USWNT wrap up soccer's summer in golden style as England's domestic season gets underway with chaos in the EFL

Hi there! The summer of soccer officially came to a wrap over the weekend with the U.S. women's national team's gold medal win on Saturday, while the European season is officially underway after the EFL opened up. I'm Pardeep Cattry with the latest to kick off the week.

📺 Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, Aug. 12
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EFL Championship: Luton Town vs. Burnley, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Seattle Sounders vs. Pumas, 10:30 p.m. ➡️ Apple TV+

Tuesday, Aug. 13
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EFL Cup: Sheffield United vs. Wrexham, 3 p.m. ➡️ Paramount+, CBS Sports Golazo Network
🇺🇸🇲🇽 Leagues Cup: Columbus Crew vs. Inter Miami, 7:30 p.m. ➡️ Apple TV+

⚽ The Forward Line

🇺🇸 USWNT go back to winning ways

The U.S. women's national team won their first Olympic gold medal in 12 years on Saturday, beating Brazil 1-0 in Paris and turning the page on last year's disappointment at the Women's World Cup in the process.

Things were not straightforward for the USWNT on Saturday, when Brazil were easily the better side in the first half as the likes of Ludmila and Gabi Portilho created a feeling of disarray amongst a usually well-organized U.S. back line. The fact that Brazil were unable to capitalize on their chances in the first half, though, meant there was an opening for Mallory Swanson to score the game's lone goal in the 57th minute after serving as one of the U.S.' few standout players in the first half. Her goal changed the momentum of the game, and though Brazil forced a few big saves out of Alyssa Naeher towards the end, the USWNT were able to close things out.

The USWNT's gold medal finish is impressive in its own right, but especially so considering the quick and high-stakes turnaround from last year's World Cup. The player pool was expanded in a matter of months and new head coach Emma Hayes had just four games to work with a new look team before traveling to France, forcing many to temper their expectations at the Olympics. Over the course of six games in 17 games, though, the U.S. proved they can still very much compete at the top levels of the women's game, even in a landscape that is more and more competitive with each passing year.

The USWNT's big bets on hiring Hayes and opting for a more youthful squad paid off, in large part because the program's hypothesis was correct -- the U.S. did not fail at the World Cup because the team was incapable of making a deep run, but because the balance was off. The post-World Cup refresh also allowed the USWNT to rediscover the winning mentality that has defined the team throughout their history, as Crystal Dunn noted post-match in Paris.

• Dunn: "I always believe this team can do absolutely anything, and that's not coming from an arrogant place. It's coming from a place of, if we are at our best, if we are clicking, all things are firing on all cylinders. I truly believe this team can be unstoppable. But it's not easy. It's about showing up every day and really believing in the system, and believing in the players around. How we ended the World Cup wasn't amazing, but ... I think we were just like, 'All right, that wasn't great.' Let's get back to work and let's really get back to who we are, and have our system down, have our style of play down, and just execute it to our best ability."

The most impressive part of the U.S.' gold medal win is that there is arguably still much work to do to put the demons of the World Cup to rest, something both Hayes and her players seem clear-minded about. Hayes, though, made a very strong first impression as the USWNT's head coach, inspiring confidence about the team's prospects as the buildup to the 2027 World Cup begins.

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🔗  Midfield Link Play

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 EFL's wild start

The EFL kicked off the European soccer season in fine form this weekend, most notably with the Championship delivering 35 goals in 11 games before the final game of Matchday 1 on Monday. England's lower leagues lived up to their billing as a source of non-stop entertainment and as Geoff Shreeves notes, absolute chaos in more ways than one.

• Shreeves: "Probably what sums up the chaos, the carnival, the entertainment, the feast of football that is the EFL is that Ryan Lowe has left his job as manager of Preston North End after a total of just one game in charge this season, which is extraordinary. … In short, you can almost fail to sum up what the EFL is like. Of course, we haven't had arguably the biggest game of the weekend, which is tonight -- Luton Town against Burnley -- but it was a glorious riot of color and goals at the weekend

While Lowe's exit adds another layer of intrigue to Preston's 2-0 loss to Sheffield United, it was far from the most entertaining match of the weekend -- Leeds United's 3-3 draw with Portsmouth takes that crown. Leeds were the dominant side with 69% of the ball and 22 shots to Portsmouth's five, but after taking a lead in the10th minute with Pascal Struijk's penalty, they were behind 2-1 at the break as Elias Sorensen and Callum Lang scored. Wilfried Gnonto scored just after the break to level the score, but Portsmouth took the lead again when Lang scored a penalty in the 92nd minute. Brenden Aaronson then rescued a point for Leeds just three minutes later, but then missed a chance to give Leeds the lead when he missed a shot in front of an open net in the 97th minute.

