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First, an apology for going dark yesterday. A late night return from Orlando followed by a Wednesday that kept delivering new chaos until there was nothing left to do but tap out. We appreciate your patience.

Tuesday night in Orlando was rough. There is no sugarcoating a 4-0 halftime deficit in a Cup quarterfinal against a rival. But the calendar does not pause for hurt feelings, and this sport has never once waited for anyone to finish licking their wounds. Sunday is already here. Columbus is already on deck. The World Cup is less than a month away. Aston Villa just ended a 30-year trophy drought. A goalkeeper played a European final on a broken finger. A midfielder in Portland hit a volley that stopped people mid-scroll. The game keeps moving, and so does everything in it. Let's get into it.

Atlanta United's US Open Cup run is over. The Five Stripes were eliminated in the quarterfinal round Tuesday night at Inter&Co Stadium, dropping a 4-1 decision to Orlando City SC that was not nearly that close for most of the evening.

The stakes were real. The winner was two wins away from a spot in the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup. Atlanta arrived having dominated the final 65 minutes of Saturday's league match against this same Orlando side. None of that carried over. The Lions were on the board in the fifth minute on a David Brekalo header off a recycled corner and never looked back, adding goals through Griffin Dorsey in the 16th, Tiago Souza in the 24th, and Souza again in first-half stoppage time to go into the break up 4-0. Jayden Hibbert, starting in net as he has throughout Open Cup play, made four saves in a half where Atlanta managed one big chance.

Tata Martino made four substitutions at halftime, sending on Juan Berrocal, Tristán Muyumba, Saba Lobjanidze, and Matías Galarza. The second half was a better showing. Saba was active immediately, creating four progressive carries, two successful crosses, and a big chance in his first 20 minutes. Latte Lath pulled one back in the 84th minute, volleying home a Lobjanidze cross from the center of the box for his third goal of the season in all competitions. But the margin was already settled well before that.

After the match, Martino was direct in taking responsibility. Speaking in Spanish, he said it was entirely on him, not the players. He explained that he believed the team was ready to match Orlando's shape by lining up with a back five to counter the five forwards Orlando sometimes deploy, but they were not prepared to execute it. He noted the team had worked on the shape before the match against the Galaxy and in training the previous Thursday, as well as in the second half of the Toronto match, but acknowledged it was the wrong call on the night.

Alexey Miranchuk, who started up top and hit the post with a first-half chance, was measured in the postgame. "It hurts," he said. "It's a tough one. We have to review everything and analyze everything." On the response after falling behind: "After 4-0, we said we understand everything, but we need to still stay together and fight till the end." He said Sunday's trip to Columbus is not going to be easy, but the group is motivated to finish this portion of the season on a better note.

Atlanta United, now 3-8-2 with 11 points and sitting 14th in the Eastern Conference, returns to MLS action Sunday at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field against Columbus Crew (kickoff 7:30 p.m. ET, Apple TV, 92.9 The Game, La Mejor). It is the club's final match before the league breaks for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Columbus sits one spot above Atlanta at 13th with 13 points.

English soccer had its own version of a spy thriller this week, and it ended with one of the most severe punishments in recent Football League history. Southampton were expelled from the Championship playoff competition on Tuesday after being found guilty of spying on the training sessions of multiple opponents during the 2025-26 season. Their appeal was dismissed Wednesday, and the punishment stands. The Saints will not be playing in the playoff final. They will not be earning promotion to the Premier League. And they will begin next season with a four-point deduction already on the books.

The story begins on May 7, two days before Middlesbrough hosted Southampton in the first leg of their playoff semifinal. A member of Middlesbrough's staff spotted someone hiding behind a tree near the club's Rockliffe Hall training base, apparently filming the session. The figure ran off, changed clothes at a nearby golf club, and fled. Middlesbrough identified the individual as a Southampton first-team analyst intern, reported it to the EFL, and the league charged Southampton with spying on May 8. Southampton still beat Middlesbrough 2-1 in the second leg on May 12 to advance on aggregate, with an extra-time winner from Shea Charles, but the result barely mattered once the wheels of the disciplinary process were turning.

The charges related to breaches of EFL Regulation 127, which was introduced specifically after Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United were found guilty of spying on Derby County in 2019, and prohibits clubs from observing another club's training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match. Southampton ultimately admitted to multiple instances of spying, with Oxford United and Ipswich Town also identified as victims. Sources told ESPN that at least two other clubs had suspicions as well.

Middlesbrough manager Kim Hellberg was emotional after the second-leg defeat, saying the discovery broke his heart. Southampton coach Tonda Eckert walked out of his postgame press conference when asked directly whether he was a cheat. Wednesday's appeal dismissal means Hull City and Middlesbrough will meet Saturday at Wembley Stadium in the playoff final, with a Premier League place for next season on the line. Middlesbrough have been training through the uncertainty, holding off holiday plans, ready for the chance to earn what the process took from them once before.

