Planet Fútbol With Grant Wahl

Grant gets into the soccer side of HBO's Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, founder and CEO of The Ringer and host of the Bill Simmons Podcast. Simmons talks about being deeply involved in Southern California youth soccer over the last five years with his daughter, including starting a new youth club. He also laments the U.S. Soccer Development Academy and shares his thoughts on MLS as an LAFC season ticket holder, as well as his experience attending a Mexico-USMNT World Cup qualifier at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant has a fun interview with Katie Nolan, the host of Always Late With Katie Nolan on ESPN+, about how she fell in love with Liverpool FC, her fascination with Mohamed Salah, her thoughts on soccer fans in the United States, how she puts her show together and her plans for a pilgrimage to Anfield. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews the Wall Street Journal's Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg on their new book "The Club: How The English Premier League Became The Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force In Sports." Based on more than 100 interviews, including such figures as Arsene Wenger, Sir Alex Ferguson, Daniel Levy, David Dein and John W. Henry, the book charts the course of the Premier League from its origins as a breakaway from the English Football League to its status now as a global sports colossus.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews David Amoyal, the Boston-based Italian soccer maven who hosts the Calcioland Podcast, edits the English-language website of the Woj-for-soccer Gianluca Dimarzio, writes columns for ESPNFC and The Athletic and appears regularly on SiriusXM. David shares his thoughts on everything that's happening lately in Italian soccer, which appears to be going through a renaissance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clint Smith is a former Division I soccer player at Davidson and a huge Arsenal fan who has written occasionally on soccer for The New Yorker. He's also a regular on the podcast Pod Save the People; a Harvard doctoral candidate whose research interests include mass incarceration, the sociology of race and racism, and the history of U.S. inequality; a former national poetry slam champion; and the author of a poetry book, Counting Descent, that was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He’s widely followed on Twitter at @clintsmithIII.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews Abby Wambach, the World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and the all-time leading goal-scorer in international soccer history. Wambach retired from playing in 2015, and she was recently announced as the founding chair of the advisory group for Copa90 to guide its editorial, talent and commercial plans for coverage of women’s soccer as we move toward next summer’s women’s World Cup. She also has a new book coming out next April called Wolfpack: How Women Claim Power, United and Change the Game. In a candid, wide-ranging conversation, Wambach discusses the influence of her wife, best-selling author Glennon Doyle, her new work for Copa90, her three-part video with Mia Hamm and Julie Foudy and her thoughts on FIFA, U.S. Soccer and the women's game. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews Eddie Johnson, the former USMNT forward whose 15-year playing career ended in 2015 due to a heart condition. These days Johnson is working as a skills-development coach in Orlando for all ages, from kids to pro players like Christian Pulisic, Cyle Larin and soon Dom Dwyer and Sydney Leroux. Johnson provides his candid thoughts on what American soccer needs to tap inner-city kids like he was—and what sharing his life story could do for African-American kids around the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The new National Soccer Hall of Fame opens this weekend in Frisco, Tex., and Grant was there to interview executive director Djorn Buchholz about all the cool things inside the new HOF. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews ESPN's Bob Ley, one of the seminal soccer and TV sports broadcasters of the past 40 years. The focus here is on Ley's legendary experience in the soccer world, from the New York Cosmos to covering World Cups from 1982 to 2014, with some epic stories to tell along the way. Then Grant interviews Antonee Robinson, the 21-year-old left back who's playing for Wigan (on loan from Everton) and is trying to bring some stability to a position on the field that has dogged the U.S. for many years.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews Derek Rae, who's everywhere these days—Fox Sports, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime and even the EA FIFA19 video game—about his personal journey and how he approaches his job.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant meets up in NYC with Tony Sanneh. They talk about Sanneh's standout performance in World Cup 2002, some hilarious stories from his career in Germany, his thoughts on being snubbed from the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the work he’s doing these days for his foundation, which last week was named a finalist for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s 2018 Sports Award.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews one of the most interesting people in American soccer media: Pablo Maurer, who covers D.C. United for The Athletic. They talk Wayne Rooney and D.C. United's new stadium, but their discussion also ranges into Maurer's remarkable photography work (including the viral Abandoned States project), his work as a professional mechanic for high-end cars (including those owned by MLS players) and his stories on Johan Cruyff's Washington Diplomats, NASL's old Team America and the Spanish club Espanyol's preseason trip to Richmond.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After the U.S.'s 2-0 friendly loss to Brazil, Grant and Brian discuss the game and Earnie Stewart's still-ongoing search to hire a new head coach. Then they discuss the new UEFA and CONCACAF Nations Leagues and debate whether a competitive Nations League game might be more useful than low-key friendlies against even the best teams like Brazil. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of Friday's USA-Brazil friendly, Grant sits down with Zack Steffen, the 23-year-old goalkeeper for the USMNT and Columbus Crew. They talk about his Man of the Match performance in June against France, his rise with the Columbus Crew, his thoughts on the goalkeeper position and his goals for the career that lies ahead. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Back from vacation, Grant reconnects with Brian to talk about Brian's interviews with Wayne Rooney and FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Plus the guys give their thoughts on the still-ongoing US men’s coaching search and the career of Clint Dempsey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews Roma’s Monchi, widely regarded as one of the premier directors of football in world soccer. Monchi goes in depth on how he built his post-playing career as the director of football for 16 years at Sevilla, how he developed a strategy for identifying talent and why he decided to move to Roma in 2017. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews John Halloran of American Soccer Now and The Equalizer on the state of the U.S. women’s national team after its victory in the Tournament of Nations and how things look heading into friendlies against Chile, October’s World Cup qualifying tournament and next summer’s World Cup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant interviews Jesse Marsch, who recently left his job as head coach of the New York Red Bulls to take an assistant coaching job with RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga. Marsch explains why he took the Leipzig job, how he has assimilated quickly and how he feels about the open U.S. men’s coaching job.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kyle Martino of NBC Sports joins Grant from England for a fun discussion about the new Premier League season, which starts on Friday, and his thoughts on the state of U.S. Soccer after his run for federation president and his new role with Street Soccer USA.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Grant and Brian discuss what's on their mind at the start of the English Premier League season, and they also share their thoughts on the MLS All-Star Game.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices