Angela: No, no.
Absolutely not.
Mario: So you wrote big fish on here,
Angela: I did.
Mario: I was like, I was
ready for the story, but
Angela: No, it's just a typo.
Nope.
Hi, everyone, and welcome to Casual
FC, an Angel City match preview
and footy therapy podcast featuring
two certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Angel Morales,
with my, hotel room visiting
co-host, Mario Salazar.
Mario: Yep.
Coming, coming to you live
from a hotel in New York City
Angela: this is our match preview of
our upcoming match on Sunday, August
9th versus the Seattle Reign at
Lumen Field at 6:00 PM kickoff, and
it'll actually be on ESPN2 as well as
iHeartRadio if you're not able to watch
Mario: last time it said
it was gonna be on ESPN2.
They put it on actual ESPN, like
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: straight up.
Angela: I don't know.
So who knows?
Mario: check the schedule.
Check, check,
Angela: Absolutely check the schedule
Mario: the app, all of that.
Yeah
Angela: Yeah.
But, it's daytime.
I don't know if anybody can tell.
It's bright.
I am, like, naturally lit
by the sun in my house.
we are recording early on Sunday morning
after Angel City's match yesterday because
Mario's traveling for work, and we're
busy, and we just do it when we can.
So yeah, Mario's in hot and muggy, n-
almost said North Carolina, New York City.
Weâ¦
I am in hot and muggy Los
Angeles 'cause what is this?
But
Mario: Yeah
Angela: we live to see another day
Mario: Yeah, I've, I was recapping,
with Angela on how my day went,
and, I have taken more showers and
walked more miles than I have really
ever in, one c- constant, sitting
session.
Angela: yeah, like a four-day period
Mario: Yeah.
Um, yesterday, which was, like, my full
day here, um, spent all morning walking
and walked, I don't know, maybe, just
in the, just in the morning, walked,
a good, five, six miles, going back
and forth because I am here for work.
I also have potential work, so, like, I
went to go visit the potential sites to
Angela: Double work
Mario: Yeah, to be able to, I did, I did
good, and I took extra pictures, and I
visited and understood the, the context.
but my work, here right now was actually
very late at night, um, which on the plus
side gave me the ability to a little bit.
and yesterday I went to The
Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Angela: Yay.
Mario: I
Angela: Very, very, very, very jealous
Mario: I unfortunately missed the match.
so I'm gonna be learning a lo- I
saw a little bit of the highlights.
I'm gonna be learning a lot
more about what just happened.
But yeah, I, I walked-- I w- marched
myself straight to the box office in the
morning to try to be one of the first
people in line, and I got a rush ticket.
So I got a $30 ticket to go
Angela: It's amazing
Mario: front row mezzanine.
It was amazing.
Well worth it.
worth the time going there and then
walking around the rest of the city.
Angela: you the first person in line?
Mario: I was not-- I was,
like, maybe, 20th in line.
Angela: not so bad
Mario: but on S- on Saturday,
they had, They have two
shows, the matinee and theâ¦
Angela: Yeah, the Matt Neum.
Mario: yeah.
And yeah.
Angela: Matt Neum
Mario: it was, it was fun.
also got to see family,
which was really nice.
I don't really get to see my East Coast
family very often, so, that was very nice.
And was up till 3:00 AM at my project.
And so I
Angela: Here we are now
Mario: Here we are now.
I woke up, and I told Angela, like:
"Hey, this week I'm gonna be in New York.
Let's record, early if we can, um,
just so we can get it out of the
way and I don't ha- we don't have
to worry about it during the week.
I'll be on the East Coast.
I'll be three hours ahead of you,
so I'll, I'll be up and at 'em and
ready to go and blah, blah, blah."
I literally woke up maybe 15
minutes before Angela texted me
to say, "Hey, I just woke up.
Just give me some time to, myself."
Angela: my notes together
Mario: I was like: "Don't,
don't worry about it.
No.
your time."
Angela: Meanwhile, I'm just like
speedy fingers typing like crazy.
Luckily, I
had a general idea of what I
wanted to talk about already 'cause
Seattle has a storied history
and there's lots to talk about.
But, to give a quick little match recap,
we drew in Kansas City, which makes sense
given our record against Kansas City.
We're just kind of holding
steady, holding even.
we went up early after a fantastic
goal from Taylor Suarez, her first NWSL
goal, which feels crazy 'cause I thought
she had scored, but I think she had
assisted a previous goal this season.
She has had a lovely rookie year, and it's
been really fun watching her grow in the
role as the team lineup has shifted and
injuries have happened and all the things.
Kansas City equalized a f- few minutes
later on just like we just got got.
It was one of those where
you're like, "Damn."
We had a few shots ear- likeâ¦
Mario: I
Angela: Or go ahead
Mario: on those and, um, I was
like, "Oh, yeah, that, that all
happened in the first half."
And then,
Angela: And then we just parked it.
