D.C. United-Real Betis preview, USMNT learns CONCACAF Nations League dates, and more: Freedom Kicks for May 22, 2019

Happy United Day everyone! Well, this is a friendly United Day, as D.C. United takes on Real Betis in friendly action tonight at Audi Field (8:00pm). We don’t expect to see any of the first team save possibly Paul Arriola, who is out this weekend after his red card he received against the Houston Dynamo last Saturday. I would think a lot of Loudoun United players and even a couple academy players will get the call tonight.

They will go against a Real Betis side that finished 10th in the La Liga standings this season, beat Real Madrid and Barcelona on the road, but that still wasn’t enough for coach Quique Setien to survive the axe the club gave him ahead of rumors he may take over at the Camp Nou.

Here’s United’s preview of the match, but let’s recap some of the other news from yesterday:

USMNT learns CONCACAF Nations League match dates | Stars & Stripes FC

The United States Men’s National Team learned its CONCACAF Nations League match dates yesterday. They will host Cuba and travel to Canada in October, then host Canada and travel to Cuba in November. Mark your calendars!

Sources: Kompany wants Man City coach, players | ESPNFC

After an illustrious career at Manchester City, Vincent Kompany is leaving to take over as player-manager at Andy Najar’s club, RSC Anderlecht. He wants to bring some of the younger City players with him along with the youth coach to help bolster the ranks of Belgium’s most successful club.

Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan to miss Europa League final against Chelsea | BBC

Arsenal will be without Armenian midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan when they travel to Baku, Azerbaijan next week for the Europa League final against Chelsea. Azerbaijan and Armenia have political tensions, and Mkhitaryan feared for his safety. It’s sad that UEFA could not secure this so that he could participate in a championship for his club.

Sources: Pogba to be offered captaincy at United | ESPNFC

Paul Pogba reportedly wants to leave Manchester United for Real Madrid this summer, but coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will offer the France international the captain’s armband at Old Trafford in an effort to convince him to stay. Let’s see if that happens.

Sky: Chelsea set to appoint Cech as sporting director | NBC Sports

Petr Cech has had an outstanding career for club and country, and it now looks like he may hang up his cleats. Next up for him: returning to Chelsea in the role of sporting director.

Finally, Chelsea welcomed America’s son Christian Pulisic officially to Stamford Bridge. His transfer from Borussia Dortmund was officially secured back in January, but he was immediately loaned back to BvB for the rest of the 2018-19 season. With the season now over, he can concentrate on assuming a huge role with the Blues.

That’s it, y’all. See you at Audi Field tonight.