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#96 - Reliving some famous Black History stories Feb 10, 2023

Show notes

Over the course of Black History Month every year, we’ve done our best to write stories of those players and moments that deserved to be told to a wider audience. Sometimes, it’s good to look back and relive some of those stories, and we do that on Episode 96 of the SSFC Podcast. There are 6 stories that we look back on, either because they were important moments or a cross section of how Black culture and soccer go hand in hand. Those stories are: Bob Marley and how his love for music was equaled by his passion for soccer The day Marc-Vivien Foé died on the field at the 2003 Confederations Cup When Siphiwe Tshabalala scored the opening goal in the 2010 World Cup for all of Africa Didier Drogba uses his voice and platform and stops a civil war, bringing peace to the Ivory Coast How the Kaizer Chiefs have a link to the NASL and American soccer The Boateng brothers make history at the World Cup. There are so many other stories worth reliving, and over the course of the month, I’ll continue to bring more, hopefully every day, where we learn about some of the most important stories of our time involving Black athletes. And, we’ll do more reliving on the podcast as well as we move towards the end of the month. Black history is American history. Black History is world history. And it’s no different in soccer, where some of the great players and moments of the game’s history wouldn’t occur with the accomplishments of Black athletes. Hit the comments and let us know the stories you’ve enjoyed the most over the years or some of the stories or players that you would love to see covered in a future article. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#95 - Wrapping January Camp for Leeds United States Jan 31, 2023

Show notes

January Camp has wrapped for the United States Men’s National Team, and we discuss what fans should take from the camp on Episode 95 of the SSFC Podcast. The USMNT had friendlies last week against Serbia (2-1 loss) and Colombia (0-0 draw), but while the results on the field weren’t great, it was a chance for some players in their first national team camp to have an opportunity to show that they can be a part of the player pool moving forward. We use that opportunity to push back on Herculez Gomez’s belief that January Camp has jumped the shark and should be repurposed as a U-23 camp. Many players have stressed the importance of the camp, and we discuss why. After the break, Weston McKennie is headed to Leeds United in a loan deal to team up with his USMNT friends Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson. We discuss the implications of seeing most of the the USMNT midfield playing and training together every day at Elland Road. The podcast will be back soon, but a reminder to send all questions and topic suggestions to SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#94 - Copa America arrives, Earnie Stewart departs Jan 27, 2023

Show notes

Big news has dropped over the past couple days, and we discuss it on Episode 94 of the SSFC Podcast. The announcement today that the 2024 Copa América will be hosted in the United States is part of a major collaboration between Concacaf and CONMEBOL that includes joint participation in the 2024 Copa América, 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup, and a newly created “final four” style club competition. We discuss the competitions and what it means for both confederations. After the break, U.S. Soccer is set to lose Earnie Stewart as the federation’s sporting director will depart next month. USMNT general manager Brian McBride is also out at the end of this month, and Anthony Hudson is the interim USMNT head coach for the foreseeable future. Now that we have a loaded schedule of competitive matches, the pressure is on the federation to be efficient in hiring a new sporting director and head coach, because fans are starting to have the same feeling that they had in 2018. We will be back real soon to recap the MNT January Camp as well as the USWNT matches from earlier in the month. Episodes will be coming quickly as we determine the future of this show, so please send questions or topic suggestions to SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#93 - A word on the Pod’s future Jan 21, 2023

Show notes

The SSFC Podcast received some grim news today, as did dozens of people in the various SB Nation communities. This morning, I received an email from SB Nation’s higher ups that let us know that the company, along with its parent company Vox Media, would be undergoing some layoffs as well as other cuts. Unfortunately, those cuts included the end of support for the Stars & Stripes FC Podcast as of February 28th. There were several SB Nation team sites that were also told that their support and funding would end, including many sites focusing on MLS teams. Stars & Stripes FC as a website has not been affected by today’s cuts and our community will remain a part of SB Nation as a fully supported website. This site will continue to bring you all the content on our USMNT and USWNT, and we hope you continue to bring positive contributions to our comments section as well as our Fan Posts. So, today’s a bittersweet day as many of our sister blogs will not continue after the end of February. The future of this podcast is uncertain, but as we figure it out, we will keep you all in the know. The SSFC Podcast is not saying goodbye just yet. But, its future on the SB Nation network does have an expiration date. For now, continue to send any questions you have or topic suggestions to SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#92 - USWNT ready to take New Zealand to the Max! Jan 13, 2023

