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San Diego FC’s official Club podcast brings inside access and analysis from players, coaches, and front office staff from MLS' newest club. Former MLS pros Sal Zizzo and Marvell Wynne join Kaila Burns-Heffner and weekly guests to keep you up-to-date on all things San Diego FC. New episodes drop every Wednesday.
Hey. Welcome into the official SCFC podcast. I'm Caleb Brinzaffner here with Marvell Wynn and Sal Zizzo. Welcome to episode five of the official SCFC podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. You were out there in Charlotte, weren't you?
Speaker 1:I was. Yeah. Yeah. Just got back.
Speaker 2:Oh, love that. And Salzies. Where were you?
Speaker 3:I was watching it from my laptop like always. Actually, I might have put it on the TV this time. Might have had actually some time to sit back and watch it.
Speaker 2:So You got wait. You got TV with all with with your kids around?
Speaker 3:MLS season pass.
Speaker 2:Oh, look at you. Got it. TV controlled. Nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And so I watched it from the comfort of my couch and was pretty, you know, obviously disappointed with the result, but we can get into that in a little bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I just would love to hear your guys' initial reactions, thoughts to the match versus Charlotte.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, for me, there was quite a lot to talk about. Obviously, the result, disappointing. Right? Three nothing.
Speaker 3:We did talk about how it would be probably their toughest test, and I think that held pretty true. Charlotte looks good. I mean, they have some really talented players. They look especially really good at home. You know, they have depth obviously when you can bring a guy that's played over 200 Premier League games and Tim Reem off the bench, you know, due to an injury of another player.
Speaker 3:That's pretty impressive. But a little interesting. I mean, we can get into the tactical side. I thought, you know, they did change up a little bit, not only the starting lineup, but also a little bit of how they were gonna approach the game. I felt, you know, obviously with with Patti McNair a little bit, they had him on the left side.
Speaker 3:But in build out, I think he looked more like, you know, a left center mid. They kind of built out of a three, which was slightly different than what they're used to with sending Loffelson pretty high. I wouldn't say that's necessarily the reason why I got away from them. I think you go down one nothing and then you give up a pen and get a red card and it goes down two nothing. I think at that point, the game's pretty much over, but I wanna see what, Marv, what you thought about just like the tactical adjustments and personnel adjustments that he made.
Speaker 2:Tactically, it looked more like we were getting away from, you know, what got us to success at the beginning of the year. So I would say it was the way we play when we had pressure coming out the back, and we like we like to draw on the pressure and we play out of it. I thought that was kind of our superpower as a team, giving us a tactical advantage. But now it was less about using our superpower to our advantage, and we try to go forward using our superstars as our advantage where it's more like instead of us building up out the back, it's as if we get the ball in the back, and then we look to play it forward. We look for a lot of over the top balls.
Speaker 4:We look for a lot of
Speaker 2:runs in behind, which obviously had a time and place, which is why I think this is still a learning process because in the beginning of the year, it was almost that time that was like, alright, we're playing it around too much. We can go forward, but now we're kind of seeing how quickly we can go forward, and now we gotta find a nice balance of when to release those certain players. And just how the players approached the game, it was, I say chippy. It was very chippy straight from the beginning. I mean, maybe we were trying to knock them off their game, trying to get into their heads, but Charlotte was able to pull through.
Speaker 2:And yeah, they showed really well at home. I mean, was everything that we knew they were gonna do. There was nothing no surprises, but they pulled it off.
Speaker 3:Do you think and I kinda have my own reasons, and we haven't talked to any of the coaches yet or anything, but do you think the the shuffle up, getting Reyes in at center back, putting McNair a little bit more of a a left back, but also more of a stay at home left back. Again, they built out of a three from what I saw. Do you think that was put in place there because they're on the road, they're playing against a team that's also very good in transition, so it's like, hey, let's play, but if we lose the ball, you know, we have that extra center back type player who can kind of snip out these attacks. I mean, logically that makes sense. I just don't know if if the players were able to adjust to like not being in typical spots that they were used to.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I think that's maybe the best way to kinda say it.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I know you made your way to the back eventually, and you know how shuffling up a back line is always kind of a risk, especially a center back, because center backs kinda run the game. When you're in the back, you're usually a unit. You know, you're more connected than you are anywhere else on the pitch. So I'm not saying that these guys didn't train well, train hard, train to this type of situation, but it becomes difficult when you're away at a team that might be approaching the game a little differently than what you've practiced.
Speaker 2:So I'm sure they would probably look for more, Can we have more speed in the back? More than center backs. More athleticism, more get up for the ball, try to nullify certain points of their attack. But in doing so, once you get a yellow card for the center back, then you'd have them the last man behind. That's the risk you take, and then obviously this is the kind of thing that happens.
Speaker 2:But I did see the tactics. I saw what they were going for. And honestly, maybe nine times out of 10 we don't get the result that we did today. But today, I mean, they just kind of came at us, and they capitalized on their chances for sure.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And also, so I want to go into you said it was the second yellow in six minutes, right? And for me, I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but they're both going, right, for the ball. They're both tugging each other. He's pulling his jersey, and and Reyes makes an attempt at the ball for sure, and in my opinion, almost, it it looks like gets the ball to me.
Speaker 3:He wraps around. He makes the tackle. Crazy tackle. Right?
Speaker 4:Mhmm.
Speaker 3:But if that call isn't made and then he goes to the screen, is he giving a pen after watching that? Like, what what do you think? I for me, I don't know. I I part of me is like, I don't really think that's a foul. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:I for sure didn't think it was a straight red, which is what he first gave him. Right? Right. And then obviously, he goes back and he corrects it, and people were giving the ref praise for for kind of enunciating exactly what happened to kind of better understand a lot of the fans. I think the fans like that, which I I liked it as well.
Speaker 3:But just in general, like, do you think that's, you know, a pen? Because again, the second yellow or straight red, no chance for me because he makes an attempt at the ball. But yellow card penalty is what was ended ended up being, but happened to be a second yellow. So do you think, like, hands down, that's a penalty?
Speaker 2:I would say hands down, no, but I can't really fight the call.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Like, in my head, if we're gonna be looking at VAR, if we're looking at, you know, what foul came first, whatnot, it looks like their player is pulling on Reyes' jersey way more than he's affecting his
Speaker 3:the start too. So, like, if you can take away penalties from Mhmm. A play that happened earlier or a foul that happened earlier that wasn't caught or something. I don't know.
Speaker 2:That's what I was thinking. Was thinking if if you wanna really call the foul, if you really wanna bring the video back to the beginning of the play Yeah. It looks like they're pulling Reyes' jersey way before Reyes even makes a challenge on the ball. So then if you just let that play out, then you go into the box. Because he was the last man, it's gonna have to be a call because it was in the box.
Speaker 2:The call does make sense, but if we're gonna go VAR and we're really gonna see where the fouls began, I think it's outside the box and it goes the other way.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And again, it's in the first half. So as a former player, at that point, it's like, look, he's in front of me. He's about to score a goal. I don't wanna give him a pen and get you know, knowing that you're on a yellow, I don't wanna give a give us a man down plus probably give them a two nothing lead.
Speaker 3:Right? Mhmm. If you're gonna give him a two nothing lead, at least let's play even, you know, we I think we've all seen SDFC being able to come back from from games like that even being two men down or two goals down. So, you know, just a lapse. It's happened to all players.
Speaker 3:I've had red cards. I don't know, Marv, have you had a red card?
Speaker 2:Yeah. I've had a red card.
Speaker 4:Who is it on? Marv?
Speaker 3:Sal? But we've we've we looked it up, so I was the first yellow
Speaker 2:You were the first yellow
Speaker 3:of the game. He got
Speaker 2:a You made me mad. See, it was a center back getting a yellow and He
Speaker 3:two footed somebody else for the second
Speaker 2:That's a lie. Was
Speaker 5:it? I
Speaker 3:don't know.
Speaker 1:We'll pull up the highlights in the next pod. Don't worry. Yeah. Well, you mentioned Andres Reyes. He gets his first start for San Diego FC, first appearance this year since he's been injured in the preseason.
Speaker 1:You know, you also mentioned some of the line of adjustments that Mikey makes. He had some great postgame comments just about the decisions behind those and what the overall goals in that is. So I think we'll just play it out loud.
Speaker 6:Yeah. One of our goals early from the season has been to make our squad as big as possible. And at the end of the day, we we may you know, I made decisions to to to rotate some of the team because I trust I trust all the guys that that we put on the field. You know? And I think that this investment will definitely pay off in the long run-in the short term short term.
Speaker 6:Somebody could say that it cost us, but starting with the same lineup every weekend also doesn't guarantee you success. So for us, it was very intentional. We believe in Andres Reyes, and he's been working his way back from an injury. This was a good opportunity for him to come in and start getting rhythm. He didn't get any of those preseason games that the other guys got.
Speaker 6:We trust him a %. At the end of the day, I'm happy that I made that decision. I know that it costs I know that some people might think that it costs us, but at the end of the day, I'll always go back to you you never have anything guaranteed in life. And we did this intentionally to make our squad bigger because we trust we trust these guys and we
Speaker 3:believe Yeah. I mean, for for me, what stands out is the word trust because as a player, Marv, I was, you know, I don't know about you, but I was always kinda in the starting lineup, a little bit on the bench, sometimes didn't get in at all. I was always fluctuating throughout my entire career. So when he talks about it benefiting the team long term, I 100% agree with that because, you know, San Diego at the start now has played one game every week. Right?
Speaker 3:So you get you get all this rest, you can pretty much play the same starting lineup all the time, but there's gonna come a point, you know, when they start playing in all these different tournaments, you know, where there's gonna be Wednesday games, there's gonna be Saturday games, and there's gonna be short weeks and all this stuff. And if you're putting in a bunch of players that are making their debuts in these games, the results aren't gonna, you know, be the best. And so it's better to kinda introduce some players here and there now to then benefit you in the future. And they've talked about, you know, having depth, having to be able to, if there's injuries, or to be able to play a variety of guys at different spots. And so a game like this, yeah, you know, people can maybe think, well, if they had started the original, you know, De La Torre, if they started all these guys, Raggedy Doy, that maybe the result would have been different.
Speaker 3:But I agree with Mikey. I think you have to you have to switch up the lineup because it also, you know, it also keeps the chemistry in the locker room well. You know what I mean? Like, there's certain guys that that, you know, busted every single day at practice, and if they're not getting minutes over time, you know, it starts to kinda dwindle on you a little bit. And so I think, know, he rewarded those players probably, and and he's gonna continue to do so, and I think that's the step in the right direction.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It kind of bounced off what you were saying about people thinking that they've trained so hard, but they're never gonna get a shot. The morale kind of dies down. And then it's a little bit infectious. Maybe somebody else isn't getting pains.
Speaker 2:And so now there's two people that think, you know, I'm playing as hard as I can, but I'm never gonna get a chance for one reason or another. But also what I like, speaking on to trust as well when it comes to Reyes, is that he's well aware. Like even watching the game, it wasn't as if I'm watching and thinking he's a liability. He's not going to do well. It was just, it was one of those games where there's things, the ball doesn't bounce the right way, the foot doesn't get right to the ball before it takes out like another foot.
Speaker 2:I mean, was just one of those things. In no way is it, you know, he is a solid player. Yeah. Just that this game is just he had a couple calls that went against him. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And they and it did hurt us. But again, that trust aspect is important. I can only imagine for him as a player that that game where I've got red cards as well. And going to the locker room, they give you the pound in the back. They're like, alright.
Speaker 2:Well, you're not gonna play next game, so let's see how hard you work and see if you're gonna earn your way back to the starting position. So I like everything Mikey says, and it makes sense to me, and it's something that I would wanna hear as a player, whether it was me getting sent off or if I was in the locker room.
