Born on November 15, 1967, Poyet started off at the academy of Club Atlético River Plate before heading across the Atlantic and joining Ligue 2 outfit Grenoble Foot 38 in 1988. Poyet scored eight goals in 39 appearances before returning to his hometown of Montevideo and plying his trade with River Plate, only to head back to Europe after a few months and join LaLiga outfit Real Zaragoza in 1990.

“When you are young in Uruguay, playing football, there are two main objectives. One is to play for one of the two biggest teams in Uruguay, and if you cannot, to go abroad, because obviously, the career of a football player is very short. In Uruguay, it’s one thing to be a professional footballer, and it’s another thing to earn good money,” stated Poyet in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview.

“As I wasn’t playing for Peñarol or Nacional, I received the opportunity to go to France. My idea was to go to Nice in the first division, who had two foreigners from Yugoslavia—one was supposed to leave but ended up staying—and in the last few days of the window, Grenoble appeared with a bigger offer for me and for my club, River Plate. Having been in France for three weeks already, I loved the way that their professional football looked, and I signed for Grenoble, which, in terms of personal experience, was fantastic. But I didn’t play well, I didn’t perform, and I didn’t adapt to that particular team at that moment in time in my career. I was very young, I spent too much time alone, and it was very difficult for me, but I grew up as a person.”

Poyet emerged as an indispensable figure for Zaragoza, leading them to safety before spurring them to back-to-back Copa del Rey Finals, winning the second vs. Celta de Vigo, before engineering famous wins against Feyenoord, Chelsea, and Arsenal en route to the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup title, their first European trophy in 31 years. Similarly to other players like Jesper Karlström, Poyet’s mix of industrious work-rate and goal-scoring instincts made him a crucial figure in midfield.

And just a few weeks after becoming a European champion, Poyet became a South American champion after leading Uruguay to the 1995 Copa América on home soil. All things considered, Poyet scored three goals in 21 appearances for Uruguay between 1993 and 2000. He then called it quits on his time in Spain after 74 goals and two assists in 276 appearances, departing as Zaragoza’s longest-serving foreign player, and making the move to Chelsea in 1997.

After his stellar start was interrupted by an ACL injury, Poyet returned to form and led the Blues to glory in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and FA Cup, before being pushed out by new manager Claudio Ranieri. He then moved to Tottenham Hotspur in May 2001 for £2.2 million, spending three years in North London before hanging up his boots and stepping into management.

After following ex-Chelsea teammate Dennis Wise from Swindon Town to Leeds United, Poyet returned to Tottenham as an assistant coach to Juande Ramos. Six years after losing the League Cup Final in Cardiff as a Tottenham player, Poyet helped Spurs prevail 2-1 in extra time against Chelsea at Wembley. But deep down, he always knew that he wanted to branch out from assistant management and try his luck in coaching. It’s why he decided to make the move to Brighton & Hove Albion, leading them to promotion to the EFL Championship and setting the foundations for their golden era over the past decade.

“I think, apart from one or two difficult times with coaches, the idea of Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, from the moment I left, was to bring coaches who will play a similar style. After me, it was Óscar García, Roberto De Zerbi, and Graham Potter, who was playing such a nice kind of football at Swansea City, and Fabian Hürzeler is now a tremendous coach. The idea behind bringing certain coaches was always based on what we created as an identity.

“It took us a while to change the mentality of the fans, because they wanted long-ball English play, but then we started… there is a moment in my career at Brighton which is fundamental, and it’s two games away from home in my second season, in League One. It’s away at Peterborough, and away at Charlton; we’re playing them off the park, and the fans started singing and embracing the style. It was like, ‘This is Brighton, you know?’ After that, they knew they would be that style forever, and I think now it would be very difficult for Brighton to play a different way. That doesn’t mean that we are the same; we are not the same. All the coaches, we are different. But the idea of expecting the ball, playing from the back, keeping possession, trying to be creative, always playing offensive football, that started with me in 2009/10.”

After a four-year magnum opus at the Amex, Poyet then became the first Uruguayan to coach in the Premier League after taking charge of Sunderland in October 2013. Poyet quickly made an impression by leading them to the EFL Cup Final and steering them to a last-gasp escape from relegation, only to be sacked in March 2015.

He then departed England for a Mediterranean tour featuring Greek side AEK Athens and Spanish outfit Real Betis, before trying his luck in Asia for the first time ever. After a brief sojourn with Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua, Poyet took charge of French side Girondins de Bordeaux and developed future stars like Aurélien Tchouaméni and Jules Koundé before making the move to Chilean side Universidad Católica.

Poyet then transitioned into international management and became the manager of the Greek national team, taking four wins from his first four fixtures in League C of the 2022 UEFA Nations League and helping Greece earn promotion to League B, but he was unable to steer them to Euro 2024 after losing to Georgia on penalties in the final qualifier.

He spent nine months out of work before taking the reins at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and leading them to the two biggest trophies in South Korea—the K League 1 and the Korea Cup—before departing after a year. He’s spent the past four months in the upscale London neighborhood of Battersea, and whilst he’s enjoyed his time off, he’s more than ready to dive back into management.

“I’ve been taking advantage of my time off to do many different things. The first month, I came back to Uruguay in December after winning the Cup and spent time with my mom and my granddaughter, and then I came back to England and I started watching football and talking to people around football. I started a master’s online class on data and intelligence in football and in sports. Why? Because I want to be prepared, just in case. The future is all about numbers: I use the data, but I’m not crazy about the data. I use it to confirm things. I’m still thinking that football is much simpler than a number, but I want to have the information.

“I went to see a few training sessions of Getafe and Atlético Madrid thanks to coaches like José Bordalás and Diego Simeone, who allowed me to watch. I went to see a Real Madrid match live, I saw Tottenham-Arsenal live, I’ve been doing a little bit of press and podcasts, and I’ve been watching a lot of football. I’ve already received one offer and will probably receive another in the next week or so: I’m making decisions, and I’m ready to come back as soon as possible.”

The competition was Madrid’s last realistic route to major silverware in a season which promised a lot, but will ultimately deliver nothing.

Barring a monumental collapse by Barcelona in La Liga, the 15-time European champions will end a second consecutive campaign without a trophy.

With that in mind, read on as we assess the repercussions for Real Madrid, starting with an issue which has been entirely of their own making.

Mbappe has proved to be a curse rather than a blessing

Kylian Mbappe is one of the best forwards in the world. That point is evidenced by his tally of 84 goals in 98 appearances for Los Blancos.

However, his desire to be the ‘main man’ is not only a problem Madrid didn’t need, but one which they could have avoided.

Mbappe scored 256 goals in 308 for Paris Saint-Germain. However, his efforts in front of goal failed to deliver the desired results in the Champions League.

In their first season without the French international in their team, PSG were crowned kings of Europe. They have reached the semi-finals again this season.

By contrast, Mbappe has made Madrid worse. They won La Liga and the Champions League in 20234/24 – since then, they have suffered a series of disappointments.

The 27-year-old’s ego was problematic when he was at PSG, and has continued to upset the equilibrium in Madrid’s dressing room.

Players such as Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior are no shrinking violets, yet are expected to play second fiddle to the ‘Mbappe Show’.

Intriguingly, Madrid looked far more coherent as a team when Mbappe was recently sidelined with a knee injury. With Vinicius and Brahim Diaz leading the line, they were more balanced.

It may seem churlish to question a player who has scored goals for fun in Madrid colours, but it cannot be ignored that they have regressed since signing him.

Arbeloa on shaky ground after Champions League exit

Madrid’s decision to appoint Xabi Alonso as manager last summer appeared to be a sensible decision with SportsView and other major football publications all predicting success for Los Blancos, but he lasted just seven months.

At a club packed with egos and led by president Florentino Perez, the former Bayer Leverkusen boss was always likely to be on a hiding to nothing.

Alonso quickly lost the dressing room, with Vinicius and Federico Valverde amongst the players who publicly expressed disapproval at his methods.

Appointing Alvaro Arbeloa as Alonso’s replacement was no real surprise. He had done well with the club’s youth and ‘B’ teams, so was viewed as a steady pair of hands.

However, the club’s failure to specify the length of his contract when he was placed in charge suggested that they were unsure whether he was the right man for the job.

A record of 13 wins and one draw in 21 matches highlights why Madrid may have been reluctant to confirm whether he was a long-term appointment.

Arbeloa will reportedly be replaced this summer, with Perez seemingly eager to bring in someone with a proven track record of success.

That may be easier said than done given the dearth of viable options currently available.

Madrid’s managerial options are thin on the ground

Alonso seemed to be the ideal fit for Madrid. He was a former player who subsequently enjoyed success as a manager with Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.

Sacking him after just seven months in charge did not seem like the brightest idea anyone had ever had, and developments this summer may hammer home that point.

Several managers have been linked with the Madrid managerial job including Zinedine Zidane, Jurgen Klopp and Maurico Pochettino.

Perez rates Zidane highly, but he seems destined to replace Didier Deschamps as the French national team manager at the end of the World Cup.

Klopp would be welcomed with open arms at the Santiago Bernabeu, but has demonstrated no desire to leave his position as head of Red Bull’s football operations.

Pochettino could be available after the World Cup, although nothing he has done with the United States national team suggests he is the right option for Madrid.

Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has been touted as a possibility after the club recently confirmed he will be leaving at the end of the season.

Several pundits believe the 43-year-old is an ‘elite-level’ manager, but whether he is ready to step into the Madrid hot-seat is hugely debatable.

Madrid’s eagerness to pander to egotistical players and dispense with Alonso’s services has created a problem that may find extremely difficult to fix this summer.

Born on October 12, 1999, Hauge was raised in Bodø and started off in Bodø/Glimt’s academy at 12 years old, ascending through the ranks before signing a professional contract on April 12, 2016. One day later, he came off the bench in the 64th minute and scored a hat-trick on his senior debut in a 6-0 cup win against IK Start.

Following in the footsteps of his idol Eden Hazard, Hauge quickly made a name for himself thanks to his fleet feet and change of direction, becoming the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Eliteserien. Whilst he wasn’t able to prevent them from suffering relegation, he nevertheless excelled in the second division and helped them achieve promotion with 2 goals and 13 assists in 2017.

“When I got a little bit older, I started understanding more about football. Eden Hazard was my favorite player when he moved to Chelsea, and the way he was having fun while dribbling and scoring against the best teams in England,” stated Hauge in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “It was special for me, and I wanted to be a player like him, so I would describe myself as an offensive player, good one-on-one, creating chances for my teammates and also myself.”

After being loaned out to second-tier Aalesunds FK, Hauge returned with a vengeance and racked up 9 goals and 3 assists in 29 appearances across all competitions. 2020 was even better, with Hauge coming out of the pandemic a stronger player and scoring 14 goals and 10 assists in 18 league appearances, prompting him to be named the Eliteserien Young Player of the Year.

Whilst he put them on track to win their maiden league title, he wasn’t able to enjoy the trophy: instead, after scoring a goal and an assist in a Europa League qualifier vs. Milan, he joined Milan for €5 million, signing a five-year contract. Hauge enjoyed a promising start to his Milan tenure, racking up 5 goals and 1 assist in 24 appearances, but he wasn’t able to lock down a starting spot during his time in Italy before eventually deciding to make the move to Eintracht Frankfurt in 2021.

Hauge quickly adapted to life in Germany, scoring in two of his first three Bundesliga matches and emerging as a vital cog under Oliver Glasner as Eintracht knocked out Real Betis, Barcelona, and West Ham before defeating Rangers on penalties to win the UEFA Europa League, their first continental trophy in 42 years. But rather than stay put and take part in the UEFA Champions League, Hauge was loaned out to Belgian side Gent shortly after being purchased by Eintracht.

He provided five assists in 29 appearances before heading back to Die Adler, where he struggled for regular minutes. Having scored 3 goals and 5 assists in 55 appearances for Die Adler, Hauge decided to head back to Bodø/Glimt on loan in January 2024, where he got off to a sensational start by assisting in his first two matches vs. Ajax and scoring 8 goals and 5 assists in 28 appearances en route to the championship.

It was only a matter of time before Bodø decided to finalize the transfer for an initial €3.5 million, signing him to a contract through December 31, 2028.

“It was a great start for me. Of course, it was a bit of a punch in the face that we didn’t beat Ajax and go through, but still, I was feeling like my fitness level was good. I also contributed with assists and scoring goals later on, so it was good to get that good start and feel that I’m still a good player, and just kept on working from there.”

Hauge continued to build on his momentum in 2024/25, kicking off his UEFA Europa League campaign with a brace and an assist vs. Porto before registering an assist against Olympiacos and Lazio, but he was unable to come up with the goods as the Norwegians lost to eventual winners Tottenham Hotspur in the semifinals.

After scoring 11 goals and 11 assists in 52 appearances, Hauge has taken things up a notch this season and established himself as one of the top Scandinavian players in Europe alongside the likes of Jesper Karlström, racking up 7 goals and 7 assists in 18 appearances, including 6 goals and 2 assists in 12 Champions League appearances. This form earned him a recall to the national team after a year out, making his 14th Norway appearance in a friendly against the Netherlands on March 27. And maybe, just maybe, he’ll have a role to play in this summer’s World Cup as Norway take on Iraq, France, and Senegal in Group I.

“I can promise you that myself and the rest of the national team and the coaching staff did everything we could to make sure that Norway went to a major tournament again, and now, it’s time for the World Cup in North America. It’s going to be amazing; it’s going to be one of the coolest tournaments. I think everything is up for grabs for us, because the team is so talented, and the young Norwegian players now are playing at the best leagues and in the best teams. We will try our best, but personally, I’m confident.”

Ronaldo has bagged 143 goals and 46 assists in 226 international appearances. He holds the record for the most international goals in men’s soccer history.

However, there have been widespread debates about whether the 41-year-old will still make an impact when the World Cup is staged in North America this summer.

Portugal have been handed an easy task in Group K alongside Colombia, DR Congo and Uzbekistan.

While they will undoubtedly fancy their chances of making a deep run this summer, Ronaldo’s continued presence in the squad is potentially problematic.

Portugal shrug off Ronaldo’s absence

Ronaldo has not played for Portugal since his dismissal against the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifying match last November.

He was suspended for the subsequent 9-1 victory over Armenia in their final qualifier, before missing the recent friendlies against Mexico and United States with a hamstring injury.

After being held to a goalless draw by Mexico, they breezed past the US courtesy of goals in either half by Francisco Trincao and Joao Felix.

Manager Roberto Martinez has indicated he is likely to return next week and everything points to him being part of the Portuguese squad this summer.

While Football Today and other news publications have questioned whether Ronaldo should play at the World Cup, Benfica manager Jose Mourinho believes Portugal cannot afford to be without him.

Mourinho worked with his compatriot when he was in charge of Real Madrid between 2010 and 2013, and is adamant that he should start in North America.

“Take Cristiano Ronaldo out of the picture and Portugal look like any run-of-the-mill team,” Mourinho told beIN SPORTS after the draw with Mexico.

“People keep asking us not to call him up. Well, he didn’t play, and you saw the result. No threat, no fear from the opposition. Just a team being put under pressure by Mexico.

“When Ronaldo is on the pitch, the opposition think twice. Without him, they don’t think at all.”

Martinez is falling into the same trap as Mourinho

Although Mourinho’s support for Ronaldo is understandable, judging how Portugal played without him in two friendlies is an exercise in futility.

Martinez is in danger of making the same mistake judging by comments he made in an in-depth interview with journalist Sid Lowe about Portugal’s recent performances.

“We have to accept there’s a debate because there’s only one Ronaldo, a historic icon who changed football – get in a lift and the conversation is the weather or Ronaldo,” Martínez said.

“Everyone has an opinion but it’s based on a perception of Ronaldo, a period of him. The biggest error people make is not analysing him today.

“After the Euros it was: ‘Portugal didn’t win because Cristiano’s playing.’ We won the Nations League and it’s ‘what will Portugal do when Ronaldo retires?’”

Defending Ronaldo’s underwhelming performances at the 2024 European Championship by pointing out the impact he had in the Nations League is a misstep by Martinez.

In simple terms, the Euros carry far more gravitas than the Nations League. The latter is effectively little more than a glorified friendly tournament.

Martinez would be well advised to pay more attention to Ronaldo’s record at previous World Cups, which does not paint a pretty picture.

He has tallied just eight goals and two assists in 22 appearances at the tournament, which is a poor record for a player of his quality.

Resilience alone will not be enough for Portugal

Ronaldo has played in five World Cups for Portugal. He helped them reach the semi-finals in 2006, but that is as good as it has got on the biggest stage.

Despite that record, Martinez believes Ronaldo has earned the right to feature in a sixth World Cup based on his performances in recent seasons.

“An elite player is not the talent, it’s the mentality, the resilience,” Martinez added. “He’s not the Manchester United or Real Madrid winger – he’s a number nine in the area.

“We depend on him to open spaces, score goals. Cristiano’s last three years in the national team were earned, day-by-day: he’s scored 25 in 30 games.

“I evaluate talent, experience, attitude today, and decisions are never taken in an office – they’re taken on a pitch, football takes them.”

Although Martinez’s support for Ronaldo is admirable, it could ultimately be the factor which prevents Portugal from lifting the trophy this summer.

Ronaldo’s previous record at the World Cup leaves a lot to be desired, while scoring goals in the Saudi Pro League proves little in the grand scheme of things.

A case can be made for Portugal using Ronaldo as an impact substitute this summer, but putting him in the starting XI will not achieve the desired results.

Born on February 13, 1998, Keinan Vincent Joseph Davis grew up in Stevenage, England, and attended The Nobel School before putting an end to his academic pursuits and prioritizing his footballing career. His dreams of representing Stevenage were destroyed when his manager, Darren Sarll, released him from the squad in 2015, but rather than wallow in misery, Davis decided to drop down a level and join Biggleswade Town’s under-18s. He didn’t last long in non-league play: instead, after impressing in a friendly match against their reserves, Davis underwent a four-week trial at Aston Villa and eventually joined the club in December 2015 on an 18-month contract.

After honing his skills with the reserves, Davis made his first-team debut on January 8, 2017, in a 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup. All things considered, he scored 6 goals and 4 assists in 86 appearances and helped the Villans return to the top flight. But after missing the start of the 2021/22 season with a knee injury, Davis found himself out of favor under Steven Gerrard, playing just once in all competitions.

“When I came back in November, I was playing with the under-21s, but obviously, I had played first-team football before, so I was never going to stay with the under-21s,” recalled Davis in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. It’s why he decided to return to the EFL Championship and join Nottingham Forest, where he scored 5 goals and 3 assists in 22 appearances and helped them return to the Premier League after a 24-year absence. Rather than challenge for a place at Villa Park, Davis opted to head out on another loan spell, this time to Championship side Watford, where he scored seven goals and two assists in 34 appearances but failed to lift them into a promotion race.

“[Watford] was a difficult period for myself, I’d say, just on and off the pitch. It was just more difficult than the other two places I had been—just stuff off the pitch that could affect things on the pitch. And then collectively, it just wasn’t the best time. The football club is very good… of course, they have a relationship with Udinese, so the people that run it know Udinese very well, and they’re all good. But yeah, it wasn’t the best time for me. We had a good team that season, but we didn’t do too well due to a lot of things. I’m not too sure why, but personally, it wasn’t the best time for me due to a lot of things. But I still appreciate my time there as well as their fans.”

Instead of sticking around in England, Davis decided to start a new chapter in Italy after joining Udinese on a four-year contract on September 1, 2023 (Udinese have the option to renew it for an additional year). After being forced to wait over four months before making his debut due to tearing his left calf muscle in training, Davis finally made his debut against Lazio on January 7, 2024. He struggled for minutes and only made eight appearances, but he nevertheless saved the best for last. Udinese looked set to suffer relegation and drop down to the second tier until the 76th minute of the final matchday, when Lorenzo Lucca chested down a ball for Davis to smash his first goal in Italy. Just like that, Udinese were saved, while their opponent Frosinone were relegated.

Davis’s form improved under new manager Kosta Runjaić, scoring 3 goals and 1 assist in 25 appearances as Udinese finished 12th in the Serie A table. But with Lucca making the move to reigning champions Napoli, Davis has been forced to step up and emerge as the Zebrette’s attacking talisman. He’s answered the call, scoring a goal and an assist in Udinese’s shock win vs. Inter in August before scoring against Sassuolo and Lecce in September and October, respectively. And over the past few months, he has delivered the best form of his entire career, earning praise from the likes of Niccolò Pierozzi and establishing himself as one of the most in-form strikers in the league.

“You can obviously become a better player wherever you are, but for me, because I didn’t really play a lot, it was kind of hard to adapt to Serie A, because obviously you need to play to learn the league and learn the habits of the opposing team and my own team. You need to be able to become better, so it was kind of difficult, trying to adapt without playing. Obviously, you’re watching a lot of the games, but that’s completely different to actually playing in it. It was a bit difficult in the beginning to try to learn the new language and everything like that, but as the time went on this season, I’ve started a lot of games, and each game, I’ve just felt more comfortable and more stable, playing in Serie A.”

After closing out November with a goal at Parma, Davis assisted Jürgen Ekkelenkamp’s winning goal in a shock win vs. Napoli, before ending the year with a 95th-minute equalizer vs. Lazio. He’s built on his red-hot form in 2026, assisting Ekkelenkamp’s decisive winning goal at Torino before bagging from the penalty spot against Pisa, followed by a goal at Hellas Verona. And after missing a month with a left adductor strain, Davis has picked up where he left off.

He returned to the pitch on March 2 and doubled their lead from the spot in a 3-0 win vs. Fiorentina, before doubling their lead at Atalanta, who would pull level with a brace from Gianluca Scamacca. He’s already scored a career-high 9 goals this season, second only to Lautaro Martínez (14) in the Capocannoniere standings, and he’ll be looking to make it double digits against Juventus this weekend. And whilst he’s holding out hope of being included in Jamaica’s World Cup qualifying squad as they look to return to the world’s biggest stage after 28 years, he’s firmly aware that his number one priority is continuing to deliver the goods for Udinese.

“You just never know what the future holds. I’m a lot older now, at 27, so it’s difficult to predict what will happen, and I’ve also had a lot of injuries in my career, so I don’t want to push myself too much with too many games. I just want to focus on Udinese at the moment and build the foundation of my body to restrict injuries.”

Born in Upland, California, on March 2, 1977, Dunseth started playing for Upland Celtic, dominating against other teams in the state and eventually earning an invitation to a tournament in England. At 12 years of age, Dunseth faced off against teams from England, Denmark, and the Netherlands, and while he believed that he had done well enough to continue his progression, he was soon dealt a cold dose of reality. Immediately after heading back to the Golden State, Dunseth was cut from the squad.

“I was lucky enough to be playing at 12 years old for a Celtic team that smashed everybody in California. I mean, we were winning everything, so much so that we ended up going to England and playing teams from England, Holland, and Denmark. And at the end of that tournament, I was the only one on the team who got cut,” stated Dunseth in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview.

“It was devastating, because my best friend’s dad was the team manager, these are all my friends, and all of a sudden, it was my first real failure in a protected environment. From that moment on, man, it was all I wanted. I continued to play all the other sports—basketball, baseball, football, all those things—and I was like, ‘You know what? Screw those guys. I’m gonna show those MFers.’ In my mind, I just locked in.”

Despite this early rejection, Dunseth didn’t give up on his dreams; instead, he grinded even harder. He started working alongside two ex-convicts, making $2.75 an hour as a dishwasher at a convalescent hospital, and excelled as Damien High School’s #10 before being one of the last players recruited to Cal State Fullerton, who agreed to pay for his parking, books, and one meal per day, but not his school expenses.

Dunseth transitioned from #10 to center back and kept his pedal to the metal, which eventually resulted in a breakthrough 1997. After representing the United States in Malaysia in the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, Dunseth became one of the first players to sign a Project-40 (now Generation Adidas) contract, effectively fast-tracking him into MLS.

He was assigned to the New England Revolution and emerged as a key figure in defense before being traded to the Miami Fusion in 2001. However, his time in the 305 came to an abrupt end after the Fusion folded, with Dunseth being selected by the Columbus Crew in the 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft. He enjoyed the prime form of his career, helping them come within inches of the MLS Cup Final and winning the U.S. Open Cup, before being traded to the Dallas Burn (now FC Dallas) in September 2003.

“I always had seemed to find myself in situations and teams where I was good enough to play, but I wasn’t good enough to be on those consistent, winning teams that challenged for titles. I never felt in my professional career like I had a coach that really believed in me, like ‘that’s my guy.’ I mean this with the utmost respect, when you look at Bob Bradley, Bruce Arena, and Sigi Schmid, those three super iconic managers in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s of Major League Soccer, even the Dom Kinnears, the Frankie Yallops, I never had those type of coaches that just had blind faith in me, no matter what.

“I was their guy, and this was going to be a cultivated winning team. So when I got in that moment, I played in the first game at Crew Stadium with the New England Revolution. It was an amazing atmosphere: Brian McBride, Jeff Cunningham, Stern John, Brian Maisonneuve, all those guys… I’m frustrated, because we should have done the double. What people forget is that we ended up losing to the Revolution in the Eastern Conference Final to a Jay Heaps goal. We would have effectively played the Galaxy in the MLS Cup Final, and hosted the Galaxy in the Open Cup Final back-to-back within the same week. We were already devastated, we were frustrated, and the Galaxy had won the most important thing.”

“We didn’t care about it, and we smashed them from the opening whistle. And I remember spraying a ball out to Freddy ‘Cabeza de Hongo’ García; he ends up playing a ball back across to Brian West, back of the net. We end up winning 1-0. And what was cool about it at the time was Lamar Hunt. He was one of the most genuine human beings that you could possibly ever come across; he had invested in the club, he invested in Major League Soccer.

“To have the U.S. Open Cup trophy named after him, to be able to be up on that stage and get handed the trophy from the owner of the Columbus Crew in the first soccer-specific stadium with his name on it, it was really, really cool. And to be in those celebratory moments, to have him in the locker room with us, I can vividly remember going over to him and hugging him and saying, ‘Without you, these opportunities don’t exist. Without you, this moment is nothing more than a fantasy for a kid that grew up in Southern California with dreams and hopes and aspirations.’ I grew up trying to consume every bit of soccer in a world that’s not like today, when you can throw on Paramount Plus and have the opportunity to watch 80 games this afternoon. It was wild how much fun it was, both on and off the field, and the stories that will never be told… it was a really incredible moment.”

Dunseth spent just a few months in Texas before moving to Swedish side Bodens BK, returning after a year and spending a season with Real Salt Lake. He then bounced around from Chivas USA to the LA Galaxy, becoming the first-ever player in MLS history to be on the roster of seven different teams before retiring in 2006.

Similar to other Californians like Jordan Gardner, Dunseth continues to play a leading role in shaping American soccer culture, working for major outlets like Fox Soccer Channel, ESPN, SiriusXM, and NBC Sports and calling Real Salt Lake games for his local channel. And today, he’s serving as a commentator on Apple TV alongside Max Bretos, traveling across the country and announcing a number of different Major League Soccer matches.

