KICK OFF |
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IS BERTERAME A BAD FIT AT INTER MIAMI?
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Inter Miami had a third designated player spot open, and decided to swing big. They reportedly threw tons of money at their most apparent MLS Cup rivals, LAFC, to try to snag Denis Bouanga from Los Angeles. Of course, they were laughed off. So, Miami looked elsewhere and acquired Mexican forward German Berterame, who had been previously coveted by both FC Cincinnati and the Portland Timbers a year ago. He’s a curious player. He’s really kind of OK at a few things, but not, historically, very good at anything that Miami needs. Put more simply: have they just thrown $15 million - a hell of a lot of money in MLS - down the toilet? GOAL thinks so…
Hindle: “It makes little sense, then, that the Herons went and spent $15 million on Berterame from Liga MX side CF Monterrey. The Argentine-born striker had a solid goalscoring record in Mexico's top flight. Yet his fit, less than three months after Miami were handed the blueprint to success in this league, is questionable. Sure, these are early days, but there are already concerning signs for all involved.”
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MAKING OURSELVES LOOK STUPID AHEAD OF THE WORLD CUP
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That’s it. We are now in the double digits on the World Cup countdown clock. Tuesday marked 100 days until the tournament kicks off with a match between South Africa and Mexico in Mexico City. It seemed a fine excuse for GOAL staff to throw together some silly predictions. So, what hot takes can we formulate? For one, we don’t think Portugal are going to be all that good. Colombia, meanwhile? They’re going to be very good. And, unfortunately, some poor country might just set the unwanted record for goals conceded (this is the consequence of having too many teams in a tournament).
Tolmich: “With the expansion to 48 teams, several countries that never would have qualified for previous World Cups are involved this summer. Four teams - Cape Verde, Curaçao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan - are playing in the tournament for the first time, which means they'll all face a quality of opposition unlike they've ever seen before. Curacao, for example, will take on Germany, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador. Uzbekistan get Portugal and Colombia, while Jordan have to deal with Argentina, Algeria, and Austria.”
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NO WAY LIVERPOOL FIRE ARNE SLOT, RIGHT?
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Liverpool aren’t very good at the moment. They won the Premier League last year, and the vibes were high. This year, they lost some key pieces, made the wrong signings, and lost just a little bit of the magic that made them title winners. After losing to Wolves midweek, they are in sixth. And now their best player has a terrible trim. Seriously, it can’t get any worse. Some have called for the manager’s sacking. And GOAL’s Mark Doyle, an avowed Liverpool fan who is usually the level-headed one around here, reckons it might just be time for the Reds to pull the plug…
Doyle: “However, a combination of tradition and past achievements simply shouldn't be sufficient to keep Slot in a job, given their present struggles are putting future success at risk, with the latest accounts revealing that Champions League qualification is of great importance to the club's economic stability after last summer's record-breaking outlay on transfer fees and wages.”
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NIKO TSAKIRIS SHOULDN’T BE HERE
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Niko Tsakiris is a rising star in MLS. He’s 20 now, and been on everyone’s radar for a couple years. This season, he’s making good on the hype. The San Jose Quakes academy kid has been handed the No.10 jersey of his hometown club, and is fitting in wonderfully. But he really shouldn’t be here. His father was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2004. A week later, his mother found out she was pregnant. That Tsakiris is alive and healthy is something of a medical miracle. GOAL’s Ryan Tolmich talked to an excellent footballer coming to terms with the fact that he maybe shouldn’t be here…
Tsakiris, to Tolmich: “I think there's just this joy. Nothing is guaranteed, and every day counts. With what he and my mom went through, it just gave us this whole different outlook on life...I feel like I could talk forever about it. My family's story is the coolest thing ever. Where we all are right now? For me, that's incredible.”
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JAY DEMERIT, AMERICAN HERO AND ABSOLUTE RENEGADE
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Jay DeMerit is the kind of character that American soccer doesn’t develop anymore. This sport used to be all about hard-working players who weren’t all that good - but knew it. The whole point of the USMNT was they scrapped their way to wins. It led to a hell of a lot of valiant failures. But hey, it was fun to watch. Anyway, DeMerit was one of the OGs. His story is strange, one of MLS draft failures, ninth division soccer in England, and, somehow, a starting spot at the 2010 World Cup. But his post retirement career has been even stranger, with the slightly insane human from Wisconsin getting involved in music festivals in his backyard, product design, and soccer camps in the remote British Columbia wilderness. DeMerit was good at football because he never cared what people thought about him. He’s good at life for that very same reason. GOAL talked to the most compelling character in American soccer…
Hindle: “Jay DeMerit is impossible to pin down. After all, he has never wanted to stop moving. His journey to the top of soccer wasn’t linear. It certainly wasn’t predictable, either. At various points, DeMerit could have quit. Maybe he even should have. The Wisconsin native had nearly a dozen jobs out of football before he truly made it in the game. To him, soccer is a story of triumph, sure. But it’s also one of struggle.”
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THE WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM ARE CHUGGING ALONG
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No more funny business from Emma Hayes and Co. The England-born USWNT manager is done with all of the experimentation and such. Now, it’s time to think about winning football matches. This should perhaps have always been the goal for every coach. It just so happens that Hayes is very good at coaching and has a very good player pool, so she can both mess around and also win. But what happens when the USWNT settle on a squad and “lock in?” Well, this. They beat Canada this week in the SheBelieves Cup, Ally Sentnor bagging the only goal in a fine result against an ever-improving team. GOAL’s Celia Balf, whose finger is always on the pulse with the Americans, analyzed a significant win…
Balf, on Sentnor: “The 2024 U.S. Young Female Soccer Player of the Year earned all her stripes against Canada on Wednesday night in Columbus, scoring the game's only goal and adding her seventh international strike to date. Sentnor has played numerous positions for the national team, but only recently has been added to Emma Hayes' No. 9 mix. She mentioned on the broadcast postgame that she wants to be seen as a different kind of No. 9, one that's a bit more fun with it beyond just posting up and holding the ball. Sentnor's game is certainly fun, as she not only approaches every game with zero fear, but also takes her chances in front of the net, and nine times out of ten, executes.”
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VIDEO REVIEW |
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The dorkiest stepover you will ever see from William Osula, but what a strike this was to beat Man United…
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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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THE WORLD CUP IS ALMOST HERE! |
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Want to know where to learn pretty much everything you could possibly need to know about the World Cup? Turns out we’ve provided it with the snappily named World Cup HQ. Enjoy. |
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CHECKING THE MONITOR |
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Dom, please get a haircut.
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POSTMATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
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Our Raheemovic, Chad Ochocino, and Rick Ross talked about soccer for 35 minutes on The Late Run (no, that is not a made-up sentence)
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MATCHES NOT TO MISS |
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March 7: FA Cup, Chelsea vs Wrexham, 12:45 p.m. — ESPN+
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March 7: LaLiga, Barcelona vs. Athletic Club, 3 p.m. — ESPN+
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March 7: MLS, Inter Miami vs. D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. — Apple TV+
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March 8: Serie A, Milan vs. Inter, 3:45 p.m. — Paramount+
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March 11: Champions League, Real Madrid vs. Man City, 4 p.m. - Paramount+
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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