Mario: Welcome to Casual FC, an Angel
City Match preview and Footy Therapy Pod,
featuring two certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Mario Salazar
with my co-host drum roll please.
A multi-sport athlete, a
multiple award-winning athlete,
record setting athlete,
and my co-host, Angela Morales.
Angela: Hi, everybody.
Mario embarrassed me just now.
Mario: We will get to it in just
a minute, but Angela's doing the
damn thing, so I just wanna say
that I want to give her her props.
everyone shower her with amazingness
'cause she's fucking awesome.
And this episode is our match preview of
our match against the Portland Thorns.
They are coming down to
BMO on Sunday, April 26th.
It is Kids' day.
there's a special kids' pouch.
Again, it's one of those things which
you have to buy a special ticket.
At this point, it's probably
Angela: like a
Mario: I don't know.
Check it out.
It's a pencil pouch.
It looks cool, but it's
Angela: I kinda want one.
Mario: Yeah, I kind of do, but
it's also extra money, so I'm
Angela: Yeah, exactly.
Mario: all right.
The match is at 3:00 PM and, if you
can't make it to the game, it's going
to be streaming on ESP N two ES,
ESP n Deportes, and the ESPN app.
As always, you can listen to iHeartRadio
with Isaac and Tracy, for the play by play
and also KFWB nine 80, Lara in Spanish.
for this match, like I mentioned,
it is the kids' day match.
There is going to be a baby
race, I think at halftime.
Angela: Yeah, something like that.
Mario: there's gonna be lots of kid
friendly things, even more than usual.
So if you're gonna make it.
If you know someone who, if you have extra
tickets and you know someone with kids,
this is the game for them to come to.
it's gonna be really fun.
Most likely because of this, there's gonna
be some type of fan fest thing going on.
if not, there's usually activations
throughout, the space anyways, and it's
an early game, you know, no excuses.
And like we mentioned special giveaway,
you have to buy an extra ticket, so go.
Angela: Do the thing.
Mario: holder, manager person,
or order the special ticket.
So with that, like I said,
our Angela,
Angela: into the wall right now.
Mario: our Angela has been chosen to be
a speaker on a panel, which to me that
seems like some pretty important shit.
And where can we see Angela?
Do you guys say, I hear you
asking through the podcast verse.
she will be speaking at Watch
Me Sports Bar in Long Beach This
Saturday, April 25th it is for
the Queer Women in Sports Panel.
It's gonna be start at
3:00 PM and she is among.
A whole cast of like amazing people.
it's gonna be moderated by Rachel
Pearson, who's the lead editor at ESPN.
E-S-P-N-W.
there is, another speaker, Natalie
Gutierrez, who's the founder of uni, which
is a Latina, focused basketball group.
Angela: Yeah,
Mario: thing.
Tiffany RAs, who's a, social media
specialist at ESPN Phish, if you've
been a fan of our very own, if you've
been a fan of Angel City or have been
watching along, you know who Phish is.
And if you don't, Phish is awesome.
they're, amazing, super
creative, everything digital
creator and will be there.
And
last,
yeah.
Angela: like I could talk
about Fish for hours.
They're seriously the coolest, nicest,
most like community-driven person.
we we had a call today like prepping
for Saturday, and it was really funny
because Fish logged on 30 seconds after I
did, and we both were just like, "'Sup?"
And the, the volunteer that's
running it from the Curve Foundation,
was like, "Wait, do you, do
you two know, know each other?"
We're like, "Yeah.
Hey."
I will say thank you to everyone who
essentially harassed Watch Me and the
Curve Foundation via that Instagram post
because they called me out on it today.
like It was, it was Rachel who's
moderating and, and she just
goes, "So Angela, we have..."
Like we-- She's going through the, those
of us that were on the call and just goes,
"Angela, we haven't met in person yet, but
you are extremely popular on Instagram."
And I was like, So thank you.
Thank you for getting
me in this situation.
I'm so grateful for this ragtag
bunch of friends and, and
listeners and all the people.
I appreciate it.
I'm gonna do my best not
to cry in public, just
getting it
Mario: you're welcome.
I will say you're welcome,
but that's only part of it.
Like we've been telling you,
like I've been telling you Eva,
all, everybody on the Discord.
You are awesome and you have a level
of knowledge and love for sport
and love for doing what you do.
That, I mean, it comes through.
