Planet Fútbol With Grant Wahl

Portugal are your Euro 2016 champions, and we're here to break down the team's memorable victory on the new Planet Futbol Podcast, the last from 2016's insane summer of soccer. Avi Creditor and Alex Abnos recap all the big events from the Euro 2016 final, reminisce about their favorite moments from the tournament, and speculate what Cristiano Ronaldo might be like as a manager. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The summer of soccer continues in August as the Rio Olympics get underway, with the U.S. women's national team looking to follow up its 2015 World Cup title with Olympic gold. In advance of the tournament, SI senior writer Grant Wahl caught up with U.S. coach Jill Ellis for the Planet Futbol Podcast. In the interview, Ellis discusses the fitness status of Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd, and what having a full healthy Alex Morgan will do for the U.S. team in Rio. The coach also offers her theory of why it's been so hard for teams to pull off the Olympic-World Cup double, and what exactly it is she's writing so furiously in her notebook on the sideline. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Euro 2016 final is nearly upon us, and the implications of Sunday's final form the backbone of discussion on the new Planet Futbol Podcast. Host Avi Creditor, SI senior writer Grant Wahl, and SI.com's Brian Straus and Ben Lyttleton discuss what the final means for Cristiano Ronaldo's legacy, and what kind of impact the game could have on the race for the 2016 Ballon d'Or. The panel also assesses the state of the new, expanded Euro 2016. Did the addition of eight more teams dilute the quality of the tournament, or has the expansion resulted in enough fairytale stories to make it all worth it? Could it lead to a 40-team World Cup? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The semifinals of Euro 2016 are set, and special guest Georgios Samaras joins the Planet Futbol Podcast to break it all down. Greece's surprising 2004 European championship happened before Samaras was a fixture on the team, but the striker recalls his memories of watching the team play and offers some insight into how that win shaped the next generation of Greek players. Samaras also offers an inside look at Portugal coach Fernando Santos, who Samaras worked with extensively as a member of the Greek national team. The podcast wraps up with host Avi Creditor and SI.com's Alex Abnos breaking down both of the semifinal matchups and offering a (perhaps not-so-confident) pick of who the world will see compete in the Euro 2016 final later this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Euro 2016 has delivered a fair amount of surprises already, but perhaps nothing that could top Iceland's win over England in the tournament's round of 16. Discussion of Iceland's triumph (and England's failure) kicks off the newest edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast. Philadelphia Union playmaker Tranquillo Barnetta, who played for Switzerland at the 2004 and 2008 European Championships, also joins the podcast this week to talk about Switzerland's run in the tourney, Xherdan Shaqiri's incredible goal against Poland, and who he expects to win the heavyweight matchup between Germany and Italy in the quarterfinals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Copa America final has come and gone, and amazingly the big news to come out of the game has nothing to do with the team that lifted the trophy at the end of the night. Lionel Messi shocked the world first by missing his penalty kick in a shootout as Argentina lost to Chile, then again by claiming that he would retire from his national team after his fourth loss in a major tournament final. Here to break it all down the day after are SI senior writer Grant Wahl and SI.com's Brian Straus, both of whom were in the stadium as word spread of Messi's announcement. Together with host Avi Creditor, the guys talk about what impact Messi's departure will have on the Argentina national team, and whether Chile's achievement is overshadowed by the headline news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Landon Donovan is the all-time leading goal scorer for the U.S. national team, but he's been mostly out of the public eye since his retirement from the game a year and a half ago. That is beginning to change in the Copa America, as Donovan has provided color commentary for games on Fox during the tournament, and he talks about that and more with Grant Wahl on the new Planet Futbol Podcast. Besides his burgeoning broadcast career, Donovan also speaks about potential paths forward for him in the game of soccer, whether it be coaching, more media work, or perhaps even ownership of an MLS team. He also discusses the U.S.'s performance in the Copa America, and gives his take on whether or not the team's performance in the tournament could be considered a success. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The United States is out of the Copa America, and the Planet Futbol crew are here to break down what it all means for Jurgen Klinsmann's team on the new edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast. Host Avi Creditor, SI Senior Writer Grant Wahl, and SI.com's Brian Straus break down Lionel Messi's incredible free kick goal against the U.S., where the Americans could have improved in the 4-0 drubbing, and how the services of the suspended Jermaine Jones, Alejandro Bedoya, or Bobby Wood might have helped the U.S. Lastly, the trio turns their attentions to the final, which will pit Argentina against Chile for the second consecutive year. Both teams have played better and better as the Copa America has progressed. Which will come out on top on Sunday? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The knockout round of Euro 2016 is set, and the Planet Futbol welcomes a special guest to the podcast this week to help break it all down. Chelsea and Bosnia-Herzegovina goalkeeper Asmir Begovic joins the podcast, and offers his take on the *extremely* unbalanced nature of the Round of 16 draw and the team with the best chance to advance out of the weaker half of the bracket. Begovic also discusses the state of England's national team as it heads into a potential banana-peel matchup against tournament Cinderella Iceland, and what he makes of incoming Chelsea manager Antonio Conte's work with Italy in the tournament so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the new Copa America edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast, host Avi Creditor is joined by SI senior writer Grant Wahl and SI.com's Brian Straus to recap the United States' win over Ecuador to propel the team into the Copa America semifinals. The Americans will face FIFA No. 1-ranked Argentina in that game, and they won't lack for challenges, with numerous suspensions compounding the obvious threats that Lionel Messi, Sergio Agüero, and the rest of the Argentinean attack can cause. How will Jurgen Klinsmann deal with these issues? The guys also discuss Mexico's incredible 7-0 destruction against Chile in another quarterfinal. Will the loss signal the end of Juan Carlos Osorio's reign as coach of the team? And why did Mexico lose so badly in the first place? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every team at the 2016 European Championships has played at least once, and the new episode of the Planet Futbol Podcast recaps the tournament's opening action and assesses where the games might be headed in future rounds. With no truly dominant performances from the title favorites, what should we expect going forward? Host Avi Creditor and SI.com's Ben Lyttleton also discuss the impact Leicester City's run to the EPL title might be having on the style of play at the tournament so far, whether England still has a chance to top its group, and what the best goal of the tournament has been so far. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this edition of the Copa America Planet Futbol Podcast, Grant Wahl, Brian Straus, and host Avi Creditor discuss the controversial ending to Brazil-Peru, featuring a handball goal that dumped the Samba Kings from the tournament after the group stage. The trio then turn to talk about the United States, which somewhat surprisingly won its group thanks to a victory over Paraguay and Colombia's loss to Costa Rica. Now that the U.S. is out of the group, must they win against Ecuador for its Copa America to be a success? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the first Euro 2016 edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast, Avi Creditor and Alex Abnos team up to discuss the major storylines for each group ahead of the tournament's kickoff. Later, New York Red Bulls striker Bradley Wright-Phillips joins the podcast to give his take on the tournament, including his reasons why England has a chance to win the whole thing this year. Wright-Phillips also discusses Jamaica's interest in adding him to its national team, and whether he might suit up for the Reggae Boyz in the not-too-distant future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the new Copa America edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast, Grant Wahl and Brian Straus break down the United States' 4-0 win over Costa Rica, and debate the best players, moments, and games of the Copa America thus far. Jurgen Klinsmann kept the same lineup against costa Rica that he did against Colombia. Is the U.S. coach turning over a new leaf when it comes to personnel selection? What will the United States need to do against Paraguay to secure passage to the knockout rounds? All that and more on this special edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On this special edition of the Planet Futbol Podcast, Grant Wahl, Brain Straus, and Avi Creditor recap the United States' 2-0 loss to Colombia in the opening game of the Copa America. What caused the U.S.'s loss? Why did Michael Bradley seem to falter? Should Darlington Nagbe and Christian Pulisic start the next game? And ultimately, how much of the loss falls on the shoulders of Jurgen Klinsmann? The guys also look ahead to the U.S.'s matches against Costa Rica and Paraguay, and ponder what the United States will need to do in order to get out of its group and into the knockout rounds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Copa America Centenario is here at last! After months of build-up, hype and speculation, the host U.S. opens the competition against Colombia, beginning a 23-day march to the final. U.S. national team midfielder Jermaine Jones joins our latest podcast to discuss, among other things, his role in the option-filled U.S. midfield, and we preview each of the 16 teams taking part in a Copa America blowout episode in anticipation of the summer spectacle. Which U.S. will show, the one that struggled in recent competitions or the one that enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak? Has Jurgen Klinsmann come up with a winning combination, or will the U.S. struggle in a tough group? Which teams are primed to go through to the knockout stage? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As one New York radio personality has made perfectly clear, there are 11(!) pages of soccer in this week's Sports Illustrated magazine in the build-up to Copa America Centenario and Euro 2016. Lionel Messi is front and center, as is Chicharito, and the Summer of Soccer is on the horizon. Grant Wahl discusses the big soccer spread and his experiences working with Messi for our cover story and total package on the Barcelona and Argentina superstar with Maggie Gray on our latest podcast. With Copa America around the corner, we also focus on the U.S. men's national team, which looks to build on Wednesday's 1-0 win over Ecuador in a tournament tune-up for both sides. There's also the matter of Saturday's Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. Which Spanish capital club will wind up ruling Europe? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the recent rally of the American Outlaws in Austin, TX, SI's Grant Wahl joined former USMNT midfielder Tab Ramos, former USWNT midfielder Kristine Lilly, and former MLS defender of the year Jimmy Conrad for a panel discussion on the state of U.S. soccer and fandom of the sport in this country. In this special edition, we bring you a recording of that panel, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Giovani Dos Santos had an awkward Tuesday, and SI's Grant Wahl and Brian Straus had the distinction of being part of it. While Dos Santos was left off Mexico's Copa America roster–said by Juan Carlos Osorio to have curiously declined the invitation–he was in the midst of a media tour, and Wahl and Straus share their conversations with Dos Santos while it all went down on the new Planet Fútbol Podcast. Later on this week's episode, Wahl also speaks with Angus McNab, a vice president at renowned soccer data provide Opta, about data and analytics' place in today's game, how they're used as a metric to judge players and the more prevalent stat of expected goals. This weekend also marks the cup finals for Europe's five major countries, and Wahl and Straus make their picks for the FA Cup, Coppa Italia, Copa del Rey, DFB Pokal and Coupe de France. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Columbus Crew SC beat the MLS trade deadline and dealt Kei Kamara to the New England Revolution, and there's all sorts of fallout to delve into on our latest podcast. Brian McBride, former U.S. and Columbus forward and a former teammate of Crew manager Gregg Berhalter, joins us to discuss the deal in addition to the state of the U.S. men's national team ahead of Copa America. It happened to be a massive news week elsewhere in soccer, with Mauricio Pochettino extending his stay at Spurs, Roberto Martinez getting the sack at Everton and West Ham fans getting belligerent with Manchester United's team bus. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices