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From causal and seasoned fans to fresh new fans to the game, Casual FC is your Angel City FC podcast previewing all upcoming matches, highlighting what to look for as the casual football fan.
Ang: Hey everyone, welcome to Casual
FC, an Angel City preview pod.
I'm your host, Angela Morales, with our in
house tech support co host, Mario Salazar.
Today, we are welcoming A, I guess we
can say TikTok superstar, another one
at this point, someone who's become one
of the bigger names in WOSO TikTok, who
has breaking news at like the moment
it drops, has fantastic recaps, all
the good intel, Casey on the case, who
you can find on TikTok and Instagram.
And she's going to be here helping us
talk about the amazing players in Group C.
So Spain, Japan, Nigeria, and Brazil.
Mario: Yep.
Ang: So hello, welcome.
Yay, I'm so happy you're here.
Thanks
Casey: for having me, excited to be here.
Mario: Ah, alright, just to give everybody
a little bit of a background, we, this
morning for our recording has been kind
of a shit show, but you know what, like
I, like Angela said, tech support here
came through with whatever solution
we could to band aid this thing, and,
we're rolling with it, so roll with us.
Ang: So we already know the
answer to this question.
How you doing?
What's going on?
How's your life?
Casey: I'm, it's, yeah, show what is
my morning before the tech support.
So I have two permanent
dogs that are like mine.
And then I have two pugs.
And then I have, A third that I foster
normally, and then I took in an emergency
fourth foster, less than 24 hours ago.
So there are, and he's a puppy, so there's
just, there's four dogs in my house, and
it's a little bit chaotic, so you might
hear them, but I think, I gave them, A yak
cheese which is like the iPad for pugs.
so I hope that's going to keep them
occupied, but yeah, otherwise I'm good.
If there are worse problems to
have than four dogs running around
your house, it's really okay.
Very
Mario: true.
Very true, yeah.
Ang: So for those who don't
know, you were first in L.
A.
before moving up north to NorCal.
Are you from L.
A.
originally?
Or what's Your California
locational background.
Casey: Yeah, no, it's always a,
it's a tricky question because I
never really know how to answer it.
We need like a word for folks who
split time, essentially, between
NorCal and SoCal because I You know,
I did my, early childhood years in L.
A., and then we moved up to the Bay
Area, so I would say I grew up in
the Bay Area, but I had family in L.
A., my mom is from
Victorville, which is not L.
A., don't worry, I'm not trying
Mario: to make that call,
Casey: I would not lump
Victorville in, I'm like, Southern
California, it's legitimate!
L.
A.
's not
Mario: that big.
Meh.
Casey: no.
And Victorville, Victorville
might as well be the South.
it's just like a whole situation.
Ang: you get up over the mountain
and it's like a different land.
Yeah.
Casey: The South isn't even
probably the right call.
it's its own, y'all know,
it's just its own thing.
yeah, it's what it is.
But, so went down a lot, as
a kid, did college in LA.
went back up here for law school, and then
did my summer jobs in law school in L.
A., moved to L.
A.
Oh, wow.
L.
A., consistently for six years,
and then moved I never thought I
was going back to the Bay Area.
And then I moved back up to the Bay
Area, right before the pandemic,
and now I'm back up here, but, most
of my lawyer work is still in L.
A., so I'm in L.
A., roughly once a week anyway.
Ang: That's what it is.
Yeah, I just You're just from everywhere.
Casey: I exist in the context of whatever
the Kamala Harris meme is right now.
Sorry, I can't.
That meme is like the
funniest thing to me.
I can't get over it.
Mario: Uh, it's coming.
It's interesting that, my brother's a
lawyer and, during the pandemic, his
wife, fiancee at the time, but like his
wife was, they were living out in Philly
because she was finishing her, masters.
And so he moved out there, especially
during the pandemic, he's just
might as well just be over here.
And so he was working LA times
for the entire thing because
he's yeah, it's Different bar,
different everything over here.
So I'm just going to keep my job in LA.
And yeah, he just that became a thing.
And then they moved to New
York for a couple of years and
he was still working in LA.
It's so weird.
I will say the one server
lining has been the.
opportunity for a lot of more people
to start working from home and
making it like a very commonplace
thing than, than it being like,
what, you want to work from home?
What are you talking about?
no, I, it's now a requirement.
I do need to work from home.
Casey: Yeah, it's I, part of the reason
I have my own law firm and sorry, I'm
like, now I'm just going off script,
Ang: but the next thing was
like, Oh my God, you're a lawyer.
Tell us.
Casey: So it's fine.
But yes, I have my own law firm and I
have now for a little over two years.
there were many reasons why that needed
to happen, but part of it was like, at
my old job, we had started going back to
the office in 2021, a couple days a week,
and I'm a morning person, as by the time
of our recording here, and I like to get
up out of bed, and I'll start working
at six, and I'll just go, and then I
hit, my, my abs and flows are a little
different, and by about two, I don't
really feel like working, and I stop, and
then I jump back on at five sometimes.
That's changed now, but that was the
flow then, and, Somebody was narking
on me for leaving the office at three.
And I don't think it was
anyone in that location.
No, I know.
I would get so I was a weird, the team
I was on was out of San Francisco.
I was working in the Oakland office.
Cause I was like, I don't want to
go to the city, but, and I lived
walking from the Oakland office.
Yeah.
but everybody there was very chill.
So I figured out they were
watching me on the cameras.
Ang: What?
That is too, someone had too much time.
That's what that tells me.
Yeah.
Because if you're getting narked
on because somebody's watching
the camera, if that's not their
like actual job, calm down.
Casey: and I'm gonna tell you, it's
not like I'm not still working.
I would like literally walk home.
Go back to work.
It was just like when the ebb and flow
was like, so it's a 30 minute walk.
So it's it was just, the
ebb and flow was that.
So I just started waving.
I was just like,
Ang: fine.
I love that.
What are you going to do, fire
Casey: me?
I don't really care.
Ang: Wow.
That is, that's wild.
I feel like the way people have learned
different ways to like micromanage
through the pandemic, it's maybe chill out
Mario: just a lot.
But it's just chill.
The ones that have embraced what
the situation is, have worked.
I will say that the one thing for
my, my workplace at the moment
was that they fully embraced,
the whole work from home thing.
And we're back now in a hybrid mode
where, there's probably too many in
office days and out of office days,
but still it's at least, that hybrid
position, but they've embraced it.
And, it's.
Not a weird thing for everybody to
be, like, completely on Zoom, even
if we're all still in the office,
everybody's at their individual desks.
Ang: It's I'll stay in my little
corner, you stay in yours, and I'll
talk to you through the internet,
even though we're 10 feet away.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, I, unfortunately have a very in
person job, so I've been back at work.
I worked to, I started a new job the
day LA shut down, so that was wild.
Casey: Oh my gosh.
Ang: Yeah.
And I, because we're like a
service provider, it's you have
to be like, I do our inventory.
I have to be on site regardless.
So it's a whole thing, but
let's talk about soccer.
Let's talk about the good stuff.
I don't want to talk about work.
You're like, yeah, this isn't
the, why we should work from home.
Yeah.
Nope.
Let's talk about the labor movement.
let's just talk about all sorts of stuff.
Let's talk about union organizing.
Yeah, for some of these federations, yes.
Let's talk about
Casey: overlap.
A lot of overlap, actually.
Ang: Definitely.
So where does your love of
soccer or the sport come from?
And did you grow up playing,
watching all of the above?
What's your soccer background?
Casey: Yeah, all of the above.
grew up playing and, I didn't
really realize it at the time
that it was different, but so my
dad's Swedish, my mom's American.
And so I was one of the few kids in
the area where I was at, for the first
team I was on, I think I was literally
the only one with a parent that had
played, and then I ended up playing
on a team that had a lot more folks
from the Mexican community who then
had Obviously parents who had played.
Everyone who played.
Yeah, like they all had a very
different experience once that happened.
Yeah, but it was, starting out like that
was, it was just my dad who kind of knew.
and so it very quickly
became our bond with it.
So I, played, but I also spent my
weekends watching, premierly with my
dad and watching Arsenal with my dad.
So that's awesome.
Yeah, it's good.
And he like, Really took a lot of
time to explain tactics to me and
have me watch specific players and
what things were happening So I think
I benefited a lot from that But yeah
played like kind of the standard club
route in the US and then when I was
15 I moved to Sweden and played there.
Ang: Oh
Casey: Yeah,
Ang: that's so cool
Casey: Yeah, it was, that was,
it's probably still, the boldest
thing I've ever done in my life.
It's really sad.
if I think every single admissions
essay I've had to write has been
about the thing I did when I was 15.
Ang: But hey, that means
that, that willingness to take
chances is still in there.
It just has to be the right chance.
Casey: I'm up for anything.
I don't care.
I will look stupid.
I will, I didn't really speak Swedish yet.
When I moved by myself.
My family didn't come.
Sorry.
The dogs are in full blown.
There's, I think there's gotta be
somebody who walked by outside,
but anyway, so I moved there.
I played, so in Sweden they have like
schools or they did, the systems changed
a little bit, but when I was there,
Schools for people that they think have
like national team potential and they
move you all to one school and you do
like high school and then also soccer.
I did that and played in the league
there for a year and then I came
home and then, basically promptly
got mono, discovered mock trial,
realized that felt like a sport, but
it was one they would pay me to do.
And that was pretty much it.
I, played a little bit, like
still club, but not at a serious.
level, after that,
Ang: That's fantastic.
I, wow.
To be 15 and be like, later guys, going
to Sweden for a couple, a year or two.
that's awesome.
Mario: Yeah.
It was very
Casey: strange.
Mario: But it
Casey: was good.
Mario: just even having The confidence
or the ability that the, when I played,
we've, we briefly touched on this, you
know, through several episodes on the
pod, that when I played it, like I've
played all AYSO, local AYSO, or, never
went into a club team, my brother did,
I was always just, as far as I went
was like more the all star team of
AYSO, but never went into club AYSO.
Although being predominantly in a,
on a team that was, Hispanic, Latino,
based, we can be a small people.
when we went up against very tall, kids
that were our age, that we were just
like, there is no way we're the same age.
we're not the same type of person.
you have a full on beard.
what are you doing?
And so there was times that it was just
like, that disparity was very apparent
for us, but yeah, it's, but I think
that playing and being like, Oh, I'm
just going to play like the team from
like Santa Clara or whatever, that's
different than being like, yeah, I'm
going to a full on country to play.
Yeah.
Where you don't even
really know the language.
That's awesome.
Casey: Yeah.
But it's really it's funny too,
because I don't think I would
have learned it if I hadn't.
The language I hadn't been playing.
Yeah.
Because like at school I did mostly math
and science stuff and that's all the same.
You don't have to learn the language,
but on the field, ain't nobody got time.
Mario: Yeah.
No,
Casey: where you're
speaking Swedish, that's it.
That's, you're going to learn it.
And yeah, and everybody, it's not like
I played on like a youth team either.
Like I played with People
that were like 25 to 30.
And so it was like, okay, guess what?
You got to hit the weight
room like pretty quick here.
It was just a lot, but it was great.
It was super cool.
and I learned so much about myself.
That was odd.
I learned a lot about soccer and different
styles of play, but I just learned
so much about myself too, and my own
interests and what I was capable of.
Which is cool.
Mario: Yeah.
that totally comes out in your.
And you're like TikToks ing your
videos and just I am amazed we, we talk
about, or we joke about the fact that
Casual FC is really for the casuals.
We're not the X's and O's type people.
so as Angela does dig
into the X's and O's.
I was
Ang: gonna say, he says we
aren't, but I'm like, it's you.
Mario: I'm not.
So we get into it a little bit.
I was
Ang: never, Yeah, I was never a
player, and I didn't really get into
watching soccer until 2015, 2016 ish,
like that World Cup era, or should
I say 2014, and then into the World
Cup, but I played like every other
sport that I could until then, Yeah.
But yeah, I just, it's
it's such a fun community.
But
Mario: I'm always amazed by
like Angela's knowledge of it.
And I'm like, I'm the one that played.
Angela didn't even play.
I'm the one that played.
And yet I'm still like, yeah, X's
and O's are not a thing for me.
Ang: Isn't that wild?
Yeah, and I'm like, their offensive scheme
is like this because they have a 5 3 2,
then they can run like, and it's just, my
brain is wired, like hardwired for sports.
It's weird.
Mario: All right.
with all of your experience, I think
this is probably like the most like on
the nose, but like probably going to
be the most interesting question of and
we've asked this by from a lot of guests
that we've had is what has been your
favorite soccer moment, whether it's.
Personal, from you or when you were
playing or when you were watching,
whatever, and if there's also a
separate WOSO favorite moment that
you have or if it's a combined
one, but, with the experiences that
you've had, what's your, moment?
Casey: Oh, gosh.
my favorite WOSO moment, so this is
gonna hurt some feelings, but it's pretty
much any time Sweden has beaten the U.
S., and I know, except for this
last one, except for the 2023 World
Cup, because that one, I posted a
video pretty much right after it
happened, I was in tears for the U.
S., just the way it happened.
That
Ang: game was a lot.
Oh, it was so bad,
Casey: I, cause it's just, I'm
always gonna root for the underdog.
Sweden, we have, 10 million people now,
but we were, like, 6 million at one point
in this whole thing, and we're up there,
and we're, giving them hell, and, great.
So it's always been fun
when Sweden's gotten a win.
those have been, like, the 2016
Olympics, I was still working,
in an office in a big law.
And I'm like yelling in my off.
It's not appropriate at all.
And I was like, just losing it.
so this is
Ang: the best day of my life.
Casey: No, literally and then we
went on a recruiting lunch and they
were like, you can order champagne.
It's fine.
I was like, and nobody, and
now I don't work in big law
and I can't figure out why.
But that's, I'm so sorry to
anyone that offends, that hurts.
And then, I don't know, there are just
these, little moments from playing that
always, come back to you, I have this one,
it wasn't, it's actually, it was not a
goal, and it, it kills me in my mind, so
it's still, but it's a favorite, because
I'm, like, I did really great there,
I wish that it had resulted in a goal,
but, what I did was really excellent,
where I just, I had this run, and I just
dummied it for the person running in
behind me, and, it was a sitter, And I
had yelled because I'm like, come on, but
then yeah, it didn't, she was not hip to
the groove, so we did not, we ended up
losing it over time, but it was, I, it
was like, It was one of my last, plays,
and I'm still like, ah, that was really
cool, that was at least, we were really
creative there, so it, didn't win anybody
anything, but, it was still really cool.
Ang: yeah.
No, I completely get that.
My last competitive discus
throw was a PR, a school record,
and then I didn't make it.
The cutoff, I had been in like
third place and the girl after me
knocked me out to get to the next
level of the state championship.
And I was like, cool.
Thanks.
Thanks.
They just did a really big thing.
And I appreciate that.
Like
Casey: I feel great,
Ang: but also I feel great.
Could have felt better.
Mario: Yeah.
Ang: You really didn't
need to do that at all.
Mario: was it?
Yeah.
Sports are wild.
Was it the Swedish kit that had, I just
remember a yellow kit, so that's why
I'm saying the Swedish kit that had the
really long tag in the last World Cup.
Was that Sweden?
Ang: I want to say it was, where it was
Mario: Like they just put the
recipe on like how to beat us?
Ang: Yeah, it was like their whole
play by play scheme on the tab, or
like inside the back of the kit.
Casey: Yeah,
Mario: I think so,
Ang: that
Casey: sounds
Mario: about right.
I mean You're like,
Ang: that sounds right.
Mario: that's some confidence.
Ang: yeah.
Mario: all So if you've ever seen
one of Casey's, TikToks, videos,
you know that she covers everything,
NWSL, Wilson, but she's also an
ACFC fan, which is pretty cool.
We love him for it.
You doing okay?
. But yeah, that was like, that was
where I was going was like, just
really quickly, we, I think we have
to touch on the, like, how much are
we where are we mentally, emotionally
Casey: Sorry.
It's so hard.
And and it's funny, it's like
not, I would never change, I'm not
this person, but everybody at the
beginning was like, the season was
like, oh, are you gonna be B, F, C?
'cause you live in the Bay.
And I'm like, no, I'm a CFC.
And now I'm like, huh.
no, I'm kidding.
I love you, ACFC.
I will be here, thick and thin,
but, it's, yeah, it's a rough go.
And I think the hard part is supposedly
we have two new signings coming.
I think today somebody was
saying, or it's supposed to come
Mario: out.
I saw
Casey: Yeah.
we have to make moves.
I think if these people want to keep their
jobs, they have to make moves, frankly.
it's just been hard.
And I think if I felt like things
were changing or we were trying new
things or if there was hope there,
I'd feel very differently about it.
I don't mind being different.
Bad when I see a path forward
and I can see what we're doing.
the problem is we've done the
exact same thing now for 15
matches and it's not working.
And that's just, that is the
literal definition of insanity.
And I don't, I am also
going insane watching this.
I've got, I can't, I
don't know how to do this.
My husband's like, Why
do you keep doing this?
And he's an ACFC fan too, and he'll sit
down with me and then 20 minutes he's I
can't, I gotta get up, I can't do this.
Mario: yeah, we've talked about it.
Yeah, we've talked about it and, in
the last couple of pods, actually,
as we're recording this, our new
kind of recap of the Gotham match,
because we don't have a preview.
So we're just recapping.
The Gotham, is coming out in 15 minutes.
but one of the things that as we were
going down and I get to the standing
section, we're, we have our format,
we get to the standing session.
I'm like, yeah, I haven't changed
this for the last three episodes
because it hasn't changed, which is
Ang: parked.
Mario: Yeah, it's a good
and bad thing, right?
Like we haven't gone down.
But we haven't gone up.
But then in that whole time,
those points haven't changed.
So that's, it's not like we're
saying everybody tied, so
everybody's slightly moving up.
It's nope, we're still in the same spot.
No,
Casey: it's, you're seeing, the parody we
saw from last season is really going away.
And I was DMing with somebody
about this, or somebody asked
me if I, what the issue was.
And the only thing I can really think
of is, I think there's something about
there being 14 teams, where it's like,
You don't feel the tightness and the
pressure anymore, with that seemed to be
the threshold between 12 and 14, where
you start to feel the drop off, it starts,
it stops feeling we can still get up
to first, cause you can't now, right?
Those teams that are in the first
three spots have more points than your
supporter Shield winner had last season,
or close to, right around that number.
So you're not catching them.
so it's something about that
pressure, I think, obviously those
spots 7 and 8, I think are gonna
be really interesting for playoffs,
But I don't want to be in 7 and 8.
I want to be up in the mix, where
everything else is, instead of, down
where I'm like, are we worse than Utah?
I'm not sure.
Mario: Yeah.
Have you, have you ever seen, there's
a, infographic, engineer, Allison
Gale on Twitter, and she has the most
beautiful, Infographics, like bring,
she brings data into such a great way.
And she has this thing, this standing
chart, that she posts every time.
And you can see the
movement of all the teams.
and it was something really interesting
to see last year, which was like, there
was a definite, you can definitely draw
a line through the middle of the pack and
be like, top six teams were just playing
leapfrog with each other and did not They
were just like, we don't know you guys.
we're playing over here.
We're playing with our ball.
I don't know about you guys.
And everybody else was just
like fighting for scraps.
and it, at this point,
it's like that again.
Like everybody from eight down has
not moved for the last three weeks.
So it's we're starting to draw that
clear dividing line of Good top teams
Ang: and the we don't got it teams
Yeah, I will see what all the
Casey: offseason is gonna be because it's
like we're not that offseason here But
this the transfer windows is opening.
Yeah, there's gonna be moves I
you know, I think I would honestly
swap our entire midfield out.
I don't need to keep a single one Like, I
am, just give me an entirely new midfield,
and if I hear somebody talk about losing
Amandine Henry one more time, I'm going
to lose it because I'm sorry that deal,
and this is, I hate that I've, this has
become now part of my ACFC brand is that
I'm an Amandine Henry hater, but that
was the dumbest deal I have ever seen.
You signed a 34 year old
midfielder to a four, what,
Mario: no,
Casey: We should have
paid Utah to take her.
come on, man.
Oh, that was so bad.
Mario: I, we, I think we have the same
sentiment of the, there was definitely
a larger hit on that double trade.
There was a larger hit on the
defense rather than the mid.
Casey: Paige, I don't know what they were,
like, I get where they thought they were
coming from, but I'm also sitting here
and I'm like, you now only have You know.
Ang: One.
Yeah.
yeah.
Casey: Yeah, one true center back.
two, but it's just, even then, that's
kinda dicey, and Madison Curry, bless
her, has been a complete revelation,
and she's, quick on the study, so great,
but this is, this ain't it, and I,
but you gotta fix the midfield first.
I think the midfield's the bigger issue.
Yeah.
I just, and maybe getting a nine that
Becky Tweed apparently trusts besides
Syd Leroux, cause You can't, you
cannot keep putting this much time on
her, like that's a lot of minutes and
mileage, like it's gonna catch up to
her at some point, you can't do that to
anybody, if she's not comfortable Becky
Tweed playing Messiah Bright or Casey
Fair, like we gotta get somebody else
there, cause Syd's got a rest too, so
Ang: I don't know.
It's us.
Yeah, I feel like that's a whole
episode in itself of just being
like, hello, is anybody listening?
Help.
Mario: Yeah.
Ang: Yeah.
Mario: Yeah.
if you want to come back when we're
like gearing back up to like our
back into our season, like we can
totally deep dive on all of that.
I'm happy to.
Deep dive.
Casey: We can rant about whatever weird
fix they decided to make or didn't.
I'm.
Yeah.
I'm very nervous here.
I like.
Nervous, but curious because I
just don't see who's on the market
right now that meets our needs.
but I don't
Ang: know.
Yep.
We'll see.
We'll see what happens.
Mario: Okay.
And then, so before we get back into
the Olympics coverage, you have a,
what I'm going to say, a certain level
of social media fame here, because
you have a lot of people that we can
talk to and mention Casey on the case.
No.
Who you are.
it's reached a lot of people and, With
all of that and the content creation, all
of that stuff that's come, what has been
the most surprising moment for you so far?
cause you've got your, you've got
your professional life, you've
got your lawyer life, and then you
started this kind of having fun on
TikTok and then it started spreading.
Sprouting some legs and then and
I know that a lot of times it's
just okay, where is this going?
And you'll get contacted
and all of that stuff.
What's been the most
surprising, moment so far?
Casey: I think there's been two.
So the first was when I first
got reached out to by ESPN about
their Creator Network program.
That happened in like December
or so, maybe it was November.
And I get this DM and
I'm like, Are you sure?
did you mean me?
I don't think you meant me.
But, they did.
I, I have thoughts on that too.
But anyway, it's, that was
really weird and surreal.
And then, I think the funniest one
was the first time I got recognized
at the airport and stopped.
And it was very funny because my
husband does not go on TikTok.
He knows I do all this
and he's he'll joke.
He's Oh, what are you going to do?
tell your little 8, 000
followers about it or something.
And I'm like, Oh, honey.
Oh, it's escalated a little bit.
so it was like the first time
somebody stopped me at the airport,
he was just like, and I'm like, But
yeah, it was, that was really funny.
So I always please do, if you're
listening to this and you're like, oh,
I don't want to, you can say hi to me.
I don't care.
please do say hi to me.
I honestly prefer that because then
I remind myself that like somebody
may see me and notice my behavior.
I'm like, please say hi so that
I'm like on my best behavior.
Not that I'm like a dick otherwise,
it's, I'm, I don't think I am.
I just, it's always, I'd always
rather say hi than not know.
So that's been a little bit weird.
Ang: Like the WOSO community has
to make sure that your husband
knows how important you are also
because that will do you understand?
this is a, she is a pinnacle
of news, breaking news.