It comes through on screen, it
comes through whenever anybody meets
you, it comes through the kind of
conversations people have with you.
So I, I wouldn't have expected any less,
Angela: cry.
Mario: I wouldn't have expected
anything less from you being
selected for, this panel.
And I think it fits right in your alley
and write in what you wanna be doing.
I mean, you know, it, it takes a
million little steps till you get there.
Angela: Yeah.
And just so anybody who's planning to come
down, the panel starts like right at 3:00,
so it will be kind of like a thing between
2:00 and 4:00, so get there kind of early.
Plus, we'll be out on the
patio, so seating's limited.
If you've come to any of our watch
parties that we've had at WatchMe,
the patio, like seating is limited.
Obviously, it's a smaller place.
But, just get there earlier so that you
can, sit down if you need to sit down.
Mario: Yeah.
This is all happening, Angela
mentioned, with the Curve Foundation,
and this is all part of the, lesbian
Visibility Week, which is happening now.
It started on the 20th,
going through the 26th.
There are over a hundred
events happening nationwide.
So this is a, you know.
Everywhere be there or, you
know, or be square kind of thing.
there's events online,
there's events in person.
so go check out lesbian visibility.org,
to get all the information.
And from there you can find out
more about the Curve Foundation.
I think all of this is awesome.
And, before you plug anything else
along with this question for Angela,
which I did not write in the script
because I didn't want her to see it
Angela: literally just said, "Parentheses
Mario has a question," and then the next
line is, "Parentheses Angela's answer."
okay.
Go ahead.
Oh, no.
Mario: How does it feel to have
all of us behind you and knowing
that you belong on this panel?
Angela: Honestly, the imposter
syndrome has been real big.
I can- I can kind of compartmentalize it
in my head when it's like competition.
I'm like, "No, I'm here because
I put in the hard work."
I'm like, "I'm here because I yap."
What?
But no, I'm, I'm just so grateful.
I don't wanna cry tonight, but this
means a lot in a lot of different ways.
So
yes, but
Mario: I will say that
you put in the hard work.
You put in the hard work through not only.
What we do here.
But like I said, anybody that's talked
to you, anybody that's talked with you
in person, online, whatever it may be,
I think your sports brain, your your.
Angela: My brain-brain.
Mario: mine.
Your brain, brain, your
morals and your values.
Like you're all, you're all there.
You've put in the work.
So as much as we can help you
with, 'cause I know impost,
the imposter syndrome is real.
So, the the more we can hype you
up, we'll always be hyping you up.
But yes.
Angela: Thank you.
but those of you who don't know what the
Curve Foundation is, it stems from Curve
Magazine, which was one of the only...
It was the first and for a while the
only, lesbian queer women's magazine.
In the '70s and '80s they've had a
photography contest and No, it, it
went from being like a contest to
being like a collective of pictures of
women in relationships that are just
happy because it's no like we, we can
exist without the traumatic stories.
Like we all have them to some degree,
but the joy and the, the love that's
within this community is fantastic.
And the magazine is now quarterly
online, but the foundation
is really the important part.
They're the ones who do- who
put on, Lesbian Visibility Week.
They-- It's mostly volunteer driven.
Like it's so cool, and it's
so important, and yeah.
The nice thing is that, yes, it's
Lesbian Visibility Week, yes, it's
Queer Women in Sports Day on Saturday.
But
LVW and Queer Women in Sports Day
like is all-encompassing to trans
folks, non-binary women, like all the,
all the everythings, all the nuances
that like don't get encapsulated
by like a group word, a collective
noun or collective adjective.
yes, y-you come too.
And that was, it was such a nice thing on
the call today of just being like, "No,
we're just making sure everybody's down.
This is super inclusive, right?
Like our language is inclusive."
Like yes, there's, there will be
grace for people, but like it's,
it's for anyone who falls under this
umbrella, not just like Only like
bi women, queer women, pan,
like whatever you fall under
this umbrella for this event.
Yeah.
I'm just super pumped, 'cause if
there's one thing I'm not gonna do,
it's exclude other people in the same
community, 'cause that's ridiculous.
Soapbox over here.
Mario: Soapbox over here.
Sermon over here.
Sports over here.
Angela: the soapbox today?
It's funny because we just, a new storage
situation for all of our like vinyl
records, and so we have a stack of milk
crates, and I'm like, "And one and two."
the...
my soapboxes are stacked right now.
