Has Emma Hayes found her core group for the USWNT?

Cuando cumples 45, te toca, soplar muchas velas y examinarte contra el cáncer de colon,

ya que al detectarse temprano es más tratable en 9 de cada 10 personas.

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Hola, esto es Page de Giggly Squad y ustedes es aquí. McDonald's Big Arch Burger.

El nuevo big arch es aquí y es el más McDonald's McDonald's Burger, pero ya.

Es dos o tres o tres centros de patas, tres leyes de chis, tango, big arch sauce, lettuce,

pickles, crispy y slivered onions y un poppy y sesame seed bun. Es todo lo que les guste

de McDonald's burgers entre dos buns. El big arch sauce es tango, creamy y es el perfecto

para el big arch burger. Quiero grabar un big arch burger hoy, pero en la mañana

puedes necesitarlo a todos los ojos.

A participar McDonald's por el mismo tiempo, cuando suelen las duras.

Es muy competitivo en el feel en este rostro. Y creo que parece que es la versatility de el rostro.

Como no siempre vamos a ver el mismo starting 11, creo que es muy tactical, muy technical,

dependiendo sobre el opponent, viendo Lindsay, no en el starting 11, es algo que me hace

para mí. Tal vez me parece que es algo que siempre sea el player que está en 90 minutos.

Probablemente no. Es que es que no es el captor de la USM, es algo que no sea más.

Yo no creo que yo creo que todavía hay esa valor para el equipo.

Es un par de rostro.

Hola a todos, muy buenas noches.

¡Bactica de Caesano! ¡Caisano y no es el gran Caesano!

¡Caisano!

Caesano tiene la inserción de Colombia.

¡Dancing again! ¡Dónde es 1 mil!

¡Over Argentina, Alley! ¡Finalmente!

Y nos vemos en la semana.

Estamos por la mañana, Melanie, en el día de hoy. ¡Hola Melanie!

¡Hola, ¿cómo eres?

Muy bien, gracias y productorio también.

¡Hola, hola! ¿Qué es el lugar para estar aquí con vos?

Ah, siempre es el lugar para estar con vos.

¡Vamos a la primera vez!

Vamos a ver el segundo juego de los propios propósitos de la USM,

cuando 1 mil sobre Canada, eso ahora extende la USM a 714 minutos,

desde el último punto de vista de un gol.

Melanie, vamos a empezar por lo que fue la headline de tu article.

El secure Cord Group emergió..

USM es la Fácil de la USM.

El cuente de la palabra de Canada.

Me encanta grabar chicas, como esta.

Emma Haies ha dicho que es lo que comenzamos a hacer.

Y cada vez que la gente ha hecho esteisco con el que es del Cord group,

estegué con el Cord group,

no es algo de un concepto de un Cord group,

como unos glimpses de la cual los players son que sí crean.

manterlo brutalamente enficientes,

como outta el mismo nuovo tiempo uitero

Centro de este världo,

crackedo esperando por todo el cuerpo.

Pacio de los espírituos,

pero muy consistento,

un este entonces muy limpio,

un cockada.

Con sano, Emma,

ooh andé un gran NPC público

para dar una idea de cuándo

faced Comeve retirada

que estas dos muchos rac Gastaportаемos.

Kn气 era untuk reportar como menos flooded

y medio.

¿omo sentimentalmente piensas

que siempre muy compromiso

en acquiring ese calbum?

¿ometry y puso conflicto del mono?

que ella han estado y no es de descansión

y de una creación educativa.

¿Tú crees que es de un hecho de una parte o una enfermedad?

No, ¿qué es es es cool?

Es très simple, esto es lo que tiene que escuchar

en laación, porque están creando.

Estas crianças que han sido todos

los que han componido un malo momento.

Creo que creo que es la creación educativa.

No sé, yo creo que es muy interesante

porque parece una evolución de este equipo nacional.

¿Es perfecto?

No.

Y él también mencionó cómo, ¿no es un equipo que hay que ver,

que les quería hacer los dos cosas,

como que eran muy ures para hacer los dos cosas

y constantemente triunfugiar.

