Mario: Hey everyone.
At the San Andreas Cup match that
we just had, our dear Jun went
down with a non-contact injury,
and she was holding her knee.
As most of you know, she was out,
for a long while with an SEI ACL
injury last year that kept her
sidelined for a really long time.
It felt horrible seeing that.
Angela was there in person.
I was listening to the match on the
radio on iHeart, and it felt extra
horrible because she passed over
some of the mics, um, that were
on the field, so you can hear her
crying, and this is heartbreaking.
as of recording, we don't have any more
information than what's already out
there, regarding her condition, beyond,
what the team has released and whatnot.
So she's currently under
evaluation, and we'll have more
info whenever we get more info.
Two things we just wanted
to start the pod out with.
One, please give the team, and
especially Jun, their time during this.
There's no need.
Coming out with news of her having
an injury that's gonna sideline her
or an SEI or she's A-okay, none of
that's gonna change what happened and
what she's going through, so give them
their time, give them their space.
I just ask that from all the
people listening or all the
people that you know of, right?
Angela: Let them be thorough
Mario: Exactly.
There's no need to rush on this.
And two, the community, our small
little group of friends, listeners,
and fans, were devastated when this
happened, and we banded pretty g-together
and brought this idea of best way
to sh-show support to the team, to
people that we don't know personally,
is through some action, and something that
came up fairly organically and quickly
was donating $18 in honor of Jun Endo to
Cedars-Sinai, and specifically writing
in for women's injury rese-research.
in order to do that, you click the
other button of where you want the money
directed, and you can type that in.
Please consider a donation if you can.
we're also in talks with, the SGs to
possibly get cards or other well wishes,
to her directly, but if any of that comes
to fruition or we have more information,
we'll definitely be sharing that with, all
of you and with the community, at large.
So, um, we are devastated.
We are huge
Jun fans here, and, we
wish her all the best.
And then let's get to some shenanigans.
Angela: Wel-
Mario: ba-da, ba-da.
Ba-da, ba-da, ba-da.
Angela: Welcome to Casual FC everybody,
an Angel City match preview and
footy therapy podcast featuring
two certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Angela Morales,
with my, US-trotting co-host, Mario
Salazar, who's in a different hotel
this time in a different place
Mario: yes, and I did not know that I
was going to be here starting Monday
morning, but by the end of Monday,
I was like, "Crap, I gotta go."
So I am back in Columbus, Ohio,
for, work reasons, for the thing
that helps us pay for this podcast
essentially.
Angela: Yep
Mario: the adulting part of it all.
so yeah, I'm here, and you know what?
Guess what?
I'm flying back to LA
tomorrow afternoon, so
Angela: While Mario is off doing
magical, cool, big adult job things,
I am here in the normal place.
As you heard the airplane go over,
the TV is on with All-Star Game.
It's not the middle of the night.
It's amazing.
But this episode is our match preview of
our upcoming match on Saturday, July 18th
versus the Chicago Red Stars, whatever.
I will deadname two things, and it's
Twitter and the Chicago Red Stars.
The game will be played at Northwestern
Medicine Field at Martin Stadium outside
of Chicago, 3:30 Pacific kickoff.
It'll be streaming on ION
and also on iHeartRadio.
With ION, it'll be part of
the, Saturday soccer double,
triple header, which is always
my favorite.
Yeah.
Mario: now, right?
Yeah.
Angela: Yeah
There's so many games.
I love it.
But, super excited for this match.
We'll talk about why later, but so
much has happened since Saturday.
We're gonna move things around
a little bit, give you some
feedback after the game.
I'll give you my recap of San
Diego, Snapdragon, all the things.
But first and foremost, we have our
coveted and loved haiku from Ethan
Mario: the haiku from Ethan.
"Niehues head of steam, while Borges went
in five hole, turned over a new Leif."
And leaf is spelled as, Leif
Sermund, the interim head
coach, who I have now learned his name.
no disrespect to the coach.
It was just feelings were
Angela: Who is this man?
Yeah
Mario: Yes, itâ¦
No disrespect to not learning your name.
We were going to learn
your name eventually.
You just needed to give us some time.
But now, yes.
Angela: Now we have it, and now it's fine.
I saw, I think itâ¦
I don't know if it was Casey or someone
else posted like, "I love that our interim
coach now looks like an accountant."
And I was like, "Yep,
those are the ones that get stuff done."
Mario: we went from, one coach who
would only wear Angel City training gear
to streetwear coach, and
then now we've got, business
Angela: CPA.
Mario: Yeah.
So
Angela: CPA at happy hour.
Mario: But, I, yeah, I, I hope that a
lot of this is really just building up.
And as the name implies, I'm the
casual here, so it's not like
I'm gonna be able to tell you or
break down that his system is any
different than what, Straus was doing.
Angela: It's been two weeks.
Mario: I g- I know
Angela: weeks, whatever.
I
Mario: also.
but, you I h- I hope that what we're
looking at is just a continual evolution
of what the team has been working on.
And don't throw the baby out with
the bathwater kinda situation
where, they've been working towards
something and it was improving.
Keep going with it.
Make your modifications as you need to,
but keep going with the general idea.