I'll, I'll text Mario a picture
so we can post it as like a boop.
Yeah.
But as a quick recap, we
rewind three weeks, something
like that, to our last game.
Feels like a million years ago.
Mario: Yeah.
At this point I, I told Angela
when we were starting this that I
we're not, probably not gonna do
the recap as in like a recap of the
game 'cause I don't remember it.
and then she's "I
do.
Angela: every detail."
Mario: I remember how I felt.
I don't remember the details, which, and
on my end I'm like, I, I'm okay with that.
Angela: Yeah.
So the game was like a
hard-fought, weird game.
It was just defense all over the place.
everything happened at the death
in the last 15 minutes of the
game, which was so stressful.
We end up losing two-nothing.
The goals were insane
in the sense that what?
huh?
Mario: Yeah.
They,
Angela: Is it
offside?
Is it not?
Is it...
Should it have been a dead ball?
What...
Gisele hits a banger crossbar goal.
it's just...
Mario: there's, we've,
Angela: us in the end, but whatever.
Mario: yeah, we've talked about
this before, where you know, winning
doesn't have to be pretty, three
points is three points, right?
They totally deserved it in a
Angela: And
Mario: you won it,
Angela: yeah, they
Mario: you
Angela: They didn't
Mario: You crashed that box every
single time There was a corner
and it was just bodies everywhere.
And like the,
the, they scored because
of the madness that ensued.
They didn't like, they weren't
like beautiful like rockets
from like outside of the,
Angela: and yeah,
Mario: no, this was like nitty gritty.
Like we edged out this win.
And you know, for all
intents purposes, like.
Good on you.
You got your three points.
You gave us our first loss,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: but ugh.
Angela: Yeah, just insane.
It was a little...
But like I'd rather have a loss
like that now or a month ago now,
so that we have this whole break.
And granted, a lot of people were
gone with international duty, but
there's so much good, so much good.
But like after our, our footy therapy
stuff after the game was very funny.
Said, "Sorrows and tears,
now it's time to regroup.
Let's bounce back from here on out."
But then...
And said that on Instagram, but then on
the Discord said that he and his wife
Elise ordered extra takeout to cope.
So you know, you do what you can.
I think we did the same thing, honestly.
but Aaron, who's another card
collector, posted that maybe now we're
a good team with bad games instead
of a bad team with good players,
which is a big shift and not wrong.
But it, it's just one of
those, this season is getting
longer and longer and longer.
You're going to have bad games, or
you're gonna have games where you're...
The way you prepare to match up isn't
the way you need to match up, and
making those adjustments don't happen...
those adjustments don't happen
as fast as you need them to.
And it happens, it happens to everybody.
But, it's how you take
that and learn from it.
It's how you take that and recover
from it and just be like, "Whoo,
okay, we are not doing that again."
Like that first half against Houston,
and then we came out and it was
like, "Whoa, who is this team?"
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: And I was like,
"Okay, that's right.
This is how we do this."
I think Orlando, because they still
have so much of that core team, were
able to make those adjustments a little
faster and collectively than we were.
But hey, it happens, and we're here.
where did we leave off
roundabout of the league-wise?
Mario: So roundabout scores from
the last time anybody was in action.
Angela: years ago.
Mario: San Diego beat Boston.
Boston's not having the greatest
start of their NWSL career here.
Angela: I, I relate
Mario: a
' Angela: 'cause those fans are
showing out though, and another card
collecting friend is the like...
Was featured with the swan
hat on, every social media.
We were like, "It's Ann Marie."
But yeah.
Mario: And then, of course, we ended
up losing two to one against Orlando.
lost to Houston.
Four to three.
Utah won over the stars, one to nothing.
Casey beat Gotham two to one.
There was a draw between,
the courage and Portland.
There was also a draw between the,
rain and Denver and then the spirit
beat, bay FC, two to nothing.
And I will say that, you know, one, one
of the footy therapy comments that we
ended up getting with, with the result
that, racing had, Joel comes in, comes
in with, excited for the Louisville loss.
Never underestimate the
joy of spite, rooting.
Angela: a, a pitcher in...
on the Yankees right now who's...
He grew up in Boston But he
plays for the Yankees, which is
whoa, whoa, big rivalry there.
And he's "Yeah, I just...
I work off spite.
I work off hate.
bring it.
Let's go."
And he just like locks in and gets
better, and I love it 'cause Saint.