Pero, instead, él ha visto un paso,

en vez de ponerse a ver más cosas,

que eso se llama un instante y dar candidate en el open

a counter.

I think it speaks to maybe another tool

that this team maybe hasn't really taken advantage of before.

I think Emma Hayes, and this isn't some ground-breaking thought,

but I think Emma Hayes is the ultimate man-manager while she's tactically,

smart, witty, seasoned, professional.

She knows what to say when to push her players

and when to pump them up a little bit.

And I think she knew that, for whatever reason,

with this quote, core group,

that if this is very close to her ideal starting 11,

missing a few players, of course,

she knows how to work the mind and work the confidence levels.

And I think that was just as much a big part of it.

And then to Melanie's point,

yeah, if I had to think about a quote that Emma Hayes would be like,

this is my favorite performance ever,

it'd be routing some team like 4-0.

But exactly that, I think, staying defensively sound,

controlled to use the word both of you used.

And yeah, you might see that score line.

I'm like, ooh, that sounds a little shaky.

That sounds a little unsure against Canada.

But if you watch the game, it didn't feel that way.

So I think that Emma Hayes just knows exactly what to say

in each moment to plant the seeds that she wants to plant.

I totally agree, Joe.

I think she is the master of always kind of knowing

the right way to spin a result.

And even like bad results, right?

Like I think about the Japan game.

Last year, we talked about this on the show before

and it was like, she turned it into the ultimate lesson

for this team.

And she sort of turned this one little against Canada

to your point about previous results.

Last time I played Canada beat 3-0.

But she didn't talk about it like the way

she talked about this 1-0.

And so I think she makes the media, the fans,

the players, right, see things in a result

that we might otherwise not see.

It makes you want to have some really smart professor

after all this.

Let's say they pull off the ultimate comeback

at the World Cup.

Do you like an Emma Hayes psychology class?

OK.

Moving on, let's move on to Trinity Rodman.

Not only did she play, but she started.

She earned her 51st cap.

And 169 minutes in this game, after having

to leave the Argentina game with a back injury,

after being hit, hit in the back.

What did we make of Rodman being

able to bounce back the way that she did?

I think it was great to see her.

I don't know if you had a different opinion.

I don't think she looked 100%.

I mean, who am I to say?

Obviously, Hayes shut down the idea

that she was limited in training.

Or obviously, I think starting her was a big statement

after some of us may be expected to leave camp,

like Lily Real did, after her ankle injury in the Argentina

game, so I think seeing her was maybe good news.

Did she look 100% not for me?

I don't know if you saw it differently.

No, I agree.

I feel like there were some mistakes,

even that one moment in the beginning

where she had a shot.

And she, normally, she would have taken that.

But it's actually kind of past it off.

I think I believe it was maybe to Rose at the time,

kind of one of the many failed attempts

by the US in the very, very beginning of the match

to get a goal on Canada.

So I think like little glimpses like that show

that she is probably still in pain,

maybe still dealing with this injury,

still recovering in some kind of way.

But I think it was significant

and probably part of the plan to get give her this minute

because Emma said this after the game,

you know, she hasn't played a lot of football in a long time.

So I think for her to have that opportunity to play,

especially like a controlled game

that wasn't, there wasn't much risk,

I think, for her to get injured again in that match.

So I don't, maybe we don't see her for Colombia,

but I do think that it was good for her to get that time.

There was in a 20 plus fouls,

like there was against Argentina.

And number two, I think this,

if this was a different window

in a different year, Trinity Rodman would have gone home

and kind of set her sights on the NWSL season,

but I think everything that happened in 2025,

getting in so few games,

getting in so few international games,

Hayes, Nushia had to keep her there,

play her for her confidence.

Well, and it also backs up Melaní's kind of point

from her article, which is if this is the core players,

both Hayes and Rodman,

probably want to see her name in that starting 11.

Okay, so that's the perfect transition

into this idea of this core group lineup.

Someone who was not in it in this game was Lindsay Heaps.

How much should we be making of Lindsay Heaps

not in that lineup against Canada?

