MLS off to Good Start
So I saw an interview where Don Garber said the Apple TV deal has introduced American’s to soccer. Boy is that guy delusional. That being said I did watch some MLS this weekend – yes a game was on Fox and a few games were also on just normal Apple TV without having to buy the season pass. In fact Sunday nights are gonna have Sunday night futbol with a 7 pm Apple TV MLS game – wish it was on Fox or FS1 but most people have normal Apple TV even if we don’t have the Season pass – so that’s a start. Oh and the games on FS2 during the week with Champions Cup have been worth the watch as well.
Champions League Leg 1 Knock out Round
So the Sweet 16 of Champions League was spectacular for some games and blowout city on others. Benefica gave Barcelona all they could handle at the Camp Nou. Liverpool survived at PSG thanks to these spectacular saves by GK Alisson (who had perhaps his best day ever in goal with 9 saves. Alisson’s Master Class) Not sure anyone expected Bayern Munich to slap down Leverkusen 3-0 or Arsenal to kill an injury plagued PSV 7-1. Of course the game of the week was the Madrid Derby a 2-1 escape at home by the holders Real Madrid over Atletico. Sets up some interesting games in leg 2 of the tourney this week.
Tues, March 11 Champions League
12:45 pm Para+TUDN Benefica 0 vs Barcelona 1
4 pm Para+ Bayer Leverkusen 0 vs Bayern Munich 3
4 pm Para+ Liverpool 1 vs PSG 0
4 pm Para+, CBSSN Ferynoord 0 vs Inter Milan 2
8:30 pm FS2 LAFC vs Columbus Champs Cup
8:30 pm TUDN Cruz Azul vs Seattle Sounders
Weds, Mar 12
1:45 pm Par+, CBSSN Lille 1 vs 3 Dortmund (Reyna)
4 pm Para+, TUDN Atletico Madrid 1 vs Real Madrid 2
4 pm Para+ Aston Villa 3 vs Club Brugge 1
4 pm Para+ Arsenal 7 vs PSV (Ledezma) 1
GAMES ON TV
Fr, Mar 7
8 pm Amazon Prime Orlando Pride (Marta) vs Washington Spirit
Sat, Mar 8
10 am USA Brighton vs Fulham (Robinson)
10 am Peacok,Sirius Crystal Palace (Richards) vs Ipwich
12 noon Para+ Lecce vs AC Milan (Pulisic, Musah)
12:30 pm NBC Brentford vs Aston Villa
2:30 pm Apple TV Columbus vs Houston
3 pm ESPN+ Barcelona vs Osasuna
4:45 pm Fox Seattle Sounders vs LAFC MLS
7:30 pm Apple Dallas vs Chicago
8 pm Univision Cruz Asul vs Monterrey
10:30 pm Apple San Jose vs Minnesota
Sun, March 9
10 am CBSSN Napoli ivs Fiorentina
11”15 am ESPN+ Real Madrid vs Rayo Callencano
12:30 pm NBC Man United vs Arsenal
3:45 pm Para+, Sirius Juventus (Mckinney, Weah) vs Atalanta
7 pm Apple TV LA Galaxy vs St Louis City
Mon, March 10
4 pm USA West Ham United vs New Castle United
Tues, March 11 Champions League
12:45 pm Para+TUDN Benefica 0 vs Barcelona 1
4 pm Para+ Bayer Leverkusen 0 vs Bayern Munich 3
4 pm Para+ Liverpool 1 vs PSG 0
4 pm Para+, CBSSN Ferynoord 0 vs Inter Milan 2
8:30 pm FS2 LAFC vs Columbus Champs Cup
8:30 pm TUDN Cruz Azul vs Seattle Sounders
Weds, Mar 12
1:45 pm Par+, CBSSN Lille vs Dortmund (Reyna
4 pm Para+, TUDN Atletico Madrid 1 vs Real Madrid 2
4 pm Para+ Aston Villa 3 vs Club Brugge 1
4 pm Para+ Arsenal 7 vs PSV (Ledezma) 1
8:30 pm FS2 Monterrey vs Vancouver
10:30 pm FS2 LA Galaxy vs Herediano
Thur, Mar 13 Europa League
1:45 pm Para+, CBSSN Roma 2 vs Athletic Club 1
4 pm Para+ Chelsea vs Kobenhavn
4 pm Para+, Fenerbahce 1 vs Rangers 3
4 pm Para+ Sociadad 1 vs Man United 1
8 pm Fox Sports 2 Cavalier 0 vs 2 Inter Miami (Messi)
(American’s in Parenthesis)
Saturday US Players are Playing in these Games
Coventry City v Stoke City – 7:30a on CBSSN
Haji Wright saw his first action since early November with 16’ minutes off the bench in Coventry City’s 3-2 win over Oxford United last weekend. Coventry have won four straight and are in fifth place as they prepare to face 20th place Stoke City who are just five points out of the relegation zone.
Como v Venezia – 9a on Paramount+
Gianluca Busio was back in the starting lineup last weekend after two weeks coming off the bench. Venezia played Atalanta to a scoreless draw, their second straight point against a top five team, excellent results if you are considering them in a bubble but the team is going to need to start finding ways to win matches and pull the three points if they are going to avoid relegation at the end of the season, they remain five points back of Parma in their pursuit of safety. Venezia’s opponent this weekend is 13th place Como who fell to Roma last weekend but also defeated second place Napoli recently.
Borussia Dortmund v Augsburg – 9:30a on ESPN+
Gio Reyna got his second straight league start last weekend as Borussia Dortmund defeated St. Pauli 2-0. Dortmund settled for a home draw with Lille midweek in Champions League play to put themselves into a tight spot heading into Wednesday’s return leg in Lille, Reyna came off the bench for a handful of minutes in the draw though afterwards Niko Kovac praised the midfielders defensive effort (which might be a first). With the quick turnaround it would not be surprising to see Reyne get the start again this weekend as Dortmund face an Augsburg side that sit just back of them in the Bundesliga table. After a run of appearances to start the year Noahkai banks has not seen the field in the past three matches and has just 12’ minutes in the last five so it seems unlikely he would play a significant role this weekend for an Augsburg side that are undefeated in their past eight league matches.
Wolfsburg v St Pauli – 9:30a on ESPN+
Kevin Paredes has also reportedly returned to training though the club describes it as being “partially” reintegrated so he is presumably at least a few weeks from returning to game action for Wolfsburg who are in seventh place, and just a point back from RB Leipzig for qualifying for next seasons European competitions. They face a St. Pauli side that have lost four straight and continue to flirt with relegation.
