Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America

Latest Episodes:

#617: Doug McIntyre, USMNT reporter for Fox Sports, joins the pod Aug 11, 2025

Show notes

Doug, Belz and Vince talk about Poch's summer of (resetting) the vibes, when the wave of enthusiasm about the World Cup will hit (soon), where Johnny Cardoso stands, whether Sebastian Berhalter really has a better chance of making the WC roster than Gio Reyna, Doug's early years as a soccer reporter, what several other players have to do to make the World Cup squad, and much more. Then we run through the weekend news faster than we ever have on the Monday Review, including Dest's belter and Aidan Morris's imperious showing vs Swansea.

In a couple weeks we (Belz and at least a couple of the grassroots episodes guests) are going to record a 4th grassroots soccer episode where we respond to questions and comments. You can send us a voicemail here: https://www.speakpipe.com/scuffedpod

Or, if you don’t want to do that, send us a question here: https://forms.gle/YjdLExcqyyLn5KpK6

Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed
Check out our store, where you can get Scuffed hats and sweatshirts and other stuff: scuffedpodcast.com/store
Also, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.com
And check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedpodcast.com/store

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#616: Grassroots Pt. 2 — Jim Harte on how kids engage with organized soccer Aug 07, 2025

Show notes

Jim Harte is one of the people really fighting to grow soccer in America and he’s spent most of his life working with kids, working in the trenches of helping them learn to love the game. He's a six-time high school soccer state champion in Florida as a coach, and was simultaneously an elementary physical education teacher and club soccer coach for decades in the Tampa area. He’s also the founder of the high school champions league, and he’s the perfect bridge between Tom Byer and the third episode of this little series, which is going to be focused on practical tips for rec soccer coaches. (That third part is already available to paying subscribers on the Patron feed.)

In a couple weeks we (Belz and at least a couple of the grassroots episodes guests) are going to record a 4th episode where we respond to questions and comments. You can send us a voicemail here: https://www.speakpipe.com/scuffedpod

Or, if you don’t want to do that, send us a question here: https://forms.gle/YjdLExcqyyLn5KpK6

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#615: Monday Review — Dest Supercup winner, Leagues Cup rages on, Weah to Marseilles, etc. Aug 04, 2025

Show notes

Vince, Belz and Charlie Boehm talk through all the latest transfer news, Dest's winner against Go Ahead Eagles, the upshot of all this Leagues Cup action, a full transfer news rundown, and how bad is it really for a player to be one-footed?

Clip Notes for $5 members and up on the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/135726380?pr=true&cr=true

In case you missed it, Watke and Scuffed have parted ways. It's the end of an era at Scuffed. We made the announcement here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/end-of-era-at-135486869

And if you're a patron and haven't already, scroll back in your patron feed and listen to the grassroots episodes! Parts 2 and 3 build on the Tom Byer interview and I'm proud of them, and they're already available to paying subscribers on the patron feed. Part 2 comes out on the public feed this Thursday. Part 3 comes out next Thursday. Yet another reason to sign up as a member of our Patreon.

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#614: Grassroots Pt. 1 — Tom Byer on soccer starting at home Jul 31, 2025

Show notes

The best soccer players all have one thing in common. They learned to love the soccer ball at home. Tom Byer, a former pro in Japan whose book “Football Starts at Home,” is probably known to many of you, is a passionate advocate not just for early childhood ball mastery, but also for the critical importance of the parent-child relationship in skill development, and the knock-on benefits for kids of learning to focus on the ball.

Or, if you don’t want to do that, send us a question here: https://forms.gle/YjdLExcqyyLn5KpK6

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#613: Monday Review — Eintracht Frankfurt in Louisville, pro-rel realizations, full preseason update Jul 28, 2025

Show notes

Vince and Belz recap the news from the weekend. That includes Eintracht Frankfurt's friendly in Louisville, where Vince watched Pax and interrogated Dino Topmuller, plus the upcoming USL League Two final, Sargent's decision to spurn Wolfsburg, Parma's ongoing negotiation for Gio, and much more.

And Clip Notes are back: https://www.patreon.com/posts/clip-notes-july-135172956

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#612: Henry Bushnell on what Poch is thinking & where things stand Jul 24, 2025

Show notes

Henry Bushnell, one of the key figures in the USMNT press corps, joins Watke and Belz to talk Poch vs Pulisic, what the coach is actually interested in (culture), and a lot more.

Send us a voicemail: www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast

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#611: Monday Review — Transfers rundown, Poch cries, Galeano on the 12th man Jul 21, 2025

Show notes

Vince, Belz and Watke get back to the business of the Monday Review, working through a lot of the transfer news, and a few other things that might have slipped through the cracks if we hand't brought them up.

Still working on this series about youth soccer. If you have a question about raising or coaching little kids to be as good at soccer as they can be...

...submit one for Jim Harte, former PE teacher and longtime high school soccer coach who founded the High School Champions League: https://forms.gle/R132rXppaqFdFenb8 Jim and I will be talking soon about the right approach to coaching little kids, how to encourage more free play, how kids learn and what they are looking for from sports.

Or submit one for Mike Idland, a college soccer coach who's been a thoughtful and incisive email correspondent to me for a long time. We'll be talking about practical tips for how to run a U6 or U8 rec soccer practice, among other things: https://forms.gle/FhfMoFGxRV3rpNU69

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#610: The lessons we learned from the Gold Cup Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

Watke, Vince and Belz take turns teaching each other what we learned from the tournament.

Send a question for Tom Byer if you'd like! Here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScAuZvwwUJZlf_3l6ADl5NiZafcnsLnfM4G0cFPhdadNQO5BA/viewform?usp=header

You can also send us a voicemail: www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast

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#609: USMNT v Mexico, Gold Cup Final Recap Jul 08, 2025

Show notes

The USMNT played in a 4-4-2 block and mostly denied Mexico the big chances despite getting totally dominated, but a key mistake got us on the first one, and then we just couldn't keep it level after that. We also did very little with the ball, and one player in particular comes under the microscope for that.

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#608: USMNT v Guatemala, Gold Cup Semifinal Recap Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

We get a satisfying brace from Diego Luna, and then we turtle up. Greg and Belz talk it through. Greg mostly blames the midfield for not getting control of the game after the opening 15 minutes. Full timeline. On to Mexico in Houston on Sunday.

Clip notes for patrons coming later tonight.

Send us a voicemail: www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast

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