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Adam Belz

595 articles

Articles by Adam Belz

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#683: The 1990 World Cup team with author Adam Elder

Adam Elder, the author of "New Kids in the World Cup," joins Belz to talk about the pivotal 1990 World Cup qualifying campaign and the team that went to Italia '90. We mourn the end of the Concacaf qualifying gauntlet, discuss John Harkes' photographic memory, cover the press corps' antagonism to soccer in the 1980s, the genesis of the music video on the beach, and much h more.

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#682: Tyler gets a big win, Pulisic bright in big loss

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

42:263d agoPodcastListen
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#681: The Pulisic slander, the Americans reffing at the WC, and the young guns slinging in MLS

Charlie Boehm joins Belz for a listener's digest of USMNT-related news. Have a great weekend.

50:586d agoPodcastListen
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#680: Balo's finest goal of the season, Big Pat hurt

Vince and Belz get back to the regular routine of the Monday Review after a relatively quiet weekend.

37:31Apr 6PodcastListen
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#679: USA v Portgual recap

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

58:15Apr 1RecapListen
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#678: Ricardo Pepi joins the pod

Rico sat down with Sanjay at the team hotel in Atlanta. Discussed the potential move to Fulham, what it means representing the USA as a Mexican-American, and his favorite club and NT goals.

16:46Mar 31PodcastListen
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#677: USA v Belgium recap

Poch and the boys put on a solid if unspectacular display for 40 minutes, and then, as Vince said, didn't handle business in our defensive third too many times, and paid for it. A long recap of an interesting but discouraging outing at the Benz.

1:57:12Mar 30RecapListen
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#676: It's Belgium Week! Balo, Pulisic & Pepi saga headline things

Balogun helps win and scores a penalty. Pepi transfer saga sags, but Fulham interest appears real. Pulisic's ankles look good. Plus much more. Sanjay Sujanthakumar joins Vince and Belz for a traditional Monday Review.

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#675: The March roster

Vince and Belz talk briefly through the roster, hear a bunch of clips from Poch's press conference, and give their XIs for next Saturday's match against Belgium.

48:38Mar 19PodcastListen
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#674: World Cup kits! Plus a roundup of the weekend action, mostly at striker and midfield

Rico starts and struggles vs NEC Nijmegen, Balo scores another scrappy goal, Haji hurts his groin, Tessmann plays CB, Cardoso shines in Champions League, and more.

58:51Mar 16PodcastListen
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#673: Bruce Arena joins the pod

Sanjay Sujanthakumar sits down with the most influential coach in US Men's National Team history and they talk about his exciting project in San Jose, Torsten Frings, the roster that faced Trinidad in 2017, the role of college soccer in American soccer, and much more.

24:35Mar 13PodcastListen
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#672: Gozo and the youths keep shining in MLS, Serge does his hammy, Balo, Pepi and Haji strike

Vince and Charlie recap a busy weekend, heavy emphasis on Major League Soccer, as the nation emerges from a long winter.

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#671: Marcus Chairez on this exciting youth cohort in MLS

Marcus discusses the 6 most exciting young players in this young MLS season, and what they're doing on the field. And then a bunch of other young players in MLS too.

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#670: Mehmeti says "bring life," Yunus responds, strikers keep scoring

Adri Mehmeti sets the tone with his comments after the Red Bulls second straight win at the beginning of this young MLS season. From the mouths of babes. Also, big game in Marseille, Yunus plays and scores, Balo and Haji score, Pepi still not starting, and much more.

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#669: A spring roster check-up with Dr. Velasquez

It's been a while since the boys played. Who's in? Who's out? As the World Cup approaches, the answers to these questions are not always clear, but Greg breaks down what we DO know, and CAN say.

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#668: MLS is back, Tyler's back, Pepi's BACK

An in-depth show about the U.S. men's national soccer team, the players who could one day make it better, and American soccer in general.

