October 27, 2025 • 25 mins
The MLS Cup Playoffs opened with the home teams holding serve — Philadelphia survive a shootout, San Diego FC keep their dream debut rolling, and Vancouver dominate. Meanwhile in Spain, El Clásico brought fireworks as Real Madrid reclaimed bragging rights with goals from Mbappé and Bellingham and tempers flared at the Bernabéu.
Plus: Juventus sack Igor Tudor after another setback, Roma climb back to the top in Italy, Liverpool stumble into crisis mode, and the USWNT’s young stars shine in East Hartford.
🎙️ The Morning Espresso — your daily soccer caffeine hit from The SDH Network, brought to you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta’s premier undergraduate learning experience and soccer powerhouse.
Plus: Juventus sack Igor Tudor after another setback, Roma climb back to the top in Italy, Liverpool stumble into crisis mode, and the USWNT’s young stars shine in East Hartford.
🎙️ The Morning Espresso — your daily soccer caffeine hit from The SDH Network, brought to you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta’s premier undergraduate learning experience and soccer powerhouse.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
The game never stops, and neither do we. Welcome in.
It's the morning Espresso from the SDH Network, brought to
you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta's premier undergraduate learning experience and
soccer powerhouse. Excellence in the classroom on the pitch goes
hand in hand with the stormy petrels. We try to
(00:33):
do the same here on the SDH Network, maybe except
for the classroom part of it. This morning, in the
morning Espresso your MLS Playoffs six or six for the
home teams. Real Madrid they have the bragging rights in
El Classico and in Spain, and yes there were fireworks Juventus.
They this morning have pressed the reset button. Liverpool wobbling,
maybe free falling, and then we're going to bounce around
(00:55):
from Scotland to South America, the full emotional range of
the world's game. I'm Jason long Short, Grab your cup.
This one's strong. Let's go. MLS Playoffs six games in all.
Host teams have won two wild card wins, four openers
in the first round won by the home team. The momentum,
(01:17):
the atmosphere of the familiarity, it's been the formula so
far for these matches. Let's start in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia. Hey,
they had to suffer here. They nearly blew it. They
were up two nil against Chicago. Jack Elliott hit the
goal of his life a goalie is probably never even
dreamed about outside of the right foot, slicing away from
Andre Blake into the side netting in front of his
(01:38):
former fans in Philadelphia. That sent it to the penalty shootout.
Both goalkeepers Chris Brady and Andre Blake, they make saves
in the first round. Joel Waterman puts one off of
the crossbar. Jesus Bueno he buries the decisive kick. It
was a really good penalty from Bueno, stone cold, and
that ultimately does it for Philly. Subaru Park exhaled. It
(02:00):
wasn't pretty. That's kind of typical when it comes to
the Philadelphia Union. Yes, I'm petty. You guys know this
by now if you've ever heard my radio calls or
any of my conversations about the Philadelphia Union. I don't
love their style of play. I give them tons of
credit for getting this one done playoffs. It's about winning,
and Philadelphia gets it done here under Bradley Carnell. They survived.
(02:22):
They go to Game two in Chicago, with a chance
to close the series out. Vancouver dominant three zero win
over Dallas never even really looked close. Vancouver racked up
a huge edge and shots. Emmanuel Sabby was basically unplayable
on the wing, drawing fouls, creating chaos. Thomas Muller calmly
converted the penalty that sealed it. White Caps look like
(02:43):
a team that can go all the way. I think
it's going to come down to Vancouver and LAFC in
the West. I think LAFC is going to win it all.
I've said that, oh, for most of this month. Honestly,
I said it when at landa United went out there
back at the beginning of the month. I think LAFC
is the favorite to win MLS Cup. I'm pretty convinced
(03:03):
to that. Vancouver, though, it's gonna push him for sure.
San Diego might push him as well. The expansion Darlings
a two to one win over Portland, any Valacari and
Ander Streyer with the goals in the first half hour.
Portland made him sweat, though came back made it to one.
Was a battle the rest of the way. The atmosphere,
though in San Diego at the Murph Dragon, as coined
(03:24):
by Adrian Garcia Marquez. Love his work. If you have
not listened to the home team radio calls from San Diego,
just amazing. One of my favorites in the league, no
question about it. Darren Smith was with him yesterday on
the call, and so many references and so many just
(03:45):
hilarious things that AGM says, but also the passion, the
love of the game. It's just it's a ride and
it's just one of my favorite experiences in the league.
So you will I don't have that next time. The
Portland radio crew dreg do a great job as well.
It's been great to hear the home team radios during this.
(04:06):
Dave Leno for Philadelphia heard that yesterday driving back from
the Georgia State match. Just great work, great passion. I
love hearing the radio crews getting the chance to shine
on Apple TV on serious XMFC. Just obviously I'm a
little biased. I love the field of a radio call,
but AGM in San Diego at the Murph Dragon one
(04:28):
of my favorites. The way everything felt in San Diego
feels like this club is ten years old, not ten
months old. Only question though, is Chucky Lozano. He did
not play. He was there, he was not dressed. Still
on the outs after the locker room blow up in
Houston when he was substituted. We're gonna come back to
(04:48):
another blow up after being substituted in Alt Classico had
just a bit. Coach mikey Veris, though after the game,
said that everything is being done correctly. Herving is doing
everything correctly. He's close to returning. He should be back
in the mix for the Portland match second leg. So yeah,
home teams unbeaten, but can that streak survive Tonight We're
(05:08):
gonna find out. Starting at six forty five, Cincinnati hosting Columbus.
