by Jason Longshore
1- Atlanta United is back in action tomorrow night on the road in Seattle against the Sounders. Our 5 Stripes Countdown on 92.9 The Game starts at 10pm Eastern with kickoff set for 10:39pm. It's a homecoming for Osvaldo Alonso, Gonzalo Pineda, and Garth Lagerwey so the emotions will be high, but it's a vital match starting the final 10-game stretch of the season.
2- With Jamal Thiare and Saba Lobjanidze unavailable due to visa and travel complications, we will see two of the four additions from the summer transfer window in the mix for Atlanta. Tristan Muyumba will look to build on an outstanding debut in the Leagues Cup finale while Xande Silva could be in line for his debut in Seattle. According to everyone from the club who has spoken to the media this week, Silva was impactful against St. Louis in last weekend's closed door scrimmage.
3- More to come on this match tomorrow and in the upcoming March to Matchday podcast at Off The Woodwork from 92.9 The Game.
4- Tonight in Nashville, the inaugural Leagues Cup final will be played between the hosts and Inter Miami. Kickoff is after 9pm Eastern and it should draw a huge audience on Apple TV. The defending MLS MVP (and the front-runner for this year's award as well) Hany Mukhtar faces the defending Golden Ball winner from the World Cup Lionel Messi. Expecting an incredible atmosphere and hoping for the craziness that we've seen throughout the Leagues Cup tournament, which has to be considered a rousing success for all parties involved.
5- In the morning, England and Spain will battle it out in the Women's World Cup final in Sydney, Australia. These have been the two best teams overall in the tournament and the match is essentially a toss-up. England got the better of Spain in a great match between these two at the last Euros, but Spain has found another gear in this tournament. Exciting young attacking talents will be on display in Salma Paralluelo of Spain and Ella Toone of England. On paper, it sets up to be the best Women's World Cup final of all-time.
6- Sweden defeated Australia this morning in the third place match at the World Cup 2-0. Fridolina Rolfö converted a first half penalty while Kosovare Asllani added a second just after the hour mark. The third place finish is the fourth time in history that Sweden has earned the bronze medal in the tournament, while this is the best finish ever for the Matildas. Their manager Tony Gustavsson, who has previously worked with the USWNT, could and should be on the search list from the USSF.
7- The Ange Postecoglou era at Spurs has its first Premier League win after Tottenham defeated Manchester United 2-0 at White Hart Lane. Pape Matar Sarr put Spurs into the lead in the 49th minute before an unlucky own goal from Lisandro Martinez extended the lead in the 83rd. Guglielmo Vicario made six saves in the clean sheet in a Man of the Match performance.
8- Harry Kane opened his Bayern account yesterday with a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win yesterday against Werder Bremen. In today's matches in the Bundesliga's opening weekend of play, Bayer Leverkusen defeated RB Leipzig 3-2 in a thriller. Jeremie Frimpong scored one and assisted another. Speaking of thrillers, Dortmund needed a late penalty from Tomáš Čvančara to rescue a 4-4 draw at Augsburg.
9- Luciano Spaletti has been named new manager of the Italian national team ahead of upcoming Euro 2024 qualifiers next month. He won Serie A with Napoli last season before stepping away. In addition to extensive experience in Italy, he won the Russian Premier League twice with Zenit St. Petersburg.
10- The LA Galaxy and LAFC have had to postpone matches scheduled for tomorrow due to the impending landfall of Hurricane Hilary. The Georgia Bulldogs were set to continue their West Coach trip with a match against USC on Sunday, but that has been canceled as well.
11- Legendary singer-songwriter Johnny Nash was born on this day in 1940 in Houston, TX. He had multiple hits worldwide, was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to bring reggae music to the masses and record in Kingston, and is best known for his #1 hit "I Can See Clearly Now", which is today's Song of the Day:
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