Show notes

The United States Women’s National Team have two friendlies next week against New Zealand, and we discuss their upcoming matches on Episode 92 of the SSFC Podcast. The USWNT are getting a look at two of the stadiums they will call home during the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and will do so by taking on one of the co-hosts to jump start the year. The USWNT called in a roster of 24 players, and we go through who made the trip to Auckland and Wellington: Goalkeepers (3): Adrianna Franch (Kansas City Current), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars) Defenders (8): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Sonnett (OL Reign) Midfielders (7): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit) Forwards (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Mallory Swanson (Chicago Red Stars), Lynn Williams (NJ/NY Gotham FC) After the break, we discuss how you can watch these matches. With HBO Max and TNT winning the English language broadcast rights for U.S. Soccer for the next 8 years, this will be the first set of matches that will feature on the streaming platform. However, it’s not readily available in bars, leaving many in a panic ahead of next week’s matches. We discuss why bars have been shut out of HBO Max and some potential solutions that could help as we dive into 2023. If you have any topic suggestions or questions that you want to have answered on a future show, drop us an email at SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#91 - Berhalter vs. Reyna: The breakdown Jan 09, 2023

Show notes

What a week! The Gregg Berhalter-Reyna family scandal rocked the U.S. Soccer world, and we have to recap it on Episode 91 of the SSFC Podcast. The events of last week involving USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter being put under investigation for a 1991 domestic violence incident and then finding out it was Danielle and Claudio Reyna - Gio’s parents and ex-national team players - that gave U.S. Soccer the information took the internet by storm. It was important to recap the entire timeline, starting from before the 2022 World Cup, to understand the full course of events. What we know now is interwoven with what we knew at the time to paint the full picture. After that, we have to get into the culpability of all parties, from Berhalter to the Reyna family to people at U.S. Soccer who were talking with the Reynas about Gio’s role on the team. There’s a lot of people who could have done things differently where this whole saga could have been avoided, and there’s one person - Rosalind Berhalter - who absolutely didn’t deserve to be thrust into the middle of this. After the break, we discuss what all of this means for the USMNT head coaching search. With Zinedine Zidane reportedly contacted by U.S. Soccer to gauge his interest in speaking about the job, it looks like U.S. Soccer could be aiming high and casting a very wide net. However, this scandal will not only affect how U.S. Soccer has to approach this hiring process, but also how Gio Reyna especially will be handled moving forward. There’s also the added element of what happens if Gregg Berhalter is retained as the coach for the next cycle. There are several more layers to this and we will continue to track it all. Until then, hit the comments, and if you have topic suggestions for the next show, send an email to SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#90 - Look back at 2022, prepare for 2023 Jan 02, 2023

Show notes

Welcome to 2023! The United States national soccer teams have another big year ahead of them, but we first stop to look back on the year that was on Episode 90 of the SSFC Podcast. The USMNT, USWNT, and the youth national teams had a lot of successes and some down moments in 2022. We start by quickly recapping what each team accomplished last year. The USMNT qualified for and competed in the 2022 World Cup, the USWNT won the Concacaf W Championship and qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup as well as the 2024 Olympics, and the USMNT U-20s qualified the United States for the 2024 Olympics in men’s soccer for the first time since 2008. There were obviously some down moments, and we discuss those as well. After the break, we look forward to what 2023 has in store for us. It’s a Women’s World Cup year, and that’s the biggest tournament on the schedule for U.S. Soccer. For the USMNT, Nations League and the Gold Cup are on the horizon, but the biggest question is who the coach will be moving forward. The men’s U-20s play in a World Cup this year, and the men’s U-17s will need to qualify for their World Cup. There’s a lot of soccer to excite fans, and we hope 2023 is a great year for all our national teams! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#89 - Gwendolyn Oxenham discusses Pride of A Nation Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

