Five Things From the Week: Sept. 2-8
Alex Morgan played her final game, Leicester City avoided a points deduction and the Ballon d’Or nominees were revealed. Five Things From the Week covers all that and more.
1. Alex Morgan leveraged her influence until the very end
Alex Morgan’s brand is one of the most powerful in professional sports. The U.S. women's national team has been at the forefront of female empowerment in sports, and Morgan has served as one of its faces for years. She has consistently used her notoriety to bring awareness to causes she cares about, whether that's equal pay, supporting mothers in professional soccer or numerous other topics.
Morgan also went on record verifying the allegations made by former teammates Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim against Paul Riley. She has never let anything stop her from using her influence and should be applauded for it. By choosing to step away in the middle of a season with a second baby on the way, Morgan is showing all those who look up to her they can live life on their own terms and excel athletically. She's changed her sport in ways very few athletes ever have. That is her ultimate legacy.
2. No one can force the USMNT to grow
For years, the U.S. men’s national team thrived on being scrappy underdogs. Players understood they weren’t beating good teams if they got outworked. The talent level has increased in the past five or so years, and the results have more or less stayed the same. Recently, they’ve gotten worse. The team’s last two games were a group stage elimination in Copa América and its first home loss to Canada in 67 years.
After Saturday’s 2-1 victory, Canada coach Jesse Marsch said he would “much rather” coach Canada than his native country because “you can see the mentality that’s been developed.” The implication was clear: His players care more. Even U.S. interim coach Mikey Varas agreed. Any sense of entitlement should have been gone after the Copa América disaster, but it’s clearly still an issue. It doesn’t really matter what Maruicio Pochettino does until that changes.
3. The Premier League better learn its lesson
To make a complex situation as simple as possible, Leicester City won their appeal and will not face a points deduction for alleged Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) violations at the end of their last stint in the Premier League because the rules were unclear. One of the most powerful sports leagues on the planet essentially argued that it should be able to punish Leicester because the club violated the common sense application of the rules, not the rules themselves. Think about that for a second.
There were loopholes, and Leicester utilized them. The club’s motives were obviously self-serving, but it was also the most powerful demonstration yet of how poorly PSR cases have been handled. There is no consistency, no clear set of guidelines. New spending regulations are coming in next season too. The Premier League has some work to do if it wants to avoid getting embarrassed like this again in the future.
4. The Washington Spirit had a whirlwind of a week
It began with the announcement that star midfielder Croix Bethune suffered a torn meniscus throwing out a first pitch at a Washington Nationals game and will miss the rest of the season. The second major announcement was a much happier one, as Magic Johnson joined the Washington Spirit ownership group. That all took place before the Spirit welcomed the Portland Thorns to Audi Field on Saturday.
The game saw leading goalscorer Ouleymata Sarr exit with an injury in the first half, the Thorns take the lead early in the second half and Leicy Santos complete the Spirit’s comeback with a goal in the 96th minute. Trinity Rodman, who replaced Sarr, scored one goal and set up the other. She celebrated her equalizer by running to Johnson. In the end, it was an eighth victory in 11 games to continue the good vibes in D.C.
5. There is a different feel to the Ballon d’Or nominees
When the 2024 Ballon d’Or nominees were announced Wednesday, it marked the first time since 2003 that neither Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo were included. None of the 30 nominees have won the award, and someone will join Karim Benzema and Luka Modrić as the only men not named Messi and Ronaldo to take home the award since Kaká in 2007. It was also the first time Sam Kerr and Wendie Renard did not make the list for the women’s award, which began in 2018.
While there are big-name veterans like Harry Kane and Ada Hegerberg included among the nominees, Aitana Bonmatí is really serving as a bridge between eras. This trophy is about Bellingham, Haaland and Mbappé now. It’s about Banda, Paralluelo and Smith trying to dethrone Bonmatí. The result should be more variety among the finalists and winners, which makes the award a whole lot more interesting to discuss.