Oh, you don't like me?
Okay, that's fine.
I'm gonna jump in 'cause we didn't write
it in, but I would like to offer the
Chaos Award to the news that broke today.
Jess Fishlock is officially
retiring at the end of the season.
We all knew it was coming, but like, why?
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: means at the end of the season,
Syd Leroux and Alyssa Naeher are
the last two remaining players from
the very first season of the NWSL.
I'm gonna flip a table.
How dare they?
Mario: yeah.
Yeah.
Angela: Boo.
But...
Mario: do, as we do at the end
of the season when we have done
with the last couple years, is we
have our retirement retrospective.
So with all of that, I mean, we'll
be doing a deep dive on the amazing
careers of, of, these players.
And you know what, as the season
goes on, undoubtedly there
would be more, announcements.
So
we'll keep adding them to the list
and, yeah.
Angela: The whole damn time.
But yeah.
It's Portland time.
Mario: All right, let's talk about
our, flannel wearing friends from the
Pacific Northwest coming down to see
us in nice, sunny, Southern California.
Angela: perfect weather
for the speechee dubs.
Thank God it's not 90
billion degrees anymore.
Mario: Although, although I will say I
finally got my car washed at work today
Angela: Whoops.
Mario: I was in the garage, so like
they, they washed it and then as I'm
leaving, I'm like, oh, I missed the rain.
No, I was just following the rain.
So eventually I caught up and
then my car just got rained on.
I was like, what the hell?
Okay, sorry.
Angela: That's okay.
It is the curse of Angelenos.
It's okay, if it's not gonna rain, I'm
gonna get my car washed immediately.
Mario: That's the way you summon rain
is everybody needs to get their car
washed at once and then all of a sudden,
Angela: No more
Mario: we'll get rain.
Angela: All right, so we've got
Portland coming down on Sunday.
I'm gonna talk about M.A.
guys, this never ends.
My love for M.A.
Vignola never ends.
She no longer wears number 16.
She wears number 25, whatever.
But, And the jersey's the wrong color
also, but, well, that's different.
as a quick like hell yeah, she
has had an amazing season so far.
She's She's just so freaking solid.
know, like I'm not gonna
say anything bad about M.A.,
I just don't wanna play against
her because hello, what...
No one wants this, but like
nobody wants to match up against
a player like her because
she's a box-to-box defender.
She's gonna ride your
ass the whole way down.
there is no transition that she's
not a part of when the ball...
she's everywhere.
Mario: her, her performance in
the Cascadia rivalry was amazing.
And then just her coming nonchalantly
being like, well, I didn't
like them in the first place.
Angela: I didn't like
them anyway, and I was like, "Ooh, I know
exactly what game she's talking about."
No, it...
That's the thing, like even her watching
Cascadia, and for those, the Cascadia
Mario: Rivalry.
Angela: rivalry, the, the thing,
was the 44th iteration between
Seattle and Portland women's.
The men's have their own, whatever.
They do things, I don't care.
but it has always been...
It, it does not matter how good or how
bad either team is, everyone 10 out of 10.
And
Mario: as much, as much as the,
the, especially as teams get
added, there's always a want and
a need from the media and from,
the NWSL to form rivalries, right?
They have rivalry week,
Angela: but they have to be organic.
It's just gotta happen.
Mario: they, they just kind of happen.
And the thing is that You
sometimes those rivalries aren't,
they're not your local thing.
you know,
Angela: No.
Mario: there's rival like I would
say we have a, a bit of a rivalry
with Portland just because there's
been some things that they've done to
Angela: think so.
I don't.
Mario: Just I want to say, because there's
events that have happened to us mainly by
Angela: Oh, that's not
necessarily rivalry warranting.
That's just irritation,
because a back heel is stupid
when it's not your own team.
Mario: Okay.
So maybe not, yes, definitely
not a rivalry rival.
But the Cascadia rivalry is a rivalry.
Yeah,
that's, that's definitely like
both teams can be having complete
shit seasons, but that game, they
will be like World Cup status.
Angela: Yeah.
Yeah.
And that game, I think, I mean, Eva and
I were watching it and screaming for M.A.
both of us were like, "Ah."
like it...
We were like proud moms
sitting on the couch.
"Yeah, that's our girl," you know?
but that solidified her, I think, as like
a, a, star of a defender for Portland,
and it's so good to see and it's so...
obviously I wish she was still
with Angel City, but I don't care.
I want her...
I want to watch her
excel wherever she plays.
if M.A.
left the, the NWSL and went to like WSL or
something in a different, like completely
different time zone, I would watch it.
That's the commitment level I have.
yes, I have team commitment, but
I also have player commitment.
I have been a fan of the WNBA.
You can't have team
allegiance after a while.
It's too good.
That's the thing.
Players are too good.
Sometimes you just follow
them everywhere they go.
But that's, that's my
little short, little M.A.
Mario: Short, little long M.A.
Angela: Short, little long.
Yeah, exactly.
the next person I want to
talk about is Olivia Moultrie.
I don't think I've really ever
deep dived into Olivia Moultrie.
Like at the one point she
was the youngest player.
She got the rules changed, like sued
the league essentially for her, for
the right to play as a youngin'.
she's now considered by a lot of people
as the youngest veteran in the league.
She's already been in league
for four and a half years.
She's 20.
Like what?
Yeah.
Yeah.
She's like a vet, but she's a baby child.
Like in my head, she's
still like an infant.
And I'm like, girl, I'm twice your age.
What the hell?
But she's, she's really, really
developed over the last year and a
half or so, and has become inevitable
when contributing to the attack.
Like she, you just assume "Oh
yeah, she's gonna be there.
She's gonna be a part of this."
this season she has three
goals and an assist.
Her passing rate is 78%.
So 78% of the time her
passes are being completed.
That's a lot.
Mario: Her, I will say that just
watching, watching highlights.
Of like across the league, undoubtedly
there will be an Olivia military
highlight, whether it's a goal or just
an a, an amazing assist or whatever.
Like it's just stupid.
Angela: It's, it's just, it's just
wrong because it's not my team.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: Yeah.
No, she's, she's very...
What?
That's not what I wanted to say.
She's matured so much, both like soccer
IQ and also like competitiveness.
Like she's spicy
competitive, and I love it.
And there was a clip I saw or like
a, an excerpt from my question to
Lindsey Heaps from the, the, Japan
friendlies, those three games the
national team played against Japan.
And there was a moment where Olivia
just started barking like, "This,
this," and, and Heaps went over and
was like, "You, you gotta, you gotta...
We got you.
Like you're okay.
We got you."
And she was like, "No, I understand that."
And I'm like, "Oh yeah,
I understand that."
Like- There comes a time when you
are so driven and so competitive
and it's almost like you black out.
You're just, in the game, you don't know
what you're doing, it's just happening.
People call it a flow state.
I just d- I deliver in rage.
It's different.
But,
Mario: I just black out and don't
remember half the games, but it's okay.
I
Angela: it just happens.
I just know, I just know
things I did and didn't do.
it's It, it's almost in my opinion
like a badge of honor when your
captain or like a, a veter- a veteran
vet, a vettier veteran has to come
over and be like, "Hey, you're okay.
Take a, take a deep breath, homie.
You're, you're good.
We're okay.
We got you.
We're all...
we, we all saw it.
We all...
I don't care if the ref
didn't see it, we know.
We'll take care of it."
And it's oh, okay, okay, okay, okay.
We're cool, we're cool.
Mario: Yeah,
we, we got your back.
Angela: yeah, essentially.
No, but she's, she's grown into such
a solid, solid, reliable presence
for club and country, and it's...
She's a force to be reckoned with.
It's very cool.
It's very cool.
And to follow that up with Pietra Tordin,
who's cooking, she's another young'un.
She's 21.
The wild thing is that you can tell
from last season to this season she's
becoming a lot more comfortable in
the league and way more confident.
not the boisterous kind of confident,
the confidence that, messes with other
players, 'cause you're like, "Oh, no.
I'm fine."
"Okay, cool.
Cool, cool, cool.
no big deal.
We got this."
Last year, wild, she had four
goals in roughly 950 minutes.
This season she has two goals
in just over 300 minutes.
that already, that alone,
that shift is big time.
That's the confidence
that I'm talking about.
Just "Oh, no.
I'll take the shot."
And, even the, in the press conference
after the Cascadia, she and M.A.
were just like, "Yeah,
we're, we're cruising.
We're good.
We're tired, but, okay."
no, it's just she's going to be very,
very fun to watch over the next few years.
she's part of USA, Soccer Federation.
In 2024 in the U20 World Cup she had
a hat trick against Paraguay, and that
makes her the fifth player in US youth
national team history to do that.