50:24Feb 23PodcastListen
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#667: Doug McIntyre WC roster projections, Haji hattie, Balo brace

Doug McIntyre joins to talk about his latest World Cup roster projections, Haji's hat trick in a top of the table Champo clash, Balogun's brace versus PSG, Wes's legacy-defining upcoming summer, and much more.

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#666: Noahkai turning a corner? Wes at the top of his game

Vince and Belz get back at it post-Valentine's Day. Jedi looked strong in the FA Cup, Tyler's back on the bench for Bournemouth, Wes playing as well as anyone in the world, and Noahkai looking more assured week by week.

1:00:00Feb 16PodcastFA CupListen
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#665: Wes scores another great goal, Poch says he wants a PL trophy

Vince and Belz do their best in the midst of some February doldrums. Wes gave us another good goal, Palace get a win for once, Super Bowl happened, World Cup tickets remain expensive.

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#664: Checking in on Paraguay with Roberto Rojas

Rojas, the host of Guarani Vision, THE English-language podcast about the Paraguay men's national team, joins us to talk about Paraguay's wildly successful qualifying campaign in Conmebol, a little about the Guarani, nights at the Defensores del Chaco, the intensity of that friendly in November, and much more.

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#663: Poch tells Weah to can it, Wes and Malik ball out

Sanjay Sujanthakumar joins Belz and Vince to talk through Poch on Weah on World Cup ticket prices, plus a big week to recap for Malik and Wes, and much more as the countdown continues.

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#662: Henry Bushnell on WC tickets, the Cone era, roster battles for the USMNT

Bushnell, who writes for the Athletic, joined to talk about the high prices of World Cup tickets, Cindy Parlow Cone's expansive and thus far largely trouble-free tenure as USSF president, why Weston McKennie's spot on the field under Poch is such an important matter, Alex Freeman's move to Villareal, and lots more, even Richie Ledezma's switch to Mexico.

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#661: Wes ascendant, Reyna hurt again, World Cup boycott floated

Weston McKennie's coach says he'd be a great central striker, Reyna out with a muscle strain, Tillman on the bench for a spell here, Weah assist, Big Pat scores but Vince is unpersuaded, Tanner and Johnny getting starts in the midfield, and the St. Pauli president floats boycotting the World Cup, which brings to mind Trump, which brings to mind the senseless bloodshed in Minneapolis.

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#660: Mike Woitalla on the coaches' convention

Woitalla, the executive editor of Soccer America, joined the pod after going to Philadelphia for the United Soccer Coaches Convention. At the event, Matt Crocker said there's still too much yelling in youth soccer, Roberto Martinez was gobsmacked by a Barry Pauwels presentation, Tony Lepore discussed plans to grow the ranks of talent scouts, and US Soccer, for the second straight convention, made a strong effort to be present and accounted for.

56:01Jan 23PodcastListen
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#659: A Tuesday Review, emphasis on World Cup bubble guys

Charlie Boehm joins Belz to talk about Richards and the mess at Palace, Brenden Aaronson up from the ashes, Big Pat's distinct skill-set, E.B. White on Gio Reyna, Paredes returns brightly, Cardoso unconvincing to Belz, Pellegrino Matarazzo beats Barca, and Charlie was moved by the African Cup of Nations final.

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#658: Club vs high school soccer with Matt Sahag

Matt Sahag, who coaches high school girls soccer in Des Moines, joins the pod to discuss a recent pitch from a big ECNL club to players and their parents, discouraging them from playing high school soccer this spring so they can focus on league ECNL play and national showcases. Sahag has responses to the claims made by the club. It's interesting. 13-yr-old's flying out for the weekend to play regular-season games, $2500 trips to Arizona for...what? And you don't get to play against that cross-town rival this season for your school, by the way. AND the pot at the end of this rainbow is probably a partial scholarship at a non-D1 college. Just another slice of the America soccer dilemma.

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#657: A superdraft of Pochettino's call-ups since he took over

Vince, Greg, Sanjay and Belz duke it out to see who can craft the best team in a draft of all the players Poch has called up. Let the games begin! I'll post the lineups and some polls shortly.

