Sunday Cup-o-American soccer: Qualifiers, sticking to sports, and masks

Happy Sunday, get ready to end your weekend with some news you may have missed about US Soccer.

Crystal Dunn on not sticking to sports

Sports and sticking to them are what many think that professional athletes should do, but should they? Crystal Dunn does not think so. Vinciane Ngomsi on Yahoo Sports has an interview with Dunn with the USWNT star. Among other things, she spoke on, she mentioned that “One thing critics fail to remember is I’m a human being above anything else. Why shouldn’t I be allowed to speak on matters that directly affect me, especially when it comes to instances of racial discrimination? We can’t allow those opinions to stop us from encouraging our fans to do their research on important issues and come to their own conclusion.” Dunn also went on to comment about diversity in the sport, Black Women’s Equal Pay, and her life while soccer was paused.

Big words from a country that used to have an empire

The new manager of the England National Team, Sarina Wiegman, says that the USWNT can be beaten. Wiegman may have to wait to take over the Lionesses in 2021, but she’s already setting her sights high. As reported by Tom Hamilton on ESPN, the soon to be Holland manager thinks that “the U.S. is awesome, but I think other countries can beat them.” It’ll be soon enough that we find out if she’s right.

Berhalter and Tim Ream talk transfers and WCQ

Nicholas Mendola of Yahoo Sports has comments from Gregg Berhalter on what he thinks about the World Cup Qualifiers and transfers for some MNT players. The topics Berhalter discussed included welcoming an opening match in Couva and where he wants qualifiers played in the USA. As far as the home games, Berhalter said, “We want to find an environment that is intimidating. When I think of Columbus, we’ve had a lot of success there but that doesn’t mean we won’t be open to other locations. We want to find the best place to win a soccer game and be intimidating.” He also addressed transfers for Antonee Robinson and Weston McKennie and what the future bodes for other USMNT players like John Brooks, Zack Steffen, and Christian Pulisic. For his part, Tim Ream brought up how the younger players can learn from the veterans like him in the Ocho.

What’s old and useless is useful and new

Someone at Soccer Mansion was cleaning out the basement and found some old USA kits. Thinking of what to do with them, USSF Chief Medical Officer Dr. George Chiampas undertook an initiative to turn them into masks for first responders. As reported by the Chicago Sun Times, the kits will provide enough material for 500 masks, including one for Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The USMNT is good - perhaps even golden

Sure, they haven’t really played a full strength squad in a competitive game yet and it took a year to let Gregg Berhalter take over the team, but the MNT is good. So good that Doug McIntyre notes that Bruce Arena is wrong about the potential for players who are all under 21 on big teams playing in big games being better than past USMNT player pools.