Spain national football team

I think that's fair enough because obviously England are in this position because they finished second in a very tough group.

Obviously Spain won the group in Spain but there was a 4-0 defeat in Spain earlier this year and I think that is where Sabrina Wiegmann is coming from that England have to get back to that level if they're going to compete at the World Cup next year and I think obviously England will beat Greece in the second leg.

They'll qualify for the next leg of the playoffs.

I think they've got Slovakia or Ukraine so again they should qualify but qualifying for a World Cup is not where it's at for the Lionesses.

It's all about getting to the final and potentially winning it so...

I mean, I was in Sydney for the last World Cup final against Spain.

Again, it was one of those nights where you think, Spain again, you know, Spain in the men's game, the winnings game, it's always Spain, isn't it? But Spain on that occasion showed they were better than England again during the qualifiers.

So there's a real rivalry there.

And, and the girls are, are very lucky to, to enjoy that now and, and to work hard there as well and, and to bring more championships home.

Yeah, to truly have the luxury to focus on the task at hand, which for this window is against Spain.

But we've seen this team constantly challenging themselves, looking forward to obviously summer of 2027 in Brazil.

They've been in Brazil, had those games against, uh, one of the top national teams, played Japan before that, and now Spain.

Jeff, very intentional here-

Yeah

Mm

... almost never has to face as the opponent.

And we're back.

Uh, US Women's National Team plays two games, both against Spain.

Uh, one of them on Saturday, and I forget when the other one is, but it's not too long after that.

Michelle Cooper from The Current was called up.

And get that call-up

... a lot of times we saw her also with a bad current team and then a bad Utah team, so.

For the national team, what do we expect from these games against Spain?

It's very weak.

Day of tomorrow.

And then the 13th versus Spain at Subaru Park.

Spain, the number one women's national team on the planet.

No Naomi Girma, no Sam Coffey who were called out of this roster due to injuries.

I would have loved to have gone longer

We can recap these games.

I'm going to recap these games, but your quick highlighted thoughts of what these two friendlies could mean for the U.S. women's national team.

I mean, I think they mean a lot simply because it's versus Spain.

So it is about that time.

The USMS national team is hosting Spain, the number one team in the world, first this weekend in Washington, D.C., and then next Tuesday in Chester, P.A.

Huge games, really exciting tentpole games, friendlies nonetheless, to kind of sink our teeth into as we get ready to kind of check out where the U.S. is against the best in the world and also kind of how they're stacking up against themselves as they continue to prepare for the World Cup next year.

Now, as we've established for a while now, these games are a lot more about how, like I said, the U.S.'s top group compares against another World Cup contender than a lot of the rotation that we've been seeing for the United States over the last 18 months or so.

U.S. manager Emma Hayes has basically said this in press conferences.

Like, if you are used to this era of experimentation, do not expect that.

Do not expect heavy rotation between game one In game two this week, this is about how their XI stacks up against Spain's XI.

This is simulating something much more difficult, I think, hopefully, than qualifying for a World Cup, but this is more about winning one and what that would look like with the group that they have available to them right now.

We're back after what feels like a long break from international play with the October US Women's National Team international window.

So I figured it would be a perfect time to not only go over what you should be watching in this, in the US friendlies against Spain by pinpointing five specific storylines that I'd like to highlight, but also share five other matches in this window that I think will be of real interest to US fans, and why I chose them.

There's such incredible football being played around the world, and with the Women's World Cup just less than a year around the corner now, which is just so crazy to say, I'm so excited for these matches in particular.

The star power on the pitch on both sides of the field is just so immense in these friendlies that I'd like to start with.

And it's not just the US that are going through a lot of these injury issues.

We're seeing a lot of missing stars from the Spanish roster that we would expect to be a part of the fold.

Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí is the most notable absence from Spain's 25-player list as she continues to recover from a lingering injury.

She returned at club play for FC Barcelona, but unfortunately, it wasn't in time for Spain to justify bringing her up this window.

Los feo indeed.

Um, starting with the good, Liam, um, you're up here first and you are going with, uh, one of our teams from La Roja.

La Rioja.

Indeed, I am.