Al Pacino Helped A Soccer Team Win the Champions League

Carlo Ancelotti has won the greatest club competition in soccer more than any other coach. But for his first title, he recruited the help of the legendary Al Pacino. This week, we look back at Ancelotti’s long-lost connection to Hollywood—from playing pickup on the set of a Robert De Niro film to editing movies for his players. Plus, we catch an Avenger watching a USL game, dive into the latest news on World Cup train tickets, unveil a 250-page Open Cup photo book, and much more.

This week’s stories:

• 🏹 An Avenger at a USL Game

• 📘 250-Page Open Cup Photo Book

• 🍿 Al Pacino Helped A Soccer Team Win the Champions League

• 🚇 World Cup Train Tickets

• 🗳️ Poll + Last Week’s Answers

• ➡️ And More

POP CULTURE
An Avenger at a USL Game

Over the weekend, Jeremy Renner lived up to his Hawkeye character from the Avengers, using his eagle eye to spot a must-attend fixture in USL.

Renner surprised everyone by showing up to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds vs Detroit City FC match with the cast & crew members of Mayor of Kingstown.

Awesome to see him supporting local grassroots soccer!

CLUBELEVEN
250-Page Open Cup Photo Book

We’re proud to unveil “America’s Cup: A Journey Through the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup”—our latest print project, in collaboration with DC-based photographer & creative director Nicolas Polo, and brought to life by 20 photographers across the country!

This documentary photo book was developed over the course of eight months, following Open Cup matches all throughout the United States, from amateur qualifiers in small towns to professional stadiums in major markets.

Through the work of these dedicated photographers, the book offers a never-before-seen window into the scale and diversity of the competition, creating a comprehensive visual archive of the 2025 edition of the U.S. Open Cup and the magic behind the oldest sports tournament in America.

It also features an exclusive foreword by our friend and legendary soccer journalist Pablo Maurer!

Pre-Order it HERE.

*Patreon subs get up to a 25% discount!

COVER STORY
Al Pacino Helped A Soccer Team Win the Champions League

Carlo Ancelotti is unquestionably a soccer genius, but he’s also a bit of a film buff.

As a young teenager in 1975, he even helped settle a brutal beef between two iconic Italian directors by playing in a pickup game on the set of a film featuring Robert De Niro, Burt Lancaster, and Donald Sutherland. Truly, insane.

But while on that occasion the beautiful game had helped the film world heal, in 2003, Ancelotti flipped the script, using the power of Hollywood movies to get his AC Milan side a Champions League title.

According to Ancelotti himself, he used Al Pacino’s speech from Any Given Sunday to motivate his players before the grand final.

“I prepared a video with Al Pacino motivating his football players with his brilliant speech. The only difference was I replaced the actors' faces with my own AC Milan players. It was a very emotional moment for me," said Ancelotti.

Now I’m trying to picture Don Carletto struggling to use iMovie back in 2003 to photoshop his players’ faces into the video. But I gotta say, it’s really cool that a film about American football and Pacino’s passionate speech played a small part in deciding one of the tightest Champions League finals ever.

And when opening up about his love for American cinema, Ancelotti didn’t just stop there.

He added:

"I'd definitely compare my job with a film director. Like them, I have to work closely with a lot of people and build a team. Sometimes, it's just like in the movies, as though I'm illustrating my ideas to actors."

Finally, when pressed about who he’d like to play him in a biopic, Ancelotti didn’t hesitate. The only name that came to mind was straight from the movie set he’d visited for a soccer game all those years ago: Robert de Niro.

WC2026
World Cup Train Tickets

There has been a huge public discussion between NY/NJ politicians and FIFA over train ticket prices to MetLife Stadium during the World Cup, which will cost $150 roundtrip, according to NJ Transit.

Here is what all parties have said on the matter.

On Monday, the Philly host committee confirmed its own plans.

Make sure to keep an eye out for more updates on each host city’s plans over the next few weeks.

CLUBELEVEN
The Supporters Section

It’s been crazy experiencing this PL season alongside various supporters groups across the country. Now we’re in the final stretch. Who do you think is taking it all, and why? We’ll feature your best answers next week!

CLUBELEVEN
Aggregates

I’ve Seen This One Before: Star QB Fernando Mendoza taking inspo from one of the greatest American soccer players of all time? Maybe…

Comedy: Hasan Minhaj and Ronny Chieng somehow turned up at a Portland Hearts game over the weekend. Lots of celeb appearances at USL games recently…

The Oldest Adult League in the US: This one dates back to 1902, and it’s still running. An absolute gem.

Cupset Alert: As a DC United fan, it pains me to share this one, but props to this amazing USL League One side for pulling off an incredible upset in the Open Cup Round of 32.

Harmonica: Never knew Cavan Sullivan could play this instrument so well!

OUR HISTORY
The Original Carolina Courage

Today marks 25 years since the Carolina Courage of the WUSA (the world's first fully professional women's soccer league) made their on-field debut.

The Courage’s first season was a bit of a disaster, finishing dead last in 2001. But they had one of the most impressive comeback stories ever, going on to win the league the following year against Mia Hamm’s Washington Freedom in the final in front of 15,000 spectators.

The NWSL’s North Carolina Courage are, of course, named after this pioneering side.

BUSINESS
NWSL Calendar Shift?

According to ESPN, the NWSL's board of governors is expected to vote in the next two weeks on whether to flip the league's calendar to a fall-to-spring season.

As of now, the league typically kicks off in March and ends in November, but a change would see it start in late summer and end in late spring. This would mean the NWSL would align with many of Europe's top leagues, and soon, MLS (which will switch next year).

This proposal has been narrowly voted down before, so we’ll see what the result is this time around. Do you think it’s a good idea?

CLUBELEVEN
Your Takes 🗯️ 

Last week, we asked you: What would you have done in Bob Cousy's position? (Regarding the failed 1975 ASL Final, where he ruled that both sides would share the title after 9 OTs). Here are some of your answers:

• “They should’ve disqualified NY if they couldn’t play a replay.” - BD

• “While I want to say no one gets the title cause screw NY and Boston... Given how much they had played, sharing is the best option. Although I'm surprised no one thought of PKS or some other tie breaker.” - Dario

In the poll, 25% of people said no one should have gotten the title, which tied for first alongside having a coin toss to decide. I’m personally team coin toss, just because I would’ve loved the chaos haha.

UP NEXT
Home (Briefly)

Thank you, DC!! Incredibly grateful for everyone who came out to check out our Open Cup gallery, listen to some fun stories from our panelists, and play pickup amongst the framed photos and oddities scattered around the venue on Capitol Hill.

Plus, a very special thank you to our good friends Nico Polo, Guerrilla FC, and The 507 for making this entire dream night possible, as well as our panelists for an incredible conversation! It was a true honor getting to work together with some DMV legends on this one! Plus a huge shoutout to 7th Street Burger & Soul Mega for the amazing food and bevs.

We’ll now be headed home for the next couple of days to recharge, but we’ll likely be back on the road again next week!

Enjoying This?

Make sure to forward this email to a friend and help us spread the soccer gospel far and wide! We’ll see you next week with even more untold stories of soccer.

Have a great Tuesday!

Pablo