Everybody was like-- Well, we didn't
park it, but it was very much this
like scramble, scramble, scramble,
and then other team scramble,
scramble, scramble, and then back
and forth just like shots on goal,
shots, or like attempts to shot toâ¦
Oh my God, I can't even talk.
It's-- I have not spoken this
much this early in a Hot Minute.
Um, there was, there was a lot of
good attempts on both sides,
missed attempts on both sides.
lo- it was a weird match in general.
It was just kinda like fine.
But it's also because I was splitting my
time between the inaugural game of the
Women's Professional Baseball League, and
so we had the sound on with that, and we
had the Angel City game on TV 'cause for
some reason our ESPN app was being dumb.
So there was-- And then Eva was watching
the Yankee game on her phone, and then on
my iPad, I had, the Gotham-Houston game.
So we had five screens on, in
case you're wondering what our
household is like on any given day
Mario: need to get you, we
just need to get you the same
setup that, has with, the array
Angela: A wall of TVs, yeah
Mario: that you can program
each one to a different channel.
Angela: Yeah, but overall
it was a f- a fine match.
It was one of those where it's
like, okay, we could have played
better, but so could they.
So I'm glad we walked out
of there with a point.
We are still, as of right now,
as of recording, which is 9:00
AM Pacific on Sunday morning, we
are still in playoff contention.
And looking at the games today,
neither one will really shift
too much of where we are.
The Denver-Boston game, neither one
of them can eclipse us in points.
The other teams are already ahead
of us in the standings, so whatever.
Neat.
And we still have two games in hand.
Hooray.
Mario: Woo.
yeah,
Angela: but,
Mario: think
Angela: theâ¦
Mario: out of,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: that match was, and the thing
that I saw, after the show when I was,
like, looking at my phone was, and
catching up on everything, was SveindÃs
Angela: Did you know that you can
have a, a body flashback of an injury
that was equally as hard that you
sustained in a very similar fashion
and then sit there for the next 45
minutes, actually two and a half
hours, nauseous and feeling terrible?
'Cause guess what
happened to me yesterday?
Iâ¦
If I never hear another player wailing
on the pitch, on the court, on the device
that they play on, it will be too soon.
There needs to be like a directive for
the broadcast teams that if somebody
goes down and is in visible, visible,
awful pain, cut the mics on the pitch.
Cut it.
It's traumatic for them.
It's traumatic for people listening.
Give them just that ounce of privacy.
It's awful.
And, mm-mm.
I hope, hope, hope she's okay.
a few people I saw were posting like,
"It's probably just a small sprain."
It's not.
I can tell you right now it's not.
I, I give her so many kudos
for walking off the pitch
I don't, I wouldn't have.
Depending, I've done it multiple times.
I've walked off the court, but sometimes
you have to do it just to kind of like
quell the nausea that's going through
your body of just like sheer pain, and
it gives you something else to focus on.
but yeah, I hope she's okay.
I hope that whatever the recovery
is and that whatever the severity of
the injury is, is not insurmountable.
Ankles suck, frankly.
we all have two.
Some work better than others.
Mine aren't so great.
Well, one of them is now because
it is, uh, surgically engineered.
Cost me, 25 grand.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: no big deal.
I have zombie parts now
for those who don't know.
So, yeah, I hope she's okay.
I hope the recovery is not as long as
I'm, like mentally anticipating it to be.
soft tissue injuries,
Mario: her
Angela: yeah, pretty much.
I'm like, do you, do you need like
somebody who's been through this?
I understand.
soft tissue injuries are the worst.
I would rather break a bone any
day of my life than go through
another sprain, ligament tear,
tendon tear, anything like that.
Because when your bones reset and,
and reestablish themselves, they're
actually stronger than before.
Your, the osteocytes build up and
they, they like, um, reestablish
better connections and reinforce
different parts of themselves, so.
Soft tissue just says, "LOL, nice try."
it is very rubber bandy in that sense.
So all the goodwill wishes to SvendÃs.
like I said, Taylor
Suarez's goal was great.
We had a few great passes.
There was a, aâ¦
Angelina had some amazing saves.
Like, it was just an
all-around, decent performance.
Sure, I would've loved to win, but
I think the steam was just like
that pressure valve on our team just
went the second SvendÃs got hurt,
and it was like, finish the game.
Just finish the game.
Finish the game.
Finish the game
Mario: Do you remember when she went down?
'Cause I was watching the highlights
and thankfully I think I don't,
unless I haven't got to it yet,
Angela: In this, in like late
in the game, like 75th, 80th
minute, something like that.
Mario: Oh, okay.
Okay.
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: don't think they did show
it in the, like, why would you
put that in a highlights package?
But
Angela: Why would you put that?
No
Mario: I don't, I don't believe so.
But, yeah, there was overall, and I'm, I'm
going based off the highlights, so they're
cutting it to make it look good, right?
Um, was having a game.
Like, she was, she was in the
right spot time she needed to be.
She had
a good couple of looks at, at goal
that I was like, "All right, you'reâ¦"
Like, she, she's understanding this.
She's got this.
She's, um, on board with
everything that's happening.
