Stay ConnectedThe Athletic’s team of soccer writers cover the beautiful game with daily short-form and in-depth episodes focusing on the USMNT, MLS, European football, the Mexico national football team and the Canada men’s soccer team.
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The NWSL challenge cup is just a handful of games old, but just in the past week ther ehave been three separate season-ending injuries that could impact the players’ clubs and the U.S. women’s national team. Meg Linehan is here to tell us all about it. Also, tonight’s the last night of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying – we’ll give you a quick guide to that.
Meg & Steph’s NWSL recap: https://theathletic.com/3214400/2022/03/28/jessica-mcdonald-and-ashley-sanchez-skill-shows-issues-with-broadcast-quality-and-stoneywatch-this-week-in-nwsl-chaos/
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After 17 months and 17 games per team, South America’s World Cup Qualifying process comes to an end tonight. The region’s four automatic bids to the World Cup are already decided, but a spot in the intercontinental playoff is still up for grabs between Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Felipe Cardenas is here to break down each team. Plus, a rundown of what to watch in games around the world.
Carl Anka’s story on Ghana-Nigeria: https://theathletic.com/3204512/2022/03/27/from-the-sandy-pitches-of-middle-b-to-the-noise-of-baba-yara-this-is-football-in-ghana/?source=emp-shared-article
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World Cup qualifying continues this weekend. We’ll give you a short rundown of the big games to watch, then send you to The Lead for their excellent story about Jesse Marsch.
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The final window of the CONCACAF Octagonal gets underway tonight. WE covered Canada yesterday, Mexico the day before that. Today, Sam Stejskal joins the show to talk about what to expect from the United States in tonight’s game against Mexico, and in this window as a whole.
CONCACAF scenarios flowchart: https://twitter.com/AnAbnos/status/1506801657178427404
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The Canadian men’s national team is on the verge of qualifying for its second World Cup ever, and its first since 1986. Progressing to the tournament would mean a lot for Canadian soccer, and especially for this team’s elder statesman: Atiba Hutchinson. Joshua Kloke is on the ground in Costa Rica ahead of a big match that could seal the team’s ticket to Qatar, and he joins us on the show to talk about all that and more.
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There’s been a lot of angst surrounding the Mexican men’s national team ahead of the final CONCACAF window. But the truth is, they’re in a pretty decent position to qualify. Felipe Cardenas is here to tell us what to expect from the team in the last three games of qualifying.
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There’s been an explosion in the amount of data available in soccer lately. But there’s one emerging measurement that is still being refined, but could become vitally important. John Muller is here to talk about it, and how it applies to recent research on goalkeepers.
John’s story: https://theathletic.com/3181844/2022/03/15/passive-or-aggressive-spread-or-smother-using-body-poses-to-understand-goalkeeper-technique/
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On March 5th, a Liga MX game between Queretaro and Atlas erupted in violence. Fan group from both teams clashed in the stands and on the field as the teams, bystanders, and media ran to the exist. The images were harrowing, and they were broadcast around the world on social media. Yet still, there was a sense of mystery about what exactly happened, how it happened, and why.
Not long afterward, Pablo Maurer and Felipe Cardenas traveled to Queretaro to get closer to answering some of those questions. They are here today to talk about their story, and what they found.
The story: https://theathletic.com/3191436/2022/03/17/queretaro-violence-liga-mx-atlas/
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The National Women’s Soccer League has a regular season schedule, and that’s just some of the news you’ll need to keep track of today in the world of soccer. I’ll run down the big dates and tell you what to watch out for, including the US men’s national team roster announcement.
USMNT roster projection: https://theathletic.com/3186604/2022/03/15/usmnt-projected-roster-replacing-weston-mckennie-and-the-lingering-questions-at-striker/
Key NWSL dates: https://theathletic.com/news/nwsl-2022-schedule-features-marquee-matchups-on-opening-weekend-fewer-games-during-fifa-windows/6Nsy5fip1ZlA/
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The Champions League Round of 16 ends tonight, and it does so alongside a big matchup in the Premier League title race. John Muller is here to preview all of it.
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