Hell is real playoff edition. This is one of the
great rivalries in at Major League Soccer. It's at TQL
Stadium tonight. Columbus came back to win the Eastern Conference
Final in this building in the past. Pat Newton's team,
(05:29):
they're different, though they've evolved a little bit here. Kevin Dankee, Evander.
This is a good attacking team in Cincinnati, and I
think they're a little more robust than maybe they've been
in the past. Columbus isn't quite what they've been in
the past either though a great possession team. Wilfred Nanci
(05:50):
one of the best managers in the league. In the
Hemisphere Darlington Nagbees in the last year of his career.
He still dictates tempo, maybe not quite as effectively as
he has in the past. Diego Rossi one of the
best attackers in this league. Max Arston has grown up
in front of our eyes. In Columbus. I love the
way Columbus approaches games. It's a style of play that
(06:11):
I really enjoy. Can they get something here on the
road in Cincinnati, power versus patients? Maybe a little bit
of the buzzwords in this one going to be fascinating.
I seventy one bragging rights on the line. We will
see maybe a few things said on the field that
aren't fit for daytime radio or nighttime radio for that matter.
(06:32):
Wonder if the crowd mics will be turned down just
a little bit. Minnesota in Seattle, that's the second game
of the night. Ale On's field hosting a playoff pairing
that's got all kinds of narrative to it. Minnesota, they
swept the regular season meetings with Seattle, first time they've
ever done that. Eric Gramsey Side is gonna sit back
and defend. They're going to give you a lot of possession,
(06:54):
but they're going to be dangerous with those vertical bursts
up the field. Seattle, it feels like come to life
when you get towards the end of the season. Fifteen
straight playoff appearances. That's dynasty kind of consistency. Brian Schmetzer.
He's got veterans like Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnak to set
the tempo. Jemar who has consistently been, in my opinion,
one of the best defenders in the league and doesn't
(07:15):
get enough credit. This is a really good Seattle team.
Kelvin Yoboa and Tanya Olawa shehe for Minnesota, they are
a problem go any other way for the Loons. Minnesota
is going to look to hit on the counter. Seattle's
going to try to suffocate that and get something going
the other way. Feels like a one goal kind of game.
(07:36):
Feels like a very tight, hopefully classic, but it might
be a bit of a slow chess match. Can Seattle
or Columbus be the first to win a playoff road
match this season? We're gonna find out the road team
did not win in Spain yesterday a Classico, hot tempers
in Madrid. What a game marel Madrid two Barcelona one
(07:58):
had a little bit of everything, goals, controversy, scuffles, postmatch fallout.
You had var Get heavily involved. I'm still a little
baffled by taking away a penalty from Real Madrid in
the very early going. They gave one later that I
thoroughly disagreed with and it was saved, So maybe ball
(08:19):
don't lie. I don't know. All kinds of controversy. Madrid
and referee controversy go hand in hand, right, But Madrid
was a better team killing Nabape after scoring or after
getting the penalty and not getting it. It's taken away
by a var then scoring an absolute golasso, but he
(08:39):
was by about half of his boot offside and he
was I mean, look, the line's in the line. I
think we have this bad habit in this game when
we talk about var and we talk about this kind
of situation. It was a beautiful goal from killing Nibape,
no question. I mean it's a volley from way out
and he blasted. It's a great goal. But he's offside
(09:01):
like he is. It's it's it's not a judgment call
like he is. Yes, is is the the hawkeye system
or whatever the brand is in Spain? Is it perfect? No,
it's it's not. But is it better than your eyesight? Yes?
So accept it if you want to change the off
side rule. Different conversation and people are having it, including
(09:24):
arms and finger. But let's stop this idea about like
ah var is intervening. Why are they doing? No, No,
it's offside. It is or it isn't. There is a line.
You're gonna draw a line somewhere, so chill out with that.
It got to be, it came. It just became so
much of an issue yesterday. If you're onside or your offside,
there's a line there, and you can tell now with
(09:46):
much better than we did in the past, where you're
relying on the assistant referees eyesight Hopefully they're not screened,
hopefully they're not blinking, Hopefully they catch it. Now you
have it, so that's the rule. You go with it.
That is what it is. The judgment calls that Var
gets involved in. It's what I don't love. The judgment
calls on handballs, like the penalty that was given in
(10:08):
this I don't love that took deflections back and forth,
ends up coming off of the attacker's knee into the
Barcelona player's arm as they're sliding, and his arm is up,
but it's going up as he's sliding. There's no way
for him to move it after it takes a deflection
from the cross off of him, back off of the attacker,
(10:29):
then into the arm. I don't think he's trying to
make himself bigger. I think he's sliding and his arm
does come up. It just feels extremely harsh from that
short of a distance on a deflection. That's what we
can talk about VAR and judgment calls from referees, because
here's the deal. When we talk about VAR, the issue
(10:51):
is about the people involved in it and their judgment decisions.
It's not about the process of VAR. Because the process
the VAR is good. It gets more calls correct than
you were getting previously, so that's a good thing anyway.
Soapbox put to the side, killing and Bope opened the
scoring here when it finally counted on a Jude Beellingham assist,
(11:14):
Barca equalized through Fermin Lopez belling him answered with a
goal just before halftime. Then everything started to get wild
Vinnie Junior was substituted in the second half. He said
some things that I can't repeat, a couple things that
I think were really foul. He said those to his manager,
(11:36):
Shabi Alonso, who's like, come on, Vinnie, just get off
the field. Then he went to the locker room. He
said some things as the zone was able to isolate
him on camera, said some things like it's always me,
blah blah blah, like I should leave. There's a problem.