Brighton and Hove Albion v Fulham – 10a on USA Network
Antonee Robinson and Fulham travel to Brighton on Saturday to face a hot Albion side that have won five straight across all competitions. The streak have the Seagulls a point of ahead of Fulham who defeated Wolves in their last league match and Manchester United last weekend in penalties to advance in the FA Cup. Both teams are within striking distance of the top four spots and this should be a tightly contested match.
Crystal Palace v Ipswich Town – 10a on Peacock
Chris Richards, Matt Turner and Crystal Palace defeated Millwall in FA Cup action last weekend while also neatly avoiding having any teammates killed on the pitch. Turner is presumably back to the bench but Richards is likely to start again this weekend as Palace face an Ipswich side that are facing relegation but took Nottingham Forest to penalties in FA Cup action last weekend.
Lecce v AC Milan – Noon on Paramount+
AC Milan have lost three straight league matches as they have fallen to ninth place in Serie A. Yunus Musah was subbed off in the first half last week and Christian Pulisic hasn’t had a goal contribution in four whole matches, the former of which seems a fair bit more significant than the latter. It’s been a rough few weeks for Milan though as they have been bounced from Champions League play and fallen out of contention for next seasons competition as well.
PSV Eindhoven v Heerenveen – 2p on ESPN+
PSV also had a rough week, suffering a humiliating 7-1 loss to Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League round of sixteen matchup. The team also lost again in league play last weekend and haven’t won a league match since January, falling eight points back of league leading Ajax. On the more positive side of things Sergino Dest is reportedly going to be included in this weekend’s matchday squad though presumably he will be reintegrated slowly.
Sunday
Tottenham Hotspur v AFC Bournemouth – 10a on Peacock
Tyler Adams and Bournemouth travel to North London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. Bournemouth defeated Wolves in FA Cup action last weekend, also in penalties, but fell to Brighton in their last league match and remain in seventh place in the league standings. Tottenham fell to AZ Alkmaar in midweek Europa League action and lost to Manchester City 1-0 last weekend in league play. Tyler Adams started last weekend and played the full match including extra time to put in 120’. Adams did rest two weeks ago but has started 9 of the past ten matches for Bournemouth across all competitions and is approaching 1,400’ minutes on the season.
Real Betis v Las Palmas – 1:30p on ESPN+
Johnny Cardoso went the full 90’ and scored the opener last weekend in Real Betis’ 2-1 win over Real Madrid. The loss dropped Madrid out of a tie for first place and moved Betis into sixth place in the table. Betis will face Las Palmas this weekend who are tied with Valencia on 24 points for the final relegation spot.
Nice v Olympique Lyon – 3:45p on beIN Sports
Tanner Tessmann started again last weekend in Lyon’s 2-1 win over Brest, a match in which manager Paulo Fonseca lost his mind, picking up a red card and later receiving a 30 match suspension meaning Tessmann will certainly be working under yet another manager in the short term and likely on a more permanent basis as well. Tessmann did retain his starting position midweek as Lyon defeated 3-1 in the first leg of their Europa League match. Lyon will now face third place Nice who are holding on to the final Ligue 1 Champions League qualification position by three points.
Juventus v Atalanta – 3:45p on Paramount+
Tim Weah and Weston McKennie continue to start regularly for Juventus who have found a way to start actually winning matches rather than settling for draws, the team has won five straight, suffered just one loss on the season, and have moved into fourth place, just six points back of Inter Milan for the league lead. This weekend they face an Atalanta side that are three points ahead of them in third place and Juventus can pull even with a win. The two teams drew in their previous meeting, which is certainly not shocking given Juventus’ record this season, but it was just six weeks ago and was actually the most recent time that Juve settled for the draw. Atalanta have also been eliminated from Champions League competition and are coming off a scoreless draw with relegation threatened Venezia.
USA
USMNT legend Meola recovering from heart attack
USMNT’s Adams to recruit Bournemouth TST team
Source: U.S. youth star joins Pulisic at Milan
Dest set for PSV return after 11 months out
Champions League
Diego Simeone asks Atletico Madrid stars to play on ahead of Real Madrid showdown
Opponent watch: Benfica veteran superstar remains a doubt for Barcelona clash
Thierry Henry sets out Arsenal’s Champions League challenge against Madrid giants
Dr Barts: “Liverpool’s passing network was a mess, but somehow still won”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot uses Real Madrid example after ‘lucky’ win over PSG in the Champions League
Amorim explains why Europa League is ‘harder’ than UCL
UCL talking points: Will PSG bounce back? How good is Nwaneri?
Leverkusen need Alonso miracle to stage comeback vs. Bayern
MLS & NWSL
With Messi sitting out, Suárez and Allende lead Inter Miami to win
📈 MLS Power Rankings: Cincinnati fall, Miami rise, and more!
Messi’s missed game causes MLS stir, Ricardo Clark talks MLS transition & can Man City salvage their season?
🖐️ things we learned from opening weekend in MLS
Messi no-show prompts Houston Dynamo to issue apology and free tickets
The NWSL is the first top American sports league to abolish all drafts. What now?
NWSL investigating Bay FC coach amid accusations of ‘toxic’ culture
Marta on new NWSL year: Everyone will ‘hunt’ us
Angel City to wait until June for full-time coach
How free agency and player approval for trades have changed recruiting in the NWSL
GK
Arsenal’s Raya receives Save of the Month nomination
New 8 Second Rule Coming GK
Reffing
New 8 Second Rule Coming GK
Offside or not?
New Ref Abuse Prevention Policy
Become a Licensed Ref with Indiana Soccer – must be over 13
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USMNT Player Tracker: Reyna misses his chance, Turner seizes his and Wright bolsters Coventry
Mar 3, 2025
33
Gio Reyna’s struggles, Matt Turner’s FA Cup dream and a tough outing for Christian Pulisic all play part of this week’s USMNT Player Tracker.
Throughout the season, we will bring you updates on the USMNT players plying their trade in various leagues around Europe.
With a home-soil World Cup on the horizon, and Mauricio Pochettino preparing to announce his squad for the forthcoming Nations League semi-final against Panama, we’re keeping tabs on how they perform every weekend.
Issue of the weekend
Opportunity has knocked for Gio Reyna lately, but his answer has been less than emphatic.
In truth, it has been more of a whisper than a resounding declaration that he’s ready to revive his prospects at Borussia Dortmund.