Um, there was a few shots, and I couldn't
tell 'cause when I was previewing this,
I was also setting a bunch of other
stuff up, so my screen was this big.
Um, there was a few more shots
from, way outside the box that
just, again, we haven't had much
success with, across the team.
So
Angela: Yeah
Mario: maybe fewer of them, Like, still
Angela: We had one towards the end of
the game that was a freaking rocket.
So I- it's one of those that we, we
shouldn't stop doing it, but we should
Mario: Less
Angela: use those attempts wisely
Mario: Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, like I said, um, don't
stop 'cause you never know.
You might get
Angela: Exactly
Mario: good shot.
But if you're on, shot six from
outside the box for yourself,
Angela: It's not working
Mario: maybe tonight's not
gonna be the night, right?
Like, let's justâ¦
Angela: Shop selection's important
Mario: it up.
Let's change it up.
Um, but, uh, like theâ¦
What I really like, and every single
time we, we have this, it's like goal
that we get, there's a beautiful buildup,
and then you're like, "More of that."
So, last game, uh, when we had
the, the, the pass up to Svendis,
like the moving the ball around,
and then we launched it up
Angela: Oh, it's gorgeous
Mario: it was gorgeous.
in the replay that I was watching,
um, there was a lot of, ball fumbling
between both Angel City and KC.
Um, and, everybody was just, likeâ¦
It was going in a, like, triangle,
then every single time it went around
the triangle, it switched teams.
Angela: Yeah.
It was just like bink, bink,
bink, bonk, bink, bonk.
Like yeah
Mario: And then, and then it finally
kinda got loose, and then from that
middle of the field, were able to
pass it up, open everything up.
Suarez knew exactly
where she needed to go.
And then that, uh, just Legare just
beeline toâ¦
And, the touch was great.
The pass was great.
The touch was great.
The swivel around, and, the goal.
Like, it was justâ¦
It,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: worked the way it was
supposed to be, and it's like,
Angela: And there was a similar situation
later in the game between Ally Sentnor
and, Taylor and it was one of those
where somebody just poked a foot out to,
to knock the shot off target and it was
just like, oh my God, it was beautiful.
Like Ally Sentnor got through three
defenders, did a little spinny move.
Mario: spin around thing?
Yeah
Angela: Yeah, kicked it, like Taylor
saw it happen, she goes out a little
bit wider, gets the ball over and
it was just like, ooh, okay, fine.
Fine, fine, fine.
But overall it was decent.
Again, okay, we got a point on the road
and we're still in where we need to be
and I'll take it given what happened.
Just makes me sick
Mario: Therapy prompt, which was a
point on the road, we'll take it.
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: in
Angela: I was just sad when I posted it.
I got three text messages
like, "Are you okay?"
And I was like, "No.
not."
Mario: everything during Footy
Therapy in general was about
exactly what we talked about.
Suarez first pro goal, um,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: worried about, SveindÃs
and hoping that she's, good.
And then really the other part that
more on our Discord, 'cause, it's
more of a chat, like we can actually
talk to each other, um, was about our
seemingly dwindling roster, right?
At this point we're at a, we're,
we're at a point where, um
We are scraping, our,
the bottom of our roster.
Not, I'm not saying that in a
bad way of, the bottom of the
Angela: No, we're just real lean right now
Mario: we're just like, there are empty
slots in our game day roster that we
can have that we're not using simply
because we just don't have people, right?
We have people in injury, we have
people, uh, um, recovering that
are not quite ready just yet.
We haveâ¦
We just have spots open.
Like, weâ¦
Angela: We have, we have roster spots.
Like we have space in general.
Plus when you add in the injuries,
like SE- the SEIs, the, uh, personal
leave, regular injuries, it's just
"Oh neat, it's happening again."
But we'll talk a little
bit about that later on
Mario: N--
Angela: in the preview.
So you can either fast-forward
to when I start yapping, or you
can just hang on for a little bit
and then I start yapping again.
Mario: Yeah.
Well, really quick roundabout, as we're
recording, like we said, on Sunday, there
are still matches to be played today.
But as Angela mentioned, they don't
really affect our standing at the moment.
So as a quick recap, North Carolina
beat Orlando five to nothing on Friday.
Holy
moly, I didn't see that one
Angela: it was wild Yeah, I, I don'tâ¦
I saw the scoreline and,
'cause I wasn't home.
We had a, a big work barbecue.
We were there till, 6:00 or 7:00.
And it was just like, I looked at my phone
and I just went, "5-0 North Carolina."
And she's like, "Eva,
what goes against who?"
And I was like, "Orlando."
I just went, "Woo."
Like, what?
Mario: yeah.
well, okay, so that happened.
go rewatch that probably.
we have Racing Louisville
being the Chicago 2-1.
we have our game where we
drew 1-1 against Kansas City.
The Houston Dash lost to Gotham, 0-1.
And
Angela: In that game,
Sam Kerr missed a PK.
Weird
Mario: Woof.
Angela: Weird.
Mario: those
Angela: all
Mario: the-- Yeah.
It's, it's
Angela: I feel like in-game PKs
are weirder than shootout PKs,
'cause you're like, "What is this?"
Mario: Shootout PKs, shootout PKs you
understand a little bit the, the, the
misses because of the added pressure.
Like,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: the, the only time
Angela: In game I'm like
Mario: is for a, a, a
tournament result, right?
Like,
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: to get that result
to, to move on or to f-
crown the champion.
And that's, But in, in game one, it's
it- most of the time it's not even the
person that got fouled taking the PK.
It's, it's your kind
of designated PK taker,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: and y- I don't, I don't know.
The, the, is the pressure
really on during a PK like that?
Like,
Angela: I think it's a
different kind of pressure.
Yeah, it's different
Mario: always pressure,
but yeah, it sucks if
Angela: But
Mario: it,
Angela: a different, angle of it.
And it, it's, it's the kind of
thing too where it's like, is Sam
Kerr the greatest goal scorer?
Probably yes.
Jane Campbell as a keeper is
nothing to, nothing to sneeze at.
She is top tier.
She's so good, so
Mario: I will say,
Angela: wild
Mario: greatest, greatest goal scorer
and, uh, greatest, like, finisher
does not equal a good PK taker.
Angela: It's true?
Mario: So,
Angela: true
Mario: they're not one and the same.
Like, y- PK
Angela: Yeah
Mario: taking is actually slightly
Angela: A different kind of skill
Mario: kind of skill.
And so, you can't
Angela: It was alsoâ¦
Yeah.
No, no, go ahead.
Go ahead, finish your sentence
Mario: I was just gonna say, uh, you
can't just say that, "Oh, our, like,
goal score leader, um, is our PK taker."
Like, that's not always gonna translate
because that goal score leader
might be really good at getting
into the box or getting into the
spot and, getting it through.
But from a set piece, you
Angela: Yeah, it's different
Mario: might not be there.
Yeah, it's different, so
Angela: Yeah, it was also very interesting
now that we officially know that Sonnet
is out for the rest of the season.
you could see it in the Gotham back line.
I was like, "Oh, shit."
so while we're just with Sonnet
on the patellar tendon recovery,
that sucks, but I knew it.
In that game, I was like,
"That's not ACL tear."
She's looking at her leg go-
like, "What the hell is this?"
So yeah, that's it.
It, it's just this has been a
really weird couple weeks in soccer.
Mario: Yeah.
and then the last score that we
have is, Seattle beating Bay FC 3-2.
Yeah.
Angela: Did you see the
last goal in that game?
Mario: I did, I did not.
I haven't been able to
Angela: I'll,
Mario: on any of
the
Angela: since it was against
the Reign, we'll talk about it
'cause that shit was insane.
I don'tâ¦
It, it was so perfectly, uh, scripted
by those, the powers that be.
So yeah, we'll talk about it in a minute.
Mario: Okay.
All right.
we do have a chaos award here,
and it's kind of a personal one.
it's a personal chaos award.
Uh, I think Angela
feels a little slighted.
Angela: A little is, doing a lot of work.
Mario: And it has to
do with WAFCON Group C.
So
Angela: I talked about this the other day.
I'm upset that Nigeria and Malawi and
Zambia are in the same group because
I feel like this is illegal and mean
and rude because as it stands right
now, either Nigeria or Zambia will not
be moving forward and that's stupid
because Malawi, the Chawingas areâ¦
Oh, it's so fun.
Yesterday I got to watch, Malawi and Egypt
and then we watched Zambia and Nigeria.
Nigeria went down a player, they
got red carded and the- in the first
half and they had already scored one.
Asisat Oshoala scored so they were up
one-nothing and that was the final score.
That, like Nigeria just locked in and
held it and Zambia was pushing and
pushing and pushing and pushing and
they just couldn't get it but there
should've been multiple yellows, reds.
I have not seen Barbara Banda tossed
around like that since World Cup.
It was insane.
Like full on at one point just grabbed
from the back like her shoulder and just
ripped backwards and she's just "Okay.
Sure."
And the, the ref was
like, "Uh, that's a foul."
No?
Like it was, it was wild but, next up
is Malawi versus Zambia and God help me.
I- can they allâ¦
I've never, I've never felt the like can
they all just win and have a good time?
Like can they all just advance?
Like when you have these three teams,
Egypt like doesn't stand a chance and
it sucks 'cause they were playing very
well and they got one back on, um,
Malawi but like why is this happening?
And I've seen so much discourse about,
"Oh, there's nobody in the stands."
Yeah, 'cause this was supposed
to happen like four months ago.
They didn't advertise this at all
Mario: yeah, we, we touched base on this,
but yeah, the tournament was supposed
to happen a long time ago, and like
literally for a big national tournament,
cancel it like two weeks before
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: "Oh yeah,
Angela: For a World Cup qualifier
for your entire continent, you're
just like, "Not important."
