the field of play, rather than in a bunker. His players deserved better.
Tangentially related to DC: Chicago just acquired a 2026 international roster spot from Vancouver for $350k GAM. If we want to sign any international players (like Nono) and don’t have anyone on the team get a green card, we’d probably need to shell out a similar amount of GAM
So much to reply to in this very meaty post by PJ.
First, the Bats-Spirit match should not have been played. EPA says AQI of 150 is unhealthy. AQI at game time was 171. When you are taking breaks every 15 minutes, that is a terrible statement. A lot of ticket sales means NWSL put the sales over the health of the players and quality of the game. SHAME!
Second, yeah, Tuchel screwed the pooch. But given who Argentina is and who’s on their roster, maybe they still win if England doesn’t sit back. At this point, we can say: (a) Messi still has it and (b) Argentina finds a way to win regardless.
Third, interesting on the DCU RB rumor. I wouldn’t have thought RB was a priority for us given how Hefti has performed. Then again, some descriptions of him describe as a right wing so that may be the plan for him.
And yeah, given the experience a range of different people and teams have had (Iran, the African referee denied a visa, etc.) just for the WC, I have to question if we’re a good fit for the Olympics and other international events right now.
My thought on the Nono rumor is that he would essentially be a Herrera replacement. Less so a right back (at least with how Weiler used him), more so a right mid/right wing that can play right back if we need him to, or if we want to switch up the formation
Maybe worth noting about Nono is that he plays for Kajima Antlers, where Weiler coached, while Nono was still in college. Probably not just coincidence.
Interesting reading his Wiki — it seems having success in the J-League coming from college is even rarer than in MLS. He scored 9 goals in 2024, and was the first college grad named to the J League Best XI since Mitoma in 2020 (Mitoma made quite a mark later at Brighton). Apparently Nono missed the last 2 months in 2024 for a knee injury. No clue how serious the injury was, but his offensive numbers were much lower in 2025 and so far in 2026. I wouldn’t be hugely disappointed to see Hefti reduced to a back-up role, but if Nono still has wheels then a right mid or wing role would be interesting.
No argument JoeW. My feeling was better to die playing a capable game rather giving Argentina a target for a firing squad.
As a Scot, I chuckled. Yet I must say, my heart sank for the English players. They were hamstrung by their manager.
Tuchel definitely didn’t do the job only he could do for his squad, no doubt. It was his job to tell them what the shape and outlet for release when they won the ball back would be.
However, while the late game decisions were bad, I’m still of the opinion no one ever lost their team a semifinal as a manager more than whatever Deschamps said to the French team going against Spain.
Because, had he told them to do the same thing they had done all tournament- maintain compactness in your own end, nullify threat, and flow through to the front four, I’m certain they would have won.
I… I honestly don’t even know what they did, it just seemed to be offering Spain everything they wanted in terms of field conditions dictated by player behavior
Had they simply stayed in tune, it would have been 3 consecutive World Cup final appearances with the same general premise the entire run, but, for reasons that escape me, he decided a semifinal against a hungry Spain was the game to do jazz instead