Part 232: Chapter the First: Golden goal.

Volume Sixteen: Time flies when you're having fun.
June 1, 2028-July 15, 2030

Chapter the First: Golden goal.
June 1, 2028-August 10, 2028



World Cup in t-749 days! Since I'm only managing the American squad I expect this to take much less time than a season with Wrexham.




We've got the start of our World Cup qualifying, Stage 2 of CONCACAF qualifying sees the top two of our group go through. Anything less than a commanding win is a serious disappointment. Meanwhile the Olympics are taking place in Mexico City, as El Tri will try to win their third gold in a row before their fans at the famed Azteca.



The day after I left the head coach of Real Madrid was plumping for the job. Too bad for him that I had the board in my pocket when it came to my successor.





I'm sure hiring a bunch of Mexican coaches to staff the national team won't come back to haunt me.



And it's awful nice to have a top quality tactics coach join us due to his adoration of me.



He has been with me since 2015, after all.



Aguirre lasts a day in his back office job when I realize that another one of my former coaches, the one who oversaw the Wrexham U18 squad, wants the American ass man job. I hope he doesn't mind being called Paul.



It's not the 50 man back office I had at Wrexham, but it'll have to do. I still need to fill out the U23 staff for the Olympics and the U20 staff in general. Coaches in the International setup act primarily as scouts, given how rarely the players are with their international team.



I set them to work keeping track of the American leagues, but the days of ordering tape dug up on every last 18 year old coming into pro-soccer are over given the reduced level of manpower.



I don't get this. We're more than a month and a half from the tournament, how is a three week injury going to keep him from participating? So I'm left with the odd situation of replacing him with himself, since he'll be healthy before the team even gathers for Olympic preparation in late June.






The Olympic team will play four friendlies in the three week run-up to the Olympics, all of them local to North America, and the last of which will have us take on Liga MX side Veracruz.



I had intended our second to last friendly to be against Mexico, rather than Costa Rica. Apparently they think they're too good for us. I hope we meet in the knockout rounds so I can deny them a medal on their home turf.



Glad I don't have to deal with this anymore. As I saw just before leaving Wales, Ajaccio's nouveau-riche owner wants Zouaghi. Selling a 19 year old wonderkid defensive midfielder when it's the club's weakest position would be a baffling move by the new management.



The debate is fully joined on putting Thiago out to pasture, it's a much more defensible move and one I wouldn't have the heart to make.



Also glad I no longer have to deal with the snide condescension of the long time powers towards Wrexham and it's players.



Despite the start of World Cup qualifying taking place more than a month prior to the Olympics I'm unable to assign players to both teams, so my focus on medals means we're sending a bit of a B-team to our first two qualifiers.




Stupid FM AI. Moctezuma is upset with me that he's not on the CONCACAF qualifying team, because I'm instead sending him to the Olympics.



Stupid American media.



Stupid American coaches.



Stupid Wrexham board.



What. The. Hell. I've played through the last week four times now trying to make sure Paul Williams gets the job as Head Coach, and each time the game forces Attila Kovacs into the spot.



Well, I'm not giving up that easily, damnit.



Hah! My boardroom kung-fu is stronger than yours!



Oh for fucks sake.



Let this be the end of it.



And with my succession at Wrexham settled it's time to turn my attention to the only heights I have yet to conquer.



Speaking of coaching shenanigans, I'm going to try and lure Wrexham coaches to take up a side-job coaching the Olympic team.




I still can't find an assistant coach for the Olympic squad, but Teddy Stridh is up for some work!



Not sure that beating the tar out of Andorra the best use of your time prior to the Euros, Wales.



Mujkic's getting his testimonial, a friendly arranged to honor his service to the club. AU-Raheem Sterling and some kid out of Blackpool who turned into Tottenham's most consistent player for years are also getting testimonials. I'll definitely be in the stands for Meteor.



One of the questions I was asked in advance of the Panama match was why I never give Rikki Gomez a chance to show that he can be the American keeper. I may have mispronounced his name in my response, but the reasoning is sound.



A Molina is a unit of speed in baseball, named after the Molina brothers Bengie, Jose, and Yadier Molina. Gomez might be even slower. He runs like the piano on his back has a piano on it's back.