Not against Paraguay,
but, to have a hat trick.
so, it's not like she can't score, and as
she gets more confident, as they build,
rebuild their system in Portland, she's
gonna be a bigger and bigger threat.
And then the interesting thing
is with Sophia Wilson coming back
and being able to start, and the
two of them building chemistry-
It's nightmare fuel, guys.
Mario: I
Angela: I said Portland ha- might have
had a rocky start, it doesn't matter.
Portland knows how to win.
Portland knows how to do the things.
Do not underestimate this team.
Obviously, don't underestimate Angel City.
Mario: no,
Angela: Never underestimate Portland.
Mario: Currently, Portland is above
us in the standings, but that's
mainly only because they have, we have
Angela: An extra game yeah.
Mario: played one extra game than us,
which leads to extra points, than us.
So, really we can tie them or surpass
them, depending on the result of this
game with still that game in hand.
Angela: I would really
like to win this game.
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I, I would like to too, 'cause this
game is the start of what's going to
be a pretty solid run of game of games
like weekly, up until we hit the June
break, and then there's going to be
a, break for the entire month of June.
you know, again.
Just, it always makes me laugh
whenever you're just like,
Angela: It's for
Mario: guys.
That's why.
Angela: Whatever.
Mario: Who even watches that?
Angela: Listen, I live down the
street from SoFi, I don't care.
I have the...
I put the dates in my phone, like in the,
in our shared calendar, like my family,
because I'm like, "Don't be in this area."
And like it's literally okay, if
I'm at work, what time is the game?
is it gonna impact going to work
or leaving work, essentially.
Mario: yeah.
Angela: I know otherwise, mm, I might
watch a game or two, but like whatevs.
Mario: Hey, I mean charge people an arm
and a leg to park on in your driveway
Angela: No.
I'm not about exploitation.
Friends and family, that's it,
and even then, only some people.
But it's mostly 'cause like I don't, I
don't want anything to happen to your car.
We're like, "No, don't."
Liability, guys,
it's important.
Liability insurance,
Mario: my insurance, doesn't cover you.
Angela: Yeah, exactly.
Mario: All right, so what, what,
what does Angel City gotta do?
Angela: Yeah.
So I was trying to figure out,
do I wanna talk about player,
the team, what have you?
How do I wanna look at this?
I think that April break or like
March-April break came right when
we needed it, because we had a weird
game against Houston, the game against
Orlando, and then it was like, okay,
take some time, regroup, dissect
it, pick it apart, start fixing.
your to-do list and then
just start knocking it off.
okay, we got this.
How do we adjust for this?
You...
And yeah, a lot of people
were out for international
duty, like multiple countries.
but the cool thing was that multiple
players were with other teammates.
you had, Mai and Ari in Brazil.
You had like- US players,
and Jun is up there too.
you had multiple people in the
same place and that Brazil played
Zambia, which I need to look up.
Barbara Banda got hurt.
She got like kneed in the
Mario: Oh yeah,
Angela: she had to get stretchered off,
so like I'm hoping she's okay because no.
but there's a picture and I need to
find it again, but it's Ari, Mai,
and Priska, and they're all like
walking arm in arm and I'm just
like, "Oh, look at our little babies.
I love them so much."
yeah.
So I'm really excited
because all that does...
yeah, it's time away from like your
club team, but that helps solidify the,
the connection and the, the chemistry
between those players, especially for
Mai and Ari, they're both midfielders.
It's good.
It can't, it can't be bad.
the nice thing, the very, very nice
thing, we have seen pictures, we have
gotten announcements, Carina Lagare is
back in training, Carson Cherry is back
in training, Jun Endo is in training,
Claire Emslie is training with the team.
Sydney Leroux is back in training.
Like guys, that alone, having all
of them back off whatever list they
were on, maternity leave, excused
absence, injury, whatever, having
them back on the field, it's so good.
I'm so excited.
I'm so excited.
obviously it's still gonna
be some time for Claire, it's
gonna be some time for Syd.
I don't know what Jun's trajectory is.
I hope it's soon, but I
also don't wanna rush that.
Like
Carson, any of them, I'm so, so, so
excited because all that does is add to
our depth, strengthen the team, those
connections, the veteran experience, the
international experience, it's so good.
It just makes me so happy, oh,
my girls are back together.
yay.
and there was pictures of Sarah
Gorden and Angelina with all the
little babies, all the little
20-somethings, like the little...
