Mario: sportsmanship and kindness.
Angela: Sponsorship
and kindness, everybody
Mario: I'm in the know.
I know, I get the jokes.
Angela: Yeah.
Good job, Mario.
I have taught you so well,
bringing you into the culture
Hey, everyone.
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
outdoorsy dad of the year, Mario Salazar.
Mario: Barely.
Barely outdoorsy.
Angela: He hates camping, guys.
Guess what he and his
little Boy Scout did?
did it.
They went
Mario: Yay.
Angela: This episode is gonna
cover our double header week.
So tomorrow, Wednesday, we
Mario: more game.
Game in hand
Angela: we are matching up the Seattle
Reign at BMO at 7:00 PM tomorrow.
there or be square, my friends.
If you can't make it or you live out
of town because some people do that,
streaming on NWSL+, it'll be on the
iHeartRadio app and KWKW 1330 en Espanol.
If you can try to get there early,
that'd probably be a good idea because
it is the last and final collectible
pin in the collectible pin series.
So go get it.
and get an extra one for Mario
because I will forget to tell Eva.
It is also Native American Heritage
Night, so I'm super excited.
I know who is doing the pre-clap
and all the performances
and all the things, and it's
Mario: Ooh
Angela: cool.
It's gonna be very fun.
And then we fast-forward to the weekend
and we will be In Utah just because
Mario: Yeah, we'll be in Utah.
it's going to be a Sunday match,
September 20th against the Utah Royals.
We've said Utah.
does someone count the number of
times we say Utah in this episode?
It's a 4:00 PM, Pacific, start time.
It's going to be on NWSL+ and iHeartRadio.
There is an official watch party
by Angel City, and it's going
to be at Hightops in Los Feliz.
Kickoff is going to be, the party
starts at 3:00 and kickoff is at 4:00.
get there early.
Again, Los Feliz, Culver City,
Z- some of those places are
pretty small, so get there early.
Angela: awful.
Go get
Mario: Yeah.
Take an Uber, do, do what you gotta do.
Yep.
Angela: Public transportation.
Sorry, we are both tired wired
Mario: And trying to get
through this, but I kinda doubt
Angela: hard
Mario: Okay, like I was just saying
at the beginning of our intro,
Wednesday, it's our game in hand match.
Finally.
We've been two games in hand for the
longest time, then we were down to one.
This, here we are.
The matches this Wednesday, us versus,
Seattle and Bay versus Denver are all the
wrap-up matches, the game in hand matches,
so I'm calling it the Game in Hand Bowl.
And, all of the teams will be
squared up by Wednesday, true
standings of where everybody is,
for the league, across the league.
From here to the end, there'll be
some fluctuations here and there,
but they all catch up fairly quickly.
There's a lot of kind ofâ¦
There might be a couple of
midweek games going throughout
f- for the rest of the season.
Luckily, I think we have just
weekly games from here on out.
But, it'll be great.
So that's what's,
Angela: also the race for
eighth place on Wednesday.
Mario: Yes
Angela: teams, so us and Seattle,
the ones currently battling,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: and Bay FC are
like, "What's up, losers?"
Like
Mario: Yes.
Yes.
All of us are on the
bubble chasing Seattle.
a win does not automatically leapfrog us
over Seattle, but it gets us really close,
Angela: One point
Mario: within one point.
So imagine if we got
three points the last one.
I will say it sounded
like an amazing game.
We're gonna get to that right now.
but yes, these two matches, it's gonna
be the start of a four-game road trip.
Seems kinda brutal.
but if everything goes the way even
our last road trip went, I'll take it.
that ended up being a good road trip.
Let's get the same thing.
And then after these two matches and
that four-game road trip, the last two
matches are coming back at home, ending
with, the Decision Day match on the 1st.
So yeah, we've got, quite a bit going.
Like I said, I was, or as Angela
mentioned, camping this weekend.
Angela: the
Mario: it, for the first time ever.
my youngest, my son, is, in
the, he's in the Cub Scouts, and
we did our first camping trip.
We literally borrowed,
80% of what we needed.
We borrowed the
Angela: the best thing to do when
you aren't necessarily sure if
this is a thing you're gonna do.
If you don't know the best way
to do the things, don't buy
$500 worth of camping gear.
Mario: Exactly.
Exactly.
So we borrowed everything.
luckily because this is for Cub Scouts
and we're trying to get the kids into it,
our scout leader and everything brought
all the-- they brought all the food.
We didn't have to lug any
food or anything like that.
we did have to bring, we did have to
bring extra water, 'cause it wasn't as
warm as we thought it was going to be.
But they, we were warned that
the water might not be, potable.
so either way, we brought our own water.
We brought big old giant jugs of stuff.
and yeah.
And then at the end my son was said he
loved it and he wants to do it again.
So I guess we're camping people now.
We'll see.
We'll see how we end up by
Angela: on Sunday of, him and his wife
and their kids in the tent, and it was
the cutest, "Look, we did it," picture.
And it's so funny 'cause,
his son is ecstatic.
you can see it in his face.
He's like, "This is my
favorite thing in the world."
Mario: Oh yeah
Angela: daughter is like, "That was neat."
"I'm tired.
I wanna go back home."
And you and Jen are just like, "We did it.
Mario: We did it.
Yay.
Angela: so tired."
Mario: Yeah.
My daughter had a blast too, but yeah, she
was definitely a little bit more, Yeah.
yeah.
it was fun though.
Iâ¦
It was fun.
but that means I missed the match.
I did not miss the entirety
of the match though.
As we were driving, we didn't
go very far for camping.
It was actually just up in the,
the, the foothills behind Monrovia.
as we were driving, because we kinda
got a little late start on Friday to
get all the stuff going and having
dinner, because we needed to eat
before we got there, I got to listen
to the first half of the game, the
majority of the first half of the game.
And the whole time I was
like, "This sounds good.
I like that, Heaps is getting a little
bit perturbed, and a little annoyed."
I heard something about a big scuffle
where, SveindÃs was getting in her face.
but by the time I got up into the hills,
into the mountain, yeah, I had no more
signal, so I couldn't listen to the,
I couldn't listen to the game anymore.
Apparently, that's when
everything started happening.
So the whole first part of it,
I got a whole bunch of nothing.
and then I, purposely on a camping trip
with my kids and stuff, didn't wanna be
on my phone, we just left it on the side
and didn't think about it until Sunday.
That's when I caught up with all of
the Discord messages, with all of the
updates, with all of the Instagram stuff.
that was wild
Angela: You have no idea.
You have absolutely no idea.
So to give you the quick and dirty,
super, super solid first half.
we're battling on the ball,
we're regaining possession,
we are playing really well.
We have a lot of force in our attack
and it's very driven, it's very focused.
Super great.
at the end of the first half, Maiâ¦
I honestly, it's in the 45th minute
and I'm like, is that technically
the first half, or was it stoppage,
or was it the second half?
it's so blurry right around
halftime in my brain.
But Mai gets this banger of a goal, which
was not nominated, first of all, for
Mario: What?
Angela: NWSL.
Get it
Mario: That was, I saw the highlight and
that was a beautiful stop, turn, and shot.
Angela: It,
The best part was, you know how
pregame they're like, "Which song do
you want us to play after they score?"
Mario: Yeah
Angela: were Diva by Beyoncé,
some other song I don't remember,
and then Who's That Girl by Eve.
Somehow, some way, the millennials
in the audience were like, "It's Eve.
Mario: It's Eve.
Angela: It's,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: Rider.
We are Rough Ri- like, this is how we go."
Mai hits that shot, and the whole
stadium, and remember, I'm up in
the box, so I'm a little bit higher.
The stadium is like, "Ah!"
you could feel it in everybody's veins.
it's the best moment of my life
Mario: Up in the box and they
brought out the coffee again.
So
Angela: Okay, but here's the thing.
It-- this week I drank it and I
was like, "Oh, that was nice."
I could've gone to sleep.
I was so tired.
It's gonna be me tomorrow, so
fingers crossed it's there.
But she hits it, the crowd's going wild,
and then you just hear, "Who's that girl?"
And I was like, I could explode right now.
This is the perfect mix of, the energy
of the goal, my just being like, what--
Bet I told you what, you were nervous.
like, how dare you?
and then having Eve and I made two
friends in the, in the press box,
and I'm just, grooving, right?
I'm sitting there, I'm,
like, typing, "Oh my God.
Oh my God."
And the best partâ¦
Oh no, that was later on.
But funny happened later.
So I'm managing the Discord, I'm
chatting it up with people who aren't
at the game, who are at the game.
Everybody's just "Oh my God.
Oh my God."
w- the, the folks next to me were just
like, "You are loving this right now."
I was like, "Listen, I'm
a Rough Rider for life.
I don't-- I am a millennial
woman of a certain age.
Do not come at me with this energy.
And Eve, please.
Please."
And they both just started cracking up.
They're like, "Oh, that's so dope.
That's so dope."
So we go into halftime, it's so
great, vibes are high, th- it shifts
a little bit, everything's good.
We come out, forgot who we were for a hot
five seconds, and they just go wap, wap.
Score three.
Everyone's like, "What the hell?"
No joke, it was like,
Mario: Oh, man
Angela: life?
And the second goal could have been con-
like, reviewed, Ange was so off balance.
she was, like, off-- She wasâ¦
Hit the crossbar, she goes one
way, it deflects, comes back.
it was just like, what?
Mario: I, h- I, okay.
So
Angela: mad about it forever
Mario: like I said, I was catching
up through texts, through what was
happening on Discord and things
like that way after the fact.
I saw some of the highlights, but,
I don't doubt that watching this
and seeing us go down afterâ¦
we have these highs whenever we're
playing, especially in the stadium,
especially when we get that first goal,
and then we're like, "This is the team.