Also, yes. There are three brothers in the Molina family, and all of them grew up to be major leaguers playing the same position, catcher. Baseball is awesome.

At Panama, June 9, 2028
CONCACAF World Cup Qualification, Group 1


Even given that the match is in Panama we should have no trouble pushing the other side around and generally having our way with things.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Rubio de la Fuente, Latham, Bartlett, Stevens, Bruno, Hartman, Ramos, Fisher (c), Spence, Ulusal, Garcia.
Subs: Delgado, Paladino, Donaldson, Needham, Ramirez, Garcia, Balboa, Baker, Cowles, Williams, Warren, Dolinsky.

One problem faced by the United States is that it's just so much better than the vast majority of CONCACAF. Sure, Mexico is our equal if not slightly better, and sure Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras can be trouble in away matches, but generally the USMNT spends Gold Cups and qualification trying to break down parked buses for 90 minutes. Then it goes to the World Cup and suddenly finds itself as one of the middle-weight teams in the draw, and because of the way the groups are constructed it's not uncommon for the US to be the third or fourth best team in their Group. So the players have to unlearn all that patient possession based football that they've spent so long playing against Panama because that won't fly against Germany.

Of course, none of that makes any difference when we kick off our qualification campaign by conceding a goal in the first dozen seconds. They add a second on the counter in the 22nd minute, and it's only thanks to pure luck that we're still in the match as they score an own goal four minutes later. We get screwed by a phantom offside ten minutes after that, and Panama take a lead into the lockers.. Panama score again to open the half, but for the second time it's an own goal. The first one was a spot of bad luck, the keeper deflected a shot into the post that rebounded and hit him on the back, but this one couldn't have been a prettier finish if the Panamanian centerback were wearing a US kit.

So, now that we're finally back into the game, the ref whistles a phantom penalty for Panama and we've leaked three goals to lowly Panama. The boys finally put the ball in the back of the net, from a corner, and that pulls us level a second time from a corner. We score our second on target man Ken Warren's first international goal shortly after Panama is reduced to ten men due to a late injury, and are able to escape with a victory despite embarrassing ourselves for most of the match.




Panama 3-4 USMNT



We need a better name for the head of the American Outlaws. Any suggestions?



Paul Dixon is a quadruple-A guy for the national team, good enough to be on the depth chart, not good enough to be very high up it. He was pissed that I left him off both the Olympic and Qualification squads, so I can at least make it up to him a little by bringing him in to replace Hartman.



Goddamnit, US Soccer. I hope you're fucking happy that one of the brightest lights of the future got wrecked so an MLS team didn't have to pay him a shitty salary while he developed, leaving him to rot and ruin on a shitty SUNY pitch near Poughkeepsie. This is Hunt's third major injury in three years, every single one has been in training, and every single one due in part to the fact that FC Westchester's training staff got their nursing certifications from an online diploma mill.



In comes John Morales as a replacement. Morales doesn't have the world class potential of Hunt, but he's vastly more likely to reach what ceiling he has because he's on an MLS roster instead of being stashed in the fucking boondocks and ruined by coaches who have no clue what they're doing.




The Euros are underway, with hosts Sweden holding Wales to a draw and poor Albania being stepped all over by England.




The group that Wales is in is pretty hilarious. They've been drawn with the Swedes, obviously, but the other two nations are Northern Ireland and Scotland. It's the “people who get pissed off when you call them English” group. England meanwhile is in a group with Albania, Greece and Turkey, which makes them the Sweden of their quartet.

vs Surinam, June 13, 2028
CONCACAF World Cup Qualification, Group 1


I still think it's bogus that Surinam, Guyana, and French Guyana are in CONCACAF despite being located on the north coast of South America. I understand their reasoning, they would rather play the Caribbean nations that they might actually be competitive against rather than losing 50-0 to Brazil and Argentina, but come on. You're in South America. This is like Australia being part of Asia's federation because they don't want to play only minnows like Tuvalu, Fiji, and New Zealand.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Paladino, Latham, Ramirez, Needham, Bruno (c), Dixon, Ramos, Garcia, Garcia, Cowles, Williams.
Subs: Rubio de la Fuente, Delgado, Donaldson, Bartlett, Stevens, Balboa, Spence, Ulusal, Fisher, Dolinsky, Warren.

