DCU/Cincinatti Officially Rescheduled, Players Want to Move U-20 World Cup, and more: Tuesday Freedom Kicks
Good morning DC Footy Folk!
Today is the start of Hispanic Heritage Month (and independence day for many countries in Latin America)! In honor of that, here is an interesting video from a years back featuring Sofia Huerta and Ashley Sanchez talking about what it means to them to be Latina!
Let’s jump into the footy news!
D.C. United’s Away Match Against FC Cincinnati Rescheduled for October 21
The game is rescheduled for Wednesday, October 21st in Ohio. Coincidentally, the two teams play again just a few days later at Audi Field on Saturday October 24th.
Many are calling for alignment with the international window for this World Cup. Frankly it’s makes a lot of sense and many teams would like to not lose their players for several weeks in the middle of a playoff push.
Looks like DCU is bringing back Antley from his loans for the playoff push. Hopefully this is not an indicator that someone else is injured.
Macario placed on SEI list (The Equalizer)
Cat Macario can’t seem to catch a break. She signed for the San Diego Wave earlier in the year from Chelsea but has yet to make her debut and that will have to wait until at least 2027. Will she be able to recover on time and force her way into Emma’s squad?
USMNT weekend roundup: Puli & Musah shine, Cavan on fire (SSFC)
A round up of all of the notable USMNT players. For me, the most intriguing performance came from 16 year old Cavan Sullivan. I mean, did you see that back heel goal?!
Finally to wrap it up, is Hal Hershfelt the most memeable player to have ever played in the NWSL?
Anyways, that’s all from me folks! See you in the comments!
The Romanian Football Federation is introducing a black card for youth matches. It is the last step of a 3 step process concerning inappropriate behavior from parents and spectators. This is being done to combat bullying and pressure coming from the stands directed at the youth players on the field, the refs, the coaching staff, and other parents/spectators.
The first step is the ref pauses the match and asks coaches to talk directly towards parents and spectators. Additionally, if a PA system is available then an announcement will be made via that. If the issues continue then the ref is to stop the match for 10 mins, send the teams to their locker rooms, and ask coaches to again attempt to de-escalate the situation. Then if the behavior continues the ref is to blow the final whistle, show the black card, and abandon the match and it cannot be continued.
Personally I love this idea.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7586821/2026/09/12/football-black-card-referee/
Seems like a good concept, but I do wonder how often it will actually get used. Its like the processes that are in place to deal with “the chant” that seem to almost never actually be enforced in the way they’re supposed to be
Reminds me of a sign I saw at the field when I took my 7 year old to his first game. They had stuff like remember the coaches are volunteers and referees are human. The final point was “Your child doesn’t play in MLS,” and I couldn’t tell if that was derogatory or not.
(Also the jump in quality from his team in the spring to his team now is astonishing!)
Colombia is pursuing US U-20 Youth International Alexander Shaw who is a dual national. He just played for the US at the 2026 U-20 CONCACAF Championship. Shaw recently signed a contract extension with Inter Miami. He has apparently received U-20 call ups from Colombia but they have all been declined by Inter Miami for occurring during MLS regular season play.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49946575/source-colombia-united-state-battling-inter-miami-20-dual-national-alexander-shaw
He was probably the most technically gifted in that u-20 squad. It didn’t include every teenage phenom the US had under its umbrella, but the floor was way higher than I’ve ever seen from a men’s youth team.
Would prefer not to lose him.
Welcome back to Conor Antley. I’m sure that’s in response to Brendan’s comments yesterday about Kurokawa’s workload and the absence of a back-up. Also, I imagine that the rescheduling of the FC Cincy match and the wild fixture congestion in October has everything to do with it.
Bank on that. He is reasonable depth.