Casey: It's, thank you all.
It's, yeah, it's fun.
And it's just, it's interesting too.
It's cause now I can't even, not,
no, I can't even, I'm like, no,
it's just I don't know how like
actual celebrities deal with it.
Cause it's just very funny.
Cause now it's I cannot go to a women's
soccer game without I, people know me,
which is totally great and awesome.
And it's like a cool community thing
and people are always super nice and
positive, but it's just also very funny.
Cause I'll be honest, I enjoy a
bevy, so if you ever meet me in
person and are like, This wasn't
like the most coherent thought ever.
I, I just, I like to go
to a game and have a bevy.
So anyway, that's me.
Mario: I love it.
It's, yeah, that's awesome.
and please let us know anytime
you, you get to come down to L.
A.
and it lines up with your schedule
and ACFC match, we'd love to,
chat with you, in real life.
Ang: Yeah.
I'd love FC stickers and
all kinds of fun stuff.
Mario: Yeah.
Yeah.
Ang: Stickers.
Mario: all right.
Well, we're talking Olympics Group C
here, and the best way to check out
any of, and all of this is on NBC,
since they're the official, they're
the official broadcaster in the U.
S.
select matches are going to
be on Telemundo and Universo.
We're going to be streaming live in
Spanish and on the USA Network in
English, but the great thing that
has come up through all of this is
that all matches will be available
streaming live on the Peacock app.
Actually, all events are supposed to
be streaming live on the Peacock app
and immediately available for replay.
So if you're like us and we're like, So
hyped for the Olympics and every other
sport that's going to be coming up and
all the new sports that are coming up.
You're going to be able to watch
all of them and say, to hell
with your broadcasting schedule.
I will watch it when I need to watch it.
and with that, all the matches,
for soccer, both men's and
women's actually start before the
Olympics kind of get the kickoff.
The big kickoff and the
big, opening ceremonies.
So first matches for Group C
will be on Thursday, July 25th.
So group C will have an 8 in the
morning match between Spain and
Japan, and a 10 in the morning
match between Nigeria and Brazil.
Then on Sunday, July 28th How am I
Ang: supposed to work during that?
how am I supposed to
Casey: I blocked the days.
I just, I'm not even trying.
I'm not gonna, cause the nice part
about This is they've mainlined all
the matches on one day each time.
Yeah.
You can watch all three
groups the same day.
So just don't, everybody's
like, how am I going to work?
I'm like, don't.
Mario: Yeah.
If you can just don't.
I know we don't
Casey: have a lot of PTO in this country.
It's back to the labor rights stuff.
this is probably.
Support a day, I'll, I'm closing
my office for the soccer days,
but my boss is very cool.
So
Mario: yeah, you like your boss.
So it's all good.
I
Ang: know her.
Mario: all right.
the second group matches are
going to be on Sunday, July 28th,
again, 8 AM Brazil versus Japan
and 10 AM Spain versus Nigeria.
And then the groups will be closing
out on Wednesday, July 31st.
The group C matches.
Both will happen at 8.
8 a.
m.
and it will be Japan versus
Nigeria and Brazil versus Spain.
So, do what Casey does,
block out your day.
If you can take the day off, just watch.
Soccer all day.
and then, you know what, since you
have the day off, keep watching the
Olympics and watch something else.
Ang: Just watch everything.
If I, my first summer where there
was no Olympic games after I
graduated from college was the
most devastating summer of my life.
Because I'm like, wait,
I have to go to work.
I cannot sit in front of my TV.
watching six different channels because
this is what 2000 early 2000s and I'm
just like what am I how am I supposed
to function when I'm at work knowing
that the Olympics are happening and I
can't watch them and that was the first
Adult realization I had after college
of just Oh, life, it's different now.
this is awful.
I hate it already.
just let me sit around and watch
sports all day for two weeks.
You're like, I'm going to go
Casey: back for another degree.
Why not?
There's people who just that's
their profession is that
they're just collecting degrees.
I don't understand financially
how that works, but Yeah, same.
Seems great.
The
Ang: finances, I don't get.
I would do it for, The breaks, absolutely.
All right.
So group C is a monster of a group.
We mentioned it before, Spain,
Japan, Nigeria, and Brazil.
For anyone who listened to our World
Cup previews, I was like screaming
about African soccer and how these
women need more attention because
they are so ridiculously good.
Brazil, obviously.
Japan, obviously.
Spain, duh.
it's just inevitable
that this is the group.
I think this might be my group to watch.
Of if you see any games,
just focus on this group.
This is easily Four of the best teams
across the world with the best players.
It's just beyond, beyond.
Casey: I think everyone is
like a must watch match.
there's not, I have no idea
who's getting out of this group.
Mario: I,
Casey: it's just, this is, everybody
who's oh, our group's so hard.
I'm like, oh, no.
USA's group is not hard.
I'm not, I'm honestly not
even worried about it.
But which that may come back to
bite me, but it can, that's fine.
but this group, I'm sitting
here, I'm like, is the only
team that I feel confident 100
percent is getting out of Spain?
And even then, things
Ang: happen.
Casey: Yeah.
Ang: Yeah.
So I feel like Spain is probably the
most stacked team, just based off
the fact that the most, it's very
similar to their World Cup roster.
They, I feel like.
They have a chip on their shoulder due
to everything that happened after the
World Cup in the best way, they have
a chip on their shoulder in the sense
that they're, like, sticking it to the
man in this sense, and I'm all for it.
I lost my mind after the World Cup.
I was like, ah, the labor
rights part came right back up.
Yeah, the unfortunate
Mario: reality of Wilsa right
here is that labor rights.
Casey: Yeah, we're, we can talk about
that with a lot of the, cause like the
Nigerian federation and their whole mess
is, I love that Randy, their coach just
like openly feuds with the federation.
I really enjoy that.
He's just nope, not interested in that.
Gonna do what I want.
but there's, this group has a lot of
talent and it's going to be super fun
to watch and hopefully, with, I, I
hope Any drama that comes out of it
federation wise for anybody here is just
good and advancing and not, traumatic
like what happened to Spain last time.
Ang: Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, so speaking of Spain, Jenny
Hermoso and Alejandra Putellis.
Is it Putellis or Putellis?
Because I don't know if it's Castilian.
or Spanish, and my Spanish speaking
brain freaks out, because I'm
like, it's a different language.
Either way, they're back, the goal
scoring machines of Spanish soccer.
this team is just ridiculously
good, I'm just really sad that Salma
Barayouello is not on the roster.
I had to look at it like four times.
Casey: Isn't she on the roster?
Ang: No.
Casey: I could have sworn
I saw her this morning.
No?
On
Ang: No.
And
Casey: you
Ang: know what?
It's
Casey: because I can't read.
Okay, she's on the roster.
She's on the roster.
I just saw
Ang: the first line of four
words and not the second one.
And I checked, five times.
This is so embarrassing.
Casey: It's fine.
that would have been, that
would have been a mistake.
Ang: what is that?
yeah, so mad since, midday.
Yesterday, I've just been like, I
like stomping around in my brain.
I can't believe this happened.
Let's just, we're leaving
that in because that's fun.
Casey: you know what?
Your outrage.
shoot, like the fact that she wasn't
even starting last World Cup and
now it's yeah, this critical piece,
which I, I'm excited to watch her.
I love, with these tournaments when we
get the new breakout stars, too, and
that's, this group, I think, has a lot
of potential folks that, people are going
to be talking about after the tournament.
for me, I'm so excited for Patryk
Buharo to be on the world stage
in a way she has not gotten to be.
obviously, folks who watch Barcelona
are Patryk, but, If you do not watch
Barcelona or Champions League or any
of it, you might not have gotten to see
her because she was one of the really
steadfast holdouts of Las Quince.
this is really her first major tournament
back for a while, and she fills such a
gap for Spain on that defensive mid end.
which is really what Japan exploited
when they demolished Spain in
the group stage last tournament.
having Patry there, I think, is just
gonna be, that's a game changer for
Spain, this tournament, somehow making
them even better, because it wasn't
hard enough to beat Spain already.
