SoccerWise - Weekend Recap Savy King Medical Emergency, ICE Activity In Nashville + Beckham vs Minnesota

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

David jumps on to recap a weekend that was defined more by moments off the field that on the field. He talks through the medical emergency for Savy King in LA and the rest of the NWSL weekend. Then David breaks down some big results across the top of the MLS standings. But the biggest story in MLS was the lack of fans in Nashville over fears of ICE activity in the area. 1:15: Savy King Medical Update &4:40 NWSL's Other Results5:32: MLS Results Recap10:25 Nashville's LA Brigada De Oro absent From Geodis ParkThe deportation defense hotline at 1-844-363-1423  Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

Hey everybody, welcome back to Sackawise. David Goss with you here for your weekend recap. A eventful weekend both on and off the field around MLS and NWSL and a big week coming up. We've got midweek MLS action. So myself and Tom will be back tomorrow to help preview that and back Thursday to help recap all of that. We've also got the big one coming up in NWSL action as the Orlando Pride and Kansas City face off on Friday night. It is the biggest game of the season last year's match as they were the two longest undefeated streaks to start a year in NWSL history is one of the best games we have ever seen. We have been alluding to this and talking to this one about this one.

We're going to have all your coverage here at Soccer Wise. But this is a weekend in which you come off and you have to start by talking off the field. And in NWSL action weekend started with one of the heart most heartbreaking moments I have ever seen around a soccer game. Savvy King, young center back for Angel City went down off the ball during play, ended up being treated by EMS professionals alongside trainers. Little after the 70th minute of this game ended up being cart by EMS professionals alongside trainers. A little after the 70th minute of this game ended up being carted off the field with an oxygen mask. One of the scariest things I have ever seen on a soccer field. You could see the emotion for her teammates, for her opponents,

for absolutely everyone in that stadium. We have gotten the news through the end of their cell players association as well as through angel City That's heavy King has been responsive and has been doing better in the hospital her parents with her in those moments and this was One of those things that you will always remember where you were and how you watched it And I think you could hear it in the voice of my co-host Jordan Angeley, who was on the call for that game. All of us affected by it to watch someone so young go through something so scary. I am thankful for the protocols in place, the medical professionals in place for them to be there and be on site to be able to provide the care necessary to keep Savvy King as safe as possible.

And we are hoping for all the best right now. The news we have is positive and that is absolutely all that matters. And we will continue to update as this story comes out and as we get more news to everyone listening to soccer wise. And of course you can follow us on social media, but anyone else in the soccer world Talking about this story There was then some controversy frustration for the fact that this game was continued to play all the way through You heard it from I think players on both sides. You heard it from the coach Jimmy Konrads of

Utah and WSL putting out statements afterwards saying that their protocols were followed but that they will go back and they will research and they will try and decide if anything needs to be adjusted going forward. I think you could hear Kristen Press after the game how emotional she was. Alex Luraya, someone who has played across both these teams currently on Utah making her return from her ACL injury Leading both squads in prayers after the game. You could see tears on the faces of many many players I don't have a strong opinion here

I think if it's decided that the players think it's wrong to have played Then the protocol needs to be put in place in advance so that it can be triggered and the game can be ended I think it's really hard to put a lot of members in an emotional moment in the decision-making Process and that's what you try to do by creating protocols Personally, the only thing that matters is that savvy Kings? Okay, the rest is really so little right now but we'll continue to cover it as we sort of hear the statements out of the players and the coaches and try and figure out what could happen going forward. And I think we all fingers crossed hope that we never have to deal with this again. But it is something that has to

be planned for in advance. Angel City got the win in this game 2-0. It was actually Christian Press who came off the bench and scored on basically her first touch and then Alyssa Thompson After Savvy King was escorted off the field into the hospital Thompson scoring in stoppage time obviously an extended stoppage time because of the medical Stoppage that did occur The other games across the weekend in NWSL, which I think all felt very small in comparison to what happened on Friday night, but Kansas City continued their rampant start to the season. It was a dominant victory over BFC 4-1 at home. North Carolina made it three straight unbeaten with their 1-1 draw against

Orlando who as we have talked about have faltered a little in the last few games, but all of it could turn around in the matchup head to head against Kansas City coming up on Friday night. And then Portland equalized in the 98th minute after playing for long stretches up a player against San Diego. I think it was another game in which San Diego showed their metal, showed their quality, but Portland as well.