Mario: Mm, no.
and then, and then they reschedule it
and, uh, yes, there was time, but look
at the mess that it created in that
Angela: Yep
Mario: the, the games had to be pushed
to YouTube on, in the UK because the
broadcaster that they had, they were like,
Angela: didn't know that they were
supposed to have broadcasting rights
Mario: Yeah, yeah.
They, were probably like, "Hey, we
had a deal for, like four months ago.
I got, I got Weakest Link
to be showing right now."
you know, or whatever shit theyâ¦
Like, they, it's not, it's
not entirely their fault.
Angela: No
Mario: as a broadcaster you can change
the programming, but you also have to plan
that out and, So it's not entirely the,
the, uh, UK Channel 4's fault or whatever,
Angela: No
Mario: nobody in the UK could, could
really watch these games, and they
finally announced that, um, all the
matches for the UK, uh, region are
going to be broad- broadcast on YouTube.
which is likeâ¦
It's like, it's like a
Angela: Cool
Mario: of like we're fix- we're figuring
something out, but we didn't have
enough to figure it out beforehand,
Angela: Yeah, it was wild
Mario: it, yeah, it is what it is.
But, uh, that, yeah.
I, I'm excited.
I'm excited.
I've been keeping up through WAFCON,
through updates and through you,
but I want to, I want to catch at
least one of these games at some
Angela: This, the next Malawi Zambia game
you need to watch, it's gonna be insane
Mario: Do you know what day it is
Angela: I'm looking it up right
now Oh, no, it's Wednesday at 1:00
Why does this have to
happen when I'm at work?
Ugh, I hateâ¦
Am I gonna scream?
Cool.
Mario: wanna scream,
Angela: love this for me.
See, this is my chaos award.
This is why I'm so mad.
I just wanna watch, five of my
favorite soccer players play . Ah!
Just
Mario: All right.
Well, if you
Angela: let me have a good time, damn it.
Mario: match
Angela: Um, sorry if I
look like I'm freaking out.
I have a hair that's floating
around between my arms and my
legs, and it's, like, making me
feel like there's a spider on me.
So I'm fine.
But I'm just like, "Ugh."
Anyway, yes, let's talk about
the Seattle Reign match up
Mario: if anybody remembers, there
was a, there was a, a blooper clip
from episodes long of yore, um, where
Angela had a little black lint ball
thing on her shoulder and freaked out.
Angela: I forgot about that.
I, I like, uh, cataloged
it, put that away.
That didn't happen
I'm okay, I promise.
Sure.
so we playâ¦
Mario: up, we are traveling up to S- to
Lumen Field to play the Seattle Reign.
we're continuing the road trip, the Angel
City road trip, um, this, this week.
And, um, yeah, what are,
what are we looking for?
Who, who are we looking out for, in this?
What are we looking outâ¦
Based on what you saw in the match,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: roster, what are we
looking to do ourselves?
yeah
Angela: so we need to pay
attention to two players.
Well, there's multiple players on
Seattle we need to pay attention
to because they're really tryingâ¦
They're, they're figuring
themselves out right now.
They're finding their stride.
People are back from injury.
they're-- this match I think is
gonna be a big, middle of the table
match for us because Seattle's on
the come up and we're doing this
wibbly wobbly thing of "Oh shit."
We're doing well, but everybody's
hurt, and now we're kind
of freaking out about it.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: so this is gonna be a true test
for us of how we bounce back from the
Kansas City game, how we bounce back
from a big injury, um, well, two big
injuries, um, and really how we manage
our roster, minutes, all the things.
So first person is Maddie
Dahline, number five.
She's a winger, wing back.
She plays on the back line.
She's originally from Minnesota.
She was named Athlete of the Year
in 2022 for the state, um, and that
was in high school, and then she
was a dual sport athlete similar
to our very own Sarah Gorden.
She was a sprinter.
she ran the one, two, and the four, and
she also played soccer, so she's got legs.
she played three seasons at
University of North Carolina, like
the storied North Carolina of soccer
before she signed with Seattle.
She is the second youngest player
to score in the Cascadia rivalry,
second to Olivia Moultrie, 'cause
obviously she's the youngest.
She'sâ¦
It's wild that she's
Mario: much
Angela: 21 and a five-year vet.
I'm just like, "What?"
She's like, "Yeah, I'm one of the
oldest tenured, Thorns right now."
And it's like, "You're 11.
Like, stop."
but Maddie Dahline was nominated
alongside Lily Reel, and Sarah Schapansky
and Riley for Rookie of the Year.
She's a very sneaky assister where
you don't really see it coming, and
then it's just like bang, bang, goal.
She is in the national team program, and
she's been there since 2023, so since
her, her, like freshman-ish year at UNC.
She's been called up to the senior
team three times, but she has 22
caps overall from like U20, U23,
and then, um, then the senior team.
She's just good, and she's very steady.
I think that's the thing that impresses
me most about younger players and
in older players as they like figure
out their place on a team is when
you see the steadiness come in and
you see that like the calm on the
pitch, 'cause I'm gonna talk about
that later with one of our players.
Okay, cool.
but we've got Maddie Dahline to pay
attention to because she is a playmaker.
