HEAVY ON SOCCER - FIFA’s New Champions Cup Is Already Controversial + Rose Lavelle’s HUGE Award

A Touch More with Sue Bird & Megan Rapinoe

The Vox Media Podcast Network

Soccer, Basketball, Sports

4.4 • 765 Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Gotham FC’s Rose Lavelle joins us fresh off the FIFA’s inaugural Women’s Champions Cup to talk about her whirlwind of a year: from injury, to NWSL Championship, to being crowned U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year for 2025. She describes what it’s like to have your childhood dream come true (at eight years old, she wrote a book report on Mia Hamm and dressed up as her for the occasion); and what she thinks about Gotham’s underwhelming regular season. Megan and Sue also remember some of the best and most embarrassing pranks Rose has played on them over the years. Also on the show: Megan breaks down why nobody was happy with when the Women’s Champions Cup was scheduled, and compares the latest news on the CBA negotiations to her experience negotiating for equal pay. And Sue has a touch more time for Reggie Miller comparing Caitlin Clark to Peyton Pritchard. A Touch More: The Podcast is produced in partnership with VOX MEDIA and TOGETHXR. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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1:42.9	Hey everybody. Welcome back to the show. We got a super heavy soccer show for you guys today. And I'm very excited because it's our personal fave, Rose LaVelle, Gotham F. F.C.'s own is coming on, aka U.S. women's soccer player of the year. So we'll check in with Rose a little bit later. We're also going to talk about the FIFA inaugural Champions Cup. And Megan, apparently, some controversy surrounding that one, and it's scheduling. Always. It's FIFA. And it's a make-em-up. So there's always controversies surrounding everything. We love a make-em-up. We love a make-em-up. We love a make-em-up in soccer. Why not? You know, why not? So much news happening. Unrivaled went to Philly and absolutely blew the top off of the building. It was sold out. It was reported that the average ticket price was 165 and compare that to
	...

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