USA Soccercast

We have quite a bit to recap on Episode 35 of the Stars & Stripes FC Podcast! This week, Olympic qualifying dates have been announced! We discuss the tournament down in Mexico and what the United States U-23s have to do in order to make it to Tokyo for this summer’s Olympics.

There were also a few transfers worth noting, from Mark McKenzie moving to Genk to Bryan Reynolds’ rumored move to Juventus (and Benevento). There’s also some transfers on the women’s side, with Catarina Macario signing with Lyon and Abby Dahlkemper possibly moving to Manchester City..

After the break, André Perea files a one-time switch to join the USMNT from Colombia, and Catarina Macario is now eligible to play for the USWNT! We discuss those additions to the national team player pools. Finally, the NWSL Draft was Wednesday night, but we discuss the absurd number of timeouts which contributed to the Draft lasting almost 5 hours!

We close with a note on all the new feature columns you have seen or will see on the site over the coming weeks. Hope you’re enjoying the new columns, and we hope to bring you more as the year progresses, including some changes to the podcast!

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It’s a new year, and that means our national teams are back in action! On Episode 34 of the SSFC Podcast, the United States has January Camp for the WNT, the MNT, and the U-23s.

We start with a look at the roster for the USWNT, who play Colombia twice in January. We have some veterans back on the field in Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, and Mallory Pugh. Some of the newcomers are back as well, like Sophia Smith, Catarina Macario, and Jaelin Howell. The competition heats up as the team prepares for SheBelieves Cup and the Olympics this year.

Next up, the USMNT and the U-23s join forces for a mega January Camp loaded with a lot of young talent who could factor into the many matches between the two teams this year. Olympic qualifying is in March, so the U-23s take center focus. However, there are also some USMNT players who want to make their mark, and they have the opportunity to do that this month and impress Gregg Berhalter.

Hit the comments and don’t forget to subscribe. You know you need that podcast for 2021!

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The last episode of 2020 for the Stars and Stripes FC Podcast is here! On Episode 33, we address the rumors of who the United States Women’s National Team could play at SheBelieves Cup: Brazil, Japan, and Norway. We discuss why each team could be a nice challenge for the 2-time defending world champions as they seek to win the gold medal at the Olympics.

After the break, we get to the USMNT, who have some friendlies coming up during a busy 2021. Which teams could serve as formidable opponents for the team as they prepare for the Nations League playoffs, the Gold Cup, and World Cup qualifying? We look at some options, including a couple that may be outside the box.

Finally, we close with a New Year’s wish for everyone in the American soccer community. Strength is the key word for that wish, because we will all need it to have a successful 2021.

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The UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League are the focus of a quick Episode 32 of the SSFC Podcast. The knockout stage in both competitions is set, and we highlight who the United States internationals will be facing. The good thing is...none of them play each other save for one matchup in the Europa League! It’s amazing that so many of our players are still in this competition with a chance to get that winner’s medal and lift the trophy in May.

After the break, we quickly shout out Tyler Adams for starting a UPSL team in his hometown. It’s a wonderful thing to see players investing in the game, particularly to help grow it in the areas where they grew up. Someone who wishes to be the next Tyler Adams from Hudson Valley could have the opportunity to play on a team owned by Adams. These kids are taking ownership in the future of the game.

As always, if you have topic suggestions, feel free to send an email to [email protected].

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Episode 31 is ready to get your weekend started! The United States Men’s National Team destroy El Salvador, so we begin with a recap of the match and the noteworthy performances. We talk about the young guys who made their debut, like Chris Mueller, Mark McKenzie, and Brenden Aaronson, and the return of Paul Arriola.

World Cup qualifying has a new schedule for the USMNT, so we break down the windows and who the team could face when everything begins (as of now) next September. When are the matches at home against Mexico and on the road at Azteca? What’s the hardest window? We break it all down, including who from the early rounds of qualifying are prime candidates to join the USMNT, Mexico, Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras in the Octagon.

After the break, we conclude with the USWNT and how the new Concacaf women’s calendar will affect them. Bottom line: the WNT will be a part of a new Nations League tournament! We explain how that will work and how World Cup qualifying will be basically the same for the queens of the soccer world.

Don’t forget to subscribe and tell your friends!

