The Team of the Century

The ‘99 Rhinos, a striker with 530 goals, and the only time a lower-division team beat MLS to the Open Cup. This week, we look back at the dazzling story of Doug Miller, and how he led the Raging Rhinos to the greatest upset in American soccer history. Plus, we explore Caitlin Clark’s soccer past, unveil our brand-new footy drinking game, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 🐺 The Legend of Luis Fangoso

• 🏀 Caitlin Clark Was a Soccer Prodigy

• 🏆 The Team of the Century

• 🤖 AI Commentators

• 🗳️ Poll

• ➡️ And More

OUR HISTORY
The Legend of Luis Fangoso

The American obsession with Argentine 10s goes back decades. So much so that twenty years ago, NE Revs head coach Steve Nicol signed one straight out of a fairytale. 

He’d been routinely pressed to bring in a shifty midfielder that could catapult the team to glory, and he finally obliged ahead of their season opener on April 3rd. That’s how the Gibraltar-born Argentine Luis Fangoso arrived on our shores. And there was no shortage of buzz. 

Media outlets picked up the story, and it seemed like the Revs had finally found their leading man in Fangoso. The only problem was that he wasn’t real.

MARCH MADNESS
Caitlin Clark Was a Soccer Prodigy

She’s the face of NCAA Women’s Basketball, but before learning to drain 3’s from the logo, Caitlin Clark was scoring from midfield at her soccer games. And this one isn’t a joke.

Back when she was 11, Caitlin led West Des Moines SC to a 9v9 championship game, where she bagged a goal shooting directly from kickoff. The anecdote goes that she even did her classic posture after scoring that wondergoal.

It wouldn’t be her only highlight on the soccer pitch either. A local publication recently spoke to her family and former coaches about her robust soccer past. During this March Madness, one can only wonder how far she would’ve made it if she had traded the hardwood for grass.

COVER STORY
The Team of the Century

It’s a feat that’ll likely never be repeated. When again will a lower-league team beat four MLS clubs en route to an Open Cup trophy? It was a perfect storm, and at the very center was Doug Miller — America’s greatest goalscorer.

We almost couldn’t believe his stats when we first heard about him. He played pro across four decades, earned MVPs in three different ones, and scored 530 goals in total during his whole career. But none was more special than the one that gave the Rochester Raging Rhinos the 1999 US Open Cup.

It was the culmination of a magical period in the ‘90s where Rochester was the place to be for soccer. Lightning in a bottle. And we knew we had to hear it from Doug himself.

His face was on billboards, credit cards, and Kodak strips — a blazing soccer hero in a period when it wasn’t the norm. It’s a story from a time that’s long gone, but it reminds us we have a bounty of American legends hidden here at home. Only a few have left as an indelible mark as Doug.

So for this story, we knew we had to do something special. 

GIVE & GO
Our New Soccer Drinking Game

It all started with some prompts on a piece of paper, a few beers, and the intent to find new and creative ways to enjoy the beautiful game.

Over the past few months, we’ve been workshopping our soccer card drinking game with friends, players, and local club owners across NY, CA, MA, Washington DC, NC, and FL. We've tried to minimize any complexity by creating a game that will evolve with us and our community for years to come.

Now, it’s finally ready for you to give it a try and make it your own. We’ll be launching a Kickstarter to get things off the ground, and we’re taking input on how to perfect it for your own soccer community.

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

Let us know your reasoning, and we’ll post your answers next week! We’ll also get cranking on making the winning selection a reality.

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

Tea Drinkers: The Atlanta United U-15s spanked Kai Rooney’s Manchester United side 4-0 at the Generation Adidas Cup. They hit the Alex Morgan tea celebration to cap it off. The kids are more than alright.

Live Free or Die: That’s the New Hampshire state motto. And it fits with what’s happening in the fight to get an independent soccer team to NH. This week was kind of a blow after MLS started to sink its claws in the state.

From Malawi to the World: Temwa Chawinga entered the record books over the weekend after becoming the first Malawian player to score in the NWSL.

Roswell Files: The soccer wars aren’t slowing down any time soon. USL announced they intend to explore building a stadium in Roswell, GA, and start a professional women’s soccer team there.

Crack a Cold VAR: Genius product placement or dumb stunt? This past weekend, the Kansas City Current game had the VAR screen pop out of a Yeti cooler. At some point, you just have to laugh and admire the commitment to branding every single aspect of the game. Aaah, America.

TECHNOLOGY
AI Commentators

No one’s job is safe from automation. Not even our beloved commentators.

MLS Next Pro will be at the forefront of innovation today when they introduce a new AI broadcasting feature that will allow them to transmit a game in four different languages at the same time.

The match will be translated into French, Spanish, and Portuguese while maintaining the broadcast crew’s original voices and tone. It’ll be very interesting to see how it plays out. Makes you wonder what job is next.

TELEVISION
A Historic Broadcast

The USL is going nuclear. On Saturday, they’ll be taking one of the most important steps in our soccer history as the main CBS channel will televise the Louisville - Indy derby. It’ll be the first USL game broadcasted on network television ever.

And they couldn’t have chosen a better one. The “LIPAFC” derby — as it’s affectionately known — has produced some of the most memorable moments in USL, especially their thrilling meeting in the 2019 playoffs, which is still one of the greatest post-season games ever played.

While the stands will be packed at Lynn Family Stadium, you can do your part by tuning in on Saturday at 4 pm ET. It’s one of those efforts that can help soccer take off for generations to come.

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you whether Gregg Berhalter should be the USMNT coach at the 2026 World Cup. Here are some of your spiciest answers:

• “Yes. He knows the players, he understands the ‘American’ player, and he gets results. ‘Gregg hate’ is an internet-fueled fallacy backed by imagination and not facts or statistics.” - Kolb

• “I’ll make up my mind after Copa America. It's great the USMNT has made its mark in recent years by owning L-Tri, but the real test will be in the Copa this summer. He's arguably got the most talented and young roster the team has ever seen, but can that translate to a modicum of ‘success’ at Copa? We'll see.” - Larry

• “Yes. I think he's too conservative of a coach for national teams/tournament-style play. However, I'm not jumping ship yet. You can't argue with a good Copa America performance...however if it's a very poor showing, then let's swap out the coach and give the next guy a two-year run-up to the HOME World Cup! On a general note, we HAVE to play more elite competition as a federation... it's a must. Copa America will be a proving ground, whether in our favor or not.” - Clay

In the poll, the “No” answer won with 50% of the vote, while “Yes” and “I’ll make my mind up after Copa,” got 30% and 20%, respectively.

It was great to see all of that discourse, although it is quite amusing to see no one felt they had to defend voting “No.” Thank you for submitting your takes, and can’t wait to hear what you all have to say for this week’s poll!

UP NEXT
Springing Ahead

Once more, we’re hitting the road for Round 2 of the Open Cup, and you can expect us to be in as many places as possible. We’ve grown quite an obsession over this tournament, but we’ve got a few other things in the cards.

Like we mentioned, we’ll be launching our Kickstarter for Give&Go, and you can sign up for updates to make sure you get a pack soon. Also, we have a few other profile stories like Doug’s that we can’t wait to share with you over the next few weeks. Spring truly is in full swing.

Enjoying this?

Make sure to forward this email to a friend! We’re trying to spread the soccer gospel far and wide. It was amazing to hear from a few of you last week, so feel free to leave us an email reply as well.

As always, we’ll see you next week with even more untold stories of soccer.

Have a great Tuesday!

Pablo