I Believe The Children Are The Future

What’s up Squad members old and new, it’s time for the next edition of On the 2 and the 4! That’s right, look at us doing stuff weekly. We call that growth around here. This week was the last one before the international break in WOSO, and it was busy. We had lots of shea butter bombs and booms, young ballers stepping up on the big stage, playoff shuffling and too many balls or whatever that was. Let’s get into it.

We have merch!

Thank you all so much for your support out the gate for our pre-sale! We’re so excited to finally have merch for you all and y’all have copped a lot of gear so far. Keep it up, and remember, the pre-sale is through November 1st, with guaranteed delivery by the NWSL Championship if you order by that date. Stop by the shop at https://www.ftcutd.com/sbfcshop to get our standard and custom gear.

Match Recaps and Notable Goal Scorers

*_{note, all names listed in italics are players that scored, the number beside their name indicates the minute they scored their goal. (P) = goal scored was a penalty kick}

We’ve had two Match Days for the Women’s U17 WC since the last newsletter, and the youngest of the delegates delivered in true fashion in the Dominican Republic. We’ve got you covered with every delegate goal scored this week in the the UWCL, the FA WSL, the NWSL and the U17 World Cup.

UEFA Women’s Champions League

Barcelona 9, Hammarby 0 - Esmee Brugts 86

Real Madrid 4, Celtic 0 - Linda Caicedo 83 (P)

Roma 6, Galatasaray 1 - Hawa Cissoko 7

Lyon 2, Wolfsburg 0 - Wendie Renard 8

Barclays Women’s Super League

Brighton 1, Manchester United 1 - Nikita Parris 52

Chelsea 5, Tottenham 2 - Sandy (Not Charli) Baltimore 74

National Women’s Soccer League

Seattle Reign 2, Houston Dash 1 - Nerilia Mondesir 65

Kansas City Current 4, San Diego Wave 1 - Michelle Cooper 22, Temwa Chawinga 54, Delphine Cascarino 88

Washington Spirit 2, Chicago Red Stars 0 - Makenna Morris 83

Angel City 1, Utah Royals 1 - Sydney Leroux 57

U17 Women’s World Cup

Nigeria 4, New Zealand 1 - Shakirat Abidemi Moshood 2, Khadijat Taiwo Adegoke 13, Faridat Opeyemi Abdulwahab 28, Taiwo Tewogbola Afolabi 55

Ecuador 2, Dominican Republic 0 - Jaslym Valverde Tenorio 14, 29

Brazil 1, Zambia 0 - Juliana (Juju) Harris 19

England 2, Kenya 0 - Lauryn Thompson 87

Nigeria 4, Ecuador 0 - Shakirat Abidemi Moshood 28 (P), 96, Chidera Harmony Chidi 54, Peace Mary Effiong 66

Dominican Republic 1, New Zealand 1 - Yuleinis Brito Pinales 68

United States 2, Colombia 0 - Micayla Johnson 43

Japan 2, Brazil 1 - Juliana (Juju) Harris 8

England 4, Mexico 2 - Oliva Hibbert-Johnson 90+11

Ecuador 4, New Zealand 0 - Domenica Arboleda Ortiz 41, Dariana Moran 79

Nigeria 1, Dominican Republic 0 - Shakirat Abidemi Moshood 89

Notable Goals

The Dominican Republic is host of the U17 Women’s World Cup, thus making it the first time the team has participated in the tournament. Yuleinis Brito Pinales scored the country’s first ever goal and it secured their first points ever with the match ending in a 1-1 draw. Shakirat Abidemi Moshood is the current Golden Boot leader in the U17 WWC and may have the goal of the tournament so far against the host nation. Nerilia Mondesir scored her first NWSL goal and Hawa Cissoko scored her first UWCL goal.

Black In Action: Introducing Shakirat Abidemi Moshood

Y’all, I’ve had to go down the U17 rabbit hole a bit to make sure I accounted for all goals scored by delegates thus far, and learning about the baby ballers has been a delight. My favorite player to emerge during this tournament is Shakirat Abidemi Moshood of Nigeria. On a squad full of shooters that shoot, including their leading goal scorer in qualifiers Chidera Harmony Chidi, she is the most audacious. Her third goal of the tournament was an absolutely filthy outside of the boot shot on her left to go far post, in stoppage time, when her team was already up 3-0. Earlier in that same match, in the 2nd half, she had a fantastic shot that was dipping on frame from about 25 yards saved over the bar. But the goal above, for me, is the current goal of the tournament. She is an incredibly accurate, left footed shooter from the footage I have seen, which is rare for someone her age. She can poach, take calm penalties, and can make you pay for not stepping out to defend her. Nigeria had nothing to lose this match as they had already secured first place in their group, but the best shooters are audacious in any situation, and Shakirat has the makings of a great shooter. Her accuracy, no matter the distance, means a good shot for her is a bad shot for almost everyone else in her peer group. That is how you become elite, and she seems like she’ll never stop shooting, in training, in a match, in her sleep, whenever. We need more players with a shooters shoot mentality, and she has it enough for several players. Ball out Shakirat, we love to see it!

