Hey friends,

Sad week for us USMNT fans. Let’s talk through it together.

• 2️⃣ 2️⃣ MLS Match Day 22

• 🇺🇸 USMNT Fall to Mexico

• 🌎️ Club World Cup Update

• 🤔 More MLS Musings

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Tweet of the Week

MLS Match Day 22 Recap

The LA Galaxy put together their most complete performance of the season with a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps. Joseph Paintsil scored a brace, with Marco Reus assisting him on the first goal. It’s Reus’s 11th goal contribution in his last 11 games. The German star is finally settling into form in the absence of Riqui Puig. The Galaxy still sits dead last, two points behind Montreal and three behind St. Louis.

Sporting KC beat the Colorado Rapids 2-1 for their first win in Colorado since 2014. They have now gotten 7 points out of their last three games and are just 3 points off a playoff spot in the West. But don’t let the result fool you, the Rapids dominated this game. They had 4.94 expected goals compared to Sporting’s 0.72, which is the fourth-highest expected goal differential in an MLS game since 2013. Brutal for Colorado.

The Portland Timbers beat the New England Revolution 2-1 at home to get to 10 points in their last 5 games. Watch this beautiful build-up that led to a volley from Ian Smith for his first career goal. Then David da Costa scored this winner with his long range strike. The Timbers get St. Louis and Real Salt Lake next to continue their move up the Western Conference.

The Houston Dynamo had their most impressive performance to date with a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over the West-leading San Diego FC. Club record signing Ezequiel Ponce scored his first brace including the 100th minute winner. Lawrence Enneli also scored in his first start back from ACL injury, reaching a top speed of 22.74 MPH as he burst past his defender. Oh, and Franco Escobar scored this banger. Has Houston finally found some goal scorers? If so, this will be a fun second-half team to watch.

USMNT Loses to Mexico

The US advanced to the Gold Cup final after beating Guatemala 2-1. Diego Luna’s brace in the first 15 minutes of the game was enough to get us through to the final. We took our foot off the gas after the brace, playing down to Guatemala and failing to put the game away several times. But alas, we advanced to the final.

Gold Cup Final: Mexico 2 - 1 USA

For the first time in 6 years, Mexico beat the US in a competitive match. The final started hot with Chris Richards giving the US the lead from his header off a perfect set piece from Sebastian Berhalter. Mexico proceeded to control the game, having 66% of possession before Raul Jimenez found the equalizer with this left-footed blast.

In the 66th minute, a controversial no-call handball (below) by Mexico was a clear penalty that was reviewed and deemed unintentional. Ten minutes later, Mexico’s Edson Alvarez headed a set piece home after a poor Diego Luna foul just outside the box. Mexico held the lead till the end to win their record-extending 10th Gold Cup.

The US produced very few dangerous moments in the final third of the pitch and were forced to bunker into a low block for the majority of the match as Mexico dominated possession. Mexico was clearly the better team. A rather disappointing summer ends in defeat.

The USMNT's wins this summer came against the #54, #58, #83, #100, & #106 ranked teams in the world. And not all of those were convincing wins. Our losses came against the 17th, 20th, and 27th-ranked teams. Next summer we’ll only be facing the world’s best.

While the USMNT certainly hasn’t left anyone feeling confident going into next summer, they did show a fight and a desire to win that we haven’t seen from them lately.

Here’s what we learned from this summer:

• Chris Richards has solidified himself as our #1 center back. The question is who will be next to him a year from now.

• Diego Luna is a DOG. MLS fans already knew this. But now USMNT fans know. I don’t know if he’ll be a starter at the World Cup, but I would be surprised if he’s not on the squad.

• Malik Tillman is one of the best 7 US soccer players. And he’s also a DOG.

• Striker remains a big question mark. Agyemang showed glimpses but didn’t make an impact against better competition. Balogun and Pepi must get healthy.

This was the USMNT’s last competitive match before the World Cup. Only friendly matches to prepare us for the biggest tournament in our country’s history. I hope that’s enough.

Club World Cup Update

The quarterfinals did not disappoint. Between dramatic winners, wild red cards, and a bicycle kick from Mbappe(below), here’s what’s gone down over the past week.

Quarterfinals

Chelsea beat Palmeiras 2-1 in an ‘ugly’ win for the Premier League side. Cole Palmer opened the scoring early, but Palmeiras’ teenage star and future Chelsea player Estevao leveled things in the second half. With penalties looming, a Chelsea cross deflected off Palmeiras for a late own goal, giving Chelsea the 2-1 win.

Fluminense held off a strong challenge from Saudi side Al Hilal, winning 2-1 to keep South America’s hopes alive. Both sides were impressive, and this game was a bit of a cage match, but the Brazilians showed resilience and quality when it mattered most.

PSG beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in what was maybe the highest-level game of the tournament. This European heavyweight showdown ended in fireworks, with PSG receiving 2 red cards before the final whistle. Dembele sealed the game with a goal in added time after this insane run and cross by Hakimi. Keep in mind, PSG was down 2 players at this time. Dembele may be your next Ballon d’Or winner.

In a game that Real Madrid seemed to have in the bag early on, Dortmund stormed back but ultimately lost 3-2 to Madrid. Gonzalo Garcia scored again, making that 4 goals in the tournament for the 21-year-old. In extra time, Madrid had gone down to 10 men after a Dean Huijsen red card. Kylian Mbappe’s bicycle kick ended up being the game-winning golazo.

Semifinals

Yesterday, Chelsea beat Fluminense 2-0 in the first semifinal of the week. Ex-Fluminense star João Pedro scored a brace in his first start for Chelsea. His first Chelsea goal was put home with this beautiful finish. He doubled the lead with this blast in the second half, scoring one of the best goals of the tournament. It was cool to see Chris Richards in the booth for this one and hear how he thinks about the game!

PSG takes on Real Madrid in the other semifinal today at 3 pm EST from MetLife Stadium.

More MLS Musings

Seattle’s Stefan Frei sustained a scary injury in the last minute of stoppage time on Sunday. The ambulance had to come onto the pitch and stretcher him off. Columbus’s Wilfried Nancy respectfully asked the referee to end the game instead of taking the final corner.

Minnesota United only knows one way to score, and that’s through set pieces. Their 13 on the season leads MLS. This was the third straight week they’ve scored off a long throw. They’re calling it the St. Paul special.

Hany Mukhtar scored a penalty in stoppage time to get Nashville their 12th straight game unbeaten. They beat the Union while playing down a man for the last 30 minutes of the game. Special stuff is happening in the Music City.

11 of FC Cincinnati’s 13 wins this season have been a one score game. Is that sustainable? Probably not. Do they care? Absolutely not. They’re the new leaders atop the Shield standings.

NYCFC floated a 5-story, 700 lb inflatable pigeon around NYC yesterday. No, this is not AI-generated. MLS is a funny league, but I love it.

Goal of the Week

Vintage.

Tweet of the Week

We ♥️ the Moon Man

Quick Hits

• The football world mourns the loss of Liverpool star Diogo Jota 😥 (Link)

• San Jose finalizing deal to loan Hernan Lopez to Argentina Juniors (Link)

• Inter Miami is in talks to acquire Argentine midfielder Rodrigo De Paul from Atletico Madrid (Link)

• Houston Dynamo sign Jack McGlynn to contract extension (Link)

• NY Red Bulls remain in active talks with Timo Werner (Link)

• NYCFC sign Nicolas Fernandez as new DP (Link)

• NY Cosmos could make a return to American pro soccer (Link)

See you next week!

Max & Mason