Ang: Absolutely.
they definitely looked at their roster
and said, where, like, where, like
you said, where are we exploited?
Where are the holes?
Where do we need to, move people?
And then they made those moves
and just settled into that.
here's hoping they have a great
tournament, their federation isn't
stupid, and everybody just does great.
I don't, like you said, I don't know
who's making it out of these groups.
It's stressful to think about.
I'm interested to see how Japan
comes out because I feel like
they're in this transitional time.
and I looked up because, Hina
Sagita isn't on the roster for
the Olympics, which Interesting.
And I was like, Oh, maybe
she's just like aging out.
And then I looked up the ages of
everybody on the roster and I was like,
Oh, or she's just not on the roster.
That's interesting.
But I also don't know too much
about Japanese soccer too.
really speak on a lot
of the other players.
So I'm curious what your thoughts are.
Casey: Yeah.
It's Japan is one of, and really
the Asian federation in general is
that's some of the hardest matches
to watch when we talk about like
the international friendly windows.
So it's really hard to get a
picture of what's going on.
we can look at the results
they squeaked into qualifying.
so that was hard, Tsugita, it's like when
I go back to Japan's world cup in 2023.
the single biggest, it's really the
only tactical error, I think, that,
their coach made during that World
Cup was starting Segito over Junendo.
Ang: Yeah.
And
Casey: if Junendo starts that
match, I don't think Japan loses.
I think Because she swapping
in at halftime, it was just
like a complete game change.
you don't have Jun Endo, so
you're you would think then
Sugita should be like totally in.
but I guess, I don't know if there's like
some love lost there or what's going on,
but there's some really exciting talents.
Momoko Tanikawa is the one
that I would say watch.
she, this is her first tournament
with Japan, major tournament.
she had a lights out U 17 World Cup in
2022, signed with Bayern at the beginning
of this year, who promptly loaned her out
to, FC Dresdengård of Dalmö, Svenskan.
she's playing in Sweden.
Mario: so
Casey: she's over there, through
the end of the summer, and
then she'll go back to Bayern.
They've got big plans for her.
I think that's, a really exciting
player who could have a big breakout
tournament here, in the midfield.
that's my one to watch for Japan.
Ang: Ooh, that's exciting.
I, I feel like every time I end up
watching any sport where there's
Japanese athletes, I'm riveted.
Because everything is so
precise and full of intention.
There's just, everything has
a reason, and there's like a
dissertation behind a single movement.
And I love it.
I absolutely love it.
Okay, I, one of my very good friends
from college, we ran track together, or
he ran and I threw, but he's Nigerian,
and he's the reason why I love BMO.
Every Nigerian team with like my
whole heart, like it, it's almost
like I cheer for them with the
same fervor that I do for the U.
S.
when it comes to
international competitions.
I'm like, let's go.
And they all have the best kits and
jerseys and team names and like reception.
And it's just, oh, it's so fun to
watch Nigerian teams in general.
Super Falcons are Easily top
three favorite teams for me.
Casey: I love them.
I want to see them.
I want to see them get
out of this group so bad.
Like I, yeah, I want
them out of the group.
I'm honestly like, okay with
anybody else not advancing.
Do you ever watch, there's
this guy on YouTube.
I forget what his channel.
It's it's, he does it's just
Nigerian women's soccer and
his, yeah, I'll send it to you.
His videos are so funny.
Cause like he'll do highlights of.
Nigerian players and their club teams.
And while just like casually shitting on
Mario: other people,
Casey: she did really great there,
but so and so could have done a
little better with what she was doing.
Oh, that's
Mario: great.
Casey: But like completely here
for the Super Falcons, like
all Super Falcons all the time.
Yeah.
cause like sometimes that's the only
way, cause the African, AFCON stuff
is not always easy to watch either.
So a lot of it, I have
to go get over there.
and so I come across
his stuff quite a bit.
He's very funny.
Yeah, definitely send it over,
Ang: because I'll make sure my friend
sees it too, because he's always just
like during the Olympics, during the
World Cup, I'm constantly texting
him, are you watching the game?
And he's I'm at work.
I'm like, but are you watching the game?
I didn't ask you what else you were doing.
I asked if you were watching the game.
I, but
Mario: I constant forgetful.
I lose people.
shit all the time, so I actually I
lost my wallet for a while, and it
was a whole ordeal Angela knows.
I ended up buying, I ended up buying a
wallet that one, magnet attaches to my
phone, and two has built in AirTag, it's
actually come in handy more often than
you think, but with it, it's actually
it, because it's a magnet and it becomes
a little stand and that has become
such a lifesaver, especially during the
Euros, because, I'm at work during the
Euros and then I'll be at home for Copa
America, so during the Euros, I like, I
have my phone Instead of having it on my
screen somewhere, I have it on my phone,
right under my screen, on its own little
stand, and I'm like, this is perfect.
This is exactly how I need
to watch this right now.
Ang: I feel like America is the one
country that doesn't quite understand
that, everything needs to stop.
Casey: Yeah.
When
Ang: there's massive soccer, massive
sporting events, no, we Just don't,
no, you're not getting production out
of anyone, even if they are like a not
sports person, nothing's happening.
Let us watch.
Casey: Even like the Super Bowl, I'm like,
don't make people go to work the next day.
No!
What are you, especially the East
Coast, that goes late for them.
just, let's just all call it a holiday.
And I know it syncs up now
sometimes with, I think Lincoln's,
or whatever the February one is.
some people might have that off.
Yeah, but
Ang: no, not really.
nobody really has that day off.
And, yeah.
Don't, we just should
have big sporting events.
Like you can work a half day if you
want, or you can work from home.
I know you're just watching sports.
It's yeah.
And I'm the one person at my job who
was like invested in multiple sports.
They're like, one of our, the people who
used to work with us is that's weird.
And he's obsessed with UFC.
And I was just like, so me watching.
72 basketball games during the
first weekend of March Madness
is weird, but you watching, and I
was like, I was so mean about it.
I was like, you're watching two half
naked dudes fight each other, isn't it?
And he just went, and I said,
yeah, you can play that game.
And you pay
Casey: extra
Ang: for
Casey: it too.
Like you're spending extra money.
My stuff's just on my regular TV.
Yeah.
I'm
Ang: already paying for streaming.
yeah, it's a whole thing, but for
the Super Falcons, for our more
casual fans, they have five NWSL
players on their roster, which is.
Half the reason why the NWSL has elevated
so much in the last few years, I think,
is the integration of folks from the
African leagues coming over because
they're just that good and that fast
and that crafty and have such varied
backgrounds that it shows in their play.
And I think that's the biggest
thing is they aren't being funneled
into soccer at like age seven.
They're playing soccer and running around
and playing other things and just doing
it's doing what everybody does as a kid.
As they get older, instead
of being as hyper focused as
we are here in the States.
You're given the freedom to explore
how to move your body differently,
dance styles are different, rhythms
are different, there's so much
that's different culturally that
allows so much to change within their
style of play, which is amazing.
Casey: Yeah, I think, that was one of the
things I was struck most with on their
roster, too, was, like, they probably
have the most diverse roster in terms of
where people are playing, because you've
got the five WSL players, but they've got
somebody playing in the Russian league?
I didn't know Russia had a women's league.
What?
There's a women's league in Russia?
Yeah.
I guess I should have, because actually,
they pay women, that was the whole why,
Brittany Griner went over there and, other
people would go there to play basketball.
So in hindsight, they pay money.
Yeah, they'll pay, so I guess there's
that, but, they've got players playing
in all sorts of different leagues, which
can, be a blessing and a curse if you
look at Spain with probably like the
least diversity of where people are
playing, obviously that's going fine
for them, but it can be, I think it's
interesting and gives you a lot of
different options and some versatility.
so there's just a ton of really
exciting players to watch.
Nicole Payne, who is newer to
NWSL, was a USC Trojan Boo.
Sorry if you're Trojans, but I'm a
proud Bruin, I will put my Boo in.
I'm sure she's a nice person, I
also married into a Trojan family.