Speaker 1:You speak on building depth. We also have some roster news this week. The club announced that they've acquired defender Oscar Verhonven on loan through the twenty twenty five MLS season from the San Jose earthquakes. The players come up through their academy. Say 18 years old.
Speaker 1:It's a homegrown to San Jose joining this squad. He's out in training today. Gonna get some more depth there.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, for me, it just it's it's just further solidifies, you know, what SDFC is about, you know, talking about getting a lot of young players, giving them minutes, growing them into household names. I think this is another step in that direction.
Speaker 2:And I think he's seeing certain weaknesses before when the season was starting, he's like, you know, we're scoring a lot of goals, we're getting a lot of opportunities, but we're also getting scored on a bit as well. So this looks like he's actively trying to fix certain weaknesses that he may think we have. At the same time, I just gotta say good luck to this guy because it's like changing teams, right? It's always kind of a new feeling. You're always kind of nervous and not exactly where you're gonna stand and all that stuff, or how the players are gonna treat you, but it seems like this squad is not only about being together, but also about adapting the style of the play to everybody that comes through and helping them feel comfortable on and off the pitch.
Speaker 2:So we welcome them and good luck. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, I know when I was 18 years old, when you were 18 years old, we were going to UCLA. So still a super young kid. He's now kinda making what probably we felt at the time, like going away from home for the first time, going to a new club and to do it at an MLS level is is pretty high. So good luck to him. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I wish him well. Hopefully, he he gets some playing time and thrives.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Well, we're gonna have so much more left in this show. We'll have an interview with Ima Botang to talk about how he's come through the right to dream pathway to San Diego FC. But also before we wrap up, I wanna give a shout out to everyone who attended the watch party presented by Dios Azul at the soap factory. It was an incredible atmosphere.
Speaker 1:You got to see performances from Rossi Rock, you know, an incredible soccer tournament brought to you by Barrio Junto, as well as some good performances from our supporters. Really great activations there. So really appreciate the support, and everyone getting behind San Diego FC.
Speaker 2:Thank you,
Speaker 3:guys. Yes. Thank you.
Speaker 7:Hey, everybody. This is Darren Smith. I host a radio show called SDFC Midweek Live. You could hear it Wednesday nights, 06:00 on San Diego Sports seven sixty and anytime on the iHeartRadio app. Join me, Adrian Garcia Marquez, Warren Barton, SDFC players and staff.
Speaker 7:It's the only hour on local radio dedicated 100% to San Diego Football Club and the beautiful game.
Speaker 5:Being a right to dream gave me the best chance of making it as a professional soccer player. But what stuck with me most are the lessons that I learned while I was there, lessons that I'm able to apply to all aspects of my life today. Right dream pushed me out of my comfort zone to achieve something bigger for myself and for my family. I learned the importance of hard work and embracing competition.
Speaker 1:Here with Ima Boateng, board for San Diego FC. Welcome.
Speaker 5:Thank you. Thanks for having me, guys. Appreciate Good to
Speaker 3:have you.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the pod.
Speaker 2:I remember when you first got into the league.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Talk about that. You guys got overlaps a little bit in the league.
Speaker 4:We did
Speaker 2:a little bit. 02/2016 when I was in San Jose and he was in in LA. So we had the, what was it? What what what what's our what's our what's our classical color?
Speaker 5:Was it Cali Classico?
Speaker 2:The Cali Classico. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's us. Mark can remember it. So
Speaker 4:I know the answer, but then you know the answer.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. So I've met you back in
Speaker 5:the days, man.
Speaker 2:It's it's
Speaker 5:Mark Marv is a legend. Came in the league. He's one of the guys that, you know, you had to go and, you know, go against him a few times and try to test yourself, and he's always gracious after games, saying some nice words. So it's good to be bringing full full circle back here working together. So
Speaker 2:Yeah. There wasn't a there wasn't a lot of words communicated between us, but there's a level of respect. You know? You can go against someone. You can go against you know, you can be rough.
Speaker 2:You can be physical. You can obviously, if you square up against somebody, you challenge them. But it can be done in a certain way where it's after the game, good luck to your respect. So always there for you, man.
Speaker 3:Two speedsters.
Speaker 4:Two speedsters. Yes.
Speaker 1:Who's faster?
Speaker 2:My legs are just longer.
Speaker 4:I think right now I
Speaker 5:right now I haven't been, but back Yeah. Back then, he was he
Speaker 2:like, I can't do it.
Speaker 1:Eva, you've had a long MLS career on obviously, even before that, a really great journey with Right to Dream. Just kind of walk us through everything to what, you know, took you to San Diego.
Speaker 5:Yeah. I mean, I think Right to Dream has been a part of my life basically since I was, you know, 12 years old, got recruited to go there. There's about 300 kids that tried out that year in 02/2006, I believe. Well, 300 kids that showed up to the camp. There was, like, maybe thousands of kids that tried out all around the nation.
Speaker 5:And they kinda narrowed
Speaker 3:it down?
Speaker 5:Narrowed down. 300. Good to come to the facility just like it was here a while ago. And then we trained there, lived there for three weeks, and after that, they cut it down to 16. So the 16 were together for three years playing games, training, going to classes, and all that.
Speaker 5:And it was it was really tough, like, to get into the academy back then, and it's still less now. Like, now it's even harder for the kids because they're not just recruiting in Ghana. They were recruiting in Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and all that stuff.
Speaker 3:All still going to one academy?
Speaker 5:All going to one. So the Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Ghana, they all you know, if you get selected, you live in the academy in Ghana. And then, obviously, there's the academy in Egypt and Denmark Yeah.
Speaker 4:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5:Hopefully here soon. And so the 16 of us live, played, and all that stuff. And after three years, I got a scholarship to come to The US and go to high school in Santa Barbara, which is great for my development and academically challenging, and I had to find ways to, like, you know, do extra in soccer to try and keep up with the level that I wanted to go to. And and throughout this whole journey, I've always had right to dream kids that would also come to my school. Like, Joshua Yarrow came to the same high school as me, like, a year after.