And so hopefully that's what
really what we're heading into.
but yes, we got another notch in
our San Andreas Cup standings,
which was our prompt for this,
week's Footy Therapy after this.
'Cause honestly, going up
against the number one team
Angela: Slightly daunting.
Just a smidge
Mario: just a smidge, while we were two
po- two games in hand, was a l- it just
on paper was a little intimidating.
But as we all know, when it comes to
these, quote-unquote, rivalry matches"
as the NWSL branded the entire thing
as Rivalry Week, most of these gameâ¦
yeah.
Most of these games you can almost
ignore the current trends because they
will start getting either sloppy, or
they'll start getting very pushy, or
they might end up getting boring because
both of them are, like, hunkering down.
you never know what
you're actually gonna get.
It almost doesn't matter what
the previous games were, or
even the last time they met up,
it's always gonna be different.
So that's always the fun thing
about these kind of, derby matches.
and that's what we got.
We kinda got something that we
weren't necessarily, fully expecting
because of the disparity in place
and in, the way the teams were.
But, yeah,
Angela: I'll tell you, San
Diego wasn't ready for it.
And I love that for them
Mario: we definitely came inâ¦
so when I posted this, we got
a couple of quick comments.
Of course, a lot of the comments
were, reference to Jun, offering
support for Jun, think- ha-
having her in our thoughts.
So we know that was, that's what happened,
and we're, we're keeping that in mind.
but not to bring down the win.
Jun was involved as an assist
in one of these goals, right?
Angela: wanna make a
quick comment about this.
I am upset that assist was not
listed for Assist of the Week.
There were no Angel City
nominations for assist, for goal,
for save, or Player of the Week.
I'm just saying, I don't like it
Mario: Oh, I, that was, when I
looking at the highlights and the
replays and stuff like that, Iâ¦
that definitely should have been
one, 'cause that was a very clean
Angela: It was just like
Mario: We, we got, a couple of
comments, one from Cassandra saying,
"Brazilians, they get the job done," with
Angela: That's a Hamilton reference, fosho
Mario: Yeah.
And then, Elise came in with, "Yay."
And then wrote in parentheses
that we have, it was in
reference to the Kermit emoji.
so I'm gonna put it right here.
Yay.
Angela: The like
Mario: Yeah.
the arm waving and everything like
Angela: Yes.
Mario: And then, our Discord was
full of, fun banter, but also
thoughts about Jun, like we said.
we, a- And so weâ¦
But the sentiment was overall,
"Hey, we did the thing."
this was a huge six-point game for us.
we still have our two games in ha- Anytime
we screw up a game, that two games in
hands becomes less and less relevant.
So the fact that we won that, is
just another notch in our cap there.
and, TJ kinda threw out there, "I
wonder if we could now become the
destination for Brazilian players, of
Angela: I wouldn't hate that
Mario: yeah.
Orlando's a little bit of a
closer flight than California.
But
Angela: we've got Orlando has a bunch,
San Diego has a bunch now, Gabby Portillo,
Ludmila, and Dudinha who's out for the
season, and somebody else I think I am
not remembering right now, and then us.
So I don't hate it.
I don't hate it.
Ary did tell me Los
Angeles feels like home.
It feels like Brazil.
it culturally, there's so much
diversity, so much good food, and itâ¦
the energy is alive and fun.
So if more fantastic Brazilian
players wanna come play at
Angel City, I will not be upset
Mario: that being that, I had life duties.
I caught the game on the radio for
most of the first half, got home
and was able to watch the game.
so again, as always, shout out to Isaac
and Tracey because listening to them was
always made me feel like I was joining
Angela in her trip down to San Diego.
And if, correct me if I'm wrong,
you said this was your First
away day match as, at Snappy.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: So how was it?
Do
Angela: Oh my God.
Okay, so it was a weekend full of soccer.
Even I went down on the train on Friday.
We were staying with my
best friend and his family.
And so Saturday morning we were up and
out of the house by 9:30, headed up from
Chula Vista to Oceanside, so the entirety
of San Diego County, for my nephew's
soccer games up there, which we were at
this soccer complex that was builtâ¦
You wanna talk private equity and sports?
I have some thoughts,
bigger than I already did.
But this complex, for this tournament
that was happening, it was like a bunch
of different divisions, 25 different
pitches, like different fields.
So 25 games going on simultaneously.
My nephew, his team was at,
thankfully, field number six, so
we were like close to the front.
It was also super humid, but
it ended up being really fun.
We hung out there until about 2:00,
then we left, drove down to Snapdragon.
I took a very risky chance
and said, "Let's just see
what they have at the stadium.
Worst case, I'll just get chips
and I'll be, I'll deal with
it later."
Mario: Ooh,
and it, just for reference for
anybody who's not following
along here, she's talking about
food, about sustenance, about
the fact that, with a
gluten-free diet it's hard to
eat at stadiums in particular.
Angela: is risky
Mario: here's calling you out BMO.
Um,
Angela: This is where I'm going.
Yeah.
Mario: And so you, you chanced it, not
Angela: I chanced it.
I had done research.
There was like, yeah, they have
gluten-free options, stuff's marked.
I'm like, "Okay, cool."
I had options between pizza,
shawarma bowls, nachos, fried ch-
chicken tenders, but I wasn't sure
just cross-contamination-wise in
the fryers, and I was like, "I
don't feel like dealing with that."
and a few other things.