Like she's like- The little
mastermind back there.
And then you have THE
Mia Fishel, Big Fish.
If you have been around WoSo for a
few years, you should know who she is.
She, for the Reign, she's number 19.
She's a forward.
Originally from San Diego.
She played at UCLA for a couple seasons
where she had 32 goals over 58 caps.
So it's a goal every
other game, essentially.
she was drafted overall in 2023.
No, 2022, by Orlando.
Declined the contract there because it
was like, "Well, I guess we'll takeâ¦"
It was a really weird situation.
ended up signing with Tigres
in La Liga MX, where she is the
first foreign-born player to win
the scoring title in the league.
She had, in 49 games, she
had 38 goals That'sâ¦
Mario: Yeah
Angela: Right, it's like, "Oh, oh."
Once you like, you, you, you put the math
together and you're like, "Wait, what?
Huh?
Excuse me?"
Yeah, that, that is an insane scoring run.
from there she went to Chelsea,
tore her ACL a few games into
the season, so like 2023, 2024
was kind of like a wash for her.
but she had played for Chelsea and scored,
was like setting up for a great career.
she tore it on international duty 'cause
she had finally gotten the call-up.
It was basically, the like rumored
TLDR is that it was like, "Well,
she's not good enough to play for
the national team, like we don't
really need her," but yeah, she is.
Um, in 2025, so last season, she signed
a five-year deal with Seattle and
scored her first goal, yeah, earlier
this season, couple games ago on a PK.
It's her first goal.
Scored again yesterday.
Um, she's the kind of player
where when she's on the pitch,
you're just like, "Oh, shit."
Unless she's on your team, it's
like, "Damn it, she will find a way."
There's certain players that know
where to put themselves, will find
a way, can make the goal happen.
She is one of them, obviously
by her scoring titles and, and
scoring records everywhere.
she has since been called up to the
national team at the senior level.
She's been in and out
of US Soccer since 2015.
She has three caps so far at the
senior level and a goal, so I'm hoping
she'll still be in the mix given how
well she's doing now with Seattle.
Coolest little randomâ¦
Two cool things I learned about her
is she wrote a children's book in
2024 called Big Fish, and I wanna
get it, and I want her to sign it.
but her uncles played for the
Bermuda national team, played soccer.
So in 2018, in the CONCACAF U17
tournament, she played against one
of her cousins, like when the US
played Bermuda, which is so fun.
like that's, that's the thing, like
players, especially those of us
who are not of one country's, uh,
lineage, sometimes you get those fun
connections of "Oh, I'm playing against
my cousin because they live here
and I live there," and that's dope.
So Mia Fishel is crafty.
She's a scoring machine, and we need to
keep a lid on that because no thank you.
No, no.
Absolutely not.
overall, Seattle, like I said, they're
coming into themselves and they're
really finding their stride and
figuring out how to make games win.
I mentioned to Mario earlier, "Did
you see any of the Bay FC game
and how Seattle ended up winning?"
He said, "No."
Jess Fishlock is coming back from a
big ass injury that we all thought
was gonna end her last season ever.
But because she is who she is, she is back
for the back half of the season, and I
love this because I love Jess Fishlock.
She has done wildly wonderful
things for Welsh women's soccer,
for Welsh soccer, for women's
soccer, for just so many things.
She is one of those pillars
of history in the game.
She has played for Seattle for
her whole career in the NWSL.
when I say we need to mark
her, we need to mark her.
Those of you who've been around
for a while remember the chicken
dance on the sidelines, when she
scored on us to win the game.
But yesterday she subbed in and within
30 seconds scores the winning goal.
Gets a chip from, I think it was Emory
Adams, and just Silky came out and she
just was like, bing, bong, we scored.
And it was just likeâ¦
My friend, my friend Sarah
was at the game, and she's
like, "I can't even be mad."
Like Abby D- Abby Dahlkemper is back.
Jess Fishlock beats her.
Like, it was just like it was
a, a, a matchup of the olds.
It was Abby D coming back
from maternity leave,
Mario: Of the
Angela: Jess Fishlock coming back.
Yeah.
Abby is 39, I think.
One of them is 39.
I think it's Abby.
But, like it's whole ass adults
being like, "Yeah, I'm back.
Let's, let's go."
And then it was just this like moment of
just, of course, of course this happens.
And my friend was like, "Yeah, I just
had to explain to my brother that when,
certain players score, you just have
to accept it and actually like it."
And that's one ofâ¦
She's like, "She's done too much.
She's retiring at the end of the
season," like all this kind of stuff.
And I was like, "Good.
Tell Kyle weâ¦
as much as we hate that Bay lost, we
love Jess Fishlock in this family."
And she was like, "Exactly."
it was very funny.
But itâ¦
You need to watch the highlight.
It was absolutely bonkers.
She subs in, the play starts,
the chip goes up, and she just
like bing, and okay, that's it.
It was like, what the fuck?
I'll send you once we're done
recording 'cause it's ridiculous.
