Christen Press & Tobin Heath: THE OLYMPICS! THE SOCCER! 57:28

You've probably heard Abby teasing this out on recent episodes, and now it's finally here. Our special Olympics episode with Kristen Press and Tobin Heath. We just freaking love them, and we're so excited. And this episode is brought to you without interruptions, thanks to our partner, Airbnb. Because what do you want to do without interruption? You want to listen to Kristen Press and Tobin Heath. That's what you want to do without interruption. And

What I want to do without interruption is visit beautiful places that have couches and spices and where I can bring my dog. And that is why Airbnb is the perfect partner for us because they, like the Olympic Games, bring people together. Let's get into the episode. ♪

Welcome to We Can Do Hard Things, PodSquad. Welcome. You know who does hard things? We do. Olympians do hard things. Yes. Olympians do very hard things. Today, we have three Olympians and also me. And not only are they three Olympians, but they're the three...

most precious, amazing Olympians in all the land. Okay. Okay. And they are you. Yep. Congrats on all the success. I know, but honey, Kristen might appreciate this the most out of the three of us, I think. But like, I like to be like,

and strong Olympian. Okay. You're very strong and brave. I don't want to be precious Olympian. You're not precious and cute. You are strong and very tough Olympian. That's what I want. Kristen Press and Tobin Heath.

An Abby Wambach. Let's talk about Kristen Press first. Okay. Kristen Press is a two-time World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and an equal pay pioneer. She is one of the all-time top 10 goal scorers on the U.S. Women's National Team and currently playing for Angel City FC. Kristen led the U.S. Women's National Team's historic achievement of equal pay and served as the leader of the U.S. Women's National Team Players Association for two years.

Kristen is co-founder and co-CEO of our favorite, Re-Ink, a values-led brand. I mean, let's just start with that. What's that? That is a thing. They're starting it. They're starting a thing called a values-led brand that exists to reimagine the way women are seen and experienced in sports. Thank you, baby Jesus. Tobin Heath.

is a two-time World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, known as one of the most skillful and entertaining players in the game. You will know her as the one who appears that her feet are disconnected from her legs. Just whoop, whoop, whoop.

You know this. Oh, I know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Throughout her club career, Heath has played for PSG, the Portland Thorns, Manchester United, and Arsenal. Tobin has taken her vision, leadership, and creativity off the pitch and into her roles as co-founder and co-CEO of Re-Ink and host of the critically acclaimed The Recap Show, which...

Everyone is watching. So good, you guys. Tobin will be going live directly following each U.S. Women's Soccer Olympic Games to debrief with the community. And so if you want to watch and then wait to know what you think...

You can find out what to think after the game. That's right. Right? And then you wait to talk to anyone until after you watch, and then you just say Tobin's ideas as yours. And then you sound amazing. Yeah. You'll be smarter for it. That's exactly what I do. Hi, you all. Yes. That's what it's for. We're so excited that you are here because we cannot wait to talk about

this team and the last two games. Yes, it was. It's been. So let's just let's just set the scene for the folks listening. They'll be listening to this. We're recording this on a Monday. They'll be listening on a Tuesday. The women's national team has gone through two games. They beat Zambia three to zero. And then on Sunday afternoon, they beat Germany four to one big games.

putting us through to the quarterfinals. We don't know if we're going to go out one or two from our group, but we have a third game to play. But we're talking about the second game now. Well, no, I was talking about all of the games. Oh, okay. I want to talk about the second game because that was the most fun thing that's ever happened. Okay. Wait, can I ask a question? Yeah. Yeah.

The jerseys. Abby's wearing her 20 jersey. I get that. And you're wearing 2024. Is this also a political campaign? Oh, that's interesting. You do know that everything for me is a political campaign. I know. So I'm wondering, is this your actual number, Glendon? Or is this a statement? So that

That is hilarious. The team. I never even thought of that. Somebody from the team. Beethy. Beethy sent us these. Sent us these jerseys. Mine has my actual name on the back. I believe that they understand what a crucial role that I play in explaining soccer.

to the people. Okay. That's what I am accepting this honor as. They will only believe you if you're wearing a U.S. Women's National Team jersey. That's right. Yeah, that's right. For sure. Yeah. BP, he sent them to us and we were wearing them yesterday for the game and we're wearing them right now for the, for the taping of this podcast. Well, look at you, Glennon. You just fit in. You look like one of the gals. Thanks so much, Tovin. We're going to use that as the clip. Oh,

Do you understand what a big compliment Tobin just gave you? I do. That's why I'm going to use it as one of the gals. Yeah, that's like a huge compliment. I know. OK, I really, really am feeling it deeply in my bone. OK, enough about us. You are both here to to answer our questions. So what are your thoughts about the Germany game that we just watched yesterday? And I don't know. Glennon also wants to know.

what your feelings are about the team. That's how we like to take it a little bit of, you know, football and a little bit of feelings. Um, well, thank you for having us back on my favorite podcast. I'm so happy to be here and we are full swing Olympic mode. Um, so much joy. Our team is energizing and exciting us in a way that we haven't honestly, since we were on it, um, which is a lot. Um, but they really are. We're

They're making us all so proud, right? They're so fun to watch. So dynamic, a little bit of humility with people, you know, being good teammates, making unselfish runs. That's really exciting. And you know what I'll say?