This is a big problem. Could be a fine, Probably
should be a fine. It was a really bad reaction
(11:57):
from Vinnie Junior. Then late in the game, Pedrie picks
up a red card. It's a reckless challenge. I think
he's a little frustrated. Also, just a bad decision. At
that point in the match. You get the benches emptying,
you get tempers flaring, the final whistles. Right after that,
(12:18):
Vinnie decides to make himself the main character again even
though he wasn't in the match, and another player who
was not the main character, Lamina Mal, did not have
a good game. Everybody wanted to have a go at
La Mina Maul after what he said earlier in the
week on a Kings League live stream calling Madrid moners
and robbers. Madrid didn't forget. They wanted to talk to
(12:38):
him about it. Chue a many full credit to him
for kind of walking Limena Mall away from everything. It
could have been worse. It wasn't pretty. I thought Madrid
celebrations were really interesting too, because they did not celebrate
like I would. And maybe maybe I'm outdated in this
at this point, because I don't think real Madrid is
(13:00):
necessarily who they used to be. They did not celebrate
like a real Madrid would. In my opinion, they celebrated
like a lesser club beating a bigger club. It felt
like an upset celebration, and I don't think this was
an upset. Real Madrid was at home. Yeah, they lost
the last four Classicos, but they weren't home. They were favored,
(13:21):
they should have won, they did, they were the better team.
It just it felt a little odd. And not the
trash talk. I don't care about that. Let mean, you
mal popped off, he got thrown back in his face,
That's fine. It was the celebrations after that, just it
felt a little odd. It felt a little bit and
maybe it is coming from more of the chip on
the shoulder kind of idea, and this is trying to
(13:43):
be a motivating factor for this team going forward. Maybe
it can be spun into that, but it felt like
an upset kind of celebration rather than a favored team winning.
I don't know, keep an eye on it, sweet, I'm
gonna and I on Vinnie Junior and Shabi Alonso as well.
He said all the right things afterwards, Shabi did, He's confirmed.
(14:05):
He talked privately about the reaction, kind of tried to
move on from it quickly. Whatever's going on with that?
Madrid looked ruthless again. You got twelve wins and thirteen
across all competitions, five point cushion in La Liga. Jude
Bellingham healthy after people were trying to say that he
had a bad start to the season. Dude was injured.
He had shoulder surgery after the Club World Cup. Give
(14:26):
him a little bit of time. I mean, come on, man,
sometimes we just get into these things that don't make sense.
Bellingham is playing well and Bape is playing well. This
is a good team right now and it's terrifying for
everybody else in Spain and in the Champions League. One
team is not terrifying right now. As Juventus headlines broke
early this morning. Igor Tudor has been fired at U've
(14:48):
eight matches without a win, four straight without scoring. That's
enough to end it. He got the opportunity really after
the Club World Cup and it felt like they strung
him along before that, were never fully committed and it
wasn't good enough to fully commit. Ultimately, the board who
decided maybe not to fully commit until they had to,
they were right. Youth coach Massimo Brambilla. Brambila he takes
(15:12):
temporary charge while the board weighs its options. There's reports
worldwide that link Luciano Spalletti, former Italian national team manager,
and Rafael Palladino as the top targets we'll see. Meanwhile,
in Saria, Roma, they continue to climb a one nail
win at Sassuolo that lifts them to joint top with Napoli.
Paolo Debala finally broke his scoring drought. Big win, big win.
(15:37):
Juventus don't have that right now. Roma, They're moving in
the right direction, Napoli near the top of the table.
Sarah is going to be another fun one this year
for sure. In England, Oh, it's turmoil at Anfield. Four
straight league losses for Liverpool three two to Brentford over
the weekend at Jamie Carriger called it crisis time. Captain
Andy Robertson He said on Liverpool TV we didn't play
(16:00):
our game at all. It was chaotic. So why didn't
they play their game at all? What is going on
with Arnest Slott's system and the team's physicality and their mentality.
I don't know. They spent a lot of money and
that increased the expectations for this team to be even
better than they were last year when they won the title.
(16:22):
They are nowhere near that right now, nowhere near it?
Can they get there? Have they broken the chemistry with
this group? I don't know. I mean, I think people
starting to talk about Arnes Slot's future are way ahead
of the curve. That's not necessary. He won the title
last year, but was winning the title last year the blip?
(16:43):
Or is this the blip? I don't know. We're gonna
find out elsewhere Arsenal, they just keep on grinding. One
nail win over Crystal Palace, A stunning goal from Eberetchiase
against his former club. You hate to see that sometimes.
Aston Villa They handed Manchester City their first los since August.
Maddy Cash with the winner. Earl Holland's twelve match scoring
(17:05):
streak finally ended down the table. Wolves their manager Victor Pereira.
He clashed with supporters after another loss. They were chanting
you'll be sacked in the morning. He hasn't been as
of yet, and I think we're past the morning in England,
so they were incorrect. John Texter has reportedly made a
bid to buy Wolves some cash, some shares. I guess
(17:26):
an Eagle Football or some other mythical company that John
Texter is going to create. Wolves run the other direction,
and it sounds like they've already rejected it. They're not interested.
The Athletic had an article about John Texter eyeing five
different Championship clubs. All of you run the other direction,
Sheffield Wednesday run. Don't pick up the phone, just don't. Yeah,
(17:48):
John Texter still trying to buy other clubs and yeah, anyway,
let's move on before I get myself in trouble. Let's
go to Scotland Hearts. They keep getting it done. The
Jambos eight points clear top of the table. They beat
Celtic three to one. Hearts has really based everything on analytics,
the Tony Bloom model from Brighton and Union Saint je Louis.
(18:10):
It's paying off set pieces, pressing, triggers, efficiency, all elite,
trying to find those little bits of advantage in the data.
It's working right now for Hearts and it could really
break up this duopoly at the top of the table
in Scotland. The last time anyone other than Celtic or
(18:32):
Rangers won the First Division in Scotland Aberdeen nineteen eighty five,
led by a young Sir Alex Ferguson. I mean that's
where we are. Hearts have got a long way to go,
but wow, we could have a historical season in Scotland.
US women's national team a big bounce back for Ema
(18:54):
Hayes and the squad after the loss to Portugal. They
responded with a three to one in East Hartford, Connecticut
over Portugal. One of the youngest starting elevens in program history,
teenagers of Lili Johannes, Claire Hutton, Jordan Bugg joined, Olivia
Moultrie and Jaden Shaw, all twenty or younger. Heyes said afterwards,
six months on, the progress is clear tactically, technically and
(19:17):
physically it's a team in transition. She's getting them ready
for World Cup qualifying next year. You're seeing this young
group really start to take charge with this team. Emily
Sonnet was the captain. She had more caps than the
rest of the team combined. Yesterday, let's go to South America.
Storylines all over the place. Columbia. Atletico Nacional stormed back
(19:38):
into the title race a five to two win over
Independent de Mediine in the classical Baia Madno Innestrosa. He
scored twice. Interim coach Diego Ares, He's quickly steadied Nacional.
In Peru, Universitadio have sealed their third straight league title.
They are flying twelve three and zero the Klausura under
(20:01):
Jorge Fosati alex Valeria with seventeen goals for Universitadio. In Argentina,
big upset Independente Riva Davilla. They stunned River Plate into
Copa Argentina semi finals at winning on penalties, sending Marcelo
Guyjardo into some damage control as it looks like River
(20:21):
might miss out on the Copa Libertadores next year. We
do have a super classical in Argentina coming up. Soon,
and it could be a more desperate version of it,
as both Boca and River are not guaranteed of making
it into the Libertadores next year. Let's go to Chile.
Coquimbo Undo. They are one step from history, their first
ever league title and a return to the Copa Libertadores
(20:45):
after thirty three years away. They are right there on
the verge in Brazil. It's going to be a fun
conclusion to the season there, Paul Metis. They are clinging
to a one point lead over Flamengo Cruzero and Mirasol
are lurking right behind me. Yeressol would be an amazing
story if they can get into this mix. The run
in in Brazil as always, promises chaos. Let's go around
(21:09):
the world some pretty remarkable global developments. In Rwanda, they
have welcomed Sudanese clubs into their domestic league as the
conflict in Sudan is preventing that league from happening in
the way that it should. We saw this last year
with Al Hilal winning the league in Martana. They are
(21:33):
one of those clubs that is going to at this
stage as long as it gets approved by the CAAF.
That is going to play in the first division in Rwanda.
FIFA they have unveiled the new Ascan Cup. It is
a fully sanctioned regional tournament for eleven Southeast Asian nations
and by having it sanctioned by FIFA, that would ensure
(21:56):
that you get player release and it will raise the
Agian's profile. Because the previous edition of this tournament was
not sanctioned, it was not played during international breaks and
clubs didn't have to release players. So this will be
kind of like the Concacast Central American Cup for example.
In Morocco, the Afghan women United Team players who fled
(22:20):
the Taliban in twenty twenty one, they have reunited to
compete in the FIFA Unites Women Series. Their captain said,
never give up, you can always find a way to
play again. Very cool initiative. That is finally getting them
back on the field after fleeing their home country four
years ago. Moments like this look it reminds us why
we love this so much and how this game matters
(22:46):
and brings people together. So we've talked MLS playoff drama,
South American title races, the intensity of El Classico. All
of that just shows you that the World's game connects
every single corner and every single one of us, the fans,
the people who love it, whether it's hell is Real
in Ohio, the chaos at the Bernabeo, the passion, the stories,
(23:07):
the stakes. This is why we do this. It's why
this game is always around the corner from everywhere. It's
been a fun weekend. We had two Atlanta United Academy
matches on Saturday, two really good games. Orlando City won
both in full credit to them. Was really impressed with
the way that they played, Really impressed with the way
the Atlanta United players played as well. It was two
(23:30):
really good games. A lot to talk about in those,
a lot of great young talent, intense in the games,
but never got over the line. Really really enjoyed it.
The other games I called over the weekend. Georgia states
Women struggled on Friday night. They've lost the lead in
the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They have
a chance to win that back on Decision Day on
(23:51):
Wednesday as they go to Old Dominion. They've got to win.
Old Dominion can win the division title with a draw.
Georgia states Men eight goal from Pavel Romero Grammandia to
take the lead against Central UCF yesterday. Sorry, they want
to be UCF, not Central Florida anymore. But UCF came
(24:13):
back the nation's leader in assists, Clarence Auador. He had
the cutback as a beautiful free kick. Cut it back.
It's finished from the top of the eighteen. Finished one
to one in that one. Georgia State should make the
Sunbelt Conference tournament. They can get into the top four
and host a first round game. But they've got to
pick up a win in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday night
(24:36):
against the Wildcats, and then they come back home in
an absolute rivalry match to close out the regular season,
hosting Georgia Southern. That's going to be Tuesday, November fourth.
We're gonna have a lot of coverage of that one.
Don't forget tonight soccer over there. We're live at eight
o'clock from the brew House Cafe. It's presented by the
brew House and Around the Corner Logger, which is powered
(24:59):
by No Folk, our own beer. Around the Corner Logger
I will be having one this evening. We'll start at eight.
You can watch on Twitch, you can watch on YouTube,
you can watch on x We'll dive deeper into what's
going on at Liverpool and Juventus, will break down more
of the El Classico fallout, because I'm sure there will
be more the rest of the day, and we will
unveil our world famous Picks of the Week. I think
(25:22):
we're going to two brand new competitions this week on
Picks of the Week. Join us tonight, bring your questions,
bring your shenanigans, bring your buffoonery. It's always a it's
always a time for soccer over there. Eight o'clock tonight.