With previous first-choice attacking midfielder Julian Brandt injured, Reyna was given a chance to start more games by head coach Niko Kovac. It was needed. Before the last two Bundesliga games, the 22-year-old USMNT international had started only one top-flight game this season, even if that inactivity was largely born of all-too familiar injury misfortune.
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It feels like a long time since his name was spoken of in excited terms as a youngster with the potential to follow Christian Pulisic in taking European football by storm.
Last season’s loan to Premier League side Nottingham Forest, where he only made 10 appearances, was unconvincing. That was why the last two games, the club’s welcome wins over Union Berlin and St Pauli, represented a chance for Reyna to show Kovac that he can be counted on to make an impact in the No 10 role behind Serhou Guirassy.
The results have been negligible. On Saturday, in the 2-0 triumph at St Pauli, Reyna mustered an underwhelming 73 minutes. Dortmund won, but he left little impression on the game before being replaced by Carney Chukwuemeka.
Reyna challenges St Pauli’s Siebe Van Der Heyden in the air on Saturday (Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images)
“Reyna’s flurry of recent starts is misleading; it’s not indicative of him having found new favour under head coach Kovac,” writes The Athletic’s German football correspondent Seb Stafford-Bloor. “Instead, with Brandt recently returning from injury and Chukwuemeka only fit enough for brief involvement, Reyna finds himself in the team almost by default, with a return to the bench likely for the Champions League game against Lille on Tuesday.
“He took up some good positions against St Pauli, finding space between the lines and dropping off the play to provide a useful receiving option, but he struggled to do anything penetrative or effective with the ball, seeming to want more time than was on offer against a tough, hard-working opponent.”
Perhaps Reyna can find the spark if he is involved for his country against Panama in the CONCACAF Nations League semi-final later this month. But he has plenty to do if he is to play a greater part in the rest of Dortmund’s season.
For now, question marks will remain over his future and whether the American requires a move to resurrect his career and find a team where he can become a regular.
Gio Reyna and Dortmund are stuttering towards a summer separation
Player of the weekend
Another USMNT star trying to make his mark when the chance comes is Matt Turner. For the goalkeeper’s part, at least, the evidence is a bit more compelling.
Turner is second choice at Crystal Palace, but he is making an impression as the club’s ‘cup keeper’ this season. He played in a Carabao Cup win at Aston Villa back in October, and has started all three of Palace’s FA Cup fixtures to date, keeping two clean sheets. Manager Oliver Glasner clearly trusts him to deputise for Dean Henderson.
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On Saturday the 30-year-old helped Palace reach the quarter-final of the competition courtesy of a 3-1 win over local rivals Millwall.
He did not manage to secure a shutout as in the previous two rounds, conceding a goal to the second-tier side when he pushed away a low drive from Femi Azeez and Wes Harding’s follow-up shot deflected off Ben Chilwell and into the net.
But, beyond that, Turner commanded his area well enough, with his distribution largely accurate and assured.
Turner catches a Millwall cross (Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images)
He is only on loan at the south London club, having moved after losing his place at Nottingham Forest, and he has had to be patient at Palace, too, with no starts in the Premier League to date. Henderson has been outstanding this season, leaving Turner watching on from the bench.
Speaking to the media before the win on Saturday, Glasner reminded everyone that Turner knew his remit when he agreed to join the club in the summer, but said he has been impressed with his contribution when called upon.
“It’s not a gift — he’s just deserving (of his place against Millwall),” Glasner said in the pre-game press conference. “I can see his ambition in training. He’s always giving 100 per cent in every single training (session). He also deserves some games.”
Pressed on how content Turner is with his role as Henderson’s back-up, Glasner added: “He knew it when he arrived. We were always pretty clear. He always knew that Dean is the No 1 because he is doing an amazing job for us.”
Whatever his long-term future holds, in the short term Turner has helped his club earn a quarter-final trip to Fulham, where he will face compatriot Antonee Robinson later this month.
Quote of the weekend
Last week, this column pondered the pressing question of who leads the line for Mauricio Pochettino given Ricardo Pepi’s season has been ended early by injury at PSV and Folarin Balogun is similarly struggling at Monaco.
The latter is at least hoping to return before the Ligue 1 campaign ends, but he will not have recovered from his shoulder problems by the Panama game later this month. Pochettino, therefore, might look instead for options in England’s Championship, their second-tier.
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Josh Sargent, who has had his own injury travails this season, is fit and featuring regularly once more for Norwich City. He has scored 11 goals this season, with seven of them coming in the six matches before Saturday’s draw at Blackburn Rovers, where he drew a blank.
Meanwhile, at Coventry City, manager Frank Lampard continues to give positive updates on his U.S. forward Haji Wright.
Wright injured his ankle in the closing stages of a 2-2 draw away to Sunderland in early November having scored earlier in the game. That was back when Coventry were between the sacking of Mark Robins and the appointment of Lampard.
Wright returned at Oxford on Saturday (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Four months on, he came off the bench in the second half of Saturday’s 3-2 win away to Oxford, a victory which took Coventry up to fifth in the Championship. It was his first appearance since Lampard took over and, the manager was encouraged by the American’s 16-minute cameo, even if Wright was understandably rusty. The 26-year-old only touched the ball five times.
“Haji comes on and we know he’s a big player for us,” Lampard said afterwards. “He needs more minutes to get to that 100 per cent. Getting fit and working in training is one thing, but when you’re coming back into games that are fast, you have to be robust.
“So those will be good minutes for him today and it gives us more power in the squad where we’ve been lacking when players were out.“
More power for Lampard, then, and more much-needed potential options for Pochettino.
The rejuvenation of Frank Lampard at Coventry: ‘This is what I love doing the most’
How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Christian Pulisic
Club: Milan
Position: Forward
Appearances (all competitions): 36
Goals: 12
Before starting him for Milan against Lazio in what turned out to be their third consecutive Serie A defeat, head coach Sergio Conceicao revealed that Pulisic had been playing with a slight injury over recent weeks which has limited his game time.
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“On the morning of the match against Bologna, the doctor told me he couldn’t play and I had prepared the game with him on the pitch,” he said. “I had to find a solution, but he’s been playing for a month with a small physical problem.”
The issue did not prevent under-pressure Conceicao selecting one of his star men to start against Lazio on Sunday, but Pulisic could not check his side’s alarming slump.
Pulisic attempts to evade Lazio’s Nuno Tavares and Mario Gila Fuentes (Piero Cruciatti/AFP via Getty Images)
Now ninth in the table, their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League are receding and it would be a blow for Pulisic not to feature in Europe’s elite club competition next term, especially given his exciting displays in Milan’s group stage this time around, when he scored four goals and provided an assist in nine matches.