“Usually, if it’s a West Coast game like Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake, or LAFC—those type of games—I’ll travel Saturday morning to the game just because it’s more efficient; I’ll gain that extra hour, call the game, come back first thing Sunday, and miss a majority of my kids’ soccer. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I’ve got Counterattack with Tony Meola on SiriusXM FC; I’ll wake up at 6 and get the kids ready for school. Now my oldest is driving, I don’t have to worry about him; middle boy back to school, youngest to school; I’ll do the show from 8 to 11 local time. If I’m booked to do any appearances or podcasts, I’ll try to knock those out on Mondays. I have a podcast called ‘Week in the Tackle’ with Tom Rennie. He’s the Premier League announcer for TalkSport; he’s amazing, really, really talented, he does the football show on SiriusXM, and our podcast on ‘Week in the Tackle’ is usually recorded either Monday or Tuesday. Thursday I’ll do a local show, called Talking RSL, for one of the local television channels.”

“If I have any hosting commitments or any appearances sprinkled throughout there, Fridays are usually committed to doing SiriusXM in the morning, and then doing our preview conversations with coaches. In the midst of all of this, I’ve got three boys that are playing ECNL soccer, so I’m heavily invested in driving them to practices and staying at their practices and being there with them, because I miss out on a majority of their games. And in the mornings of those Saturdays, I’m usually glued to my computer or to my phone, logged in to the Hudl Cam to watch their games, and then communicate with them afterwards. I’ve been happily married for 20 years… there’s always something going on, there’s always something that we’re either driving to or trying to get to, with my kids so heavily committed to soccer.”

Born in Benidorm, Spain, Amor started playing football at an early age for a number of different teams in the Alicante province and, after impressing in a tournament against the likes of Barcelona, Valencia, and Hércules, he was invited to undergo a week-long trial at Barcelona. It didn’t take much for Barcelona to see that he could be a world-class player: at 12 years old, Amor left Alicante and made the move to the brand-new academy in January 1980. Six years after making his unofficial debut—replacing Diego Maradona in a friendly to celebrate the Miniestadi’s opening—Amor made his competitive debut against Catalan rivals Espanyol.

He quickly established himself as a vital cog under new manager Johan Cruyff, scoring 13 goals in 36 appearances across the 1988/89 season and helping the Blaugranas win the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. At the time, Real Madrid were the undisputed kings of Spain, winning five consecutive LaLiga titles between 1986 and 1990, but Amor would help turn the tide in Barcelona’s favor by scoring eight goals and an assist in 42 appearances in 1989/90—none more important than his opening goal in Barcelona’s 2-0 win against Real Madrid in the 1990 Copa del Rey Final. Cruyff, then on the hot seat, was given another season to showcase his managerial prowess, a decision that would quickly bear fruit.

“It was a very nice moment, partly because it was very close to my hometown of Benidorm. I was practically 140 kilometers away, so the whole family and a lot of friends came to see the final, and we really needed them to be there,” recalled Amor of his goal in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “We were focused on the match, thinking that we absolutely had to win, that’s all that we had left, because we didn’t know what was going to happen afterwards. The feeling is so wonderful when it’s your turn on a day like that, being able to participate by scoring a goal, whilst Julio Salinas scored at the end of the match to secure the victory. For me, that was very important, not just as a local player, but a good player who loves his club, who had been waiting for those moments for many years, who had also faced Real Madrid in the youth categories, and who knew what these matches are like and what’s at stake. The truth is, it was a very special, very beautiful moment.”

With Amor orchestrating the show in midfield, Barcelona were able to claim four consecutive league titles from 1991 to 1994, whilst they were also able to claim their first-ever European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) after beating Sampdoria in the 1992 final, in addition to reaching the 1994 final. But after missing out on three trophies in the span of 10 days, Cruyff was sacked in 1996. However, Amor would nevertheless prove essential by guiding them to the Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España, and UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1996/97 under Bobby Robson. The 1997/98 season, meanwhile, would see Amor help Barcelona win the LaLiga title and Copa del Rey under Louis van Gaal, and it also saw him compete in the biggest tournament in the world. Having excelled in Spain’s Euro ’96 run, Amor would play in all three of Spain’s matches in the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Little did he know it, but it would be his final tournament as a Spain player, as well as his final international tournament as a Barcelona player.

“The Spain national team manager Javier Clemente tried to put together a team of good people who were very compatible with him, but when you have so many players from different teams, forming a team is difficult. It used to be even more difficult, because there weren’t as many matches. Now, national teams play many matches throughout the year, there are friendlies, tournaments, and championships, but in our time, we didn’t play so many matches. Clemente trusted a group of players, many from Barcelona and Real Madrid, and I was fortunate that he trusted me enough to be in the 1996 Euros in England and the 1998 World Cup in France. Those are two unforgettable moments for me because of what they mean for any player’s career, and it coincides with my departure because my Barcelona contract was ending, and I had to start a new chapter in a different city, a different country, and a different championship.”

After nearly 20 years with Barcelona, Amor made the move to Serie A outfit Fiorentina, where he spent two seasons, before returning to Spain and helping newly promoted Villarreal establish their place in LaLiga. Amor then made the move to Scottish side Livingston, where he made three appearances and helped them avoid relegation, before retiring at the age of 35. The Spaniard quickly transitioned into a backroom role with FC Barcelona, overseeing the club’s youth categories as the Head of Youth Football from 2003 to 2007. He returned three years later and worked as the club’s Technical Director of Football Training between 2010 and 2014, before starting a new journey in Australia as Adelaide United FC’s Technical Director and later the club’s head coach.

Similarly to how figures like Stevie Grieve are looking to spearhead the return of clubs like Helsingborgs to their respective top flights, Amor led Adelaide to their first and only A-League Championship before returning to his boyhood club in 2017 and overseeing Barça B and the U19A and B sides before being shifted into the role of Head of Institutional and Sports Relations for the first team from 2017 to 2021. At 58 years of age, Amor spends his time in Barcelona, working with his oldest son (a licensed FIFA agent) in his consulting and player representation business. But every now and then, he’ll head back to his native Alicante and watch the matches of Club de Fútbol Benidorm, a club whose stadium (Estadio Municipal Guillermo Amor) bears his name.

“It’s very special, but even more so having it in the town where I was born, and where I left at a very young age. That field is where I also started playing, in the schoolyard where I studied, and it was on that field where we had the Easter Children’s Tournament, which is where Barcelona saw me for the first time. That’s where I played against Barcelona and earned the invitation to FC Barcelona, so whenever I go to Benidorm, I always visit that field, and if I get a chance, I’ll go and watch a match there. There are a lot of matches that are played there, from the Spanish national youth teams like the under-17s and the under-18s to CF Benidorm, which is also working hard to see if they can get promoted, and I’m always keeping a close eye on that too. But this recognition is an honor, whether it’s in your town or city, it’s an honor that someone remembers you and puts something in your name… it’s beautiful. And if you can experience it while you’re still alive, even better. The bad thing is when they show you something you’re no longer around for, but if you have the chance to experience something while you’re still enjoying it, then all the better.”

Born in the South London borough of Lambeth, Opoku was raised in England by Ghanaian immigrants and rose through the ranks at Fulham’s academy before eventually cutting his teeth in League One for Accrington Stanley and Plymouth Argyle. He then made the move to Danish outfit Vejle Boldklub, where he established himself as one of the top central defenders in the Danish SuperLiga. After three straight loan spells, Opoku decided to call it quits on his Fulham adventure after 13 years, making the move to Portuguese outfit Arouca. Opoku established a rock-solid partnership in central defense alongside João Basso, forming the bedrock of a team that took the entire league by surprise.

Having narrowly avoided relegation in their return to the top flight in 2021/22, Arouca would ascend to the upper reaches of the table and qualify for European football for the second time ever after finishing fifth. These stellar displays would attract the attention of Süper Lig side İstanbul Başakşehir, and after a long-winded transfer saga, Opoku signed a one-year contract extension until 2026 with Arouca before joining Başakşehir on loan (later made permanent for a reported €1.5 million).

Opoku quickly made his presence felt, playing 32 times in all competitions to lead the Owls to a fourth-place finish and a trip to the Turkish Cup quarterfinals, before scoring three goals and four assists in 33 league appearances as Başakşehir placed fifth in the 2024/25 Süper Lig table. And whilst he was linked with a return to England in the summer, Opoku opted to stay put at Başakşehir, where he is contracted through 2027. Although he isn’t closing the door on a homecoming, he is more than happy in Istanbul, where he is raising his 10-month-old son, Rome, and his two-year-old son, Cruz, with his wife.

“As I always say, it’s God’s plan, so I think that if I just keep putting in the performances, whatever comes will kind of reflect on where I could be, or where I should be. For now, I’m here in Istanbul, and that’s what I’m focused on, but whatever happens is really God’s plan, so I’ve got to keep working hard and see what comes,” stated Opoku in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview.

It hasn’t been a conventional journey for Opoku, who started off idolizing Gareth Bale and dreamed of becoming a winger, only to be moved to left back by his U-15 coach Mark Pembridge. And after enjoying a growth spurt, he shifted to the center back role, where he has remained ever since. When he was 17, Opoku abandoned his academic studies in order to focus on becoming a professional footballer—just a few weeks later, Opoku suffered a season-ending ACL injury. And yet, it’s obvious that this adversity has paid off in the long term for Opoku, who has earned praise from the likes of Gabriele Marcotti and established himself as one of the very best defenders in Türkiye. He currently ranks second in their squad for 1.2 interceptions per 90 and 50.7 accurate passes (89% success rate) per 90 in league play, as well as third for 4.1 clearances per 90.

“I’ve really developed my all-around game since going to Başakşehir, in general terms of just being a defender. Being a defender first, making sure you can achieve the clean sheet, that’s the main focus when growing up, but a few years ago, I started to focus on a few more different things. Where I am now is just about not letting the striker score and coming back with that clean sheet; that’s where I get my main joy from now. Back then, maybe I’d be thinking, ‘Let me get a goal, let me take this guy on,’ but it’s not really the fundamentals of being a defender. The past couple of years have just been about keeping the clean sheet… that’s my main focus. If that goal goes in, then it hurts, so it’s just about keeping the goals down to a minimum and having a clean performance.”

Opoku hasn’t just made his mark at the club level, but the international level. One month after moving to Istanbul, Opoku received his maiden call-up for the Ghanaian national team, making his debut in a 4-0 defeat vs. the United States in Nashville, before missing out on the next two windows. He returned in March 2024, playing in two friendlies vs. Nigeria and Uganda before returning a year later to make his competitive debut vs. Chad in World Cup qualifying. He then started in a 3-0 win vs. Madagascar, missing out on the next two friendlies, before returning in September 2025 and playing the full 90 in a 1-0 win vs. Mali. He then made two late cameos vs. Mali and the Central African Republic, before watching from the bench as Ghana defeated Comoros and secured their spot in the 2026 World Cup. Opoku then headed to the Far East for the November friendlies, starting in a 2-0 defeat to Japan before riding the bench vs. South Korea.

“Growing up in South London, I had a lot of Ghanaian friends and Ghanaian neighbors at school; it was kind of like a community in itself. Of course, when you go to weddings and parties, you see a lot of Ghanaian family members, so it never leaves you. Now being able to go to the actual country frequently is amazing, because now I’m seeing more family members, making new friends and new relationships, and learning more about the culture. It’s amazing, it’s all good.”

At 27 years of age, Jerome Opoku has already established himself in England, Denmark, Portugal, and Türkiye. But now, can he leave his mark in his first-ever international tournament in North America and lead Ghana to the knockout round for the first time since 2010? Stay tuned for what promises to be a baptism of fire for Opoku and his Black Stars teammates.

Born on September 30, 2002, Shokalook was raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, and quickly grew accustomed to a heavy travel itinerary. Every Monday and Wednesday, his mother would pick him up from school and drive 2.5 hours south to Pittsburgh so he could play hockey, and every Tuesday and Thursday, they’d drive 2 hours west to Cleveland so that he could play soccer. After balancing the two sports for nearly two years, Shokalook decided to prioritize soccer and emerged as one of the top talents in his region, earning himself a scholarship offer from the University of Akron, where he majored in business.

“Akron had always been a dream school for me. I wanted to go there, especially being around the Cleveland area a lot, and I knew that this was where I wanted to go, and I got the opportunity to do that. I wanted to go in there and prove myself and give it everything I had, and I’m super grateful for the coaches and all of the players that I came across on that journey, because everyone knew how big of a privilege it was to be there,” stated Shokalook in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “Overall, it’s just a great school, and I’m super grateful that I got that opportunity to go there.”

After patiently earning his stripes, Shokalook excelled in his junior 2022 season by leading his team in goals (9), points (24), shots (38), and shots on goal (22) in 18 appearances (17 starts). He took things up a notch in 2023, scoring a league-high 14 goals and 5 assists in 17 appearances for the Zips, in addition to leading all BIG EAST players in shots (83) and points (33). It was enough to see him win the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year award and become a Second-Team All-America honoree and a First-Team All-BIG EAST recipient. And whenever the collegiate season was over, Shokalook would keep himself fit by playing in USL League Two for SC United FC in 2021 as well as Flint City in 2023.

As one of 44 players to earn an invitation to the annual adidas MLS College Showcase in Phoenix, Shokalook was able to take advantage of his opportunity and elevate his draft stock. One week later, he was informed that the Chicago Fire had selected him with the 35th pick of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Similarly to others like Michael-John Tate, Shokalook has been able to channel his soccer passion into a full-time career, but that isn’t to say his journey hasn’t been without its fair share of bumps. Shokalook spent his first season in Chicago playing in MLS Next Pro, racking up 3 goals and 3 assists in 27 appearances across the 2024 season for their reserves. However, he remained a benchwarmer throughout the campaign as David Poreba led the line and took home the league’s Golden Boot and Golden Ball awards with 18 goals on the season. With Poreba graduating to the first team, all signs pointed to Shokalook stepping into the void and becoming their next top attacking mastermind under new manager Mike Matkovich, who replaced Ludovic Taillandier at the helm in the offseason.

“I think David Poreba is a great player. Watching him and playing with him in 2024, seeing the way that he trained and how much he earned that Golden Boot, it definitely showed me that I can do it. I didn’t go into it thinking that there was that added pressure, but I would say that it definitely inspired me to try and go and get it, go and do it. It showed me that it is possible.”

However, Shokalook would miss the opener before coming off the bench in their next three matches, prompting him to have a chat with Matkovich, who told him that he’ll give him a chance, and if he doesn’t take it, that’s on him. Shokalook started in a 5-0 defeat at Huntsville City before dropping to the bench vs. Toronto, but he returned to the XI and opened his account in a 5-1 win vs. Orlando, followed by a goal contribution in each of his next four matches. This materialized in his first, and so far only, MLS appearance, with Shokalook coming on for the final seconds and assisting Brian Gutiérrez’s last-second goal in a 7-1 victory at D.C. United. He continued to build on his momentum and eventually won the league’s Golden Boot award with a league-high 20 goals after scoring 8 goals in the final 4 regular season matches of the campaign, in addition to a brace in their extra-time defeat to the New York Red Bulls’ reserves in the MLS Next Pro Playoffs quarterfinal.

“The Golden Boot is a super special award for me, especially being a striker. I think that I set out at the beginning of the year to go into it and become the leading goalscorer of MLS Next Pro…I set that goal for myself. I think this is a testament to my whole story: I wasn’t playing much my first 5 or 6 games, I was fighting for a spot, working to come off the bench. And then goals just started falling, so when I got that achievement, to know everything that I had to push through, and everything that I had to do, I’m definitely so grateful to achieve the reward. It was super special for not only me, but also my family.”

Having established himself as one of the top center forwards in MLS Next Pro as well as a finalist for the 2025 MLS NEXT Pro MVP award, Shokalook will be looking to continue his progress in America’s top soccer league after becoming the fourth player from Chicago Fire FC II to sign an MLS contract with the Chicago first team, penning a contract through the 2026 season with club options for 2027 and 2028. He’s gone through an odyssey that has taken him from Pennsylvania to Ohio to South Carolina to Michigan to Illinois, but now, he’s ready to make his mark in the Windy City and lead Chicago to success under Gregg Berhalter.

“Overall, I love the city of Chicago. I think that there’s a super amazing energy about the city. The people are all super nice. But it’s definitely a big change coming from Erie, Akron, Flint, Columbia, all of these types of cities, to come into a massive city. When I first got here, I was a little bit blown away by the big buildings and how much was going on and all of that, but I think, like anything, you just have to adapt. There’s a real home feel to this city for me, and I really enjoy what it’s all about, and I’m just super grateful to be in an amazing city like this, playing soccer. There’s nothing better than that, you know?”

Whilst Hudson was unable to impose himself on the field, he has nevertheless made an enormous impact on the touchline, earning his coaching badges with Leyton Orient’s academy, only to realize that job opportunities would be in greater supply in his birthplace. He headed across the Atlantic, working for New Jersey-based AC Diablos SC and North Carolina-based Wilmington Hammerheads, before eventually taking charge of the Real Maryland Monarchs in 2008 and becoming the youngest head coach in the nation. During the offseason, Hudson would fly to Europe, study training sessions of elite teams, and learn from iconic managers like Sir Alex Ferguson and Marcelo Bielsa.

“For the better part of six to seven years, each offseason, I’d fly back to Europe, rent a car, drive all around England, and go and meet with Alex Ferguson, David Moyes, and others. I went everywhere in England to see all the Premier League clubs and Championship teams, and then I went over to Europe to study teams like Ajax, Barcelona, and Real Madrid—when José Mourinho was there. I was obsessed with really just going to watch and see how the top managers dealt with certain situations, how they would build their team, and how they acted in team meetings,” stated Hudson in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “I think probably the biggest influence was Marcelo Bielsa. I watched a lot of his teams play, like Chile and Athletic Club, and I remember Athletic’s UEFA Europa League match vs. Manchester United… I don’t think I had ever seen a team run as much as they did with and without the ball. They were so coordinated; it was organized chaos, so exciting to watch.”

“That’s why you love football; you want to see a team that gives absolutely everything, that’s playing together and giving everything to attack and win the ball back. I went to see Bielsa two to three times when he was in Bilbao, I went to see him when he was in Marseille, and I went to his home in Argentina and spent a few hours with him, which was an incredible experience. I learned a lot from him in terms of training methods and how to practice, how to prepare a group of players to put on a performance as they did. I was obsessed as a young coach with learning, and I used to watch all these Bielsa press conferences for all of my Spanish lessons. All me and my teachers ever did was watch Bielsa press conferences and translate them. I’d watch it on my own, write all the words down that I didn’t know, ask different things, and then we went on the session, and it was always press conferences or interviews with Bielsa. That was a big motivation for learning Spanish, and also, when I went to Maryland, our squad was entirely consisting of Latino players, so I realized I needed to learn Spanish.”

After an impressive spell in Rockville that saw him be nominated for the USL Second Division 2009 Coach of the Year Award, Hudson returned to the UK in 2010, working with Tottenham Hotspur’s reserves before assuming the ranks of fifth-tier Newport County, where he lasted just five months at the helm. Hudson then decided to work alongside his friend John Still as an unpaid assistant at Dagenham & Redbridge, where he came across Bahrain manager Peter Taylor, who, just a few days later, called him up and offered him the chance to coach Bahrain’s U-23 side. He led them to their maiden gold medal in the 2013 GCC U-23 Championship before taking charge of Bahrain’s senior team and overseeing a third-place finish in the 2013 WAFF Championship. This would earn him a move to New Zealand, who gave him the opportunity to coach their New Zealand senior team and their U-20 and U-17 sides. Hudson repaid their confidence by qualifying the All Whites for the knockout rounds of the U-17 and U-20 World Cup for the very first time, as well as winning the 2016 OFC Nations Cup and qualifying for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.

“I loved it in New Zealand. It was another completely different culture shock, because the country is changing a little bit, but you have to respect the culture, learn about it, and understand it, especially as a national team. You have to learn about the culture, you have to really understand what it means to be from that country, and what they are all about. That was my first year, just going around the country and talking to the All Blacks and different rugby teams and the key people in the country and learning what it means to be a proud New Zealander.”

“We had a really good group of players, just an amazing attitude in the group with so many great characters like Winston Reid and Chris Wood. It was a really good squad. I took over a team that had failed to qualify for the Confederations Cup and got hammered by Mexico in the playoff. Players didn’t really want to come fly all the way back to New Zealand, and they weren’t happy with how the team was and the professionalism, all that sort of stuff. It was a complete rebuild, really, and I loved it. It was a great experience—one that I will never forget—and a good stage for me.”

Similarly to other Englishmen like Martin Tyler, Hudson has been able to stake out a legacy not just in Oceania, but the United States. After coming within inches of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and losing to Peru in the intercontinental playoff, Hudson moved across the Pacific and took charge of the Colorado Rapids in November 2017, where he managed 8 wins, 26 draws, and 9 defeats before being given the axe after just over a year in charge. Rather than continue in a head coaching role, Hudson opted to step away from the spotlight and spent two years as Gregg Berhalter’s assistant, helping the US Men’s National Team beat Mexico in the Concacaf Nations League Final and the Concacaf Gold Cup Final and reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where they made it all the way to the Round of 16. Hudson then replaced Berhalter as the head coach in January 2023, overseeing four friendlies before deciding to leave after four months in charge. He traded Chicago for Qatar, overseeing Al-Markiyah SC and Al-Arabi before taking charge of Thai outfit BG Pathum in February 2025.

Hudson enjoyed success with the Rabbits, leading them from seventh to third with eight victories, three stalemates, and two defeats before being dismissed from his post. He remained in the country, and, after less than seven months out of work, took charge of the Thailand national team on October 22, 2025. After overseeing a 3-2 friendly win vs. Singapore, Hudson’s side demolished Sri Lanka 4-0, and they sit second in Group D of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers with 12 points (level with Turkmenistan) despite scoring more goals and conceding fewer. It’s why, in order to qualify for a third-straight Asian Cup, Thailand needs to win at home against Turkmenistan on March 31.

“Bangkok is a great place and a great city. If you had asked me in 2024 if I could see myself in Thailand, I probably wouldn’t have said yes, but I’ve really liked it. I had some interviews with a few different teams, I turned down a couple of jobs in different parts of the world, and then the Pathum job came up, and I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s do it!’ I thought they had a good squad in this league. You never know in life—I never knew I’d be going to Bahrain or New Zealand. The most important thing when I travel is making sure my dog’s okay. That’s why, despite having a couple of offers from overseas, I was mainly talking to teams in Thailand. I’ve moved a lot, I’ve only been here for a few months, and I didn’t think I could move again so quickly. If it came to that, and I had to do it, I’d do it, but the biggest challenge with moving is traveling with dogs. I have one dog now, but travelling with two dogs is stressful because you want to make sure that they’re okay getting on the flights, and then the transition, because wherever you land for a manager’s job, you’re starting work the next day, and it’s 24/7. To get everything set up for the dog and house sitters and dog walkers and all that sort of stuff…it’s a lot to do. That’s why my preference was to stay here….I’ve really enjoyed my time in Thailand.”

Kevin is the son of Liam Egan, who, after enjoying a successful career in Gaelic football and winning back-to-back All-Irelands in 1976 and 1977, went to Chicago in 1977 for an international tour. It was here that he fell in love with a Chicago native named Kathy, with the two eventually getting hitched and heading back to the North Dublin community of Raheny, where they raised a son. Born on May 20, 1985, Kevin emulated his father by playing Gaelic football for Raheny GAA, but he was forced to abandon his playing dreams after tearing his ACL. Instead, Egan studied journalism at Griffith College Dublin and eventually got his breakthrough as a runner for national broadcaster RTÉ Sport at the 2004 Summer Olympics, soaring up the company ranks before eventually deciding to leave his hometown and start a new life in Chicago.

“I think when you’re young, youth is a great barrier to both anxiety and uncertainty. You can dive in and give something a go with the hope that when you back yourself, you’ll come good. I didn’t know that it would work out, but I figured it would,” stated Egan in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “I went to Chicago with this kind of blind optimism that things will fall into place, and the Irish way of thinking, ‘It’ll be grand, we’ll figure it out.’ There’s very much an Irish mindset of ‘Don’t worry about planning it, it’ll figure itself out.’ When I think about what I tried to do, I don’t think that’s something that I could do with kids, and with a family, and with a mortgage, and all these things I have now in life that I’m lucky to have. I don’t think you could give stuff like that a rattle anymore, unless you were absolutely desperate. But it’s worked out so far, and I’m so grateful that it did.”

Although Kevin wasn’t able to follow his father’s path of becoming a professional Gaelic footballer, he did replicate his feat of moving to Chicago and finding love; one week after moving to the Windy City, Egan came across a barista in a café, locking eyes just as the Irish song “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard was playing. 16 years later, the two are married and have two children. But whilst it took him just a few days to encounter the woman of his dreams, finding the job of his dreams proved far more difficult. After six months of suffering rejection after rejection, Egan was finally hired as a Production Assistant at the Big Ten Network, where he made graphics for live college football and basketball shows. But similarly to others like Neto Borges, Egan always knew that soccer was his one true love over all of the other sports. It’s why he offered to produce and present a weekly online soccer show on his own time for Big Ten, eventually grabbing the attention of MLS side Chicago Fire, who hired him as a sideline reporter in 2012.

Egan wasn’t just able to travel across the USA and Canada and follow the Fire’s trajectory—he also managed to parlay that into other gigs with 120 Sports (now Stadium), Fox Sports, and ESPN, hosting global FIFA tournaments from Turner Sports’ ELEAGUE studio and eMLS events across the US in addition to analyzing Champions League games on CNN World Sport and anchoring Turner Sports and B/R Football’s exclusive broadcasts of the UEFA Champions League. In 2015, he headed for Miami after accepting a full-time position with beIN SPORTS as a studio presenter and match commentator. At the time, beIN were the hottest soccer network in the USA, boasting competitions like LaLiga and Serie A, with Egan hosting live El Clásico coverage from Madrid and Barcelona as well as covering the U.S. Men’s National Team’s World Cup qualifying failure in 2017.

“We had La Liga and Serie A, we had great characters coming through, like Bobo Vieri, Juan Pablo Ángel, Diego Forlán…I was instantly thrust into this spotlight where, at the beginning, I was nearly used as an analyst, which I didn’t really like. I remember feeling this huge sense of imposter syndrome. I was on a desk with Ángel, Ruud Gullit, Gary Bailey, a longtime Manchester United goalkeeper, and I’m being asked questions. I thought, ‘No, this needs to change. I need to become the host, because it’s just not fair on the viewer to be asking me questions. I’ve never lived this life that they’ve lived, so I want to be the host going forward, I want to make sure I’m the guy that’s the play-by-play guy, rather than the analyst, because I think I’ll be better off asking the questions.”