Speaker 5:Now he's playing in Saint Louis, and lots of guys that have come through. And, actually, just this Sunday, I met with a bunch of them for Easter Sunday, like, right to dream guys, and we all had some Ghanaian food together. It was it was really nice. Yeah. So so, yeah, it's been part of my life, and I was really excited that there was an opportunity to come play here in San Diego and have right Dream here too and find a way to, you know, try to give back to the case or all the lessons that I learned through Right Dream and try to be a resource for them any way that I can.
Speaker 5:So it's just been a whole big journey with Right to Dream, and I feel like it's gonna be with me for the rest of my life through the contacts and the people that I've met.
Speaker 3:Talk about a little bit about, like so you came from Ghana. You know? How was that atmosphere, know, then going to Santa Barbara. Right? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Beautiful city in in California. Like, what what was that like? Yeah. Transition.
Speaker 5:It was it was a big transition for sure. I was lucky enough. Again, the couple of the guys that I just saw on Easter, Nana and Fifi, which Nana, I think they're really actually trying to recruit him to come here and work with the academy here. He has his own, like, soccer club that he runs in Santa Barbara, and they're trying to get him out here. He's helping them with scouting.
Speaker 5:So he was a great resource for me, Phoebe Bayden, and there was maybe four or five guys that were already in Santa Barbara. So I just relied on them a lot. Like, hey. Like, shut you guys up a little bit, you know, like, they just had made mistakes, and they were just trying to be like, well, don't do this, you know? Yeah.
Speaker 5:Tried to help me throughout, so that was really great. And my host family was huge too. I think once a lot of times a few tie a few of the guys when they come over feels a little bit you know, we're always very goal driven, and you see the guys if you start talking to these young guys. Like, we know we come from a different background, so we always, like, just going towards success and don't really have much time for anything else. Like, you know, very nice guys, but we won't, like, try to be go over the top to, like, come socialize when there's, like, homework to be done and stuff like that.
Speaker 5:It's like they have tunnel vision. Tunnel vision. But my host family really helped me out with that. They really made me settle in, you know, 15 years old, moving out of my country and moving here, and my host family was there for me every time, picking me up for every soccer practice. They never missed any I think one game all throughout high school that they missed.
Speaker 5:Oh. Every game, like, if we're playing in San Diego, Orange County, they're waking up at 5AM driving me over just to come play the game, and they really helped me settle because without them, it just really feel like I'm, you know
Speaker 3:How was that host family found? Like
Speaker 5:So when the few guys had already come over to Santa Barbara, my host dad had gone to, like, soccer games and stuff and seen them and seen they had host families. Oh, okay. So he spoke to the Right to Dream representative. I think it was Debbie Foley back then, and he's like, hey. If there's an another kid that's gonna come up, we're interested in hosting him.
Speaker 5:So there's always, like, two or three families that were in the waiting. Like, hey. We've seen, you know, the impact that these kids had made in Santa Barbara just by, you know, their work ethic and everything. I would want a kid like that in my family. Maybe my kids can feed off them like that, you know, try to gain a different perspective of, you know, somebody that has lived a different life and stuff like that.
Speaker 5:So when I came in, my host family was already waiting. The first day there before, they picked me up to a house, and my host family came over, grabbed me, and it helped really well that they also had, like, two sons very close to my age. Everyone, I'm actually eleven days older than him. So we played on the same Club team. Club teams and high school.
Speaker 5:And I had a younger brother, Dylan, who's three years younger. He's a goalkeeper. So just us in the background just, like, shooting at him and all that stuff, him making saves, and we're all making each other better. And younger sister is Chloe, and she just wanted to introduce me to everything in America. She's like, have you had marshmallows before?
Speaker 5:I'm like, I haven't. And then she has it, like, you know, trying to make smalls for me. As I'm eating it, she's like, have you tried salsa? I'm like, no. And then she's just like pouring salsa in my mouth, so I have marshmallows, chocolate, everything.
Speaker 5:She's just like, anything I can feed this guy.
Speaker 3:That's great.
Speaker 5:That was great. And, you know, dad and a lot of things just like opening my world view and, you know, they would have friends over and just like interacting with them, trying to learn about the culture. So that really helped me, like, assimilate into the culture a lot quicker than I would have if I was just here by myself. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Shout out to host families and everybody's support system. You you
Speaker 5:can't do it alone. Right? A %.
Speaker 2:Hundred %. Another thing that another question that I had when it comes to the right to dream was before I was asking, like, if you were introduced at twelve and then you get recruited to Ventura, like, our UC Santa Barbara, is it like do you is there a graduating class? Do you necessarily ever graduate from Right to Dream, or is it more of a lifestyle as well as a play style and it's more about a personality that you intake and then you help to share it with others?
Speaker 5:Yeah. I don't think you ever graduate from it Mhmm. Because of the connections that you make. You know? So, like, Joshua Yaro just had his wedding a year and a half ago.
Speaker 5:I was at his wedding. He couldn't come to my because he had a baby. He was expecting a baby
Speaker 2:that week. I know.
Speaker 5:I know. Leave the babies.
Speaker 4:Just leave the baby. Come out and help with your brother. Exactly.
Speaker 5:But a few Right to Dream guys were there, few Fi Baden, Waiden, we just all stay in contact. So sometimes you might lose a little bit of contact depending on, like, who is the head of Right to Dream in Ghana, you know, maybe the teachers or, like, the head of pastor record that was there when we were there had moved on or, like, some of the kids have moved away. So you feel like, yo. Maybe those guys are not around, but, like, it's very as quickly as talking to somebody, like one of the guys that you knew, and then they will let you know, like, who the next contact is and go back to Ghana, go to the Right Dream Academy again, meet the guys, and then all of a sudden, you formed a different relationship with, like, the new generation, and that keeps going on and on and on. So there will be times where you feel like you can, you know, be a little bit off it and focus on what you need to do and just, like, with the contact that you have, but you can quickly get back in, and everybody will just welcome you.