But those heady days seem a long time ago after Milan were knocked out in the play-off stage by Feyenoord last month.
On Sunday, Conceicao admitted everyone is “feeling the tension” after a section of fans protested by leaving the iconic Curva Sud stand empty for the first 15 minutes of the game. Upon their return some chanted that the players were “shameful” and demanded American owners RedBird sell the club.
Against that tumultuous backdrop, Pulisic endured an underwhelming game by his standards. He was replaced on 70 minutes by Samuel Chukueweze and, prior to that managed, only to steer Joao Felix’s low cross off target and behind for a goal kick as Milan chased a way back into the game.
The reasons behind Pulisic’s slump – and why a rebound could be near
Name: Johnny Cardoso
Club: Real Betis
Position: Midfield
Appearances: 31
Goals: 2
The 23-year-old was celebrating on Saturday night after he scored in Real Betis’ memorable 2-1 win over La Liga giants Real Madrid at Estadio Benito Villamarin.
Cardoso joined an exclusive list along the way. He is now only the second American to score against Real Madrid in 20 years, following Pulisic’s goal in the 2021 Champions League semi-final for Chelsea.
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His header on 34 minutes brought the hosts level, and they went on to seize a mammoth scalp when former Madrid man Isco scored a penalty to make it 2-1.
Cardoso had a mightily impressive game and, although he has his work cut-out to break up the USMNT central midfield axis of Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, he is helping his chances with a series of assured displays lately.
Last month his performances were rewarded with a one-year contract extension with the club, taking his deal until June 2030.
But speculation remains that he could still be set for a summer move. The Athletic reported in December that, as part of the negotiations with Betis over selling Giovani Lo Celso last summer, Spurs included a clause relating to Cardoso. Spurs had a first refusal option on the central midfielder but this would only become active in the summer.
Betis say that the clause is unaffected by Cardoso’s new terms.
Johnny Cardoso celebrates scoring Real Betis’ equaliser (DAX Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Name: Tyler Adams
Club: Bournemouth
Position: Midfielder
Appearances: 32
Goals: 5
Adams helped Bournemouth into the FA Cup quarter-finals after they beat Wolves on penalties at the Vitality Stadium in the fifth round of the competition on Saturday.
The American didn’t take one of the spot kicks, but he was influential in the preceding 120 minutes as the sides fought out a 1-1 stalemate, maintaining his impressive recent form in the process. Bournemouth must now face Manchester City in the next stage.
Name: Ethan Horvath
Club: Cardiff City
Position: Goalkeeper
Appearances: 8
Horvath was praised as “superb” by Cardiff coach Omer Riza after his display in the Welsh club’s FA Cup fifth-round defeat by Premier League Aston Villa on Friday.
The 29-year-old made seven saves before Villa’s superior firepower eventually broke the deadlock. And even though Cardiff went on to lose 2-0, Riza was impressed by the American keeper’s display.
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“He’s (Horvath) had to be really patient,” he told Optus Sport. “Jak’s (Alnwick) been playing a lot this season and Ethan’s had to be really patient and he’s worked really hard, showed great character and attitude constantly.
“His opportunity came around last week and his performance today was superb. Some of the saves he pulled off… the quality with his feet playing around the back. So (I’m) really pleased for him. Really important player for us moving forward in the league.”
Horvath denies Ollie Watkins at Villa Park (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
What’s coming up?
(All Eastern Time)
See if Horvath’s impressive display against Premier League opposition earns him another start in the league for Cardiff on Tuesday when they face U.S.-owned Burnley (Paramount+, 2:45pm).
Burnley, who feature exciting American attacker Luca Koleosho in their ranks, are looking to respond to a 3-0 FA Cup defeat by Preston North End on Saturday, but they still sit third in the table, while Horvath’s Cardiff are 20th and just five points clear of the drop zone.
At 3pm (CBSSN/Paramount+) on the same afternoon, we will see if Reyna gets a chance to build on his recent Bundesliga starts for Dortmund when they take on Lille in the Champions League. His rival for a starting berth, Brandt, appears to have recovered from a muscle problem and is breathing down Reyna’s neck.
With Cardoso still on a high following his exploits against Real Madrid, he is in Europa Conference League action on Thursday when Real Betis take on Vitoria Guimaraes (12:45pm, Paramount+).
(Top photos: Getty Images)
NWSL’s new docuseries focuses on players’ competitiveness and passion on the field
Mar 6, 2025
3
The first docuseries about the NWSL playoffs is here just in time for the 2025 season.
The new four-part series, For the Win: NWSL, green-lit by the league’s organisers in February, was released in full on Amazon’s Prime Video on Thursday. The series promised an immersive, behind-the-scenes look at teams’ playoff runs during the 2024 postseason. The series did exactly what it set out to do. However, it now begs the question: what’s next?
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For longtime fans of the NWSL, the series relives some of the most thrilling highlights of the postseason. For new fans, it’s a crash course on some must-know narratives heading into the upcoming campaign. It is especially prevalent on the eve of Friday’s Challenge Cup, a rematch of last year’s championship game between the Orlando Pride and Washington Spirit with a trophy on the line.
The series is a promising start but it caters more to the uninitiated.
Following a private viewing of the film at the Paley Center for Media in New York City on Tuesday, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said that reaching new fans will be “the theme of 2025.”
“You’re going to see a lot of initiatives to give not just our current core fans but future fans, too, an opportunity to discover us,” Berman said during a Q&A moderated by former NFL quarterback Eli Manning, a Gotham FC minority owner, with Gotham defender Nealy Martin and the film’s director, Marie Margolius. “That was the whole strategy behind our media deal, and that is going to be what you’re going to see manifest throughout this year, which is to see the NWSL and our players showing up in unsuspecting places.”
One of those initiatives includes the league’s “Just Watch” marketing campaign launching next week.
The idea for the docuseries came together last year, Berman said. At the time, the league was pitched by “all of the top producers and directors” for projects about the NWSL, she said. The league realized the opportunity it had and eventually partnered with the production studio Words + Pictures for the series. Prime Video, one of the league’s media rights holders, later agreed to carry the series.
“Telling (players’) stories, both on and off the pitch, is the best way for us to make sure everybody knows who we are,” Berman said, “and hopefully then drive them towards watching the games, because that’s how we’re going to grow the business and get these players paid what they’re worth.”
The docuseries is just one ingredient in a larger recipe to grow exposure for the NWSL. The hope is that the docuseries will pick up on the successful momentum from the first year of the league’s historic four-year media rights deal, which includes ESPN, CBS, Prime Video and Scripps Sports.