Just because she didn't start as Captain in this match,

doesn't mean we're not going to see her starting

as Captain in the next match against Colombia.

I think it kind of speaks to the evolving role

of what Lindsay Heaps brings to this team.

She has that veteran leadership

that is still very significant,

but it is very competitive in the midfield on this roster.

And I do think it kind of speaks to the versatility

of the roster.

We're not always going to see the same starting 11.

I think it's going to be very tactical,

very technical, depending on the opponent.

So I think with an opponent like Canada,

seeing Lindsay not in the starting 11 makes sense to me.

Maybe it speaks to kind of like,

will she always be the player that the on 90 minutes?

Probably not.

But I don't think that it means that is she not the captain

of the US national team anymore?

I don't think so.

I think she still has that value for the team,

a different role for the roster.

I think it says a lot about how good Clea Hutton

and San Coffee have been.

How much Rose Laval probably remains the number one choice

for that central creative attacking threat.

The sort of number 10 that the hero ball player

is probably still Rose Laval if she's fit.

And it's a big luxury against more competitive

high-ranked teams like Canada to play two of those players.

So you're probably only going to have one Lindsay heaps

or one Rose Laval in a game like this.

And you're going to go for two midfielders

at the base of the central positions

to give you more control.

Alah, Clea Hutton and San Coffee.

So I think Emma Hayes was showing her tactical cards

a little bit, again, going back to the mastermind

that is Emma Hayes and the way she uses the press.

The first thing she says on the TNT broadcast afterwards

is what a tree it is to have Lindsay heaps off the bench.

And she's not wrong.

That is your most experienced US national team player

who had a goal in the system with the star against Argentina.

And then in this game, you can bring her in as an impact.

So I think we've probably seen, in my opinion,

the US says best midfield and probably

their best midfield performance.

And that's got to be coffee Hutton and Lavelle right now.

I think Mel makes a great point that Colombia

or different opponents, it doesn't mean

it's always going to be that way.

And we'll find out in that final game against Colombia.

You mentioned that midfield.

They were a big part of Janscreation.

In the Argentina game, just for reference,

we saw six shots created.

And then we saw 18 in Janscreation against Canada.

In her post-match, Hayes talked a lot about the team

quote, growing up, showing maturity,

called it a smart win.

And those seven now consecutive games

without giving up a goal.

It all feels like it's really coming together

for the US women's national team.

Ali set north of the obvious hero

as the goal scorer in this one.

But if you had to pick a standout player of who won the game,

who would it be?

I had a lot of phone watching Alyssa Thompson.

Oh, me.

I really enjoyed the way she plays.

I think at one point, I felt like, you know,

she was back at Chelsea, just the way

that she was able to kind of reposition the match

from taking it one side of it, like,

just to drive the ball in a totally different direction

and kind of really create this impact on the field.

Like, I love seeing that side of her, you know,

seeing like this new version of her on the national team.

And I was just very, I just, I loved watching her play

in that match.

That's hard to do against Canada as well,

because they know they're there kind of almost before Casey

Stone, but even now they've got Casey Stone's head coach.

They're very happy to absorb and not let you run in behind.

So I think it is a tough one for Alyssa to have to adapt

to a more natural game, but I think she had a good night.

I think a sister, I thought she was fantastic.

She won eight out of eight deals against Canada

was pretty much flawless defensively,

really, really shut down that right-hand side.

And, you know, she's been with you under 23.

She's kind of been in and out of Hazard's teams.

And I thought it was quite bold for her to start her,

both against Argentina and Canada.

That didn't happen to any other player.

So I thought Giselle was a bit of a star,

but I do think going back to the previous point

about Midfield rose to Val.

Yeah, that's how it went.

Yeah, I mean, you take it over.

You take it from that, Joe.

I think rose to Val was a standout.

You know, I think it's probably just the nostalgia in me

or the comfort.

When you see rose to Val,

she's just associated with so many positive US women's

national team memories.

And that's not to say Trinity, hot and set,

nor don't do that as well, but that's to come.

That's in the future.