That's your morning espresso for Monday. Thanks for starting your
day with the SDH Network. We try to be Atlanta's
(25:44):
soccer heartbeat. We are around the corner from everywhere, and
we'll be back again with another edition of the Espresso
tomorrow
The game never stops, and neither do we. Welcome in.
It's the morning Espresso from the SDH Network, brought to
you by Oglethorpe University, Atlanta's premier undergraduate learning experience and
soccer powerhouse. Excellence in the classroom on the pitch goes
hand in hand with the stormy petrels. We try to
(00:33):
do the same here on the SDH Network, maybe except
for the classroom part of it. This morning, in the
morning Espresso your MLS Playoffs six or six for the
home teams. Real Madrid they have the bragging rights in
El Classico and in Spain, and yes there were fireworks Juventus.
They this morning have pressed the reset button. Liverpool wobbling,
maybe free falling, and then we're going to bounce around
(00:55):
from Scotland to South America, the full emotional range of
the world's game. I'm Jason long Short, Grab your cup.
This one's strong. Let's go. MLS Playoffs six games in all.
Host teams have won two wild card wins, four openers
in the first round won by the home team. The momentum,
(01:17):
the atmosphere of the familiarity, it's been the formula so
far for these matches. Let's start in the Eastern Conference. Philadelphia. Hey,
they had to suffer here. They nearly blew it. They
were up two nil against Chicago. Jack Elliott hit the
goal of his life a goalie is probably never even
dreamed about outside of the right foot, slicing away from
Andre Blake into the side netting in front of his
(01:38):
former fans in Philadelphia. That sent it to the penalty shootout.
Both goalkeepers Chris Brady and Andre Blake, they make saves
in the first round. Joel Waterman puts one off of
the crossbar. Jesus Bueno he buries the decisive kick. It
was a really good penalty from Bueno, stone cold, and
that ultimately does it for Philly. Subaru Park exhaled. It
(02:00):
wasn't pretty. That's kind of typical when it comes to
the Philadelphia Union. Yes, I'm petty. You guys know this
by now if you've ever heard my radio calls or
any of my conversations about the Philadelphia Union. I don't
love their style of play. I give them tons of
credit for getting this one done playoffs. It's about winning,
and Philadelphia gets it done here under Bradley Carnell. They survived.
(02:22):
They go to Game two in Chicago, with a chance
to close the series out. Vancouver dominant three zero win
over Dallas never even really looked close. Vancouver racked up
a huge edge and shots. Emmanuel Sabby was basically unplayable
on the wing, drawing fouls, creating chaos. Thomas Muller calmly
converted the penalty that sealed it. White Caps look like
(02:43):
a team that can go all the way. I think
it's going to come down to Vancouver and LAFC in
the West. I think LAFC is going to win it all.
I've said that, oh, for most of this month. Honestly,
I said it when at landa United went out there
back at the beginning of the month. I think LAFC
is the favorite to win MLS Cup. I'm pretty convinced
(03:03):
to that. Vancouver, though, it's gonna push him for sure.
San Diego might push him as well. The expansion Darlings
a two to one win over Portland, any Valacari and
Ander Streyer with the goals in the first half hour.
Portland made him sweat, though came back made it to one.
Was a battle the rest of the way. The atmosphere,
though in San Diego at the Murph Dragon, as coined
(03:24):
by Adrian Garcia Marquez. Love his work. If you have
not listened to the home team radio calls from San Diego,
just amazing. One of my favorites in the league, no
question about it. Darren Smith was with him yesterday on
the call, and so many references and so many just
(03:45):
hilarious things that AGM says, but also the passion, the
love of the game. It's just it's a ride and
it's just one of my favorite experiences in the league.
So you will I don't have that next time. The
Portland radio crew dreg do a great job as well.
It's been great to hear the home team radios during this.
(04:06):
Dave Leno for Philadelphia heard that yesterday driving back from
the Georgia State match. Just great work, great passion. I
love hearing the radio crews getting the chance to shine
on Apple TV on serious XMFC. Just obviously I'm a
little biased. I love the field of a radio call,
but AGM in San Diego at the Murph Dragon one
(04:28):
of my favorites. The way everything felt in San Diego
feels like this club is ten years old, not ten
months old. Only question though, is Chucky Lozano. He did
not play. He was there, he was not dressed. Still
on the outs after the locker room blow up in
Houston when he was substituted. We're gonna come back to
(04:48):
another blow up after being substituted in Alt Classico had
just a bit. Coach mikey Veris, though after the game,
said that everything is being done correctly. Herving is doing
everything correctly. He's close to returning. He should be back
in the mix for the Portland match second leg. So yeah,
home teams unbeaten, but can that streak survive Tonight We're
(05:08):
gonna find out. Starting at six forty five, Cincinnati hosting Columbus.
Hell is real playoff edition. This is one of the
great rivalries in at Major League Soccer. It's at TQL
Stadium tonight. Columbus came back to win the Eastern Conference
Final in this building in the past. Pat Newton's team,
(05:29):
they're different, though they've evolved a little bit here. Kevin Dankee, Evander.
This is a good attacking team in Cincinnati, and I
think they're a little more robust than maybe they've been
in the past. Columbus isn't quite what they've been in
the past either though a great possession team. Wilfred Nanci
(05:50):
one of the best managers in the league. In the
Hemisphere Darlington Nagbees in the last year of his career.
