Angela: Hey, everybody.
Welcome to Casual FC, an Angel City match
preview and footy therapy pod featuring
two podcast-certified footy therapists.
I'm your host, Angela Morales,
with my bicoastal jet-setting,
super dad co-host, Mario Salazar
Mario: The, the bi-coastal thing was
never in the plan, but it's turning
out to be where I need to, go on site
for projects that are now no longer
confined to the Southern California area.
Angela: But regardless,
he's in town tonight,
finally.
Not in a hotel room, not dodging the
upgraded Marriott square toilets.
If you have not experienced
one, I'm so jealous of you.
But Marriott, for those who don't
know, Mario's a Marriott guy,
and they are up, big air quotes,
"upgrading" different hotels and,
like, all this, and they have chosen
Mario: Square
Angela: squ- square
toilets, and it is a choice.
Mario: It's the
Angela: It's weird.
Mario: it's the most uncomfortable toilet.
It has-- it's a rounded square toilet
seat that no matter how you sit on itâ¦
it's weird because, if you don't
want it to, cut into your legs,
you sit sideways, but then you're,
like, straddling this toilet seat.
it's
Angela: terrible design.
Terrible design.
And
Mario: I on- I only thought it
was only at one of their, one of
their things, but the, one of their
lines of hotels, the, the Moxy.
That's the, the typical hotel
that I would find it in.
I recently went into another
hotel, completely different vibe,
completely different everything,
yet the same square toilet.
Why?
Angela: Why?
we will make sure to drop a picture
of the square toilet 'cause I
took one when we were in Portland.
Um, I have it on my phone.
I'll make sure it's in the Discord.
We're not putting it in this episode.
We have a lot of toilet humor,
but, not like that, not ac-
literal
Mario: No.
No.
Angela: anyway
Mario: but I do remember we had one in
Portland, and so yeah, like you said, you
took one and I was like, "Send it to Eva
'cause she's not gon- like I'm notâ¦"
Angela: My mom was
like, "What is this?"
My-- she was like, how do they
re- if they have to replace a
toilet seat, it's not a standard
cheap and easy fix.
It's a custom."
I know you're Marriott, but, hello?
Whose choice was this?
Mario: Oh, man.
Angela: purchased by Lego.
Anyway,
Mario: just little straight legs like
Angela: or Barbie.
Just keep it.
Okay, as a disclaimer, it
is 10:40 on Tuesday night.
I have gotten, maybe 10 hours of
sleep over the last three days.
I've not been sleeping well.
It's too damn hot.
We're dog sitting.
I just have not been able to get
comfortable, so I am, delirious
But
Mario: yeah, and again, same, it's
late and there's been, lots of kid
wrangling going on and the power
going out yesterday multiple times.
So
Angela: We're doing great, guys.
But
this is our match preview for Sunday, July
26th against Racing Louisville at BMO.
Kickoff's at 6:00.
most importantly, it's Pride Night.
ba.
insert, insert like oomps, oomps in there.
Insertâ¦
It's gonnaâ¦
Guys, it's gonna be ungodly loud in
BMO because it's already loud and
then be like, "It's Pride Night."
ba.
Just I'm sorry in advance.
But like I said, kick us off- kickoff
Mario: It's Pride Night
Insert royalty-free instance
Angela: is at 6:00.
If you are unable to make it to
the game or live somewhere else and
obviously can't make it to LA, it will
be on ESPN2 and ESPN's app to stream.
Also, obviously iHeartRadio
with Isaac and Tracy.
If you are at the game, however,
again, Pride Night, there's
going to likely be a fan fest.
I don't know.
Mario: likely,
Angela: there's always big stuff.
It's Pride,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: bandana giveaway to the
first 15,000 folks, and then there's
a special ticket, like if you
purchase the special ticket or season
ticket holders, you can buy in.
You get Angel City Pride socks.
and we got them, so we get to pick
them up at some point during the game.
I'm very excited.
But I'm just pumped.
Pride Night's so fun.
almost every Angel City game feels like
Pride Night, but when it's actually
Pride Night, it's like it levels up
Mario: Yeah, you, I don't doubt
there's going to be, a whole, Fan
Fest, pre-Pride Night, but I d- I don't
know why that t- was a tongue twister
Angela: What are words?
Mario: but, those have
always been really fun.
as of recording right now, I
don't think we've seen anything,
official about Pride Night.
Weâ¦
Oh, they did say who's
gonna do the three clap.
Angela: Yeah, and I was
just gonna bring that up.
Trino and Adam are like favorite
gay cholos, which is like my
favorite thing in the world, are
going to be doing the three clap.
They've been to games before.
It'sâ¦
I'm very excited to have them there.
It's going to be ridiculous.
And man, Pride
Night's just fun.
guys.
Come hang out
Mario: It's gonna be fun.
The bandana looks great.
it's
Angela: also, like, it's Pride
Night at Angel City, but it's a
gay basketball Super Bowl because
it's WNBA All-Star Weekend.
Jessi, friend of the pod, is coming
over for the weekend to watch that,
plus other friends of ours are like,
"Teach us about women's basketball."
And we're like, "Come to
the mecca of our house."
So busy weekend in the Morales
Friedman house because it is a
lot of very, involved sports.
I'm very excited.
But we have so much to talk about.
We whomped on Chicago.
We'll go into that.
We have so much cool stuff to talk
about with this game coming up.
how did we do?
Give us some footy therapy results.
Give
Mario: Yeah, so we are on a roll.
We have
Again, can't really pinpoint if this
is going to be, like, the absolute new
trend if we're doing the kind of, new
coach bounce after the break or whatever.
I don't care.
It feels good at the moment.
So
Angela: So good.
And like frankly, I re- and I've believed
this from the beginning of the weird
thing that happened, like the skid.
We had injuries
of our, our top, one of
our top goal scorers.
Duh, things are gonna get weird.
Anyway, we're back in it.
We're having a good time.
Mario: Yeah, and I
Angela: had an assist-a
Mario: Yes
Angela: Technically it should
have been two, but they called
him back 'cause VAR, but assist
to Svendas.
much
Mario: we had, Mai scoring in
her fifth goal in fi- five games.