When you play a top opponent, you can sometimes get in early in a tournament, you get this like paralysis where like, it's always like zero, zero, or like just like a stale game. So for us to come out against Germany and just play, like we were just having fun. I just feel like inspired the whole country and made us all believe that we could do this again.

I agree. I agree. It felt like, oh, there they are. Oh, there they are. And I haven't said that since 19. I haven't said that since 19. And that and I and I mean this in the most, you know, this has happened throughout my career. There were many spells that that we couldn't figure out who the hell we were. What do you guys think is the difference between

What do you think that the real, like if we get it, what are some of the factors that you believe as to why this is happening for our team? Well, Glennon, you're a writer and, you know, there's many words on the page. So think of it as 11 players or 11 words on the page. And you can get those 11 words perfectly right. And you're like, oh my gosh, I'm a genius.

And you can get the 11 words completely wrong and you're like, this makes no sense. And that's exactly what it's like when you put 11 players on the field. And not only do you have to put like the right combination of words on the page, but then you have to make them like all kind of like orchestrate and collaborate and like make the reader feel something and do something.

And I think that's like what Emma Hayes has gotten right. Like these players have been here. Like it wasn't like we just like lifted up rock and we're like, oh my gosh, players. These players have been here. They're very good. We've seen them be very good. We just haven't really seen them collectively be good together. And I think like, and I say this over and over again, I think we were just scratching the surface on how good this group. And for us as attacking players, I think that's where our mind always goes to is

for this group and especially the attacking players, how good they can actually be. That was so poetic. That was so poetic. Glenna just pulled it out of me. I know. You must be inspired. That was amazing. I mean, talk about metaphors. Like we live, I like walk into a room and then she's like, you know what that walking into the room is like? I'm like, I don't care. And Abby's like, it's just a kitchen table. Damn it, it's a table.

That was special, though. And I think like what what you're saying, though, Tobin, and I want to get into like the front three, because, you know, we all love Alex Morgan, but her being left off the roster in a way, it's been like given these three players permission to go for it. Like your mom would say, you know what I'm saying? Like.

That for me is like, oh, wow, like there's a stability that I am seeing, like a like a sense of confidence in the three of them that they're not fighting for their life out there, that they're playing free and confident. And, you know, making the Olympic roster is so difficult. It's so much more competitive with it being only 18, 16 outfield players like it's unreal how difficult it is.

but to watch them connect. And like Tobin, I was watching some of your stuff and you're so right. Like you pointed out some stuff in your podcast or on the, on the recap show that I thought of when I was watching. Soph's first goal, number one, I want you to talk us through that. And then Mal's goal. I think that those are two, who is your player of the match? Who is your player? I know who Tobin's player of the match is.

Oh, they watched the debrief. Yeah, yeah. They did. What was... Was yours the same as mine for the player of the match? I think you kind of plus-wanted a little. I plus-wanted, yeah. I think that's, like, something that we're, like, very passionate about when we give, like, kind of our analysis of the game is...

to kind of think of it through like our eyes and our lens and very much behind the scenes. We always kind of applaud the little things that nobody really sees, but that makes the biggest difference. And I think on the best teams, the teams that applaud the little things more are,

are the more successful teams. And, you know, Mal's a big player. She's going to get praise regardless, but I want to give her praise for the little things because those are what are making this team like have these big decisions and these big outcomes. And the first goal, like you mentioned, Abby, which Soph scored, which looked like an easy goal for Soph to score was made possible by a super selfless,

run by Mal. And, and listen, Abby has benefited from a lot of these super selfish runs. And honestly, I will run every time selflessly for Abby because there's 99% chance. If I run selfish, selfless, selflessly for Abby that like, I trust that she will score. Hmm.

And, and what Mal did was she made a run of super dynamic run, knowing that she wouldn't score because that would help her teammates score. Yeah. And that's the difference between team. And then on the second goal that then Mal scored, um,

Like, when you talk about how you're going to score goals, like when you're dreaming about them in your mind, they don't look like this. Nope. They don't look like you following up a shot when everybody else is sleeping. Nope. No, they don't. But guess what? Counts the same. Yep. Counts the same. Same points. Counts the same. I love that. That's such an Abby saying. Hmm.

I love that. Doesn't matter how, matters how many. That's exactly right. Doesn't matter how, it's how many. Four times a day doesn't even matter if we're talking about soccer. Still goes. I just think that that's so important because to me, not only the pointing out of that kind of selfish run, selfless run by Mal, it's like, that's the aha. Like we are now, even as experiencing as fans, as viewers, we're,

We're looking for the good instead of like looking for like the thing to critique or looking for like the bad. It's just the nature of it. Right. Like when we have this like feeling of joy and structure and commitment and selflessness.

We then get to just like look for the good things. Right. And then when it's the opposite, when it feels like individual and clenchy and ball hoggy and not fluid, then we're just looking for all of that. Right. So it's like, it's like this interesting energy shift that it's like, that's all I saw. And it wasn't just because they were playing well. Cause look, there were a couple of players that I thought didn't play as well. Just wasn't as obvious because the score line, um,

There are a couple of players that I thought should get subbed off a little bit sooner. Maybe have a little bit more sub happening throughout the game. That's fine. But still, I was like vibing with the team for the first time in years. And I was like, yes, go, go Trinity. Like just keep going. You know, like every time that Tobin or Kristen or Heyo, you guys would get like faced up with a defender on the sideline. It was just like we knew what was going to happen.

And it was going to be a one V one battle out wide. And she's going to figure something out. And then it leads to a goal. I get, I get so excited about it. Well, I actually love what you said about, um, the impact of Alex not being on the roster. It's something that we talked about a lot and it's like, you know, we'll only time we'll tell if that was the right decision. It's pretty much if they win, then fine. Um,

That's just how every decision goes on the US Women's National Team. But we had talked about at the prior World Cup, there was like a shadow over, you know, a Soph or, you know, a player like Trinity who could emerge as what we've talked a lot about as the face of the team.

Like Abby, you had this like beautiful handoff as the face of the team to Alex and you mentored her. And then, you know, you had times where you both were like the top players and you competed and you pushed each other. And then there was a time where you rolled off the team and that's like the natural transition of this. And you never know when the right time is going to be.

But what I was going to say, but there's nothing natural about the U.S. women's national team. Like as much as we have this like beautiful picture of like Abby, like passing this torch off to Alex, like it's complicated. There are complicated feelings in this. There's big egos. There's like generational talent. There's.

You know, there's the winning. And I don't think like the passing of the baton is as romanticized as we make it seem. And I also think that maybe a passing of the baton is easier between two people than it is between others. It's true. But also it's fake. It's not real. Yeah. It's not. I, Abby, having been in a position where I felt like Mia passed the baton to me. Yeah.

And then I passed the baton to like Alex. That's just in our heads. Yeah. The truth is statistics prove everything. And the truth is Mia went out and scored a shit ton of goals. I went out and scored a shit ton of goals. Alex went out and scored a shit ton of goals. You know what I'm saying? Like it's this thing. It's like media, beautiful, like storyline. But at the end of the day, it's cutthroat. You're either good or,

enough, young enough, fast enough, scoring enough to be on the squad or you're not. And then when a new coach comes in and they just want to, you know, start fresh, I totally understand, totally get it, totally get why Emma would want to go this way. And I'm fucking heartbroken for Alex because I know what it's like to be in that position. I understand it's a business.

And I know Alex is going to be fine, but I know that she would have probably preferred to walk off on her own two feet and with her own choice, you know? Yep. But that's it. You know, I feel like all of...

the team dynamics are in that tension between this beautiful thing that is real. And there, for me, there was a handoff and also the reality that it's not as pretty as it always looks on ESPN and, and, you know, fighting for your spot and your role is what makes you great. Like without that competition, without that healthy dose of,

kind of like the other side, the dark side of it, like you'd never be pushed to your limits. And so I think what makes me excited is there's a kind of a vacancy and there hasn't been a vacancy in when I talk about the face of the team, I really mean who's doing all of the media and like kind of has that responsibility to represent and symbolize the team. And that's where there's a little bit of a

gap. And we haven't seen who that player is emerging. And I think it's an interesting dynamic to your frontline going into a tournament when you have multiple people that could fill that role that are great players, super dynamic, fun to watch, cute, marketable, all the things. And what I see is a

an amount of humility and teamwork that I wasn't sure we were going to get with this vacancy. Is there something to the discipline that they keep talking about? Because I'm sensing the discipline. Let me just explain something to you guys about the soccer. Okay. It feels to me like the discipline with which they're now playing on the field. You mean the structure and the discipline that Rose Lavelle talked about Emma bringing? Yeah. Yeah. Like she said, they're bringing us. So my favorite,

thing about creativity in the world that is the only way that I can survive is the idea that structure liberates, that I can be wildly creative from 7 a.m. to 8.30. Like I need pockets to be in then, right? So it feels to me like the structure and the discipline that they're playing with on the field is translating into the way they are talking about each other and the game off the field. Like they are being

So humble and like every time one of them talks, they're talking about the other one so quickly and they're putting team above individual in every way.

interview just like they are on the field. Yeah. Right. Like, doesn't it seem like maybe it's purposeful that nobody's coming forward as the star right now because they're all kind of sharing. And it's not our normal playbook. Yeah. Normally we go into that, like go into world championships and we're like, we win or we die. Like we, we, like anything's a failure except for gold. And they're going in and they're sort of like, you know, we have respect for all of our opponents and we have respect for it. And it's a different playbook.