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Margolius, the series’ director, was also a producer on Netflix’s Under Pressure docuseries, which followed the U.S. women’s national team during their World Cup run in 2023. In an interview with The Athletic before the premiere, Margolius described the new docuseries as a dream project, especially as someone who played collegiately at Harvard University and later professionally in Sweden.
“I played soccer my whole life. It was and is a huge part of my identity,” Margolius said. “Getting to direct this project was, first of all, in so many ways, like a dream come true, but also really easy, because I’ve been a fan of the NWSL for so long.”
Margolius even played against some of the players highlighted in the film, like Orlando’s co-captain, Kylie Strom. The two crossed paths when Margolius was at Harvard and Strom at Boston University. While Margolius’ background was valuable for the process, her goal was to make the players relatable to a wider audience, so she found ways to connect with them on a more personal level while leading the project.
Marie Margolius, second right, directed the series. (Valerie Terranova / Getty Images)
“The thing that allowed me to lead the storytelling process was the ability to connect with the players on a human level,” Margolius said. “We do a lot of sports storytelling. But we always say, it’s actually not about the sport at all. The sport is the vehicle that moves the thing forward. But the reason these stories are so fun to tell and hear and see is the human stuff.”
The series begins in Orlando five weeks before playoffs and concludes with highlights from this year’s busy offseason and expectations heading into 2025. The series is, essentially, a snapshot of the highs and lows of last year’s postseason, walking through the rivalries that were formed, including the Gotham-Spirit battle at Audi Field during the semifinals, and introducing the audience to a wide range of players, from Spirit’s rising star Trinity Rodman and Orlando defender Strom to then-Gotham forward Lynn Williams, who has since joined Seattle Reign.
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The series also explores the many retirements that happened in 2024, as many question who the next faces of the NWSL will be. Rodman was heavily featured throughout the series as one of those fresh faces. There is an awkward moment with Amazon product placement when showing that Rodman was named to the NWSL’s Best XI of the month presented, of course, by Amazon Prime.
Trinity Rodman was heavily featured in the docuseries. (Roger Wimmer / Getty Images)
For fans who followed the playoffs closely, the series can feel repetitive. That’s where the unprecedented access behind the scenes comes into play, offering longtime fans little nuggets to hold onto.
There are the constant jumps to interviews with soccer analyst Heather O’Reilly or Bay FC co-founder Brandi Chastain, who need no introduction. There are also glimpses into private moments, such as when the North Carolina Courage squad watched Orlando topple the Chicago Red Stars (now Chicago Stars), 4-1, in the quarterfinals. A player is overheard jokingly asking, “Did Chicago not scout them?”
There’s also a scene where veteran players O’Reilly and Alex Morgan chat at Kelley O’Hara’s retirement game at Red Bull Arena. Discussing retirement, they declared the eight-hour workday as way too long. (Relatable.)
The series, however, only scratches the surface and leaves out the kind of context fans of the league are drawn to. There is a brief mention of disgraced ex-coach Paul Riley, for example, when the series delves into the Portland Thorns’ historic dominance. While there is mention of the Sally Yates report and images shown from the player protests that followed reports published by The Athletic and Washington Post that exposed widespread abuse in the NWSL in 2021, not much else was mentioned about that period for the league.
NWSL’s $5 million fund is ‘necessary step toward accountability’ after abuse scandal
It seems that was on purpose, as Margolius said the series’ creators made a conscious effort to keep the narrative strictly focused on the playoffs.
“While I certainly had an urge to be original and make this stand out in some way, I was even more conscientious of making sure that I was not changing the storytelling tactics just because it was women at the center of it,” Margolius said during the Q&A on Tuesday. “So often when we cover women’s sports, we tend to water down the competitiveness or the passion or the failure in lieu of very worthy stories, but stories of advocacy and family and the trials and tribulations of being a female athlete.”
Orlando Pride won the NWSL Championship in 2024, defeating the Washington Spirit. (Bill Barrett / Getty Images)
That’s why, Margolius said, they leaned heavily into the grit and tenacity of the playoffs. That was potentially at the risk of being too linear for some fans.
“In this league, there are stakes and there are heroes and there are underdogs,” Margolius said. “All the things you need for a great story.”
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The series will certainly leave the viewers wanting more — either more access, more stories, or more narratives — but it also leaves room for there to be more. It’s an interesting place for the NWSL, as it grapples with what the league’s future will look like as it grows through more media exposure, high-profile investors and expansion.
For Margolius, the hope is more stories will follow.
“Series like this will inspire more of this type of storytelling and in doing so, we’ll grow the sport,” she said. “That’s the beauty of these types of series.”
(Top photo: Valerie Terranova / Getty Images)
What is a ‘smash and grab’ win in soccer – and which ones did our writers most enjoy?
By The Athletic UK Staff
Mar 6, 2025
119
The ‘smash and grab’ win.
It is one of soccer’s most exhilarating — and agonising — results, a point underlined by Liverpool’s improbable 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last night.
But what precisely is a ‘smash and grab’ and which ones rank as their most memorable? Here, The Athletic‘s Adam Hurrey offers his definition, and our writers choose their favourites — please add your own in the comments below.
[Team X] 0-1 [Team Y]
Now, this smash-and-grab affair may never have happened, but this is how it should happen.
By heavy implication, only away teams are eligible to smash and grab (at a push, we could allow it to happen at a neutral ground, but other cup-final narratives would likely take over in that situation.)
Their goal has to “live a charmed life”, thanks to the woodwork (struck at least once) and/or the relative heroics of their goalkeeper (the more saves they make, the more straightforward they are allowed to be, history won’t remember them individually). It is mandatory for media reports to observe that the smash-and-grabbers “rode their luck” (ideally “at times”, a clarification that serves very little purpose other than, if anything, to dilute the smash-and-grab credentials) and there is an option to retrospectively declare their display as some sort of “gameplan”, no matter their manager’s tactical ethos.
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Smashing and grabbing, in football terms, should be as concise an act as possible, which is why 1-0 wins are the most common result (although a second goal, scored as the other team desperately try to salvage a situation they shouldn’t be in, can be accommodated quite comfortably, although does run a slight risk of the game being framed as the counter-attackers having “picked off” their opponents, which implies a far higher level of tactical shrewdness over sheer, in-the-moment opportunism.)
The goal itself should be scored on the counter-attack (set-piece goals are still eligible to be called “a sucker punch”), a scenario which accentuates the one-sidedness of the game up to that crucial moment. This provides the bonus flourish of a gathering sense of dread amongst the home fans as the attack develops.
The finish shouldn’t be too sumptuous — ideally slid home beyond a full-stretch goalkeeper, not unlike Harvey Elliott’s in Paris.
Late goals are best, but not compulsory, and should ideally leave at least three opposition players prone on the turf in shattered resignation.
Adam Hurrey
May 2012: Bayern Munich 1 Chelsea 1 (AET, Chelsea win 4-3 on pens)
One of the greatest nights in Chelsea’s history was also one of their greatest rearguard displays, perhaps only rivalled by the two legs in the semi-final against Barcelona which preceded it.
Being outplayed by Bayern was inevitable. Chelsea were facing the Bundesliga side on their own pitch and without key players John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles through suspension. Centre-back duo David Luiz and Gary Cahill had been rushed back from hamstring injuries to start their first game in weeks, while academy graduate Ryan Bertrand made his Champions League debut in the final.
Bayern dominated the shot count 23-6, with a further 11 efforts blocked by the desperate actions of Chelsea’s back line. The corner count read 20-1 and yet it was from that solitary Chelsea corner, won in the 88th minute, that Didier Drogba headed the crucial equaliser to take the tie into extra time.
Drogba scored Chelsea’s equaliser against Bayern in 2012 (Patrik Stollarz/AFP/GettyImages)
Then it was all about goalkeeper Petr Cech. He saved an extra-time penalty from Arjen Robben before stopping another two in the shootout, ensuring Chelsea triumphed despite Juan Mata’s early miss.
No one connected to the club cared that they rode their luck to win the European Cup for the first time.
Simon Johnson
May 2001: Arsenal 1 Liverpool 2
Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium, the first FA Cup final while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped, and a dominant Arsenal threatened to run riot against Gerard Houllier’s Liverpool.
Stephane Henchoz somehow escaped conceding an early penalty, and a red card, after blocking a goal-bound Thierry Henry shot with his left arm (a happy knack of his at the time). The referee ignored the block entirely and gave a goal kick.
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Unperturbed, Arsenal poured forward. Sami Hyypia was forced into a flurry of last-ditch clearances, while Sander Westerveld excelled. Yes, really. Freddie Ljungberg eventually forced Arsene Wenger’s team ahead 19 minutes from time, but Westerveld thwarted their attempts to add a second for reassurance. And how they regretted that.
Liverpool, one Emile Heskey header aside, had offered precious little. Then, eight minutes from the end, Arsenal laboured to clear a Gary McAllister free kick and watched aghast as Michael Owen converted beyond David Seaman. The England striker ensured there was no need for extra time, too, by scuttling on to a Patrik Berger pass to pilfer a winner in what little time remained.
“When you’ve got Michael Owen in your team,” offered McAllister, “that’s what can happen.”
Dominic Fifield
Michael Owen was the difference for Liverpool against Arsenal (Ben Radford/ALLSPORT)
August 2017: Billericay 0 Kingstonian 1
When Essex millionaire Glenn Tamplin bought Isthmian Premier League side Billericay Town in 2017, he did precisely what you’d expect. He sacked experienced manager Craig Edwards, appointed himself the manager, and spent big money on former Premier League stars Jermaine Pennant, Jamie O’Hara and Paul Konchesky.
This benefited my team, Kingstonian, who picked up Edwards as their manager. And, football being football, the opening fixture of the following season was inevitably Billericay against Kingstonian. The owner-manager against the manager he’d sacked. And an England international (Konchesky) and a Champions League finalist (Pennant) against, for example, a bloke who had done the roofing on my house a couple of years beforehand.
This played out exactly as you’d expect. Billericay had all the pressure, all the ball, all the shots… and absolutely nothing to show for it.
And then, after a previous Kingstonian counter-attack had got a Billericay defender sent off, Ks midfielder Lewis Taylor drove through midfield, got a lucky bounce, found himself through on goal and blasted home with the clock showing 89:58. 0-1.
If you watch the video carefully, you can see me behind the goal, running the wrong way in celebration having momentarily lost the plot.
Michael Cox
May 2014: Derby County 0 QPR 1
Harry Redknapp had lost faith.
“I’d be a liar if I said I could see us scoring. We were hanging on.”
To say Redknapp’s Queens Park Rangers team didn’t have the best of the 2014 Championship play-off final against Derby is to offer one of the great understatements. Midfielder Gary O’Neil had been sent off just after the hour mark, but even before that Derby were the better team. They ended the game with 68 per cent possession and as the clock ticked into the 90th minute, QPR hadn’t managed a shot on target. What’s more, their ’keeper Rob Green had dislocated his thumb. Things looked bleak.
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The game looked like such a foregone conclusion that Redknapp had already decided he was going to retire, unable to muster the enthusiasm for another season in the Championship. “With 10 minutes to go, I was thinking, ‘Which golf club should I join this year?’” he said later that summer. “Then, suddenly, Bobby ruined it all.”
‘Bobby’ was Bobby Zamora. In the 90th minute, QPR made a rare foray into the Derby half, winger Junior Hoilett put a cross into the box, Richard Keogh scuffed a clearance and Zamora lashed an instinctive finish into the corner of the net.
There was neither enough time, nor emotional energy after such a crushing moment, for Derby to respond.
“It was the cruellest game ever,” Derby manager Steve McClaren told the BBC afterwards. It’s tricky to disagree.
Nick Miller
June 1988: England 0 Republic of Ireland 1
Was this game quite as one-sided as legend — or at least my memory — suggests? Probably not. But I remember watching as a 13-year-old and finding it truly unbelievable that England had so many chances but Ireland won it 1-0.
England went into Euro 88 as one of the favourites — almost justifiable for once, after a highly impressive qualifying campaign — and Ireland, having qualified for their first major tournament, were perceived as plucky underdogs who were just there to enjoy the ride.
But what transpired in Stuttgart was one of the greatest days in Irish football history as Ray Houghton’s sixth-minute goal was followed by an astonishing rearguard action from Jack Charlton’s team.
Ireland celebrate Ray Houghton’s goal (Peter Robinson – PA Images via Getty Images)
It is best remembered for the performance of Ireland goalkeeper Pat Bonner, who made a series of brilliant saves to deny Gary Lineker and his much-vaunted England team-mates. English TV commentators inevitably talked about “the luck of the Irish” but Bonner was outstanding that day.