Uh, we had our fifth shutout of the
season, which is more shutout that
have happened in any of the Angel City
seasons thus far, so new club record.
Angela: pew.
horn
Mario: it's our second, clean sheet?
Third clean sheet?
Third clean sheet
Angela: Third clean sheet, third,
second stint of three wins in a row
Mario: Yes, a third
consecutive clean sheet.
we got to
Angela: deal, guys
Mario: we got to see Claire Emslie's baby,
Angela: Claire started for the first
Mario: Claire started
and played a full 90.
Angela: Ugh, so good
Mario: there were so many good things
that happened, for us in that game.
so we'll start off with
a quick little haiku.
Mewis blazes heat, Anderson doing
laundry, Claire going full time.
We just mentioned all the things
that are involved in that.
Angela: Clean sheets.
at first I have to admit,
I was like, "What is heâ¦
Why is Mario talking
about loving fresh linen?
Oh, laundry.
Oh, clean sheets."
it was a very, likeâ¦
I'm getting there slowly.
Here we go
Mario: we just taught
Maddie how to play, Iâ¦
If anybody out there has a different
name for this game, please let me know.
Right now we're calling it Convergence.
it's where, two people will say a random
word and then you're trying to find
a commonality between words so that
you eventually will say the same word.
Yeah.
So we've been
Angela: I don't know if anyone has
a standardized name for that game.
Mario: Yeah.
I've
s- I've heard Convergence, I've s- heard,
I've heard, Password, I've heardâ¦
But then again, every time I hear
a new name, it's like, "No, but
that's a slightly different game."
So
Angela: Yeah, passwords is a whole TV show
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
But I forgot why I even said that.
It was something to do with laundry.
Oh.
it was the whole, step-by-step by step,
'cause we've been teaching Maddie to
try to figure out, step by step, "Okay,
these two words, what is in common?
What can Iâ¦
What might he say?
And then let me go to the next one."
So yeah.
beyond that, we have a couple clippings
from the NWSL, Instagram, all over, and
I know that, our defense-loving co-host
here, definitely clipped this one.
It's
Angela: I did
Mario: number one trusted
defense presented by Tylenol.
We are not sponsored.
They're saying that.
Angela: but if Tylenol wants toâ¦
show up,
Mario: we got aches and pains, too.
Angela: so many.
I am currently in aches and pains.
Mario: the graphic itself is about, number
of skulls- number of goals against, right?
We currently still have a
positive goal differential, which
Angela: Plus eight
Mario: yeah,
Angela: Oh,
Mario: un- unheard
Angela: ESPN 8, the Ocho
Mario: Unheard of.
but, w- the, the, the graphic itself is
about the least goals against, and Gotham
FC being first with 10, then the Spirit
with 12, and we are in third with 14
Angela: We have only
allowed 14 goals this season
Mario: So that, and then again, that's
if you go back any one of the episodes
during the Straus era at this point,
Angela: Maybe it wasn't
as dramatic as people thought
Mario: it wasn't.
It, he knew that there was
something about the finishing.
We had this 80th-minute curse.
There was something that would
always flip the table at the end.
but it was never blowouts.
We weren't losing, three
to nothing, two to nothing.
It was, like, by one point.
It was by a fluke goal, by someâ¦
And that was the thing that he was
having a frustrating time trying
to figure out how to teach, how to
explain, how to get people in the
right position and all of that.
And unfortunately, it did not work
out for him, and they're moving on.
But with a f- with 14 goals against
and with a plus eight differential,
we weren't really doing horribly,
Angela: It just
felt really bad 'cause
it happened in a streak.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: That's it
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
our team, the, the team that we're about
to face, Racing Louisville, is at a
negative 11 goal differential, and they're
in la- they're in dead last at the moment.
We'll get to that, but still,
there are worse places to be.
We were in a good position mid-table.
Two games in hand, baby.
either way, I think the team has
been pretty solid throughout,
pretty consistent, and I think
that's the best part of all of this.
So that's what we need
to carry forward, right?
So yes, the prompt was,
loving fresh linen.
It was all in reference to the clean
sheets, and everybody just came
in with just all around the bo-
all around the board with, loving
the linen, loving the clean sheet.
the whole Discord was full of
laundry GIFs, for a good period.
so itâ¦
I think we all just had the
same, gut feeling, gut emotion
all of, on all of that.
So the final score ended
up being two to nothing.
we sc- Mai scored on a PK, which
gave her the five and five.
and then, Prisca to spend this, so
Angela: Two times,
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: One was called back
Mario: was called back and she,
but she got her revenge and
got her goal nice and clean.
go ahead and go check that basically.
Angela: I will say, Eva w- wishes,
you know how it's like if you
could change one rule of a game?
Hers is s- and this is for a cross sport.
Sometimes you just gotta let
things happen because the vibe,
like the vibes are, oh, it's yes.
That first goal,
The
the Prisca to Svendius and the Svendius
fl- fall down at the end, it was perfect.
It was beautiful.
It was cinematic.
And then they're like, "Just kidding."
Prisca was like a millimeter off.
It's like, fine, whatever.
We'll do it And even
Mario: a vibe goal should count
Angela: yeah.
Like, justice for Jun's
goal from season one.
ugh.
but no, even in the, the post-game,
Svendius was like, "That was Prisca's
goal, and for her to give it up
to me to, run it back says so much
about her character and everything."
But yeah.
But also, we had such great news out of
our game for us, terrible news for Chicago
Mario: Yeah.
Jordan, Jordan H-
Angela: Hi, Dema.
Mario: Heidema.
I'm looking at it and I wanna
Angela: I know.
'Cause it doesn't make sense,
but itâ¦
yeah,
Mario: yeah, Jordan Heidema
and Trinity Armstrong, from SD.
W- from San Diego, right?
Yeah.
Okay.
So we had more ACL tears, that happened,
one of them being in that game.
That'sâ¦
It just sucks.
Angela: it Yeah
Mario: things where we're like, "Hey,
it's prevalent.
We- it's an issue."
just ACLs just don't, Just
Angela: Ban, ban knees.
And with Trinity Armstrong, she just
came back three weeks ago from an
ACL tear, and this is her other leg.
Mario: Oh, no, brother,
Angela: Charley's ACLs.
Yeah, And
Mario: was like overcompensating
on the other side or something
Angela: it's like unfortunately it is
not more common, but it is common enough
because your body's been handling more
stress on one side, and yeah, you're
building that up, but not in the same
way of recovery, and I feel for her,
and I just want to, send well wishes
from us because no matter how badly
I want my team to beat your team, I
don't want an injury in the process.
We also don't have an update on Jun yet,
which,
Mario: have an update on
Jun, I will say light at the end
of the tunnel, we don't know about
Jun, long-term prognosis just yet,
but we did get a post from her and
Hina in the workout room without any
knee brace, without any visible sign
of, crutches or anything like that.
Again, it's one picture in the
gym,
Angela: In the mirror, like
flexing.
Yeah,
Mario: basically.
So crutches could've been off to the
side, I, But with all of that, geez.
Wow.
If you, just heard that noise,
go check out the YouTube.
My hair is doing some crazy stuff, so my
headphones are doing some work right now,
Angela: Maya's got a
headband, headphone headband
Mario: yes.
but that's just good news to
see that if she was in the gym
working out, there weren't any
visible braces or things like that.
maybe it was a, just it, a shock
injury at the time of bruising of
something, but it wasn't bad enough
where it's like, maybe she's out
for, a, a week or two, and thenâ¦
But
again, there has been
no official word, beyond
Angela: But
she seems to be in good spirits,
which is big big time, 'cause that,
that alone helps you recover faster.
Like, and your mental fortitude
Mario: Yeah
Angela: helps kinda push
your recovery forward.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: There's so many games this week
Mario: s- it feels like
there were so many games,
Angela: There were so many games.
We had the Queen's Challenge
Mario: yeah, there
Angela: Citi Field
Mario: 'cause there was a
couple of midweek games, right?
so yeah.
So we had, Boston winning,
over Orlando one to
Angela: Thank you
Mario: We had New York over
the Spirit one to nothing.
We had a draw between KC
and San Diego, two to two.
Denver beating Portland two to one.
And then Gotham coming back for
another win, two wins in one
Angela: That game was insane.
That game was freaking insane
because Seattle was up two-nothing
and Gotham looked dead 'cause, they
had a midweek game at Citi Field.
It was a whole thing.
It was raining, it was
delayed, it was a wholeâ¦
There's been so much weather back east.
And then for them to make the subs
and then Escher comes in and just
ba-ba, with the goals and then,
oh my God, and then Rose again.
there's a reason why Gotham
is, my secret second team.
I just love success and having
Sam Kerr pisses me off because
why couldn't we play them before
Sam Kerr came back to the NWSL?
Damn it.
But
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: more about Sam Kerr later
Mario: yeah, they ended up winning
3-2 against, the Reign on that one.
Bay FC won 3-0 against the
North Carolina Courage.
we ended up winning our
match 2-0 against, Chicago.
Orlando lost again to Utah 1-0.
And then, Racing drew with Houston 1-1.
And then Boston fell to
the Washington Spirit 2-1.
So
all that
Angela: happy that
Orlando lost twice because
it allowed us To
Mario: To move on up.
Yeah.
we are now above the playoff
line with two games in hand.
That's gonna be the ongoing
mantra for the rest of the season.
Two games in hand
Angela: above it.
Like what, like we're not
just scraping into eighth
Where are we, Mario?
Mario: Oh, we are in seventh place,
22 points, two games in hand.
there's only a few teams
below us that have hit 16.
There's a couple more that have hit 15,
but we're in a good place right now.
Orlando losing both their games.
they are at 16 games played, and
they are now below us at 20 points.
the North Carolina Courage are trailing
us by one point, and we're only one
win away from, or one game away from
tying Kansas City for sixth place.
So all of that is positive.
Just keep a positive outlook.
We're moving on up.
And again, we are in American
sports here, so the main thing,
the main goal is the playoff line.
we can play for the shield if we want to,
but the main goal is the playoff line.
Angela: Yep, and the crazy thing is
that coming up for this next couple
weeks, it's WAFCON, it's Women's
AFCON, so African national teams are
competing to make World Cup qualifiers.
So a whole hell of a lot of
people are gonna be gone.
Our girl Prisca got the call-up.
We'll talk about that in a minute.
Temwa Chawinga, so Kansas City's
ma- like the league's massive
scorer Barbara Banda, um, Rachel
Kundananji, all of them had goals this
last week, I think except Barbara.
They've held her scoreless, which she's
also coming back from injury still.
major players in the league who are just
gonna be gone for a couple weeks, and
quite frankly, this is our time to shine.
Mario: Yeah.
I
Angela: this is the time, guys.
If we're gonna do it, we do it right now.
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
before we get into our preview
of our next match, as, as
Angela just mentioned, WAFCONâ¦
Look, boys tournament just finished.
It wasâ¦
Angela: It happened.
Mario: It happened.
I will say I am a convert to
the, expanded field of teams.
It just created a lot more fun
dynamics, so much more fun.
it created more storylines.
It was, it was a fun thing.
but that is over, and they are
not the only game in town, right?
We have, multiple other
tournaments happening.
We have the Women's World
Cup in less than a year now.
We're at 300 and, 50-some days
Angela: Yeah, 330 something?
Mario: Oh, we're down to 30?
Okay.
yeah.
E- either way, we're under a year away
from the Women's World Cup in Brazil.
the, U17s are, the Women's U17s are
happening in Morocco, I believe, soon.
I think it's the U17s.
One of them is happening in
Angela: in Morocco
Mario: And WAFCON is also in Morocco.
the Women's Africa Cup of Nations, will
be happening, and that will be happening
from July 25th through August 16th.
So you have all the, all, all the
African nations playing, in that one.
so it's just, it's
amazing football, soccer.
if you wanna be able to watch it, we'll
try to figure out where it's at and kinda
give you that info on the next episode.
pretty sure it's gonna be
streaming somewhere somehow.