They also had lemonade stands
with four different flavors of
lemonade at multiple parts in the
stadium, and it was good lemonade.
And then I ended up getting the
shawarma bowl, and it was very good.
Mario: That's what I
Angela: But it was just, wha-
I had options, and it wasn't
just "Here's some chips."
It was, like, real, a meal,
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: and it was very good.
So Snapdragon, you're doing a great
job when it comes to food partnerships.
Also a bunch ofâ¦
it's old BMO in the sense that it's, a
bunch of local restaurants, that have,
th- they're vending at the stadium.
And
it would be really cool to be able to eat
at a soccer game 'cause even when I'm in
the press box, it's 70/30 I can't eat.
last game I had, a burger patty and
cheese and a tomato slice and coleslaw
The game before that, they had chicken
parm and pasta, and I almost cried.
It smelled so good.
But there's very little
options at BMO in general.
I don't think anybody really thinks
the food is that good anymore.
they're starting to mark stuff.
I got nachos at one game
'cause I was like, "Let's see."
Whatâ¦
I don'tâ¦
What is happening with nachos at BMO?
I don't understand.
But
Mario: yeah.
And f- I, one thing that upsets me
with the nachos is that they won't
even, Because the kids love the nachos.
they want the nachos.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: I want them to do is not put
the pico, pico de gallo on there.
don't put the salsa on there because
you have chopped jalapeños in there.
For me, delicious.
For my kids, not so much.
And because it's an add-on at the
top, just don't do it, and they're
like, "Oh, we can't do that."
I'm like,
Angela: button, but
Yeah.
it's, it makes
Mario: it's not a button
because it's all AI now.
It's the stupid
AI things
Angela: it's a button on the register
'cause they can ring you up 'cause you
can refuse to use those, but whatever.
Snapdragon has really good food.
it's a decentâ¦
the concourse of the stadium is great.
Parking, Eva and I pulled in
and we're like, "What the hell?
Where are we going?"
'Cause the main parking
lot is under construction.
They're building, a apartment complex
for the university so that they're
a little bit closer to the stadium.
And so we're like, "Where
the hell are we going?"
We have to, go all the way
around this whole thing.
We ended up parking, nine cars
from the little place where you
walk up to go to the stadium.
So we're like, "Okay, fine.
I guess it's not that bad."
we get there.
We're meeting some family friends there.
Jamie from Rebellion is,
three rows in front of us.
R- the s- the supporter groupsâ¦
This is how many people
didn't go to this game.
Supporter tickets got moved from 212
or whatever the normal section they're
in up top down to the main lower bowl
Mario: So I s- I definitely secretly
looked into, when I didn't realize what
the schedule was on the weekend for the
family, I looked at, schedules because
I'm right next to the Amtrak, so I can
take the Amtrak from my place
all the way, the Pacific Surfl-
Surfliner all the way down.
And then looking at the game time and then
looking at oh, how can I make it back?
Angela: Last train home, yeah
Mario: make it to the last train
home, which one of our listeners,
Anthony, made it on the last train
home, back to LA, which I was like,
okay, so it was totally doable.
Angela: It was totally doable.
Mario: thing.
and, so I was looking at that and,
definitely trying to figure all that out.
And then when I looked at tickets,
I was really surprised that they
weren't selling the upper bowl.
And I
Angela: Yeah, they weren't
even available for sale
Mario: at first I was like,
oh dang, did they sell out?
But then I was like, why would the upper
bowl be completely sold out and then you
have so many tickets in the lower bowl?
And then I was like, oh, wow, okay.
that's a little surprising.
I haveâ¦
it's not like I look
at s- at San Diego tickets
all the time, but I was a
Angela: But you would think a
top-of-the-table team would have
better turnout, which is a bummer.
But it's also, the stadium is
far away from San Diego proper.
it's in University Heights, but, San
Diego, where most people associate
things, where, like University
Park, the Gaslamp, like downtown San
Diego, it's like a good ways away.
But you can take the light rail
there, which is super cool.
You just get out and you're at the game.
but honestly, we had so much fun.
so much fun.
We went with my mom's coworker,
his brother-in-law, and his
niece, and it was his niece'sâ¦
She plays soccer and some other sports,
but she plays soccer and loves it.
big women's soccer fan in general.
It was her first NWSL game.
And we knew this, so I, that
morning, was like sorting through
San Diego cards I was willing to
part with, took some down for her.
weâ¦
My secret goal, our family friend
was like, "You're not gonna turn
her into an Angel City fan."
I was like, no.
I'm not trying to do that.
I'm trying to keep her
as a WoSo fan forever."
And he was like, okay."
'Cause he is a big San Diego
Padres fan, and I am not.
So there's a, we talk shit a lot.
But the best part was at
halftime, her and her dad go up.
They're gone for a hot minute.
She, like they come back, and she has
the biggest grin on her face, and she's
wearing a San Diego Wave jersey now.
Mario: Got a kit at the
Angela: She got a kit at the stadium,
and so after the game, I was like, "Okay,
I know your team didn't win, but did
you have fun, and would you come back?"
And she was like, "I have to come back.
I have to get my jersey
personalized, duh."