He still dictates tempo, maybe not quite as effectively as
he has in the past. Diego Rossi one of the
best attackers in this league. Max Arston has grown up
in front of our eyes. In Columbus. I love the
way Columbus approaches games. It's a style of play that
(06:11):
I really enjoy. Can they get something here on the
road in Cincinnati, power versus patients? Maybe a little bit
of the buzzwords in this one going to be fascinating.
I seventy one bragging rights on the line. We will
see maybe a few things said on the field that
aren't fit for daytime radio or nighttime radio for that matter.
(06:32):
Wonder if the crowd mics will be turned down just
a little bit. Minnesota in Seattle, that's the second game
of the night. Ale On's field hosting a playoff pairing
that's got all kinds of narrative to it. Minnesota, they
swept the regular season meetings with Seattle, first time they've
ever done that. Eric Gramsey Side is gonna sit back
and defend. They're going to give you a lot of possession,
(06:54):
but they're going to be dangerous with those vertical bursts
up the field. Seattle, it feels like come to life
when you get towards the end of the season. Fifteen
straight playoff appearances. That's dynasty kind of consistency. Brian Schmetzer.
He's got veterans like Jordan Morris, Albert Rusnak to set
the tempo. Jemar who has consistently been, in my opinion,
one of the best defenders in the league and doesn't
(07:15):
get enough credit. This is a really good Seattle team.
Kelvin Yoboa and Tanya Olawa shehe for Minnesota, they are
a problem go any other way for the Loons. Minnesota
is going to look to hit on the counter. Seattle's
going to try to suffocate that and get something going
the other way. Feels like a one goal kind of game.
(07:36):
Feels like a very tight, hopefully classic, but it might
be a bit of a slow chess match. Can Seattle
or Columbus be the first to win a playoff road
match this season? We're gonna find out the road team
did not win in Spain yesterday a Classico, hot tempers
in Madrid. What a game marel Madrid two Barcelona one
(07:58):
had a little bit of everything, goals, controversy, scuffles, postmatch fallout.
You had var Get heavily involved. I'm still a little
baffled by taking away a penalty from Real Madrid in
the very early going. They gave one later that I
thoroughly disagreed with and it was saved, So maybe ball
(08:19):
don't lie. I don't know. All kinds of controversy. Madrid
and referee controversy go hand in hand, right, But Madrid
was a better team killing Nabape after scoring or after
getting the penalty and not getting it. It's taken away
by a var then scoring an absolute golasso, but he
(08:39):
was by about half of his boot offside and he
was I mean, look, the line's in the line. I
think we have this bad habit in this game when
we talk about var and we talk about this kind
of situation. It was a beautiful goal from killing Nibape,
no question. I mean it's a volley from way out
and he blasted. It's a great goal. But he's offside
(09:01):
like he is. It's it's it's not a judgment call
like he is. Yes, is is the the hawkeye system
or whatever the brand is in Spain? Is it perfect? No,
it's it's not. But is it better than your eyesight? Yes?
So accept it if you want to change the off
side rule. Different conversation and people are having it, including
(09:24):
arms and finger. But let's stop this idea about like
ah var is intervening. Why are they doing? No, No,
it's offside. It is or it isn't. There is a line.
You're gonna draw a line somewhere, so chill out with that.
It got to be, it came. It just became so
much of an issue yesterday. If you're onside or your offside,
there's a line there, and you can tell now with
(09:46):
much better than we did in the past, where you're
relying on the assistant referees eyesight Hopefully they're not screened,
hopefully they're not blinking, Hopefully they catch it. Now you
have it, so that's the rule. You go with it.
That is what it is. The judgment calls that Var
gets involved in. It's what I don't love. The judgment
calls on handballs, like the penalty that was given in
(10:08):
this I don't love that took deflections back and forth,
ends up coming off of the attacker's knee into the
Barcelona player's arm as they're sliding, and his arm is up,
but it's going up as he's sliding. There's no way
for him to move it after it takes a deflection
from the cross off of him, back off of the attacker,
(10:29):
then into the arm. I don't think he's trying to
make himself bigger. I think he's sliding and his arm
does come up. It just feels extremely harsh from that
short of a distance on a deflection. That's what we
can talk about VAR and judgment calls from referees, because
here's the deal. When we talk about VAR, the issue
(10:51):
is about the people involved in it and their judgment decisions.
It's not about the process of VAR. Because the process
the VAR is good. It gets more calls correct than
you were getting previously, so that's a good thing anyway.
Soapbox put to the side, killing and Bope opened the
scoring here when it finally counted on a Jude Beellingham assist,
(11:14):
Barca equalized through Fermin Lopez belling him answered with a
goal just before halftime. Then everything started to get wild
Vinnie Junior was substituted in the second half. He said
some things that I can't repeat, a couple things that
I think were really foul. He said those to his manager,
(11:36):
Shabi Alonso, who's like, come on, Vinnie, just get off
the field. Then he went to the locker room. He
said some things as the zone was able to isolate
him on camera, said some things like it's always me,
blah blah blah, like I should leave. There's a problem.
This is a big problem. Could be a fine, Probably
should be a fine. It was a really bad reaction
(11:57):
from Vinnie Junior. Then late in the game, Pedrie picks
up a red card. It's a reckless challenge. I think
he's a little frustrated. Also, just a bad decision. At
that point in the match. You get the benches emptying,
you get tempers flaring, the final whistles. Right after that,
(12:18):
Vinnie decides to make himself the main character again even
though he wasn't in the match, and another player who
was not the main character, Lamina Mal, did not have
a good game. Everybody wanted to have a go at
La Mina Maul after what he said earlier in the
week on a Kings League live stream calling Madrid moners
and robbers. Madrid didn't forget. They wanted to talk to
(12:38):
him about it. Chue a many full credit to him
for kind of walking Limena Mall away from everything. It
could have been worse. It wasn't pretty. I thought Madrid
celebrations were really interesting too, because they did not celebrate
like I would. And maybe maybe I'm outdated in this
at this point, because I don't think real Madrid is
(13:00):
necessarily who they used to be. They did not celebrate
like a real Madrid would. In my opinion, they celebrated
like a lesser club beating a bigger club. It felt
like an upset celebration, and I don't think this was
an upset. Real Madrid was at home. Yeah, they lost
the last four Classicos, but they weren't home. They were favored,
(13:21):
they should have won, they did, they were the better team.