These are two of the surprise teams. It was a very open, very fun game to watch. On the Major League Soccer side of things, a bizarre rematch of MLS Cup. I don't know if we're calling this the red MLS Cup rematch, the red cup, whatever we want to call it for the New York Red Bulls. They won 7-0 in this MLS Cup rematch, including an own goal for Mickey Yamane to close things off for this LA Galaxy team for the Red Bulls.

Of course, the red wedding reference to their victory, I believe that one was seven one over NYCFC at Yankee Stadium all those years ago. And so now the Red Bulls have another huge victory to put as a feather in their cap. Bizarrely, this is not the first time that an MLS Cup rematch has had a seven goal difference. Chicago Fire did this, I think it was back in 2001,

which I just think the fact that this has happened twice is the weirdest stat of the weekend. And for the LA Galaxy, of course, the big moment is that they have now put together historically the worst start in MLS history. I went through some of the numbers last year. It was incredible that we had two teams at this point of the season without a victory. Montreal bucked the trend. They got a 1-0 win at NYCFC this weekend. It's another LA Galaxy standalone as the longest winless start in MLS history Historically bad run capped off by this historically bad game. And yes, the Greg Vandy conversations will continue

I think there has to be bigger conversations than that right now around the galaxy about who they are and who they want to be One of the games we were looking forward to for the weekend was the Minnesota Miami matchup Minnesota putting Miami under pressure they get the 4-1 victory at home I heard from people that were in the stadium They said it was one of the two or three most electric games of the year. No, Yoboa to start No Suarez traveling for this one for Miami Miami went with a false nine for this one for Miami. Miami went with a false nine, basically messy starting in that position, struggled to create chances. Minnesota's lines were really

clean. Minnesota looked uber dangerous both in transition and on set pieces. I thought Pereira was phenomenal in this one. Afterwards they posted on Instagram pink phony club with a photo of inter Miami's players in pink on the field losing to Minnesota United and Mr. David Beckham took a little offense to this he started posting be classier be kinder in victory and it has set off a bit of a storm around this one. One, I love it. There needs to be more animosity. There needs to be more personality

across Major League Soccer. I would say for David Beckham, I Googled it real quick. Your net worth's like a little over $400 million. You own a professional soccer team. I would touch grass a little and probably get off social media and not worry about that as much, but I think this is fun. I'm in favor of it and it sort of sets up a situation where

what if this is MLS Cup? Imagine this rematch with that hanging around it. It was a fantastic day for Minnesota. I think David Beckham only made it better for them and we continue to watch this Miami team. They will travel midweek to San Jose. They are 1 and 3 in the league in goals per game. So two of the best attacks in the league going head-to-head which should be a fun one. The weekend finished off with Vancouver coming from behind a 2-0 deficit to LAFC to make it 2-2. Brian White with the brace. It was Denny Bulanga in the 19th minute who made it 2-0 early. And I just think the nature of this Vancouver team, I can say sitting there, you didn't think it was over. At 2-0, you knew Vancouver was going to have

an ability to work themselves back into the game. You knew that they weren't going to be scared. They weren't going to give up. And that is, I think, the real nature of where this team sits right now. Ali Admed, phenomenal coming off the bench to help things. Of course, Brian White getting the goal, but a ton of good performances in this Vancouver team to be able to get them back all the way. Another big result on the weekend, a game that we had looked at going into, Columbus, Philadelphia, Frankie Westfield with a stunner to make it 2-1 late on But then Sean Zawadzki an equalizer deep and stoppage time to make it 2-2 Andrew Rick and goal No, Andre Blake right now. You saw maybe a little bit of the young goalkeepers deficiencies, but overall it was the game You wanted to see Philadelphia looked on par with Columbus And I think that's really promising for this team.