So it's just, if I see rose to Val,

fall out in the rain in Ohio and her home state,

that just gives me all the feels.

It just made me feel really good.

And it made me feel like that's familiar, that's successful.

And I know that that really works.

And to see it clicking with this kind of new core group,

just made me feel really complete and happy.

Cinema.

Absolutely, cinema.

Rose Lovato in the rain in Ohio, say less, Joe.

Yeah, and quote, she said she loves playing in the rain,

which just speaks again to what an absolute animal Rose Lovato is in general.

Moving ahead to the third and final game for the US,

that will be played in Harrison, New Jersey at Red Bull,

Arena, that will be the US taking on Columbia.

What changes you alluded to some of them,

Melanie, do you see Hayes making for this third and final game?

That will be a different style than Canada was.

I think we might see kind of a blend of the two, I guess, rosters.

I'm very excited to see how the backline,

the woman's national team backline goes against, you know, Linda Kasey, though,

because I love, I'm very excited for that.

So I'll just leave that at that.

So I do think, I mean, we're going to see that veteran group in the back, for sure.

Like, I can't see that not happening.

I do think we're going to see Lindsay there.

I think there's, I think there's going to have to,

you need that veteran leadership to kind of get through the mind games

that come with the game, like an opponent, like Columbia.

But I think you also need to have that, like, veteran core

and to see, like, what they can do against an opponent, like Columbia.

So I think it's going to be a blend of what we've seen on both games.

I'll let Melanie talk more about what happened in Columbia,

one Argentina Nile, or any of the feelings she had about that particular,

commonable battle.

But I do feel for Linda Kasey,

you know, having to go 90 minutes twice and then play the USA on match day three

in, on Saturday in, in Harrison, New Jersey,

I think she is going to come in quite tired.

She's had a lot on her plate and on her shoulders for such a young player.

Like, she is the star of that Columbia team.

They do have Lacey Santos, but obviously they're missing some, some forwards.

It can be interesting to see how Kasey gets around those two games in on this long trip

when so much of Columbia's work has to go through her.

I'm excited for this U.S. Columbia game because I'm from the New York area.

And I've been in stadiums and around for like Copa America,

been at watch parties for like World Cup's Columbia fans show out.

So I'm really excited for Columbia, U.S.

All right, Melanie as S the O alluded to give us your thoughts on game two

that we saw with Columbia, one mill, one mill win over Argentina in that,

in that second game in Columbus.

I will say I, at the beginning, I thought Argentina maybe had more in the tank.

I think maybe they were tired from having played the United States very recently.

So I do think, you know, obviously Columbia was a better team.

I just, every time I watched, you know, South American teams,

I just get very excited being, you know, South American heritage.

But also, obviously, if you were watching the game,

you saw the breaking news that Bay of Sea picked up Argentinian captain,

Alana Cometti, and I'm very excited to see Cometti playing in the NWSL.

All right, we got so much more to come from Melanie and Theo,

but we are going to take a quick break here on full time.

BUILастьıl

¡ És!

¿Quién estáis dte información?

Cuando cumples 45, te toca soplar muchas velas y examinarte contra el cáncer

de Colin.

Ya que al detectarse temprano, es más tratable en 9 de cada 10 personas.

Usta la prueba de Hollow Guard en la privacidad de tu casa Y enviala de regreso para obtener tus resultados.

La prueba de ColoGuard es una opción con receta para detectar el cáncer de colon en personas de 45 años o más con riesgo promedio.

Resultados positivos deben ir seguidos de una colonoscopía pueden darse resultados falsos positivos y falsos negativos.

La prueba de ColoGuard no reemplaza la colonoscopía en pacientes de alto riesgo.

No uses ColoGuard si has tenido adenomas, si tienes enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal y ciertos síndrome sereditarios o una historia al personal o familiar de cáncer de colon.

Pide la prueba de ColoGuard a tu médico para más información en español visita coloGuard.com.dm.

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Hi, this is Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Caram, host of The Watch What Happens Podcast.

Here to tell you that the HBO original comedy series The Comeback is back for its final season.

On the official comeback podcast, join host Evan Ross Katz along with Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King to unpack each episode.

