Vince, Watke and Belz reconvene after the trip to Rome. Lots of celebrations from the weekend to recap, plus we talk about Rome and the football we saw there a bit, Milan's struggles, and the USMNT roster coming out tomorrow. Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon! Patrons get a private ad-free feed for all episodes that go out on the public feed, plus th…

Belz and Vince (and Goerge Quraishi) record their second episode from Rome, the morning after Bologna's 1-0 win over Milan in the Coppa Italia final, which we miraculously were able to attend. Quraishi, the founder of Howler magazine and the guy helping us navigate Rome, joins in. Pulisic had a night to forget, but we did not. Subscribe to Scuffed …

Coming to you from a 4th-floor apartment next to the Tiber River, Belz and Vince talk through their takeaways from the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday -- the intensity of the match, the scene outside, Wes's assist, a theory of what supporters groups are doing when they chant, what it's like in Rome right now, and much more. We take a handful of questio…

Polis was at the scene for Paul Caligiuri's shot heard round the world, he was also (for Umbro) the English language press liaison for the Brazilian national team (Romario, Bebeto, Dunga) in 1994. Polis joined Belz for a 75 minute conversation. He was prepared and he has a good memory and he brings a lot to the table, including a more relaxed persp…

Charlie Boehm joins Vince and Belz to talk through the weekend action, he lends his MLS expertise to the discussion. Balogun starts and scores for the first time since October. Good game from him. Dike's back on the scoresheet too. Wrexham is headed to the Champo, Leeds is headed out of the Champo and Brendo is looking for a home. Vince and Belz ar…

The guy behind Sounder at Heart and SB Nation's soccer coverage is running an independent shop in Seattle now. He joins to talk about that, about the real Brian Schmetzer, how pro/rel might play out in the Pacific Northwest, his grandmother's high school career in South Dakota, and much more. Send us a voicemail: www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Su…

We start off with MLS because it feels more interesting right now. But also Pulisic makes scoring look easy vs Venezia, Malik’s teammate says “one man’s death is another man’s bread” after he’s late to something and has to sit, Tyler gets away with an orange-ish challenge, and much more. Send us a voicemail www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Subscrib…

Wiebe's a feature and sideline reporter for Major League Soccer, talks about learning the art of sideline reporting which is fascinating. Also discusses Extra Time Radio, the show that got inexplicably binned by the league earlier this year. Good young MLS players, the Sullivan bros, meeting Luca de la Torre's parents, buying boots with Brandon Vaz…

Vince, Watke and Belz work their way through the news of the weekend. Red cards for Chris, Mark and Diego. Big win for Utrecht and a goal for Paxten. Leeds wins promotion. Lots more. Send us a voicemail: www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon! Patrons get a private ad-free feed for all episodes that go out on the public fe…

El Paso-based Dan Vaughn, the founder of Protagonist Soccer and one of the most knowledgeable people in the country when it comes to lower-league American soccer, joins Watke and Belz for a wide-ranging conversation that often circles back to the CFC-Red Wolves rivalry, geography, and Ricardo Pepi. Relevant links... Protagonist Soccer: https://www.…

Larsen, a former NASL Sounders ballboy and co-chair of the Congressional Soccer Caucus, sat down to talk about border challenges, drone defenses, getting visas and some of the other work that's ongoing in preparation for World Cup 2026. Vince and Belz and George Quraishi are definitely taking a group to Rome from May 10-18, here's some detail, incl…

Ley ran the PA system for the Cosmos in the late 1970s, was one of the earliest anchors for Sportscenter, hosted several World Cups on television and has been one of American soccer's great advocates. He sat down with Belz and talked about what he tells college kids about the future of sports journalism, the state of the USMNT, the potential impact…

Vince and Belz wrestle with the implications of that last window, weigh whether USL's pro/rel gambit will move the needle, recap the weekend action and answer voicemails from listeners in Forth Worth and Chicago. Here's where you can send us a voice message for future episodes: https://www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Vince and Belz and George Qura…