This isn't a repeat of the Panama debacle. We never looked anything other than in control of the match. Chicago Fire attacking midfielder Bobby Garcia made a strong argument for getting another call-up with his man of the match performance. He put us up just after a half hour and added a second just before the break. Then in the second half he made the final passes on Joey Garcia (no relation) and Craig Williams goals.

Man of the Match: Bobby Garcia




USMNT 4-0 Surinam



That was harder than I would have liked, but a third of the way through the group stage the United States is doing exactly as well as you'd expect and should reach the hex as expected.




Maybe I should take a job in Gibraltar...



Paul Williams makes his first big move, accepting an offer of less than £30m for Kamel Zouaghi. It's not something I would have done, the money is £10m less than the offer they sent me just before I took my leave of Wrexham. He's making his first foray in a busy transfer window, though, with Man United sparing no expense to strengthen their squad:



That's has the potential to be the third largest transfer of all time, behind what we paid for Sinan Ünsal and what PSG paid for Mark Bloem, while being just ahead of what Real Madrid paid for Rocky Bastable. Noah Collignon loves his fancy new toys.



Uh oh, Wales. You're left needing a win against Northern Ireland to have a shot at the second round.



England are looking fierce, though the final score might have been a touch lucky.



And England make it a clean sweep!



While Wales goes through as well.




No big surprises in the outcome, but England might face some trouble against a good French team that somehow finished only second in their group.



That gives Wrexham 6 feeder clubs.



Going out on penalties is an English tradition, so I'm glad this iteration of the squad could add to their nation's long legacy.



Didn't even make it as far as Wales, which stumbled through their group stage and ended with only one victory yet see themselves advancing to the quarterfinal round.



The second stage sees one truly surprising upset, as Italy goes down to Turkey. With Italy and England now out Spain and the winner of France/Germany will be the favorites to win it all.



I'm unimpressed, Paul. Odiyo is a cromulent player, but he's not as good as Zouaghi is right now, and costs considerably more in wages.



Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Wrexham just won EVERYTHING. Flamengo had an excellent season, don't get me wrong. They won the Brasileirao and the Copa do Brasil, but they didn't win their state league or the Libertadores. And even if they did, how the hell does that move them past us when every single one of our comparable competitions is more coveted and difficult to win? Maybe I should move to Brazil and make it my mission to destroy that club via an inside job.



Scratch that, clearly I must destroy all of club football. Juventus won a scudetto but nothing else, and surpassed us. Barcelona won La Liga and nothing else and surpassed us. Arsenal, lowly stinking Arsenal won nothing and surpassed us. Wrexham just took home everything on the trophy store shelves... and fell to being only the fifth most respected club in the world.



At least it jumped up to the second most valuable club in the world. But not even £1.28b can buy respect, apparently.



My personal stock, on the other hand, has never been higher. I'm within striking distance of Sir Alex for greatest level of achievement ever. Winning Olympic Gold, a Confederations Cup, and the World Cup might just push me over the top.



Also, if you combine ol' Bruno Santos with his real world analogue Jose Mourinho you get a total score of 3064, good enough for third place. Not shabby, Bruno, but not good enough.



Gold is the only acceptable color of the medal I expect to see around our neck in five weeks.



And I'm going to be relying on you to bring us to the top of the heap, Rodrigo.



That's sure not the way to start off the Olympic season.



Wales storms to victory over Spain! The Golden Generation yet lives!



They face a surprisingly resilient Turkey in the semis, while Scotland takes on Germany. There's a chance the grand finale will be an all UK affair, with 8.3m Welsh and Scots being able to mock a population of 53m as being barely better than Northern Ireland.

More likely, though, is that Germany will win.



I admit, I'm more interested in the Scotland/Germany semifinal that's taking place on the same day.



A day after telling the squad to keep their focus Clavijo runs into a pole and hurts his patella. Damnit, we don't have that many wingers who can play out left!



A pleasing performance outside of Montego Bay puts me back in high spirits.



But the real action was in Sweden, where Scotland ran out to a 4-1 lead in the first half against Germany and then grimly held out through the second half. Will Wales hold up their end of the bargain?



Oh snap, they can!



Hurrah for the hinterlands! Press on, periphery! Embarrass every Englishman with a great final!