I mean, Angelina is also a 20-something,
but like all the, all the littles,
like they're all small, out, and
I'm just like, that's, that's the
kind of camaraderie that helps the
team because you're not just there
competing and working together and it's
not like super serious all the time.
When you have interpersonal relationships
like that, like that's what leads you to
have better chemistry on the pitch, on
the court, on the field, whatever it is.
I'm literally like texting one
of my high school teammates...
Actually, we go back to
middle school, Brittany and I.
she's been going through some stuff,
and I'm just checking on her constantly.
Like we sent...
My mom and I sent her flowers 'cause
like her other daughter, Teammates ride.
Like we, we, are in it
for a very long time.
So I'm just really excited to
see what we look like on Sunday.
I'm excited to see who our
subs are, who's available.
there's so much that, could dissect
and be like, "Oh, well, we need
to do this, we need to do that."
But, we've had a month to do those things.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: We
kinda get a, a redo, a, redo
Mario: had a month.
We had a month to do those things, but
also you know, not to throw the, the,
the wet blanket on everything, but what.
With all these players coming back from
whatever state they were in, right?
There's still that like in-game gelling
live so we'll see a little bit, but I
think, I think the way everybody has
been preparing from the off season
and the way things were gelling and
you know, June, Claire, Sid,
they're gonna fit right in.
getting the youngins like.
Back into what they were doing preseason.
It's, it's just good for us.
Right?
And, and from the beginning
of the season, we looked, we,
we were always good on paper.
Angela: Mm-hmm.
We've always been good on paper.
Mario: and then we looked great on paper
and then we saw the first couple matches.
And there's a lot to be excited about,
even in the loss, even in the weirdness
of, of the Houston match and the
amazingness of the first two match.
there's good things
happening across the board.
So
Angela: One of them
is being that when we get scored
on, we don't start leaking goals.
Mario: Yes.
We are not the, the
Angel City of the past.
Yes,
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: we did not
Angela: we dropped the game
against Orlando on a leaky goal,
but okay, it's gonna happen.
Mario: it.
It's gonna happen, but we, I.
Again, lost it in a way of like they
just crashed the box versus like in
years past, we'd lose it because we'd
get in our heads, like one goal goes
in, we'd get in our heads, and then.
And then we allow those great goals, like
sometimes they're bangers that we just
allow and we're just like, what happened?
It completely fell apart.
We haven't seen any of that
happening or any like inkling.
We've seen a lot of readjustment
and kind of build it rebuilding.
So I think that's been.
Angela: the, public outward
message is that this is a process.
people on the outside who haven't
played at a, a higher level or haven't
competed in a long time, tend to
forget it's a never-ending process.
It's not set it and forget it.
"Oh, we figured everything
out in the preseason.
Let's go."
It's no, you have to adjust.
Things happen Lineups change,
you know, availability changes.
You have to be constantly adjusting and
willing to adjust and understanding what
those adjustments take, like the, the
engineering of them in the back end.
So yeah, this will be a very
interesting game for sure.
It's gonna be a tough matchup for sure.
Top of the table matchup again.
Mario: Hmm.
Angela: overall, historically, our,
our matchup with Portland, we've won
once, which is a great five to one win.
It was amazing.
There was a bicycle kick.
It was, it was a whole good time.
four draws and three losses.
We don't talk about the back heel
because nobody likes it, and that's
what spurred the five to one, and
Mario: Yep.
Angela: But I'm very excited.
Come say hi if you see me or Eva
or my mom or whomever's there.
It's like countdown to my birthday also.
My birthday is in a week from Friday, so
Mario: Yep.
Angela: yeah.
Mario: Here.
Everybody wish.
Angela happy birthday at the
panel, at the game through
Angela: not this week, next week though,
'cause there's a, a game on the second.
So let's do it...
Let's do birthday stuff on the second.
Mario: Both do it in both.
Angela: Honestly, I'll be like celebrating
my birthday until the ni- the game on
the ninth, because then it's Mother's Day
and my mom's birthday is a week later.
So like I get a week and that's it.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: I'm only, I'm
only rationed a week.
Mario: all right.
Well, if you've gone this far,
Angela: Thanks.
Mario: like us.
Yeah, thanks.
hit the subscribe button or the
follow button or whatever ball button
it is for you to hear more of us,
as the se as the season goes on.