Egan departed Miami for Atlanta in 2019, where he worked as the play-by-play commentator and host for Atlanta United broadcasts on FOX Sports South. Two years later, Egan started working for WWE under the name Kevin Patrick, going from backstage reporter to studio presenter to co-host of the WWE Kick-Off Shows to the first-ever foreign voice to lead Raw from October 2022, before eventually ascending to WWE Smackdown in 2023. After balancing WWE Smackdown coverage with his work as a play-by-play commentator for Apple TV+’s inaugural season of MLS coverage, Egan left WWE in order to focus on his role as the host of ‘MLS 360.’ Every week, Egan flies from Atlanta to New York and hosts a 4-hour live “whip-around” show from Apple TV’s studios in Manhattan alongside guests like Dax McCarty, Kaylyn Kyle, Sacha Kljestan and Bradley Wright-Phillips, which is essentially MLS’ answer to NFL Red Zone.

“It’s a dream job…there have been times in different jobs, for example, with WWE, where it reached that stage where I didn’t want to go to work, I just didn’t enjoy it, and I wanted to enjoy my job. It’s never a feeling I had with beIN Sports or Apple TV; I love going to work now, and I’ve formed such a good friendship with Dax, Sacha, Kaylyn and Bradley on the desk. We have such a laugh each and every week. We love the league, and we want to see the league grow as much as possible. To be around those guys, playing pickleball on a Saturday afternoon before we head in and go on the air together, it’s great. We can do Countdown 360 and wrap up in the same day, we can play pickleball on a Saturday afternoon, and then we go on air for about 8-9 hours together each. We’re on air for a countdown 360, wrap-up on a Saturday….it’s a manic time, but we all love MLS, and we’re all bullish on the trajectory of the league.”

“The turning point was right when I joined the FC Dallas academy and had to stop all of these other sports like basketball, football, and track. I had to go to a totally different school because that was what the academy did at the time. We went to Frisco Liberty, and that’s when I changed my focus and had to hone in on playing. I was thinking, ‘Okay, is this the next step to getting that professional contract?’ It wasn’t until my freshman year, when I was training with the first team on a consistent basis, that I went from playing on one field for the academy team to a field across the way with the first team,” stated Acosta in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview.

“I was at the professional level; they knew my name, they were asking me questions, and I was enjoying myself. I was there not just as a body, but I was holding my own and feeling comfortable. I was 15 or 16 years old, playing against guys twice my age who were embracing me, and I really felt like I could perform—like I belonged. It was when I was starting to train with the first team that I thought, ‘Okay, I’m not too far away.’”

These impressive international displays, combined with his superb performances at the club level, prompted him to decline a move to the University of Maryland’s soccer team and sign a Homegrown contract with FC Dallas. He was named the 2011/12 U.S. Soccer Development Academy Central Conference Player of the Year. Acosta was forced to wait a year due to eligibility rules before finally breaking into the first team in 2013, making the first of 302 MLS appearances in a 3-0 loss at Seattle before starting in 11 of Dallas’s final 12 matches of the season.

Acosta commenced 2014 as the starting right back before undergoing surgery for an avulsion fracture of the kneecap, missing the next four months. He rebounded with an impressive 2015 season, scoring four goals and recording one assist in 26 appearances for Dallas, and starting four of the U.S.’s five matches during the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Acosta evolved from a fullback to a central midfielder under Dallas manager Óscar Pareja, where he has remained ever since, earning praise from leading MLS pundits like Taylor Twellman and Glenn Davis and helping Dallas win its first trophy in 19 years with the 2016 U.S. Open Cup, as well as its maiden Supporters’ Shield. While he impressed in Texas with 13 goals and nine assists in 139 appearances, he was unable to lead Dallas to a first-ever MLS Cup before being traded to the Colorado Rapids on July 23, 2018, in exchange for Dominique Badji.

Living outside of the Dallas metropolitan area for the first time while raising a newborn son, Acosta adapted to his new surroundings and led Colorado from one of the third-worst records in MLS in 2017 and 2018 to an inspiring but ultimately unfruitful hunt for a playoff spot in 2019. Colorado took things up a notch in the following decade, finishing with the best record in the Western Conference in 2021. Acosta’s imposing performances in the middle of the pitch garnered the attention of U.S. Men’s National Team manager Gregg Berhalter, who recalled him after more than two years out of the picture. After closing out 2020 with a return against El Salvador (his 24th cap overall), Acosta became the first USMNT player since 1994 to earn 21 caps in a single calendar year. Two months after beating Mexico in Denver in the CONCACAF Nations League Finals, Acosta provided the assist for Miles Robinson’s 117th-minute winner against Mexico in the 2021 Gold Cup Final in Las Vegas.

“I’d probably say that my best performance was in the 2021 Gold Cup Final versus Mexico, where I had the game-winning assist. I was just flowing; I was tackling, I was on the ball, and I felt like I could run for days. I was in a different mindset. Just two months prior, we had beaten Mexico in another final, so this was another opportunity to win at home in Vegas. It was almost the last kick of the game, and I was thinking, ‘If I can just put it in a good position…’ We had some big boys in there, and I just let them fight. I was able to deliver a good ball in, and Miles was able to finish it. It was definitely sweet to contribute to the win and have a game-winning assist, but the most important thing was just holding the trophy up. It was my second Gold Cup that I was able to lift, which was a special moment. 2021 was a special year for me.”

Having already won the biggest international trophies in North America in 2017 and 2021, Acosta got his hands on the most coveted trophy in U.S. club soccer in 2022. After racking up seven goals and seven assists in 82 appearances for Colorado, Acosta headed west for LAFC, who acquired him in January 2022 for $1.1 million in General Allocation Money. He emerged as an indispensable figure in midfield as LAFC won the Supporters’ Shield and its first-ever MLS Cup title, opening the scoring in the final against Philadelphia. He didn’t have much time to celebrate; instead, he headed to Qatar and became the first-ever Asian-American to compete in a FIFA World Cup, playing against Wales and Iran.

After a 2023 season that promised much but failed to deliver major silverware, Acosta moved to the Chicago Fire on February 13, 2024, where he quickly emerged as a fulcrum in midfield. However, despite linking up with Berhalter in the off-season, Acosta went from starting the season as the captain to riding the bench during the latter months of the 2025 campaign, failing to play a single minute in four of the team’s last five matches. Acosta, who has a contract through 2026 with a club option for 2027, is more keen than ever to refuel after a challenging year and prove that, at 30 years old, there’s still plenty of “oil left in the tank.“

“I think the biggest thing, as you experience more years, is the mental side of it. You become more mature and you’re able to attack situations with a different mindset. The brain is the most powerful tool you have—it’s the strongest muscle. For me, it’s taken some time to get to this point. The physical aspect comes and goes; there are injuries and the physical output of the game, but the mental side has helped me. It paved the way for where I’m at. I could have fallen when I was out of the national team some years back, and that could have been it for the USMNT—you would have never heard my name again. But I was able to shift my mindset to overcome that hurdle. I think I’ll overcome this hurdle as well. After a tough year, I’m going to really fine-tune some things this off-season, and I’ll be ready to go.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Shakhtar has won a record 15 Ukrainian Cups and nine Ukrainian Super Cups, while also winning 15 of the last 24 league titles (two short of Dynamo Kyiv). On the continental stage, the club won the 2009 UEFA Europa League, reached the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds in 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2018, and made it to the Europa League semifinals in 2016 and 2020. There are quite a few reasons behind Shakhtar’s meteoric rise, but a primary factor has been the arrival of Serhiy Anatoliiovych Palkin.

Born in Kryvyi Rih on October 22, 1974, Palkin graduated from the National Academy of Management in Kyiv and worked as a Senior Accountant for Coopers & Lybrand JV between 1997 and 2001. He then assumed the position of Deputy CEO for Budgeting & Economics at Kryvyi Rih Cement & Mining Plant JSC in 2001, eventually ascending to Economics & Finance Director. Palkin made the transition to sports when he joined Shakhtar as Chief Financial Officer on June 3, 2003; a few months later, he was promoted to CEO, a role he has occupied ever since.

“No two weeks are ever the same. Football is fast-moving—it’s not just a sport, it’s a social and economic phenomenon,” stated Palkin in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “Of course, there are strategic things I monitor closely, like our long-term direction and pace of development. But there are also daily operational matters—from results on the pitch to unexpected issues that come up all the time. It’s a job that never stands still.”

Thanks to the guidance of Palkin, the unprecedented affluence of owner Rinat Akhmetov, and the proliferation of Brazilian stars like Willian, Fernandinho, and Fred, Shakhtar has managed to consolidate a domestic and international dynasty. However, it hasn’t been without its fair share of difficulties.

In 2009, Shakhtar moved on from its 73-year-old Central Stadium Shakhtar and transitioned to the $400 million Donbas Arena, which boasted a capacity of 52,187 spectators and hosted various matches in Euro 2012. Less than five years later, Shakhtar was forced to abandon its state-of-the-art stadium after Russian-backed paramilitaries seized cities in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region and proclaimed the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as independent states. While its stadium is obliterated by artillery shelling, Shakhtar has been forced to move from Donetsk to Lviv to Kharkiv. It’s been more of the same on the continental front; ever since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Shakhtar has been forced to play its European matches outside of Ukraine, going from Warsaw in 2022/23 to Hamburg in 2023/24 to Gelsenkirchen in 2024/25. This season, the club has had two host cities, commencing in Ljubljana before moving to Krakow.

“From the first day of the full-scale invasion, life in Ukraine changed completely. Millions lost their homes, jobs, plans—and many lost their loved ones defending our country. Has Russia paid the price? Not at all. The world must be stronger and more united in standing against their ideology of destruction and aggression. International law must mean something—otherwise, humanity itself is at risk.”

The seemingly endless war hasn’t just meant more violence and bloodshed in Ukraine, but it’s also caused Ukraine’s domestic league to decline. Shortly after the invasion, FIFA announced that foreign players of Ukrainian and Russian clubs could unilaterally suspend their contracts and leave, allowing the likes of Manor Solomon and Tetê to depart Shakhtar for bargain fees, if any fees at all. Shakhtar sought £43 million in damages from FIFA but ultimately lost its case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As a result of this player exodus, the majority of Ukrainian Premier League clubs find themselves in a financially precarious position and are doing everything they can to stay afloat.

“In 2021, Ukraine ranked 12th in UEFA’s coefficient table—now we’re 28th. For the first time in modern history, we don’t have a team in the Champions League or Europa League group stages. Some clubs have even ceased operations. Many Ukrainian Premier League teams are newly promoted from lower divisions. Ukrainian football is surviving, but it’s in crisis mode because of the ongoing war.”

Despite being a refugee in its own country, and despite having to play its ‘home’ UEFA matches in seven different cities across three nations since the start of 2014, Shakhtar has been able to hold its own as one of the top teams in the nation thanks to an increased reliance on homegrown players like Mykhailo Mudryk, Anatoliy Trubin, and Georgiy Sudakov. This year, Shakhtar expanded its world-renowned youth production to the United States after launching an academy in Horsham, PA, on June 18, open to children from ages 3 to 15.

Shakhtar isn’t just looking to find the next great Pennsylvania soccer player after Christian Pulisic, Jason Shokalook, and Cavan Sullivan; the club is also making a name for itself in the Garden State after opening an academy in Clifton, NJ, on September 7. Shakhtar connected with Ukrainian communities in the States who wanted to bring their passion for the Miners to the USA to essentially franchise the brand and youth development overseas. Both academies offer a free first session and various training methods for kids between the ages of 3 and 14, with franchisees buying in for a starting fee of $20,000, as well as paying in installments depending on the academy’s success.

“Our franchise model is very flexible and affordable—around $20,000 to start. There’s also the option to pay in installments, depending on the school’s success. That makes it low-risk and appealing for partners who want to join the Shakhtar network. Of course, the goal is for every franchise to become profitable over time. Right now, the focus is on brand development and building local expertise. We’re not yet scouting for the first team, but once we establish ourselves and understand the market better, talent identification will naturally become part of the process. Every country has its own specifics. Setting up the school didn’t take long—about two months. Like in other countries, our U.S. academies are operated by Ukrainians who share our vision.”

After missing out on a fourth consecutive title in 2024/25 after finishing eight points behind Dynamo Kyiv and five behind runners-up Oleksandria, Shakhtar has bounced back in impressive fashion in the first half of the 2025/26 season with 42 goals thus far, seven more than any other team in Ukraine. They sit second in the table, level on 35 points with league leaders LNZ Cherkasy and five above third-placed Polissya, while they also find themselves in second place in the UEFA Conference League with 12 points from five matches thus far.

Born and raised in Kraków, Poland, Buksa’s footballing dreams were thrown into jeopardy when a doctor told him that his knees wouldn’t be able to handle the physical demands of the beautiful game. However, after two years off the pitch, Buksa decided to take another swing at the sport and joined Wisła Kraków’s academy at the end of his freshman year of high school. Buksa moved between Hutnik Kraków and Garbarnia Kraków—as well as a season with Italian side Novara’s Primavera squad—before making his senior debut with Lechia Gdańsk on July 25, 2014, in a 1-0 win against Podbeskidzie Bielsko-Biała. He was forced to wait another year before grabbing his first-ever senior goal against Pogoń Szczecin in the third match of the campaign, only to injure his foot immediately after and go 17 months without scoring.

After initially struggling with injuries at Pogoń Szczecin and Zagłębie Lubin, Buksa closed out the 2017/18 campaign with four goals and one assist in his last seven Ekstraklasa appearances. He parlayed this into a breakout 2018/19 campaign which saw him score 11 goals and provide four assists in 22 matches, followed by seven goals and four assists in 18 appearances in 2019, emerging as one of the top young center forwards in the Polish top flight with Pogoń Szczecin. These stellar displays attracted the attention of MLS side New England Revolution, who signed him to a three-year contract on December 12, 2019, for a fee of $4.5 million, making him the second-most expensive signing in the club’s history after Gustavo Bou.

