Full Time Newsletter ⚽| This is The Athletic’s weekly women’s soccer newsletter. Sign up here to receive Full Time directly in your inbox.
After an exciting weekend, we’ve got plenty to cover. Stick around for:
- A recap of the NWSL final
- Emma Hayes’ trip to a familiar pub
- The U.S. player who just called time on her international career
Orlando’s Winning Season
A memorable trip to KC
The words “women’s soccer-specific stadium” were inescapable this weekend in Kansas City, Mo., during the NWSL championship weekend — and for good reason. With a capacity of 11,500 at the groundbreaking CPKC Stadium — home of the Current — the league once again sold out its final. Although ticket prices plummeted days before the game, mostly because the home team was knocked out in the semifinals, the atmosphere was electric.
Meg said during the weekend that the NWSL championship is starting to seriously feel like a week-long event rather than just a single game. Good.
We started our trip by filming the “Full Time” podcast with Meg and co-host Tamerra Griffin on location, with producer Theo Lloyd-Hughes and video producer Lia Griffin there, too. With those resources, we were able to host meaningful in-person conversations, like the one we had with national anthem singer Melissa Etheridge about creating community, and capture the videos from the skills challenge and the fan fest.
Communities don’t grow on their own. They need to be nurtured — and that’s what this championship weekend was all about.
Pride close dominant season with another trophy
Now for the soccer. The Orlando Pride carried a season with just two losses and an NWSL Shield into an NWSL championship victory over the Washington Spirit — no small feat.
From their dominance during the regular season — sparked by the feet of Barbra Banda and Marta and held down by a consistent defense — to the final whistle on Saturday, this year belonged to the Pride and Coach of the Year Seb Hines, who became the first Black head coach to win the honor.
It’s hard to believe the win was Orlando and Marta’s first in the league.
Understandably, there are some frustrated Washington fans out there (especially after a few questionable no-calls during the game), but the Spirit had their chances. They outshot the Pride 26-9, but the scoreline ended 1-0 in Orlando’s favor. Still, Washington has plenty to look forward to: the team has an invested owner, a coach who knows how to win and a young team of very talented rookies only just beginning their careers.
Meg’s Corner
The meaning of the (2024) season
As we begin the final international window of the year, it’s worth pausing this week to take stock.
I started this year at CPKC Stadium and ended it in the same building, recording the introduction of the podcast from the confetti-strewn field. As Tamerra said multiple times on our championship episode, it felt fitting that we were in a building built to grow.
Every year, the championship becomes more of an event; every year, the bar gets raised for the NWSL and its teams. This was a speed-run on both counts, thanks to broken records, the standout performances from players like Croix Bethune and Temwa Chawinga and the Orlando Pride.
But as soon as that final whistle blew and the empty champagne bottles were carted off, the countdown to 2025 began. It will be unlike any offseason before, with no draft looming in January. The league still has an expansion team to announce, the finalists being Denver, Cleveland and Cincinnati (now with surprise investor Caitlin Clark).
But for now, in these (mostly) quiet few days following the championship and the USWNT match at Wembley this coming weekend, I’m trying to savor the smaller moments from Kansas City — a brief moment with Marta at media day, recording “Full Time” in person with the full gang for the first time, running into someone I knew around every corner because that’s just how the championship works.
U.S. Soccer / Getty Images
USWNT News
Hayes makes her UK return
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes has returned to her home of England ahead of this Saturday’s U.S.-Lionesses match at Wembley Stadium.
And, of course, she held her first news conference in the basement of a London pub earlier today.
Our Charlotte Harpur was at that pub and wrote about how the first time Hayes introduced herself to the USWNT, she put a photo up of Camden High Street in north London and a pub called World’s End.
Read the full story of Hayes’ return here, and watch the U.S. face England on Saturday at 12:20 p.m. ET (TNT, Telemundo).
Naeher retiring from international soccer
Just after Hayes’ appearance, USWNT goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher announced she is retiring from international soccer. It would have been cruel if Naeher’s tenure with the USWNT had ended in 2023 after a failed World Cup. For all of the issues the U.S. experienced at that summer’s tournament, few were of her doing. This year was bound to be a year of transition, with many program mainstays retiring and the delayed onset of the Hayes era. Nevertheless, the 36-year-old Naeher made sure the final year of her international career was among her best.
First, there was her savvy big-game leadership in the SheBelieves Cup and the W Gold Cup, bumping herself up the queue of penalty takers to ensure a greater role in determining the outcome of two shootouts against Canada. Then there was her backstopping at the Olympics, where she kept four clean sheets — including in the quarterfinal, semifinal and final — to restore the USWNT to the top of the podium for the first time since 2012.
Along the way, Naeher appeared willing to soften her longtime famously steely resolve. Before the Olympics, Trinity Rodman said Naeher was “like her mom” in camp, while other teammates bestowed upon her the loving nickname “Unc” or “Uncle.”
After years of stoic deadpan whenever the cameras caught her visage, Naeher was more keen to celebrate with teammates than ever this year. It’s a full-circle character arc befitting of a program legend, one who is a worthy candidate in debates about the USWNT’s greatest-ever goalkeeper alongside Briana Scurry and Hope Solo.
Kang spends big on USWNT
Spirit owner Michelle Kang pledged $30 million over the next five years to U.S. Soccer, marking the largest donation made to women’s and girls’ programs in the organization’s 111-year history.
The businesswoman and owner of three women’s soccer teams has emerged as one of the lead investors in the sport in the last five years after previously not being involved. From her childhood in Korea to her move to the U.S., Meg spoke with Kang about finding opportunities in women’s sports.
Feedback Loop
Thanksgiving poll results
Last week, I shared a poll requesting everyone’s must-have non-turkey item on the Thanksgiving table. And 15 of you correctly picked mashed potatoes.
Some single votes included: pinto beans, Hayes’ suggestion of rhubarb crumble and sticky toffee pudding, Tofurkey and someone’s mom’s dressing (stuffing).
If you subscribe to The Pulse newsletter, which you should, on Thursday you’ll see our newsletter staff’s Thanksgiving food draft. I’m not saying you’re obligated to vote for Full Time’s picks, but if you don’t, I hope you enjoy the kids’ table.
Our question this time: Which soccer player would you invite to your holiday dinner?
📫 Love Full Time? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters.
(Top photo: Jay Biggerstaff / Imagn Images)