I didn't know if I
Mario: would
Casey: have shown up to the first date
if I had any idea because my husband
didn't go to USC, but his like both of his
brothers did his like fourth generation.
My husband's a triplet.
So he wanted to go his own way.
So he went to Santa Barbara.
And anyway, you didn't need that.
I went
Ang: to Long Beach State and I
refuse to do anything related to
Cal State Fullerton, like the games
that Angel City plays out there.
I don't go.
I'm like,
Mario: nope.
Ang: No, thank you.
Casey: I love that conference.
It's so fun.
but yeah, USC, she went to, we'll forgive
her that, but then, signed with PSG.
Got loaned out pretty quick,
but she's already, become pretty
integral for Portland and is
starting as of the end of May.
And so now she's signed
over permanently from PSG.
did not, I don't even think she was on
the roster for the World Cup for Nigeria.
So it'll be interesting to see
what they do with her here.
so I'm excited 'cause she
seems to really be on the rise.
Ang: Yeah, I love getting, through
the international tournaments, I
love getting these glimpses, like you
said, of who's gonna be the breakout
star, who the newer players are,
because it's oh, you're like 19, I'm
gonna get to watch you for 20 years.
Cool.
Casey: Yeah, and you never know.
Yeah.
It's one of the other player that I'm
really excited to see this tournament is
Uchebe, Christine Uchebe, who currently
plays with BAMFIGA, and had, I, Did
not have the time to go back and look
at this, but my recollection is that
she is fairly responsible for, the
midfield effort to keep Kiera Walsh
completely out of play against England.
and they're out of 16.
If that seems to be my recollection.
Ang: That sounds very familiar.
Yeah.
Casey: or Lauren James or
somebody, she did something.
Cause maybe that might've been
the match Kiera Walsh didn't play.
I can't remember.
Yeah.
But she, her midfield shutdown
game is good, is my recollection.
and, I just think she's been playing
center back a little bit, too, for
Benfica, so I'm curious how she's
gonna be utilized here for Nigeria,
but she's a star, and she's, clearly
loving her time at Benfica, if you
go look at her Instagram, she's, very
up on their quadruple win, and, she's
Ang: just,
Casey: yeah, only 23, though,
I, she, to me, feels like such a
part of the Nigerian roster, I did
not realize she was that young.
I will be curious to see where
she goes after this, because I
think she's going to have options.
Ang: Yeah, as I get older, seeing how
young players are, I'm like, what?
it doesn't make sense, because my
brain does that thing where it's
no, everybody's the same age as me.
They're obviously not, but it's we grow up
together, so I'm watching these players.
I'm like, oh, I've been
watching for 10 years.
You're totally in your
30s, and they're like 24.
I'm like, cool.
Casey: Ellie Carpenter is the other one
that always trips me up, because she's
been on the scene since she was 16, and I
thought she was like in her 30s, and then
it's 23 year old Ellie Carpenter, and I'm
Ang: Like, yeah, never mind.
Mario: I like, I have no qualms about
getting older, or being the age I am,
but there's times when I see those memes
when it's When it's like, someone's
trying to convince me that I'm like, 35,
but really I'm 25, or, something to that
effect of I've been 25 for and sometimes
I feel like that, my brain still thinks.
I might be like 25 years old, but
yeah, no, my body is not, my body's,
yeah, no, when I go running, yeah,
I feel it now, when I drink a little
too much, I feel it like, yeah,
there's signs that I'm not 25 anymore.
There's
Ang: signs.
Yeah, but on top of those players, like
back to the NWSL of it all, Asisat, who
plays for Bay FC, is obviously going
to be a standout in the tournament.
She shows up at every moment
she can, especially for her
home, like for her country.
That's just, it's different
regardless of sport.
Even if there is.
Tumultuous, strife, or bore, or all
the things in your country, the second
you put on your crest, it's different.
Given everything here, you could
say, Angela, you're gonna, you
have six months to train, and then
you're gonna go throw for Team USA.
I'd be like, USA all the way, let's go,
I'm in the gym every day, like, All kinds
of things, just, it's so different, and
she plays so well on the international
stage, she plays well for her club, so
it's okay, of course she's gonna step up.
I feel like Nigeria will
most likely score the most.
That's how I feel about it.
Out of this group, they'll,
I think they're gonna have a
good chance getting out of this
group, the more I look at this.
Casey: Yeah, they're not the
team I'm the most worried about.
I have, I would say, I'm worried about
Brazil and Japan in this group, actually.
which we could, the Brazil roster,
there's, we could talk for two
hours about this, because this
Brazil roster is probably the only,
if there is a roster that is as
contentious or strange, As the U.
S.
roster.
I don't even think the U.
S.
roster is quite as contentious and
strange as the Brazil one, but this one
could also merit that many conversations,
because this is, there's a lot.
Ang: Yeah, there's so much
happening on this roster.
And I don't even know
where to start with Brazil.
Casey: there's just, we all find
out Karolina is apparently going to
come off of SEI by the announcement
that she's on the Brazil roster.
That was a surprise.
That's a very quick turnaround from an
ACL, which like, great, love to see it.
We so seldom get to see people
on that end of the outcome.
but you're taking her, she has had no
game minutes, and you've decided to
take her, which I get the risk, but
you're, you just leave Dabini at home.
I don't,
Ang: I just, this is one of those, I
want to be a fly on the wall in the room
where the decisions were made, like in
the room where it happens, give me the
intel, I won't share it with people who
are going to blab about, like we said
on the episode a couple weeks ago, I
was like, I love chisme and gossip and
all of the things and I just want to
know it, that's it, I don't actually
share it 99 percent of the time, I'm
just like, ooh, and then I keep it.
I file it away for when it's needed or
if I need a reference of a character
or something like that, but this
is one of those times, what, I get
wanting to have a younger roster, but
at the same time, it's to be in yet.
Casey: Yeah, and I don't know if some of
it is obviously she had her own injury
trouble, I don't think she's looking good
coming back, so I don't know if it's you
feel comfortable about other folks being
a little bit further ahead than her,
based on what you've seen, I don't know.
Thank you.
But it's Demenia, like she's literally,
there was a whole Nike ad last tournament,
like it's Demenia, and I don't, I
don't get it, but then you've got, you
weren't leaving Marta at home, Marta's
playing great also, in addition to,
Ang: which is what my note was, I
was like, is this her last Olympics,
who knows, because she and I are a
week apart age wise, and she's aging
backwards, like What is she doing?
I need to understand.
Casey: Yeah, I don't know if it's I
think it's one of those things where,
for her, maybe the light at the end
of the tunnel is, giving her a boost.
Yeah.
but, she's playing great.
Yeah, she is.
you weren't leaving her at home.
No.
it's, there's, oh gosh, I always
butcher her pronunciation.
is it gays or gaysay?
I have no idea.
Ang: Portuguese is different.
Casey: Yeah, it's, I've heard
it so many different times.
I think it's, I think it's like
Jace, I think, I want to say.
But, didn't have a great run
for, Manchester United this year
quite, but that's, I think that's
mostly Mark Skinner's fault.
and, I hate Mark Skinner.
I don't wish him well.
and, this man just does not understand
his place in the women's soccer ecosystem
and it kills me, so he's just gonna
catch strays here, he's not even at
the Olympics, but, she's off the roster
entirely, and then, they've moved on
from Duda Santos in the midfield, unless
she's injured and I just didn't see
it, which, speaking of injuries, I have
not seen yet who they're replacing Bia
with, but, Because Kansas City lights
out season so far, but now with her foot
injury, not gonna be at the tournament.
I have not seen them
announce who's replacing her.
I don't think they have a great
replacement for her, frankly.
I just think she provides
something fairly unique.
Ang: She's a different level of player.
Casey: Yeah.
Ang: Yeah.
Casey: Yeah.
that's a bummer, but I think what also,
speaking of breakout stars, so this
is a team where I think half of their
roster, not half, but close to half their
roster plays for Corinthians or something
like that in the Brazilian league?
and a lot of players after major
tournaments seem to be moving into NWSL.
that seems to be where most
of the Brazilians like to go.
The multi
Ang: recruitment system.
