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Freedom Kicks: USMNT, Gold Cup 2015, USWNT, and MLS links for Wednesday July 8th, 2015

Holiday calls it a day, the US men struggled but got themselves 3 points in the Gold Cup, plus a few other odds and ends.

Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

There isn't much going on with D.C. United right now, which is reasonable considering that they've played 7 full seasons in the past 2 weeks. Let's look around at some other stuff:

3 things we learned from the USMNT's 2-1 Gold Cup win over Honduras | SB Nation
That was a pretty frustrating Gold Cup opener from the United States last night, but they gutted out a 2-1 win because Clint Dempsey has that rare combination of being a flair player who doesn't really stick to a position while also being a scrapper who has scored so many important goals for the US by punching in rebounds or fighting off his man to get the last touch.

Armchair Analyst: USMNT take a punch – and all 3 points – in Gold Cup opener vs. Honduras
Matt Doyle dedicated a whole section of this to how bad Timmy Chandler was, and if anything that's taking it easy on Chandler after a shambolic performance. Chandler completed 16 of 32 passes! A professional who is paid by a Bundesliga team for his soccer skills completed half of his passes. As a field player. For a team that wasn't playing long ball. If you're an MLS right back eligible to play for the USMNT, this had to be extraordinarily tough to watch.

CONCACAF tore down American Outlaws’ banner for no reason, police put it back up | SB Nation
CONCACAF arbitrarily does dumb stuff for no apparent reason, so this is entirely within character.

Panama 1-1 Haiti: Nazon snatches point for Gold Cup minnows | Goal.com
Before the US game, Panama looked like they were going to have to settle for a 1-0 win after creating the bulk of the chances, but a late sucker punch from Haiti leaves the 2013 finalists in a very difficult position. Honduras can beat Panama based on their respective performances tonight, and Panama will close the group against the US.

Atlanta United FC name, crest publicly unveiled | Empire of Soccer
This contains a note about United having tried to prevent a duplicate name, but MLS's response was "well, they have a bunch of them in England, so screw you."

MLS, you need to read this very closely:

We are not England. We don't need to do do everything England does. In fact, we should actively avoid doing a lot of the things they do. It is OK to do things without explicitly copying someone else.

Also the "FC" means that I hope this team's expansion fee bounces and they are not admitted into MLS or anything else.

Fernando Aristeguieta's loan extended | The Brotherly Game
This is a good move for the Union in my book. Aristeguieta has been injured and got most of his playing time when the Union were at their worst - and we're talking about the Union's worst here, so you know that's bad - yet managed 3 goals in his first 5 MLS games. He may be CJ Sapong's backup, but if he had gone back to France the Union's depth up top would have been non-existent.

Arda Turan admits it will be tough to wait until January for Barcelona debut | The Guardian
Woo, rich getting richer! Hooray! Party at Scrooge McDuck's money bin!

You can keep watching the USWNT after the Women's World Cup | SB Nation
Do this.

Lauren Holiday retires from USWNT after Women's World Cup heroics | FoxSports.com
For example, if you want to see Lauren Holiday playing soccer - and you should - you need to watch FC Kansas City's NWSL games. The USWNT will have a hard time replacing Holiday, but it's hard to argue with someone putting family first. And if you're going to retire from the national team, might as well go out with a World Cup winner's medal, right?

Alright, that's it for me this morning. Go nuts in the comments.