CCV sits down with Sanjay in SoCal to talk about the respite of national team camps, building racecars with Legos, jumping on the field at the 2022 World Cup, and much more. As usual, good rapport in the conversation. Here's where you can send us a voice message for future episodes: https://www.speakpipe.com/ScuffedPodcast Vince and Belz and George…

Belz and Vince with a lengthy "what's up with Poch" opening segment, Johnny shines for Betis, Malik back and fresh in Eindhoven, West starts under new coach, Josh scores, we're definitely going to Rome. A great question from Mike in the Buffalo area. Here's where you can send us a voice message for future episodes: https://www.speakpipe.com/Scuffed…

Those and lots of other questions came through in voicemail (thank you very much to everyone who sent one!), and Charlie Boehm joins Watke and Belz to respond to them. Others include which two players from the XI vs Panama that we’d cut from this roster, and which two we’d bench, what percentage of blame to assign Poch and the players and Panama, a…

The Poch-led USMNT fails magnificently in its first real test, fails to meet the standard set under Berhalter, which is all pretty ironic. Greg and Belz break it down, try to identify 2-3 intriguing plot-lines as we limp toward 2026. We need those fullbacks back. The World Cup won't be like this tournament was. No way. Clip Notes from Vince, which …

Brutal. Vince and Belz talk through what we got wrong, what else might be wrong, and the cruelty of a sport that doesn't let you take 5 seconds off. Vince IDs some problems with the scheme. Everybody IDs problems with the selection. Maybe this lights a fire under Poch. Clip Notes for $5 patrons and up, coming soon. Send us a voicemail for us to use…

Two and a half hours of Vince holding court and agendas flying like a swarm of mosquitoes. Totally unabridged, might be a little language here and there. The first real test of the Poch era. Failure. Justified frustration after another bad loss. Detailed, more responsible game recap coming later today. Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon! Patrons get a…

Watke and Belz check in with Sanjay Sujanthakumar less than 24 hours before USA-Panama in Los Angeles as he hustles around SoCal covering the team. We touch on the back-and-forth with Tim Ream on who tonight's left back will be, what the midfield might look like, what we've learned from lots of press conferences and the mixed zone in the last few d…

Sebastian Salazar built Futbol Americas from scratch with Herc Gomez and now he hosts ION's NWSL studio show. He's veteran of covering soccer in America, a native of D.C., a lifelong El Tri fan. He plays the game, he's coached the game. We spoke on Thursday and he was very generous with his time. Great conversation. Still a couple slots open for ou…

Who's in, who's out, whether Poch sees Yunus as a midfielder, why Brendo is missing, what the coach expects from Gio, and Greg and Belz give preferred lineups versus Panama and the second opponent. First match kicks off in a week. MORE DETAIL ON THE ROME TRIP IN MAY: https://earthlydelights.notion.site/Italia-25-with-Scuffed-1a3f3f1e0145804793e8e83…

Paul McGlynn, the father of Jack McGlynn, has been developing soccer talent in New York City (and now western Connecticut) since the beginning of the century. Not only does he have the perspective of a parent of a pro player, he coached Tim Weah from ages 9 to 12, he's in the trenches of the ongoing chaos between MLS academies and youth clubs, and …

Bob Morocco, the longtime friend of the pod and multi-decade battle-hardened BigSoccer poster, joins Belz and Watke to discuss the key takeaways from the first two months-and-change of 2025 Anno Domani. Pulisic's level, Johnny's status, Poch's (dis)regard for Atlanta and Richy Ledezma, and much more to discuss. Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon! Patr…

We round up some of the MLS action from opening weekend, try to figure out why first division sanctioning matters, big segment on John Textor, Tanner Tessmann and the big match in Lyon vs PSG, Pulisic misses a penalty, Gio starts but doesn't really impress anybody, Sargent gets a brace and an ambivalent OptaJack tweet, plus much more. NO EPISODE TH…