And I was like, "Yes."
And her dad and her uncle looked
at me and were just like, "Thanks."
And I'm like, "You're welcome."
My, I looked at both of them and I was
like, I don't hate to say this, and
I'm not sorry, but my plan worked."
And they were like, "Yeah, we
figured that one out real quick."
But it was just so fun.
The environment there is great.
we were sitting in section 121,
which is right at the visiting
team's tunnel, so we were just there,
everybody's hooting and hollering
for the players as they come out.
They're saying hi to people,
autographs after the game.
we were like nine rows up from
the pitch, and it was great.
Thankfully, there was like a little
monsoon thing happening in San Diego.
It drizzled for a good two
minutes during the game.
People started freaking out.
But the sun wasn't out, so it was
just like nice and cooling off of a
little bit of rain, a nice breeze.
It was great.
I wasâ¦
It was so much fun being that close to
the players, to the team practicing and
warming up and everything like that.
The only thing I wish that had been
different was I wish all of the saves that
Angelina accrued in the second half, I
wish they had been on the side we were on.
But I do
Mario: We're on the
Angela: the
fact, yeah, I appreciate the
fact that she did that in front
of their supporter section.
the competitor in me is "Show
Mario: Just shut them down.
from
Angela: Yeah
shut them down.
But no, she had a great game.
It was such a good game to watch.
It was weird.
I'm so used to being, like, elevated,
Mario: Yeah, you were lower.
You were, you were pretty down low.
You were, I think You
were probably more
equivalent to where I was,
where I'm usually.
Oh, you were
lower.
Angela: We were nine rows up,
but, in, in the mix of things.
I could just be like, "Hey."
There's also so much
legroom at that stadium.
Yeah, but it was a blast, and we got
to give away so many San Andreas Cup
stickers that you made because on Friday,
Mario met Eva and I in the Metro station
in downtown LA to give me a stack of
stickers and, San Andreas Cup stickers.
People were hunting me down.
"Angela, what section are you in?
Angela, where are you?
Can you meet me at halftime?"
we were running around the
stadium giving people stickers
Mario: So you wanna know a little secret?
I got those-- I sent the-- I to- we talked
about making those stickers, and I was
like, "Oh, there's a place nearby
my house."
And i- of course they're gonna be a little
bit pricier just 'cause they're like,
they're local and they're, they're not,
like, being made mass-produced
and stuff like that.
'Cause I, I-- we only ordered, um, like
25 or, 50 whatever, some small number.
and, um, when I submitted it and
I talked to them, I wasn't even--
we weren't even sure if they were
gonna be able to make it because
if-- at the possible earliest, they
estimated th-they'd be done on Friday.
That wasn't going to work 'cause you were
already heading down to San Diego.
and then, and then I, I'm not heading down
there, I wasn't gonna be able to hand them
off, and I was like, "Oh, maybe I'll hold
them on-- hold onto them for the Bayâ¦"
I think we played Bay FC
towards the end of the season,
Angela: I thought we played
them
Mario: home.
No, we played San
Diego at home, and we played
Angela: Oh, you're right.
Yeah, I think We
Mario: we have one more, we have one more
match at home, which I believe is Bay.
and then, they called me up on Thursday
and were like, "Oh, they're done," 'cause
it was such a small batch, and I did
pre-call and talk to them about it.
Angela: Oh, that's dope
" Mario: Awesome.
Awesome."
And so I was half at work because
I was intending to meet you.
I didn't necessarily
have to go in on Friday,
but I was
Angela: I have a feeling
Mario: but I was like, if I can catch
you, one, it'll be awesome 'cause
you'll be able to have them there.
and two, I did do work things.
I did have meetings in actual
conference rooms, and it was
beneficial for me to be there."
But as a bonus, I was able to
Angela: It was really fun.
So for those of you who read
the Metro, even I took the Expo
line, which was E line, whatever.
I don't know the letters.
So we take the Expo line or 7th and Metro.
We get off, and we're like, "Okay, I don't
know where the hell Mario's gonna be.
I think I have to go upstairs.
I don't really know."
We get out, and she's "Okay, just leave
the bag with me and, go run wherever."
I- we get off the train and, start
to go to, the little thing where you
transfer to then go downstairs or, leave
the station, and Mario's just there.
And I was like, "Ah."
Like the little, Metro ambassadors
are like, "Do you need help?"
And we're like, "No."
All three of us were
like, "Stop talking to us.
We have stickers."
No, it was great, and
it was super helpful.
So thank you for your $1.75,
charge to, meet me in the station and
then allow us to run downstairs because,
four seconds after Mario hands me the
stickers, I'm like, "Okay, let's-- we're
all gonna start heading downstairs."
The train just pulls in,
and we're like, "Oh, shit
Mario: How rude
Angela: Does it
work?
Mario: about that, everyone
Angela: But no, it was perfect timing
and you could not have timed it better.
it was just off, handover,
hugs, have fun, see you later.
Walk downstairs, get on the train.
Next thing you know, we're at Union
Station and I'm getting coffee.
Mario: yeah.
Which was the important thing.
I actually, I went back into my
building 'cause I'm only a few blocks
from the Seventh and Metro stop.
I went back to my building and I stopped
at the Espress- the, machine in our
lobby, and I was just like, "Coffee.