1:27:52Jan 13PodcastListen
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#656: Sacramento Republic manager Neill Collins joins the pod

We talked about what the World Cup will mean for the sport in America, how kids are introduced to and grow up in the game in Scotland, the heartbreaking end of Sacramento's USL-C season, some coaching talk, some Kenny McLean talk, and lots more. Good chat.

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#655: Brendo strikes! Jedi is fully back, Yunus getting minutes

Vince and Belz return to the Monday Review desk, with Brenden Aaronson getting a spot on A1, some Christmas reflection, a stout defense of Cole Campbell's luxury watch and handbag, and a rundown of all the key USMNT player pool developments since before the holiday.

1:23:24Jan 5PodcastListen
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#654: USMNT annual review, 2025

The JPEG That Changed Everything, the True Blue Tussle Award, Commentator of the Year. This is a dramatically abbreviated version of the full show. If you want the full version, including NT Goal of the Year, Club Goal of the Year, Breakout Player of the Year and Player of the Year, to name a few, join the Patreon.

20:12Dec 18PodcastListen
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#653: JJ Devaney joins, gives us his sense of Poch's tenure, the coming World Cup

The host of long-running former ESPN podcast Caught Offside joins Vince and Belz to discuss what Poch has been up to, whether it's working, Banner the mascot, and where several players probably stand in the depth chart.

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#652: Poch's media tour & what the World Cup will mean to America with Doug McIntyre

We talk through the quite encouraging events of the first half of the week -- Pulisic's big man on campus brace off the bench, Wes's lovely gamewinner in CL, Balo's gamewinner and Pepi's continued propensity to put the ball in the back of the net. Then we get into Poch's media tour after the World Cup draw a little bit, what will happen if we beat Paraguay in that first game, and the MLS championship game a bit too.

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#651: What Poch and the players said about the draw

Sanjay joins Vince and Belz to wrap up World Cup draw coverage (patrons got our call-in show right after the draw already) by listening to several of the most interesting audio clips from Poch and the players, and reacting to them. Limited weekend action to review, and our review was, well, extremely limited.

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#650: The situation is looking pretty good!

Vince brings back "El Loco" for Poch, but in a good way. Four players who weren't even involved in the last window had a great past week in Europe. Pepi's back in the XI for Eindhoven. The World Cup draw is coming up in four days and we talk through the options. Things are looking good, folks. Although there is some sad news from Thanksgiving dinner.

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#649: Leander Schaerlaeckens on the state of the USMNT, its chaotic history & miraculous growth since the 1980s

Vince is back. He and Belz welcome Leander to discuss the past window, where things stand with Poch’s project, and the chaotic history of the US Men’s National Team, which is the subject of his forthcoming book.We end up covering the major action from the weekend, including Pulisic’s gamewinner in the Derby della Madonnina, McKennie’s continued energetic & intelligent play for Juve, another shiny little cameo for Gio, Tillman’s goal and “assist” for Leverkusen, and another unconvincing performance (even in a 1-0 win!) for Noahkai Banks.

1:18:02Nov 24PodcastListen
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#648: USA v Uruguay recap

We wiped out a historically-good national team, coached by Marcelo Bielsa, in Tampa! Greg Velasquez and Belz talk it through. Gio's return, a caution against certainty, a tetchy performance from Poch in the post-game press conference, and, you guessed it, some classic Velasquez wet-blanketism.

1:15:43Nov 19RecapListen
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#647: Joe Scally joins the pod

Sanjay sits down with Joe at the team hotel in Tampa on Monday afternoon, to discuss his nearly 10,000 Bundesliga minutes of experience, how things have changed under Poch, who from the team he would trust the least to run the family business in Lake Grove, and much more. It's a fast but substantive interview.

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#646: USA v Paraguay recap

Charlie Boehm and Belz celebrate a credible victory in greater Philadelphia on Saturday night! Gio is back in the national team mix, emphatically. Arfsten keeps on performing. Our defense has to answer some questions about that equalizer. A fracas in stoppage time. What more could we want.