Here about the show's origins, real life parallels, and why it still resonates with fans after more than two decades.

Stream The Comeback on HBO Max and watch The Comeback podcast on HBO Max or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Of course, we could not talk USA Canada without checking in with the Athletics' favorite traveling soccer reporter.

It's Tamara Griffin all the way from Columbus, Ohio, to Mera. How you doing?

I'm doing well. I'm facing the stadium right now from the press box and even though the weather for the most part I think held up during both games.

There is now a severe weather alert, so I might be camping out here tonight, but I've had a great time in Columbus.

I had a great time in Nashville as well, sad to not be completing the journey in New Jersey.

But I also kind of feel, and obviously yes, we still have two games left in the She Believes Cup, but I feel a bit spoiled having been able to watch that US Canada game live because that game crackled.

It felt like the classic rivalry between these two national teams that we have come to expect and were not really given the last time they met up in July.

In July last year, so I'm feeling very like, you know how people are like, imagine not loving football.

I'm feeling very humbled by the game right now in the best way.

In a lot of top sports around the world, there is something about USA and Canada facing off that does create the little bit of spice that, like you said, makes us fall in love with the game.

You mentioned the intensity of this game. What did it feel like being there? What were maybe the key beats that made this feel like a rivalry game or made this feel like more than just a friendly?

We did talk a little bit about the Argentina game the other night, you were there in Nashville and you said similar.

So again, do we need to keep putting respect on the She Believes name that it delivers games with crackle?

And what were these moments of crackle from the game that you felt in the press box?

Yeah, I mean, I think a She Believes Cup that happens in the eve year of a World Cup is always going to hit a little different.

Because all teams are going to use every opportunity, every international window to advance their projects, heading in this case toward Brazil, 2027.

The day before the match, Emma Hayes said that they were, I think she used the word very two if not three times, that they would be very, very maybe very prepared.

I have to go back and listen to the transcript for what Canada was going to bring. And so I think in those opening minutes, we kind of got to do away with what's going to be like because they already knew that they were going to bring it.

And I think even after Ali sent her scored the go ahead goal to give them the one victory, it still felt like Canada was very much in it.

At the same time, it didn't really feel like they were posing enough threat to equalize.

But I think even that made the game interesting because no side led up, nobody gave up, nobody assumed that they had it in the bag.

It almost felt like an arm wrestling match where both sides are equally strong. And so nobody's arm actually moves, but they're both shaking with attention.

That's what the game felt like. And it's been a while since we've seen the US in a game like that. So it was really satisfying as well.

And it just makes me even more excited for the next set.

Certainly hallmarks of a classic Casey Stoney performance for Canada, but that is now 11 months. I believe without a clean sheet for Canada, one win in their last nine months.

So this is a team that have been struggling even if I take it from what you felt tonight. This wasn't improved performance.

What were your questions for Canada head coach Casey Stoney in the aftermath of this defeat? And what were your questions for M.A.s in the press conference in the mix zone for the triumphant USA players?

Yeah, honestly, my main question for Casey Stoney was answered before I could ask it, which was the status of Simea Wujo, who appears to have been ill.

I was a bit perplexed when she exited the pitch in the first half before half time because I actually, and I actually thought that even if it was subtle, even if it was small, I felt that Canada's attacking threat decreased just a little bit.

When she went off the pitch. So that was honestly my main question for her. But Casey Stoney said that she was really proud of the group.

They lost their captain heading into the game. They had some other sort of like unforeseen absences and things that they had to adjust to heading into this tournament.

And then with M.A.s, there were a lot of questions also about the luxury that we tend to associate with the US Women's National Team of being able to bring in players off the bench like Emma Sears, who I think we should also talk about.

We got to talk about it. One moment to the game. Somebody grew up in Dublin, Ohio, went to Ohio State to merit. Take me to Columbus when Emma Sears came off the bench in the second half.

So the press box is we have a slab of glass separating us from the field, which on a night like tonight, I'm not complaining every other time I would complain because I'd like to be able to feel the crowd.

But it's chilly and wet tonight. So I wasn't mad about it. But even with this pain of glass, I could hear the swell of the crowd.

The second that Emma was even near within the vicinity of the touch line, I think even before the official raised the board with her number on it, you'd know that they were waiting for her.

You know that they were waiting for her. And I think it says something that she subdawn for Trinity Rodman and the cheers for Emma's entrance were even louder not only than Trinity's exit, but even when Trinity was first announced in the starting 11.

They love, they love them some Emma Sears.

They love them some Emma Sears as they should.

Yeah, yeah. So that was really, really cool to see the kind of thing that gives you goosebumps. I think especially because Emma Sears has had what we would still kind of call a unique pathway to the US women's national team.

Obviously Ohio State is a huge university, but not necessarily known historically as a women's soccer powerhouse.

So I think that that sort of ethos really aligns well with the culture here in Ohio and you could really feel that.

Of course they were going to cheer her on like till the ends of the earth. And I can only imagine what would have happened if she'd scored a goal.

But the crowd in general was fantastic, super engaged. You can always tell a crowd is locked in when they know to cheer like big defensive plays, yellow cards against the opponent that they think are deserved.

There was all of that as well, which just contributed to how fun of a night it was. And then for it to be in a game like that it was these kind of games.

I feel like I get to witness a handful of times live per year. So it felt really special to be a part of it.

Although I'll link the episodes in the show notes. Listen up, but we have really good interviews with Emma Sears and her head coach who drafted her out of our state.

Bev Yannes about their journey together with racing Louisville. And I think Yannes is mentalities.

The coach has really rubbed off on Sears. And I think, you know, playing in Louisville, coming from Ohio, I think all of these are kind of in the gumbo that is the Sears Yannes connection and Sears is journey to the national team.

I want to let you get out of here and get you back into the rainy night of Columbus. But before I do last thing, I know you managed to catch up with the Thompson sisters in the mix zone.

And I think they're one of the stories of the night starting together, but Jacelle Thompson playing back to back 90 minutes. What did you learn from the mix and about their night and their performance?

Yeah, so I spoke with Alyssa and I kind of wanted to specifically ask Alyssa about Jacelle.

I got to chat with Jacelle after the the the Argentina game in Nashville. So it was cool to hear from Alyssa this time around and she like any eldest daughter knows.

Has probably a lot of expectations of her sister, but is so proud of her and just could not speak highly enough of what Jacelle has been able to accomplish.

She was particularly proud of her ability to press forward and contribute to the attack.

Said that she thought that them playing together on the left side rather than one on the left and the other on the right, whether you know a bit more far apart, worked really well.

And it sounds like Emma Hayes felt the same way. She shared with us that after the game when she subbed off Alyssa, she spent a little bit of time with Emma on the touch line before she went to the bench and she told us in the mix zone that a lot of that conversation centered on how well Emma thought Jacelle played in the game, which I think as the older sister is I mean, I don't know if it gets much better than that.

And when we get around to making our World Cup roster 2.0 is going to add a lot of texture, I think to those considerations.

So great win for both Thompson sisters tonight, but Jacelle in particular has just been stellar this the she believes tournament.

A big tease there for upcoming show after the conclusion of the she believes Cup to merits always a pleasure to have you on, but even more so from rainy Columbus.

This is the end of your 2026 she believes journey, but it's been absolutely remarkable.

I'll be watching on TV, um, willing myself to Jersey, but yeah, back to California for me on to New Jersey. Thank you so much.

Welcome back to a full time. There is a lot happening in the world at the moment that of course has a trickle down effect to the world of sports.

The top stories from the FIFA international week continue to roll in. We're going to start in Africa with the news coming down on Thursday that the 2026 women's African Cup of Nations,

which is also serving as World Cup qualifiers for the African countries has been postponed to this summer.

Just 12 days before the tournament is set to begin the official word from the African Confederation came after nearly a week of speculation that followed from reports of the French publication.

Let it keep that the tournament was set to be postponed as of today Thursday. It is official. It is now slated to be held supposedly still in Morocco, but between July 25th and August 16th, which puts it a year out from the World Cup.

How did this all unfold and how did we get here? We should say that the official word from calf that came through in Thursday's release is unforeseen circumstances is the reason for the postponement.

It hasn't stopped months, weeks of reporting coming out of Europe and Africa about many different reasons that contributed to where we are now with the African Cup of Nations being postponed.

Well, this is merely speculation. It is important to point out the reasons that people are pointing to.

Well, at this time, this is just speculation. These are the theories that people have for the reasons behind why the women's African Cup of Nations has been postponed.

So the first sort of smoke, if you like, of this story was a couple months ago when South Africa actually sort of accidentally let slip that they were interested in picking the tournament up because Morocco wasn't capable of hosting in the spring of 2026.

Morocco's inability to host was coming off the men's African Cup of Nations that just happened African men's Premier League, African Champions League, a huge clot of fixtures and certain stadiums, hotels.

There's a huge amount of congestion going on because Morocco has become such a hub, such a reliable host in many ways for African football that there was sort of a belief that they'd squeezed this women's African Cup of Nations that was due to take place in March.

Into a position where they were now no longer capable of actually putting the games on, housing the players, moving people around, cities like Rabat, and it'd become impossible for them to fulfill this tournament.

And this had been rumbling on for a few months as the schedule was getting booked. In fact, this African Cup of Nations that was meant to take place in 12 days time, they had not actually officially announced where the game, which stadiums the games were going to be at.

And at what time kickoff were going to be media passes hadn't been issued yet.

Morocco, strangely enough, had announced their squad for the tournament and they are in their training camp training as if they were going to be playing in 12 days time.

And many of the African nations had started camps and were playing friendly, building up to this and we're expecting to be together.

So it's a huge mess. It's a real problem to the players, but I suppose it's been rumbling off for some times due to the quality of pitches and the availability of stadiums in Morocco.

And it's sort of a bizarre shame and quite poor that it's taken this long if it seems like there was word from the confederation it was going to happen.

It was going to get cancelled a couple months ago. It's mad to me that it's taken this long.

They have now made the decision and at the end of the day, I don't think the summer will change that much when it comes to this tournament.

It was held in the summer last year. We covered it on the show.

And so in some ways, maybe the more time, the better, but to do it this late, I think was a very chaotic poor decision from calf that could have been handled a lot better.

Absolutely. You're stretching countries and federations with already limited resources and budgets to hold camps, travel players, and for those players to maybe give up for NWCELL players, give up valuable time in preseason, et cetera, for a tournament to be cancelled.

And obviously, the writing was on the wall because for anyone who's covered tournaments like this, team hotels are booked way in advance.

So if teams don't even know what state they're playing in, that's a problem.

All right, let's move on to some things that have been going on, shall we?

The 2026 Women's Asian Cup in Australia is underway as planned.

Group A is two games in. We've got groups BC and D. They've all got one match day under their belt.

On Thursday, the host Australia defeated Iran 4-0 in the gold coast. The win pushed Australia into the knockout rounds and has eliminated Iran from the competition and qualification for the 2027 Women's World Cup.

Both teams still have a final group stage game. That'll be played on Sunday. South Korea has also advanced out of group A.

We've seen the images of Iran as the U.S. Iran conflict continues throughout the Middle East and the world.

We've seen images of during the national anthem.

What has stood out to you about this women's team playing a missed, absolute sadness and conflict going on back home for these players?

I will just say that it reminds you that these players are humans first.

You know, that these are things that impact them on the pitch, whether or not you see it, whether or not they do decide to take a stand.

If they do, if they don't, sometimes teams that do decide to take any kind of stand, it comes at risks for them.

It's one of those situations where it just reminds you of the humanity of the game and they have to, you know, it happened in the middle of a competition.

You can't really leave the competition. You have to kind of keep going. So it's definitely that side of it kind of comes out for me.

It's a surreal moment where I think everyone, you know, whether you're a baker or a garbage disposal person or a professional soccer player.

And that's not if you're Iranian, but like if you're going through the world right now and you're seeing headlines and news that is tragic and immensely sad and rocks you to your core trying to do your job is hard.