We're, this isâ¦
don't mess with us.
this is who we are."
And then we get whacked
in the face, right?
Right immediately after, or like
Angela: You know when you watch
two cats who are wrestling then one
just rears back and just goes ba?
That's what it felt like.
you have two cats.
I know you have seen
Mario: Yeah, it is.
Angela: ba.
It felt like that.
But then Angel City
remembered who they are.
We made some subs, and Prisca in for
Mai was best decision at the best time.
were asking me up in the box,
"Why isn't Prisca starting?"
I was like, "She needs to rest.
She's been playing eight seconds a
game, goes to WAVCON, runs the whole
damn time in Morocco where it's 90
degrees, comes back here where it's 90
degrees, and starts four games, like,
and plays a full 90 a couple times.
she isâ¦
She needs a rest."
And they were like, okay, okay."
So then when she came in and
scored immediately, all three of
us were like, "That's what's up.
That's our girl.
cool, yes."
And they're like, "Oh,
are you a big Prisca fan?"
And I'm like, "I don't
think you understand."
But then at halftime the player of the
match was, someone who, like a, a Zambian
person who knows Prisca that I got to meet
when I went down there one time, and he is
just talking about how she is a light and
that the whole country is proud of her.
Everybody's is so beautiful."
They're trying to cut him
off, and he was like, "Zambian
pride because we love Prisca."
And everybody's like,
The crowd was going wild.
it was so good.
But she scores, then we knock another
one in and the game's tied, and
I was like, "We could win this."
The second she scored, I'm not
kidding you, the whole shift, like
the whole tide in the stadium shifted.
are we about to make a comeback right now?
Mario: Yeah
Angela: did.
it wasn't for lack of trying.
It was a very wild
15 minutes or whatever the timeframe is
of goals that were scored, but, the goals
we let in were frustrating, not gonna lie.
But this team year ago, this team
two years ago, three years ago,
four years ago, would not have made
that comeback to grab that point
Mario: All the years ago?
Angela: This team six months ago, shit.
Like
But to watch them dig in and
say, "No more," and really,
pull it out of nowhere to score.
And I saw a clip of, Setnor, I think
it was on the Sam Mewis podcast,
but I didn't get to watch the whole
thing 'cause I've been super busy.
But she said, "Oh no, we
had, a players meeting."
And I was like, I knew it.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: I freaking knew it.
'Cause you can tell, you can always
tell when there's been a players
only meeting or, a, a players', phone
call or something like that, because
a team comes out they're different.
Somebody was like, "If you do notâ¦
If you think this is acceptable,
don't come in tomorrow.
Don't come to practice."
Aja Wilson did it to her championship
winning team when they lost by 53 points.
She said, "If you think this
is acceptable, I don't wanna
see you tomorrow at practice."
that's a captain.
That's
Mario: Yeah
Angela: like, "Get your ass together."
but would I have loved that win?
Absolutely.
But that is a draw that felt like a win.
We could have
Mario: Yes
Angela: the points to keep us
in eighth place, but whatever.
This is a team that is scrappy, and
this is a team that is digging deep
right now, and I don't know if we
have a curse of a head coach title.
I don't care.
I- w- whatever's happening right
now, I'm fine with it because
this team is digging for anything.
And it's not just oh, they're
playing scrappy, they're getting by.
isâ¦
You can see it's decision-making, that
it's just no, we're not losing this game.
We are gonna get anything
we can back," and they do.
Mario: Yeah.
One of, one, one ofâ¦
we weren't gonna go too deep into
it, but I think one of the funniest
things that I saw in our Afterâ¦
the prompt was After Dark Never
Disappoints, and I think the funniest
thing was actu- the funniest thing
was actually a screenshot of a,
a post on Blue Sky by, Andre Carlisle.
It's like, "Angel City games are fun
because they remember they're really
fast, and then they forget, and then
they remember again, but then they'll
forget, and then they remember."
Angela: Yeah, and that's
Mario: And I'm like, "Yes.
Yeah."
Angela: every damn team in this league.
We just forget.
Mario: I- it does feel that way.
like I'm saying, theâ¦
Seeing the box score and seeing
what happened, and then being
like, "Holy crap, that just went
three, three unanswered," right?
Angela: And it w- it
Mario: and
Angela: like
Mario: it'd be likeâ¦
Angela: bat.
Mario: did that break down so bad?"
But yes, being able to pull yourselves
back up, get the juice, get the spice,
get the wap-lop from your other, teammates
to be like, "Let's wake the fuck up,"
Angela: Yeah
Mario: that was amazing.
I- it wasâ¦
I- I'm bummed I missed it in real time.
it
Angela: I will say I called out in
the Discord, "Why do I feel like
this ref is gonna piss me off?"
And our wonderful listener Joel, who
helps keep up the, referee spreadsheet,
was like, "He's really indecisive."
And I was like, "Oh, he's the guy
that was convinced of making calls.
I remember him."
We had two VAR decisions go
in our favor, first of all.
One didn't, but whatever.
We got two
Mario: Two.
66%.
Angela: But, there are multiple players
on the Denver Summit that should have
been carded multiple times to the point
of being sent off for shoves in the back.
But I guess with, stature and
international experience, you get a pass
But whatever.
Mario: Yeah, I
Angela: that, that Sandra, one of
the team photographers, or she's not
a team photographer officially, but
she is on the, the sidelines most
of the time, and she's wonderful.
have to post it right here.
It's the one that somebody
posted in the Discord.
It's
Mario: Okay
Angela: Lindsey Heaps literally shoved
Sarah in the back and she went flying.
She's like a, a splat on the
ground, and she's justâ¦
Do I, what do I have that I can hold up?
oh, here.
She's literally like
she's holding nothing.
She's like, "Hello?"
And everyone was like,
"Oh, thank God, finally."
But yeah, there are multiple missed cards.
I think there was like three
cards in the whole game.
It was stupid.
But, I, we all just want consistency.
That's it.
Mario: Yeah.
yeah, I will post up her picture
and everyone go check out
Sandra's sports photography.
We'll tag her.
Angela: wonderful.
Mario: She,
Angela: she's
Mario: yeah
Angela: and she's in it for the good stuff
Mario: Yeah, she is.
And she supports so much, local
sports and photographing them.
Yeah, a lot of it
Angela: Hire her if you are
a media outlet and you need a
great sideline photographer.
I will hype
Mario: Yep.
Angela: forever
Mario: Yep, yep.
we will not end our recap without
going over our, beautiful haiku.
Nerve-wracking second.
What an epic comeback tie.
Team hitting it off And yeah.
Yep, yep.
Angela: Oh,
really
Mario: yep
Angela: we get into permutations and
all the things, I just wanna send a
big shout-out to every single person
in the stadium who DM'd me, who texted
me, who helped spread information,
because those chilly boys were seen
at the Expo Park area pre-game.
There was reports during the game.
it got really wonky.
Everybody was checking in withâ¦
was at, talking to supporter groups who
was talking to the front office to get
the all clear, "Are we safe to leave?"
That kind of thing.
Um, community will not let these peopleâ¦
say these people in, the derogatory
way towards the forces that are
working against us collectively as a
whole, because this community, Angel
City, our fa- our listeners, our
friends, all of that, we protect each
other, and it is so apparent, and
it was such a beautiful, franticâ¦
I'll tell you, I spent the last 30
minutes of the game trying to figure
out if it was safe to leave so that
we could put the message out and not
do it in a harried way that made it
scarier, made it more frantic, because
it's the last thing anybody needs.
so if there is anything like that
happening in a game and you know it,
please do not hesitate to reach out to
me, whether it's personally, on Instagram.
However you know how to
get ahold of me, do it.
Iâ¦
I was getting texts from Casey,
Casey's on the case Casey.
She's like, "Hey, my friend's at this.
Like, where are you?
Are you safe?"
everyone was checking on each
other, and God, I love this.
I hate that this is happening, because
this is impacting our community
day in and day out, and it'sâ¦
The fatigue is real, both from
folks that are dealing with it
directly and those of us who are
dealing with it more indirectly.
this shit sucks, and to have this many
people coming out on a Friday night,
risking a lot to be there, but to
continue to show up for this team, I love
you, and thank you, and I'm gonna cry.
But fuck this shit.
Quite frankly, fuck this shit so hard.
but we get through this together.
We get through this with community,
and I'll be damned if we don't.
But yeah, what happened
in the league, Mario?
Mario: Smooth transition.
Angela: cry.
I got
Mario: You know what?
I, Fuck them, first of all.
Second, it's been a while since you've
cried, so I'm gonna actually have
to, I actually have to go back and
find the last time you did, 'cause
I'm putting the tracker up and I
don't remember where we're at now.
Angela: I don't either.
It's been a minute.
I've been by myself.
You left me.
And that's why I should have been
crying, 'cause I didn't have co-hosts.
Ugh.
Mario: Oh, man.
Angela: Anyway
Mario: the-- yeah, besides the
amazingness of what happened, I did
see the posts about, people being
keep-- people watching each other.
I saw things on Instagram, on
Reddit, on every, just almost every
platform, just trying to keep the
awareness out there for everybody.
So thank you for the entire
community, for standing up, as,
in whichever way that you can.
And again, standing up does not
mean you need to be the person
on the front lines if that is not
what you are comfortable with.
But what you do
Angela: a press box and researching
and looking at every single Instagram
account and police blotter and posts.
no joke, I barely watched the second half.
It was like this constantly, just
up, down, up, down, trying to
find out information, talking with
people who were throughout the
stadium, and I'll do it again every
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
stay safe everyone.
that's one of the reasons,
it- that's partially a reason
why, attendance has dipped.
it, one of many reasons of just LA, right?
Angela: Yeah.