1:09:12Nov 17RecapListen
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#645: The Albert & Sullivan Show at the U17 World Cup

Matt Hartman joins Belz to talk about our two blue chip 16-year-olds and their eye-catching performances at the U17 World Cup after the USA beat Czechia on Tuesday to round out a 9-point window. We do a timeline of the game and then look briefly ahead to Morocco on Friday, mostly talk about Cavan Sullivan and Mathis Albert.

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#644: The roster for PAR and URU, and a rough weekend in France

Charlie Boehm joins Belz to discuss Tyler's head injury, Tim Tillman's mysterious inclusion, a rough weekend in France for our guys, the MLS playoffs, Dest's return to camp, Big Pat's big goal, and much more.

51:16Nov 10PodcastListen
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#643: Cavan strikes at the U17 World Cup, with Marcus Chairez

Marcus joins Belz to talk about the messy 1-0 win over Burkina Faso at the U17 World Cup, what's promising about the team (Albert, Sullivan) and where it will probably continue to struggle. We also briefly hit on the big Champions League goals from Balo and Pepi.

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#642: Roster talk, Gio contributes, Tyler balling out

Sanjay Sujanthakumar joins Vince and Belz for the Monday Review. Sanjay rushes to Gio's defense. And we discuss who's gonna get the magic phone call with all these injuries piled up.

1:11:57Nov 3PodcastListen
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#641: Midweek recap, MLS playoffs check-in with Charlie Boehm

Full rundown of the action and inaction from the middle of the week, including Balo's goal and Wes's good performance against Udinese, Gio Reyna's quote to the AP, and Charlie gives us an update on where MLS playoffs stand right now.

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#640: U20 wrap, U17 look-ahead with Marcus Chairez, Noahkai struggles, Diego shows out at ComplexCon

Vince, Belz and Marcus on the mics. Also, is Diego Luna actually cool? Not just soccer cool but universally? An in-depth discussion of his photo with Lil Yachty, Quavo and Yeat, which MEANS SOMETHING to Vince. And then we talk about a small part of the weekend action.

1:19:43Oct 27PodcastListen
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#639: World Cup roster predictions with Doug McIntyre

The Fox Sports reporter joins the pod, again, to talk through the past window, a little about Champions League, and mostly to discuss who he thinks will be on the World Cup roster. There's a big surprise in there! And lots of good discussion of the state of the pool.

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#638: Post-camp wrap-up, the centerback situation, Noahkai check-in

Belz and Vince talk through a few more things about the international window, including the Roldanaissance, Balo's supremacy at striker, Tessmann coming good and the problems at centerback, plus Banks's second start in a row for Augsburg, Gio gets minutes for a relegation-bound Gladbach, and Chris takes his struggles with him back to Palace.

1:02:42Oct 20PodcastListen
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#637: USA v Australia recap

Greg and Vince wrap up a pretty good window for the boys. Full treatment of the 2-1 win over Australia in Commerce City.

1:47:43Oct 16RecapListen
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#636: Tanner Tessmann joins the pod!

Tanner Tessmann, the midfield anchor for Olympique Lyonnais who started for the USA against Ecuador on Friday, joined Sanjay Sujanthakumar for a half-hour long chat in Colorado on Monday. The Alabama native talked about, among other things, Nemanja Matic's impact on him, how long of a field goal he can kick with his left foot, his love for Venice and what he thinks he needs to do to start at the World Cup next summer.

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#635: USA v Ecuador recap

Vince and Charlie Boehm carry the flag and get into the 1-1 draw with Ecuador. Balo and Tillman have a great night in Austin, they zapruder the Ecuador goal, lots to discuss.

1:31:00Oct 12RecapListen
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#634: Camp's underway, weekend action and the meaning of Landon's hairpiece

Vince and Belz sit back and relax a bit -- youth sports, the meaning of Landon's hairpiece, and some other minor digressions. the weekend action starts at the 43:00 mark if you want to go straight to that.

1:12:16Oct 6PodcastListen

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