But
Angela: We'll post links when we dig
them up 'cause they're in, wild places.
Mario: Yeah.
yeah.
But over- overall It's going to be
fun footy to watch regardless, right?
So I would encourage if you want to
expand your horizons on soccer, we're all
Angel City fans here, but we have seen
the players that we have in the league.
We have Prisca, we have, Kundananji.
We have, everybody that we've just talked
about and more who are playing in other
countries and also playing in Africa.
It's gonna be a great tournament
just to watch and just to get
familiar with because guess what?
The Olympics are also coming.
Angela: So
excited
Mario: be Olympic soccer, and so
we're gonna see these countries again.
So all of this is just to say,
there's so much good footy out there.
You don't have to stick
with the, just the men's.
I am partial to, to both.
I loved the boys World Cup, but I'm
also excited for the Women's World Cup.
I'm, I want to learn more about
WAFCON, and I want to learn
more and watch more about it.
So we'll definitely
talk about all of that.
I'll start gathering some info for
the next episode, and we can maybe
do a little, mini deep dive on where
to watch and what to look out for.
but without
Angela: I do have a little bit to
put in here with Prisca getting
called up for the Copper Queens
of Zambia.
She's also on the team with Rachel
Kundananji and Barbara Banda.
Disgusting.
who allow-- how, who, what,
where, when, why, how?
That's terrifying, and I
love it, and I'm so excited.
But the hardest part for me is asâ¦
If you have listened to this
show for longer than two days,
you know I love African soccer.
Is incredibly hard to find.
I usually just end up seeing
highlights and results.
But the group that Zambia
is in, it's Group C.
So we've got the Copper Queens,
we have Egypt's Cleopatras, 'cause
all the teams have cool names.
I just preface everything with this.
Egypt's women's team is
known as the Cleopatras.
So we have the Copper
Queens, the Cleopatras.
Then we've got Malawi's team, which
is where Temwa Chawinga and her
sister play, which is insane, are
called the Scorchers, which I love.
That's so cool.
then last and certainly not
least, my intro to African soccer
is the Nigerian Super Falcons.
How in the hell am I supposed toâ¦
This is my group of death.
this isâ¦
I can'tâ¦
Why is this happening to me?
'Cause I wanna cheer for all of them.
I want all of them to advance
out of the group stage.
I also need to know where I can buy
a kit because I need at least one.
Please and thank you.
If somebody finds a link, I'm also looking
for some, but if anybody knows where I
can get a Zambian kit, a Nigerian kit,
or a Malawian kit, hook a girl up, please
Mario: I will, because I will
be in New York, in a week.
I know
Angela: Oh, yeah
Mario: pretty good soccer
kit store out there.
I'll take a look
Angela: If you.
have time.
Yeah.
Mario: I will also say that with, the last
little note about all of this, and I was
just looking it up while you were talking,
Cape Verde, Cape Verde, everyone fell in
Angela: Cabo Verde
Mario: love with the island nation
Angela: Oh, hell yeah.
How could you not?
Mario: undefeated in the World Cup, okay?
They went their entire World
Cup not losing in regular time.
so with that, the women's team qualified
for WAFCON, and so they will be in for,
I believe it's, the first time or maybe,
Angela: Yeah, I think this is
group B is what they're in.
I ha-
I was looking at it in depth earlier.
Did I write it down?
No.
Did I save the graphic?
Also no.
But
Mario: we'll talk about all this more
in depth, but I do, I d- do remember
seeing that their women's team also
f- qualified, for the first time
or if not in a really long time.
So now that it, now that island nation's,
front of mind for everybody at the
moment, it's like, just magic for them.
And honestly, a greatâ¦
This is just great exposure for
all of these, teams in general.
They're not necessarily fromâ¦
They're coming from tiny nations or from
really massive ones, but still it's, itâ¦
great soccer all around.
So
Angela: Yeah just so everybody has it
for Zambia, the 28th, so Tuesday, a week
from the day before this episode comes
out, Zambia plays their first game at
10:00 AM Pacific, so hopefully we'll
have the link for it and we can post
it if it's streaming somewhere, what
station, what internet land, whatever.
But support them if you can.
Give viewership up because the m- we
all know the more eyes that are on
them, one, the more money that comes
in, two, the more respect the leagues
and the teams are given, and three, the
less bullshit they end up dealing with
because they're now under a microscope.
So let's ride
Mario: yes.
So check out our socials, check
out wherever we post about stuff.
Join the Discord and we will be talking
about all the games most likely as they
happen or around the time they happen.
So j- come join us.
and then with all of that, let's
talk about, Racing Louisville.
Racing Louisville currently
in last place, as I mentioned.
Angela: They're having a tough season
Mario: they're having a, yeah,
they're having a tough one.
so what are we looking for?
So the main note that I wrote in here,
as we're coming into this, and it was
mainly like historically Angel City
has been known to play to the level
of their opponent, whether that's a
good thing or sometimes a bad thing.
Angela: I'm actually
gonna touch on that And
expand on it from the
s- sports psych side.
So that thought.
Bookmark it.
we'll come back to it 'cause it's
actually a really interesting concept.
but like I said, racing is
having a really weird season.
Emma Sears has announced that she is
requesting a trade, which big time.
Uh, and this game, they will be
missing Taylor Flint, previously
known as Taylor Kornieck, due to
card accumulation suspension, which
means they're losing, a six-footer
in the midfielder, in the midfield.
She is a midfielder.
I know
how to use words.
But that is a huge loss in
set pieces, in aerial duels.
She is a key piece for a team
that needs, support and oomph,
and she's a great vet and
Mario: and that's a key t- that's a key
piece for our team who's not that tall, so
Angela: Yeah.
Our tallest is Angelina, who's
in goal, followed by Casey Phair
and Evelyn Shores, who are just
about my height, like 5'9", 5'10".
so it's gonna be really interesting.
But with racing, I do wanna focus on Emma
Sears because even though she's requested
to trade, she's not a player that's
like, when you put your two weeks in at
work, you're like, "Screw this shit."
don't, do your job anymore?
no.
'Cause she's trying to make the
national team for World Cup.
And she's number 13.