Mario: like there's
Angela: 90 degrees
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
It's
Angela: Ew.
Mario: these last couple
weeks have been complete shit.
But, hopefully it's cooling down.
I haven't had to turn on the
air right now, which is great.
Angela: I
Mario: past couple of-
Angela: 'cause I, I-- it's stuffy
in the house, but that's okay.
Mario: yeah.
yeah.
okay.
all right.
Let's get into this before we get
into a l- long, a, a long quickish
preview of two different games
that we're gonna be, going across.
Quick scores from around the league.
We have, Gotham being, beating Racing 2-1.
We have a draw, 2-2, with KC and Orlando.
We have our draw, 3-3, against, Denver.
We have a 2-1 win from, San
Diego over North Carolina.
We have a 2-0 win from
Seattle over Bay FC.
Utah winning 1 to nothing over Houston.
Boston
Beating the Spirit three to
nothing, that we tell you, we
tell everybody, the NWSL, itâ¦
Any team can beat any
team on any given day.
This is not one of those leagues where
you're just gonna have powerhouses
all the time, and everybody else
is like, "We're here for the ride."
No, that's
Angela: cap, but it gets you parity
Mario: All right, and so now we're
getting to our standings check.
Now, this last week, the Chicago Stars
were the first team to fall in the NWSL.
They are the first team
to be mathematically
eliminated from the playoffs.
So better luck next year, Chicago.
And hopefully, hopefully,
you guys get a, a good
Angela: Very
Mario: turnaround, very genuinely.
we, as much as we want to see other
teams fail against us, we wanna see them
fail in a way of, "Damn, that was a good
season, but you guys didn't make it, ha."
Angela: Not you're in
Mario: not yeah, that's not what we want.
So hopefully, Chicago, you
guys figure something out.
They, it gets turned around.
but like I'm saying, permutation
season is fully upon us now.
So two more teams are on the chopping
block by the end of this week, and by
the end of this week, I'm counting, this
midweek of just the few teams that are
playing, plus, the, the regular matches
that are gonna happen on the weekend.
Bay FC and Racing Louisville can both
possibly be eliminated from the playoffs.
Gotham can also clinch the first
playoff berth this weekend.
Now, there's a lot of ifs
with each one of those.
They're not just outrights,
outright wins or losses, right?
there's going to be a lot
of, contingencies on it.
And, if you wanna go check
what those things are, go check
out nwslplayoffpicture.com,
and you can get the whole download there.
but yeah, it's crazy, It, this
is the part where permutation
video online, it, came, right?
Was this, all of this kind of, This is
the fun craziness that I like, trying
to figure these things out, and now
I can figure them out a lot easier.
Angela: And normally I'm the
one that's "What is this?"
"Ex- explain it to me,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: but now, like the graphics
right now that are in our notes,
you guys, are it's so easy.
go check out this website if you
need to scratch that weird little
part of your brain where you need to
know how many different options are
there, because it is so satisfying.
Mario: Yep, yep.
So
Angela: really nice.
It's really easy to read.
It's very well designed.
Mario: Yes.
Thank you.
so ACFC is in ninth
place still, thankfully.
We are, 33 points.
We still have a plus 10 goal differential.
Insanity.
a w- the, a win against Denver would've
been huge because that would've
made our gap, within that one point.
Now we're still four
points away from Seattle.
it's gonna be especially tough
because we just played on Friday.
We're playing this game on Wednesday,
this is our game in hand, and then
we're playing again on Sunday.
So we're very short rest
between, these couple of matches
that really can land usâ¦
and the weirdest part is that by
the end of this weekend, we can land
anywhere from fifth to 10th place,
depending on a bunch of variables, but
that's a wild swing, and this is how crazy
the NWSL gets towards this period, right?
all the teams that are bunched around
the middle right now are the teams that
are, like, flip-flopping like crazy.
So if we wanna go pie in the
sky, blue sky ideals, like how we
can get to fifth place, we have
to win both our matches, right?
Have to win, against,
Seattle and against Utah.
San Diego needs to win.
Gotham needs to win.
Denver needs to win, and,
Angela: specifically beat Seattle.
Like Denver
Mario: beats you.
Angela: Seattle
Mario: Yeah
Angela: but specifically get us up there
Mario: Yeah.
And then Orlando needs to beat Portland.
All of those things happen, we shoot
up to fifth, maybe sixth depending
on the goal diff, I don't think.
But we might be in fifth.
Either way, we're gonna be up there.
We're gonna be safe.
A lot of things need to happen,
but that can, we can be totally
safe by the end of this weekend.
if not, we're still in the running.
Main thing, we just gotta win out.
and, yeah.
So honestly, there's so many things
happening that it's really fun.
go check them out.
It's, I'm constantly tweaking and
improving this thing, and, I'm literally
listening to people as they, send me,
DMs or messages about, "Hey, this thing,
seems a little quirky," or, "Hey, I
would love to see something like this."
