Here’s the show recap from Sunday’s latest episode of Soccer Today presented by BB&T and co-hosted by Marc Stein and Steve Davis on 103.3 FM ESPN Radio:
SEGMENT 1: The World Cup field of 32 is set. With Steve and Landry in the studio, Stein connects by phone from California to make the claim that Planet Futbol would have missed Cristiano Ronaldo much more than Zlatan Ilbrahimovic next summer if Portgual had failed to win their World Cup playoff against Sweden.
SEGMENT 2: Mexico, in the end, booked its trip to Brazil with ease, coming away from its two-legged playoff series with New Zealand with a 9-3 aggregate victory after its worst qualification campaign in memory. ESPN's Monica Gonzalez, former captain of Mexico's women's national team, returns to the show to take the pulse of her countrymen after some long-awaited success for El Tri.
SEGMENT 3: Stein returns via phone to help Steve put a bow on the U.S. men's national team 2013 campaign and discuss the potential impact, real or imagined, of LeBron James' potential partnership with David Beckham in an ownership group in charge of a Major League Soccer expansion franchise in Miami.
SEGMENT 4: In the heart of the the MLS playoffs, Sports Illustrated's Brian Straus drops by to help Steve assess Sporting KC's Final Four ousting of Houston in the East ... and to look ahead at the second leg of Real Salt Lake's West duel with Portland.