The Portland Thorns defeated Bay FC 2-0 on Wednesday night to move alone into first place in the NWSL, and M.A. Vignola's opening goal, a powerful volley off a loose ball following a corner kick, is already a goal of the season candidate. Mallie McKenzie added her first professional goal to seal it. Portland has now gone 594 regular-season minutes without allowing a home goal, the longest such streak in league history. That's why we watch.

Major League Soccer has been in preliminary discussions with the International Football Association Board about the possibility of trialing a stopped clock in matches, according to a report from The Guardian's Matt Hughes and Pablo Iglesias Murer. And predictably, the reaction from a significant portion of the soccer media, particularly outside the United States, has been to use it as another opportunity to take shots at American soccer rather than engage with the actual question on the table.

That reaction is worth pushing back on. MLS vice-president of competition Paul Grafer laid out the core frustration clearly, asking when the sport is going to move past stopgap measures and address gamesmanship and match manipulation by actually stopping the clock. MLS executive vice-president Ali Curtis confirmed the conversations with IFAB are exploratory, framing them around modernization while preserving what makes soccer unique. That is a reasonable position. It is not a radical one.

Here is the thing: the sport loses roughly 30 minutes of actual play out of every 90. That number has been debated, analyzed, and lamented by the same European outlets now dismissing this conversation. Time wasting is a genuine problem. Not knowing when the final whistle is coming because of cynical match management is a genuine problem. You cannot spend months bemoaning the lack of live ball time and then turn around and mock the league that is actively trying to find solutions for it. That is not analysis. That is just an agenda.

The stopped clock is not an unheard of concept, either to soccer or to MLS specifically. The league used a countdown clock from its founding in 1996 through the end of the 1999 season. College soccer in the United States uses it today. IFAB itself debated the idea in 2017 before ultimately shelving it, citing concerns about unpredictable game length and broadcast complications. Those are legitimate concerns worth working through. What is not legitimate is dismissing the conversation simply because it originates here.

MLS has been down this road before. The league pioneered VAR implementation in 2017, and the technology is now global. Injury and substitution time-wasting rules were first developed in MLS Next Pro, adopted by MLS, and are now part of the laws of the game ahead of this summer's World Cup. The process works. Whether or not the stopped clock is the right answer, the question deserves a serious conversation, not a punchline.

The World Cup is three weeks away, and the machinery of the biggest sporting event on the planet is fully in motion. Squads are being named, host cities are getting ready, and the storylines that will define the summer are starting to take shape. This is the part where it stops feeling like something on the horizon and starts feeling like something that is actually happening.

On The Field

Germany made the biggest squad news of the week, recalling 40-year-old Manuel Neuer from retirement to be part of Julian Nagelsmann's 26-man group for the tournament. Neuer retired after Euro 2024 but outstanding performances for Bayern Munich, particularly against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals, convinced Nagelsmann to bring him back. The move is a difficult one for Oliver Baumann, the Hoffenheim keeper who had been told he was the starter until reports of a Neuer recall surfaced in recent weeks. Neuer is dealing with a calf issue that kept him out of Bayern's final Bundesliga match, and his status for the German Cup final against Stuttgart on Saturday is uncertain. Germany faces Ivory Coast, Ecuador, and newcomer Curaçao in Group E.

Senegal coach Pape Thiaw named his 28-man group on Thursday, headlined by Sadio Mané in what will be his final World Cup. The Lions of Teranga are in a tough Group B alongside France, Norway, and Iraq. Egypt also announced its squad, with captain Mohamed Salah leading the Pharaohs into his second World Cup. Young Barcelona striker Hamza Abdel Karim, 18 years old, earned a first call-up. One squad facing a different kind of challenge: DR Congo relocated their pre-tournament training camp from Kinshasa to Belgium after an Ebola outbreak in the country prompted the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern. DR Congo's opening match is June 17 against Portugal in Houston.

Off The Field

Philadelphia is shaping up as one of the gold standards among host cities, and the numbers back it up. The Philadelphia Soccer 26 host committee has raised between $60 and $65 million in private funding, with public support adding another $77 to $82 million. Their Fan Fest at Lemon Hill will be free and open for all 39 days of the tournament, with around 80 local food vendors. Rides home on the Broad Street Line after matches will be free, with Airbnb covering the cost. It is a model other cities are struggling to match.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington will install curtains to block the notorious west-facing sunlight for the June 25 group stage match between Japan and Sweden, a problem that has plagued Cowboys games for years. Cowboys receiver George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb have both publicly blamed dropped passes on the glare. Owner Jerry Jones famously responded to curtain suggestions by asking if the solution was to tear the stadium down. The World Cup apparently accomplished what the Cowboys' own players could not.

Netflix VP of Sports Gabe Spitzer confirmed the streamer intends to be in the conversation for U.S. men's World Cup rights when Fox's current deal expires after this tournament. Fox is expected to face significant competition. Netflix already holds exclusive U.S. rights to the next two FIFA women's World Cups.

