Leander Sharlockens joins us to discuss his new book about the US Men's National Team, The Long Game: U.S. Men's Soccer and Its Savage, Four-Decade Journey to the Top, or Thereabouts, and we trace the uneven history of the U.S. men’s national team, from its early struggles and the 1950 win over England through the long period when the programme was underfunded and disorganised to today's hopes in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
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0:00 Introduction to U.S. Soccer
3:17 Title IX’s Soccer Boom
6:19 From Glory to Collapse
7:34 Team America Disaster
10:28 Youth Soccer and Dropout
11:51 A Country, Not a Nation
13:53 Europe Beckons American Players
16:33 Adu’s Rise and Fall
17:56 Choosing the Book’s Profiles
19:45 The Berhalter Debate
21:24 World Cup Expectations
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