And, being able to pull
that together is fun.
so yeah, I, I, th- that's what
we got coming up this week.
it's insanity.
the fact that teams are already possibly
clinching and starting to fall off,
and the fact that we're not there.
We're still bubbling around this.
I,
Angela: Yes
Mario: one thing that I wanted
to add on here that we didn't
quite write down just yet, but
there was a commenter, on YouTube.
He's actually a, a listener that's
been listening this season because
of Svenddis, so thank you forâ¦
the Icelandic guy.
And
Angela: up?
Mario: he had a legit question that, I
answered for him in the comments, but
he was like, people might wanna know."
and, true.
So he wanted to know or explain what
the importance was of teams reaching
the playoffs, when we're a league
that doesn't have pro rel, right?
Like
Angela: Pride, clout,
bragging rights, confidence,
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: sponsorships, pride.
Did I mention pride?
We just like to win.
Mario: Yes.
Angela: there needsâ¦
There'sâ¦
If they, if you hear this, look up,
there's an interview, that it was Sam
Mewis' podcast from the finals last year.
It was at the recording.
But Esme Morgan was there.
She's on the Spirit, and she's English,
and she talks about, exactly that.
why do you love playing
in the States so much?
And she literally just goes, "Playoffs.
We don't have that.
You just win."
No, it's like you win, and then
you need to win more, and you
need to win harder, and you need
Mario: Yeah
Angela: And she's like, "The energy
around playoffs, there's nothing better."
And that's exactly what it is.
just, ugh, it's so good.
And maybe you keep your head
coach if you win in the playoffs.
Who knows?
We
Mario: Who knows?
Angela: who knows?
Mario: in addition to all of that
on the sporting side of why you
would wanna make the playoffs, yes,
it's true we're in a league where,
Chicago has already been eliminated.
Chicago is most likely on a track to
win the wooden spoon for the year.
Angela: For like the century.
not even.
This decade, because they were good for a
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: They're very,
they're a very good team
Mario: Yeah.
but the e- and guess what?
Next year they're gonna be here.
there's no relegation.
They're not gonna move anywhere.
But there are, a couple of things
about, making the playoffs.
so one, because we're in a league, in
a country that does playoffs, it means
that you've gone an entire season,
you've played an entire season with
injuries, with, people being tired,
with all of that going on, and now you
say, "Hey, there's a couple more games."
And all of these games, and all of
these games are, one and done, we don't
do the, we don't do the home and away.
I, I know a lot of people want it,
want that, 'cause you do getâ¦
It's about the home field
advantage, blah, blah, blah.
But you know what?
That's what makes, that's what makes the
playoff positioning the most important.
The top four teams are automatic home
field advantage, and they will h- keep
home field advantage till the final.
The final's in a neutral location.
This year it's in,
Angela: DC.
Mario: Washington, DC.
So technically, if Washington Spirit
make it all the way to the final,
they're gonna be playing at home.
But it's also a, tickets are
on sale now, which means it's
gonna be a grab bag of fans.
It's not just gonna be purely
Washington fans, right?
So that's one thing.
then the bottom four teams out of
those eight that make the playoffs,
they're just in it, they're just
in it for the tournament, right?
in the playoffs, whole different ballgame.
The way you coach, the way you
set up the team, the way you,
Angela: Everything.
Mario: everything
Angela: the
Mario: compl-
Angela: everything is different
Mario: is completely
different during the season.
Because during the season,
you're playing the long game.
You're playing the w- if this player's
getting injured or getting tired, or looks
gassed or whatever, let's swap them out.
Let's give them some
rest in the next match.
If we draw, great, right?
We get the point.
you're playing that long game.
Once you hit the playoffs,
it's all or nothing.
You, and that's where the mentality
of, you just have to get hot
at the right moment to make it.
you can squeak in eighth place
and make it to the final and win.
Angela: Gotham who did it two times.
Mario: So
Angela: other, crazy part with that is
in, built into contracts that, a lot
of people don't know, the further you
get in the playoffs, you get bonuses.
If you win the championship,
you get another bonus.
Coaches' salaries are based on that.
so much monetary movement
is also based on that.
You score X amount of goals, more money.
You score, you're MVP, more
money, all that kind of stuff
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
So that's where the importance,
and that's where our playoff watch
comes from in the States, in, or
basically in any other country.
I- there's a few other countries that also
do playoff or playoff adjacent type, ways
to end the league, where you're looking
at, it's essentially a mini season, right?
And then it's a one and done.
There's no more draws.
you're gonna go into extra time.
You're gonna go into penalties.
it, you need a winner.
that's why you get 13 inning
baseball games because,
Angela: 18 baby
Mario: yeah.
Angela: win
Mario: Because, all those
sports need a winner.
Soccer, smartly allows for draws,
but when it comes to the tournament,
like it's, one, one in, one out
Angela: It's
Mario: of thing.
And
Angela: the group play in
the World Cup and then the
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah,
Angela: It's,
Mario: tournament portion, but
we just have a tournament portion
to the season every season.