The United States Women’s National Team have been around since the mid-1980s, and through their 4 decades of history, there have been some incredible players, moments, and stories. On Episode 89 of the SSFC Podcast, we speak with Gwendolyn Oxenham, who has taken on the incredible task of compiling these stories and moments into a new book that just recently hit book stores.

The book is called Pride of a Nation: A Celebration of the US Women’s National Soccer Team, and it is a collection of essays by Oxenham that is combined with over 250 full page photographs that chronicle the history of the USWNT. From the team’s early beginnings and the story of how the “OOSA OOSA OOSA AH” chant came to be a rallying cry for the program, all the way to the current team and its continual efforts to bring social change to the game for future generations, it’s a terrific interview with Gwendolyn Oxenham as she speaks on some of the research she underwent to create the book and some of her favorite moments.

Oxenham is no stranger to the soccer field or bringing the stories of soccer to the people. She has been involved in writing books and producing films and podcasts on soccer for over a decade. Her most acclaimed effort on the film side was producing and starring in the 2010 documentary Pelada, which won several awards. She also wrote and directed the 2015 sports documentary An Equal Playing Field, and was a consulting producer for the 2018 series Finding Football. On the written side, she’s already written 2 books: Finding the Game: Three Years, Twenty-five Countries and the Search for Pickup Soccer and Under the Lights and in the Dark: Untold Stories of Women’s Soccer.

You won’t want to miss this engaging interview!

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#88 - Remembering Grant Wahl Dec 14, 2022

Show notes

How do you properly pay tribute to a fallen legend? We pay tribute to Grant Wahl on the latest episode of the SSFC Podcast. Grant Wahl, the incredible soccer journalist and author, passed away early Saturday morning at the age of 49 after collapsing while covering the Argentina-Netherlands match at Lusail Stadium. The news of his death was a complete gut punch for the soccer community. Dr. Céline Gounder, Grant’s wife for 21 years, posted a statement to Grant’s Substack this morning that Grant passed due to “he rupture of a slowly growing, undetected ascending aortic aneurysm with hemopericardium.” While it may give some answers, it probably doesn’t bring comfort to Céline, Grant’s brother Eric, Grant’s brother-in-law, and the scores of colleagues and close friends that knew him well. Grant was such a genuine person, as evidenced by the number of people who have paid tribute to him from all around the country. And, we go through some of the personal interactions that we had with Grant and what made him so great and willing to help out others in this space or to just vibe out on the game we love so much. Everyone here at Stars & Stripes FC continue to send our condolences to Grant’s family and friends. It was a monumental loss for the soccer community, and it’s a void that may never be fully filled. Rest in peace, Grant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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#87 - 1 cycle coaches and Copa Américas Dec 09, 2022

Show notes

The United States Men’s National Team could be retaining its coach and hosting South America’s continental tournament, and we discuss all that on Episode 87 of the SSFC Podcast. USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has reportedly begun preliminary talks with U.S. Soccer over a contract extension, and we discuss that history provides us evidence that a coach should not last beyond one World Cup cycle. No matter what you think of his performance in Qatar, the evidence is there that, at least for the USMNT, 2 cycle coaches just don’t pan out. After the break, we get into the rumor that not only will the USMNT be in the 2024 Copa América, they will also host the tournament. We opine that getting into Copa América is going to be a great thing for the team to test itself against some of the strongest teams in the world. However, they should be focused on playing South America’s tournament in South America, not asking the continent to move their tournament here. The SSFC Podcast will continue on as we have more World Cup to discuss. For any questions or topic suggestions, send them to SSFC Podcast at Gmail dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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