KICK OFF |
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WHO’S GOOD, WHO’S BAD, AND WHO’S OUT?
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Right, another USMNT camp down, and a whole bunch of takes ready to be fired off. The U.S. squad was largely predictable, especially given the glut of injuries Pochettino faced. Gio Reyna was perhaps the only surprise inclusion here, but ball-knowers everywhere (including this one) had vouched for his addition, anyway. Everyone got a look - except poor old injured Ricardo Pepi - and most took their chance. But who played their way into the XI, and who saw their chances slip away a little? GOAL’s Ryan Tolmich checked in on the state of the squad…
Tolmich: “Ultimately, Pochettino will have some tough choices when it’s time to make that call. It’s a good problem to have, in truth. Over the past year, he’s elevated this USMNT player pool to an entirely new level, raising both the team’s ceiling and its floor in a massive way. The days of worrying about one or two individual absences feel long gone; now there’s competition everywhere, and no one is being placed above - or protected below - anyone else in that fight for spots.”
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MLS GETS ITS HEAVYWEIGHT MATCHUP
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Son Heung-Min is box office. Thomas Müller’s not exactly shabby either. Indeed, it turns out that MLS has stars outside of Lionel Messi. And those two lads are playing each other in the playoffs this weekend. It’s a nicely poised matchup. Vancouver loves to have the ball, and can more or less pass you to death. LAFC are very good at running in straight lines, and letting their star man cook. The result will either be 5-5 or 0-0 and unwatchable penalties. Either way, here’s to a good game, and the kind of game that the league needs to grab some eyeballs. GOAL took a look into an important fixture…
Hindle: “It's a tasty matchup, one that will define an already nicely-poised game. Chances are, whoever has the better game - Son or Muller - will decide the final score. And in a league that has the biggest player in the world yet lacks consistent interest in the region, it could be a model for encapsulating the way the league can grow. MLS, in short, needs more of these.”
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THE BEST PLAYER YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF
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At 27, Rodrigo Lopez didn’t have a house. At 37, he tore his ACL. But in the decade in between, the Mexican-American attacking midfielder enjoyed one of the more remarkable careers out there, overcoming injury, poor management, and rampant uncertainty to establish himself as probably the USL’s greatest ever player. His story is a bit mad, really, and it finally had an end, when he elected to hang up his boots last month. GOAL talked to him about his crazy route through the beautiful game…
Lopez, to Hindle: “It's time. I didn't want to risk any more injuries, and I didn't want to go play anywhere else, and have to come back later on. I just wanted to settle with my family now.”
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MILES ROBINSON IS HERE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
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This dude hates his phone. But that’s not the only thing you need to know about Miles Robinson. Probably more important than his desire to change the world - which he thinks about a lot - is the fact that he’s in the running to represent the USMNT at the World Cup. Six months before the Qatar World Cup, the center back, then of Atlanta United, tore his Achilles. His dreams disappeared in an instant. Now, six months from another World Cup, there’s that same countdown on the clock - only this time, Robinson is healthy, playing well, and firmly back in the picture. If the tournament kicked off today, he might even be in the XI.
GOAL’s Ryan Tolmich talked to the technophobe about his World Cup hopes, his thoughts on the future, and celebrating with an enormous sword…
Tolmich: “Now, six months before another World Cup, Robinson is back in the mix. He's playing regularly for the USMNT and is back to being one of the best in MLS with FC Cincinnati. His future, though? That's for someone else to think about. Robinson can't bear to do that just yet, knowing what happened last time.”
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THE USWNT ARE LOOKING GOOD - AGAIN
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It was a bit of a mixed camp for the USWNT earlier this month. They had the audacity, in fact, to lose a game. But that was all nicely forgotten with a couple of wins to ease the pain. And now, they’re back, with a new squad that features the kind of WSL talent head coach Emma Hayes has left at home for a few months. The standout? The long-awaited return of Naomi Girma. But she’s not the only one who’s back. GOAL’s Celia Balf broke down the squad…
Balf: “Girma returns to the USWNT roster after missing the previous FIFA window with an injury. The defender last appeared for the U.S. on July 2 in a 3-0 win over Canada and has played only four of the team’s 13 matches this year, starting all of them at center back. Her return has been long-awaited - and no one seems more thrilled than Emma Hayes. Girma was instrumental in the U.S. run to Olympic gold in 2024, when Hayes famously called her ‘the best defender I’ve ever seen.’”
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WATCHING THE WORLD CUP FROM HOME
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Even in a bloated, strange, kind of imperfect 48-team World Cup, not everyone can qualify. And that kind of defeats the purpose here. FIFA want more players, more money, more people - the names you know in the American sun, overworking themselves in front of millions. Don’t you just love football? It’s easy to be cynical, but this will, of course, be a beautiful event. World Cups are the best thing about this sport, and they truly tend to unite when everything else feels a bit sh*t. But not everyone can play in them. And this year, a few big names missed out on qualification. GOAL’s Mark Doyle broke into some of the biggest omissions
Doyle: “It never should have come to this for what is undoubtedly a golden generation for Nigeria. The absence of Osimhen will be an especially great shame when the World Cup kicks off, given the Galatasaray star is among the best strikers in the business. He scored eight goals in qualifying, but the rest of the Nigeria squad did not match his high standards. The likes of Ademola Lookman, Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, Calvin Bassey and Wilfred Ndidi all disappointed, and will need to do some serious soul searching.”
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PLAY GOAL8 |
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So there’s this thing called GOAL8. What you do is pick a bunch of scorelines for games that are randomly generated by our very clever machine, known as the internet. Eight games, eight scorelines. Get all eight correct and there’s a $100,000 prize on the line. Last time out, I was crap (30 points is very poor!) Here are a few misguided predictions…
Wolves 0-2 Crystal Palace
Newcastle 1-4 Man City
Leeds 1-1 Aston Villa
FC Cincinnati 3-2 Inter Miami
Milan 1-1 Inter
Vancouver 3-2 LAFC
Fiorentina 2-1 Juventus
Heidenheim 2-2 Borussia Monchengladbach
PLAY AGAINST ME IN A PRIVATE LEAGUE HERE(!!)
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VIDEO REVIEW |
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THIS is what it feels like to score a late winner to qualify for the World Cup playoff
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AROUND THE GROUNDS |
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A few other things you need to know to impress your pals at the bar, ruin your social feed or generally be a snob about this sport:
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CHECKING THE MONITOR |
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Scott McTominay turned into prime Cristiano for Scotland this week, and it was all very nice to look at
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THE RONDO TOPIC OF THE WEEK |
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We watched the worst soccer movies of all time and reviewed them (it was actually quite funny). |
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MATCHES NOT TO MISS |
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November 22: Premier League, Newcastle vs. Man City, 12:30 p.m. — NBC
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November 22: MLS, LAFC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps, 9:30 p.m. — Apple TV/FS1
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November 23: Premier League, Arsenal vs. Tottenham, 11:30 a.m. — Peacock
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November 23: Serie A, Inter vs. Milan, 2:45 p.m. — Paramount+
- November 23: MLS, Inter Miami vs. FC Cincinnati, 5 p.m. — Apple TV/FS1
That’s all for this edition of The Rondo. Irritate me directly with questions/comments/insights/incorrect opinions @tom_Hindle_
Cheers for reading! |
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