And it's surprising to me. Yeah, me too. But I kind of like it. Me too. As long as they win. Remember Emma said somebody asked her about how it was going to go. I was thinking the same thing. And she goes, well, I don't know. I have to see. And I was like, did a leader just say, I don't know? Yeah. Because that is amazing. Like that's a posture. I think that the posture is she's so new, right?

Right now, it's hard for her to make a clear assessment of the totality of her team and what the expectations are. And it's good. It's working for them right now. That won't be the way that it lives forever with Emma. She's going to have to be able to stand in her own opinion. But I think what she's trying to do is earn a championship first and then talk about let's talk about expectations later, because at the end of the day, this team hasn't won anything in a while.

And I would also say the posturing is also to the rest of the world, right? And managers and managers tell their team and everyone sort of speaks knowing that everybody's listening. So there's a little bit of a flex, I feel, in being like, oh, you know, like we don't think we're the best anymore. Like we're going to have to earn it. That's a little bit like I'm coming in and beating Germany 4-1.

Cool. Yeah. Yeah. I actually think the, what I've noticed in Emma and just like her, her time with the U S team is, you know, she's a very psychological coach. She does it with the media. She does it with how she identifies and speaks about her players. Yes. Like I do think that she has like strong,

so far, like tactically she had her, her clear priorities. Look, she hasn't done anything extraordinary with the tactics. She has not, we're playing like the simplest form of football out there. And that's on purpose. She's like, how can I just get this 11, like on the field as much as possible, like with one another, just speaking the same language, like let's just do soccer one-on-one together. And then all of a sudden, like, and to your point, like creative creativity comes after that. It's like, this team just needed to do soccer one-on-one together.

And it's like amazing how much then they're able to like be confident and to be able to show their individual personalities and be able to be brave on a world stage. And like, I think she's almost dumbed down the football.

And like upped up the ability to like psychoanalyze what's needed for this team. Yes. Yes. And it's the leader that we've been needing. So to me, she feels like kind of a psychological guru. Like that's what I called her this morning. I was like, she feels a little bit like she's gotten her mind into the hearts and minds of the players and,

Have you heard of the story about when she was coaching at Chelsea that early days Arsenal would beat them a lot? And she noticed that her players were like really...

whenever that they would play Arsenal. Like, outsized nerves. Like, this is, she's like, this doesn't make sense. So she made her team wear Arsenal jerseys during practices for a long enough period of time so that the red wouldn't upset them. You know what I'm saying? So like, to me, I think her psychology game is on point. Glennon and I are talking about how she speaks of her players in the media, how she's almost like

giving them each little brands of who they are she's branding them to like to like live within and I I mean you might think that that's right or wrong but as a coach when you're coming in you want somebody to know what they can bring right and you want somebody to live fully in that little self of theirs that they that she's trying to build because she's like here's how I see you

And if you bring this, you're going to get minutes. If you bring this, then you're going to give us the very best. And that's what I need from you. Doesn't mean you can't, you know, grow and make gains. But I just think that the psychology of it has freed the players up to just be themselves. Absolutely.

And I think like this is a time where these players, they're so defined by outside noise. Like this is a generation that is a social media generation. You know, they don't even know who they are unless, you know, their comment section is telling them. Yeah. And I truly believe this is a way to like.

coach this next generation, you know, to have the leader, to have the person that then is going to give the brand to the media, to tell them what to say about their players that they're then going to receive onto themselves. I think it's, it's super smart. Um, and I think, I think it's working. Yeah. You mentioned, um, in, in the debrief or the recap, do you guys call it the debrief and recap or is it two separate things?

Ooh. So the debrief is like right after the game, our reaction. Got it. Live. Live. Got it. So, so it's really scary for us. And then obviously TRS is like our, you know, nice polished show, sit down with an amazing guest like yourselves and, you know, really get to.

be a little bit more thoughtful about the things we're saying. Okay. Well, on one of the shows, you had mentioned that our women's national team, the way that the cycle works is World Cup, then Olympics, World Cup, then Olympics, right? And the U.S. women's national team has always won one of them. That blew my mind. Isn't that so wild? But never both, right?

And never both in the same cycle. Same cycle. Never both in the same cycle. So yeah, the team has actually won an Olympics and then in the next cycle, the World Cup. So they kind of were back to back, but not in the same cycle. Yeah. So essentially, folks who are listening, what that means is like the World Cup is one summer and then the following summer is often the Olympics minus the COVID summer, which it was two summers later. So we have the 95 Women's World Cup. We lost.

Then we won the Olympics in 96. Won, this is a couple years later, won the 99 World Cup, lost the Olympics. Then we won the World Cup 03, won the Olympics 04. Then we lost the World Cup 07, won the Olympics of 08. We lost the World Cup of 11. Okay. So what's supposed to happen this year? Wait, you didn't get to the best part. And then in 1918. And then in 1918. And then in 1919. And then in 1919.

Okay. So all y'all are assholes. What happened is, is we didn't win the world cup in 2023 and we find ourselves in the Olympics in 2024. Right. What do you think is going to happen? Statistically? We're supposed to win then, right? Statistically. That is true. Do you all think that we can win this whole thing? Do I think we can? Absolutely.

I don't think we can. Well, you don't think we can or you don't think we will? Oh, I don't think we will. Of course. Of course, the football gods, you never know what they're up to up there. But the only reason is just time. It's just time and the depth. It's the problem and the depth of this team in a tournament like the Olympics.

I want you to know that our producer has never done this in the history of the show. Just texted us. Fact check. Tobin is wrong. Oh, it's Amanda. Tobin is wrong. She fact checked you. She said you are wrong. They are going to win. No, it's not a fact. It's an opinion check. She's opinion checking you. Opinion checking. You're right.

You're right. Let's cut. We're all just, we're all just going to, do I want the team to win? Absolutely. Yeah. What would you have done differently? Like who do you think could come off the bench? I wouldn't have done anything different. No. In the Germany game? Oh, in the Germany. Yeah. No, no. I mean, 4-1 Germany.

You'd be a fool to try to go back and do it again. Right. Right. And can we just talk about sweet Lynn Williams? Oh my God. Getting on the field, getting her goal. And the one cool thing is who is that woman that always writes the amazing things about the soccer?

Meg. Oh, Linehan. Linehan. Yes. She said that she thought that that was a moment that showed such a switch and intensity because just keeping up the intensity for that long, that that goal happened near the end of the game was just like such a shining moment of like, oh my God, they're just like going to be fierce the whole time. Yeah. I mean, look, I think that Lynn has, she has...

given her life to this game. She's been committed to the national team for a long time.

And honestly, she based on an injury prior to the Olympics. That's why she's there. She replaced an injured player. And then it just speaks to her character to like maintaining her readiness and staying ready. And when she's called upon, she shows up and scores. And, you know, she had the leg, the red brace, the whatever the heck that thing was. I was like, old red sleeve. Yeah. I was like, is she okay? Do we need to see a doctor here, Lynn? Yeah.

But she went out. I'm just thinking that's hot. I know. She went out there and she scores a goal. And like for somebody who, you know, has kind of struggled to find themselves in the starting lineup and to get the goal in the national team world, like she, she kills it in the NWSL. She's like, I think the leading goal scorer of the NWSL. Right. Yeah. So I don't know. I just felt really happy for her. She, she did great. Our front three, I don't know if our front three can be stopped, but

Alyssa Nair coming up with like three massive saves, keeping it a game, like truly. And you need that. So to me, if the team can show up on that top podium at the end of this tournament, it will be a lot due to Alyssa making big time saves.

Because other teams are so good, it's impossible not to allow shots, you know? It's impossible to not, like, let's say we play France or Spain. They're going to get through. They're going to have chances. So it's like our goalkeeper has to show up and then our front three also have to show up. What do you guys think about our midfield? So I think the midfield, the, like, biggest problem was just, like, trust. Yeah.

You know, I think the midfield is completely dependent on balance and trust. And if you try to do too much, sometimes it doesn't work. Like there has to be like a very talk about like rigidity. Like I believe, especially in buildup play, there has to be so much rigidity. Sorry, this is so soccer junkie-ish when I go a little too deep. But basically what I'm trying to say is I feel like why the midfield has been

why the whole team, because the midfield really is the engine of the team. Like why the team is performing is because there's more trust in the midfield. And I think that came with like a lot of work, but to the psycho analyzing of people and, and getting the right mixture. Well, what someone wise said,

told me yesterday was when you don't notice the midfield, it means they're doing their job. Oh, and that's actually what I think it was a little bit like, um, in the Germany game overall, I don't know if our performance was a four, one win, just being honest. Like I felt like the whole time Germany was going to get a goal and make it a game. Um, and I think, you know, we all know how important it is to win even like by a lot or to kind of out, um,

your result to like outperform, like actually how you did on the field. That's actually a really good sign of mentality and chemistry and also a little bit of luck, which is absolutely required in a moment like this. Um, but I think when it comes to how we go up against the rest of the world, like, I don't think we are going to be able to consistently outperform every team, but that does not mean I don't think we can win. Mm-hmm.

Same. I don't think that. I don't. I think people are going to crush you for saying that. Well, no. People are going to crush Tobin and I'm cutting. Yeah, we're cutting it if necessary. But like at the end of the day, like I get it. Like I I kind of like, yeah, they can win. And also guess what's happened to my little.

fragile heart over the last four years. I know. It's gotten a little bit hard. Yes, you've hardened your heart. And I also had hardened my heart for different reasons because I thought that I... See, here's the thing about the sports. When I was little, my dad was a football coach, okay? So he coached our high school team. And then...

