20230524 American States United

Our Baby Baby Eagles are off to a fast start at the U20 World Cup in Argentina. After Tuesday’s 3-0 result over Fiji, the USYNT now has two wins from their first two group-play matches. Real Sociedad B’s Jonathan Gomez 🇪🇸 (19; North Richland Hills, TX) scored the late winner in our 1-0 first-match win over Ecuador. Then the second game was an MLS Showcase of sorts, with three goals in the second half against Fiji coming via Salt Lake’s Diego Luna 🇺🇸 (19; Sunnyvale, CA), San Jose’s Cade Cowell 🇺🇸 (19; Ceres, CA), and Atlanta’s Caleb Wiley 🇺🇸 (18; Atlanta, GA). Chelsea’s Gaga Slonina 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (19; Addison, IL) had back-to-back shutouts in net.

Next up: Slovakia on Friday. 💪🦅

U21 Savage:

In his first club match after committing to the USMNT, Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 (21; Brooklyn, NY) scored his 20th goal of the season for Reims (WATCH). Not only does this mean Balogun is tied for fourth in the Ligue 1 scoring race, but it also makes him the first U21 of the season — and the only U.S. player ever — to reach 20 goals in Europe’s Top 5 leagues.

Of course, top clubs are taking notice. According to reports out of Italy, Balogun is AC Milan’s top transfer target at striker, the heir apparent to erstwhile Pulisic Beard Daddy Olivier Giroud, and Red Bull Leipzig are also interested in bringing the Arsenal loanee over to the Bundesliga. Options aplenty for the American Abroad, something we will never tire of referring to him as. ❤️

What Follows for Leeds:

What could have been for Leeds United States of America. The season opened with Brian Bosworth levels of promise. Jesse Marsch had steered the Lilywhites to a great escape the season prior. Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Wappingers Falls, NY) had the dawg in him in midfield. Brenden Aaronson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Medford, NJ) poaching goals via elite Dirty Jerz thievery. And then there was the excitement around the midseason acquisition of Weston McKennie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Little Elm, TX). By January, we had a full convocation of Eagles in Yorkshire, poised to soar.

But sadly the whole operation nosedived and fell to bits, like one of those homemade hang-gliders that gets pushed off the pier at Red Bull Flugtag. Aaronson’s play dipped, potentially due in part to having his appendix removed in February. Marsch, perhaps unwisely, got the sack. Adams got hurt. And now Big Sam’s Leeds attack relies on McKennie long throws. Yorkshire Dak Prescott he may be, but it might not be the best way to survive in England’s top flight.

Heading into the last match of the season on Sunday, it appears extremely likely that Leeds are destined for the Championship next season. And according to The Athletic, that means LUSA is going to take a few hits. For starters, McKennie is reportedly gone, even if Leeds miraculously do stay up. Adams is someone the club would very much like to hold on to, but it remains to be seen if he desires Championship football. Aaronson remains in great standing at the club, a player who “nobody behind the scenes at Leeds has anything but warm words for,” and “who one staff member described as the ‘ideal son-in-law’,” all according to The Athletic.

If Leeds do suffer the sting of relegation on Sunday, it will be a sad end to a uniquely American footballing story. One that began with so much hope and promise.

Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened. And gave us that win over Liverpool at Anfield in late October.

US World Cup Champions in Europe:

Lindsey Horan 🇫🇷 (28; Golden, CO) is having a grand time in France. Last week it was a victory over her former club PSG to win the French Cup Final. This week, she hoisted hardware at the Parisians’ expense yet again, thanks to a 1-0 win at the Stade Jean-Bouin on Sunday that secured the Women’s Division 1 league title for Olympique Lyon. A double for The Great Horan. You can see how much it meant to her here.

Side Note: Lindsey wasn’t the only American Abroad in the match, as 19-year-old Korbin Albert 🇫🇷 (19; Grayslake, IL) subbed on for PSG in the 69th minute. It was just Albert’s sixth appearance of the season. Great experience for the Notre Dame product.