Incidentally, I did debate whether the term “smash and grab” can apply when the only goal of the game comes early, rather than late. Adam Hurrey, of the Football Cliches podcast, says it can. And Adam’s word on such matters is final.
Oliver Kay
February 2021: Brighton & Hove Albion 1 Crystal Palace 2
Sometimes a commentator just captures the moment.
“They couldn’t, could they?” intoned Sky Sports’ Bill Leslie, after Crystal Palace engineered the ball down their left wing and Andros Townsend slung over a hopeful ball towards the back post.
Some context. To say that Palace had been second-best in this Premier League game against Brighton, the club’s greatest rivals, would be to underplay their inadequacy to an almost criminal degree. Brighton had enjoyed 75 per cent of possession; they had fired off 25 shots to Palace’s two; and had taken 52 touches in their opponents’ area. Yet somehow the score was tied at 1-1.
Hence Leslie’s incredulity when, in the fifth minute of added time, Townsend’s pass looped towards Christian Benteke at the back post. But this is where things got silly: Benteke, keeping his eye fixed on the cross, peeled off Dan Burn and swung his right boot at the dropping ball. The connection was clean and his shot found the far corner of Robert Sanchez’s net.
Look away now Brighton fans…! 🙈#OnThisDay last year, Christian Benteke struck this superb volley in the dying minutes to win the M23 derby! 💥 pic.twitter.com/JIUNoU8YL8
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 22, 2022
It was the second time that Palace had touched the ball in the Brighton box — the first had been Jean-Philippe Mateta’s ridiculous back-heeled opening goal, at a time when Mateta was very much not the Mohamed Salah-esque attacker of 2025 — and completed the single most outrageous piece of footballing larceny I have ever witnessed. It was also probably the funniest.
Its status in Palace folklore even prompted the club’s website to ask Leslie about his commentary three months later. “It was impossible that they didn’t lose that game,” he reflected.
And yet they won it.
Andrew Fifield
March 1996: Newcastle United 0 Manchester United 1
It’s hard to remember, so many years and disappointments later, what optimism felt like. Kevin Keegan had been stoking it on Tyneside for a while by then, giving a city that had lost its way something it hadn’t felt for years: belief.
Newcastle were top of the league, four points ahead of Manchester United with a game in hand. The title, incredibly, was a possibility, if they could just keep Alex Ferguson’s team at bay, if they could just keep notching up points, if they could just win this next match… against Manchester United.
It was at St James’ Park and Keegan’s ‘entertainers’ – Ginola, Beardsley, Asprilla, Ferdinand – were at their peak. For 45 minutes Newcastle battered their guests, a word Ferguson later used himself. Except for one thing. Newcastle were unable to do what they were known for: score.
At half-time it was still 0-0, Peter Schmeichel having kept his team in it with some astonishing saves. Ferguson got the hairdryer out and Keegan told his players they were fantastic, but they weren’t fantastic enough. In the 51st minute, Eric Cantona scored a volley to make it 1-0. Dreams crushed.
That season scarred a generation of Newcastle fans. We really started to think we could be somebody, but reality returned with that 1-0 loss and the 4-3 defeat to Liverpool shortly afterward.
Sadly, that season calcified in many of us, such that young fans who, for example, think we could win at Wembley in 11 days’ time, seem almost alien in their hope.
Andrew Hankinson
April 2021: Manchester City 1 Leeds United 2
Manchester City, en route to being crowned Premier League champions, had won 27 of their 28 previous fixtures, in all competitions, when Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United arrived in town. Pep Guardiola’s side had lost only three of their previous 48 games, running back to the start of that season.
Leeds started well, opening the scoring through Stuart Dallas before half-time, but that was swiftly undone by his best friend, Liam Cooper, getting sent off moments later.
Everyone justifiably expected a second-half rout: Leeds had barely created a chance with 11 players, let alone 10, but they somehow held on until the 76th minute when Ferran Torres broke through to equalise.
Dallas played his part in what became a rearguard action, but then arguably his crowning moment as a Leeds footballer arrived. Exhausted by the mental toil of keeping this elite team out at the other end, Dallas, as he always did, found it within himself to dig out one last raid.
He would outrun both John Stones and Fernandinho, hold off the former and then stick the ball through Ederson’s legs in injury time to seal one of the unlikeliest results of that, or any other, season.
Beren Cross
Stuart Dallas was Leeds’ unlikely hero at Manchester City (Michael Regan/AFP via Getty Images)
December 2019: Wolves 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2
It was the first month of Jose Mourinho’s time at Tottenham Hotspur. He had taken over an experienced squad, but one that had run out of physical and mental energy and needed a lift. They needed to find a new way to win. Especially away from home.
On a rainy Sunday in December, they went to Molineux to face a Wolverhampton Wanderers side unbeaten in 11 in the league. Lucas Moura put Spurs ahead but Wolves dominated the whole game. Every time Adama Traore ran at Tottenham, he had them panicking. He scored the equaliser and Wolves looked like the only team who could win. Even Spurs’ tactical fouling struggled to stop him.
But in added time, Christian Eriksen curled a corner kick towards the penalty spot and Jan Vertonghen was unmarked to head past Rui Patricio. Vertonghen, like the whole Spurs team, had had a very difficult afternoon. But he ended up a winner in the end.
Jack Pitt-Brooke
(Top photo: Mustafa Yalcin/Anadolu via Getty Images
U.S. Soccer president Parlow Cone seeks another term with more backing than ever
By Paul Tenorio
Mar 1, 2025
26
When Cindy Parlow Cone took over as president of U.S. Soccer in 2020, the federation and the sport in the country felt as fractured as it ever had.
The next five years under Parlow Cone’s leadership — which included a tight re-election campaign in 2022 — presented numerous challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic, an equal pay lawsuit, two collective bargaining agreement negotiations and the Sally Yates report. Somehow, U.S. Soccer emerged from it all looking like a more united organization, and one with real momentum heading into the 2026 World Cup.
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For Parlow Cone, who has spent her life in the sport, the work started with one idea: building trust.
“You can’t build it overnight,” Cone told The Athletic in a phone interview from Atlanta, where U.S. Soccer held its annual general meeting this week. “When I won the last election, there were many who still didn’t really know me, didn’t know what I was all about. And I’ve been trying to be as transparent as I can be and as consistent, and I think we’ve built trust through saying what we’re going to do and then actually following through on that. It sounds simple, but it’s really important. If you want to build trust, you have to build it slowly. I couldn’t change everything overnight. I had to share my vision and share what we were as a federation at the time, what we were capable of doing, and (saying) ‘this is the vision of where we’re trying to go.’ And so I think just setting the expectations and then following through on the things that I said we were going to do has really helped to build the trust.”
