Happy hump day everyone,

Random story for you. I flew back to NY on Sunday and Jurgen Klinsmann was on the flight. I played soccer with his son, Jonathan, on the Strikers Academy when we were in high school. As I walked by first class I reminded him of this and told him to tell Jonathan hello for me. I should’ve had him subscribe to the newsletter, oh well.

• 🏆️ Leagues Cup Quarterfinals

• 🥇 USWNT Win Gold

• 💰️ Big Summer Transfer Signings

• ⚽️ Goal of the Week

• 😂 Tweet of the Week

Leagues Cup Quarterfinals

The final 8 are set. 6 of the 8 are MLS teams with Club America and Mazatlan being the last remaining Liga MX squads. There’ve been some really fun games in this tournament. Tournament play always tends to bring out the drama, especially since these games go straight to penalties if tied after 90.

A few highlights from the last two rounds:

• Seattle thump Pumas 4-0 for big statement win. Jordan Morris continues his good form with two goals. This team is heating up and has a legit shot to win the tournament. Next up, LAFC.

• DeJuan Jones scores in his first game with the Crew.

• Jordi Alba’s 4 assists lead Miami to a 4-3 win over Toronto in the Round of 32.

• The Crew pull off an epic comeback down 2-0 to beat Miami 3-2. They do such a good job at overloading to one side to bait the defense in and then deliver a deadly ball in the box to score.

• Philadelphia beat Cincinnati 4-2 behind two goals from Tai Baribo. The Union have clinched a quarterfinal berth for the second year in a row.

• Olivier Giroud made his LAFC debut in the 71st minute in their 4-1 win over San Jose. Denis Bouanga led the way with a brace.

Olympic Champions

The US Woman beat Brazil 1-0 to win their 5th Olympic Gold and their first since 2012. Trinity Rodman slotted the ball through to Mallory Swanson who put it right by the keeper in the 57th minute. That was all that was needed.

Swanson’s story is incredible. She tore her patella tendon last year, underwent three surgeries, and missed the World Cup. She’s tough as nails (see story below). In her 6th grade yearbook, her dream was to, “be on the USA soccer team and win a gold medal.” Congrats Mal, you’ve done it.

Our front three trio nicknamed ‘Triple Espresso’ had 10 of our 12 goals this tournament. Between Swanson, Rodman, and Smith, the trio added 5 assists in the 6-game Gold medal run.

The defense was an iron wall like usual, led by you know who. The USWNT has played 450 minutes of soccer in the knockout rounds of the World Cup and Olympics with Naomi Girma on the field. They haven’t conceded a single goal in that time.

Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher just added another chapter to her legacy. She locked down clean sheets in the quarters, semis, and the final, becoming the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to post shutouts in both a World Cup and Olympic final.

With Emma Hayes at the helm I’m confident this team can win multiple World Cups. Yes…multiple. 2027 in Brazil is up next. We can’t wait.

Big Summer Transfer Window

Deadlines spur action. And that’s what we got before the August 14th Summer transfer deadline. MLS squads are bolstering up rosters for the second half of the season to make a push for trophies. Here’s what went down…

Incoming Transfers:

Calvin Stengs, Feyenoord ⏩️ Charlotte FC, $8M - Wait… NOO, it’s been called off. But Charlotte are still pushing to make a big splash. They’re now after Miguel Almiron but their $10M bid was far below Newcastle’s $20M asking price. Will it close before tonights deadline? We’ll see. Dean Smith even inquired about his former player Jamie Vardy. They’ve reportedly inquired about Giovani Lo Celso too. Charlotte is quickly becoming one of the most ambitious clubs in MLS.

Marco Reus, Borussia Dortmund ⏩️ LA Galaxy, free - Reus joins the Galaxy as a free agent so it’s not subject to the August 14th deadline. Will this be the most talented attack in MLS history? You can easily make that argument.

Alhassan Yusuf, Royal Antwerp ⏩️ New England Revolution, $2M - The Nigerian central midfielder has won titles in Belgium and played in the Champions League. He’ll help bolster a much-needed midfield.

Felipe Carballo, Gremio ⏩️ NY Red Bulls - The 27 year-old Uruguayan midfielder will join as their third DP. He’s a much needed replacement after Frankie Amaya left. Red Bulls are still in search for a center forward. They may not be done making moves.

Outbound Transfers:

Andres Gomez, Real Salt Lake ⏩️ Stade Rennais (Ligue 1), $13M - The Columbian winger was a favorite to win Young Player of the Year but Salt Lake got an offer they can’t turn down. It’s the 10th largest outbound sale in league history and 3 times the previous club record sale. We wrote about their push for a trophy last week after signing Giego Goncalves.

Moise Bombito, Colorado Rapids ⏩️ Nice (Ligue 1), $10M - It’s a club record sale for Colorado and a great move for the speedy center back. It’s been a meteoric rise for Bombito, who was playing for the Seacoast United Phantoms in USL League Two in 2022.

Goal of the Week

Malik is quickly becoming one of our best players. What a strike.

Tweet of the Week

It looks like the ladies went hard after winning gold. Just as they should.

Quick Hits

• Chicago Fire Sporting Director Georg Heitz will leave the club at the end of the season (Link)

• American Austin Trusty scores against Wrexham (Link)

• LA Galaxy receive part of the Julian Araujo sale as part of sell-on clause (Link)

• MLS terminates the contract of FC Cincinnati forward Aaron Boupendza (Link)

Now go enjoy the last few weeks of Summer.