Dream World Cup start for USMNT, a Pulisic-to-NYCFC rumor, MetLife travel sagas

The United States men's national team looked about as good as it has ever looked while opening their World Cup on home soil with a big win over Paraguay, so this episode of The Soccer Journal Podcast starts with a lengthy discussion of that 4-1 win in Los Angeles.

Hosts Mark Radigan and John Baney and producer Andrew Leigh discuss all the things that went right for the USMNT in the win, like Folarin Balogun showing off his quality with a first-half brace, Chris Richards getting healthy, starting, and playing the full match, and New York City FC's Matt Freese putting in a mistake-free shift in goal to quiet the talk around an open competition at goalkeeper.

Beyond the on-field success, there's also what this win does for the hype around the US national team, and the show touches on the potential impact a victory like this can have as the USMNT tries to overachieve, and win over new fans, while hosting the World Cup.

One of the stars of that win over Paraguay, Christian Pulisic, is also the recent subject of a transfer rumor out of Italy that claims City Football Group is trying to bring Pulisic to New York City FC. None of the pod trio thinks he's coming, but there are still interesting points made about the intent it would show from CFG to try to bring a star player to NYCFC in time for the opening of Etihad Park.

Speaking of the World Cup, it made its debut locally in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with a 1-1 draw between Brazil and Morocco, and it wasn't the easiest match to get home from. Some of the extremely long wait times for shuttle buses and rideshare pick-ups seemed avoidable, if not for the most convenient method for getting to MetLife Stadium priced at $98 per ticket.

There are still other, more concrete NYCFC transactions to discuss, like defender Strahinja Tanasijević leaving the club, and like defender Mitja Ilenič having his loan to Polish club Rákow Częstochowa cut short, with the full-back re-joining NYCFC for the time being. There's also one more rumor to cover, this time the potential signing of Toulouse FC forward Frank Magri. Is he the right fit for Pascal Jansen and the current NYCFC attack?

Then things wrap up with a big preview of the USMNT vs Australia match in Seattle, which looks different after the Socceroos defeated Türkiye 1-0 to open their Group D schedule. It doesn't look like a comfortable match-up for the United States, especially given Australia's low, well-organized defensive block and their impressive consistency in frustrating.

Listen to the full episode, then find more of our coverage at nysoccerjournal.com, or on Twitter @nysoccerjournal and @NYSJPodcast, on Bluesky @nysoccerjournal.com, and on Instagram @newyorksoccerjournal

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