230301 ASU Newsletter

“South Korea fans, brace yourself for Son Heung-min to be sensationally axed on the eve of the World Cup while Klinsmann's son sends out a mocking tweet.”

-Rog from Monday’s Men in Blazers Podcast, on Jürgen Klinsmann becoming South Korea Men’s National Team Head Coach 🇰🇷🇩🇪

Now we newsletter.

Best Dike Since DKNY:

Daryl Dike 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 had a week. The 22-year-old striker from Edmond, Okla. scored a brace in West Brom’s impressive 2-0 win over red-hot Middlesbrough Saturday (WATCH). Both goals came at the expense of USMNT teammate Zack Steffen 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (27; Downington, PA), who’d helped steer Boro to five straight victories coming into the match. “I asked [Zack] why he didn’t let me have the third!” Dike joked to West Midlands newspaper the Express and Star afterwards.

Dike’s performance was well feted in the aftermath of the win, first earning him Baggies Man of the Match, then seeing him named to the Championship Team of the Week. West Brom socials even hit him with a cele tribute tweet.

But for Dike, it was just as much about keeping his side’s impressive home form intact — the Baggies haven’t lost at the Hawthorns since Oct. 29 — as it was about getting back in the goals.

“Having not scored for a few games, as a striker it was something that I really wanted to do,” Dike said in his post-match interview. “Of course on top of that to keep the home streak that we’ve had going, it’s a great feeling, for sure.”

Perspective and humility are Dike hallmarks, as the Baby Eagle himself showed during our recent time with him. Be sure to watch Rog interview Dike which was just released on our YouTube channel 📺, and also listen to our extended American States United Pod, Presented by ESPN+ 🎧 with the USMNT striker. So much to look forward to from this bright, young star, who will be all of 26 when 2026 rolls around. 🇺🇸🦅

FA Cup Bowl I:

FA CUP BOWL I kicked off Wednesday (PHOTOS), with Fulham getting the 2-0 win over Leeds to advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.

Featuring two Americans apiece in both starting lineups, the Eagle-friendly match was ultimately decided by two great goals from the in-form Cottagers. And while he didn’t have a goal contribution, and wasn’t named Man of the Match, it would be tough to argue with the idea that Fountain of Youth Drunkard Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (35; St. Louis, MO) was the best player on the pitch overall. Certainly the case if based on the number of REAM! chants per minute.

For more on Mound City Maldini’s soccer roots, and how growing up the son of a soccer coach in Missouri set the foundation for his professional career, be sure to listen to our podcast special with the Fulham captain. 🤍🎧 Also check out our video interview with Ream, in which he talks about how he actually almost turned down his recent World Cup call-up. 📺

The 9 Train:

Ricardo Pepi 🇳🇱 (20; El Paso, TX) can’t stop scoring. His latest came in a key 3-0 win over fellow relegation strugglers Excelsior on Saturday (WATCH). That makes it nine goals in 18 league appearances for the Augsburg loanee, good enough for fifth place in the Eredivisie scoring race. And good enough for the league IG to shout El Tren out with a highlight reel of all of his goals (swipe right to view). Hard to believe that at the start of the season, there were questions as to whether Pepi belonged in Europe at all. Great to see him maintaining this high level of play over an extended period. 🙌🚂📸

News and Notes:

• Caden Clark 🇩🇪 (19; Medina, MN) and Paxten Aaronson 🇩🇪 (19; Medford, NJ) were both on the bench for RB Leipzig’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday. And while neither played — meaning both have yet to make their Bundesliga debuts — they did meet up and swap jerseys after the match. Which made for a great photo op.

• Gaga Slonina 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (18; Addison, IL) had a standout performance in the Chelsea U21s’ 1-0 win over the Arsenal U21s on Tuesday. The former Chicago Fire goalkeeper made numerous impressive saves (WATCH), and even turned into Illini Ederson for one sequence, firing off a slick downfield pass that nearly led to a Blues goal.

• In-form striker Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 (21; New York, NY) didn’t get in the goals in Reims’ 3-0 win over Toulouse Sunday, something that doesn’t happen often these days. But the Arsenal loanee did get into some England training gear recently, which sent American Soccer Twitter into a mild panic — Balogun is still deciding whether his international future lies with England, Nigeria, or the U.S. 🙁

• Rangers midfielder Malik Tillman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (20; Nürnberg, GER) and Celtic center back Cameron Carter-Vickers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (25; Southend-on-Sea, ENG) started on opposite sides of the pitch in the Scottish League Cup Final Sunday, with the Hoops winning, 2-1. CCV showed some class defending on the day and was arguably the better of the two overall.

• Tim Weah 🇫🇷 (23; Rosedale, NY) has started Lille’s last three league matches at left back, with the French side winning two. While most U.S. fans see Weah as an attacker, he seems to enjoy playing further back. 🗣 “I'm starting to get used to it. I take pleasure in it. I continue to learn. I personally watch left-back videos like Marcelo. I'm happy that the team trusts me and I try to give back to them.”

• Luca de la Torre 🇪🇸 (24; San Diego, CA) was impressive once again in Celta Vigo’s 3-0 win over Real Valladolid Sunday. LDLT indicated that he needed to come off in the 74th minute of the victory, but Celta manager Carlos Carvalhal later said that de la Torre isn’t hurt (in Spanish). The Valladolid match was his sixth straight start, and Celta has three wins and a draw over that stretch. Perhaps thanks to No. 23 channeling some legendary vibes. 🏀🐐

• After getting two caps for the USMNT in January, left back Jonathan Gomez 🇪🇸 (19; North Richland Hills, TX) is looking to make a name for himself both in Europe and back here in the States. The FC Dallas Academy product — whose older brother Johan plays for third-tier German club FSV Zwickau — made the massive jump from Louisville City FC to Real Sociedad, and talked to Goal.com about how the journey has gone. Training sessions with Xabi Alonso and David Silva might indicate that it hasn't gone too poorly.

• While the USYNT U17s lost in the final of the CONCACAF Championships to Mexico, one player who made a name for himself over the course of the tournament was Keyrol Figueroa 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (16; Tegucigalpa, HON). The Liverpool Academy player, and son of ex-Premier League star Maynor Figueroa, scored seven goals over the course of the competition, and has drawn the attention of French star Antoine Griezmann, who wants to become an agent when his playing days are done.

Parting Shots:

Sunday was a big day for Fabian Hürzeler, a.k.a. “American Julian Nagelsmann”. The FC St. Pauli manager turned 30 years old — young even by German coaching standards — and led the Hamburg club to a 1-0 victory over Hansa Rostock. The win means that Hürzeler, who took over as head coach in December, has won all five of the matches he’s coached in the German second tier. Under the Houston, Texas native’s leadership, the Boys in Brown have climbed from just above the relegation zone up to seventh place. No telling where the Millennial Wunderkind will have them by the time he’s 31.

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