Coffee time."
Angela: Yeah.
Yeah, absolutely
Mario: I'm so glad that you had a blast.
I got to go to the San Diego
match ver- the year one.
I went down, and that was a fun, That
was a fun match because I also, I
picked up someone in our supporters
group that I really just, met because
we were like, "Who needs a ride?"
And I was like,
"I'm gonna be going about an hour
after everybody else is going,
so if anybody else needs it."
And then, so I picked her
up in, I think, Newport.
And then, we went, and then she went on
the adventure with me of, we stopped in
Irvine to charge my car, 'cause it was
an electric car, to give it a little
bit of a zap in order to be able to
get home.
And so, likeâ¦
But it was a fun, it
was a fun, experience.
I think for
the sunburn mecca that
Snappy is, it's a fun time.
the
San Diego Wave put on a good,
put on a good game and the
fans are fun there,
Angela: They also have
Mario: drunk people thatâ¦
They do.
They-- I will say, they
got some pretty cool merch
Angela: they were debuting a
pow- a powder Powerpuff Girls?
Powerpuff Girls, like
a Powerpuff Girls line.
And I was like, "I can't buy this
Mario: that's pretty awesome
Angela: I need it and I cannot
buy it, but more power to you.
Go get cool stuff
Mario: Yeah.
this match wasn't the only match, that
happened over this NWSL rivalry weekend.
so let's do a quick roundabout
of all the scores in the NWSL.
We had Bay FC, and not all of them
were officially rivalry matches, but
it was just most of them.
Uh, Bay FC beat, Racing,
Louisville two to, two to nothing.
Boston beat Chicago, two to zero.
Orlando beat KC three to zero.
Uh, Gotham beat Utah three to one.
The Spirit beat North
Carolina two to zero.
We won two to zero over San Diego.
The Reign beat Portland two to zero.
And
Angela: Cascadia
45 was nothing like Cascadia 44.
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
Angela: It was way more chill
Mario: and funny enough, we
have a shirt for that, so
Angela: do.
Mario: go take a look.
and then, Denver and Houston
ended up drawing two to two.
we have a Chaos Award
Which, Angela, do you
wanna go ahead andâ¦
'Cause this was your Chaos Award
Angela: It was.
my chaos award genuinely went to
the penalty that happened in the
Angel City-San Diego game becauseâ¦
Mario: that helped us out?
Angela: Yeah, so controversial PK
kind of, and then PK gets taken,
Ang goes one way, ball goes another,
and all of us are just like, "Damn
it, there goes our clean sheet."
And then the ball
ricochets off of the post.
It does not go in.
It ricochets, but she's laying
essentially at this point in front
of the goal, and it ricochets back.
And then the ball essentially, did
a body roll up Angelina's backside,
like her entire backside, like knees
to her middle back, and didn't go in.
And I don't understand the momentum off
the ball into her body, how it didn't
then ricochet again into the goal.
I'm not questioning it.
I'm not upset about it.
It stayed out of the goal.
She got the clean sheet she deserved.
It's fine.
We won.
Mario: It's all good.
It's all good.
Angela: Yeah.
It's all good
Mario: And then, for a quick
little standings check, we
are currently in ninth place.
We're one point behind Orlando,
who is in eighth, and eighth
is the playoff cutoff line.
but two games in hand, so that's
gonna be the chant going on as long
as we're not screwing up the two
games in hand, opportunity that
Angela: Exactly.
Mario: That's the thing that
we're gonna keep going with.
all right, let's preview our next match.
which means Angel City will
be traveling up to Chicago.
We have one more away game before our
really fun Pride match that's going to
be happening the following week, so stay
tuned for the next episode about that.
but Angela, tell us what we're,
looking at, when we go to Chicago
Angela: Yeah, so Chicago's having
a very weird season in general.
They are playing in a new stadium.
They are
being oddly managed.
You've got defensive
midfielders in the back line.
There's injuries there, like
SEIs, maternity leave, whatever.
there's injuries there, and there's
also people playing out of position
and people who have never played a
position before playing positions.
Lots of questions, players that
are on the roster that haven't been
seen, and they play those positions.
It's one of those things where it feels
very reminiscent of Angel City, to be
quite honest, of just "What's happening?
I don't know.
I don't understand."
But it is
what it is
Mario: whenever a team is going
through chaos, it's that's about an
Angel City thing
Angela: Yeah, I understand.
I see you.
But they are starting to kinda
get the groove, get the feel.
They're up some-- They're
very hot and cold right now.
Mal Swanson is officially back.
they signed Jordan Heidema
at the beginning of the
season, and yet they areâ¦
Like, the bottom three right now in the
table is Boston, Chicago, and Louisville,
and they're all just flip-flopping in
the dredge of the bottom of the table.
But no matter what, you have to keep your
eye on Jordan Heidema, and that's really
who I'm gonna spotlight because she now
has two goals on the season for Chicago
after a weird start, but that in a similar
fashion where Angel City, for a few
long whiles, could not get the ball past
the midfield to the forwards to score,
similar things were happening in Chicago.
Like I said, they're starting
to kinda figure it out and get
the ball where it needs to go.
But Jordan Heidema is number 99.
She is a forward.