Mario: So we gotta keep an
eye on, on Fishlock then
Angela: Jess Fishlock, to go-- And the
thing was is it was like a big Fish
subbing out, Fishlock coming in, and
it was like, there's too many Fish.
stop.
But it is Seattle, so
I guess it makes sense.
But overall, with Fishlock coming back
for them, Seattle figuring themselves
out, we also have to get our shit
right over the course of this week.
the injury bug is, is beating
us up real, real hard right now.
Rumor has it our injury
list, our availability report
should be getting shorter.
People should be coming back
over the next week or two.
I really, really hope that's
the case because we need bodies.
Mario: Yeah.
Like I'm, like I'm saying, we, we
are, we are struggling to fill the
game day roster with the current
roster that we have, with the current
Angela: Yeah, we just signed a,
like a, not a short-term contract,
but kind of a short-term contract
with a player from Portland as a
midfielder, which hopefully will help.
But I would like the players
that we have to be healthy.
I think they would like that too.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: So hopefully so.
But in the Angel City side of
things, I really, really wanna
talk up Ary Borges becauseâ¦
And I've talked about her multiple
times this season, but when that
signing happened and we lose Macy
for Ary, it was just this like, what?
Because Ary is a very
emotive and emotional player.
She's very high energy,
but like that comes withâ¦
It's like when you're, when you're a
little kid and like you have so much
energy and you just like bite something
'cause you're like, "Ah, I'm so excited."
Like, ah!
Yeah, it's like that,
Mario: just
Angela: and it's like
this uncontrollable thing.
You just like freak out
That's how I like related Ary,
like she's so emotional, so
passionate about the game.
but over the last like I wanna say
probably six months, including the
international break, 'cause with the
Brazil game, the, that crazy ass game
that happened, the US-Brazil where
there's like nine red cards and all
kinds of weird shit happened, she was
one of the few who didn't get carded.
And as someone who has accrued yellows
and accrued red, she has a history of
being this super emotional player, and it
really feels like this international break
and this season alone, and maybe it's
because her wife's pregnant with their
second kid, life is changing for them.
I don't know what it is, but it's so
cool to watch somebody go from being
a very emotional player and driven
by emotion to becoming a player who
plays with emotion, and it's different.
It's, it's how I, I described the finals
last year, Gotham, Washington Spirit.
Washington Spirit is an emotional team.
Gotham plays with emotion.
They use it to drive them versus
controlling everything, and that's
like the mental shift we've--
I've seen at least with Ary.
I feel like she's playing some of the best
soccer she's played in a very long time.
It, it's really fun to watch
because like she'll justâ¦
You'll see her ready to like almost
crash out, and she's just like
you'll just see her do this, and
she's like, "Breathe through it.
It's okay.
You don't need to get mad about this.
I'm mad about this, but I don't
need to get that mad about it."
You know, and, and like the, the
self-talk of "Come back down.
Stay in this moment.
Like this doesn't need to change
how you're playing because
you're playing really well."
And it's watching that maturation
of her in just a year and a half has
been really cool, and I'm happy for
her because she's playing amazing.
She can score when needed.
She can build up, um, she can defend.
She can be the playmaker.
She is so good, and it's so
cool to watch her grow that way.
for those don't know her playing
history, she spent six years in
the Brazilian leagues, um, and has
been on the senior national team
for Brazil on and off since 2020.
She had some injuries in there that
allowed her or didn't allow her to play.
She's also been really outspoken
about the conditions for players
in the CONMEBOL tournaments.
Like there- for I think it was- I don't
remember which tournament it was, but they
weren't allowed to warm up on the pitch.
They had to warm up, in the hallways.
And she was like, "What is that?
No, we don'tâ¦
Youâ¦
The men can do it, but we can't?"
Like, make it make sense kind of thing.
in her three seasons with Racing,
she had three goals across 53 caps.
It was a weird time, but it looks like
she has more of a leadership role, or
she's taken it upon herself, whether
it's like, like sometimes you have the,
the team captains or, the, the official
elected, elected leaders for the team,
and then you have the ones that step
up in different ways, and it feelsâ¦
Yeah, like there's a differentâ¦
She has a different role this year, I
think, and I- whatever that is internally,
I think it's working really well for her.
It's really fun to see.
But yeah, I'm just really happy because
I know a lot of Angel City players,
or, well, not players, I don't know,
um, a lot of Angel City fans were
worried with this trade of, like,
what version of Ary are we gonna get?
Are we gonna get crash-out Ary, good Ary?
Like, what is happening?
We get the best of all of it.
We get the emotion, but in that,
I know how to drive it, I know how
to control it, and that's, I think,
what's saving our midfield right now
Mario: Yeah, we, I, I know that there
was a concern when Ary was coming.
Um, but at this point we can
say we got the seasoned Ary.
We got
Angela: Yes.
Mario: the Ary that has, that
has grown and has learned.
because,
Angela: it
Mario: know, we didn't need
another, another hothead
Angela: No.
Mario: on the pitch.