“To be honest, I had never planned on leaving Europe. I planned on leaving the Ekstraklasa, but I never would have thought that MLS would be my next step,” stated Buksa in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “However, when I talked to New England manager Bruce Arena, when I found out about the plan of the club, when I saw the training facility, and the rapid growth of the league, I thought, ‘OK, this might be a good idea.’ I also got a good offer, and I treated MLS as a great adventure and potentially a good mid-step between Poland and one of the top five leagues in Europe. This was the right approach, because after two and a half years, I fulfilled this plan by joining Racing Club de Lens, so both the club and myself were happy with that.”

Similarly to many others like Hakim Ziyech, Stephen Constantine, and Samuel Eto’o, Buksa has honed his footballing skills across multiple countries and continents, but his first-ever experience abroad came in New England. Buksa made his MLS debut on February 29, 2020, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 loss to CF Montréal. One week later, Buksa broke the deadlock early on in a 1-1 draw against Chicago Fire and became the first Revolution player to score in a home opener since Saër Sène in 2012. Little did he know it, but that would be his final appearance in nearly six months, as a deadly pandemic waged destruction and paralyzed life in his newly adopted community in Massachusetts.

“The pandemic was tough for everybody, regardless of which country you were located in, so that was also the case for me. One month after my girlfriend and I arrived in the US, the pandemic started, and I had only played twice in MLS. The first six months were a bit crazy; everybody was a bit unsure of what would happen, but fortunately, we came back to play in Orlando with the MLS is Back tournament, and then eventually everything went back to normal, which was good. I love discovering new countries and new cultures; I’m more curious and happy about such ideas than afraid of them. I’ve been to many countries during my football career, and I’ve really enjoyed that. I wouldn’t change any of the choices that I’ve made so far.”

Buksa scored seven goals and recorded an assist in 28 appearances to spearhead New England to the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals, where they lost to eventual winners Columbus Crew. 2021, meanwhile, saw Buksa ascend from second place in the club’s scoring charts to first place with 17 goals and four assists in 32 appearances as New England won their first trophy in 14 years with the Supporters’ Shield title. However, despite finishing with the best regular season record in MLS, they were unable to extend their success in the postseason. Buksa opened the scoring in the Conference Semifinal against New York City FC, who would equalize and force a 2-2 draw and a penalty shootout, where Sean Johnson thwarted Buksa’s spot-kick to prevail. While New York went on to win their first-ever MLS Cup, New England is still searching for its maiden championship.

The Polish target man followed that up with 11 goals and two assists in 13 appearances before moving to France in 2022, where an ankle injury condemned him to watching from the sidelines as Lens challenged PSG for the Ligue 1 title and qualified for the UEFA Champions League. Buksa bounced back in superb fashion in 2023/24 with 16 goals and two assists in 33 appearances, finishing atop Turkish side Antalyaspor’s scoring charts, before making the move to Danish heavyweights Midtjylland for €4.5 million. There, he racked up 15 goals and two assists in 39 appearances across all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign.

“The idea of joining Midtjylland was motivated by the desire to play European football. I joined after they became champions of Denmark, so the ultimate goal was to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. We were very, very close to making this happen, and if the game had ended in the 85th minute in Bratislava, we would have qualified for the Champions League. But football games take 90 minutes, and we conceded two easy goals at the end of the game and, as a result, qualified for the Europa League instead of the Champions League. It was a very painful moment, but the adventure and the experience of playing in the Europa League was huge. We did well in that campaign. We became vice-champions of Denmark, which was not a bad result, but the goal was to become champions once again. It was a good time, but I felt that after that year, I needed to take a different step.”

Buksa joined Serie A side Udinese on August 26 on a four-year deal, with the Zebrette paying €5 million for his services. After a rough transition to Italian football that saw him fail to score in his first five games, Buksa broke his duck in a 3-2 win against Lecce on October 25, but he has since failed to score in his next seven for Udinese.

At 29 years of age, Adam Buksa has already played in Poland, the USA, France, Türkiye, Denmark, and Italy, and he could very well be set to return to North America next summer. Buksa has scored seven goals and one assist in 25 appearances for Poland, and after playing an active role and scoring in their last major tournament, all signs point to him helping Poland’s attack in their mission to succeed in the world’s biggest tournament. But first, Poland needs to beat Albania in March before beating Ukraine or Sweden in order to secure their spot in Group F alongside Japan, the Netherlands, and Tunisia.

What do all of these players have in common? They all honed their craft at Red Bull Salzburg before making the move to Europe’s biggest clubs. Another player who has thrived after ascending through Salzburg’s development system is Diadié Samassékou.

Born in Bamako, Mali, Samassékou was 11 years old when he enrolled in the JMG Academy, which had already produced various soccer stars like Gervinho, Yaya and Kolo Touré, and Salomon Kalou. Living away from his family and dealing with the taxing demands of a loaded academic and training schedule, Samassékou was forced to become a man ahead of schedule. Eventually, it paid off as he joined AS Real Bamako in 2013 and began playing regular minutes in the Malian top flight.

“I played in the streets until I was 11 before joining the Jean-Marc Guillou Academy, where I took classes until I was 18,” stated Samassékou in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “When you’re a kid, you just play to enjoy yourself… it’s different from professional soccer, but it’s a lot more fun. I had the chance to grow up with a lot of players that are professionals now, so it was a really great time for me. I was still living in Bamako, but I was always behind closed doors and only saw my parents on the weekends. However, I saw that I wasn’t the only kid in that situation and realized that I had to do it. I was just an 11-year-old kid, I wasn’t used to it, but at the end of the day, this made me what I am today.”

Having gradually made his mark in the Malian Première Division and the CAF Champions League, Samassékou’s first big breakthrough came in New Zealand during the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with Mali edging Mexico to a place in the knockout round before beating Ghana and Germany. Although they failed to beat Serbia in the semifinals, Samassékou would come away with a bronze medal and earn the attention of Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg, who signed him to a four-year deal.

After biding his time in the second tier, Samassékou emerged as a full-fledged starter in 2016/17, leading Salzburg to a domestic double under Óscar García before guiding them to another league title in 2017/18. It wasn’t long before leading pundits like Leonardo Bertozzi and Nico Cantor were starting to declare Samassékou as one of the rising stars in African soccer, with the Malian making the UEFA Europa League Squad of the Season after leading Salzburg to the semifinals. The following season, Samassékou scored 2 goals and 2 assists in 45 appearances to guide Salzburg to yet another domestic double alongside other future Premier League players like Hwang Hee-chan, Patson Daka, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Erling Haaland.

“To see the level that he’s at right now… I don’t even think Erling himself would’ve believed he’d be where he is today,” says Samassékou of Manchester City’s Norwegian striker. “You could see that he was really sharp at finding angles and he just wanted to score goals, but nobody would have expected what he’s doing now. He’s quite fast, and as a striker, he has all the qualities needed to perform at the highest level. His performances over the past few years have been really amazing, and that goes down to his dedication to constantly improve.”

After a sensational chapter in Salzburg that saw him win two Austrian Cups and three Austrian Bundesliga titles, as well as being named in two Austrian Bundesliga Teams of the Season, Samassékou made the move to Hoffenheim, who paid a club-record fee of £10.8 million for him in 2019. Samassékou was eased into the team and eventually became a starter in midfield on the cusp of the COVID-19 pandemic, guiding them to Europa League qualification and emerging as a fulcrum in the center of the pitch. However, after failing to convince new manager André Breitenreiter, Samassékou made the move to Greek giants Olympiacos, where he played 25 times before returning to Hoffenheim.

Samassékou struggled for minutes both at Hoffenheim and at Spanish side Cádiz before returning to Germany, where, after being frozen out for the first months of the 2024/25 campaign, he made seven straight starting appearances in December and January, only to suffer a muscular injury. He returned two months later but would last just five minutes before injuring his thigh vs. Heidenheim, which would end up being his 97th and final appearance for Hoffenheim. After several weeks as a free agent, Samassékou decided to end his European adventure and join MLS side Houston Dynamo on a 1.5-year contract on August 23, 2025. On September 20, he made his MLS debut after replacing Brooklyn Raines for the final seconds of Houston’s 1-0 win vs. Portland Timbers.

“It was a great feeling to make my Houston debut. I was put into the match during a very stressful moment; the hardest situation to come into a match as a player is when you’re winning 1-0, because you need to be able to read the game. But it was really nice, and the atmosphere in the stadium was really good. That’s what I like about MLS: you’ll see in the pre-match festivities that every game is a show. I’m really happy to be here, so let’s see what I can bring to the team. I’m just looking forward to starting to play every game for Houston.”

He was left on the bench for the final three matches of the season as Houston narrowly missed out on a playoff spot for the first time since Ben Olsen’s appointment in 2023. Although he has competed in three different Africa Cup of Nations tournaments for Mali, all signs point to him being left out of the squad for next month’s tournament, which will see them face off against Zambia, Morocco, and Comoros. However, at 29 years of age, time is on Samassékou’s side as he looks to make it back into the national team for the first time since June 2024 and earn his 42nd cap for Les Aigles.

“Playing for the Mali national team, especially in midfield, you’ve got to deal with some tough competition. First of all, I just need to focus on myself and give my best; it’s more about performances than anything else, so I’m just trying to be the best version of myself here in Houston. If the national team coach [Tom Saintfiet] thinks that I can bring something to the team and calls me up for the tournament, then I will be happy to play in my fourth AFCON. But I think they are already doing a good job and already have a lot of good players, so I’m not sad to not be in the team. If I can help Mali, then I will do it, but my priority right now is to enjoy and perform and be the best version of myself that I can be.”

Born on May 29, 1966, Richardson spent most of his childhood in England but also enjoyed brief spells in the Middle East. “I like living abroad,” stated Richardson in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “I was born in Bristol and lived near London until I was about seven before my folks moved to Lebanon. I lived in Lebanon for a little bit and then returned to England before moving back to the Middle East and living there at 10 or 11 years old. I really grew up with this idea of there being a bigger world out there, one with better weather, and thinking, ‘How nice would it be to go and spend time there as an adult?’ I’ve got three brothers and sisters who’ve all gone and lived abroad as well. Some of them grew up in India, one of them’s now an American citizen, one was in Australia for ages and is now in France… I mean, we’re all over the world. I’m very, very happy to go to a new place and learn a new language anytime the opportunity arises. I’m pretty flexible, but I would love to go and live in Japan… let’s make that happen.”

After purchasing a satellite dish in 1989, Richardson started watching Serie A — the best league in the world at the time — and developed an appreciation for Italian soccer that had never quite registered with him for his native English soccer. Shortly after, he started dating a girl from Rome. And while they didn’t end up tying the knot, this relationship would prove instrumental for Richardson, who started following Roma — an affinity that has lasted for three decades — and learning Italian, eventually becoming fluent. This, combined with a fledgling experience in TV production, would prompt him to be hired by British free-to-air public broadcast television Channel 4 as a producer for a new program: Football Italia. Richardson moved from England to Italy in 1992, where he would spend the next decade.

Initially hired to be a hands-on producer to help out Paul Gascoigne, the most talented English player at the time who had recently left Tottenham Hotspur for Lazio, Richardson was forced to step into the spotlight when Gascoigne began to frequently miss his appointments. He went from an unknown producer to one of England’s most beloved TV presenters almost overnight. Whether sipping an affogato outside a café while analyzing the latest in Italian football, or chatting with Serie A stars and managers, Richardson was able to connect with millions of British viewers and bring them to the front and center of Italian soccer. He returned to London in 2002, where he has stayed ever since, presenting Eurosport’s live coverage of Serie A before anchoring Bravo TV’s Football Italia Live and the reboot of Gazzetta Football Italia. But by the end of 2006, Serie A had lost its glamour following the Calciopoli scandal as well as the rise in popularity of the Premier League, prompting Richardson’s legendary Football Italia chapter to come to an end after 14 years.

Can Serie A ever return to the zenith of world soccer like it was a quarter-century ago? Richardson isn’t optimistic. “I don’t think winning the UEFA Champions League will make that much of a difference for Serie A clubs. José Mourinho did it with Inter, and it didn’t move the needle in any way. Inter could have done it a couple of seasons ago vs. Manchester City… they were really close to winning that final. But I think those teams were exceptions. The overall financial health of the league is improving massively, and it really has to begin with that. Thankfully, that’s happening, and that’s the fruit of these incredible levels of foreign ownership of Italian clubs. Pretty much half of Serie A is now in the hands of North American owners, be they Canadian or American, which has brought an entirely new mentality to the way these clubs are being run. It was a bit of a freak show, not just the clubs themselves, but also the way the league was set up. It was a little ‘casereccio,’ or homemade, and I think there’s no way that anybody can compete with the Premier League.”

“The Premier League is a tremendous league. It’s enormously wealthy, which means that it can acquire all the best players, and it also has a kind of historical resonance that no other league can match. It’s the home of football, and therefore, your Manchester Uniteds, your Liverpools, your Nottingham Forests have a cachet that, even though Juventus and Milan are also amazing teams, there’s something special about English football. Can Serie A ever compete with that again? Well, everything’s cyclical, so yes, I think they can, but you would need the Premier League to hit a bit of a speed bump, because the way they are at the moment is just unprecedented… probably only the NFL in world sport can come close to the kind of turnover that the Premier League has. Certainly, the other football leagues, the other countries’ football leagues, are left so far behind in terms of the international broadcast rights that the Premier League makes, because when people around the world watch foreign football, it’s almost always the Premier League that they watch. There’ll be the odd exception, like El Clásico, but it’s the Premier League occupying second place for all those other viewers from all those other countries. Right now, they’re pretty unassailable, but as I say, everything’s cyclical. Maybe, when I’m an even older man, we’ll see Serie A back at the top of the pile.”