She's a forward.
She has a really long ponytail.
She's fantastic to watch.
She-- To give a little history,
she was drafted in the second
round of the 2024 last NWSL draft,
that was in Anaheim, where Eve and
I were, yay, out of Ohio State.
She debuted that season, that
next season against Orlando,
wound up a few games later having
back-to-back goals of the week.
from the jump, she was a little
fire starter for them, and has
the club record of 10 goals in a
season, which is a lot of goals,
Mario: Yeah,
' Angela: cause just a couple years
ago, that's a goal every game
Mario: That's true.
Angela: We've only recently
started expanding, so it's
like, no, that's a big deal.
she is also on the national team, the
first player since, Christen Press
to have a goal and an assist in her,
national team debut, and then followed
that up a couple months later with a hat
trick against New Zealand that second
o- that October, I think it was 2025,
which I say that it's because Ali Riley
was not playing defense for New Zealand
at that time since she had retired from
international football, so I blame that.
But, no, Emma Sears is a constant
threat across the season,
across, club and country.
She is so fun to watch live.
She's so creative.
Again, it's the kind of thing
our defense has to show up.
We have proven off the course
of the season that we can.
We just need to.
We need to match up well.
In this last game, who was it?
It was Evelyn Shores and Michelle Alozie,
who also plays for Nigeria, if we're
gonna tr- backtrack to WAFCON real quick.
there was a match up there and it
ended up being a mismatch where Evelyn
Shores was getting beat, Michelle
Alozie was getting fouls called.
it was like, "Oh crap, this is not good."
Next thing she and Gisele had switched.
It was like nope, we justâ¦
We didn't do that before.
We didn't switch on people like that.
We didn't just make the adjustment so
that we didn't get beat, so that we
didn't dig ourselves into a hole, and
I love that about our team because
now we show improvement in the game.
It's really nice to see, on-field
adjustments made like that when you
have mismatches, and so I'm curious
how we're gonna match up with her
in the m- in both the midfield and
for our forward, or excuse me, for
our, My God, I can't even talk.
I've, lost my brains.
I'm curious how our defense will show
up against Emma Sears, regardless of
whatever position people are playing,
whether my brain is connecting the
things or not, a really random cool fact
about Emma Sears is that she's a twin.
And on the women's national team,
there are, from what even I could
remember, four other sets of twins.
Not that have played together,
but like players who have a twin.
So Megan Rapinoe and her sister Rachael,
Emily Sonnettâ¦
Yeah, Emily Sonnett and her sister
Emma, Aubrey Kingsbury and her twin
who I did not look up because we
were just remembering, and then
Alyssa Naeher and her sister.
So that's at least four sets of
twins, not including the Mewis
sisters who are not twins, but they
are sisters who played on the team.
but yeah, so she's the fifth, Emma
Sears i- is a twin, and now that's five
sets of twins on the national team,
which is a really random, Jeopardy!
fact, like in case you
need, name one set of twins.
name a player who's a twin.
You've got at least five.
But yeah, with all that said about Emma
Sears and her scoring ability and her
craftiness and her ability to really
put the ball in the back of the net,
another big threat on their team is
beloved to so many Angel City fans,
to card collectors, to the, the LGBTQ
community, to, viral moments in general.
Macy Hodge is coming back to LA
for the first time since the trade.
We signed our girl, for those who don't
remember, for her first major contract in
December of 2024 out of Mississippi State.
I learned a really cool thing about
her in looking this up, which I
don't remember ever seeing before.
Coming out of high school, she had
decided to walk away from soccer to
really focus on her mental health.
She was not in a good place, relatable.
So she stepped away.
About six months later, she went,
"Uh, actually, I'm not done yet."
I did something very similar right
around the same age of just "I quit.
I'm not doing this."
And then I was like, "Okay, but
like I forgot how much I loved it."
And once you get stuff straightened
out, reorganized, put back in the filing
cabinets of your brain, sometimes you
can take that step back and realize
like, "Oh shit, that's why I did this."
Mario: Yeah
Angela: once that can come back,
that allows you to come back.
So she transferred from the
school she had applied to.
She was like a cashier at a grocery
store, and she was just like
a normal col- college student.
her club coaches who knew some
people at Mississippi State
and said, "All right, bet.
Get her over there."
Has a great collegiate career, which we've
talked about before when she was ours.
when she debuted for us against the
San Diego Wave in the 2025 season,
she then followed that up a month
later, scoring her first goal against
the Houston Dash in April of 2025.
Um, the only, quote-unquote mark on
her season was that she is a yellow
card machine, 'cause She's a, a
battling baddie, yeah, in the midfield.
She is an enforcer, and she
wound up on a card accumulation
suspension, which, listen, don't
we all at some point have a little
stuff to deal with
Mario: the enforcer that she
was and the number, right?
It's like we swapped out for
another enforcer, another person
Angela: which is fine.
Which is completely fine.
And sorry, I'm also so fidgety.
my legs are too long for my body.
but she missed a game due to card
accumulation and then got back
really fast because of the good
behavior rule, which was crazy.
but then in what feltâ¦
And this, again, this is coming from an
Angel City standpoint, but Racing signed
her for, $10 and a bag of chips, and
she moved to Louisville, and everybody
was like, "What the hell is this?
How dare you?"
But I miss her on this team, if
nothing else, for vibes alone.
miss Macy Hodge because as Pino
said, you cannot win a championship
without gays on your team.
Paraphrased, of course, but
it's true across sports,
men's, women's, doesn't matter.
and whether you know it or
not, it's running a business.
But it's so fun having members of the
community who are out and who are fun.
We still have our Good Morning
Lesbians shirt up in the store because,
duh, that doesn't just go away.
yeah, Macy Hodge in general
is a fantastic midfielder.
She's incredibly defensively-minded,
and she's so feisty.
she'll just body you into the
sun, and I'm like, "Yeah."
Except now, don't.
This is my team.
but she's making a name for herself
in Louisville, and sh- looks
like she's really being embraced
by the community out there.
And like I said, trading
card-wise, her cards are expensive.
She has the last year of Parkside
who had the NWSL license.