And there's been times, um, but also,
like, I can definitely tell that
there's been more where she's reined
it in.
She's been like, "All right, that's,
that's not one I need to fight.
That's not
Angela: Yeah, definitely
Mario: um, you know, get
involved with or something.
You
Angela: Mm-hmm.
Mario: gotta keep going."
So,
Angela: Yeah, and she
said something to meâ¦
Oh, go ahead.
Sorry
Mario: I'm glad that we're getting the
evolved, uh, uh, in her soccer IQ, Like
the, the growing, the, the, the player
that has grown up in what she needs to do
Angela: Yeah, and she said something to me
at the Jersey event that has been, like,
in my head quietly for this whole season,
'cause I asked her, she's, signing a card
and she's like, "Oh my gosh," like, "I
can't believe you collect trading cards."
Like, "That's crazy."
We're having this fun conversation
and I was like, "How are you
liking it out here so far?"
'Cause it was, what, like January,
February, something like that.
It was early on.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: she kinda laughed and
she goes, "It feels like home.
It feels like Brazil."
I haveâ¦
She's like, "There's good food everywhere.
I can see the mountains,
I can go to the beach.
It feels like home."
And I was like, "Oh, well that's good."
She goes, "People look like me.
I didn't have that in Kentucky.
I didn't have a community."
And so much of that is so important,
and granted they're probably up in,
freaking Calabasas, Thousand Oaks, likeâ¦
But still, you can come to the
city, you can find the pockets.
There's a bunch of Brazilians here.
Like, there's, there's a good, there's
a place for anyone if you want to be.
So hearing that from her, and that was
really before she stepped on the pitch
and really, became part of this team
the way we see it now, to hear that I
was like, "Oh, you already feel more
comfortable in the setting you're in?
That bodes well."
And it shows, and it just makes me
really happy because I don't, I don't
want players to be in situations where
they're not uncomfortable or they're
not, um, feeling like they fit in or
whatever, 'cause that, that affects
so much of what happens on the pitch
But yeah, that's Ary.
but yeah, I'm, I'm really curious
how this game is gonna go.
It, it's a toss-up.
We have a really weird
record against Seattle.
Part of it is because of the Pino,
Lu Barnes, Fishlock of it all and
getting, getting, got essentially
by the, the three of them, defense
into midfield and offensively.
Right now we have three
wins and six losses.
No draws, just that's it.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: A lot of those, it
just doesn't make sense.
Like it's one of those where
we lost in the last 15 minutes,
we gave up a weird goal.
There, there's never been this like
assertive like bam, bam, bam win.
It's been us losing
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah
I'm, I'm hoping for the best.
We know what the roster
issues are that we have.
It's one of those things where, not
playing bad.
There are things that can improve, but
we're playing, we're playing shorthanded.
And by shorthanded, like
We have players on the pitch
that are out of position.
We're, we have players that
are not in their natural, like
this is the role I normally do.
Now they'reâ¦
I have to adjust for this
slightly different role.
And that's not
purely oh, play style.
Like the, uh, L- Leaf is, is doing "I
wanna play, we, we're gonna play this
way and this is how you're gonna do it."
I think he's really d- just unfortunately
what most of our coaches have had
to do is adjust for the realities
of how the team makeup is and how,
and who we have and who's healthy.
And
Angela: Yeah
Mario: we, we, we shift people.
Like for the longest time, um, Jun
was playing as a defender, know?
Like
Angela: a hot second, yeah
Mario: Yeah.
So, and, and that's, that's like the
first example that I can pop into my head.
But overall we have people playing
in not where they wanna play.
The games where we have been
like, "We're gonna win everything.
We are, we've changed.
We know what we'reâ¦"
Those are the games where we're
like, okay, everybody played
where they were supposed to play,
where they're comfortable, where
they know what to do and they
Angela: Where they don't
have to think too hard
Mario: Yeah, but now
you're putting someone
in a, in a weird position where it's
like all of their mental m- muscle
memory of like, "This is how I pass,"
now has to be adjusted for a new angle,
and then that changes everything, right?
Um, or you're completely asking someone
to, to completely change positions and
be like, "We need your support here."
So, hoping for the best.
Um, looking at the realities.
We'll see how, if there's any
announcements about, um, any kind
of player returns or new signings.
We still got time, but,
um, it's running out.
With all of that, though, I, I really
do, I really do hope we get, we
get something that, that just kinda
continues the momentum that we were
building up on, I, I, I hope that these
kind of losses aren't, or ties aren't
going to, um, stymie that in any way
Angela: I think we'll be okay
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
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Angela: Yeah, we want
these three points real bad
Mario: yes, yes.
Come on, we have two games in hand.
Don't screw them up.
Angela: Exactly
Mario: kind of already have, but, we still
Angela: But you never know
Mario: You never know.
You never know.
The, the NWSL can be chaos
incarnate whenever it wants to be,
so we've got that going for us.
Um, but with all of that,
everyone, a safe one.
I am flying back today,
and see you guys later.
Angela: Bye.
Mario: Bye.