USMNT ROSTER DROPS TODAY

AMERICAN STATES UNITED

Days until World Cup starts: 11

Days until USA Wales: 12

Days until roster drops: 0

It’s here. Today’s the day GGG tells the world which 26 Baby Eagles will be repping the U.S. at the 2022 World Cup. Tune in to ESPN2 at 5 p.m. ET for the official announcement. Then join us for Men in Blazers Do It Live! at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday with SPECIAL GUEST GREGG BERHALTER! 🤯 Download AMP to tune in, and get your questions ready. If some of the early reports are correct, there will definitely be surprises to discuss. 

But quickly, a refresher for those of you who are new to this newsletter, which flies every Wednesday. It’s intended to recap all of the previous week’s action from the Baby Eagles abroad, as well as our American Women plying their trade overseas. If you like it, we have just one ask: please share it with your friends and encourage them to subscribe. THEY CAN DO SO HERE. 

Now we newsletter:

Our Eagle Squadrons in England 

Leeds, bloody hell. The Liverpool win last week was great. Beyond great. But it felt as though it had wrung every ounce of emotion out of us. Then along came Bournemouth. And we got to go through the whole joyfully torturous process all over again. But it’s what sports is all about, right? Suddenly Leeds and Racine, Wisconsin’s Jesse Marsch have six points out of six. Suddenly he gets a statue, not the sack. Football, you are remarkable. (WATCH ROG’S REAL-TIME COMMENTARY HERE).

Leeds do tend to make it hard on themselves. You know, with that not-defending thing that they do. It’s avant garde. But watching Leeds, you feel alive. You feel all the emotions. As the Elland Road fans did when they serenaded American midfielder Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 while he walked off the pitch after the dramatic win. ❤️❤️❤️ Watch our Pod feed for a new episode of Tyler Adams: Road to the Cup, Presented by Volkswagen, which drops Thursday. Tyler describes this very moment. 

Fellow Eagle-enablers Fulham were also valiant, if ultimately unsuccessful, in their 2-1 loss at Manchester City. Antonee Robinson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 may have given away the match-winning penalty in the dying moments, but the defending and overall play from him and Missouri Maldini Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 are why the Cottagers can even almost get a result on the road against a turbo-charged squad like City. And there are reports swirling that Gregg is taking notice. We will find out tonight. 

Limited to a late-sub role in Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Arsenal, Christian Pulisic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 didn’t have a big weekend like his fellow Americans in the EPL. But then he’s just saving his energy for the World Cup. 😉

Only Happy When It Reynas

A penalty kick is football’s Rorschach test, in that it can tell you a lot about the psyche of the player taking it. In the case of Gio Reyna 🇩🇪, his most recent spot kick says that he’s filled with confidence and joy these days — or Zuversicht und Freude as Reyna himself would say, given the impressive Deutsch he put on display in this recent TV interview. The confidence can be seen in the way he icily Jorginho-s the penalty. The joy can be seen in the ensuing Teen Titans-inspired cele (WATCH GOAL AND CELE HERE). It was another uplifting moment for a player who’s had a string of them lately. 🇺🇸🖤💛🙌

The Stationary Bike Set 🚑

We’ll get the bad news out of the way first this week. To start, Chris Richards 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 let the world know via IG that he would miss the World Cup due to injury. Wishing you strength and courage, Eastmamba. Cannot wait to see you back out there for Palace soon. ❤️💙🇺🇸 prayers up for Sam Vines 🇧🇪, who took to Instagram to reveal that he has a broken tibia and will be out for three-to-four months, which rules him out for the World Cup. Get well soon, Sammy. 🙏 

Now the good news. Weston McKennie 🇮🇹 is way ahead of schedule in his recovery from a thigh injury, and is already training with Juventus again … After being out of the squad entirely for Arsenal’s three previous matches due to a groin injury, Matt Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 was an unused sub for the Gunners’ win over Chelsea. There’s also every chance he gets the start for Arsenal Wednesday against Brighton in the Carabao Cup … We’re not sure where Luca de la Torre 🇪🇸 is these days health-wise, but Celta Vigo has been posting videos of him jogging in the mist while tagging USMNT. So he’s either ahead of schedule, or they’re trying to boost followers … After missing two matches due to injury, Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 played 90 in Norwich City’s 2-1 win over Rotherham Saturday … Daryl Dike 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 played 45 minutes and scored a penalty for West Brom PL2 on Wednesday after having been out due to a thigh injury since July 30. Feels like Oklahoman Lukaku could play for the Baggies on Saturday against Stoke. 🙌