Anatomy of a Goal: Delphine Cascarino

Listen, most of us who consume women’s soccer with regularity know the abilities of Delphine Cascarino. A former Lyon player who has won a lot of trophies and scored a lot of goals, she has honed her craft over the past decade for club and country. What she doesn’t get enough credit for is her pressing and ball winning, the latter of which she does to set up her own shot and goal. It is important to note, most players are not able to get their own shot in women’s soccer. It is more of an expectation for wingers, or the 7 and 11 positions on the pitch, but it is not all that common, currently. Cascarino creates this goal by pressing and reading the path of the pass to Debinha. She cheats to Debinha’s left and takes the ball from her. She then makes a run to set up the shot, muscles off Desiree Scott, one of the best CDMs of her generation, and takes the extra dribbles to set up a small window for a shot she knows she can rifle past Schult. She does just that, setting her hips towards the far post so the shot curves in towards the keeper and up, giving Schult no real chance to save it if it’s on target. This is a sniper’s goal for Cascarino that she earned with her work on both sides of the ball. A textbook goal that I would show young players who want to become better shooters.

Hidden Figures: Nerilia Mondesir

By my not exact calculations (which was just me counting every player from every confederation and federation, thrice) the NWSL has had 320 international players roster during its existence. This count does include dual national players within the US because it was hard to get a list that did not include them. Of all those players, only on has been Haitian born. The rise of Haiti in the past five years, starting at the youth level, has been a remarkable, if not at times flawed experience to watch unfold. There is a lot of talent on the island, with many choosing the play professionally in France. This includes current Haitian superstar Melchie “Corventina” Durmonay, currently of Lyon, and midfielder and captain Nerilia Mondesir. With her arrival midsummer from France, after not playing since May, it has taken her time to adjust to the new league. She got her first start last weekend in Seattle’s final home match of 2024, with the team officially eliminated from the playoffs after a disappointing season. Despite this, Mondesir looked threatening in attack for much of the match, and she put her nation and her club on her back as she scored the game winning goal. She showed strength and a deft touch after showing a willingness to make the late run to keep the ball at her feet amongst the traffic, before slotting it nicely past Jane Campbell. The joy from her teammates is palpable, and now, in a season of not many ups, Seattle has another young player to build around next season. This could be the start of the NWSL seeing more Haitians in the league and that can only be a positive for the NWSL.

Quick Musings on a Roster

The USSF and Coach Emma Hayes dropped the roster for the USWNT October friendlies last Thursday. With the fed obligated to call up Olympians unless they are injured, that did not leave a lot of room for new or returning players in this month’s squad. However, that did not keep Emma Hayes from calling in three first time players, Alyssa Malonson of Bay FC, Emma Sears of Racing Louisville, and Yazmenn Ryan of Gotha FC. It was also a return to the squad for Ashely Sanchez and Alyssa Thompson, both members of the 2023 World Cup squad. Furthermore, it is a return for Eva Gaetino, Olivia Moultrie and Hailee Mace, all of who have been capped in the last two years. With two years until qualifiers and three years until the World Cup in Brazil, the next 18 months are the time to experiment, take a look at all the talent in the deepest talent in the world, and build systems that make sense for what we have. This call up list says, for those who are not Olympians, that form matters, particularly the form of NWSL players. Thompson, Ryan and Sanchez may be the three hottest players since the return from break, and Sears has proven valuable as a stater and as a goal scoring super sub off of Louisville’s bench. It is exciting to see new faces that have busted their behind and done everything asked of them, get their chance to impress. If we want to keep winning World Cups, we have to find the balance and healthy competition among players. There is no point in having this much talent in one country if we cannot truly assess it. Emma and her staff seem to have a plan in place to do just that, and I, for one, will buckle up and enjoy the ride until early 2026, when we have to lock in for the next cycle.

Also, I wanted to give a quick shout to Taylor Hinds, who declared for Jamaica and has received her first call up this window. Not many seemed to know she was making the switch, and despite the shortcomings of the JFF at times, this a huge get for a nation looking to return to the WWC in 2027. She is a captain, and fierce defender, and can hit a shot from distance when you need it. I cannot not to watch her ball with the Reggae Girlz.

Final Thoughts: Skye’s Musings on Angel City FC

Please follow the link below to read Skye’s entire article. Here is an excerpt

 With the dimming of the lights on ACFC’s season at BMO after the final three deets of the referee’s whistle on Sunday, people have been asking me in DMs, text messages, and  in the street’s how I’ve been feeling about the ride that has been Angel City’s season. Initially, I was going to wait until the end of the season completely to really get into it. However, as I have pursued social media, I began to see a variety of thought pieces pop up from people half-assedly critiquing this team. While I am all for debates and sharing opinions, swaths of these hot takes are coming from people who didn’t watch all the games around this team in person or on tv. This season has been quite the journey, and not necessarily a fun one….

Angel City’s game against the  Utah Royals FC  was very symbolic of the season for the home team:  It was a  game that exhibited large amounts of early intense pressure filled chaos followed by exciting attacking brilliance, after the home team started figuring it out a little too late.