Fútbol with Grant Wahl

On this episode, Grant and Chris Wittyngham cover the major soccer talking points including the US Women's National Team not meeting their high standards in Mexico, Wayne Rooney to DC United, Austin FC flying at the top of MLS, and two big European transfers. Plus, Mia Fishel of Tigres joins (35:30) to discuss how she's progressing in the club game in Mexico after turning down a chance to join NWSL.

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Grant has a fun interview with his old friend Lothar Matthäus (at 18:12), who won the FIFA World Player of the Year award, captained the 1990 World Cup-winning West Germany side and won the European Championship and the UEFA Champions League in a remarkable 22-year pro career. They talk about a range of topics, including the 30-year anniversary of the '90 World Cup triumph, what Matthäus talks about with old rival Diego Maradona when they meet up (classic games and Diego's weight issues!), Bayern Munich's 8-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga, Alphonso Davies, Tyler Adams, Kai Havertz and much, much more.

Before that, Grant speaks with show producer Chris Wittyngham of the Chelsea Mike'd Up podcast about the restart of the Premier League, David Luiz's very bad day, Napoli's triumph over Juventus in the Coppa Italia final, Weston McKennie's continued lone bright spot in a very bad stretch for Schalke and Adams playing well in central midfield for Leipzig but still dropping points. They also discuss fan blobs in La Liga, Germany's superiority over England in fake fan noise and the nonsense of fake card-waving ad-driven fans in Italy.

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIhXWUw0H4

Grant interviews the photographer Adrián Macías (23:30) and Mexsport Agency owner David Leah about Macías's memorable photograph of Christian Pulisic and the USMNT after Pulisic's game-winning penalty against Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League final. Macías tells the story of how he got the shot—and of his own journey in the sports photography business.

Before that, Grant and Chris Wittyngham break down the opening weekend of Euro 2020, starting with the most important story, the survival of Denmark's Christian Eriksen after collapsing on the field vs. Finland. Other topics include the Netherlands' wild 3-2 win vs Ukraine, England's 1-0 victory against Croatia and Italy's 3-0 win vs Turkey.

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIhXWUw0H4

Grant has a revealing interview with Santiago Solari (at 35:14), the manager of Mexico's Club América and formerly of Real Madrid. Solari discusses why his hometown of Rosario, Argentina, has produced so many great soccer minds and players; why he attended college at Stockton University in New Jersey; playing all 90 minutes for Real Madrid in its 2002 Champions League final victory; why he moved into coaching; his time managing Real Madrid in 2018-19 and why he decided to take the América job.

Before that, Grant and Chris Wittyngham break down the U.S. men's third straight failure to qualify for the Olympics after Sunday's 2-1 loss to Honduras. There's plenty to talk about!

This episode of Fútbol with Grant Wahl is brought to you by Fanatiz. Frustrated that you can't get games from Spain's La Liga on your cable or satellite system? Sign up to stream Fanatiz. On Fanatiz, you can watch all the action in La Liga and other international leagues and tournaments live and on-demand from your mobile phone, tablet or directly on your TV with the Fanatiz app. Fanatiz features channels you know, like BeIN Sports in English and Spanish, GolTV and many more. And it costs only $7.99 a month. 

If you’d like to try Fanatiz for yourself, you can get a free week-long trial by going to fntz.co/Grant-FZ.

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIhXWUw0H4

Grant has two intriguing interviews in this episode. The first is with Sergiño Dest, the 19-year-old right back for the USMNT and FC Barcelona, ahead of Thursday's MNT friendly against Wales. Dest talks about his excitement over being with the national team this week, his belief that the U.S. could do big things at upcoming World Cups, why he decided to play for USA over the Netherlands and what it has been like to meet and play with Lionel Messi at Barcelona. 

Then (at 12:54) Grant interviews Alejandro Domínguez, the Paraguayan president of CONMEBOL, the South American soccer confederation. Domínguez tells the story of why he decided to go to the University of Kansas and explains how he became the most powerful figure in South American soccer after the FIFA-gate crisis in 2015. He discusses the potential for another combined Copa América tournament involving teams from CONCACAF and CONMEBOL, whether we might ever see U.S. clubs in the Copa Libertadores and what his confederation is trying to do to grow women's soccer in South America.

This episode of Fútbol with Grant Wahl is brought to you by Fanatiz. On Fanatiz, you can watch all the action in Spain’s La Liga and other international leagues and tournaments live and on-demand from your mobile phone, tablet or directly on your TV with the Fanatiz app. Fanatiz features channels you know, like BeIN Sports in English and Spanish, GolTV and many more. And it only costs $7.99 a month. 

If you’d like to try Fanatiz for yourself, you can get a free week-long trial by going to fntz.co/Grant-FZ.

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqIhXWUw0H4