We were massive fans of the Washington football team. Okay? Commanders. The commanders now, right? I was like, my whole heart was with them. Okay? It was like when Joe Theismann and John Riggins and Joe Jacoby and we were like, our family was obsessed. And then this thing called free agency started happening. And you guys, I don't mean this in a shallow way. I mean, I...

Was betrayed. I was betrayed. I used to sit and talk to my parents at the kitchen table about it. I used to like, what do you mean? They just leave and new people come in. Like, what, what do you mean? Like of what are we a fan then? If I, if I am a big fan of Brandy Carlisle's band and I love them and then I go to the concert and I'm

Joe Schmoe's singing now. What am I a fan of? I'm serious. Like, it's like a deep thing for me. Like Van Halen. Okay. David Lee Roth. No, you can't just put Sammy Hagar in like I'm right. Yeah. So I felt, I think it's a problem. I don't understand of what we are fans. If the people keep changing. So I love that you said this. Really? I really do.

Cause you're just a fan of a logo or a team color. I have that too. Like I, I really struggle with that, but that's why I feel like teams that like have this winning mentality, like the U.S. women's dash team that have like this identity. I think that's the thing that breaks the heart, right? Abby, when you don't see whatever version of the U.S. women's dash team, like playing with that same spirit that makes you feel something. Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly right.

But I feel betrayed all the time and I don't understand sports anymore. No. I think contracts should have to be minimum five years. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Absolutely. No, no, no, no, no. Something like that. I don't usually have a big say here, but free agency is extremely important for...

from a player safety and respect thing. And our, at WSL, our league has been fighting for free agency so that we can leave. This is such a different conversation. Leave where we want and be respected as full humans. And so I just think since we're on We Can Do Hard Things, it would be appropriate for me

imagine to advocate for free agency. Yes, you're right. And I think that we are going to achieve it in a, an amended NWSL contract. And it's huge for those of us that have been traded behind our backs in our sleep. It is huge. Yes. Okay. Amazing. Hardest I've ever cried when I got traded. I forgot you did too. I can be a fan of that.

If free agency is something that is important to the hearts and bodies and minds of the players, then I can be a fan of that. But what I'm saying is that yesterday I opened that game or whatever you do. I started watching the game with a hardened heart. I am not getting attached to these ones. I will watch it. I will cheer, but I am not getting attached to these love bugs because I know I'm just going to lose them in a couple of years. And guess what? Nope.

I'm totally attached. I am absolutely emotionally connected to every single one of them. Something about the game yesterday was heart. Like there was something to connect to. There was something to be a fan of there that was beyond the individual people.

It's almost like all of us have been holding our breath and we were able to finally like take a collective inhale for the first time in a while. And I think that we saw glimmers like, look, this is a very young team. Number one, an actual age, very young with a very new coach.

So there's so much more to be seen. There's so much. And they keep saying this in the media, which I love. They're like, this is like the tip of the iceberg. Like we have so much more to go. We have so much more to prove. And I love that. But it's like, it's that thing that, that,

I don't like holding my breath. I like feeling like free when I'm watching the game. And I think that it was like, oh, here we are again. This is nice again. I like this. And also it's not just like, again, it's like also very new at the same time. It feels old and exactly like and new at the exact same time.

Because like the US Women's Ash team has always been modernizing the women's game and it feels like we're not the ones modernizing it anymore. So that's why it like feels like a little weird because it's not like the US Women's Ash team was the same team in each cycle. They were very, very different styles. The game modernizes very quickly, but like we were always the ones doing that part. So it was like almost like seeing like the new play for the first time and it being like award winning every time. But now it's like,

The world has changed. Other countries are modernizing the game and we're trying to figure out where we fit into this new world order. So it is pretty crazy. And a fun fact for Amanda, if you're listening, this is the first team without a player with a gold medal on it.

What? Really? There she is. Oh, my God. Wait, Alyssa there doesn't have a gold medal? Pod squad, you have to know that Tobin said my sister's name and she's just desperate to be clear. She just showed up. I was seeing if like the genie bottle worked. It did. Did you have something to say, Sister Benj? And this is my moment. I also have not had a gold medal. So that means I could play on the team. I'm just asking for a friend. Okay.

We are also on with Alex Cooper yesterday. And I was thinking the whole time, cause she had referenced, you know, that she played college soccer. And the whole time I was thinking you've played more college soccer than some of the women on the field.

So true. Oh my gosh. Cause none of them play college soccer. Oh, because they went straight into. Yeah. So yeah, I think all of them had one year. Those are good fun facts. I'm just here for that. She's coming for my job. I need to ask Tobin and Kristen about something different. Okay, here we go. We can do hard things. So we're just going to get real quick into a hard thing. I just need somebody to real quick explain to the pod squad that

what Canada has been up to. And then I want to hear all of your thoughts about it because Abby and I have very different reactions to this situation. Oh my gosh. I'm so happy we're talking about this. They are rascals. They're rascals. That's one word for it.