Speaker 5:And it's crazy how like, you go back there and, like, it's changed. Obviously, I left there 02/2009, so there's not a lot of people that are there when I was there. You get there, and everybody already knows you. It's like Yeah. They're just telling you about, like, stories, stuff that you used to do while you're there, and, like, they just keep sharing a lot more about the graduates so people know you, and you always feel welcome when you're back there.
Speaker 5:So it's just a continuous journey. The connection just keeps it going, so you never feel like you're graduated and out of the system. No.
Speaker 2:That's great.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So then you went to UC Santa Barbara. Right? And so did you know much about college soccer, you know, before coming here? Was that always the plan to to do that?
Speaker 5:Well, the plan obviously was, you know, to play soccer. Yeah. I had a great opportunity to come to kid school, and that's an education you don't
Speaker 3:Education is very key. Right?
Speaker 5:It's very key. And on top of that, I was still getting training. Riot Rim also had a partnership with my city back then. So every summer, was going to my city and training with the u fifteen, u eighteen, sometimes get thrown into the first team training sessions and getting that exposure as well. So that was good.
Speaker 5:And sorry. I forgot your question
Speaker 4:again. So so do
Speaker 3:most of the kids end up going to either professional or college
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You would say. So were you when you first came to Santa Barbara, was the goal always, okay, I'm gonna go to UC Santa Barbara and then I'm gonna go professional, or was it something that just kind of arose after a year and you're like, okay, maybe I'll go the college route instead of the professional? Yeah.
Speaker 5:I think I wanted to go professional right away. Okay. And that was like, you know, I wanted to do it, like, by sophomore year. Okay. You know?
Speaker 5:Yeah. I was feeling good about myself. I'm like, oh, I'm good. I'm ready to go and all that stuff, but I was lucky enough. I had a lot of, like, smart people around me.
Speaker 5:My host dad was, like, big in that. Like, we had lots of conversations where he's like, you know, take your time. You know, you still need to develop. It's, you know, it's good. You're playing at this level, and you feel like you're the best player.
Speaker 5:So, naturally, you wanna make the next jump, but make sure, you know, you get your education as well. So he was just like, at least get me one year and go to college for one year. Yeah. So get your foot in there, know how it feels so you can always, like, return back to it. And, yeah, he was begging them, our headmaster, and the school was really nice in a way.
Speaker 5:So my junior year, I was basically at that point, I was just like, guys, like, I have to go pro. And you're like
Speaker 3:Ready to go.
Speaker 5:Well, give us one year. Your junior year, we will make sure we have, like, extra classes for you to take. So when school was done and, like, it wasn't soccer season, I was taking extra classes while everybody was doing sports and trying to make sure I get enough credits to go to college. So after my junior year, I had enough credits, and I went to UCSB. And the goal there was, you know, be here one year, do as well as I can on the field, as well as do well in education.
Speaker 5:And after that, that summer, I look for the next opportunity, and that's when
Speaker 3:So you were at Santa bar UC Santa Barbara just
Speaker 4:one year?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I
Speaker 5:was there one year, and then I signed professional in Sweden and, you know, kinda, like, forgot about education a little bit, but I know, like, you know, at some point, this is gonna end and try figure out the next steps. So the last three years, I've been taking classes online at MLS as a partnership with University of South Carolina. Okay. So just taking classes there and hopefully graduate next year and have my college degree as well. So
Speaker 1:Glory to study.
Speaker 2:Good luck to you.
Speaker 5:Business administration. So, hopefully, everything is done this year and, you know, start preparing for the afterlife because, you know, at this point, thirty one, probably another. It comes quick. Years later.
Speaker 4:I'm so sorry. You're looking after. You'll become sinners in a lot of years. Hopefully, won't be. Yeah.
Speaker 5:Yeah, that's all great. And, you know, again, still have a lot of help from everybody around Right to Dream and my host family and everybody encouraging me to do it. So it's been great.
Speaker 1:Earlier in the show, we played a clip of, you know, your speech from the ribbon cutting ceremony here. Mhmm. What was it like for you to be able to be a part of such a huge moment for Write to Dream in San Diego with your background and what it means to you?
Speaker 5:Yeah. I think, I was I was happy to help out in a way that I I could, for that. I knew that was a big ceremony. Actually, I didn't know how big it was. Tom Penn told me, he's like, oh, just, you know, prepare, a one minute speech and, you know, just say something.
Speaker 5:I think it'll be great for people to you know, you will be there, so it'll be great for people to hear from you. And then Vicky texted me the night before. She's like, oh, I think we're gonna need, like, five minutes. I was like, oh, god. But I actually have to write something.
Speaker 4:Yeah. There's gonna be, like, 2,000. Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker 5:No. She didn't even say that. So I, you know, got on my computer real quick that night around like 9PM, tried to write a speech, but it was a little bit easier because I was just talking about my experience with writing dreams and just going back and thinking about how it was. And I show up and, you know, thinking again, it's just gonna be like a sort of a press conference with a few people, and it's like 300 seats lined up, big conference. I'm like, oh god.
Speaker 3:I gotta get ready. It's better you
Speaker 5:didn't know. I know, I know. So just showed up in the moment and, you know, I was happy just shared a little bit about how I was growing up in the academy and how different it is now. Know, I think back then we just did everything based on, like, alright. There is there is a dream and there is a hope.
Speaker 5:This is what I want to achieve. And then now these kids got world class coaches, you know, the best training facilities, teachers helping them out in the classrooms and all that. This they have the top class. And now they have, like, over 50 to 100 graduates that have made it either by going the academic route and, you know, have really good jobs or professionals playing for the national team and that. I think it's a lot more like they see it a lot more clearer now instead of, like, imagining what it could be.
Speaker 5:Sure. So it's just really like the word I use, I think, in my speech there was like it's leaps and bounds beyond what it was back then, and it really is.
Speaker 1:How does it feel like you get to be a part of that graduate class that's able to mentor the new generation that's coming in here in San Diego?
Speaker 5:Yeah. I think I think I I love that. I'm really looking forward to that, you know, once the kids are in here because, Zach, I saw them training a few times when they were here for their trials, and they were the exact same hitch that I was, like, going in. So I can see everything going on through their heads, what they are thinking and everything. And so I think I'm just gonna be around and really happy.
