Grant has two entertaining interviews in this episode. Matthew Hoppe checks in from Germany (30:33) and shares how he experienced his big-break season with Schalke, which he ended up leading with six league goals. Hoppe, 20, also discusses what he's looking forward to in his first camp with the USMNT this week ahead of the Switzerland friendly. Then Grant speaks to Chris Ivy (55:05), the co-founder and director of sports for Heritage Auctions, about the skyrocketing market in sports collectibles, including soccer cards. A 1979 Diego Maradona Panini sticker sold for a soccer record of almost $560,000 last month, and this month Ivy's house auctioned a 1958 Pelé Alifabolaget "rookie" card for $372,000, a 182% increase over the exact same card and grade sold just five months earlier.
To kick off the pod, Grant and Chris Wittyngham break down a wild final weekend of the European domestic leagues, including Chelsea and Liverpool beating out Leicester for Champions League berths, Luis Suárez giving Atlético Madrid the La Liga title, Juventus and Milan beating out Napoli for the top four in Italy, and Lille staving off PSG in Ligue 1. The guys also look ahead to this weekend's men's UEFA Champions League final between Man City and Chelsea and discuss the news on Sunday that U.S. Soccer and Soccer United Marketing will end their 20-year business partnership at the end of 2022.
This episode of Fútbol with Grant Wahl is brought to you by Fanatiz. La Liga has the best title race in Europe, and it's heading down to the final day. On Fanatiz, you can watch all the action in La Liga, Ligue 1 and other international leagues and tournaments live and on-demand from your mobile phone, tablet or directly on your TV with the Fanatiz app. Fanatiz features channels you know, like BeIN Sports in English and Spanish, GolTV and many more. And it costs only $7.99 a month.
If you’d like to try Fanatiz for yourself, you can get a free week-long trial by going to fntz.co/Grant-FZ.
USMNT's Matthew Hoppe; Chris Wittyngham on a Wild Weekend; Chris Ivy on Soccer Cards