Scuffed | U.S. soccer, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America

By Adam Belz and Greg Velasquez

What's Scuffed | U.S. soccer, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America about?

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's and women's national soccer teams, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

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Scuffed | U.S. soccer, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America episodes:

04.18.2024
#485: John O'Brien joins the pod
The former Ajax and USMNT midfielder, a key player in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal run, joins Belz for a conversation that touches on, among other things, how the Dutch trained total football in the late 1990s, playing for Bruce...
04.17.2024
#484: WoSo — Boots on ground in Columbus, Olympics roster, young guns in NWSL
Vince and Tara report on their visit to lovely Columbus for the She Believes final victory over Canada, a rundown of the best young talent in NWSL, and Olympics roster discussion.
04.10.2024
#483: USWNT v Canada recap
Another She Believes trophy for the cabinet. Some good progress in this camp, a midfield setup that works, and we now look forward to the real beginning of the Emma Hayes era.
04.08.2024
#482 — USWNT v Japan recap
Hey! A giant leap forward from the soccer we watched at the W Gold Cup last month. Combinations, lots of chances, Mal Swanson back from with the NT and as dynamic as ever, very little created by Japan (a good...
04.01.2024
#481: WoSo — Mal scores, Hutton shines, Hayes v Eidevall, Korbinghazi
Lots of European and NWSL action to catch up on, Korbin Albert's TikTok reposts and her long-range strikes for PSG, Mallory Swanson scores, Sam Coffey scores, Claire Hutton shines, and potential XIs vs Japan on Saturday.
03.28.2024
#480: Nations League cool-down with Watke and Vince
The last Monday Review of the month, recorded on Wednesday night with Watke and Vince. Mexico's decline, our matter-of-fact demeanor in victory, Gio's shine and defending, reports from metro Dallas, more on Pulisic's outrageous touch and his tenacious off-ball movement,...
03.26.2024
#479: USMNT v Mexico recap
Greg and Belz talk through another very satisfying win over El Tri. Tyler bombazo, Gio player of the tournament, a bit of a slugfest from both teams on Sunday but it feels like we're cruising these days with regard to...
03.23.2024
#478: USMNT v Jamaica recap
Greg and Belz talk through the crazy victory over Jamaica in Dallas. Lots to discuss, plenty to critique, and a boatload of opportunities for breathless descriptions of Gio Reyna.
03.23.2024
#477: Yunus Musah joins the pod
Sanjay Sujanthakumar and Belz sat down with the 21-year-old midfielder in metro Dallas the day after the wild 3-1 win over Jamaica to talk about what goes through one's mind when one eliminates another person on the dribble, the feeling...
03.14.2024
#476: The USMNT Nations League roster
Greg and Belz talk through the roster for the game against Jamaica and (we hope) the final next Sunday. No big surprises. We give our XIs for the Jamaica match, and Greg has a curveball.
03.12.2024
#475: Gold Cup Final — USWNT v Brazil recap
Greg and Belz dig in on a victorious, but not very encouraging, performance from the U.S. women's national team.
03.07.2024
#474: USWNT v Canada recap
Tara and Belz quickly recap the key incidents from the absurd water-logged contest in San Diego late last night. Shaw and Smith score nice goals. Mostly no soccer was played. Survive and advance!
03.05.2024
#473: USWNT beats Colombia, full recap
We went direct vs Colombia in a Gold Cup knockout game, and pressed them hard. Greg and Belz break it down.
02.28.2024
#472: USWNT loses to Mexico, full recap
WoSo Wednesday this week is a belated but fully-loaded assessment of the reverse dos a cero in Carson. Lots to discuss. Greg, Belz, Vince and Tara go in on it.
02.26.2024
#471: Monday Review — Big goals for Cardoso & Richards, full pool rundown
Goal contributions from all over Europe and North America over the weekend, Wes dislocates his shoulder so that needs deciphering, lovely goal from Johnny Soccer, huge goal from Chris Richards, Paxten gets on the scoresheet, Vince changes his tune on...
02.24.2024
W Gold Cup: USWNT v Argentina recap
Lots to be encouraged about! Lots to work on. Twila and the team are putting the ball on the deck and trying to play through the opponent. A good test against a pretty defensively solid Argentina side. Full recap from...