She started her career at PSG, so Paris
Saint-Germain, and she was actively
also being recruited to UCLA and
Stanford, but as a Canadian national
was like, I can just go play overseas."
it's not that serious.
so she started there in 2018, I
believe, and played there until
the Seattle Reign called and said,
"Hey, girl, wanna come to Seattle?
You're from Vancouver
or outside Vancouver.
It's not super far."
So in 2022, she signed a contract there.
In, 70 caps, she scored 13 goals before
signing with the Stars this season,
and she is just a persistent threat.
If you have watched any US national
team versus Canada matchups in the
last few years, homegirl's there.
She's well-known.
I believe she still has the
partnership with TJ Maxx and is a
Maxxinista, even though their jersey
sponsor's for a different team.
She and Napheesa
Collier from the WNBA areâ¦
Yeah, they're, ambassadors for TJ
Maxx, which is wild because she's
basically like Sarah Gorden is a
model, Jordan Heidema is a model.
W- you don't shop at TJ Maxx, girl.
You haven't for a hot
minute, but whatever.
Mario: but she can style you with
all the available styles at TJ Maxx
Angela: you right.
but she's been in the Canadian
soccer system since 2014
when she was on the U15 team.
So she's been burning and churning
in the women's national team
program for Canada, and she's been
on the senior team since 2017.
So she had to face the
20- the 19ers, the 23ers.
she has faced up against the US
national team many times in 98 caps.
She scored 24 goals at
the senior national level.
So again, never count her out.
If she can get the ball at her feet, she
is a threat regardless of the success of
her team overall, and that's something
I think people need to understand
is that shooters are gonna shoot.
Players who can find the goal are
gonna find the back of the net.
they're gonna do it regardless
of top of the table, bottom of
the table, somewhere in between.
They just do that.
So if we can mark her along with
Mal and just really take care of
the ball, I think we'll be okay.
Theâ¦
we might collectively as fans feel like
everything is topsy-turvy and upside
down, but we've had a little bit more
consistency this season than they have.
I don't know if they've had,
the same roster twice yet.
So we'll see.
see.
But overall, Angel City just needs to come
out the w- and do what we've been doing.
The last two games have been electric.
It has been so much fun to watch,
and you can tell that the players
are having fun, minus the b- as, Max
put it in the Discord, the boot to
snoot that Maiara Niehues took this
weekend after she heads the goal in
and then gets a boot to the face.
yeah, and that got called for a
high boot and got a yellow card.
it was just like, "And
everything happens now."
Mario: Oh God.
Yeah, don't, just don't
get injured people.
Just like
Angela: Exactly.
Please don't But yeah,
Mario: maybe that, happened
when I wasn't watching
Angela: It was the first goal of the
game, so you, you weren't on your TV yet.
Yeah.
Mario: yeah
Angela: but if we go out, play Angel City
football, play the way we want to and
control the game while understanding that
Chicago is still learning who they are
in this new era, we have to hold steady.
We have to be the ones to dictate
the pace of the game, ball
possession, the control of the game.
If we can do that, we'll be okay because
that's what we did against San Diego,
that's what we did against Orlando.
I don't even know where Orlando was.
Real Orlando was not in that game.
But the one thing I have noticed
is that we come out super, super
strong in s- in the first half.
We're on it.
We're just likeâ¦
like I said, we're electric, and then
we're controlling the ball, we're setting
the pace, and then in the second half, and
I think it's fatigue more than anything at
this point, but we start to let the other
team take a little bit more control of
the ball and dictate more of the pace and
dictate more of how the game is gonna go.
So if we can retain possession
and retain that control instead of
allowing a little bit of it to slip,
that's when we're the best version of
ourselves, when we come out in the,
in both halves and play the full 90
as Angel City and not as a response
to whatever the other team is doing.
Yeah.
But overall, it's super, super important
that we take this game and the next
game, 'cause like I said, Louisville,
Boston, and Chicago are the bottom of the
table, but those are points we should be
Mario: We should be
getting.
Yeah.
Angela: Yeah.
So this game, three points.
Next game, three points.
It's Pride Night.
Hello.
those are six points that will
serve us so well, like you said,
as we get deeper in the season.
We have a plus six goal
differential right now.
If we add to that tiebreaker, like just
boop, if we're neck and neck with a team,
we have the same record, we have a better
goal differential, that's the difference
between eighth and ninth place, or seventh
and eighth place and a better matchup.
Let's go.
Hell yeah.
Because we're so close.
we're so close to just clicking and
putting it all together, and based
on Sarah Gorden's comments after the
game, it genuinely really feels like
there was a players meeting and they
decided this is what we're doing.
This is the course.
This is the way.
Stick to it.
be ourselves.
Show up that way.
Let's go have fun.
Because that's what it
feels like on the pitch.
I've been in players meetings.
I've been in those moments of
everybody looking at each other and
being like, "Ain't this some shit?"
Yep.
What are we gonna do about it?
Not what are, what is the
coaching staff gonna do about it?
How are we gonna make this happen?
It's what are we gonna do?
How do we step up?
And there's something that happened
either last season or this-- it was,
I think it was the season before.
no, it was last season in the
WNBA, the Aces lost by 53.
They're the reigning champions.