Casey: Exactly.
we'll see how many of them go.
The ones I've Tarcyane, who's obviously
now for Houston Dash, made such an
impression at that Gold Cup, I did
not realize she was not on the World
Cup roster until I went and looked.
Ang: Yeah, when I saw your notes, I
looked at that and was like, nuh huh.
And then I went and I, I did
probably the same thing you did.
I'm just like, wait a second.
And yeah, just, she's having a fantastic
season since coming into NWSL, since just,
she will be a household name, I think.
Easily in the next year.
Casey: Yeah.
Because it's not just like one,
she like single-handedly held
that back line together, I think
against the US in the final Yeah.
And then her facial expressions.
Yeah.
she's just a walking meme.
Generator.
. So it's she's a star.
She's just a star.
so I'm so glad she's in the NWSL,
but she's such a, she just feels
One of those people were like, if I
looked, she could have been, she could
have been like 38 and been on the
Brazilian roster for my whole life.
I wouldn't, I would have just
assumed that was the case.
Yeah.
She's 20.
that's, super cool, and I think that
the two I'm eyeing as, I don't know if
they have the meme generation potential,
of Tarziane, but, Adidas on Powell
and, Yaya, I think, the accent was on
the second part, in the midfield, both
playing together at Corinthians, so I
think that, clearly, again, moving on
from some people in the midfield and
going with both of these younger players.
Players who play together at club.
I'll be very curious to see how that goes.
Ang: Yeah.
I fully agree with your note that having
a pairing like that is either going to
go super well because they're already
locked in mentally or it won't because
they might be locked in together but that
doesn't necessarily equate to them being
locked in with the rest of the team.
Casey: And they have to do it on a world
stage with a different combo of players.
fields are so weird.
It's such a weird chemistry thing.
Ang: It's a little bit like
Casey: Yeah, go ahead.
Sorry.
Ang: Oh, no, it's okay.
I was going to say they just go
from being this like, like brick
wall of defense and it's to stop the
offensive progression to a very lacy
piece of Swiss cheese very quickly.
And there's no, I'm just speaking
from like the ACFC of it all.
Like you see these games where we
just lock it down and it's great.
And then the next game, it's just
Just wholly waving in the wind,
I don't know what's going on.
So I'm very curious how those two are
gonna gel with the rest of the midfield to
really lock it in for them, which I hope,
it's one of those things, I hope every
team in this group plays exceptional.
I just want fantastic soccer.
Casey: I want my heart broken a little bit
is how I want to talk about this group.
I want everyone to play so well that
I'm like devastated by the outcome.
Do you all watch House of the Dragon?
I want to feel a little bit like
I felt this most recent episode.
I'm like, ah, this is so good!
I hate it, but it's it's
bad, but it's so good!
Yeah, that's exactly it.
what a fuller ending, ah,
for her, for that character.
But anyway, I want to feel like
that, and I just hope everybody
sorts it out, and it's glorious.
this is just gonna be good to watch.
And then they don't go flame
out in the quarterfinal.
I don't want them to all, then
just I don't want them to all be
Mario: like,
Casey: disappear on me.
I want them to like, yeah.
I want to see them all.
I don't want to have it was like this
with, the group with France and Brazil
and Jamaica last time where it just
didn't, it didn't, it was the best group.
It was so fun to watch.
And then it just did it.
It didn't pan out past.
And I had to watch England,
Ang: everyone was just
like, oh, all right.
It's just Bums that none of the flashier
teams made it past the quarters and into
the semis like it just petered out at that
point, but fantastic recap of these teams.
Mario just dropped in another thing,
which is a fantastic point to make.
These four teams have fantastic kits.
Mario: Yeah.
Ang: Who wins the kit war?
I have my first and second
place picks already.
This was
Mario: off the cuff.
I just, as you guys were talking,
I behind the scenes grabbed all
these pictures, because we have been
talking about just some awesome kits.
and I have famously at work when we've
done March Madness, again, not an X's
and O's person, very kind of casual.
when it comes to March Madness,
I have no clue what's going on.
So I've recreated it.
Brackets by like mascots
or by team colors.
And then chosen that way.
so I brought up the kits, for
Spain, Japan, Brazil, and Nigeria.
And just.
Based off the kit, who do you got,
who, who's moving on out of the group?
Casey: I think it's definitely Nigeria.
I feel confident about that.
It's my second place cause I loved
Spain and Japan's kits at the World Cup.
I am less in love with the Olympic ones.
just a little bit less.
and I gotta see Japan.
I feel like Japan's away
kit was not exciting to me.
Because it's the away kits
make or break you, right?
I think you're you can go splashy.
Oh,
Mario: the but the Cherry Blossom
one was a alternate kit, right?
It was like their third kit.
For Japan, that's, the
kind of pinkish purple,
Casey: I love that one.
The Cherry Blossom
Ang: kit needs to be, like,
their regular kit, I think.
Casey: Yeah, I completely agree.
I think I'm going Spade.
I don't like their away kit as
much as I liked the World Cup one.
That one was just stunning.
I, this one, though, is also, Brazil's
kits have, I know they're like iconic, but
they've just never quite done it for me.
I just
Ang: don't want to wear
that much yellow, like ever.
And it's my favorite color.
I already do that for
Casey: Sweden.
Ang: I don't.
Yeah, I did my time in Long Beach State.
Yeah, Long Beach took all of my
ability to wear yellow for like
at least a decade out of me.
And they're like, yeah, they're iconic.
But
I think part of it too is Nike kits
make me sad because you have these
think tanks and you come out with
these crazy ideas and all of these cool
things and then you give us a bland kit.
I'm like, and it is so irritating.
Casey: And now we're not even
talking about Brazil, are we?
Mario: No, we're
Casey: talking about kits in general.
Mario: And maybe the NWSL kits.
The
Ang: NWSL kits, the national team,
like I just, I looked up cause I have a
bunch of jerseys hanging up just right.
out of the screen and I have Dodger
jerseys, WNBA jerseys, and then two
plain white women's national team,
the ones that have the red and blue
on the cuff and I'm just like, thanks,
everybody loves a white t shirt.
Like, my
Casey: God, I stained mine so
bad the other week at the men's
game and it was just, I looked at
it and I was like, this is, this
Mario: That's what
Casey: Don Powerwash is for,
because here we are, because
there are dips on this shirt now.
Mario: Yeah, I want, I so
want the, the Waldo kit back.
they need to, do a throwback,
official Waldo kit.
Yeah, do
Ang: something fun.
Yeah.
Mario: Something other
than white, come on.
okay.
Yeah.
So we've got, Nigeria being a
favorite and Spain being a favorite.
Wait, hold on.
Ang: what's your pick?
Mario: My pick?
Mario,
Ang: what's your, yeah,
what's your kit, kit,
Mario: kit pick?
Kit pick.
Kit pick.
Kit pick.
Kit pick.
mine, okay, so I'm gonna
go with Nigeria and Japan.
I like the, I like, I just like the
texture, the, the kind of tone on
tone color of Japan and then the
Nigeria kits, although in the past
have been super, like the patterns
have been super crazy and I love it.
And like crazy in a good way.
I think the simplicity of this kind of
Like a neon lemon lime green, is, it
looks, see, there's a way to do a plain
color, a solid color in a nice way,
US take your notes, and then the detail
on the cuff, on the sleeve cuff, the
kind of Chevron pattern, It looks good.
It's clean.
It looks good.
Yeah, it looks sharp.
so yeah, I think Kit Wars I'm going
to go with, the Nigeria kit and Japan.
Ang: Yeah.
That's where my picks were.
Mario: Yep.
All right.
Okay.
wrapping this all up,
this is the Olympics.
There are other sports that are happening.
Casey, what are the other,
events that you might be looking
forward to during the Olympics?
Casey: Swimming.
I love watching Olympics swimming.
I love that one.
I'll watch all of them.
I don't care.
I'm like every race,
whatever it is, I don't care.
I swam as well growing up and I
have a lot of swimmers in my family.
So that's always been fun to watch.
And for whatever reason, the Bay
area, especially the East Bay where
I grew up is, it was like, when we
moved up here, my parents tried to
sign me up for a tennis club and.