Angela: Yeah.
The group play is the season,
and then playoffs are the bracket
Mario: So we do have, for those that
n- aren't familiar, we do award a
separate trophy, which used to be,
like, a cookie platter, look it up,
Angela: to be a plate
Mario: of the Supporters' Shield, to
the top team in the league with the
most points, which is usually what
crowns the champion in every other
league around the world, yet that's
who gets the Supporters' Shield,
which is a beautiful big shield now.
Angela: gorgeous,
Mario: Yeah, it's a beautiful thing.
and then you go off into the
playoffs for the cup, for the trophy.
so yeah, so there is an importance
about this kind of playoff watch
and why we're always like, "Thisâ¦
We're almost there.
We're gonna make it."
The, the, as I joke on theâ¦
if you read any of the copy on
the website, it's, this is for the
delusional fans that, will never
say quit until, until you tell me
it's mathematically impossible.
Angela: Yep.
And
Mario: I'm g-
Angela: maybe not.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: I messed up
Mario: You know what?
If it's said that we're gonna squeak
in, to eighth place, where every team
needs to lose that entire week, and
we're the only winning team, and that's
the only way we make eighth place,
Angela: please
Mario: you know what?
That means there's still a chance.
Angela: that
Mario: but honestly, thank
you for the question.
It's, I'm amazed at the fact
that we have people listening.
we know that we have a couple people.
we have, this, this guy from Iceland who's
been listening and following SveindÃs.
we have, we do have a
couple listeners in the UK.
We have a listener in Australia,
and, all of that, and she's
stuck with us even though,
Angela: I know.
Mario: has left.
Angela: even though Alanna
left, thank you so much,
Mario: Yeah.
so I- honestly, if there are ever
any questions, drop us a line.
We'll talk about it.
We'll explain stuff.
that's what we're here for.
we wanna make this, as accessible toâ¦
You might be a soccer expert in another
league, but you don't know what's going
on with the NWSL 'cause it's the NWSL.
Angela: do we.
Mario: if you need to know why, and
if you want, need to know why NWSL
After Dark is a thing, it's a thing,
Angela: Yeah
Mario: yes.
So thank you again for the questioning,
and thank you for everyone for sitting
through that little explainer, and
hopefully you learned something.
but okay, let's talk
about our, two matches.
We've got two matches coming up.
our first matchup for, and this
is going to be Seattle at BMO
Angela: Okay, so I wanna just talk
about very quickly Maddie Mercado.
having the season of her life.
She debuted for the team in 2024.
They loaned her out midway through
last season to the Carolina Ascent
in the Gainbridge Super League.
she came back for the season.
She's playing higher up in the field.
She is amazing.
she's, she's just having such a damn
good season, it's so irritating.
eight goals on the season.
She'sâ¦
it's essentially her breakout year.
She's playing very well.
We needâ¦
Guys, we need to mark her.
one, ev- the last five episodes that I
have spotlighted a player, they've scored.
So I
Mario: So either, either listen
to us or we gotta stop talking
about players 'cause we're here
Angela: yeah, or I have to stop talking.
Mario: are
Angela: the podcast.
nope.
Angela put this person into the universe.
Can't do it.
the bigger picture with this,
this is a must-win game.
This is not even a six-pointer.
It's a, if w- this is a live or die game
Mario: Yeah
Angela: Yeah.
This is a do we wanna keep
going for the playoffs?
We need to win this game.
We need to lay the smack down.
Like, when I said, last week we have
to bring the hammer, we've gotta
bring, Thor's hammer this time.
we need to win-win, like convincingly
shut them down so completely,
'cause Maddy Mercado, there's
Big Fish, there's Fish Lock.
Swe- Sofia Huerta.
there's Maddie Dulin.
there's Sally Mahe.
There's just so many good player- the
rebuild of the Reign is going very well.
I don't like it, it's going very well.
Overall, so this is including Challenge
Cup, all the other weird little things
the league does, we are three wins, two
draws, nine losses against the Reign.
Remember, some of those happened with
Pino, Lou Barnes, Fish Lock, and, somebody
else that I can't think of right now.
But this is when the team was very good.
We lost our first playoff
game to them when they went
to the finals against Gotham.
Mario: Which means we, we lost
the best team that year, so
Angela: second-best team.
'Cause
Mario: Oh, yes.
Al Gotham won.
Yes, she tore her,
Angela: but in regular season play,
three wins, one draw, six losses.
make it four.
Four wins, please.
biggest thing is that we
need to win, genuinely.
that's, it's not, oh, we need
to do this, we need to do that.
We- I don't care.
We have to find a way to pull this out.
Mario: Yes.
Yes, we do
Angela: I don't care.
A lot, I just, have to win this game.
Three points are ours.
We win at
Mario: yeah.
Guess what?
One, one point above the
other team means we win.
So
Angela: that's it.
