This is ‘Watching With…’. Our soccer staff sits down with past players, coaches, fans and other people involved in soccer to watch and discuss a Women’s World Cup match together.
Amy Rodriguez is multitasking, because that’s what head coaches must do. Inside a packed restaurant 1.4 miles away from the home of the reborn Utah Royals FC, Rodriguez is handling introductions, lineup formation analysis and deciding which pizza to order for herself. It’s just past 7 p.m. Thursday night in suburban Salt Lake City and there are no open tables inside Slackwater Pizzeria. On a flat-screen TV behind the bar is the World Cup quarterfinal matchup between Spain and the Netherlands.
Rodriguez, hired in April to be the new head coach of the Royals upon their return to NWSL in 2024, introduced this reporter to some friends, allowing the already-crammed four-top table to balloon to seven. There are two Olympic champions at this table: Rodriguez, a World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist and staple of women’s soccer in America for the last two decades.
Across from her is friend and five-time Olympic speedskating gold medalist Bonnie Blair, one of the most decorated American athletes in Olympic history. She’s in town with her daughter and other speedskaters to…