It just it felt a little odd. And not the
trash talk. I don't care about that. Let mean, you
mal popped off, he got thrown back in his face,
That's fine. It was the celebrations after that, just it
felt a little odd. It felt a little bit and
maybe it is coming from more of the chip on
the shoulder kind of idea, and this is trying to
(13:43):
be a motivating factor for this team going forward. Maybe
it can be spun into that, but it felt like
an upset kind of celebration rather than a favored team winning.
I don't know, keep an eye on it, sweet, I'm
gonna and I on Vinnie Junior and Shabi Alonso as well.
He said all the right things afterwards, Shabi did, He's confirmed.
(14:05):
He talked privately about the reaction, kind of tried to
move on from it quickly. Whatever's going on with that?
Madrid looked ruthless again. You got twelve wins and thirteen
across all competitions, five point cushion in La Liga. Jude
Bellingham healthy after people were trying to say that he
had a bad start to the season. Dude was injured.
He had shoulder surgery after the Club World Cup. Give
(14:26):
him a little bit of time. I mean, come on, man,
sometimes we just get into these things that don't make sense.
Bellingham is playing well and Bape is playing well. This
is a good team right now and it's terrifying for
everybody else in Spain and in the Champions League. One
team is not terrifying right now. As Juventus headlines broke
early this morning. Igor Tudor has been fired at U've
(14:48):
eight matches without a win, four straight without scoring. That's
enough to end it. He got the opportunity really after
the Club World Cup and it felt like they strung
him along before that, were never fully committed and it
wasn't good enough to fully commit. Ultimately, the board who
decided maybe not to fully commit until they had to,
they were right. Youth coach Massimo Brambilla. Brambila he takes
(15:12):
temporary charge while the board weighs its options. There's reports
worldwide that link Luciano Spalletti, former Italian national team manager,
and Rafael Palladino as the top targets we'll see. Meanwhile,
in Saria, Roma, they continue to climb a one nail
win at Sassuolo that lifts them to joint top with Napoli.
Paolo Debala finally broke his scoring drought. Big win, big win.
(15:37):
Juventus don't have that right now. Roma, They're moving in
the right direction, Napoli near the top of the table.
Sarah is going to be another fun one this year
for sure. In England, Oh, it's turmoil at Anfield. Four
straight league losses for Liverpool three two to Brentford over
the weekend at Jamie Carriger called it crisis time. Captain
Andy Robertson He said on Liverpool TV we didn't play
(16:00):
our game at all. It was chaotic. So why didn't
they play their game at all? What is going on
with Arnest Slott's system and the team's physicality and their mentality.
I don't know. They spent a lot of money and
that increased the expectations for this team to be even
better than they were last year when they won the title.
(16:22):
They are nowhere near that right now, nowhere near it?
Can they get there? Have they broken the chemistry with
this group? I don't know. I mean, I think people
starting to talk about Arnes Slot's future are way ahead
of the curve. That's not necessary. He won the title
last year, but was winning the title last year the blip?
(16:43):
Or is this the blip? I don't know. We're gonna
find out elsewhere Arsenal, they just keep on grinding. One
nail win over Crystal Palace, A stunning goal from Eberetchiase
against his former club. You hate to see that sometimes.
Aston Villa They handed Manchester City their first los since August.
Maddy Cash with the winner. Earl Holland's twelve match scoring
(17:05):
streak finally ended down the table. Wolves their manager Victor Pereira.
He clashed with supporters after another loss. They were chanting
you'll be sacked in the morning. He hasn't been as
of yet, and I think we're past the morning in England,
so they were incorrect. John Texter has reportedly made a
bid to buy Wolves some cash, some shares. I guess
(17:26):
an Eagle Football or some other mythical company that John
Texter is going to create. Wolves run the other direction,
and it sounds like they've already rejected it. They're not interested.
The Athletic had an article about John Texter eyeing five
different Championship clubs. All of you run the other direction,
Sheffield Wednesday run. Don't pick up the phone, just don't. Yeah,
(17:48):
John Texter still trying to buy other clubs and yeah, anyway,
let's move on before I get myself in trouble. Let's
go to Scotland Hearts. They keep getting it done. The
Jambos eight points clear top of the table. They beat
Celtic three to one. Hearts has really based everything on analytics,
the Tony Bloom model from Brighton and Union Saint je Louis.
(18:10):
It's paying off set pieces, pressing, triggers, efficiency, all elite,
trying to find those little bits of advantage in the data.
It's working right now for Hearts and it could really
break up this duopoly at the top of the table
in Scotland. The last time anyone other than Celtic or
(18:32):
Rangers won the First Division in Scotland Aberdeen nineteen eighty five,
led by a young Sir Alex Ferguson. I mean that's
where we are. Hearts have got a long way to go,
but wow, we could have a historical season in Scotland.