I have been trying to get one
specific card for, a year, and
all it's doing is getting more
expensive, and it's making me mad.
But I'll find a way to trade
for it 'cause I have some other
things I can use as trade bait.
But herâ¦
No, it's a big deal because not
a lot ofâ¦
Yeah.
And it's the kind of thing where a
limited run card is going for, 30 bucks,
and it's stop being so good, but, don't,
but stop because I don't want to spend
that much money on anything right now
Mario: I wonder how many
players are aware of
Angela: I know
Mario: Well, I know s- I know a lot
of the players are aware that there
are, trading cards out there of them,
Angela: Oh, yeah, yeah
Mario: like multiple versions and whatnot,
and like limited runs and whatnot.
But how many of them are aware of like the
Angela: how much money we spent
Mario: or how much money you're spending
on like one card, or the fact that
there are these like chaser cards
that you guys are like looking for and
are sought after of a certain player
Angela: Yeah, it's wild.
And to put it into perspective, Angelina
Anderson's dad collects her cards.
And so it's one of those where he's
such a proud dad and it's so cute.
All of the cardâ¦
Like it's a lot of women, obviously
I'm friends with a lot of them.
we- everyone tries to help you
get what you need, is awesome.
And it's if you're looking for
a specific card, it's "Okay, I
think I know I, I think I have it.
Let me see and just I'll send
it to you or I'll trade you for
this or whatever, 10 bucks."
Um, Angelina's dad has been gifted, has
pulled, has purchased so many one of ones,
so many low numbered cards, autographs.
It's so cute.
And he just posted a video
yesterday, day before, of all of
the cards that he had gotten graded.
So you can get them like, okay,
this is 10 out of 10 best card ever.
And it's just awesome.
And you can just feel it.
Like he's so proud of her and so happy
to have the collection of his kid.
And it's
Mario: Yeah
Angela: as much as I would
love some of those cards, I'm
like, "No, you deserve that.
You worked hard too."
Mario: I got one, although
it was from AYSO and it came
in a photo package, but still
Angela: I have some softball
ones of myself, same vibe.
But yeah, it's really fun being a card
collector with so many other fans.
Like it's notâ¦
Because it's still so close-knit, it's
very fun, very personable, and everybody's
like all up in each other's business
like, "Hey, what are you looking for?
What is this?"
Like I'm holding a one of one card
for a friend who's like, "I just need
some more time to get some money."
And I'm like, "I'm not
selling it to anybody else."
Mario: For a little behind the scenes
for everyone also, there are multiple
nights that we record that the way
we start off is by Angela going
like, "Oh God, look what I just got."
And then she's just showing
me card after card on camera
Angela: hold on.
I have a stack right here
that just came in the mail.
for those of you who aren't
watching on YouTube, I'm gonna
pull out the non-Angel Cityâ¦
Oh, no, 'cause there's
some good ones in here.
So I have, a Madison Hammond,
instant pronto weekly card.
I have this Claire card that
I've been looking for, two years
from 2023, something like that.
A Jun Endo from 2022 or 2020, or 2023.
A Riley Tiernan rookie
card that I didn't have.
Another Sarah Gorden card 'cause
as she asked me, "Girl, you still
have more cards for me to sign?"
I don't think you understand.
that was a free one.
An Emily Sams, but with her
maiden name, Emily Madril.
Um, a Racheal Kundananji auto out of 100.
Nilly Martin out of 100
when she was at Gotham.
Alyssa Naeher, cool fancy guy.
Claire out of five on the last cool thing.
An Abby Dahlkemper out of 10,
and then Racheal Kundananji
and Midge Purce out of 35.
So yeah, it's a problem.
I have boxes, guys, and it's
the kind of thing I'm like, "I
need to sell some of these off."
And I'm like, "But they're my pretties."
they're shiny and I love them.
And we all joke that it's fancy
cardboard, but it makes us all
happy and it's such a funâ¦
We all just share the same $20 essentially
Mario: I ended up, just like
any good millennial, I don't
use the stickers that I have.
I, and my wife also doesn't.
we both just never wanted to.
And she definitely had, the
book of Sanrio stickers.
and
Angela: sticker books?
Bro
Mario: yeah.
and we've talked about this before.
But, I, maybe a year or two ago, I ended
up buying these, small-ish, notebook size,
We were looking for the longest time.
I don't know why it was so hard.
But, sticker books with the actual,
the, the paper that, that lets
you remove the sticker, right?
It wasn't just a sticker book
with, paper in there where,
you're do- one and you're done.
no.
We can remove them.
We can reposition or whatever.
And now the kids have them, too, because
they also don't wanna get rid of their
Angela: They also have sticker anxiety?
Mario: yeah.
And the cute part is that we now trade.
Maddie had this one, this one cat,
that, Jen really wanted, and she was
like, "No, I can't part with her."
And eventually we found some, sticker
that she really wanted, and she's like,
"Okay, I'll finally let this one go."
But oh yeah, I've got a whole set
of stickers that I've put in that
book because I was like, "I'm not
gonna put them on anything else."
if I have a duplicate of
something, then it goes on.
If you ever see my water bottle, it means
that I have a duplicate of that sticker.
Angela: I love how neurotic millennials
specifically are about stickers.
don't
Mario: Mm.
Angela: with us and our stickers, guys.
Mario: No.
Angela: But okay, back to, soccer,
normal things that we would talk about.
Mario: Sorry for the tangent.
It's late
Angela: I'm not
apologizing.
Mario: are w- what are we looking at that
we need Angel City to do in this match?
Again, we started talking a little
bit about the whole psychological
playing up, playing down, thing, but,
Angela: So there's a lot because
for those of you who are newer
to Angel City, there's weird
history between us and racing.
We played racing in Louisville, and
that's where Christen Press tore her ACL
That was number one.
And then the Kayla Fisher, Merritt
Mathias interaction, confrontation,
Mario: Oh, I
Angela: out of bounds into
the metal barrier, and then da
on the sideline for Merritt.
wild moment and everyone was just
like, "Oh my God, what's gonna happen?
They're gonna fight."
They didn't fight, but
whatever was said was enough.