If your friends and family back home are under immediate threat as the reports from the conflict is 800 people, which is just awful to say aloud that that is where we're at.

These Iranian players had to answer questions in press conferences about their friends and family back home and head coach Marzia Jafarri said our job is to concentrate on the football.

Which is Matt, like I said, doesn't remat your job. If obviously I think for them, they're under immense pressure.

Also because of what's been going on and fear. I'm sure fear to speak out. Yeah.

No, absolutely. And fear to speak out exactly. So we've seen to give more context to the listener. We've also seen questions shut down in these Iranian press conferences to Jill's point about these the footage we're seeing from the national anthem.

The players declined to sing the national anthem in the first game. The defeat South Korean. Then the second game. They sung the national anthem and saluted.

These players are not allowed to necessarily speak their mind. So it's very hard. We don't want to put words in their mouth. But it's really important to understand that the regime and the tent.

And the tension between the regime in Iran and also the conflict is very complicated. And these players have also had teammates who have died in protests for speaking out and wanting safety and rights in Iran.

So it's not an easy thing to necessarily talk about. It's not necessarily an easy thing to feel and experience when we're talking about soccer.

Yeah. But this is the crazy thing about this game and obviously what these players have been through this week is that it's just it makes you feel so wrecked.

It does to see them stand there in silence and not sing the national anthem of the Iranian regime in game one to shifting that a little bit in game two.

And I hope for the best for these women because they're returning home to war and conflict in such a period of instability far beyond the game that there's so much more to come come from all this and I wish we were seeing more of the Iranian women's national team.

And that's not going to be the case for for quite some time. So just sending them, you know, some extra extra love right now.

All right, that was not the only match bringing global conflict into women's football England also played the Ukraine this week. They won England 161 that match had to be played in Turkey due to the Ukraine Russia war.

And we also saw Israel defeated by Belgium that score lined three nil and that game cannot take place in Israel. So it's taking place in Hungary, Russia, who are currently banned by UEFA due to that conflict in Ukraine.

They lost to Ghana for nil in a friendly.

Okay, so that's a little round up of everything going on in the world right now as it relates to the game. Are there any other matches the that your caught your eye from this very interesting international window?

Yeah, I mean, again, my heart goes out to anyone. It's yeah, it's hard for everyone to kind of get out of bed and do their their jobs and in this very intense climate that we live in trying to stick to maybe the joy of either FIFA International Women's Week.

I think we talked about it on when we did our qualifying show, but Haiti beats their in arm 2 nil Pearson harga's first game for Haiti.

Really, really big result in the conquer calf world this week. So that was definitely one to catch up on. If you want to go find the highlights listener and Nicaragua Jamaica was a absolutely incredible game.

Again, proven the joy of the game and seeing bunny sure back in the Jamaica shirt, she had two goals and an assist as Jamaica came from behind to beat Nicaragua 3 2 in Nicaragua.

And it's a great moment to see some of the smaller conquer calf nations making a leap of push in Jamaica all the way.

So as sometimes we do in the show, I bring about to conquer conquer calf for a bit of joy.

That does it for our show today. Thanks as always so very much for hanging out with us on full time.

As always, we'd love to hear from you. Shoot us an email at fulltimeattheathletic.com or a DM over on Instagram or TikTok on one of our accounts.

You can find us at TA full time. Let us know who stood out to you so far in this she believes copper. Who have you just enjoyed watching?

Do you think Emma Hayes has narrowed down this core group ahead of the 2027 World Cup? Let us know.

Before we say goodbye, did you know that the athletic has partnered with Yahoo Sports to provide free best in class coverage of women sports?

That's right. Go check out the women's sports hub at sports dot Yahoo dot com forward slash women dash sports.

All right, we are saying goodbye for now. We will see all of you next week. My name is Jillian Sackovitz. A big thanks to my cohost today in Melanie and podcast producer, The Old Alert Hughes.

And our podcast video producer Leah Griffin, thank you as well. And another thank you to our esteemed executive producer Emily Olsen.

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