Speaker 5:I've already told the, you know, the teachers, the coaches, like, anything that you guys need me for trainings, usually, this is the time that I'm done with trainings around two. And if you guys need me anytime between then and when, you know, they have dinner, I'm always happy to step in and help out in any way that I can.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Yeah. Because I was just gonna say how it sounds like when you were given that opportunity with 300 kids and they picked 16, it was like, you know, you knew the opportunity that you had ahead of you. But now, to come full circle, not only do these kids know that they have an opportunity, but they get to see someone who progressed and got out. So do you have one piece of advice that you would've liked to hear when you were growing up that you give to these kids?
Speaker 2:And do you maybe maybe you don't understand how great it is to actually have someone that has been there and is where you are now to help them out and to succeed. So I guess my question would be, what advice you have for them? And also, if you could change anything about the right to dream from when you started off, would it most likely be if you had someone that succeed come back and get under my wing, take my advice, young'un?
Speaker 5:A % that. I think my advice for them right now is just that the opportunities are there. Like, you don't have to worry about that because everything here with your education, you know, the nutrition, everything's gonna gear you towards, like, we're just gonna make you like a professional athlete. You're also gonna get an education. And, you know, when the time comes and whichever one feels right to you or, you know, makes sense to you and your family, and then the decision comes.
Speaker 5:So they shouldn't worry too much about that path because we worried about that, I mean, every day, especially being in Ghana and there's 16 kids and every year. So for the next like, once we turn 15, there will be, like, two or three guys that will get scholarships, but that's also depending on if the schools here have room to, like, you know, get you in. And the following year will be another trip for, like, you know, another two or three guys, but then the rest of the guys is just, like, they have to wait till they're 18 and turn pro, or they might not get even an opportunity to turn pro. They might just have to be like, alright. Well, you're 18.
Speaker 5:We have nothing for you. Because back then, we didn't have, like, mister Mansoor helping. It was a charity organization, so they couldn't they didn't have enough funds to support everyone. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Region's gotten so much bigger now.
Speaker 5:It's so much bigger now. So back then, we worried about so much, like, my god, I gotta make it in the nest. And I still want them to have that. Like, you wanna be the first to, like, make it out of your group and all that, but not to worry too much about that and just focus on your development. Develop every day.
Speaker 5:Like, do your homework. Can you do something extra? Because that was, like, something that was really big in our group. Like, it was never easy just doing, like, what is required of you. Every teacher will come in, like, did you do your homework?
Speaker 5:You're like, great. And they're like, and then what else did you do? They always ask, and what else? So, like, can these guys have that mentality of, like, okay, the coach wanted me to do 10 laps a day and okay, after I'm done, like, what else am I doing? Like, what can I do to make myself better?
Speaker 5:Above and beyond. And I think that was something I really learned in the academy and even when I came here because, you know, not to, you know, like, toot my own horn, but when I came in as a 15 year old playing in, like, club soccer and stuff, I was better than everybody that I was playing against. But I still had that mentality of, oh, there's some kid probably, like, in England or, like, in Mexico that's getting great coaching and doing 12 laps. I shouldn't be doing 10. Maybe I should do 13 to be better.
Speaker 5:Just create that imaginary person. If you feel like you're on top of your group, always create that imaginary person somewhere else that you're chasing. And I think that's that's probably the biggest advice I would give them. Always think about what can I do next? But, yeah, the body system is also great, and I think Right Dream's already doing that.
Speaker 5:I think Carsten is trying to hire guys that have already been through Right to Dream, have the experience just to try and bring that culture back here because he's starting new here, and he wants, like, the coaches and some of the guys that would be in the dorms with them. I'll he's trying to get Right to Dream people here. So that would naturally come, and we also have Willie here. I'm not the only right to dream guy, and he's he lives right here too, so he'll be can just walk from his hotel room into their dorms and, you know, trying to street in some kids out. So that's that's all great, and we are, like, really, really excited to be a part of this and help out.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I was gonna ask you about that, having some, teammates also that have come through Ride to Dream, not only Justin Ghana, but also globally. What is do you guys talk about that at all?
Speaker 5:Yeah. We talk about it all the time, and it's funny because Willie had left the academy in 02/2009, and I think he got there maybe four or five years after. So it's just funny trying to, like, compare stories and, like, how it was. And I'm telling you, these guys had it so easy. They had the best life.
Speaker 5:Like, you know, they got the Nike gear. Everything they go to preseason in Spain. I'm like, no. Like, we had one trip Yeah. To, like, Manchester every summer, and we went and it was, like, two weeks, play the games, you're back.
Speaker 5:These guys would go to Spain, train, get the exposure, like, best facilities, come back, and then the next time they're in Denmark, and then they're just traveling all around. And it's just, like, amazing, like, what it can do to you, like, as a kid, like, developing and trying to have all that world experiences and, you know, had chefs in the academy. And, like, when I was there, like, on Sundays, we didn't even have a chef. Like, one of the kids have to cook for 60 kids. Really?
Speaker 5:Joshua Yarrow was 14 years old. He knew how to cook, so he would cook for the entire academy. Kid. Yeah. Wow.
Speaker 3:This was I played with Josh
Speaker 4:right now.
Speaker 5:No. You did?
Speaker 4:He didn't cook for you? No. So I
Speaker 5:was like one of the guys that would go into town, make sure I get some of the groceries, bring it back. Joshua and one other kid will cook for all 60 kids at the academy. And this was when it was, like, really tough in the beginning. Like, we didn't have funds all the time. We knew there was potential.
Speaker 5:Like, we need to work hard. There are great people in The US and The UK that were donating to help the academy, but it wasn't enough to have, like, a full time chef there the whole time. And Sundays, yeah, Josh And
Speaker 3:the company's become
Speaker 5:I know.