They were like, oh, you need
to sign her up for swimming.
And my mom's they're not really
like competitive swimmers.
And the person at the club goes, do
you want your kids to have friends?
And my mom was like, yes, she
goes, you need to join a swim team.
And it's like this deep ride or die
thing up here where everybody who grew up
here can tell you what the rec club was.
It's like a whole, even
still, I'm like, F that club!
no!
It's very, very deep.
Barracudas forever.
anyway, and then, thus, we also have, a
lot of people who came up here that do
end up making the Olympics, and there's
people that, I, One of the funniest,
sorry, this is probably way more than
you asked for, you can edit me out,
Mario: but,
Casey: Natalie Coughlin, who, obviously
has won a lot of gold medals in swimming,
is from, one town over from where I
grew up, And she's now in the area, and
the rec swim teams do this thing where
they have, parents do a relay, at one
of the meets, and her kids now swim for
one of the rec teams, and she showed up
Mario: for
Casey: the
Mario: relay.
Casey: That's
Ang: when I was like, never
Casey: mind.
My buddies were all like, this is
a little unfair, maybe I don't need
to swim against Natalie Coughlin.
Ang: Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Casey: Yeah.
Ang: Yeah, that's the reality of sports.
I think a lot of people
don't quite get it.
It's once someone ages out and starts
their family or like just decides to stop
competing or whatever, all of a sudden
they start showing up at like your local
events and you're like, Oh, all right.
If that happens.
Yeah.
Mario: Oh, all right.
And Angela, what are you going for?
Ang: Basketball, track
and field, volleyball.
All of the more sports I played,
honestly, it's everything.
On one of the other episodes we've
recorded, I said, you need to stay up
and watch handball if you haven't ever.
It is so wild and so much fun.
Casey: So fun.
Handball's great.
I don't
Ang: understand any of the rules.
I don't care.
It's great.
badminton is also, mesmerizing to watch.
Because it's so fast.
It's not your backyard
little do that mini game.
No, they go
Mario: hard.
Ang: You are going to get
smacked in the face with either
a racket or the shuttlecock if
you're not paying attention.
So I just love everything high
intensity that makes me nervous.
Like I'm sitting there
just like edge of my seat.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
I want a eighth gold medal for
the women's basketball team.
I want a back to back gold for volleyball.
Like just give me all the women's sports.
That's what it is.
Casey: Yeah.
Water polo is the other one that's
also a little bit Ooh, yeah.
Wait, they got Flava
Flav sponsoring the team?
I
Ang: freaking love it.
Flava Flav
Casey: was like, love you, which like,
Maggie Stephens, the captain there, is
another She and my sister swam against
each other for a very long time and
would like trade pool records and stuff.
she's been I know of her, but I have
never met her, so it's always cool
just to see, I know who you are.
Mario: Yeah, that whole story
has been wild, just playing
with it, being like, I got you.
I'm sponsoring this team,
let's go, Team USA, I love it.
Yeah, it's awesome.
Ang: More people with a lot of
money who want to give it away
need to do that for women's teams.
Across the world.
Mario: I'm looking forward to,
a swimming and my daughter's
getting really into swimming.
so I'm excited.
She likes to see the, we've been watching
the Olympics, meets the qualifying meets,
which she's been having fun watching
while she's like playing with others.
She's only seven.
So still like she's running around
the house doing other stuff,
but then she'll stop and watch.
and she's.
Interested in gymnastics.
So having like gymnastics, just like in
the forefront for a month is going to
be a really fun, but then I'm the most
Ang: prolific high flying
gymnastics team that we've ever had.
This team is going to be so freaking good.
Yeah.
Mario: Yeah.
and then I'm interested to see what
the new, sports are going to be
like, in an Olympic setting, right?
yes, they exist in a competition.
In a competition setting, right?
Skateboarding, BMX, surfing, but
in Olympics is slightly different.
There's a, like those sports
are already international.
You're already having but then I think
it's different when you're, you, when
you're competing for your flag, right?
Like in, in the X Games, they're
competing for themselves.
They just happen to be from Spain
or they happen to be from Japan.
like it's just, that's
like the secondary note.
Whereas in the Olympics, the first
note before their name is going to be.
From Spain, from Japan, from, the U.
S.
And then it's their name.
And so I think it's a whole, I
think it's going to be a different
kind of attitude towards it.
And I'm really excited to
see how that plays out.
all right, everyone.
Thank you for, hanging out this long.
again, reminder of where
to watch everything.
Everything will be on Peacock.
if you want to watch it live on TV
broadcast, probably at a bar somewhere,
check out the NBC Olympic website and
you'll see the broadcast schedule.
soccer matches are going to be on
Telemundo and Universo in Spanish
and the USA Network in English.
But like we said, Peacock app, just
stream everything, take the day off.
Watch it.
first matches for Group C will
be Thursday, July 25th, 8 a.
m.
for Spain and Japan, 10 a.
m.
for Nigeria, Brazil,
Sunday, July 28th, 8 a.
m.
for Brazil, Japan, 10 a.
m.
for Spain, Nigeria.
And then the final group match stage
will be on Wednesday, July 31st.
Both matches will be at 8 a.
m.
for Group C.
It'll be Japan, Nigeria,
and Brazil, Spain.
Ang: Casey, aside from The Olympics,
anything, excuse me, anything come
in your way, anything you want to
promote or just like soccer knowledge.
Anything you want to drop?
Casey: Oh, I don't, I don't know
that I have anything specific.
I think I just, also I know
there's Olympics, but you can
watch NWSL and look at the next
women play in their little cup.
I forget the name of it because
there's like all these, the cup names
are too many, but I'm really excited
because I, there's been a lot of people
wanting to have conversations about
how strong this league actually is.
And.
On the one hand, you're like, okay, the
Olympics are going on, all these teams
lost a lot of people, but the Olympics
are actually, pretty small in terms of
how many teams are there, for women's
soccer and how many players get to be
there because of the roster, so most
of the NWSL teams, with the exception
of, Orlando, really, yeah, they got
Ang: hit a little bit,
Casey: and I think Portland got hit pretty
bad, too, but, other than that, A lot
of these other teams are fairly intact,
we should still get a good, comparison
there, so it'll be fun to watch.
Check that out.
Ang: Definitely.
So make sure you follow Casey's on
the Case at both TikTok and Instagram.
She's fantastic, a fantastic
follow, so knowledgeable, so fun.
Thank you so much for
joining us this morning.
I'm so pumped for this group.
I know you are.
Like, it's just going to be good
soccer all for, I want to say all
summer, but it's like for two weeks,
but it still feels all summer.
Casey: It's going to be like,
it's going to be so long.
And I'm going, do you not
remember the W gold cup?
Like that thing where you
snapped your fingers and it
was over and it's going to be
Ang: Yeah, it's so fast.
Casey: Yeah, really intense,
really fast, which is good.
It's going to be great.
It's going to be fun.
Ang: Absolutely.
and just as a reminder, we are doing a
giveaway on our Instagram for a fantastic
soccer bundle from Alphabet Legends, a
whole bunch of books and a puzzle and
all kinds of ABC books that you can win.
Basically give you every cool sports
legend across soccer, men's, women's,
international, all the cool stuff, to
enter, make sure you comment on one of
the posts for the Olympics only, and
you can do one entry per post and we
will give you a bonus entry if you share
and tag us and the winner is going to
be announced after the group stages.
So keep an eye out.
I'm super excited for this.
Mario and I both want to keep everything,
but we're being very good stewards
of Free products and partnerships and
making sure that they get to a new
home where they can be appreciated.
But if you've listened this far
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grab any Angel City related Casual
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Make sure you tell a friend
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And I think we're doing all right.
We're sending good luck to Angel City
to heal and get better and find our
midfield and find our scoring prowess.
And hopefully by the end of this Olympic
break, we will be a brand new team.
But yeah, that's it.
Thanks for hanging out with us, Casey.
Thanks for listening to the episode.
We will see you real soon.
Mario: Bye.
Ang: Bye.