They get blown out of the gym.
There is a players only meeting.
Captains talk to the coach, and
she's "Start scouting the teams.
I'm not doing this for you anymore.
Like you take control of this and
show up for yourselves because
I'm not gonna be th- I can't.
I'll show up for you if you
show up for yourselves as well."
And after that it was lights out
and it was scary in a good way.
But it almost feels like something similar
to that happened where the players were
like, "Okay, this is the game plan for
these players," and it's just going and
I love it, and as long as we don't start
bleeding goals, I'm okay 'cause I don't
want our goal differential to go away
Mario: Yeah, let's try to keep
that positive goal differential.
let's keep it in the plus side
Angela: Yeah.
And right now in the bottom eight,
so top eight playoff eligible teams,
bottom eight is us and everybody else.
We, it's us and the Denver Summit that
have a positive goal differential.
Like I said, ours is plus
six, theirs is plus one.
So they are on the cusp, we are
scoring more, which is perfect.
I love this.
But Yeah.
I'm just really excited that we look
alive and we look like we want to show up
for ourselves, not just that we're there
because we have to finish out the season,
and that's the difference maker for me.
But my player of this game, I
have not spotlighted a player in
weeks and weeks because it really
just needed to be a team effort
Mario: We
Angela: because nobody knew
what the hell was going on.
Yeah, last week we did Karina
because she had a standout game.
This week, obviously I'm gonna
talk about Angelina, duh.
Our number 19, our keeper, like
Cal W- goalkeeper of the year, just
insane collegiate player, comes up,
debuts for us in the 2023 Challenge
Cup against Portland, winds up
blocking a PK against Olivia Moultrie.
I feel like Angelina blocking PKs is
becoming a trend and I don't hate that.
I love
it.
Mario: at that.
Not mad at it.
Angela: If that's what
you're known for, o- okay.
That's fine.
That's absolutely fine.
But in that same season when we had our
first and only playoff appearance, she
was the goalkeeper that game, and she's
the first rookie to ever do it, to ever
be the starting keeper in a playoff
match, which takes a lot to get there.
She had a fantastic end of that 2023
season where she took the top spot.
because of that and because
of what's happened since then,
she's been up and down in the
US Women's National Team system.
She's gone to training camps.
She's been pr- a practice player,
so she hasn't been on the, official
roster yet, but she's in the mix.
Yeah.
She's in the mix, and honestly,
I hope to see her there more.
There's big conversation of who's our
keeper, who's our keeper, because we've
had generations of it's Brianna Scurry,
it's Hope Solo, it's Alyssa Naeher.
It's not oh, we have this keeper
collective essentially, and right now we
don't have this ah, like this is the one.
we have options, and there's still so
much to choose between now and next year.
So I'm very curious.
I hope she's getting another
call up for the next training
camp and I'm just so excited.
She's so fun to watch, and having
a six-foot-tall keeper is clutch.
Mario: she had a pretty rough
start this year, and it, n- I'm not
gonna shy away from this, yeah, it
was this season, that she was having
a rough time, and we were in, there
was this whole conversation of should
she even be our starting keeper
Angela: Oh, it was.
Yeah, it was this year.
I was thinking last year when
she went the three matches
and then Dede took back over,
Mario: Oh, no, no,
Angela: she t- No.
Mario: I'm talking about her on her
own, on her own at the
beginning of this season.
She,
and I'm not gonna shy away from the fact
that, we had those conversations on this
pod about is she our starting keeper?
Do we need to give the other keepers
that we have on the roster some leeway?
Because as we've mentioned before,
the keeper position is one of those
that it's yours until you lose it.
It's yours to lose.
it's not a, oh, the, the second keeper
has, was just doing better in practice
this week, so they get to start.
no.
you leave your keeper in until
something goes wrong, right?
And there was a bit that was going
wrong at the beginning of the season.
I- it seems though that whatever
yips she had at the beginning
of the season have been figured
out, and she's been solid.
She was solid, I, if I remember correctly,
she was solid leading up into the break.
Angela: Yeah
Mario: Some of those, again,
some of those losses that we
had were there was fluke goals.
There was, like, just crashing the box.
There was just things that
Angela: You can't be
in four places at once
in in a small area.
Mario: And in these, matches that we've
had so far, like she's been doing great.
So as long as that is what's
continuing, I think we're, I think
we're still in a good position.
And, m- a lot of those, the more games she
has that are solid this way, whether or
not they're, um, clean sheets, or wins,
but like the more, solid games she's
having, the less people are gonna remember
or think about the beginning of the
Angela: Yeah.
I forgot.
But no, I did have it in here that,
her growth over the last couple
seasons has actively been tangible.
There's been everybody has
bad games, that's whatever.
But even just if you look at this season
as its own little thing, the beginning
of the season right before the June break
when everything started to ramp up and
we were hitting our stride even with the
injuries that kind of took us out of that
great momentum shift in the beginning,
she was still locked in and you saw it,
like the faltering of a couple losses of
just oh my God, like that Orlando game
would've made me spiral a little bit.
But to then come back and have
a month off, take some time to
recenter, and then the last couple
games, that girl's different.