Despite having to find a broader niche than simply Italian soccer, Richardson has been able to land on his feet and stake his claim as one of the top presenters in the game alongside the likes of Dave Johnson and Kate Scott. After co-presenting Setanta Sports’ The Friday Football Show and Football Matters with Rebecca Lowe between 2007 and 2009 and working with BBC’s Late Kick Off for the South West region, Richardson returned to Italian soccer coverage with ESPN. He then worked at BT Sport (now TNT Sports) from 2013 to 2017, where he hosted live Serie A matches and the Sunday night round-up show European Football Show, as well as The UEFA Champions League Goals Show, while he also co-hosted The Fantasy Premier League Show by Premier League Productions.

Today, Richardson spends most of his time hosting The Totally Football Show podcast, masterfully weaving between a plethora of topics and chatting with seasoned journalists like James Horncastle, Raphael Honigstein, Julien Laurens, and Alvaro Romeo. But while he’s made his reputation in soccer — traveling to the United States last summer as part of the joint DAZN/5 presentation team for their coverage of the first-ever 32-team FIFA Club World Cup — he’s also branched out into other, lesser-known sports like cycling, darts, sumo, and niche competitions such as The World’s Strongest Man and The Great Model Railway Challenge.

“I don’t really write too much. The main thing I do is my podcast, which I do four times a week. We have a European soccer show, and then a preview and a review show on the Premier League, and then a show where we do retro stuff or anything that we find not tied to that week’s news. It’s called The Totally Football Show — silly title, but there you go — do give it a listen if you never have. I’m recording four times a week and watching all the soccer that goes around it. It’s so much soccer that it takes up most of my time, and then I’ve also got other stuff which happens at different points, like going away to do World’s Strongest Man for the last 15 years, and then other stuff like hosting a sumo tournament at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I’m pretty much doing the podcast and then random other stuff, or if somebody employs me to go on TV, like I did for DAZN with the FIFA Club World Cup, then that’s super good. But mostly, at the moment, I’m a podcaster.”

At nearly 60 years of age, James Richardson has spent the past three decades emerging as one of the top sports presenters in the entire industry, and while he’s done just about everything there is to do, he’s shown no signs whatsoever of easing off the pedal.

Over the past four months, he has scored against Western Springs AFC and Eastern Suburbs in the Northern League, and he also netted a late equalizer in Auckland City’s recent draw vs. Auckland FC’s reserve side. However, the most important goal of his career came on July 24 — not in his native New Zealand, but in the United States.

Having lost their first two matches to Bayern Munich and Benfica by a combined 16-0, Auckland City were already eliminated from the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, unlike Boca Juniors, who were seeking to book their ticket to the knockout round with a victory. When Boca opened the scoring in the 26th minute via an own goal, all signs pointed to Auckland suffering yet another heavy defeat in Nashville. Instead, they held firm and reached halftime with a manageable deficit, and in the 52nd minute, they pulled level as Christian Gray headed home from a corner kick. While Boca exited the tournament without a win, and Bayern and Benfica confirmed their spots in the Round of 16, Auckland managed to bow out of the Club World Cup with their heads held high.

“Coming off the back of the previous results, if we were told that we’d get a point from that game vs. Boca, I don’t think anyone would have believed you,” said Gray in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “It was a funny feeling after the game… you’re not sure how to react. It’s a draw at the end of the day, but when you take everything into account, it’s still a good result. It took a moment to realize it’s not a win, but it’s not a loss.”

Born in the Gisborne region of New Zealand, Gray was raised by Sandra Edge — who won gold at the 1987 World Netball Championships in Glasgow, silver in 1991 in Sydney, and bronze in 1995 in Birmingham — and Rodger Gray, who captained New Zealand’s men’s national team and scored four goals in 39 caps between 1989 and 1997, in addition to representing Mt. Wellington, Waitakere City, and Waitemata FC.

Like many players such as Sergey Palkin, Diadie Samassékou, and Marco Verratti, he was hooked on soccer from a young age and sought to emulate his father. Initially a striker, Christian transitioned to midfield and later to center back, ultimately following in his father’s footsteps by launching his senior career with Waitakere United in 2016.

“My father and my uncle played together for the national team and club team. Mum has a netball background, so I guess I grew up surrounded by sport. Academically, they were both involved in coaching, and Mum also has a teaching background, so sports were always a big part of my childhood.”

Gray moved from Waitakere United to Hamilton Wanderers, then to Birkenhead United and Eastern Suburbs in 2019, before eventually joining Auckland City in January 2022. Unlike New Zealand’s two professional clubs, Auckland FC and Wellington Phoenix — who play in the Australian league — Auckland City remain an amateur side, and because of that, they compete in the New Zealand top flight. They have not only participated — they have dominated, winning 10 league titles and 13 OFC Champions League trophies, including each of the last four. As a result, Auckland have played in more FIFA Club World Cups (12) than any other club, finishing third in 2014.

An unused substitute in Auckland’s defeat to Al Ahly in Morocco in 2023, Gray made his first Club World Cup start against Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, facing Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kanté, and Fabinho in a 3–0 defeat. He was on the bench nine months later as Auckland lost 6–2 to Al Ain in the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in Qatar. The tournament was later rebranded and expanded into a 32-team Club World Cup, meaning Auckland would spend a full month abroad and have more chances to prove themselves.

“Traveling to all these locations has been awesome. We’ve ticked off quite a few places. We just got back from Egypt where we saw the pyramids — something I probably never would have done without football. That’s been a big part of why we play. We’ve played against some huge names over the last four years, at big stadiums, and visited countries we might never have seen otherwise. I had the chance to play against Benzema a year after he won the Ballon d’Or, and other legends like Edinson Cavani and Ángel Di María.”

After competing in Cincinnati, Orlando, and Nashville, Gray returned to New Zealand before heading back to Egypt to face Pyramids in the Intercontinental Cup. Unable to overcome a strong opponent, Auckland lost 3–0. He later scored an own goal vs. Birkenhead but responded by helping his team secure wins vs. Western Suburbs and Wellington Olympic, followed by a 1–1 draw with Auckland FC’s reserves.

“There are always lessons from these matches that we’ll take back into the National League. Pyramids are obviously a strong side, so the big thing is taking what we learned and applying it at home.”

Gray has become a key figure in Auckland’s backline thanks to his timing, awareness, passing quality, and physical bravery. Like Gonçalo Inácio, Marc Guéhi, and others, he excels aerially, scoring and defending with equal determination.

At 29, Gray has faced world-class opposition — yet has not been called up to the New Zealand national team, largely due to not being a professional player. His full-time job is teaching Physical Education and Health at Auckland Grammar School and Mt. Roskill Intermediate, while also coaching the school’s boys’ team. His days begin before dawn and often end late at night, alongside completing his graduate teaching diploma.

“It’s been a busy year, juggling everything — especially with all the travel. I coach in the mornings, teach during the day, study on weekends, and train in the evenings. I’ll finish my diploma in December and become a registered teacher.”

Whether Gray will someday turn professional or play for the All Whites remains uncertain, but one thing is certain: his goal against Boca Juniors will be remembered as one of the biggest shocks in FIFA Club World Cup history.

These two Hollywood stars ushered in a new era of success through significant investment and the global fame of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary series, helping Wrexham achieve visibility surpassing even some Premier League clubs like West Ham and Brighton.

However, McElhenney and Reynolds haven’t been the only driving forces behind Wrexham’s meteoric rise. One man who has played a crucial role in the club’s historic ascent is Les Reed.

Born on December 12, 1952, in the London suburb of Wapping, Reed played for England at the schoolboy level and was one of the 97,000 in attendance for the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final at Wembley, where England beat Germany 4–2 in extra time. Unable to make his senior debut, Reed spent time at lower-league sides such as Cambridge United, Watford, and Wycombe before retiring early to pursue a coaching career and a degree in physical education.

Reed began coaching with non-league sides Finchley and Wealdstone, winning the Football Conference and FA Trophy with the latter, before joining the Football Association (FA) as a development officer in 1986. It was during this first of many stints with the FA that Reed’s career truly began to take off.

“The turning point came during my first period with the FA,” stated Reed in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “My three-year contract was coming to an end, and by that time, I was running some of the highest-level coaching courses at the Lilleshall FA Centre — where the national school was — and overseeing courses for professional coaches. It was a time when coaching qualifications became mandatory. Many former players and long-time coaches had to complete these courses, including those who’d been in the game at the highest level for decades.”

“Quite a lot of them passed through my hands. One was Alan Curbishley, then reserve team coach at Charlton Athletic, who had just been offered the full-time manager role. He completed both his preliminary and full licenses with me as his tutor. Afterward, he called to ask me to join him as his assistant. I had to decide — stay with the FA coaching England youth teams, or take this opportunity that might never come again?”

“I took the chance. I was with Alan for three years; we earned promotion to the Premier League, and that’s where my reputation started to grow. After those three years, I was headhunted back to the FA as Director of Technical Development to set up the academy programs. I oversaw all national teams and became assistant coach to Kevin Keegan with the England men’s national team. That call from Alan probably changed my career — it gave me confidence and a reputation I’ve carried ever since.”

Reed hasn’t just left his mark on England’s national teams but also across the globe — in Northern Ireland, South Africa, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Ghana, and Zimbabwe. After building a name at Charlton and later as Fulham’s Director of Football, he joined Southampton in April 2010 as Head of Football Development and Support, later becoming Vice-Chairman.

At Southampton, Reed oversaw youth development, scouting and recruitment, sports science, and medical operations — helping steer the club from England’s third division to a stable Premier League presence. One year after his side reached the 2017 EFL Cup Final, Reed returned to the FA as Technical Director before moving back into club management in 2021 — this time, with a Welsh club.

With nearly half a century of experience, Les Reed has established himself among the top football executives in the game — alongside names like Giuseppe Marotta and Sergey Palkin. Just a few months after purchasing Wrexham, McElhenney and Reynolds offered Reed a position as advisor to the board. He was immediately tasked with key decisions — replacing the manager, determining which players to retain, and which to release — and struck gold by appointing Phil Parkinson as manager.

With Parkinson leading from the touchline and Reed providing strategic oversight from his office in Spain, Wrexham have maximized their resources and risen rapidly through the divisions.

“I don’t have many encounters with Rob and Ryan. You won’t see me on the documentary. I stay very much in the background,” Reed explained. “Ryan once described me as their secret weapon. If they’re at a game and I’m around, we’ll have a general chat rather than a business one. They’re very approachable — if something important comes up, they’re open to hearing it. But as a consultant, I generally work through the board and executives. These days, I work more closely with Michael Williamson and Phil Parkinson. In the early days, I had more contact with the owners as the club grew, but now that it’s larger and has more people at the executive and operational level, my role is more behind the scenes.”

Wrexham have made history as the first team in England’s top five divisions to achieve three consecutive promotions, and they’re now aiming for a fourth — which would take them to the English top flight for the first time ever.

Born in Calgary to a Nigerian father and a Canadian mother, Akindele bounced around from Calgary to Mississauga to Toronto before moving to Thornton, Colorado at seven years of age, where he began playing for the Northglenn High School soccer team. Similar to many other members of the diaspora like Callum Hudson-Odoi, Jerome Opoku, and Daryl Dike, Akindele remained in touch with his West African roots despite living on the other side of the world.

“I think my Nigerian roots played a huge role in my career,” stated Akindele in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “Starting with the reason I play soccer, it’s in my Nigerian dad’s blood. As soon as I could walk, we were playing soccer. One of my earliest memories is us playing balloon soccer in our living room. I remember my dad, he’d balance the ball on his head, and I’d be slamming into him, trying to get the ball off his head while he’s walking towards my goal. So I remember that part, and then as I got older as well, it helped me a lot.”

“Back then, long-distance phone calls were a big deal. Once a month, we’d make some early morning phone calls with family from Nigeria. I’m on one end, and the phone is just getting passed around on the other end. And then I think another thing that my dad did really well, especially when we moved to Colorado, there were groups of Nigerian meetups. We would be going to these functions, two or three times a year where there were hundreds of Nigerian people. So, we’d be there, traditional clothes, parties, dances, and traditional food. And the older I got, my dad’s family started coming over. My cousins, aunts and uncles started coming over from Nigeria, so my dad definitely did a good job connecting us to that heritage.”

He rejected an offer to join Colorado Rapids’ academy at 17 in order to enroll at the Colorado School of Mines, where he emerged as their all-time leading scorer (76 goals) and a four-time All-American. It’s why, just a few months away from achieving an electrical engineering degree, Akindele decided to quit his studies and put all of his eggs into one basket – that of becoming a professional soccer player. Eventually, his gamble paid off; on January 16, 2014, FC Dallas selected Akindele with the sixth overall pick of the MLS SuperDraft, making him the highest-drafted NCAA Division II player in MLS history.

“When I was in school, my parents would give me money every month for food, but then, I told them that I withdrew from school. At that point, I didn’t even know if I was going to be invited to the Draft Combine or if I was going to get drafted, but I felt that it was my chance to make it as a professional. I asked my parents to give me money for food for three more months in case I didn’t get picked and needed to find a USL team. I wasn’t sure if I would make it to the MLS or not. They said, ‘No, we’re giving you money just to go to school. If you don’t want to be in school, that’s fine, but that’s a decision that you’ve got to make and figure out for yourself.’ I was worried, but luckily, I got drafted, and it ended up not being a problem.”