Don't get hurt now. Apart from the left side, our squad's weakness is definitely in the back.



Ok, here's a signing I can get behind. Bruns already looks good enough to start for a midtable EPL squad, and at the age of 18 I can only assume he's far from reached his potential.



That's a steal, Sky Shadowing. Marky Mark here is a Pace 18, Acceleration 19, Finishing 17, and Composure 16 stud, and doesn't have any huge warts. He's instantly one of the best players on Southampton.



The kids really should have won by a larger margin, but I was more concerned with Isaac Parson's picking up a ding from a rough challenge in the 48th minute. I removed him as a precaution, and he seems to be fine. As the second best American player behind Moctezuma, and one of our few good young defenders, we need him healthy.



Congratulations, Goons. You've done it. You've turned Scotland into a footballing powerhouse that can call itself the greatest nation in Europe. Not only did former and current Red Dragons Scott Shirra and David Maloney anchor the team in their run to glory, but names such as Scott Scott, John McGoon Jr., Gary Anderson and precocious 21 year old captain Paul McStay have placed a weary nation on their backs and brought joy from Aberdeen to Arran.



Yeah, there's no way to polish that turd.



England hired Nijang's replacement at Arsenal to manage their national team, so of course Nijang ends up right back where he started after a two year stint running England into the ground.



OK, no more giving quotes to the media. I can't afford to have anyone else hurt.



Final cuts for the Olympics are made, and I'd forgotten that to win gold a team has to get through six games in two weeks with only 18 players available. Yeesh.



The good news is that we whupped a reliably good Liga MX side. The bad news is that Moctezuma left the match in the 29th minute with an injury.



The studs up challenge that lead to a bunch of stitches will keep him out of at least the Denmark match, and possibly the tilt with Algeria as well. I hope John Morales can repeat the same form that he showed in beating up the Red Sharks come the Olympics.



I'm not sure why Clermont was chosen as the guests for this match, you'd expect to see a team that has at least some connection to Wrexham or Mujkic playing as the opponent, but he put on a classic Meteor performance and assisted one of Yilmaz's three goals. He's 31, and still has another year or two of brilliance left in him so long as his legs hold up.



Idiots.



Just remember, you're the one who's letting down your teammates if you get hurt.



No, seriously, knock it off.



Carrieri, a last minute callup after Clavijo's injury, was concussed when he walked into a wall while talking to a reporter.




Our group is definitely the most wide open, but I would rather have to play France and get Kuwait as well than have three solid clubs in our group. At least we weren't drawn with Spain and Brazil. Brazil is especially fierce, that team could give Wrexham trouble. I'm downgrading my expectations to only Silver unless someone surprises them before we'd have to face them.

vs Denmark, July 20, 2028
Summer Olympics, Group B


All we need to do is play the way we did in our friendlies and we'll win easily. Oddly we seem to be underdogs. I wonder if that's a reputation thing, because we're definitely the better team.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Romero, Ledesma (c), Rigby, Padilla, Hughes, Coleman, Paredes, Rusling, Morales.
Subs: Fabbri, Wood, Bower, Hernandez, Enriquez, Carrieri.

Two yellows in the first dozen minutes, one for each team, convinces me to turn down our tackling. Denmark pulls ahead in the 20th minute, but the goal is called back. It's a good thing, as we can't convert on a multitude of chances in the first half.

The Danes are more organized on defense come the second half, and while we have a Paredes effort go off the post our Olympians look decidedly mortal. When Isaac Parsons goes down after a challenge in stoppage time it's merely the shit mustard on the shit sandwich. I'm happy when the trainers tell me he's fine, and then switch right over to bollocking mode and let the players know what I thought of their performance.




USMNT U23 0-0 Denmark U23



There's something sinister about this. At least Coleman plays a position where the USMNT is overstocked. Barrett is already a star in the American league at age 22, and should challenge for a World Cup roster spot.



Whoever put together the weather database for this game was incredibly lazy. Zapopan is a part of the Guadalajara metro area, and it's not a cool 57 degrees at 3pm during the middle of the summer even in that relatively temperate city.

vs Algeria, July 23, 2028
Summer Olympics, Group B


Algeria are the weakest of the group, a win and the kids are likely to make the knockout round with a game to spare. Moctezuma is back, and immediately goes into the starting lineup.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ledesma (c), Wood, Bower, Padilla, Enriquez, Barrett, Moctezuma, Rusling, Morales.
Subs: Fabbri, Rigby, Romero, Hernandez, Hughes, Paredes.