02.21.2024
W Gold Cup: USWNT v Dominican Republic recap
A soggy night in southern California, hung over by the shadow of Mia Fishel's injury, but Greg and Belz find plenty to be glad about.
02.15.2024
WoSo — Star Wars, Sauerbrunn and the 16-year-old
Emma Hayes on the meaning of Star Wars, Gold Cup lineup discussion, Cat Macario inching back to full health, Belz stans Lily Yohannes, Sauerbrunn is back after Cook suffers a minor injury, the U17s win the Concacaf tournament, and much...
02.07.2024
Quick reaction to the USWNT's Gold Cup roster
Greg and Belz convene briefly after the Kilgore press conference on Wednesday. Morgan omitted, what are knock-on effects for selection? Does anything matter until Hayes takes over?
02.03.2024
Gratitude, ambition and fatherhood with Diego Luna
The Real Salt Lake live wire joined the pod to talk about how he improved between 2022 and 2023, his stint moonlighting behind the counter at Dutch Bros, his first cap for the USMNT, the gratitude he still feels for...
02.02.2024
Gio to Forest, transfer window wrap-up, Lindsey outrages America
Greg categorizes all the USMNT transfers from the now-closed window, special focus on Gio to Forest and Johnny to Betis, then we go down the list and briefly discuss Lindsey Horan's comments to Meg Linehan at the Athletic.
01.31.2024
WoSo — Hayes name-checks, USWNT first-choice XIs, UCL roundup
Emma Hayes name-checks a few young USWNT players, Tara, Vince and Belz give their ideal fully-healthy XIs for the U.S. Women's National Team, and we check in on Champions League action, including of course the remarkable case of Lily Yohannes.
01.24.2024
Some of the questions ahead of USMNT's next camp
The Gio transfer saga, which strikers will get the call in March for Nations League, centerback pool kinda unclear, roster projections.
01.18.2024
#462: WoSo — Cat & Mal back soon, Fish strikes, Lily shines
Tara, Vince and Belz convene to recap a lot of things, including long-awaited returns from injury, Fishel's big goal in the FA Cup, Lily Yohannes and Korbin Albert coming along in Europe, several transfers, the NWSL draft, and several young...
01.08.2024
#461: Monday Review — Pulisic, Wes, Tim ascendant, Richards at DM, etc.
The first Monday Review of 2024 with Watke, Vince and Belz. We celebrate the ascendancy of the three Americans in northern Italy, talk over Chris Richards' 8-match run of starts at Crystal Palace and whether he's getting better at playing...
12.20.2023
#460: Annual Review — USWNT
Best goal for country, best goal for club, player of the year, breakthrough player of the year, best offseason vacation, uncapped player of the year, best retirement, and much more. Greg, Tara, Vince and Belz talk through a year that...
12.19.2023
#459: Annual Review — USMNT
Greg, Vince, Watke and Belz talk through several awards, some of them voted on by Scuffed listeners. This episode dropped yesterday for patrons. Making it public today. Happy Holidays!
12.15.2023
#458: Mid-week action wrap-up with Greg
Gio's quarrel with Hummels, Pulisic's goal, Tillman's masterclass, Pepi's assist and Dest's nutmeg. Plus some quick discussion of the "Under Pressure" documentary, good results for Yohannes and Albert, and Hayes' Chelsea struggling a bit in Women's Champions League.
12.13.2023
#457: Sports-Reference founder Sean Forman joins the pod
Sean Forman, who founded Baseball-Reference in 2000 and launched fbref.com in 2018, joins Belz to discuss the origin story of the company that runs several of the world's highest-traffic sports stat websites, including the one that has made soccer fandom...
12.08.2023
#456: Former pro referee & California refs administrator Juan Guzman
Juan Guzman reffed MLS matches, helped roll out video assistant refereeing in the league, and now is the state referee administrator for the California State Soccer Association-South, one of the nation's richest soccer regions. We talked about getting young people...
12.06.2023
#455: USWNT v China recap (Frisco)
The Jaedyn Shaw era is surely upon us. Also we're back to pressing with conviction. We got a good look at Coffey and Shaw, a debut for Korbin Albert, more Purce at right back, a comeback win, lots to discuss....
12.04.2023
#454: USWNT v China recap (Fort Lauderdale)
Smith at striker, Shaw and Fishel get another good runout, Purce excellent at right back, Nighswonger and Moultrie debut. Lots to consider as the Kilgore Interregnum continues.
11.29.2023
#453: Natalia Astrain on USWNT challenges and opportunities