The Match Premieres Today: The documentary revisiting Argentina and England's legendary 1986 World Cup clash opens in Argentine cinemas today, May 21, and is part of the official Cannes Film Festival program. The film runs 91 minutes, the same length as the original match, and features players from both sides together for the first time.

Open Cup Semifinals Set: Columbus Crew defeated New York City FC 1-0 Tuesday in the first match under interim coach Laurent Courtois, with Max Arfsten scoring the only goal in the 58th minute. The Crew will host Orlando City in the semifinals. Colorado Rapids defeated San Jose Earthquakes 2-0 and will host St. Louis City in the other semifinal.

Casemiro to Miami: Inter Miami is closing in on a deal to sign Brazil midfielder Casemiro on a free transfer when his Manchester United contract expires June 30. Casemiro is the player's first choice, per ESPN, though Miami must first negotiate his discovery rights with LA Galaxy before any deal can be completed.

Tessmann Could Move: U.S. midfielder Tanner Tessmann could leave Lyon this summer as the club looks to raise funds to meet French financial fair play requirements. Teams in Germany, Italy, and MLS have expressed interest. Lyon is seeking a fee as high as $23 million. Tessmann has 14 caps for the senior U.S. side and is competing for a World Cup roster spot.

SDH AM kicks off at 9:05 with Jon Nelson. The first hour includes an interview with Dimitrios Efstathiou on Atlanta United's training ground serving as base camp for Uzbekistan during the World Cup, state champions Dustin Jennette of GMC Prep and Clayton Schmitt of Holy Innocents recapping their Georgia high school final wins, and Decatur FC GM Joel Gould previewing the new WPSL season. The 10 a.m. Power Hour features Nino Torres of Fubo TV and Niko Moreno of Pulso Sports. Columbus Crew play-by-play voice Chris Doran joins at 11 to look ahead to Sunday's match against Atlanta United.

The Carter Center is hosting "The Beautiful Game Brings Peace: From Atlanta's Pitch to the Global Field" on June 3 at 6:30 p.m. at 453 Freedom Parkway NE. The free panel discussion focuses on how soccer can promote social change and cross-cultural understanding, anchored in President Jimmy Carter's and Mrs. Rosalynn Carter's commitment to peace and human dignity. Panelists include Atlanta United Senior VP and Chief Business Officer Sarah Kate "Skate" Noftsinger, Sanjay Patel of Soccer in the Streets, and Ben Spears from The Carter Center's Conflict Resolution Program. The event is also available via live stream. Registration is required for both in-person and online attendance at cartercenter.org.

Aston Villa Win Europa League: Aston Villa defeated SC Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul on Wednesday to claim the Europa League title, the club's first major trophy in 30 years. Goals from Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Buendía, and Morgan Rogers sealed the win for Unai Emery, who claimed his fifth Europa League title as a manager. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez kept a clean sheet despite breaking a finger during warmups.

Hearts Raise Concerns Over Celtic Title Match: Hearts have written to Scottish soccer authorities expressing concern that a pitch invasion effectively ended their title decider against Celtic before the full amount of stoppage time was played. Celtic's Callum Osmand scored in the eighth minute of stoppage time to seal a 3-1 win and a fifth consecutive Scottish title. The Scottish Professional Football League has said the referee confirmed the match had ended and was not abandoned.

Marco Silva Set for Benfica: Fulham manager Marco Silva is reportedly set to become the new head coach of Benfica after reaching a full agreement on a two-year contract. Silva is expected to depart Craven Cottage after five seasons in which he established Fulham as a stable Premier League side. The move reportedly comes as José Mourinho prepares to leave Benfica for a return to Real Madrid.

Football Australia Posts Record Loss: Football Australia will report a record loss of approximately $10.95 million USD for 2025 at its annual general meeting next week, nearly double the previous year's deficit. The governing body's chief executive said FA may cut up to a fifth of its staff to address the financial situation. FA and Australian Professional Leagues also announced a settlement this week in their long-running dispute over historic debts between the two organizations.

Tuesday night stung. There is no other way to put it. A Cup run with real stakes, a rivalry match, and Atlanta United had nothing to give in the first half when it mattered most. Tata Martino stood up and took the responsibility squarely on his shoulders, and now the only thing left to do is what this sport always demands: show up Sunday and answer the bell. Columbus awaits, the World Cup break is right around the corner, and the game never stops moving long enough to let you feel sorry for yourself.

That is true beyond just the Five Stripes. Squads are being named, host cities are getting ready, a 40-year-old goalkeeper just came out of retirement, and somewhere in Portland last night a midfielder struck a volley that people will be talking about for a long time. The game keeps moving. So do we. We'll see you on SDH AM this morning at 9:05, and Columbus Crew play-by-play voice Chris Doran joins at 11 to help us look ahead to Sunday.

Song of the Day: "Roll With It" by Oasis. Because after a rough Tuesday night in Orlando, that's exactly what you do.

Jason