And then Madison Hammond getting
her hair pulled, like ponytail yank.
Mario: This was also racing?
Geez.
Angela: Yeah, like what the hell?
so history between the teams is weird
and like there's no real reason, like
there's no, at least to my knowledge,
unless there's like player beef that
I don't know about, but it's not it's
not like something happened on purpose.
or oh, we beat them 17 to zero
or something like that and
they just hate us forever.
It just happened and then it's just
been like a cloud of eh, no, stop.
so with that said, for us coming
into this game, we need to make sure
that we manage our tempers, keep our
cool, don't let whatever the hell
the vibes are between our teams get
to us and play the upper hand of,
oh, you wanna play like that, bet.
Okay.
It's like the kind of thing where somebody
thinks they're gonna make you mad or
like out-petty you and you're like, cute.
Nice try."
So we have to take that step back because
it's always, the temperature's a little
hot when we play Racing Louisville.
but yeah, it's also Macy
Hodge's first game back in BMO.
It's Ary's first matchup against
Racing since her coming, her leaving.
Essentially Macy Hodge, Ary Borges
switched spots, switched like
literal positions, everything.
so it's both their first matches
against their former clubs.
So there's a lot, but the coolest
thing is that we have so much
momentum on our side, so much.
And this is the kind of game where
you can play with that a little bit,
push the limits of things, see what
you can do, but it's the matches like
this that test us at the same time
because of what Mario said earlier.
When you play a team, no matter where
you are, top of the table, bottom of the
table, it's so easy to play up or play
down to who your opponent's, skill level,
the matchup, the attitude, everything.
And it's games where you're playing
teams below you in the table where it
really shows where you need to get your
shit together, frankly, because it will
expose where you can, where you think
you can be like quote unquote lazy.
It can expose- Who, and not to say anybody
will, but like who tends to slack off when
they know that you're better than them?
like how those matchups, it exposes
a lot of really weird things, and
it's across sport that this happens.
I did it.
There were times I'd be matching
up against other throwers.
For those who don't know, I don't know
if I've mentioned it, I don't remember,
I bowled competitively for 15 years.
I, traveled the state, the country,
blah, blah, blah, whatever.
But I did that historically.
I'd be like, "Whatever."
And then, "Oh, shit, I have six
frames to make up this game."
learn very quickly that it is very
easy to play to your competitor's level
without actively making the decision.
So when you're matching up with teams
that this season, let's say, don't
necessarily have the same record or
y- as you or are having a tough season
and can't put the wins together enough
to, amount to anything substantial,
there's this weird thing that happens
where they upset big teams because one,
like I
said,
Mario: guard down,
Angela: theâ¦
Yeah, teams will let their guard down
a little bit, but the team in last
place has absolutely nothing to lose.
They can play balls to the wall.
They can do whatever they want.
But if the other team isn't prepared
for them to come out and play like
that you're professional, like that
you're, uh, professional players,
like you're gonna match up, and
they're gonna play to your level.
But if you're playing to their expected
level, that dynamic goes from like
top of the table, bottom of the
table to this wiggly weird thing that
nobody knows what's gonna happen,
and that's the hard part, is playing
your game when you know that you,
the team you're playing against isn't
having their best offering this season
Mario: yeah.
we can'tâ¦
there's the term out there
called the trap game, right?
It's the, the idea of, it's a game that's
a little too easy to be true, right?
And you, and then you let your guard
down and then you get smacked, right?
Um, and we can't let that happen,
'cause that has happened to us before.
It's definitely happened to the
point where we're just like,
"This should've been a win."
Angela: Like, why did this not happen?
Mario: yeah, and Racing isâ¦
They're in let's get weird territory.
They're in throw, throw spaghetti
Angela: Throw spaghetti.
Mm-hmm
Mario: they are in mode of, we gotta
figure something out to salvage
whatever we can of the season
Angela: Yeah
Mario: as we keep going, right?
But that can be dangerous for a team
like us, 'cause, a team that's hitting
all cylinders, a team like, like
Gotham or, or in years past, KC, and,
just any, any top table t- top of the
table team right now, it almost feels
like they're on autopilot, right?
they are gelling.
They know what they're doing.
And that, to that point, they
don't have to really adjust.
They can keep doing what they're
doing in kind of an autopilot.
And then once someone figures
them out, that's when they have
to, shift and do that, right?
But they don't haveâ¦
they don't really have
to do that just yet.
We are in the middle where
we're still tinkering.
They are gonna be tinkering massively.
So we can very easily tinker
the wrong way and it goes wrong.
So that's definitely a concern.
on paper, we are on the
up and they are not.
let's hope for a fun,
result on Pride Night.
But yes
Angela: Yeah, and that it's what I said.
We have the momentum on our side,
and these are the matchesâ¦
Like Chicago, we played very well.
We were a little weird in the
first half because they matched
up differently than we thought.
We made adjustments, and it showed.
This match is gonna be very similar.
If we are able, which I think we will be,
to pull out the win and really command
the game, that's gonna be the biggest
thing for us because, like I said,
this is a get your shit together game.
Because I looked at the schedule
and I was like, "Who haven't
we matched up with against?"
'Cause there's plenty of teams.
Gotham, the Spirit, Denver, and Boston.
And granted, Spirit and Gotham are inâ¦
they're just doing this top three
with San Diego and Portland,
that's the top four right now.
That's a big deal 'cause we
both have a home and away
game for both of those teams.
And then with Denver and Boston,
expansion teams are wild cards
Boston just signed, Lily Reale
from Gotham and another player
who I'm drawing a blank on right
now 'cause I didn't write it down.
but they've just added more people,
more production to their team.
Mario: Yeah
Angela: And then the Summit just
brought in Lindsey Horan, Or excuse
me, Lindsey Heaps, the Horanimal,
but, she's the Horanimal in my head.
So yeah.
So you bring in a, a a medal-winning,
a World Cup-winning midfielder
Mario: Yeah
Angela: who's making
her return to the NWSL.
then you have Gotham who just
brought back Denise O'Sullivan,
just brought back Sam Kerr
ugh.
It's just shit.