Natalia Astrain, the Telemundo soccer commentator who's coached youth and professional women's soccer on both sides of the Atlantic and coaxed intentional, aesthetically-pleasing soccer from the U17 women's national team in 2022, joins the pod. She has a distinct vantage...
11.22.2023
#452: WoSo — First roster of the Hayes era, China next week
Vince, Tara and Belz talk through the roster, some of the comments from the Crocker/Kilgore press conference, possible XIs versus China next weekend, and much more.
11.21.2023
#451: Trinidad & Tobago v USMNT recap
Magnificent self sabotage from Sergiño derails a perfectly acceptable away Concacaf performance, and then it gets a little nervy in the second half. Greg and Belz talk through it, full timeline. We're going to the Copa.
11.17.2023
#450: USMNT v Trinidad & Tobago recap
Greg and Belz sort through it. Full timeline. Back in action Monday night.
11.13.2023
#449: Monday Review — Camp begins in Austin, what to expect vs T&T
Watke, Vince and Belz on the ongoing camp in Austin, the upcoming matches against Trinidad, Berhalter's press conference setup, Gio and Malik hopefully getting to start for the fun of it, how to pronounce Malik's name, whether Paredes can have...
11.09.2023
#448: November USMNT roster reaction
Greg and Belz talk through the roster, who may step up in the absence of Pulisic and Weah, whether Gio works as a winger in Berhalter's system, and react to a handful of clips from Berhalter's press conference.
11.06.2023
$447: Emma Hayes to take over USWNT (reportedly)
Greg, Vince, Tara and Belz talk through the surprise of the weekend, first reported by Joe Lowery at Backheeled, that Chelsea manager and arguably the best coach in women's soccer Emma Hayes has agreed to terms with the USSF to...
11.03.2023
#446: A Michael Bradley retrospective with Watke and Bob Morocco
Bob Morocco joins Watke and Belz to talk through ten of MB90's most memorable moments, what kind of player he really was, how much responsibility he bears for the failure in Couva, whether the 2014 team would beat the 2023...
11.02.2023
#445: WoSo — USWNT v Colombia recap No. 2
Vince, Tara and Belz talk through the 3-0 win on Sunday, finally, another status quo lineup from Kilgore redeemed by Mia Fishel and Jaedyn Shaw's second half showings. Full timeline, lots of takeaways.
10.27.2023
#444: USWNT v Colombia recap
A 0-0 draw, nothing happening, nothing changing. Is purgatory worse than hell? No, but it’s not fun!
10.26.2023
#443: Tactical Manager joins the pod to talk grassroots
Pickup culture? Better rec soccer coaching? Who will do it? How? Filippo Silva, the Brazilian-American who started Tactical Manager TV on YouTube, joins the pod to discuss this stuff with Belz after we had a small disagreement on Twitter a...
10.25.2023
#442: WoSo — Colombia friendly tomorrow, XIs, play the kids
Tara and Belz soldier on without Vince, who was sick this morning (get better soon). We walk through some of interim coach Twila Kilgore's comments, give XIs for the Colombia friendly in Salt Lake City, discuss how our two players...
10.25.2023
#441: High school Champions' League — how it works, why it matters
It's a novel idea that started in Tampa and is now spreading to St. Louis and south Florida, with coaches in several other places considering starting one. When it comes to growing our country's soccer culture from the ground up,...
10.19.2023
#440: USMNT v Ghana recap
A very pleasant, low-key, Gio-centric evening in Nashville.
10.16.2023
#439: USMNT v Germany recap
A fun first half including an outrageous Pulisic goal, a second half full of hard medicine, and a bunch of unanswered questions about our midfield.
10.05.2023
#438: Ways to improve grassroots soccer
Belz is joined by Kirk Kinsey, director of Flagstaff Revolution, a grassroots club in Arizona, and Jesse Howe, the director of coaching at the Calvert Soccer Association, a grassroots soccer program in Maryland. All three of us are working in...
10.04.2023
#437: WoSo — Fishel's smash debut, Shaw waits on Twila, Trin balls
Vince, Tara and Belz talk through Mia Fishel's excellent debut at striker for Chelsea, continue to bemoan the purgatory of the Twila Kilgore era, Trinity scored and toyed with the opponent over the weekend, Alyssa been a bit too quite...
09.26.2023
#436: USWNT v South Africa recap 2.0
A very quick recap of some of the action from Sunday from Greg and Belz as Rapinoe rode off into the sunset, Rodman kept staking her claim as the team's best healthy attacker, and Jaedyn Shaw kept sitting on the...