Go! Go! USA! The three most beautiful words in the English language. Also, a new Podcast from the MiB Media Network in which Rog and Brendan Hunt (Coach Beard from Ted Lasso) trace American men’s soccer’s proud history from inception through to present day. Like your favorite Kenny Burns documentary, but with Scotch. In our latest episode, we revisit 2014, Brazil, Jurgen dropping Landon and that John Brooks Ghana goal. LISTEN HERE. 

News and Notes:

• Haji Wright 🇹🇷 scored his ninth goal of the season in Turkey over the weekend.

• Ricardo Pepi 🇳🇱 tallied another assist Sunday, meaning De Trein 🚂 now has seven goal contributions (5G 2A) in eight matches.

• Ethan Horvath 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 pulled another shutout for Luton Town Saturday, before missing the Hatters’ match at Stoke Tuesday due to illness. Regardless, latest reports have Horvath making the U.S. World Cup squad in a surprising series of moves. 

• Mark McKenzie 🇧🇪 deserves your consideration. Genk managed another impressive win, meaning MM’s the starting CB on Belgium’s top team, and stingiest defense. 

• Tim Weah 🇫🇷 played a great 90 for Lille Sunday. But at RWB. Suddenly we have more wingbacks than a Connecticut living room. 

• Speaking of CT, Alex Mighten 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, a 20-year-old forward who was born in Hartford, Conn., scored his first career goal for Sheffield Wednesday on Friday. Up the OVOs.

Need help keeping track of all the Americans playing soccer abroad as the USMNT gets ready for World Cup 2022? We’re here to help with our weekly “How to Watch: Americans Abroad” TV/streaming guide. From McKennie to Musah, here's how to watch the top U.S. footballers from Nov. 9-13. 

U.S. World Cup Champions Playing in Europe:

Lindsey Horan isn’t the only GREAT AMERICAN scoring goals in France. Celeste Boureille 🇫🇷, the 28-year-old midfielder from San Francisco, scored an 87th minute equalizer for Montpellier in their 2-2 draw at second-place PSG on Saturday. It was the second goal of the season for the UC Berkeley alum, who’s also played for AC Milan and Portland Thorns. Eagles up, Celeste!

We are now just SIX days away from the start of the Men in Blazers "This Cup's For You" World Cup Tour. And what a show we have to kick things off. Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Terminal 5, right here in NYC, we will welcome none other than John Oliver to the stage to preview the buffet of footballing goodness that stretches out before us. John has appeared on Men in Blazers more than any other guest. And yet he has had the good judgment to never appear on stage with us. That all changes Nov. 15. And John's not the only Group B, A-list guest we have for you. Welsh King and legendary actor Matthew Rhys of "The Americans" fame will also be with us and promises to turn the Cymru Hype up to 11. New York, get your tickets for this show HERE.

Parting Shots:

Arguably the best goal scored by an American Abroad this week belongs to 21-year-old Taylor Booth 🇳🇱 of Eden, Utah. Booth — who plays for FC Utrecht in Holland — cut through the FC Groningen defense via a give-and-go and a nutmeg before side-footing a composed finish in Utrecht’s 2-1 win over Pepi’s FC Groningen.

A little more about Booth: The Utah Hazard joined FC Utrecht this summer after academy stints with Real Salt Lake and Bayern Munich (he made an appearance with Bayern’s senior side in a first-round DFB Pokal match), and he’s made two appearances with the U.S. U-19s. Thanks to an Italian passport obtained via his father’s European heritage, Utrecht’s No. 10 has been playing in Europe for over three years now, which might explain his technique on the ball … as well as his Brad Friedel-esque, man-of-no-nation accent, as heard in this interview.