So real quick, I'm going to describe it and then you tell me what actually happened. Please describe it. Canada soccer scandal. Recently, one team was practicing for the Olympics. New Zealand. Lo and behold, they're in a closed practice, practicing their little secret things as people do who are getting ready for a game with their coach and their people. They look up in the air, they hear a bzzz. They look up in the air and there is a what? There is a drone. What?

A drone which is filming their secret moves so that the drone can fly over to the Canadian coaches who we all thought were nice because of the whole Canada thing. Not so much. They are...

downloading the practices so they can watch what the other team is doing, which is called cheating. Very organized cheating. Yeah. Predetermined. Meditated. Meditated. Cheating. Then the boss of Canada comes out in a statement. On Friday. And says something like, we think this has actually been going on for a very long time. Oh.

I'm like, whoa, that's different than America. America would be like, we don't know what you're talking about. And also America would be like, if you don't cheat, you're losers. Everybody cheats. You pay taxes, losers. So. Well, here's what happened. So the New Zealand team looks up, they notice a drone and they call the police. That's how this happened. And in France, they have no drone flying laws. Right.

And so they were able to figure out who this was because the New Zealand people were like, hold on a second. We're going to call the police. So, so far, the only consequences are that the staff, a bunch of the coaches have to go home. The Canadian team gets docked six points. Yeah, they're now. But they're still in the tournament tournament. And the New Zealand team who lost to the cheating Canadian team just is like, oh, well,

They don't have anything? Why don't they give them their six points? They should get their six points. I feel like that would be fair. They just have no six points, but the other team doesn't get any of them. I feel like there's like a parable in the Bible about this. Yeah. It's like if someone takes $100 from me and it's like, well, the recompense is you have to give away $100. It's like, wait, but it was from me. Yeah.

Well, and as of today, the Canada Soccer Federation is appealing the six points more to be revealed there. They want it to be more? No, they want it to be less. But listen, what are your guys' feelings about this? How are you thinking about it? Okay, we also have slightly differing opinions, but it's very hard because...

We kind of talked about it like similar to doping. Like if you don't know that you are being slipped some sort of performance enhancer and then you buy your coach or buy your trainer and then you go out and you run faster than everybody, you still didn't win fairly, even though it's not

And even if you obviously trained really hard, you tried really hard, you cared a lot. And you could still have won without it. We will never know. Yeah. But you still get disqualified. Yep. And for me, it doesn't make sense because...

New Zealand, as you've implied, also had something taken from them, which were their secrets. And we don't know if Canada did that to the other teams. We don't know what happened. So for me, it seems like it would have made more sense to just have them kind of default out of the tournament and give three points to every team that played them so that the other teams could duke it out fairly and you just removed them.

you know, the cheating. But I will say it's a really hard thing to say to the players who, you know, even if you're like getting someone slipping you like drugs or performance enhancers, like it is your responsibility to know that. But in this case, like there's really nothing they could have done. And then the other thing that Tobin and I both kind of do agree on is the fact that

When Canada women's soccer won gold, they won on penalties in the quarterfinals and the finals. And that is the most...

The advantageous thing of like watching someone's close training is that you can watch their penalties and in their quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, as Tobin's like to say, they didn't score one goal in the run of play. They only won on penalties, which could affect their strategy if they knew they were going to win in penalties. And the goalkeeper gets told exactly which way each shooter shoots.

So it is a very suspicious set of circumstances. Well, I have a question about that. Does that mean, because the prior scenario was, okay, so it's theoretically just the coaches are very bad coaches, bad, bad, bad, and the players don't know. But if...

they were fed the information as specifically, is there a world in which the players could not know? Yes. I don't think the players. So if you're a goalkeeper and you're preparing, you're going to watch hundreds of penalties of the team and you're going to study it and they're going to give you a water bottle and it's going to say which way they shoot. And it's supposed to be based on film that you could see publicly. Okay.

Okay. And so you already get so much information that you're not going to be like, oh, how do you know? Like you just, they just know. And you would just trust that. Yeah. And I think it's really important to remember with penalty kicks that like Abby took a lot of her penalty kicks. So most of her penalty kicks have been studied. There's tons of film on it, but with penalty kick shootouts,

There will be a lot of players that take penalty kicks that don't have a lot of film on them. So their coaches will be making educated guesses on what exactly that player will be doing. Unless, unless drone footage of their training, which I agree.

I guess people don't see this on audio. We're making the fingers, the fingers that are basically like, you know what? I think this is really sad because we're talking about, you referred to the Tokyo Olympics where they won gold, but they also won bronze in the prior two Olympics. Yeah.

And you just, and if this is a systematic thing, unfortunately, like my heart breaks for these players because I would be livid if I was a player that my metal or something, because these players work extremely hard to have these opportunities. Like, and now not only am I being called a cheater for something I wasn't even in control of, but now my, my metals could be on the line for that. I would be livid.

Yeah.