What's Scuffed | U.S. soccer, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Scuffed | U.S. soccer, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America episodes:

#485: John O'Brien joins the pod

#484: WoSo — Boots on ground in Columbus, Olympics roster, young guns in NWSL

#483: USWNT v Canada recap

#482 — USWNT v Japan recap

#481: WoSo — Mal scores, Hutton shines, Hayes v Eidevall, Korbinghazi

#480: Nations League cool-down with Watke and Vince

#479: USMNT v Mexico recap

#478: USMNT v Jamaica recap

#477: Yunus Musah joins the pod

#476: The USMNT Nations League roster

#475: Gold Cup Final — USWNT v Brazil recap

#474: USWNT v Canada recap

#473: USWNT beats Colombia, full recap

#472: USWNT loses to Mexico, full recap

#471: Monday Review — Big goals for Cardoso & Richards, full pool rundown

W Gold Cup: USWNT v Argentina recap

W Gold Cup: USWNT v Dominican Republic recap

WoSo — Star Wars, Sauerbrunn and the 16-year-old

Quick reaction to the USWNT's Gold Cup roster

Gratitude, ambition and fatherhood with Diego Luna

Gio to Forest, transfer window wrap-up, Lindsey outrages America

WoSo — Hayes name-checks, USWNT first-choice XIs, UCL roundup

Some of the questions ahead of USMNT's next camp

#462: WoSo — Cat & Mal back soon, Fish strikes, Lily shines

#461: Monday Review — Pulisic, Wes, Tim ascendant, Richards at DM, etc.

#460: Annual Review — USWNT

#459: Annual Review — USMNT

#458: Mid-week action wrap-up with Greg

#457: Sports-Reference founder Sean Forman joins the pod

#456: Former pro referee & California refs administrator Juan Guzman

#455: USWNT v China recap (Frisco)

#454: USWNT v China recap (Fort Lauderdale)

#453: Natalia Astrain on USWNT challenges and opportunities

#452: WoSo — First roster of the Hayes era, China next week

#451: Trinidad & Tobago v USMNT recap

#450: USMNT v Trinidad & Tobago recap

#449: Monday Review — Camp begins in Austin, what to expect vs T&T

#448: November USMNT roster reaction

$447: Emma Hayes to take over USWNT (reportedly)

#446: A Michael Bradley retrospective with Watke and Bob Morocco

#445: WoSo — USWNT v Colombia recap No. 2

#444: USWNT v Colombia recap

#443: Tactical Manager joins the pod to talk grassroots

#442: WoSo — Colombia friendly tomorrow, XIs, play the kids

#441: High school Champions' League — how it works, why it matters

#440: USMNT v Ghana recap

#439: USMNT v Germany recap

#438: Ways to improve grassroots soccer

#437: WoSo — Fishel's smash debut, Shaw waits on Twila, Trin balls

#436: USWNT v South Africa recap 2.0