Some big games coming up midweek, St. Louis against Sporting Kansas City, which of course has been a perfect robbery so far. We haven't had a bad game between the two. LAFC against Seattle, a rematch we've seen time and again in the postseason. And as I said, San Jose against Miami. One more game to touch on though before we go and as I said this was an active weekend on

and off the field. Nashville knocked off Charlotte in a massive 2-1 win for them a big defining victory but the story from this game was not on the field it was off the field. It was the lack of a massive supporter section, a massive group of fans in the stands. La Brigada de Oro, the Spanish speaking official supporters group for this club, for Nashville SC, did not attend this match. They didn't have their traditional tailgate before. They were not in the stands. They were not singing and chanting, being a part of this event as they usually are. They were

not because of concerns over increasing ice activity in the middle Tennessee area. Abba Lacosta, one of the founders of La Brigada, said this to 615 Soccer and our good friend Ben Wright there who wrote the article about this, quote, it's been destroying families, destroying friendships, destroying livelihoods in many aspects. People have not gone to work this whole week. There's business suffering within our community because of it. People are afraid to go out because we know that we are being targeted. The Latino community is being targeted and they are searching.

They're looking, they're patrolling where the Latino communities are based the most here in Nashville. Before the match, the backline, another supporters group, prominently displayed a banner with La Brigada's logo. During the first half, the backline went silent for 10 minutes, displaying banners reading, We are not all here in English and in Spanish. My heart breaks for anyone who feels this and I'm vibrating with anger. We're not political on this show. We don't talk a ton about current events outside of soccer. I know this show and I've heard from many people as a respite for people from the chaos outside in the world and I'm happy to be

that. And I don't even think this is political. This is a direct attack on our game and our community. A game built on its universal nature and its ubiquity. We specifically call it the beautiful game because when people with different styles and cultures and personalities and backgrounds can mix into one entity that creates something that the only way we can describe it is beautiful is what makes this so special. But it is also a game that in this country is built on the backs of immigrants.

And no one should ever fear going into a stadium and standing shoulder to shoulder with people to celebrate this sport in their community. But especially not the people who are the only reason that it is even here. We talk about over a hundred years of US Open Cups. Go back and look at the teams and what they were built on. They were built on immigrant communities celebrating the sport that they had grown up in as a way to connect to other communities in this country and to embed themselves into this nation. And hundreds a year, a hundred years of US Open Cup is what built the platform to have professional soccer leagues fully professional where we sit

right now. And the teams that have succeeded in these professional soccer leagues, in MLS and NWSL, they are built on the backs of immigrants. Immigrants on and off the field, in coaching staffs, in training staffs, in operational staffs, and then on the field, players who came here for a better life, and players who are the children of people who came here for a better life. And if you think all of this is built on the spark magic moments that happened for our national teams,

well, those are teams that are built on the backs of immigrants. Immigrants who played in the teams, and again, the children of immigrants who grew up with the sport from different parts of the world that this was all able to be possible for because of them. And people have promoted and celebrated and financially gained from the diversity of this game. And you can't talk out of both sides of your mouth on this one. You

cannot talk about an MLSPR release I'm looking at from two years ago celebrating that you're the most diverse player pool in North American sports, and then allow agencies and organizations to harass and accost your fans in your stadiums. And you can't have entities holding press conferences about an impending World Cup that's gonna bring the world to these shores

and unite the world around this game. A World Cup, I would add, that was created by Jules Remit out of the back of World War I to bring the world together through sport and not war. And then also have those organizations putting together ice raids, targeting soccer games,

because they know that there are people of different backgrounds that will attend those games. So if you want to lead in this space and celebrate it and you want the reward, then when your fans tell you that they're scared, you need to lead on that side as well. For all of us, for what you can do, you can call the Deportation Defense Hotline at 1-844-363-1423. It's specifically for people who are witnessing an ICE raid or other immigration related law enforcement. And I remind you, it is not illegal or obstruction of justice to stand by someone when they are being accosted by ICE to tell them that they have rights, to make sure they know they're

supported and not alone, that they are not standing by themselves in these moments, that they are standing with a community, and to document what is happening to them. That is what this soccer community is. And that is if it's the best we can do, then it's what we'll do in a time like this. So as I said, we'll have all your coverage coming up this week. MLS midweek matches, huge rematch between Kansas City and Orlando and NWSL. I'll be with Tom and Jordan for that, maybe some guests as well. But I thank you for all of you for listening

and I'll talk to you again very, very soon.