Algeria lose one of their centerbacks in the third minute and have to bring on a guy who's only at 75% stamina. We get off 11 shots by the end of the half, but only 3 are on target. John Morales finally finds net for us, but the goal is nullified as he was in an offside position. I'm starting to get concerned about another draw when Morales learns from his mistake just before 60 minutes, and then David Rusling adds a second moments later against a spent Algerian defense to give us the final margin of victory.

Man of the Match: David Rusling




USMNT U23 2-0 Algeria U23



I'm expecting him to be found dead in our locker room from a freak accident before the match gets underway.

vs Japan, July 26, 2028
Summer Olympics, Group B


We need a draw to ensure first place in our group and the ability to avoid France in the quarterfinal round. One time Wrexham wonderkid Ryuta Ikeda is starting for Japan, if he scores I'm going to be very put out.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Toninho, Bower, Ledesma (c), Wood, Rigby, Hernandez, Enriquez, Hughes, Paredes, Moctezuma, Morales.
Subs: Fabbri, Parsons, Romero, Padilla, Barrett, Rusling, Carrieri.

Morales gets dinged up in the first five minutes by a collision with a Japanese centerback, and is on the sidelines being worked on by the trainers when Rodrigo Moctezuma announces his entry into the Olympics two minutes later. Morales is able to continue and sees his third goal of the tournament called back for offsides, the kid has a nose for goal but is just terrible at timing his runs.

Then Xavier Hughes gets away with a questionable no-call at midfield to win possession, and sends it up to Morales who sprints downfield and finishes onside for once. We make it 3-0 with a Sam Wood header just seconds before the first half closes. The opening of the second half sees Morales come off to avoid worsening his injury, and Hughes come off Hughes to avoid the risk of his picking up a second yellow card and missing our quarterfinal match. We still score after the starting gun, this time by Andrew Paredes, and Japan is held scoreless until a 66th minute consolation goal. They'll have to settle for second place in the group, and a match-up against France.

Man of the Match: Xavier “X-man” Hughes




USMNT U23 4-1 Japan U23



Of course he's out for the rest of the tournament.



Colombia are a second tier South American nation, dangerous but beatable.




Canada are the only surprise knockout round contestant, and they're immediately sacrificed to a Brazil team that would be a favorite to make it out of the Group Stage in the World Cup. To say Brazil are favorites to take home gold is to understate matters considerably.



How much is Rouissi selling for?



Yeesh. I paid £125k for him, given his wages over the past nine years Wrexham lost something like £5m on that investment.

vs Colombia, July 29, 2028
Summer Olympics, Quarterfinal


Colombia are a bit more tired than we are, but that's about it. They still have all their players, while we're stuck using a six man bench because of injuries.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Control
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ledesma (c), Wood, Bower, Padilla, Enriquez, Hughes, Paredes, Rusling, Moctezuma.
Subs: Fabbri, Rigby, Romero, Hernandez, Barrett, Carrieri.

We score almost from the kickoff, but Moctezuma was a million miles offside. Nine minutes later Paredes does a much better job timing his run and gives us an early lead. Paredes makes his presence known five mintues later with a great interception that gets the ball to Moctezuma with only daylight ahead, and the Wrexham man charges down the pitch to score our second goal on a sterling counter attack.

With 70 minutes still to play Colombia has plenty of time to get back in the match, though, and come close to doing so on two occasions before the first half ends. We don't make it easy on ourselves, Moctezuma misses two big chances to put the game to bed and I have to pull him and Hughes to keep them fresh for the semifinal with 40 minutes remaining. But the Colombians can't crack our defense, and we polish off the game with 20 minutes to play with a third goal from a corner kick.

Man of the Match: Rodrigo Moctezuma




USMNT U23 3-0 Colombia U23



Japan made it past France only to run into Brazil. I'm really, really glad we beat them. We get to face Spain, who stole my joy at knocking out Mexico before the medal rounds. That they beat Mexico so soundly despite the Mexicans having home field advantage is certainly cause for concern.