Everyone should be upset in some way, right? Because those are other people working really hard to have the opportunity to win. That's right. To win a gold medal. But it's like, that's why the buck stops somewhere. Maybe this is the first time in history that a leader was doing some really shady shit for a lot of times and nobody else knew about it. Of course people knew about it.

It is the top's responsibility to make sure that the coach and the leaders are operating with integrity. And if they're not, and if they cheat, everybody gets penalized. But yeah, but in sport, Glennon, there's like this weird thing. Like if you're not cheating, you're not trying. It's like a very weird thing. And there's a lot of gray area and sports always kind of pushing the boundaries of being like just too much. But drones...

Don't you think we've gone into too much? Did they have a silent drone? Like, you know how on guns you can kind of like make it not- A silencer? A silencer on your drone? No, it was a loud drone. Facts. So stupid. And I was- It wasn't even a clever thing. I mean, if you're going to cheat with drones, at least do it in a country that doesn't have a no drone law. I know. Yeah.

When does the national team play next? Wednesday. What time is the game? 10 a.m. PT. And then after the game, what are we all going to do to find out what we think about what just happened? Debrief. We're going to listen to Tobin. We're going to the debrief. Let's go to the debrief. Where do we find the debrief, Tobin and Kristen? In membership. So you have to be a reimaginer. I mean, you'll get the clips, you know, a few days after. Yeah.

the hot clips, but to have the full reaction. You need to be a member. To be the first ones to know. Okay. And you guys, just please, PodSquad, just please listen to it. And then don't tell your people you listen to it. And then just sit down at dinner and just start dropping shit. Like this is like my friend who records Jeopardy's. Yeah. And then she turns it on with her husband and like, like it's in real time. And she just answers all the shit and she never tells him.

But she already memorized the whole thing. This is what you're going to do. My problem is I wouldn't be able to remember it. I wouldn't be able to remember it either. No, I need to say one more thing. Okay. I need to just note the genius of Kristen and Tobin because what I want to say about the values-led brand that I have been thinking about this whole time is

is that you are even looking at the game and analyzing it and picking your players of the match and looking at everything through the values of your brand. Like choosing the player based on the selfless runs, choosing the, it's like such a gorgeous thing

360 approach to the whole thing. And I see it and I love it. Oh, thank you. I want to end with this. Kristen and Tobin, before we got on this, Amanda and Glennon were like, okay, can you like give us a little like thing to end on something like go and

And they were both trying to tell me to give the speech. And Kristen and Tobin both know how terrible I was in the huddle prior to games. I would fumble. I would stutter. And then we all knew we were going to have a good game. But what I want to take our pod squad through is can we do an Usa cheer with the pod squad and with Glennon and with Sister so that they know what it is? Okay, but what is it? So before every game...

The U.S. national team says, Oosa, Oosa, Oosa, ah. You say, Oosa on three. One, two, three. Oosa, Oosa, Oosa, ah. Okay. That was like a three out of a ten. I gave you a three out of a ten. The excitement and energy. Love it. This is the most patriotic I've ever been in public, and I'm kind of nervous about it. I'll just be over here.

Kristen won't even be on screen. I was definitely kind of in the exterior of this like huddle because I just don't really like all the people. Yeah. I think we should leave it at this, you guys. Yeah, we're going to leave it at this. Usa, Usa, Usa on three. One, two, three. Usa, Usa, Usa. Thanks for coming, you guys. We love you so much. We love you. Thank you. Love you. Bye.

If this podcast means something to you, it would mean so much to us if you'd be willing to take 30 seconds to do these three things. First, can you please follow or subscribe to We Can Do Hard Things? Following the pod helps you because you'll never miss an episode and it helps us because you'll never miss an episode. To do this, just go to the We Can Do Hard Things show page on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Odyssey, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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We appreciate you very much. We Can Do Hard Things is created and hosted by Glennon Doyle, Abby Wambach, and Amanda Doyle in partnership with Odyssey. Our executive producer is Jenna Wise-Berman, and the show is produced by Lauren LaGrasso, Alison Schott, Dina Kleiner, and Bill Schultz. I give you Tish Melton and Randy Carlisle. Walked through a fire, I came out the other side.

I chased desire I made sure I got what's mine And I continued to believe I'm the one for me And because I'm mine Cause we're adventurers in heartbreak So map a final destination They stopped asking direction

Some places they've had to be loved We need to be known We'll finally find back through the joy That our lives bring We can do a heartache I hit bottom, it felt a brand new start

I'm not the problem sometimes things fall apart and I continue to believe unless people are free and it took some time but I'm finally fine cause we're adventurers and hikes on a map a final destination

We've stopped asking directions to places they've never been. And to be loved, we need to be known. We'll finally find through the joy and pain that our lives bring. We do heartache.

We're adventurers and heartbreaks are mad We might get lost but we've stopped asking directions To places they've never been And to be loved we need to be known We'll finally find our way

back home and through the joy of spring we can do a hard yeah we are a weak thing