A reminder our #NerdFarmReads Fall Book is "We Gon’ Be Alright" by Jeff Chang. Buy it, read it, tweet about it using #NerdFarmReads. We’ll record in the fall.

The World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet. Every four years billions of people worldwide tune in to watch their national teams (adopted or otherwise) compete for the most important title in sports. The month-long tournament just wrapped up. On this episode, Nate sat down with Steven Ketelsen and Kevin Zamira, two of the hosts of the Flounders B Team. Flounders B Team is a South Sound soccer podcast on the Channel 253 Podcast Network.

We discussed the cultural divisions within US soccer: “suburban & mainly white (cargo shorts)” versus “urban & mainly Latinx and African immigrant” and how it harms the growth and development of the sport in our county.

We also discussed the US failure to qualify for this World Cup. Coaching is the number one reason, but there are problems at the core. Future pod guest Matt Pentz’s Own Goal is required reading for this conversation.

We then discussed problems with player development and what Nate dubbed “the Lost Generation of USMNT Players.”

We wrapped up a discussion of about the final. 

Extra Credit & For Reference

Panama Announcers at World Cup -- just watch the pride

American Fiasco by Roger Bennett -- a podcast series about the 1998 World Cup mentioned by Steve

Matt Pentz’s Own Goal on the Ringer -- Why we didn’t qualify in 2018

America’s Youth Development Gap

The Socials

Steve on the socials

Kevin on the socials

The Flounders B Team on the socials

*Note: During the 5 Nate didn’t have the heart to tell Steve on-air that @SoccerByIves is Jersey-based, but follow him for good Peruvian food recs anyway