Mario: that's it
Angela: we score one more goal
than them, whether it's one goal
or eight goals, I don't care.
I want the win.
I would love for Ange to
get another clean sheet.
We would love fresh sheets
that are clean in our house.
Mario: Yeah.
Angela: But
Mario: getâ¦
Angela: I don't give a shit
as long as we win this game.
Mario: I wanna see that damn little
teddy bear going to hug, hug all
the blankets, all those clean
sheets and everything like that.
Like
Angela: little downy creepy-ass t- yeah.
So the o- the, the other big part
of this is if we can pull this
out, if we can win against Seattle
tomorrow, going into Sunday's game
in Utah, we will be riding that high.
We're gonna come out
there and be like, go.
Let's ride.
Let's, let's do this."
Because Utah is no joke
Mario: They're on a,
Angela: Utah is
Mario: on a different
thing right now, yeah
Angela: They're in what?
Second, third, the third
place I think right now.
gonna clinch home field adv- like
Mario: I, yeah, they're
gonna clinch pretty soon.
Yeah
Angela: and they're having so much fun,
which makes them incredibly dangerous.
They also just swiped Jamese Josephs out
of Chicago, which good for her 'cause
free Meese, let this girl run, let this
girl play because whatever is happening
in Chicago, like I said, you in danger,
girl, both the Sky and the Stars.
S- help.
Help them, someone.
but Jamese Josephs is on and off the
national team at the senior level.
She, I think, is playing
in U20s right now.
She is so good.
they have a nice little confidence
boost with her coming in, and that
team is playing so, so right now.
they're making a run for the shield.
They're having their best season
to date, even in the, the precursor
of U- the original Utah team.
if we can steal the win in Utah at that
stadium that na- whose name I will not say
because it's gross, if we can steal the
win there, I don't even know what I'll do.
I will probably run around my backyard
hollering for an hour, scaring
half the neighborhood and good.
we will be playing at altitude
again, so just remember
Mario: Let's get
Angela: said last week
with Denver playing in BMO,
Mario: Yeah
Angela: it will apply opposite.
It will be at our detriment Utah.
So hopefully we are flying out like
Thursday to get, acclimated a little bit.
But Utah is playing so, so well.
Mina Tanaka's having a hell of a season.
Madison Hammond is back from injury.
Miyabi is having a hell
of a year defensively.
Like they are clicking, and they are
gelling, and they are putting it all
together, and I love this for them,
but I want you to lose on Sunday badly
yay, see your friends, have a good
time, and then be like, "Ah, you're
so mean to me," and that's it.
overall, against Utah, two
wins, two draws, twoâ¦
Or excuse me, two wins,
two draws, one losses.
Losses.
One losses, guys.
Just one.
So need to win to make that 3-2-1.
Mario: Yes.
Yes, we do
Angela: it.
it's this sports are win or go home.
I don't want to go, I
don't want to go us home.
I don't
Mario: No.
Angela: happen yet.
I don't want
Mario: No
Angela: eliminated.
or like where
Mario: keep playing through November
Angela: "If every team loses, and
then you breathe weird, and then you
stand on one foot and hop on your
other foot, we can make the playoffs."
I don't wanna get into that.
I wanna lock it in.
I wanna win.
So like I said, I have to be careful
with how competitive I am, and we
are at that part of the season where
I'm like, "Oh, get it together."
so yeah, go team.
Mario: Yay, go team.
Angela: Yay.
Mario: Oh, man.
All right.
with all of that, if you've
gotten this far, hit Subscribe.
we're just a whole bag of fun.
Angela: We are
Mario: this is
Angela: are
Mario: a little bit of a
shenaniso, but this is what you
get all the time, and it's fun.
check us out at casualfc.com
for all the pod links,
social links, Discord links.
We're on YouTube.
Go to the website, check it out.
from there, you can join the Discord,
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it's free to join.
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there's people talking on there, whether
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Join us.
and then, best way to sh- support the
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grab some merch at our, sh-
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It's an easy way to support what we're
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we're, doing this week in, week out.
And you know what?
Setting the big goal out there,
I said it earlier, Brazil 2027,
Casual FC's gonna cover that.
Angela: I'm like, "What?"
Every time he says it, I'm just
like, "Do you wanna go to, Seattle?"
oh, man
Mario: even if it's like we're covering
Brazil through the YouTube, it'll be fine.
But either way, throw us a buck.
And the best thing that you can
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Hey, hopefully people have been
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'cause that good luck has been
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So let's keep that going, f-
till the end of the season and
into the playoffs, hopefully.
Angela: Woo-hoo
Mario: so with that, we'll see you
at BMO today, because the episode
comes out when you guys are listening.
Bye.
Angela: All right, you ready?
Mario: Yep.
Let's go
Angela: All right, let's go.
Hi, everyone, and welcome to
Casual FC, an Angel City match
preview and footy therapist pod.
Mario: Not that easy, is it?
Angela: Bet.
him just like the whole rest of the show.