Horan’s semester abroad in France has gone so well that she has now decided to extend her stay, and will be returning to OL next season. Allez, Lindsey. One player who reportedly won’t be rejoining her at Lyon is fellow USWNT star Cat Marcario 🇫🇷 (23; San Diego, CA), who has been linked with a move to Chelsea. Sadly, Cat announced this week that she won’t be healthy in time for this summer’s World Cup, a massive blow to the U.S. frontline. Godspeed in your rehabilitation, Cat.

Meanwhile in England, Katie Stengel 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 had a brace of headers for Liverpool in the Reds’ 3-3 WSL draw at Aston Villa (WATCH). With nine goals this season, the 31-year-old from Melbourne, Fla. will finish the year as Liverpool’s top scorer heading into their final match Saturday against Manchester United. Great season for the one the Scousers call Stengoal.

You can support The Great Horan and all the other USWNT players with the GFOPs over at Talisman and Co. from St. Paul, MN who have a USWNT line of caps in partnership with the USWNT Players Association ahead of the Women’s World Cup.

News and Notes:

• Mark McKenzie 🇧🇪 (24; Bear, DE) scored his fourth goal in his last five games for Genk. Then hit the Dillon Brooks Cele. 🇨🇦🏀

• Best of luck to Ethan Horvath 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (27; Highlands Ranch, CO) and Luton Town in the Championship Promotion Playoff Final Saturday against Coventry City. Ahead of the big match, be sure to listen to Rog’s interview with Tim Ream about what it’s like to play in “The Richest Game in Football.” LISTEN HERE

• FIFA has signed off on Timothy Tillman’s 🇺🇸 (24; Nürnberg, GER) one-time switch from Germany to the U.S. to join his younger brother Malik on the USMNT. “As a kid, me and my brother would dream about playing for a national team together,” said Timothy in his first USMNT interview.

• Eintracht dropped a great video featurette on Paxten Aaronson 🇩🇪 (19; Medford, NJ). It talks to the player about his successful rookie season in Frankfurt, and also confirms he was too valuable for the German club to release to the U.S. for the U20 World Cup, as he has a part to play in Eintracht’s big German Cup Final. 🙌

• After a terrific loan season with Groningen from Augsburg, it turns out Ricardo Pepi’s 🇳🇱 (20; El Paso, TX) future might be in the Netherlands after all, reportedly with PSV.

• Venezia, and their four Americans Abroad, have qualified for the Serie B playoffs and now face Cagliari on Saturday with promotion to Italy’s top flight at stake. Special shouts to standout Baby Eagle of the season, central midfielder Tanner Tessmann 🇮🇹 (21; Hoover, AL).

• Ein Maß 🍻 for Pellegrino Matarazzo 🇩🇪, who has successfully kept Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga after taking over as manager in February with the club very much in the relegation mix.

• Love to Yunus Musah 🇪🇸 (20; New York, NY) for sending support to Vinícius Júnior. Musah was on the pitch for Valencia when the Real Madrid winger suffered racial abuse and saw a since-rescinded red card at the Mestalla on Sunday.

• In Brazil, Johnny Cardoso 🇧🇷 (21; Denville, NJ) scored his first goal of the season for Internacional, a lovely redirected header goal against Gremio.

Parting Shots:

Ian Harkes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 got one against Livingston in Scotland on Saturday. The 28-year-old midfielder from the Washington, D.C. area scored via a left-footed beauty plucked out of midair for Dundee United (WATCH). Sadly, the Arabs fell on the road, 3-1, and are going to have a tough time avoiding relegation.

Of course any goal by Ian is an excuse to run this classic 1990 banger by his father, John Harkes, when he was with Sheffield Wednesday. It’s a grainy, Beta tape masterpiece of a goal that’s especially timely given the Owls’ date in Monday’s League One Promotion Playoff Final against Barnsley at Wembley. Up the OVOs. 🦉

The Perfect Collection for Your Collection:

Shirts (to work on your farmers’ tan in style), hats (to make sure you protect your head from the sun), glasses (perfect for enjoying a summer beverage), and more are in our American States United collection. All Baby Eagles all the time.