Jorge Villafaña 1v1: Living the Sueño w/ US, Santos Laguna | Gold Cup roster surprises and snubs

Not many nicknames stick like Sueño stuck to Jorge Villafaña, but those days are over for the Santos Laguna and US national team left back. He’s an established pro now, an MLS Cup winner and subject of a seven-figure transfer fee from Liga MX club Santos Laguna. In fact, this could be the biggest week of Villafaña’s career, as the US take on Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico in Hexagonal matches that could determine whether the Americans book a trip to Russia. The guys link up with Villafaña for a 1v1 interview you won’t want to miss, then break down the US’s warmup draw with Venezuela, Bruce Arena’s 40-man preliminary roster for the Gold Cup and the U-20’s loss in the World Cup quarterfinals. 

There’s plenty to talk about in Major League Soccer as well. Jesus scores! Jesus Ferreira, of course. The 16-year-old FC Dallas Homegrown and son of former MLS MVP David Ferreira wasted no time in his debut making history, so what’s next for the young winger? What’s next for Real Salt Lake and Mike Petke after the latter called out his team for another appalling performance? That’s not all, as the guys parse Pablo Mastroeni’s stats vs. heart comments and give Will Bruin a pass for celebrating against his former team.

In the mailbag, a listener suggests a three-man backline for the US ahead of Russia 2018, another castigates the guys for not giving Seattle-Portland in the Open Cup more love and an emailer questions Michael Bradley’s place in the MLS and US pecking order.