“My mom gave me one check for $300 or something like that, and it was like, ‘Okay, if you actually do need it, here’s one last check.’ And I still have that check in my room to this day. I didn’t have to cash it, but I was down to the end and really betting on myself. I appreciate that my parents put me in that position, because it was like, ‘Do you really believe in yourself and want this, or not?’ They weren’t disappointed that I left, but they also weren’t anticipating me to go down that path.”

Three months after being drafted, Akindele made his professional debut for Dallas. He quickly went from a benchwarmer to a key figure in attack, scoring 8 goals and 5 assists in 32 appearances and winning the 2014 MLS AT&T Rookie of the Year. He continued his impressive form in 2015, scoring 6 goals and 1 assist in 32 appearances for Dallas, in addition to making his international debut for Canada. Akindele scored 3 goals in 19 caps and competed in the 2015 and 2021 Gold Cups, serving as a valuable figure in attack as Canada went from the laughingstock of the region to one of North America’s strongest sides. And after returning to the World Cup after 36 years in 2022, Canada will be competing in their third World Cup in 2026 and co-hosting the biggest tournament in sports alongside the USA and Mexico. “I think Canada will do great, assuming players can stay healthy. They’ve got so many talented players,” added Akindele.

After an impressive spell in Texas that saw him score 28 goals and 13 assists in 164 appearances and spearhead Dallas to their first trophy in 19 years with the 2016 U.S. Open Cup and 2016 Supporters’ Shield, Akindele left for Orlando City in December 2018, where he enjoyed a career resurgence. Akindele led Orlando to their first-ever trophy with the 2022 U.S. Open Cup and racked up 21 goals in 121 appearances before retiring from soccer at the end of the 2022 campaign and moving to Charlotte. But while he’s no longer playing soccer at the professional level, Akindele remains closely connected with the beautiful game, whether that’s watching Lionel Messi play in MLS or mentoring his son on the pitch or playing alongside his friends in the local parks.

“Lionel Messi has had a great impact in MLS, bringing so many people to all of his games, breaking records, and, when I go to the park with my son after school, I see more Messi jerseys than Charlotte FC jerseys,” Akindele said.

“I still love soccer and still watch a lot of games. I just love being a soccer dad right now, I love going and watching my oldest son play real soccer games, watching him just figure it out out there on the field. That’s been exciting. I’ve played a little bit here in Charlotte. The guy who owns the coffee shop here at Camp North End plays on an adult team, and every once in a while, he’s like, ‘Dude, we have no players, can you come out and play with us?’ So I’ve played with them a few times, and I’ve also played street soccer with Uptown FC, who will meet every Sunday and play 3-a-side or 4-a-side on these little mini-pitches, playing in a parking lot or under a bridge, and I’ve enjoyed that. Honestly, my biggest worry with playing soccer is getting injured. I’m a little bit older now and I’m worried about people tackling me too hard. If I play on an 11v11 field, I’m worried about sprinting and pulling my hamstring or something like that. I like the small-sided games, where people don’t tackle too hard, and I don’t have to go full-out sprint and worry about my hamstrings.”

Since hanging up his boots at the age of 30, Akindele has made just one fleeting return to professional football, playing once for Des Moines Menace in a U.S. Open Cup match against Union Omaha in April 2024. Today, his main focuses are raising his two young sons with his wife Taylor, and working as a Development Analyst for Camp North End, a renovated 76-acre industrial complex in Charlotte with food, retail, art, and entertainment, including murals, sculptures, and diverse food options.

“I work at a place called Camp North End, which is a mile north of Uptown Charlotte. It’s a huge area, about the size of 14 square blocks of a downtown, and we’re taking these old buildings and constructing new stuff on the site. We’re redeveloping these buildings that were built in the 1920s and 1940s and also building brand new apartments here. The way I frame it is, ‘We’re building a neighborhood here,’ because at the end of the day, we’re gonna have 2,000 apartments on this property, and 2 million square feet of offices and small businesses and coffee shops. There are so many layers to real estate development, but it’s like being a project manager in some sense because you need to just gather people. There are the architects, the city engineers, the investors, and the general contractors, and a developer’s job is to corral those people and point them in the right direction to make sure the project gets completed, so that I’m not the only one taking on this whole gigantic project, but I’m one of the members on the team. Basically, we’re project managing towards building a better neighborhood.”

“Historically, clubs in Saudi Arabia were predominantly owned by the government, not individuals,” Harburg stated in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “Even today, I’m the only individual owner in Saudi clubs. The government started privatization a few years ago, with government-affiliated entities acquiring some clubs. So far, eight clubs have been bought this way. I am the first foreign investor in Saudi Arabian soccer and likely the first in the Middle East, because most other clubs in the region are owned by government-affiliated entities, royal family members, or ministries of sport. It’s fairly unique.”

Born in Colorado Springs, Harburg moved across Michigan, Switzerland, Egypt, and Spain. Like many others such as Lalas Abubakar and James Richardson, he fell in love with soccer as a teenager after attending a Cádiz match in 1997. Harburg received a Fulbright scholarship to attend the Freie Universität Berlin, where he studied Islamic studies and oriental philology, and he became a Neubauer Scholar at Tufts University. He spent time in Berlin, Dubai, Southeast Asia, and China, co-founding one of Asia’s largest commodity trading companies before selling out of commodities in 2010 to focus on venture capital and technology. Since then, he has enjoyed widespread success as a Managing Partner at MSA Capital, a global investment firm with over $2 billion in assets under management, including strategic investments in companies like Palantir, Uber, and Airbnb.

“What the $2 billion refers to is the money we’ve raised from outside investors to invest on their behalf. That’s not my personal wealth. We manage funds from institutional investors like endowments, foundations, pensions, and sovereign funds. The number may seem large, but we benchmark ourselves daily against firms managing $10, 15, or even $50 billion,” Harburg explained.

“This experience helps me as an investor and sports executive. I’m used to highly institutional environments involving governance, reporting, and sound investment decisions. Everything I do on the technology side is mirrored in football — creating value, improving performance, and strategic growth — and the results have been strong so far.”

Harburg made his first sporting investment after watching the Netflix documentary Sunderland ‘Til I Die, plotting Spain’s top three division teams in a spreadsheet and analyzing key figures: city size, stadium size, fan base, GDP per capita, legal issues, and club valuations. He first invested in Cádiz in October 2021, and nearly four years later, he completed a full takeover of Al-Kholood.

“It was a unique opportunity to be the first independent investor,” Harburg said. “I’m not only the first foreign owner in the Saudi top division, but also the first purely financially-driven investor. That’s important because I compete against government-owned clubs that don’t need to make a profit. It’s like building a private army alongside a military with unlimited resources.”

Unlike other Saudi teams with virtually infinite budgets, Al-Kholood operates on a limited budget. After finishing ninth in their first top-flight season, the club invested just over €5 million in 11 new players, including Orlando City striker Ramiro Enrique. In contrast, Al-Nassr spent €105 million on transfers, reinforcing a squad that includes João Félix, Sadio Mané, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I own 100% of Al-Kholood,” Harburg added. “We’re competing against players like Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, and the top stars in the league. Our budget is a fraction of what clubs like Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad, or Al-Hilal spend, but I believed it was the right decision. I’m bullish on Saudi Arabian football — the country has a massive soccer fan base, a rich pedigree, and top talent. Salaries now surpass even the Bundesliga or Ligue 1.”

“We’ve got global superstars like João Félix, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, you name it, so the quality of soccer is very high. Saudi Arabia’s a really authentic soccer market. You’ve got about 75% of people in Saudi Arabia who would describe themselves as football fans, which is the highest in the world.”

Currently, Harburg is focused on his work with Al-Kholood, who, after losing their first two matches against Al-Ettifaq and Al-Nassr, have since beaten Damac, Al-Shabab, and Al-Bukiryah in league and cup competitions. They aim to continue this winning streak in their next match against Al-Najma.

Raised in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, Abubakar quickly became enamored with soccer, playing on the streets with friends and for his high school team before continuing his development at the University of Ghana. After just a couple of months, Abubakar received a life-changing opportunity. The University of Dayton had sent a representative to Ghana to sign one of his teammates, who then recommended Abubakar. Despite interest from Europe, he accepted Dayton’s athletic scholarship and moved to Ohio to start a new chapter.

“I remember when I heard Dayton’s assistant coach was coming, I told my mother that it’s every kid’s dream to leave Africa to play soccer and study at the same time,” Abubakar said in an exclusive World Soccer Talk interview. “I told her to pray for me, and right after the trial, I called her and said, ‘Mom, he picked me.’ We were overjoyed. I didn’t know where Dayton was or what the weather was like; I was just happy for the opportunity.”

Abubakar scored 4 goals and 6 assists in 61 appearances across three seasons at Dayton, leading the Flyers to the 2015 A-10 Championship and earning the 2016 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year award, as well as First-Team All-Conference honors. He also gained experience in amateur soccer, being nominated for the PDL’s Young Player of the Year with the Charlotte Eagles and leading the Michigan Bucks to the 2016 Premier Development League title while winning PDL Defender of the Year. These performances caught the attention of Columbus Crew, who selected him fifth in the 2017 MLS SuperDraft.

Abubakar split time between USL Championship side Pittsburgh and Columbus in 2017, playing 10 times for the Crew, before enjoying a strong sophomore MLS season in 2018 with 23 appearances. However, when Gregg Berhalter left Columbus to coach the US Men’s National Team, new manager Caleb Porter relegated Abubakar to a reserve role. He departed in May 2019 for the Colorado Rapids, where he established himself as a starting-caliber center back, blending physicality with excellent positional awareness and quality on the ball. Similar to other top center backs like Sergio Ramos, Christian Gray, and Gabriel Magalhães, Abubakar also contributed offensively, scoring 9 goals and 3 assists in 153 appearances in Colorado.

“I’m always growing in my soccer skills,” Abubakar said. “Looking back at previous seasons, I’ve made strides in reading and understanding the game. I’ll keep learning and working hard to reach the top. I’ll never stop until I get there.”

Abubakar excelled over six seasons in Colorado, winning Defender of the Year in 2019 and 2020 and helping the team reach the MLS Cup Playoffs in 2020 and the Western Conference semifinals in 2021. Seeking his first professional trophy, he signed with FC Dallas as a free agent on a two-year contract with a one-year club option.

Despite starting the season on the bench, Abubakar became a key figure in Dallas’ backline, making 26 MLS appearances and two US Open Cup appearances. His run of 10 consecutive full-90-minute matches included his first goal for Dallas in a 2-0 win over Portland.

“I feel ready for anything on the field,” Abubakar said. “The coaches know what they get from me whether I play right back, left back, center, or part of a back three. I’m always ready to help the team succeed, whether it’s starting or coming in for the final minutes.”

As FC Dallas looks to finish in the top nine and return to the playoffs, Abubakar and his teammates hold their destiny in their own hands with three games remaining in the regular season.

Born in Melitopol, Ukraine, Cheberko came through the UFK Dnipro and FC Dnipro youth systems, making 15 professional appearances before moving to Zorya Luhansk in 2017. Dnipro’s financial crisis had sent the club from European competition to collapse within just a few years. Originally a central midfielder, Cheberko shifted to defense at Zorya, playing both left back and center back, and earned his first senior Ukraine call-up in 2020.

He played 45 minutes in a 7–0 friendly defeat to France and then had to wait five years for a second appearance. That same year, Cheberko joined Austrian Bundesliga side LASK Linz for a reported €300,000, but struggled for minutes and soon moved to Osijek in Croatia. Over two seasons there he made 61 appearances, helping the club consolidate its place in the Croatian top tier, before signing with Columbus Crew in June 2023.

Two years on, Cheberko is an indispensable part of Nancy’s defense, with more than 80 appearances across all competitions.

“My relationship with Nancy is good—he’s such a good person who not only looks at your football skills but tries to help you in life and give you advice,” Cheberko told World Soccer Talk. “That’s why he’s built such a good atmosphere and a healthy environment in the team, because every player trusts him. You can be a bit more open with him in contrast to other coaches.”

Like teammates Chris Mavinga and Brad Smith, Cheberko went many years without silverware before moving to MLS. His first season in Columbus ended with the MLS Cup, and his second brought a Leagues Cup triumph over Los Angeles FC and a trip to the CONCACAF Champions Cup Final, where the Crew fell to Pachuca, narrowly missing FIFA Club World Cup qualification.

Cheberko has been vital on both sides of the ball. He ranks second on the team with 64.3 accurate passes per MLS game, just behind Sean Zawadzki (64.9), and also sits second in clearances per game (2.6) and third in tackles per game (1.7). He leads the squad in interceptions (1.1).

“My biggest strength is the way I play with the ball and how I can find a solution with the first pass and combine with the offensive players,” he said. “Thanks to my past in midfield, I can do some things on the ball that other defenders cannot. While I’ve transformed a lot as a center back, I’ve tried not to lose that confidence on the ball. I still have a lot of room for improvement, so I’m just trying to close that gap and be the best version of myself that I can possibly be.”

Columbus are again in position for a strong postseason, aiming to qualify for the MLS Cup Playoffs for a third straight year. The Crew sit comfortably in the Eastern Conference’s top seven and are pushing to avoid the wild-card round.

“The fans constantly give us energy in home matches by cheering for us—it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, snowing, or super hot, they show up and support us,” Cheberko added. “You want to give back to them by performing well and winning the game. When the former owner wanted to move the team to Austin, the Crew fans took action to ensure that they didn’t lose the team. They’re always supporting, always asking me questions about my country, and we just want to pay it back, do our best to win the games, and represent the club and city.”