Speaker 4:And then
Speaker 5:now these guys have, like, smoothies before breakfast, you know, training, got all these stuff, like supplements, everything. So it's amazing, amazing where it is now. And, you know, mister Musso has done a great job, and you can tell to the success that are coming from here. These guys are going from the academy to, like, three years from then being in the Premier League or, like Yeah. You know, La Liga, League One, and stuff like that.
Speaker 5:And so that all shows, like, you know, getting the right support from a guy like, you know, De Manseurs has just really changed everything up. Yeah.
Speaker 1:In your speech, you also mentioned that you guys used to cut the grass before matches on Saturdays. Yeah. Did Willy's class
Speaker 4:have to cut the grass?
Speaker 5:No. They did not. They had a mower. Somebody will come do it for them. Yeah.
Speaker 5:We would train Monday through Friday. And Friday afternoons, everybody in the academy will get on the field and get machetes and cut the grass ourselves so it's fresh for, like, Saturday.
Speaker 2:Just down the wooden machete.
Speaker 5:Oh, yeah. Doing the machete. Yeah. Cutting the grasses. Yeah.
Speaker 5:Making sure it's all good. And, you know, part of that was, again, the resources weren't enough, so we had to go other way other other places, like, you know, making sure we had better teachers and stuff. And part of it would also was also to teach us, like, to take pride in what we have. Like, this is our field. This is the field that we're gonna play games on.
Speaker 5:Let's make sure it's, like, in the best you know, it's looking the best for like the games and stuff. And then when we get there on Saturday mornings, and we're playing whoever we're playing, man. I didn't cut the grass for you to come
Speaker 4:do some skills on here. Like Like, it's odd. You you know like like
Speaker 3:in MLS when you when you do your warm ups off to the side and you see all the pitter patters
Speaker 5:and all the fields
Speaker 3:messed up right there, I bet they were
Speaker 4:like, we're warming up, we're warming up over here.
Speaker 5:Yeah. Exactly. Like, just like, we would get there on Saturday mornings and it was always, like, so fun. We know all the work that we've put in just, you know, us training, but also, like, man, we cut this grass. We're not a lot about to let you come in here, like, you know, win on our field.
Speaker 5:Like, it's yeah. So it's a lot, and Willie didn't have to do any of that.
Speaker 3:He just came in,
Speaker 5:just chilling, go to training, work really hard, but they didn't have to do all the extra stuff that we did back then.
Speaker 2:No. You trailblazed on that. And then it sounds like, I mean, you can't be cutting out cutting the grass out there like that and not build yourself some character.
Speaker 5:Exactly. That's the
Speaker 2:pride in what
Speaker 5:you do with
Speaker 2:So Exactly. Mean, you're just gonna you're just gonna come out of there just feeling like a like granite. Exactly. You're rocking solid with a group of people that I mean Yeah. If you guys were just on a team, I I mean, that sounds like a community if not a family.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I can only imagine why you guys still talk about it to this day because you guys are probably helping through some pretty strong similar experiences.
Speaker 5:For sure. For sure. It's a lot of lessons that we learned, and I can't wait to, like, impact it on, you know, these guys out here. I don't think I can get them to cut the grass because you got some great people taking care of
Speaker 4:it. Yeah.
Speaker 5:I know. Nate is not even gonna let us on there.
Speaker 4:He's like, no.
Speaker 5:You guys you guys are gonna mess this up. Like, I got this. Like, stay away from me. But, yeah, just looking forward to being here and being a resource and helping out these kids.
Speaker 1:How's exploring San Diego been like for you?
Speaker 5:It's been great. Yeah. So far, just our chef here has given me a lot of recommendations on restaurants around town that I've been to. It's been great. And, yeah, just still it's fun.
Speaker 5:My wife has been in and out of town for work and stuff, but every time she's out here, we try to do the most, like, you know, go to the beach, hang out, try new restaurants and stuff. What part of town are you living in? UTC.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 5:Yeah. Close to the mall.
Speaker 2:So The mall is like La Jolla. Mall?
Speaker 3:Oh, yes. Up on the East.
Speaker 5:Yeah. Might be a problem, though, because my wife just goes down there Honey, I'm
Speaker 4:gonna go out for a minute. I have
Speaker 2:to wear. Hold up. Yeah. Exactly.
Speaker 5:But it's great. It's good. You know, thirty five minute drive to train is not too bad. And then when you're home, it's, you know, nice. It's a good place to walk around and just, you know, kinda chill a little bit.
Speaker 1:Do have any favorite activities or anything that you guys have done? Any favorite restaurants so far?
Speaker 5:Amalfi Lama is right in that mall. It's pretty good. I think we went to anime as well. It's right next to the Grand Hyatt. I think that was probably one of the best restaurants we've been, yeah, over here in San Diego.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Awesome.
Speaker 3:Nice. Do you wanna move here when you're done playing? You're gonna stay keep your roots here.
Speaker 4:It's been it's
Speaker 5:been great so far. My wife has always you know, I met her in 02/2020. Yeah. And, you know, I think one of our very few dates, like, I asked her where she wants to live, like, if she were to pick one place, and it was always San Diego. Yeah.
Speaker 5:So it's kind of great that it worked out, and we're here. She's loving it so far, so hopefully, you know, this can be our home for a long time. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. We work
Speaker 2:with Santa Barbara.
Speaker 5:Yeah. You guys can show me the robes.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Deal, literally. Yeah.
Speaker 5:We'll be down there.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 5:So it's been great.
Speaker 1:Well, you wanna thank you so much for joining the podcast. We really appreciate your time and your insight on your journey to San Diego.
Speaker 5:Yeah. Thanks for having me, and, you know, you guys are doing a great job. I see all the clips on Instagram and following with everything, and, you know, I think it's great for what you guys are doing and letting the community really, you know, get to know the players and the ins and outs. So happy to come on here whenever you need me.
Speaker 3:Perfect. Thank you. Appreciate you, man.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 3:Alright. Become a season ticket member with San Diego FC and never miss a moment with guaranteed access to all home matches. Membership starts at just $40 per match, and you get the best value with amazing benefits. Visit San Diego FC slash memberships to learn more. Marv actually has season tickets, so that's something you True.
