Women’s World Cup starts tomorrow!...ish

It is a soccer week, a football week here in North Carolina, just to reset all of it. Tonight, Chelsea v Wrexham at Old Keenan. Then we've got Sunderland playing NCFC, Sunderland from the EFL Championship, second tier of English football, but a historical heritage side from England. They will be here to play NCFC. We've got Messi week.

Messi, although Tata Martino says he's not sure that Messi or Sergio Busquets will start in their match against Cruz Azul on Friday, but they will be available to play at the very least. He's unsure about that. Oh my gosh, just show yourself out. Show yourself out right now. And of course it is the Women's World Cup, right? And that starts, again, I don't even know the days because I'm not even sure, but the Women's World Cup starts tomorrow, which I think is when they play tomorrow, let's see, Ireland and Norway tomorrow. USA, Vietnam, Friday. It's Friday night, I believe, which is really Saturday. Denmark on Saturday, Brazil on Monday. I guess those are all US times. As we bring in Curt Johnson, the director of soccer for North Carolina FC. And I guess the best thing is they've spread it out so you can get to all these matches, even though I'm not really sure what days they're on.

I don't know the days of the week, but yes, you have the cadence right. That's good. Now, are you going to get to all of these matches? I'm going to do my best, yes.

Starting with Ireland and Australia tomorrow. All right, now let me ask you about Denise O'Sullivan, because I know in this no fans were allowed, for whatever reason, not so friendly. She suffered an injury. I've read that they believe she'll be okay to play. Do you know anything different as we sit here, however many hours we are away from their first match?

Not so friendly is a good way to term it. What I know is Denise, and she is an absolute warrior. We know her well inside Wake Med Soccer Park and throughout NWSL. If there is a hope, a chance, she will be on that field.

But I think it's day to day, and I think it's looking much better than it was three or four days ago. What are your thoughts about the not so friendly, I guess it was with Colombia, right? It was with Colombia, and it's pretty much unheard of. Occasionally you see it in preseason games, but for a game that important, days away from the World Cup, to stop it 20 plus minutes in, it must have been something highly unusual.

Kurt Johnson, manager of soccer, NC Courage, and North Carolina FC. Do you want to make a pick? You're at the World Cup. You're halfway around the globe.

I'm blown away that you consented to take time out of what is a pretty solid working vacation in the fall in Australia. Do you want to make a pick? Do you want to handicap what we're about to watch? I am fired up for this.

Well, yeah. I mean, look, I think the United States, with the change kind of in the hierarchy of the team, I think there are a lot of question marks, but they have to go in as one of the favorites. I can't wait to watch Brazil. They're always talented. They're always awesome to watch, and they always have this unbelievable pressure to not only perform and to try to win their first World Cup, but also to just entertain.

And I can't wait to see how they deal with that. I can't wait to see Carolyn in the tournament, all of our players. I'm going to get a chance to see, as you said, each of our players participating in the World Cup, and a dream of mine. To get to Australia and New Zealand to be able to see our players on this stage is incredible.

Yeah, and especially since it's been like in the 90s here, I know the fall is probably refreshing in and of itself for you, Curt Johnson. All right, real quick about our two Americans, Casey Murphy and Emily Fox. We believe Fox will be a first team player.

What about Casey? Is there going to be a timeshare between the sticks, or how do you see that playing out? Yeah, I think we're all going to find out in all of our in Auckland in a few days. I think that she and Alyssa Nair have battled for this starting role for literally years now, and there's not much separating them.

So I could see a timeshare. I could see they go with one or the other in the first game and ride that hot hand throughout the tournament. So rooting for Casey, Emily as well, she's started the vast majority of the games over the last year and a half or so, and it's certainly deserving of a starting spot. So we shall see in Auckland in a few days.

It's interesting you alluded to it. There's kind of been a changing of the guard, but there's still some of the veterans still there. Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe. She didn't really have to announce that this was going to be her last World Cup. I mean, she's 38 years old, and it's great that she's still there. But Julie Ertz comes in as well.

But injuries have really plagued the United States, and I think England has also been hit pretty hard by injuries. It should be an awesome experience. This is a big week for soccer, Kurt Johnson, not just where you are with the Women's World Cup, which starts as we get later in the week. We have Chelsea and Rexham are going to play a club friendly at Keenan Stadium.

I'm calling it Old Keenan or Keenan Bridge in Chapel Hill. And then on Friday, Sunderland and your guys, North Carolina FC, get to play. What does that say about where we are as a sporting soccer public here in the Triangle? Yeah, and as well the courage and Washington spirit on Saturday.

So it's, I mean, what a week. You know, I think it speaks to the popularity of the sport clearly. You know, people want to sell tickets. People want to drive attendance, and they know that the Triangle area is a hotbed for the sport, and the sport in all ways. You know, from the youth tournaments that we hosted in TFC Youth to international exhibitions, you know, I'm glad to see Keenan hosting an international exhibition, getting the grass laid and doing that. Sunderland coming and the courage ongoing season as well as North Carolina FC. We'll have the final four in December. We have TFC in June. It is a special place for the sport. The soccer tournament was one of my favorite events that I've ever really attended, and I was there a lot more than I anticipated. I thought I was going to go out once.