Parlow Cone, the first woman to win a full U.S. Soccer presidential election since the federation’s founding in 1913, told The Athletic she will seek re-election for a second full term as U.S. Soccer president.
She does so with the endorsement of numerous stakeholders in the game that backed her bid in 2022, including prominent members of the pro and athlete’s council like MLS commissioner Don Garber, USL CEO Alec Papadakis and former USWNT player Danielle Slaton.
Here are the USWNT players who stood out, stepped back or made a case for the future
She also goes into this re-election bid with verbal commitments of support from other key constituents, including the NWSL, as well as several youth and adult amateur organizations and state associations that did not necessarily support her in 2022, when her margin of victory—52.9% to 47.1% in a weighted vote—was the smallest in a contested election since at least 1990, according to Soccer America.
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She came into the role in 2020, rising from her position as vice president upon former president Carlos Cordeiro’s resignation amid the fallout of a misogynistic legal filing in a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by the U.S. women’s national team. She finished out Cordeiro’s term, then fended him off to remain president in 2022.
Whether she will face another challenge in 2026 remains to be seen, but Parlow Cone seems to have high levels of support to continue on in her role. Her ability to win over grassroots stakeholders over the course of this term makes the path for a challenger more difficult.
“I am happy to endorse Cindy Cone for re-election for the Presidency of U.S. Soccer,” said John Motta, president of the United States Adult Soccer Association in a statement. “Having been on the board for many years, I have seen Cindy bring U.S. Soccer to levels that we could not have imagined 10 years ago. Her vision to bring in the right people to lead U.S. Soccer has shown great results. We are on the right path, and I support her bid for re-election to bring U.S. Soccer to its greater potential.”
Said Garber in a statement: “I am proud to support Cindy Parlow Cone’s re-election as US Soccer president. Over the last five years, Cindy has been an excellent leader for the organization, helping revitalize the Federation, expand the game at every skill level, and excite even more Americans about the beautiful game. With the preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup ahead of us, her work isn’t finished, and I can’t think of a better person to grow the game and partner with every stakeholder in the U.S. Soccer family.”
For traveling World Cup fans, U.S. visa policy, wait times present roadblocks
U.S. Soccer’s accomplishments and successes under Parlow Cone are numerous. She guided the federation through the equal pay lawsuit and a $24 million settlement. She successfully negotiated CBAs that included equalizing pay and World Cup prize money. She committed to transparency around the Yates report, which investigated allegations of abuse and misconduct in women’s soccer, and published it in full. She also spearheaded efforts for a national training center outside of Atlanta and helped to negotiate record sponsorship and media rights deals.
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Parlow Cone, 46, said she takes pride in how she has challenged the federation to accomplish things beyond what was previously thought possible, pointing to skepticism about equal pay and equal CBAs that included shared World Cup prize money.
“The thing that I love the most is being in a position to impact change,” Parlow Cone said. “And also just being able to bring a different perspective of what is possible versus what we’ve all always done, and really challenging our organization and our ecosystem to think bigger and think about what is possible. Let’s take away all the barriers that we all have to doing one thing or another. If we just think big and think about what is possible in this country for us to do — and then how do we create a timeline to go and do it.”
Parlow Cone said when she started the job, it took her time to gain confidence in the role. She questioned her own credentials and compared herself to her predecessors.
“It was really easy to kind of go into that hole and think about everything I wasn’t,” she said.
Parlow Cone likened it to her days on the national team, when she would compare herself to Mia Hamm and Michelle Akers, arguably the two greatest players in women’s national team history. It took time for her to learn that she brought value to the team, and to lean into those qualities. Similarly, Parlow Cone said she committed as president to building out a team that included experts in fields where she lacked experience. As she put it, she is happy to not be front and center and is “big on enabling people and empowering people to go and do their jobs.”
Parlow Cone oversaw the hiring of Mauricio Pochettino as USMNT manager in 2024. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)
Under Parlow Cone’s leadership, U.S. Soccer hired J.T. Batson as CEO and secretary general, and also brought in sporting director Matt Crocker and senior national team coaches Emma Hayes and Mauricio Pochettino. The federation moved sponsorships in-house and increased revenues from $97 million in 2024 to a projected $112 million in 2025 and an expected $141 million in the 2026 budget. U.S. Soccer’s operating revenues are also expected to increase from $192.19 million in 2024 to $294.01 million in 2026.
Mike Cullina, CEO of U.S. Club Soccer and a youth council rep on U.S. Soccer’s board, called Parlow Cone’s leadership style, “flexible,” adjusting from a “de-facto CEO” role she first stepped into to a more traditional role now in supporting U.S. Soccer staff and leadership. Along the way, Cullina said Parlow Cone got to know membership better and built relationships. He praised her process for hiring the CEO position and said her work with Batson has helped to move the organization forward.
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“Now as a team they’ve transformed the organization,” Cullina said. “And her role in that was no longer as an operational leader or as a de-facto CEO, it was as a true president, as ‘How do we support you in this way?’ How do we remove barriers to let the staff hire the best people and build this organization in a way that she didn’t need to be — and was more than happy, by the way — to take a step back and allow the staff to do that work. … I hope she’s extremely proud of what she’s done and how she’s leaned into getting it done and adjusted her involvement along the way to be what was needed in the moment.”
Why USWNT’s defeat to Japan was humbling and necessary
It has not always been an easy path. The early days of Parlow Cone’s time as president were hugely tumultuous. The federation’s move from Chicago to Atlanta has meant layoffs and staff turnover. But Parlow Cone said she is motivated to continue as president because of how much more work there is to be done ahead of the 2026 World Cup, the 2028 Olympics and a bid to host the 2031 Women’s World Cup.
“These tournaments just present a massive opportunity to grow the game at every single level and increase investment in the game at every level,” Parlow Cone said. “So my dream is that the legacy of 2026 is that every kid can walk, ride their bike or take public transportation to a safe place to play soccer, which is not true today. How do we transform our landscape to make sure that every kid has the same opportunity that I did as a child? And then, from the youth level to the professional levels, this moment will bring millions more Americans into the fold, but we can’t just sit by and watch it happen. We have to be proactive and strategic and leverage these moments, which our team is working really hard on.
“I do believe that we are a soccer country already, but I also believe that we have a lot of work to do in terms of making sure everyone feels that the sport is for them and there’s a place for them to play.”
The Athletic senior writer Felipe Cardenas contributed to this report.
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