Speaker 3:Two
Speaker 2:of them. If anybody has somebody that just wants to go with me, let me know because my monkey's bailing.
Speaker 8:As the official specialty insurance partner of San Diego FC, Palomar offers standalone earthquake insurance that protects property and peace of mind. It's crucial to be prepared. Visit plmr.com or contact your insurance agent for a quote. Palomar, reimagining specialty insurance with innovative creative solutions.
Speaker 1:And welcome into our match preview presented by Alaska Airlines. We have some new merch that we can share with you guys. Yeah. Yeah. So this is really cool.
Speaker 1:For those that are viewing the podcast, you can see. But for those who are not, we have a new partnership with Melon Hats, a local San Diego company. Really cool to be able to get to work with them to put out our our logos and our branding on their hats. Really awesome to be able to collaborate with a local team. So you'll see, this available soon to purchase, but exciting, to be able to get to work with the local and lift up local, businesses in San Diego.
Speaker 2:Variety is super nice. Yeah. Grab one, grab all. Super nice.
Speaker 1:Alright. Let's get into, match preview. We've got RSL. The first time that we're going to see a repeat team this year, so we got a little bit of intel on them. We can at least talk about what we've seen in the previous match.
Speaker 1:What are your thoughts on just looking at what we have coming up?
Speaker 2:Well, just based on our previous match against them, playing away, scoring three goals away, and even going down initially and then working our way back, if this is gonna be another team or a similar team where we can get some more shots off on goal, show how we can dominate a field again, especially back home, I think this is kind of what we need in a situation like this. Right now, I mean, two difficult away games, now we got two home games. Then we're gonna Salt Lake. We kinda know what they're gonna come at us with. From the way we've been playing recently, we might kinda throw them for a loop in terms of what we're gonna bring at them.
Speaker 2:So it might be a difficult team to do some scouting against, but hopefully that works to our advantage and we'll another W back home. We haven't lost that home yet, so we just wanna just keep it going.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and for me, I think you know, this game is super important in a sense of like keeping the results kinda headed in the right direction. Mhmm. Like we don't wanna, you know, a game that we should win, right, because Salt Lake's a team that's been struggling. Of course, it's never easy to play a team again in the course of a season and then beat them again. I mean, I can think back of when I was at Red Bull, we we played a game where we beat NYCFC in a rivalry game seven nothing.
Speaker 3:And literally a month later, played them. I think we lost two one. So it's never easy even if, you know, one game can go one way, another game can go another way. But as Mar mentioned, we're at home now and that's that's you gotta keep that you gotta keep that as a fortress and you have to get back to playing your style of play and start to dominate the game again, get a big result, and keep that going, and do the same thing against Dallas, and then kinda keep heading in the same direction. Because at the start of the season, you know, if with zero games played, four, two, and three is where we're at right now, I think we'd all say,
Speaker 2:okay, pretty good.
Speaker 3:Like, not amazing, but pretty good. Like, we're from a result standpoint. Right? The eye test has proved I'm I'm even more excited than just that. So, yeah, from a result standpoint, it's gonna be important to get the w for sure against a team that, like I said, is starting to struggle a little bit and lost their last two games.
Speaker 1:Yeah. I think what's impressive too about this team is, like, the expectation is to win. They're not content with a draw. They're not obviously not content with a loss. This is the first time that San Diego's going to be coming off of two consecutive losses so far this season and coming back home to a place where so far, they've remained undefeated.
Speaker 1:I really liked what captain Yepe Diverskow said in the post game presser after the loss at Charlotte was they don't wanna show that type of performance at home in front of a home crowd. They want to be able to get back and to get back to their style of playing in winning football. So I think it'll be good to have these two next back to back home matches to kinda be able to see if we can get back to kinda what we're used to, which should be exciting.
Speaker 5:The winning
Speaker 3:ways, the style of play, all that flow with us. Let's see it.
Speaker 2:Know? Yeah. You gotta respect the man that comes out and says, you know, we know we played a certain way and don't this isn't the norm. Don't get used to it. We're gonna stay on top especially when we go back home.
Speaker 2:So respect there.
Speaker 1:Earlier kickoff time this week, 04:30PM Pacific time as opposed to our usual 07:30PM kickoff. It's also sustainability night, our woven into one planet night presented by Palomar. First ten thousand fans in the stadium will receive this rally towel made of sustainable materials. Mar, you wanna give him a demonstration?
Speaker 2:I like this little rally towel. Let's go.
Speaker 1:Let's go. Really cool. There's gonna be some great activations there. Reminder with the earlier start time, the gates will open at 3PM. Also, Fan Fest will be moved a little bit earlier, 01:30PM to 03:30PM.
Speaker 1:We also have really cool merch of the match. Sal, you wanna
Speaker 4:show them?
Speaker 5:Put that
Speaker 3:up right here.
Speaker 1:So this is San Diego Magazine, our feature story on the launch of our club. Really cool cover art shot by local photographer Matt Furman. This will be available on a T shirt that will be available for purchase at the match. So it's an option to be able to pick up something that's super commemorative for this inaugural season. And then we'll also have the wolf or the the One Planet shirts.
Speaker 3:The one Yeah. The pregame shirts that are, like, the sand color. Yeah. Really cool. SDFC posted that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I love those. Those are gonna be cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Yeah. That's a cool initiative from the league. They're also made of recycled materials, of all into the theme of sustainability. Happy Earth Day, everybody.
Speaker 1:Yay. We're making sure make sure you check out all the different options for being able to, you know, support SCFC and our local our local artists, our local merchandise as well. This will be available soon. But really appreciate the support and everyone that has been pouring into the podcast, and the reviews, the comments. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Don't hear while see you guys.
Speaker 3:Posting good things, giving five stars, all that stuff.
Speaker 2:Protect all of our egos. Thank you. Like, share,
Speaker 3:subscribe. Before you give a bad review, just look at Marv's face. You can't give a bad review. Thanks
Speaker 1:all.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Flow with us. Flow with us.