Owned Goals: Watching the USMNT as America Falls Apart
The 2024 Copa América was supposed to be a coming-out party for the United States Men’s National Soccer Team. Team USA had boasted a strong performance at the 2022 World Cup—and was gearing up to host the sport’s biggest tournament in 2026. Instead, it crashed out of the tournament in the group stage, losing 1-0 to Uruguay on home soil. In the fourth episode of Owned Goals, hosts Alex Shephard, Miguel Salazar, and Ben Makuch discuss the team’s messy, tepid performance at the Copa as a metaphor for Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, and talk about where things go from here. They also discuss elections in France and the U.K., a very weird attempted coup in Bolivia, and the highlights of the Euros and Copa América as we head toward the semifinals.
The 2024 Copa América was supposed to be a coming-out party for the United States Men’s National Soccer Team. Team USA had boasted a strong performance at the 2022 World Cup—and was gearing up to host the sport’s biggest tournament in 2026. Instead, it crashed out of the tournament in the group stage, losing 1-0 to Uruguay on home soil. In the fourth episode of Owned Goals, hosts Alex Shephard, Miguel Salazar, and Ben Makuch discuss the team’s messy, tepid performance at the Copa as a metaphor for Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance, and talk about where things go from here. They also discuss elections in France and the U.K., a very weird attempted coup in Bolivia, and the highlights of the Euros and Copa América as we head toward the semifinals.