Geez, Paul. Are you even trying to get good value for my bad decisions?



I see that you're sure not hesitating to remake the team. This is a good deal in isolation, Kocsis was never going to be more than a backup for Wrexham, but I hope you're bringing in a qualified backup instead of asking teenaged Malte Landgraf to help us win Cup matches.



We did beat Spain in the 2024 Olympic semifinal. Parsons know, he was there.

vs Spain, August 1, 2028
Summer Olympics, Semifinal


One way or another we're playing for a second straight medal. I'm hoping it's gold.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Control
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ledesma (c), Romero, Rigby, Hernandez, Enriquez, Hughes, Paredes, Rusling, Moctezuma.
Subs: Fabbri, Bower, Wood, Padilla, Barrett, Carrieri.

In the second minute Paredes sends in a cross to Moctezuma at the near post, who has his feet taken out from underneath him and the ball cleared towards the corner flag. Paredes is waiting for it, and fires it back in again, and the surprised Spaniard who had thought he had cleared the ball into touch instead watches the ball hit him and bounce into his team's net. The Americans have two great chances to pad the lead, but Paredes and Enriquez can't get their efforts to fall. Our defense holds Spain to only two shots, however.

The Spanish don't rest for a moment all game and manage to tie things up at the hour on a fluke free kick goal, then proceed to threaten a second. We're given a gift horse in the 74th minute with a questionable penalty call, but Moctezuma fails to put it away and we're forced into extra time.

There's nothing doing in either direction in the first half of extra time, but then Spain has a man sent off for a second yellow. We still can't find a winner, Paredes best effort is stonewalled by the Spanish keeper, and we're only able to advance to the final thanks to the blessing of the penalty kick gods and Rodrigo Moctezuma finding the PK stroke that was missing during regular time.




USMNT U23 p 1-1 Spain



Anyone who thinks we're beating the Brazilians believes a pipe dream. They've scored 14 while conceding two. They didn't just play an exhausting extra-time session. They're not missing any players due to injury.



: … so that's why I'm asking you what I should do. I know they're only a Championship side, but I'm not likely to get many minutes at Wrexham.

: If you think you'll get playing time there, you should go for it. Plus, London is a great city and as my son you qualify to live there since the Tories passed the Millionaires And Aristocracy Only law.



That's a long extension to give a 32 year old player, even if plenty of goalkeepers can play at a high level into their late 30s.



Godspeed, you megabust.

vs Brazil, August 5, 2028
Summer Olympics, Gold Medal Game


I'm expecting us to lose. So let's take our hiding, get our silver medals, and get out of here. Morales isn't even suiting up for the match, he's still “1-3 days” from being able to play.

Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter
Starting 11: Toninho, Parsons, Ledesma (c), Wood, Bower, Padilla, Enriquez, Hughes, Paredes, Moctezuma, Carrieri.
Subs: Fabbri, Rigby, Romero. Hernandez, Barrett, Rusling.

Things get off to a quick start when Paredes cuts inside and opens up the touchline for an overlapping run by Parsons, who fires a perfect cross to Mal Carrieri at the far post for a 4th minute goal. Perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to count us out. The next thirty minutes show a lively American team repeatedly threaten to score again, but that's when the joy ends as Bologna's Leo scores the equalizer.

Our boys do the Red, White, and Blue proud, and outplay the Brazilians comprehensively from that point on through 90 minutes, but we cannot find the winner and it's into extra time again. We have the game, and thus the gold, stolen from us by the referee, who makes an abominable penalty call on a Brazilian corner, and despite shocking the world and proving ourselves a match for the mighty Brazilians we have to settle a second time for silver.

Man of the Match: Isaac Parsons




USMNT U23 1-2 aet Brazil U23



Silver. Again. The difference is that this time we well and truly deserved it, earning our way to the gold medal game and being done in not by our own failings but instead the blindness of the ref.



They're more resilient than I'd expect, considering how gutting that loss was.



But it can't hurt Hughes and Parson's mood that they made the team of the tournament, though.

US Mutant Ninja Turtles Senior Team


USMNT U23


With the Olympics over there's just four matches on tap for the next five-plus months! I don't know what I'm going to do with all that free time!