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On Episode 30 of the Stars & Stripes FC Podcast, the United States National Teams take focus! First, the USWNT beat the Netherlands, and we recap the goals, the herstory that was made by Sophia Smith and Jaelin Howell, and the beautiful story that was the return of Kristie Mewis to the national team while scoring a goal in the process! It was terrific to see the ladies close out 2020 the way they entered it...by being the most dominant team in the world.

After the break, the USMNT is back in action as they host El Salvador next week in Fort Lauderdale. We go through the current roster (including the addition of JT Marcincowski today), and discuss which players we should look forward to watching.

Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe if you like what you’re hearing! If you have topic suggestions, send an email to [email protected]. We will recap the MNT match on next week’s episode!

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On a short Episode 29 of the SSFC Podcast, we have some United States Men’s National Team matches to recap! We quickly recap the draw against Wales and the big win against Panama, and we highlight some of the standout performances and all the goals.

The WNT are next up, playing their first match since the pandemic shut down sports around them back in March. They line up against the Netherlands on Black Friday in a rematch of the 2019 Women’s World Cup final. We go through the roster and see who’s on it and note the exclusion of Lindsey Horan from the roster due to her coronavirus diagnosis.

Finally, the MNT may not be done, as rumors are swirling that they could host a match in December featuring MLS-based players. Nothing’s concrete yet, but we discuss how it’s another opportunity for head coach Gregg Berhalter to evaluate more talent.

The Podcast will take a break next week for Thanksgiving. Everyone stay safe out there in these pandemic streets.

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We dive one more time into the player pool on Episode 28 of the SSFC Podcast. This week, we put the forwards in focus to see who should be in, who is on the fringe, and who is likely on the outside looking in. The players discussed this week:

Wingers

Ulysses Llanez

Jordan Morris

Jonathan Amon

Corey Baird

Brooks Lennon

Emannuel Sabbi

Konrad de la Fuente

Jonathan Lewis

Yunus Musah

Sebastian Saucedo

Handwalla Bwana

Center Forwards

Josh Sargent

Jozy Altidore

TIm Weah

Aron Johannsson

Jeremy Ebobisse

Gyasi Zardes

Andrija Novakovich

Nicholas Gioacchini

Christian Ramirez

Mason Toye

Alfonso Ocampo-Chavez

Charlie Kelman

Jesus Ferreira

Haji Wright

Sebastian Soto

Which guys do you not see on this list? Who do you think should be on the team instead of on the outside looking in. Keep the discussion going! The USMNT play Wales tomorrow and Panama on Monday. We’ll break down those games next week!

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The United States Men's National Team has a roster, and Episode 27 is about breaking it all down! We go through the roster, including Josh Sargent's removal due to Werder Bremen not being able to get a quarantine exemption for him. Sebastian Lletget will be the lone MLS player on the roster as he comes in to replace Sargent.

The USMNT roster for matches against Wales and Panama:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), Chituru Odunze (Leicester City), Zack Steffen (Manchester City)

DEFENDERS (7): John Brooks (Wolfsburg), Reggie Cannon (Boavista FC), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona), Matt Miazga (Anderlecht), Tim Ream (Fulham), Chris Richards (Bayern Munich), Antonee Robinson (Fulham)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig), Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Richard Ledezma (PSV Eindhoven), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Weston McKennie (Juventus), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton)

FORWARDS (7): Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona), Nicholas Gioacchini (Caen), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Uly Llanez (Heerenveen), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Sebastian Soto (Telstar), Tim Weah (Lille)

Discuss who you like on this roster and who you're most excited to see!

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On Episode 26 of the SSFC Podcast, we continue our focus on the United States Men’s National Team player pool, with the midfielders getting the deep examination. We lead off the show, however, with a tribute to Total Soccer Show co-host Daryl Grove, who passed away last week after a long fight with cancer. It’s a sad time for American soccer fans, but we look back on why Daryl was so special to us.

We split up the midfielders into 4 groups: defensive midfielders, box to box, wingers, and attacking midfielders. Some of the wingers may also double as forwards, but we’ll discuss some of them this week and others next week. Still, we do as thorough a breakdown as we can of the long list of midfielders we have in the player pool.

Don’t forget to subscribe and rate and review! If you have questions or topic suggestions for future shows, send them to [email protected].

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