Speaker 1: I am Jamie Rudd, and here is what is happening
Speaker 1: in football right now. Tonight is the night Robert Lewandowski
Speaker 1: makes his MLS debut Chicago Fire versus Into Miami at
Speaker 1: Chase Stadium, kickoff at seven thirty Eastern, and the football
Speaker 1: gods have a sense of humor because this was not
Speaker 1: the plan. Lewandowski was supposed to debut two weeks ago
Speaker 1: against Vancouver. That match got washed out postponed to October sixth,
Speaker 1: So instead of a soft landing against a Western Conference team,
Speaker 1: Lewandowski gets thrown straight into a conference rivalry against the
Speaker 1: biggest club in MLS. And not just any version of
Speaker 1: Into Miami, the version with Sergio Busquz, with Luis Suarez,
Speaker 1: with Jordi Alba, three players he spent years competing against
Speaker 1: in Europe now on the same team in Fort Lauderdale.
Speaker 1: Lewandowski is thirty seven. He has scored over six hundred
Speaker 1: career goals. He has won the Champions League, he has
Speaker 1: won one Bundesliga titles at two different clubs, and tonight,
Speaker 1: in his first MLS minutes, he walks into a stadium
Speaker 1: where the away team has three of the best players
Speaker 1: he ever played against This is either going to be
Speaker 1: beautiful or completely overwhelming, and I am genuinely not sure which.
Speaker 1: The standings make this even spicier. Into Miami are second
Speaker 1: in the Eastern Conference, Chicago Fire a third. One point
Speaker 1: separates them. This is a conference rivalry game with real
Speaker 1: table implications, and neither team can afford to drop points.
Speaker 1: Miami have forty one points from twenty games, Chicago have
Speaker 1: forty from twenty. The winner tonight takes second place, the
Speaker 1: loser might drop to fourth, and with the League's Cup
Speaker 1: starting next week, both teams are juggling priorities. Here is
Speaker 1: the thing. Though Messi is not playing, he is out Tonight.
Speaker 1: Into Miami confirmed it after the World Cup final. Messi
Speaker 1: is being rested. The League's Cup starts next Wednesday, Messi
Speaker 1: will be needed then tonight. Someone else has to carry
Speaker 1: the load without Messi. Into Miami are still a good team,
Speaker 1: but they are not a great team, and that is
Speaker 1: the gap that Chicago Fire have to exploit. Lewandowski's role
Speaker 1: tonight is fascinating. Chicago Fire have been a mid table
Speaker 1: team for years. They have not made the playoffs since
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen. Their defense has been suspect Their midfield has
Speaker 1: been patchy, but they have a striker who scores goals
Speaker 1: for a living, and if Lewandowski gets serviced tonight, he
Speaker 1: will score. That is what he does, that is what
Speaker 1: he has always done. The question is whether Chicago can
Speaker 1: create chances against Miami's defense without Messi there to pull
Speaker 1: defenders out of position into Miami. Without Messi played differently,
Speaker 1: They do not have the same creative spark. They do
Speaker 1: not draw triple teams in the final third, and that
Speaker 1: might actually help Chicago's defense, which has been average at
Speaker 1: best this season. Elsewhere, Chelsea have signed Morgan Rogers from
Speaker 1: Aston Villa for one hundred and seventeen million pounds, a
Speaker 1: British record fee, an eight year contract until twenty thirty three.
Speaker 1: He is twenty three years old. He has played one
Speaker 1: good Premier League season and Chelsea just made him the
Speaker 1: most expensive British footballer in history. Unai Emery called him irreplaceable.
Speaker 1: Then Chelsea waived a number with so many zeros that
Speaker 1: Villa's owners forgot how to say no. The Premier League
Speaker 1: is completely broken and I love it. Michelob Ultra dropped
Speaker 1: an ad called tab Closed. It tallies every single thing
Speaker 1: Lionel Messi accomplished across his twenty year World Cup career,
Speaker 1: every match, every goal, every knockout round like a bartender
Speaker 1: reading the longest receipt in history. The tagline is that
Speaker 1: his tab is finally closed because he is done. The
Speaker 1: World Cup chapter is over. It is it is emotional,
Speaker 1: and it is the best sports commercial since Nike's Right
Speaker 1: the Future In twenty ten, Wheden and Kennedy knew exactly
Speaker 1: what they were doing. Anthony Taylor is retiring. The Premier
Speaker 1: League and World Cup referee is hanging up his whistle
Speaker 1: after a sixteen year career. He was famous not for
Speaker 1: the right reasons. Fans remember the var reviews that took forever,
Speaker 1: the penalties he gave that should not have been, the
Speaker 1: penalties he did not give that should have been. But
Speaker 1: his last World Cup game was the third place match
Speaker 1: between England and France ten goals. So his final World
Speaker 1: Cup assignment was a basketball score. That feels appropriate. The
Speaker 1: League's Cup starts next Wednesday into Miami face allega MX opponent,
Speaker 1: and if you want to see Messi angry, watch him
Speaker 1: against a Mexican team physical organized. They do not care
Speaker 1: that he is the greatest of all time. They will
Speaker 1: kick him, they will foul him, and they it will
Speaker 1: make him work for every touch. It is genuinely entertaining.
Speaker 1: Spain are still celebrating. Pedri got a hero's welcome in Barcelona,
Speaker 1: thousands of fans at the airport, Twenty three years old,
Speaker 1: European Championship winner, world Cup winner, already being called the
Speaker 1: best midfielder on the planet. The scary part is that
Speaker 1: he might be better next year. Spain's Golden generation is young,
Speaker 1: real and terrifying. Tonight, though seven point thirty Eastern Chase Stadium,
Speaker 1: Robert Lewandowski MLS debut Chicago Fire versus Inter Miami, second
Speaker 1: versus third in the East, and Messi is watching from
Speaker 1: the stands. I will be watching, and so should you.
Speaker 1: Quick note this show is produced with the help of
Speaker 1: AI