I ended up going out for basically two full days. My son got a chance to be a ball boy during quarterfinal. I guess it was the quarterfinal Saturday night, whatever.

It was just a madhouse out there, and I know everybody's excited about what's coming up in the future. I almost forgot Messi. I'm going to ask you one question about, it's actually probably a bigger question, about something that may come to usl soccer, but also this is Messi week.

He hits the ground running on Friday night. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Messi has come to Major League Soccer and come to the United States and picked a variety of different options, turned down a variety of different options to join MLF. Just coming off being arguably, maybe not arguably, the best player in the tournament, winning the World Cup, to give him at this stage in his career playing in our country is just another huge shot in the arm for the sport, the pocket parity of it, the coverage of it.

I think we're talking here about a variety of different topics. What I am most pleased about possibly over the last couple of years is just the growing coverage, quality of coverage of the sport in all corners of the country. To be able to consume it on television, yeah, that was exciting.

That happened 20, 30 years ago where that sparked, but now to be able to hear people talking about it, analyzing it, predicting all that on a daily basis is another huge moment of growth and Messi is going to drive more and more people to be interested. Kurt Johnson, Director of Soccer for North Carolina FC is with us and NC Courage. He is in Australia right now in Sydney. The World Cup starts later this week. Again, I don't know what day it is in Sydney. I know it's ahead of us. I don't know what time it is where I am anymore.

I don't know what time it is where Kurt is, but you know me, man. I caught the bug about a year and a half ago and I am a complete addict for it at this point, so I cannot get enough of the sport and I have always pushed back on the notion that US, you know, American soccer leagues needed promotion relegation. It looks like, at least in the early planning stages, that it might come to USL.

There are 24 teams that play in the championship. There are, I think, what a dozen or something like that and two more coming to League One where NCFC is. What are your thoughts on that and what kind of an impact it could have? Well, I think it's exciting and I think that, you know, it's still in the analysis phase, but I think for USL, for the United Soccer League, which we are in League One currently, you know, I think that it's something that can differentiate a league or set of leagues in the United States and I think one of the reasons why it could work with USL is that, you know, we need a differentiating factor from MLS and from NWSL.

We need something to kind of hang our hat on and to, you know, be able to market the fans and I think it is something that's accepted around the world in many countries, not every country, but many countries and I think it could be a nice fit for USL as it evolves in the coming years and decades. I think we both agree that they're going to have to add some teams so there are three levels. It doesn't really work if there's only one promotion, one relegation. You would have you would have to have action at both ends of at least three tables, right?

That's right. You know, I think in USL we've got a critical mass of over 30 teams so I think that certainly will be a big part of the discussion is how does it get started? You know, how do you break it into, is it going to be three levels? Is it going to stay two levels? USL championship and league one? How do you, you know, the start of it is a huge topic of debate and then the replicating year after year sequence, you know, it sounds easy to do but you've got again 30 plus owners in a variety of different stadiums, time zones, weather, the like. So these are the topics that are being debated right now and, you know, if it's going to happen it's going to have to happen soon in order to be ready for 2024 or 2025.

Look, I'm not sure how it's going to work out. There's a couple other things and I thank Kurt Johnson for joining me. I recorded that last night because Vroom is the better way to buy and sell used cars. Looking for your next ride? Go to Vroom.com now to shop thousands of cars right from your phone. With Vroom you never have to haggle or negotiate the price of the car so you know you're getting a good deal. Best of all, when you buy a car on Vroom they'll deliver it straight to you. Plus all cars on Vroom.com come with a 90 day limited warranty and one year of nationwide roadside assistance. You can also sell or trade in your old car too. When you sell your car on Vroom you get an instant offer in as little as two minutes. If you decide to sell your car to Vroom they'll come pick it up free of charge. Sell your car to Vroom or trade it in if you find something you like on Vroom.com. Vroom, it's the better way to buy and sell used cars. So head to Vroom.com now to see what your current ride is worth and check out thousands of cars to find your next one. That's Vroom.com.

Vroom.com. It's all like we did him sometime during this show. You know what time it is in Sydney Australia right now? Would he be sleeping? 4 30 in the morning. Actually I don't know his sleeping habits. Yeah. Not that close with Kurt.

So but yes it would be 4 30 in the morning right now in Sydney where his I guess his his base is for the two weeks he is going to be in Australia and New Zealand. At Grainger we're for the ones who pay attention to every little detail. The ones who fuss tinker and sweat the small stuff. Because you know the tiniest thing can make the biggest difference when it comes to keeping business moving. We get it.

We're the same way. Offering access to product experts to help you quickly and easily find what you need. So whatever your industry you know you're always getting professional grade products. Call click Grainger.com or just stop by. Grainger. For the ones who get it done.