NC Courage is staying competitive, so we talk to a member

There's a lot of cool stuff actually if you go to YouTube. A lot of our interviews are there and also I talk some football like you know the game that you play with the feet. We talk about that every week as well and who knows maybe next week when we do it we will be talking about the NC Courage and a win in the playoffs. That's right the NC Courage are back in the playoffs. It is very exciting and Brianna Pinto is one of the reasons they are headed back to the playoffs.

You can get tickets. Gotham, I guess it's New Jersey, New York, Gotham FC. That's your old team Brianna. Are you even more jacked up to play against them because they traded you?

Absolutely. I mean I think it's so fun playing some sort of rivalry game. We've played Gotham several times this year and you know there's no better moment than to play them in the playoffs and North Carolina Courage wants nothing more to advance.

Brianna Pinto is joining us here. You've only scored three goals this year but man you picked some good spots including the semi-finals. I believe it was the only goal scored in a one-nil win in the Challenge Cup. Do you have a knack for it or because your dad coaches my son, do you hear your dad's voice in the back of your head? Well I think that's a great question. I definitely do hear my dad voice in the back of my head about shoot the ball but I would say like I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time and being ready to score and I'm ready to show up in big moments and figure out how to help my team win. How did this group come together like they have? Not that you guys didn't expect to be good and we had seen this trending this you know in this direction after the whole thing. You weren't here when it kind of bottomed out but how did this team come together and get to where it is?

I think it started from the beginning of the season with the buy-in. I think you know like obviously our coaching staff and our ownership group did a good job bringing in a lot of new faces and I think we've got a wealth of experience at different levels like both internationally and at the club level and we did a lot of like team bonding and culture building where we decided what kind of team we wanted to be and what our goals were for the season and I think one of the things that really makes this team gel is like we love spending time with one another. This is a special group of players that's going to work as hard as they can every single day that will have each other's back and we'll ultimately have fun while we're playing.

I think everybody's a true footballer in every sense of the word. We're all comfortable on the ball and we want to share it and play a beautiful brand of football. What did being at North Carolina prepare you for? I think it's a work ethic here at the North Carolina Courage. You know we pride ourselves on being one of the hardest working teams in the league and we're fit and we're prepared to compete from the first whistle to the last and I think just the competition aspect is what has made this group so successful. You know we've won seven trophies plus an ICC tournament since 2017 and I think a lot of that comes from Carolina because we've had so many alumni that have played for the NC Courage but I just think it's a mindset that we're bought into. You know we want to lay our claim on the league as one of the best teams and we want to always compete for championships. So yeah you mentioned the ICC trophy that's what I was alluding to as I was bringing you on is that we don't have to go back that far to see that the Courage were that it was the number one club in the entire sport and it's difficult to have that in your in the like in the background of the club because it almost seems like you're always living up to that.

Do you get that feeling ever? I think it's an honor you know to carry on that legacy. You know we're always striving for for greatness and chasing excellence and training every single day and I think for us like what can we do in the trainings every single day to give ourselves the best chance to compete for championships and luckily we've had a great staff who has been around those players that was that were part of the best team in the world and I was actually a fan at the time and when I was at UNC I got to train with the North Carolina Courage in the summers and I just saw that the training standards that they had and I think it's carried over. So I would say that it's it's more something that we you know put our principles to because we want to live up to those values that the Courage has set. We're always going to work hard and we're going to get everything that we have and ultimately like whatever happens after that is it is what it is but we're going to give ourselves the best chance to win. So when you were at UNC training with the Courage I'm sure there are scrimmages and whatnot involved. Did you ever have to mark Dabinia?

Of course of course. Now I actually when I was at Carolina I scored on the Courage so that was really fun. Our team always got up for that game because it was a spring game good chance to test ourselves for the North Carolina Courage of preseason and it was just a really good way to figure out like you know where each roster had weaknesses and the ways we could improve. But you know going up against Dabinia who's one of the best players in the world was so good for my development even when I got to play alongside her last year because you can just see some of the nuance to her game like her movement off the ball the way she shoots the texture that she puts on her passes and getting to learn from that both as an opponent and a teammate was really special for me. Also she never stops. She never stops. She's got an unreal motor. I mean I've been to several games it is it was remarkable watching her she is non-stop for 90 plus. Brianna Pinto is joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. Real quick just as a fan growing up who was your who was the player that you looked up to the most you know as you were as you were a kid and a fan?

So I'd say two. I grew up watching like men's soccer just because I have two brothers and I was always on. It was always on because it was the only thing available so the player that comes to mind that I watched is Andrei Siniesta. At the height of his career he was at Barcelona and he's the reason why I wear eight. I think he is a master of time and space on the ball and he is so thoughtful in the way he possesses and the way he attacks the goal and I think he did an incredible job creating and scoring goals. So I wanted to model my game after him and be just like him but on the women's side I got to watch Crystal Dunn and like follow her career both from Carolina and then to the national team and I just think she's just absolutely electric. I love like her work rate off the ball and on the ball. I love how dynamic she is in terms of her attacking ability. She can defend. I think she does a little bit of it all and you know getting to follow her career and learn from her just like pieces of wisdom over the years has been really special so I'm a fan of her game. Yeah you got a chance to train against her too. I always marveled the fact that it almost seemed like she was playing out of position and still great for the national team because she was more in the midfield for the courage but they always had her like at left back for the national team and she was still an absolute baller.

She was amazing to watch. Brianna good luck against your old your old teammates over at NJNY Gotham FC coming up on Sunday. People can go to nccourage.com and get tickets.

There's a banner right there. Welcome back to the playoffs and go get them. Well thank you so much. We appreciate the promotion because you know ending the season on a sellout crowd was incredibly special.

I know it definitely amps the girls up so we want to have that same environment here on Sunday and I think we're going to put on an incredible performance. All right now you got to go win it. Oh of course. Of course absolutely. All right uh appreciate your time we'll talk again.

Thank you so much. You got it. Brianna Pinto. Seriously her her dad uh he played he was a he was a pro. Yeah. And so she's obviously playing at you know the highest level. Runs in the family. Um her two brothers are pros. With so take two from moderate to severe plaque psoriasis you could show off your skin again.

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Yes. I want to see what Thanksgiving's like at their house. Oh yeah so the oh the Thanksgiving day football game is soccer and yes I'm sure it's great.

I'm sure it's great. Somebody's got to be a goalkeeper though. I don't believe there are goalkeepers in that family. Yeah so no I don't know. They got to call their uncle or something. They might. There might be a goalkeeper somewhere. I don't know. Just set up like uh like big like mannequins. There you go.