Campfire Football

UEFA has scrapped the away goals rule in European knockout competitions for the time being. Some people are quite upset about this, but if we look at the statistical and historical evidence, do we really lose much of anything? Let's break it down.

The African Nations Cup has reached the quarterfinal stage and 3 small nations with limited football lineage have booked a spot in this round of play. The Gambia, Burkina Faso, and Equatorial Guinea have the odds stacked against them but have fascinating stories so I dive into a few fun facts from each.

Christian is a youth soccer coach, a teacher at a vocational school in NYC, and Co-founder of the Soccer Subs Podcast. We have a chat about coaching, learning, teaching, AFCON, Qatar and starting a podcast.

The African Cup of Nations has begun! It has been disrespected a bit in the build up, but it's finally here and I'm grateful for that.

In addition, we already have a great story. That of the Comoros Islands and their improbable qualification as a tiny nation. How they got here is fascinating and deserves a spotlight.

Brian Barlow is a high level soccer referee who started the Offside Facebook page (not Youtube as I say in the episode), which exposes abuse towards youth sports officials. He is also a consultant, motivational speaker and founder of Innovate Crazy.

Barlow is a force for positive change in our game and somebody I find inspirational and greatly respect. Check him out.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/youreoffside/

https://innovatecrazy.com

My podcast is officially 1 year old! I started last year on Boxing Day and am happy to still be going today. I hope to bring you a quality and consistently improving experience here.

Please reach out if you want to collaborate, if you have topic suggestions, or any other feedback. This is a community. Thanks to all fellow Campers this year.

Sincerely,

Sebastian - Your Chief Practical Pyro

Well that concludes the MLS 2021 season. NYCFC finish as deserved champions so I wanted to talk to a die hard City fan who went to Portland to see his time take the Championship. I invited my friend Ronny from the Soccer Subs Podcast to talk about his experience and what NYCFC means to the city of New York and its legion of soccer fans.

"I don't know what that competition is," said Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers after being asked if his aim was to win the Europa Conference League after finishing 3rd in their Europa League group.

I got you Brendan, and anybody else confused about this new tournament that positively binds more clubs together across the European continent.

I had Ronny and LV from the Football Misfits Podcast on the show to probe into a few topics. Here's the agenda:

1. MLS Playoffs - Drama, Structure, Level of Quality
2. The Ballon D'Or - Why do we care?
3. Player Shoutouts - 1 who is thriving, 1 who needs support
4. Silliest Debate of Late - Annoying arguments that go nowhere

Jason Keever is the coach of Northfield High School's boys soccer team. This year, they went 20-0 to win the Colorado 4A State Championship. He started the program from scratch 7 years ago and his story is fantastic. He is my colleague, mentor, and dear friend.