Orange Slices

Latest Episodes:

Ted Lasso’s Cristo Fernandez on Quitting Acting to Live his Fútbol Dream | Orange Slices w/ Heath Pearce Jun 08, 2026

Show notes

Heath is joined by footballer, actor, writer, filmmaker Cristo Fernandez! Best known for the role of Dani Rojas on the hit Apple TV series “Ted Lasso,” Cristo is now a real professional football/soccer player for El Paso Locomotive in the USL Championship.

Heath and Cristo talk about the challenges of pursuing your football dreams, partying with Ronaldinho, and Cristo’s new children’s book, “Fútbol Is Life!”

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Hosted by former U.S. international Heath Pearce the show is an unfiltered celebration of our national teams and soccer Americana. From the muddy fields of our youth to the games won and lost on the world's stage, weekly episodes will feature guests from different generations of American soccer sharing stories, insights, and commentary on their soccer experiences and the American game.

Get Ready to Sing! USMNT Hazing Flashbacks | Orange Slices w/ Heath Pearce Jun 04, 2026

Show notes

Heath talks with former Mexico International Hector Moreno about Memo Ochoa’s record setting 6th World Cup, Mexico’s World Cup roster and hazing with the USMNT.

Plus, Heath recalls a hilarious handshake faux pas in Germany and his nightmare match against Mexico.

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Do pre-World Cup Results Mean Anything? | Orange Slices w/ Heath Pearce Jun 02, 2026

Show notes

Heath talks with former U.S. Men’s National Team teammate Jimmy Conrad about the USMNT’s 3-2 World Cup tune-up win over Senegal, the intense emotion of representing your nation at World Cup and how Jimmy and Clint Dempsey were breakout stars of World Cup 2006 with only MLS experience.

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Cobi Jones: The USMNT Star Who Inspired a Generation of Players | Orange Slices May 28, 2026

Show notes

Heath talks with U.S. Men’s National Team and LA Galaxy legend Cobi Jones about the USMNT roster reveal, the 1994 World Cup and his new statue outside Dignity Health Sports Park.

Plus, Heath gives his take on the USMNT “email” snubs controversy.

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Hosted by former U.S. international Heath Pearce and U.S. international Mark McKenzie, this cross-generational show is an unfiltered celebration of our national teams and soccer Americana. From the muddy fields of our youth to the games won and lost on the world's stage, weekly episodes will feature guests from different generations of American soccer sharing stories, insights, and commentary on their soccer experiences and the American game.

BREAKING NEWS: Mark McKenzie is GOING TO THE WORLD CUP! | Orange Slices May 26, 2026

Show notes

BREAKING NEWS: Heath and Mark talk through the newly announced U.S. Men’s National Team World Cup roster and Mark’s journey from missing the 2022 roster to making the 2026 team.

Plus, Heath on the Premier League team he almost joined and Mark shares the details on his appearance with fellow Arsenal fan and Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani.

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Hector Moreno on Mexico facing the U.S. at the World Cup May 21, 2026

Show notes

Heath and Mark are joined by Mexican legend Hector Moreno to talk about El Tri’s chances this summer, his storied career playing in four World Cups and who he thinks is the best USMNT player ever.

Plus, Heath and Hector trade stories about playing with the peerless “El Kaiser” Rafa Marquez.

Watch Orange Slices every Tuesday and Thursday wherever you get your podcasts!

Orange Slices connects the past, present, and future generations of U.S. internationals around our collective soccer story.

Inside the USMNT Docuseries with Director Rand Getlin May 19, 2026

Show notes

Heath Pearce and Mark McKenzie welcome Rand Getlin, executive producer and director of the five-part HBO Max docuseries "US Against the World," which follows the U.S. Men's National Team from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar through the road to the 2026 World Cup on home soil. Rand breaks down how a chance meeting with Tyler Adams in 2019 sparked a four-year filmmaking journey, how the production earned unprecedented locker room access, and why one camera operator (Luke Korver) shot nearly 90% of the footage across 300 production days and 600 hours of material.

Before the interview, Mark tells one of the wildest travel stories in podcast history -- ultras storming the pitch during Toulouse's final match at relegated Nantes, the team plane never showing up from Italy, backup flights getting canceled, and a five-and-a-half-hour Tesla taxi ride with four charging stops just to make a morning flight to Philadelphia with his wife and seven-month-old son.

The conversation goes deep on the vulnerability captured in the series, from Tyler Adams opening up about family struggles to Tim Weah's Copa America red card against Panama and how the filmmakers made sure those difficult moments were properly contextualized. Rand discusses Greg Berhalter's openness and work ethic, the unique structure of having both the Players Association and U.S. Soccer as partners, and why the team had full creative autonomy with zero editorial control from the federation. Mark shares what it was like navigating the emotional swings of being in and out of the starting lineup while cameras rolled, and how he channeled that energy into being a connector across the locker room -- from speaking Dutch with Sergino Dest to mentoring younger players like Malik Tillman.

