Thursday Freedom Kicks: USMNT World Cup qualification, Washington Spirit, and more

Soccer, go!

Hello from a windy and rainy Thursday! These kinds of springs days are some of my favorite, as Spring pushes late winter out of the way and nurses flowers and trees and life back. And hey, the US men are going to the World Cup! Let’s get to it:

2022 World Cup Qualifiers: USA 0-2 Costa Rica - a tricky fixture results in the USA headed to Qatar

The USMNT lost last night in Costa Rica, but it didn’t matter. The balance of qualification means that they have punched their ticket and directly qualified for the World Cup this coming winter, and will be playing against the world’s best for the first time since 2014.

Washington Spirit fight back in 2-2 draw with North Carolina Courage

The defending champs have their third draw in three games, coming back to draw the North Carolina Courage late. They started to look like themselves in the second half, and so hopefully they can start to carry that through for whole games and start grabbing the full three points.

Its done. Thank goodness.

The tactical lesson we’re not talking about from Atlanta United’s draw vs. Montreal

Our friends down I-85 take a look at Atlanta United’s game against Montreal and wonder if the team is as flexible as they thought.

Barcelona 5-2 Real Madrid: A fever dream in Catalunya

It’s not El Clasico yet, but it will be.

That’s all I have today. What’s up?