Vintage

The U.S. men's national team defeated Mexico in a highly contested match on Sunday to win the CONCACAF Nations League, marking the country’s first competitive victory over its rivals since September 10th, 2013.

The fruitless streak continued so long that I personally graduated middle school, high school and was just one year away from graduating college before the U.S. was victorious again. Christian Pulisic, the American captain who scored the go-ahead goal, was just 14 years old when the U.S. last claimed victory. 

History is written by the victors. When you reminisce about the biggest finals of recent times, you’re likely thinking of players like Megan Rapinoe at the 2019 World Cup, Kylian Mbappé in 2018, Carli Lloyd in 2015 or Mario Götze in 2014.   

But there are those rare instances when an individual’s performance on the losing team — for better (Zinedine Zidane in 2006) or worse (Loris Karius in 2018) — lives just as vividly in the memory. 

I’m not a podcast person. I listened to Season 1 of Serial on a road trip and only finished it because I was on a road trip. I then avoided the format for like six years until Grant Wahl’s American Prodigy: Freddy Adu, because I need to know where my son Freddy is and what he’s doing at all times. 

But I’m back at it with The Crack Podcast, which I started simply because I love DaMarcus Beasley and Oguchi Onyewu, but I continue because it’s hilarious, informative and generally fucking excellent.

Another remarkable weekend in LaLiga saw Atlético Madrid regain title control with three matches remaining despite drawing 0-0 with Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Saturday.