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Mark McKenzie's Historic Win, World Cup Injuries & Getting Traded Overnight May 14, 2026

Show notes

Mark McKenzie is back after Toulouse's first double over Lyon since 1966 — and he's got stories. Heath and Mark dig into the brutal reality of end-of-season life as a pro: exit physicals, contract uncertainty, teammates you might never see again, and the guy who finds out he's been traded while packing his hotel room. They swap war stories about getting shipped across the country overnight, talk through the mental game of injury avoidance with the World Cup weeks away, and get into what it really takes to recover mentally mid-game when nothing's clicking. Plus: Cristo Fernandez from Ted Lasso actually signed with a real club, the HBO docuseries "Us Against the World" just dropped, and Mark picks Damson Idris to play him in his biopic.

In this episode:

Toulouse double over Lyon for the first time since 1966 — fireworks, bonus checks, no jersey swap

End-of-season chaos: physicals, goodbyes, contract limbo, and coaches departing

The CJ Sapong trade that taught Mark how fast the game moves

Heath's overnight trade from Dallas to LA — a house, a dog, and zero notice

Bonus structures in France vs. Germany — and the Sunday training wars they create

Injury anxiety heading into World Cup camp — Pulisic, Aijman, Cardoso all down

The mental trap of playing at 70% to protect yourself (and why it backfires)

Intrusive thoughts on the pitch: missing passes, domino effects, and Steve Cherundolo's advice to "just blend in"

Broadcasting vs. playing: connecting the next pass when the red light is on

Cristo Fernandez (Dani Rojas from Ted Lasso) signed with El Paso Locomotive at 35

Stormzy producing Ian Wright's biopic — Mark picks Damson Idris or Michael B. Jordan for his own

HBO Max "Us Against the World" — what to expect from the USMNT docuseries

CONCACAF qualifying reality: hostile stadiums, headphones getting snatched off the bus

Watch & Listen: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio

Dax McCarty on Trinidad Heartbreak, Thierry Henry's Private Jet & Life After 500 MLS Games | OS Ep. 3 May 12, 2026

Show notes

Heath Pearce is joined by former teammate Dax McCarty — one of only three players to make nearly 500 MLS appearances — for a wide-ranging conversation about careers, locker rooms, and what comes next.

They cover:

• The 2018 World Cup qualifying disaster — Dax's best and worst national team moments four days apart

• FC Dallas 2010 and the unbeaten run that should have won MLS Cup

• Why charter flights might be killing team chemistry

• Thierry Henry texting mid-brunch to fly them to London on a private jet for the North London Derby

• The reality of becoming a soccer TV analyst — why being a legend doesn't guarantee you a job

• World Cup 2026 buzz, dark horse roster picks, and why Xavier Gozo deserves a look

• Rondos, retirement, and walking your kids to school every morning

Orange Slices drops every Tuesday and Thursday. Subscribe and follow @sliceofsoccer on Instagram.

Mark McKenzie: World-Famous Throw-Ins, Watching the World Cup From the Couch & USMNT Group Chat Chaos May 07, 2026

Show notes

Defender Mark McKenzie joins Heath on Episode 2 of Orange Slices for an unfiltered conversation that swings from the absurd to the intensely personal — and back again.

First, the throw-ins. You've seen the clips. Toulouse FC literally puts out mixtapes of them. Mark walks through how a casual training-ground "let's see who can throw it the farthest" turned into a tactical weapon that's reshaped his club's set-piece game — and why he doesn't actually train it.

Then the harder stuff. Mark and Heath both lived through the 2022 World Cup as the players who didn't make the final cut, and they talk openly about what that does to you: the bittersweet of watching as a fan, the family dynamic when everyone keeps saying "you should be there," and the mental work of switching from "why not me" to wanting the best for the group. It's one of the most honest conversations on what falling short of a World Cup actually feels like for the guys who came close.

The episode lands soft with the part of national team life nobody talks about: the USMNT group chat. Chris Richards as the comedic timing king. The Aronson brothers going at each other. Mark trying to decode "skibbity toilet riz" and "six-seven." The cultural whiplash of an American kid landing in a French locker room and being told to slow down.

Plus: MLS vs. Belgium vs. France stylistically, the 2026 World Cup format, and what it really means to wear the crest.

New episodes Tuesdays and Thursdays. Subscribe, drop a comment on social, and we'll see you next week.

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