US women's national team a big bounce back for Ema
(18:54):
Hayes and the squad after the loss to Portugal. They
responded with a three to one in East Hartford, Connecticut
over Portugal. One of the youngest starting elevens in program history,
teenagers of Lili Johannes, Claire Hutton, Jordan Bugg joined, Olivia
Moultrie and Jaden Shaw, all twenty or younger. Heyes said afterwards,
six months on, the progress is clear tactically, technically and
(19:17):
physically it's a team in transition. She's getting them ready
for World Cup qualifying next year. You're seeing this young
group really start to take charge with this team. Emily
Sonnet was the captain. She had more caps than the
rest of the team combined. Yesterday, let's go to South America.
Storylines all over the place. Columbia. Atletico Nacional stormed back
(19:38):
into the title race a five to two win over
Independent de Mediine in the classical Baia Madno Innestrosa. He
scored twice. Interim coach Diego Ares, He's quickly steadied Nacional.
In Peru, Universitadio have sealed their third straight league title.
They are flying twelve three and zero the Klausura under
(20:01):
Jorge Fosati alex Valeria with seventeen goals for Universitadio. In Argentina,
big upset Independente Riva Davilla. They stunned River Plate into
Copa Argentina semi finals at winning on penalties, sending Marcelo
Guyjardo into some damage control as it looks like River
(20:21):
might miss out on the Copa Libertadores next year. We
do have a super classical in Argentina coming up. Soon,
and it could be a more desperate version of it,
as both Boca and River are not guaranteed of making
it into the Libertadores next year. Let's go to Chile.
Coquimbo Undo. They are one step from history, their first
ever league title and a return to the Copa Libertadores
(20:45):
after thirty three years away. They are right there on
the verge in Brazil. It's going to be a fun
conclusion to the season there, Paul Metis. They are clinging
to a one point lead over Flamengo Cruzero and Mirasol
are lurking right behind me. Yeressol would be an amazing
story if they can get into this mix. The run
in in Brazil as always, promises chaos. Let's go around
(21:09):
the world some pretty remarkable global developments. In Rwanda, they
have welcomed Sudanese clubs into their domestic league as the
conflict in Sudan is preventing that league from happening in
the way that it should. We saw this last year
with Al Hilal winning the league in Martana. They are
(21:33):
one of those clubs that is going to at this
stage as long as it gets approved by the CAAF.
That is going to play in the first division in Rwanda.
FIFA they have unveiled the new Ascan Cup. It is
a fully sanctioned regional tournament for eleven Southeast Asian nations
and by having it sanctioned by FIFA, that would ensure
(21:56):
that you get player release and it will raise the
Agian's profile. Because the previous edition of this tournament was
not sanctioned, it was not played during international breaks and
clubs didn't have to release players. So this will be
kind of like the Concacast Central American Cup for example.
In Morocco, the Afghan women United Team players who fled
(22:20):
the Taliban in twenty twenty one, they have reunited to
compete in the FIFA Unites Women Series. Their captain said,
never give up, you can always find a way to
play again. Very cool initiative. That is finally getting them
back on the field after fleeing their home country four
years ago. Moments like this look it reminds us why
we love this so much and how this game matters
(22:46):
and brings people together. So we've talked MLS playoff drama,
South American title races, the intensity of El Classico. All
of that just shows you that the World's game connects
every single corner and every single one of us, the fans,
the people who love it, whether it's hell is Real
in Ohio, the chaos at the Bernabeo, the passion, the stories,
(23:07):
the stakes. This is why we do this. It's why
this game is always around the corner from everywhere. It's
been a fun weekend. We had two Atlanta United Academy
matches on Saturday, two really good games. Orlando City won
both in full credit to them. Was really impressed with
the way that they played, Really impressed with the way
the Atlanta United players played as well. It was two
(23:30):
really good games. A lot to talk about in those,
a lot of great young talent, intense in the games,
but never got over the line. Really really enjoyed it.
The other games I called over the weekend. Georgia states
Women struggled on Friday night. They've lost the lead in
the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They have
a chance to win that back on Decision Day on
(23:51):
Wednesday as they go to Old Dominion. They've got to win.
Old Dominion can win the division title with a draw.
Georgia states Men eight goal from Pavel Romero Grammandia to
take the lead against Central UCF yesterday. Sorry, they want
to be UCF, not Central Florida anymore. But UCF came
(24:13):
back the nation's leader in assists, Clarence Auador. He had
the cutback as a beautiful free kick. Cut it back.
It's finished from the top of the eighteen. Finished one
to one in that one. Georgia State should make the
Sunbelt Conference tournament. They can get into the top four
and host a first round game. But they've got to
pick up a win in Lexington, Kentucky on Friday night
(24:36):
against the Wildcats, and then they come back home in
an absolute rivalry match to close out the regular season,
hosting Georgia Southern. That's going to be Tuesday, November fourth.
We're gonna have a lot of coverage of that one.
Don't forget tonight soccer over there. We're live at eight
o'clock from the brew House Cafe. It's presented by the
brew House and Around the Corner Logger, which is powered
(24:59):
by No Folk, our own beer. Around the Corner Logger
I will be having one this evening. We'll start at eight.
You can watch on Twitch, you can watch on YouTube,
you can watch on x We'll dive deeper into what's
going on at Liverpool and Juventus, will break down more
of the El Classico fallout, because I'm sure there will
be more the rest of the day, and we will
unveil our world famous Picks of the Week. I think
(25:22):
we're going to two brand new competitions this week on
Picks of the Week. Join us tonight, bring your questions,
bring your shenanigans, bring your buffoonery. It's always a it's
always a time for soccer over there. Eight o'clock tonight.
That's your morning espresso for Monday. Thanks for starting your
day with the SDH Network. We try to be Atlanta's
(25:44):
soccer heartbeat. We are around the corner from everywhere, and
we'll be back again with another edition of the Espresso
tomorrow
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