Watching her warm up as close as
we were to, to the goal, like her
and Hannah Siebert out there, she
commands attention on the pitch.
it's such a interesting thing because
you look at how people carry themselves
in general, but athletes specifically,
there is this quiet confidence when
somebody is just like in their bag.
They know their stuff,
they feel good, they'reâ¦
They can see everything and they talk
about like when a baseball player is
in the batter's box and the ball looks,
this big, they can hit anything versus
when you can't see the ball at all.
For basketball, it's the same thing.
the hoop is a pool.
It's not this little thing
you're trying to make.
That's what it looks like.
It looks like she's "Oh, I'm chilling."
I coverâ¦
She is Elastigirl, like she is Mrs.
Incredible standing in front of the goal
and it's so nice to see and to see her
just stand in front of the goal, center
herself and just be like, "I am here.
Good luck to you."
"That's cute.
Nice try."
Yeah
Mario: maybe it was her starting
her own little, musical journey
Angela: which is super dope.
her s- her Substack
podcast thing is very cool
Mario: yeah, just centering her,
giving her that little bit of zen
of, I can focus on other things and,
you know, not to say that she
probably wasn't already, but, just
Angela: No, but it's
Mario: other avenues.
the-
having, in general, for anybody, anybody
listening, whether you're a player or
not, having other avenues than what you do
for a living is crucial to just
Angela: Being a good version of yourself.
Mario: exactly.
hence why we have this.
Angela: Exactly.
Ding, ding.
Mario: So I think I've been
Yes, it's looked really good.
and the more we can get of the,
Anderson Bricklaying, Union
setting up those brick walls, the better
Angela: Absolutely.
So when it comes to matching
up against Chicago, ourâ¦
This record, blows my mind.
It doesn't make any sense to me.
We have four wins, two
draws, and three losses.
It's way more even than I thought it was.
I don't even know how I thought it was.
Like, I knew the San Diego
matchup was pretty even.
I didn't realize it
was, like, exactly even.
it's not anymore.
But it was going into Saturday, with,
four wins, six draws, and four losses.
But this, to have wins in our
favor, let's make it five.
Five wins.
That's what I wanna
see after this weekend.
But I have high hopes for this game.
I am very excited because on
Saturday we will have a house guest.
Our dear friend Jillian is letting
us babysit d- her dog, Molly.
So we will be watching the
game with Molly on the couch.
So pumped.
Mario: Nice
Angela: pumped to have a
little dog in the house.
Yeah, but go Angel City
Mario: Yeah.
Go Angel City.
with all that, if you've gotten
this far, you'd do us a favor.
You probably like what you're
listening to, subscribe, uh,
and like the posts that you see.
Subscribe to the show.
Go to casualfc.com
for all of the pod links, social links.
I believe the Discord
might be on there, too.
we're also on YouTube.
Find us there if you wanna
see our, mugs on screen.
Um,
the Discord, as we've mentioned
previously, it's a fun place where
we're all just kinda hanging out and
chatting and, about a bunch of stuff.
We're still watching the boys' tournament.
The boys' World Cup is still going on
Angela: I'm not, but other people
Mario: yeah.
Yeah.
W- there's a group of us on
there that are watching it.
Angela: Somebody, just to, to divert into
silly boys soccer comments that I made.
One of the guys at work today
asked me if I was still watching.
I was like, "Oh, the Colonizer Cup?
I'm over it."
And he was like, "Angela."
And I was like, "England,
Spain, Argentina, France, no."
anyway, that's all.
World Cup is fun.
who you like, except Argentina.
Mario: we're a year out from
the Women's World Cup in Brazil.
2031 is going to be in the
US, Mexico, and Costa Rica.
Um, so we've got that
also, to look forward for.
And, AFCON is coming up pretty
soon, the women's tournament.
Angela: Two weeks
Mario: we'll mention when those
matches are on the pod just so that
you're aware of where you might
be able to catch those things.
Maybe we'll do a little WoSo
Angela: Yeah, 'cause Prisca got the call
up and you know I'm so pumped for my girl.
hello
Mario: yeah, we'll definitely
check in on all of those things.
And, again, best ways to support
the pod, honestly just share or
comment on any one of our things.
It's all about engagement.
And normally we would tell you
about, our shop and our donation kind
of place that you can support us.
But as you heard at the beginning
of the episode, really if you
can, support Jun or support her in
Angela: Fund women's health research.
Yeah
Mario: Yeah.
Whether that's just a post for her that
you've tagged her in, she does see those.
whether it's a donation, in
her name, whatever you can do,
just have her in your thoughts.
she's been amazing to the team.
she's been amazing to the fan
group and the community, we should
support her the best we can.
And, as always, this pod is
bringing back the '90s chain letter.
Tell a friend about the pod.
Tell three friends about the pod and
have them tell three friends about the
pod, and it brings us all good luck.
We pack it up and we'll air ship it to
Chicago, and hopefully we get another,
win out there, another three points.
So with all of that, bye everyone.
Angela: Bye
Mario: really think we
need to name microphone
Angela: We do.
We need to name your microphone.
I have no brains right
now, so I don't know
Mario: if you see this at the end
of the episode, write down a name
somewhere, wherever you're watching
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: My wife put googly eyes
on my mic without me knowing,
and I love it, and I've kept it.
So yeah.
All right.
Angela: Bye everybody.