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

A better performance from the USWNT, the real test comes in February. Greg and Belz talk it through, including that lovely sequence for Hatch's opener. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 last year and already 5 this month in 2023), plus access to the Discord including live call-in shows, by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/s...

The USWNT started its two-legged series with New Zealand on Tuesday, and finishes it on Friday. Greg and Belz talk a lot about crossing, and not combining or moving off the ball very well in the middle of the park, but also get to detail some lovely goals. At the end we briefly discuss the January Camp roster. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 5...

The era of HBO Max, TNT, Telemundo, Universo and Peacock is upon us with the U.S. women taking on New Zealand tonight under the new TV deals. Also, Major League Soccer embarks on a historic 10-year deal with Apple. John Ourand, a reporter for the Sports Business Journal and co-host of Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast, joins Belz to help us understand what's going on, how it compares to wha...

Greg and Belz talk through the year ahead for the men's and women's programs. First a brief discussion of the urgent tasks ahead of the USWNT, then whether Berhalter can continue, then the year of (hopefully) experimentation that's ahead for the men's program. 0:30 intro and USWNT 6:15 Berhalter and the USMNT -- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 l...

Belz, Tara and Vince kick off a new series, hopefully once every two weeks. On the agenda today, the camp in New Zealand, Vlatko gets another shot at addressing the team's attacking woes, the NWSL draft, and a full player pool report from Cat to Girma. 0:30 intro, big picture, etc. 14:45 NWSL draft 22:30 player pool report -- - support Scuffed on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed - join the...

From playing on fields of crushed cinder in the German-American League to broadcasting World Cup games from Qatar, Joe Machnik has pretty much seen it all. A few days before his 80th birthday, he joins for an interview to discuss the builders of American soccer, the 1990 World Cup, what exactly a handball is, how MLS teams disposed of those clocks that were used to count down the 5 seconds given t...

Greg and Belz talk through a bunch of big-picture player pool stuff, and the USMNT players at the World Cup one by one, with an eye toward 2026. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), plus access to the Discord including live call-in shows and round-the-clock access to other reasonable USMNT and USWNT fans online, by signing up for our...

Matt Hartman, Marcus Chairez, Alex Calabrese and Belz pick XIs of players who were not on the World Cup roster and have fewer than 5 caps. Some surprises. Some surprising omissions. We call it the Future Draft. Hopefully it introduces you to some names to keep track of over the next three years. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), p...

Greg and Belz review the action -- the three big lapses, the tactical wrinkles and adjustments, fatigue, pressing in a 4-3-3 vs setting up in a less confrontational 4-4-2, and our continued lack of final third cutting edge -- all within the context of a World Cup that was all-in-all a real step forward for the USMNT. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more...

Greg, Vince, Belz and Watke enjoy the moment, talk about the goal on Tuesday for a while, and look ahead to Saturday. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), plus access to the Discord including live call-in shows and round-the-clock access to other reasonable USMNT and USWNT fans online, by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patre...

The best day for fans of the USMNT in a LONG time. A fantastic first half performance, and we're on to the knockouts. Greg and Belz go long. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), plus access to the Discord including live call-in shows and round-the-clock access to other reasonable USMNT and USWNT fans online, by signing up for our Pat...

Greg, Belz and Vince ponder the England game and the tournament up to this point a bit more, express our appreciation for the performance, talk about the off-field stuff drifting around tomorrow's game, and then discuss Iran's likely setup and what we'll need to do to beat them. Detailed discussion of the Iran-USA starts about at the 20:00 mark. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and...

We talked about how Iran will set up (probably a 4-5-1), how much they will push forward, how Queiroz will likely get both Taremi and Azmoun on the field, how the flag controversy plays in the Iran locker room, and what Iranians think of Jurgen Klinsmann's comments. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), plus access to the Discord incl...

An encouraging performance on a huge stage, in some ways unprecedented, but still we couldn't score, and some of our decisions didn't align with the naked math of World Cup advancement. Must-win against Iran on Tuesday. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get weekly exclusive episodes, plus access to our vibrant Discord server including live call-in shows and round-the-clock acces...

Gio Reyna not playing controversy revisited, mea culpas from Belz and Watke. And then shouts from all over the country on how we're gonna beat England. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bon...

Greg, Watke, Vince and Belz continue to celebrate Weah's goal, talk about Gio's health, mourn the two lost points, and try to cover the waterfront as the US starts to prepare for England. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon an...

A bolt of blue from Pulisic and Weah, a big mistake from Zimmerman, and a disappointing draw with Wales at the World Cup. Greg and Belz talk through it. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bo...

With Watke and Vince, irrational optimism, first goalscorer, first assist, best goal celebrations, Dest's bleach job, the Esquire photo shoot, who we sub on in the 30th minute to protect our lead, and much more. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe...

Sanjay Sujanthakumar interviews reigning NWSL defender of the year Naomi Girma (perhaps the USWNT's top centerback now?) about everything from her Ethiopian-American upbringing to her academic work in "symbolic systems." And then Greg and Belz recap the two friendlies against Germany. Last non-USMNT episode before we happily enter the World Cup gauntlet. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support...

Greg and Belz watch a bunch of Wales footage and report back. Gareth Bale is still very dangerous (once in a while), we're likely up against a 5-4-1 defensive block, and they'll hit fast in transition. Tyler Adams needs a good game, we need somebody to get on the ball between the lines and cook (Reyna, maybe Sarge or Ferreira or Aaronson), and we need quick runners off the ball to break Wales down...

Greg and Belz talk about why you should care about the U.S. men's national team and watch them play at the World Cup. This is for sharing with friends and family, ideally. Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad...

Dest looks fully back, lotta smiles at camp in Al Gharrafa, Vince beseeches us all to enjoy ourselves, Weah's team playlist unearthed on reddit, Sargent scores (so does Pepi), team jersey numbers assigned, and a lot more with Vince, Watke and Belz. ---- support Scuffed on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus...

We talk about Steffen quite a bit, work through the 26, mourn the snubs (but especially Belz mourns Pepi), and then we build up to Greg predicting a 2-0 win over Wales.  ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that, get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year), and gain full access to the Discord server by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed   Skip the ads! Subscribe...

The Monday Review with Watke, Vince and Belz. Leeds 4 Bournemouth 3, Adams and Aaronson playing well, Weah at fullback, Gio's cold penalty and the AB dance, Pulisic with Nippa and his crew in the bowels of Wembley, no new injuries other than Sam Vines, Pax to Frankfurt, etc. etc. ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year so far) by signing...

Our World Cup roster episode. First Greg and Belz go over Berhalter's locks, then we each give our 26, then we project who Berhalter will call up.  ---- Scuffed is an ad-free podcast. Support that and get exclusive episodes (more than 50 this year) by signing up for our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffed Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus bonus e...