Because like I said earlier, I just
wanted to play these teams before this
was gonna happen, 'cause we all knew
it was like the stupidest open secret.
Yeah, like let me just get one.
but expansion teams, no matter
how good or bad their seasons are,
it's a wild card because nobodyâ¦
You don'tâ¦
The only, scouting information you
have is what's been that this season.
You don't have s- historic year over year
of how these players have played together.
but with teams like the Spirit
and Gotham, like the Spirit is c-
they're coming out with a vengeance.
They've lost in the finals
recently, last season before.
they've lo- they, they are so
close to putting it all together.
And then you have Gotham who's just
terrorizing everybody and being like, "Oh,
we've collected another Infinity Stone.
Neat.
Oh, we've brought back the, highest
scoring person who's ever played in this
league until Lynn Viandolo outscored
her by two goals, but she's on maternity
leave and now Sam Kerr is back.
Oh, neat.
cool."
No, thank you.
Mario: Just came back to get her record
Angela: honestly, it's like,
"Okay, I got my record back.
Bye, I'm gonna retire."
which honestly, I don't blame
her if that's what she does.
I would do the same thing.
It'sâ¦
she played for Sky Blue before.
It's like a very cute
tie all together.
but that's really where we're going
to need to lock in, is to lock in
this game and figure this stuff out
because after this it just gets harder.
Like it, weâ¦
Granted, there's some breaks in there.
We have to play Racing again.
We have to play some other
teams again, but we also have to
play like heavy hitters, know?
So we gotta get it together.
But I do wanna spotlight a Angel
City player before we close this out.
Mai Niehues our fantastic goal
scoring machine right now.
She is number 12.
She's in the midfield.
She's fantastic.
watching her score the goal in San Diego
and they get as Max, Emmy's brother
said in the Discord, boot to snoot,
just a whole cleat to the forehead.
her play in a different stadium was so
cool 'cause you're accustomed to the vibe
in BMO, the energy, the angles, all of it.
Going to a different stadium, you're like,
"Oh, this looks so different from here.
I get it."
oh, okay.
Like you see your players all
over again, like brand new.
But so she signed with a Portuguese
club in September of 2022, and doing the
research for this, I found out that she
was born after I graduated from col- from
high school and that hurt my feelings
Mario: Don't look them up.
That's the thing.
Don't lookâ¦
Look, get the highlights.
Get the highlights.
don't look at the birthdates anymore.
Angela: No, I do and I just stare at
it for a good 10 seconds of "Oh God."
she s- she had played in Brazil for a
little bit with like local clubs and then
signed with the Portuguese club Sporting
CP, where Hannah Sieber also is playing
and now one of our assistant coaches.
she signed with them in September
of 2022 where she, had 57 caps.
She had 18 goals and three assists
in that time before she signed with
us in March of 2025 then scored her
first goal in September against Bay FC.
In this last five games, she is now the
second youngest player to score five goals
in five consecutive games, which is dope.
And she joinsâ¦
She has six goals on the season but
five games in a row that she's scored.
the wildest thing, I just
went on a rant about Sam Kerr
scoring a million goals, right?
Obviously she has also scored five goals
in five games, but so has Alex Morgan, Kim
Little, Diana Ordonez, and Temwa Chawinga.
Like just minor players.
No big deal.
Just maybe some household names.
Whatever.
It's fine.
Mario: that's some good company.
That's some
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: to be around
Angela: Yeah.
So that's it.
that's all.
It's just holy shit, that's a
huge accomplishment so early
in a professional career.
She's so young.
She's gotâ¦
She just got called up to the, Brazilian
national team where she has one cap.
I think it might be two now or three,
but the last update anyway in, on, in the
internets that I could find officially.
but she's making a great showing
for herself and she's going to
be hell come World Cup time.
So yeah, it's gonna be bonkers.
Like I said, the history
between our teams is weird.
We've won twice, we've drawn
twice, we've lost four times.
But
Mario: I, I, when I saw
Angela: I don't get
Mario: also very, surprised
at the, at that result.
But it,
yeah,
Angela: are weird.
That's it
Mario: with all that being said, thank
you for joining us for a new Shenanisode.
totally full of off tangents.
Hope you learned something,
maybe not soccer related, on the
various things we talked about.
But
Angela: So many things
Mario: you're here, you like
us, you know what to do.
Hit the subscribe button.
It's what everybody tells you.
Find us, go to casualfc.com.
You can find all the pod links,
all the social links, where to see
us, where to see our faces on video
somewhere, which is most likely YouTube.
how to get to the Discord, all
that information, just go to the
website, that's where you'll get it.
So yeah, Come join us
on Discord, like I said.
we will be talking about
all of the WAFCON games.
We'll be talking about all the Angel
City games and a bunch of other topics
that you can, enjoy while we're there.
everybody's cool, and,
it's been a lot of fun.
And best ways to support the
pod, as always, share, comment
on any one of our posts.
it's all about engagement.
right now the running names,
the running leaders for the
name of my microphone is Mike,
Angela: No.
Mario: I'm particular to.
I like, I like that idea.
this is a Rode mic, so Roderick, or
Roadie, is in the ch- in, in the lead too.
So if you have any other
names for my microphone
Again, googly eyes and everything.
throw them in the comments, let us know.
grab some merch at shop.casualfc.com.
we have lots of stuff there and
more coming along the way as
long as players start playing.
And then if you feel so inclined,
help us out by buying us a coffee
at buymeacoffee.com/casualfcpod
or check
the website, do all the social links.
You'll find ways to get to there.
throw us a buck.
It's, a g- easy way to help
support the pod and let us
keep doing what we're doing.
and it means a ton.
So b- and then the last thing we can do
to ask you is tell a friend about the pod.
It brings us good luck.
We wrap that up and we send it
along, and hopefully we can send
it directly to Mai and get six
and six and keep the streak going.
Maybe share a little bit with,
with, Angelina and get another
fresh linen set out of that game.
All good stuff.
All the things that we can get, but we
also need you to tell people about it.
So with all of that, it's Pride Night.
See you at Pride Night,
everyone, and see you, BMO.
Bye.
Angela: Bye