Check out casual FC dot com
for all of the pod links for
anywhere you want to, catch us.
We're on, all of social
links are on there too.
We're also on YouTube, so check
us out there, hit the subscribe,
the, the hype, the follow the do
whatever, buttons that are on there.
come join us on the Discord.
We mention it all the time
because it is just a fun time.
Angela: Yeah, it's a good time.
Mario: deep dive on everything from,
who just got added, as the 18th team
to the NWSL that we'll be talking
about soon, eventually at some point.
and gluten-free food and you know,
just everything in between and
pets and yeah, it's, it's just fun.
It's fun.
It's free, it's so late for us
to just hang out with all of you.
And, and it's been, it's been really fun.
I also love.
I will say this, and I told you
this, also we have a match day
thread that we keep going, right?
It's just to help contain conversations
and not have you like, bombard everybody
with like match updates on something.
and that's something that I
would manage and keep going.
And then Angela started adding
them into, and now people on the
Discord are doing it themselves,
Angela: They beat us to
Mario: to it.
you know, I'm working and then
I'm like, oh, I gotta go set the
thing and it's already there.
And I'm like, this is amazing.
This is awesome.
I love it.
So thank you to everybody who's
participating in the, in the
Discord, and come check us.
Come check us out.
And if you don't know how to
get to us, just send us a DM
wherever you see us, online.
And then we will, we'll
send you the, the link.
best ways to join, support the pod.
share, comment, do something,
engage with something somewhere,
whether it's on social media or
on your podcast app or whatever.
It helps other people find us.
And, you can always grab some merch.
we finally did release some of the
merch that we've been talking about.
We've got, the Hena Hive LA
chapter, shirt finally came out.
It's a bootleg style shirt.
we have a wonderful quote
by Coach Strauss and, you
Angela: Fan of the pod,
Coach
Mario: of the pod.
And, we did release a, special Cascadia
just because we're in love with the,
just the, the fun and rivalry and
just the soccer of it, of it all.
and that one's out there,
which is really fun.
Again, we wanna be the East Bay
of pod specific, merch stores.
So we're out there
doing as much as we can.
We also have things waiting in the
wings just for the right time and
the right people to hit the field.
So, all of those are coming your way.
And, if you feel so inclined,
you can always support the
pod by buying us a coffee.
Go to, buy me, check out the
socials, check out all that stuff.
I mess this whole thing up.
So you'll probably.
Get to it eventually, it's
buy me a coffee.com/casual
FC pod.
it's a easy way for you to
drop a buck or two for us.
Fun fact, you can actually become
a member and just let it become, an
automatic payment of a dollar or two.
it just helps us keep the lights on.
And what do you get for
that automatic payment?
Our eternal great.
Thanks.
And I kid you not, we like get
giddy over like the dollar that
Angela: Half the time I cry,
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
we haven't.
Angela: $5 because you
made me laugh really hard."
I'm just like, "Look at it, it's so nice."
Yeah.
Mario: We don't necessarily have the
bandwidth to do a whole thing of behind
the scenes or like extra content or,
we don't put commercials on stuff.
you know, as of yet.
I don't know if we ever
will, but, at the moment.
We ain't got the time.
So really it's just helping
us out, doing what we do.
And this whole section
has gone long enough.
So with that, tell a friend about
the pod, it brings us good luck.
We package it all up and
we send it to the team.
It's been amazing so far this season.
Let's keep it going.
And if we wanna go back to the previous
one we used, use it as a chain letter,
send it out to your friends, send
tell them to send it out to a few
Angela: years, good luck.
Mario: good luck.
So happy Kids' Day.
see you guys on the weekend and go
check out the Queer Women in Sports
Panel in Long Beach on Saturday.
And check out our lovely, own our own.
We can claim her as one of us
Angela in doing amazing things.
All
Angela: Also DM me or DM the show
to let me know if you're coming,
I know, cause I don't wanna miss anybody.
Mario: yeah.
All right.
See you everyone.
Angela: Bye.
right, you ready to rock 'n' roll?
Sorry.
Mario: okay.
Just knock this out.
This is gonna be weird if I just
stare right down the camera.
Yeah,
Angela: Was super weird.
Mario: Welcome to Cash
Angela: from Casual OC.
Mario: All right,
Angela: I'm so glad we're
recording all of this.
Mario: okay.
This is what happens when
you take three weeks off.