Play resumes on Tuesday with the first round of the EFL Cup, which will see teams in England's second, third and fourth divisions square off before Premier League sides begin to enter in the second round. One of the headlining acts of the first rounds will be Wrexham's trip to Sheffield United on Tuesday, which will offer the League One side a chance to punch above their weight against one of the top teams in the Championship. After booking back-to-back promotions, Wrexham opened their League One campaign with a 3-2 win over Wycombe, but playing Sheffield United -- who played in the Premier League last season -- will serve as a first chance to assess how quickly Wrexham can rise up the English soccer pyramid.

🔗  Top Stories

🇺🇸 USWNT win gold: Alyssa Naeher scored a perfect 10 in the final batch of player ratings from the Olympics, while Emma Hayes ushered in a new era of dominance while completing their redemption arc after last year's Women's World Cup. Plus, captain Lindsey Horan says this is just the start as she teases the team's upward trajectory under Hayes.

🇪🇸 Spain oust France: Spain's U-23 team won Olympic gold in the men's competition, beating hosts France 5-3 in one of the most entertaining soccer matches in recent memory.

🔵 Chelsea stay busy: Chelsea signed Pedro Neto from Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend, while American goalkeeper Gaga Slonina left the club for a season-long loan at Barnsley. The Blues, though, are not done yet with their summer Business as they continue to work on deals involving Conor Gallagher, Joao Felix, Samu Omorodion -- and perhaps Victor Osimhen.

🔴 Fernandes stays: CBS Sports reports that Bruno Fernandes is close to signing a contract extension at Manchester United, a deal that will keep him around through the 2026-27 season and includes an option for another year.

💰 Drake to the rescue: Venezia FC inked a new kit deal with Nocta, Nike's sub-brand owned by Canadian rapper Drake, who also reportedly previously saved the club from bankruptcy by donating €40 million last year.

💰  The Back Line

💵 Best bets

• EFL Championship: Luton Town vs. Burnley, Monday, 3 p.m.
  💰 THE PICK: Luton and Burnley to tie 1-1 (+550) -- The EFL Championship's opening weekend comes to a close with  Luton and Burnley, two teams who dropped down from last season's Premier League competition. The pair likely target a return to the top flight as soon as next season and seem destined to compete for top spot in the Championship, which might result in them canceling each other out on Monday. Expect both teams to showcase what they're all about while they shake off the preseason rust, but fail to come out with a win.
• Leagues Cup: Champion

💰 THE PICK: Inter Miami to win (+600) -- As the round of 16 begins for the MLS-Liga MX crossover competition, the oddsmakers still favor reigning champions Inter Miami. Their case is strengthened by the fact that Miami have done well to progress in the competition even without Lionel Messi, who has not played for the team since leaving for Copa America duty in early June. Their depth has been key -- Matias Rojas, for example, may be the team's standout with three goals so far in the competition -- and seems like a recipe for success as the knockout stages continue.

📺 What's on CBS Sports Golazo Network

☀️ Morning Footy (Weekdays 8-10 a.m.): Hosts Susannah Collins, Charlie Davies, Nico Cantor and Alexis Guerreros help fans get their day started on the network's flagship morning show with highlights, interviews and the biggest soccer storylines. Morning Footy is also available in podcast form, so you'll never have to miss an episode.

3️⃣ Attacking Third (Monday, Thursday): The leading women's soccer podcast and social brand is now a live studio show. The NWSL season is back and our coverage of the women's game is stronger than ever. Our analysts will be breaking down the USWNT, NWSL and European domestic season all year long. And don't miss Wednesday live streams on YouTube at 11 a.m. ET.

⚽ Call it What You Want (Monday night): A weekly podcast where Jimmy Conrad, Charlie Davies and friends cover all things USMNT and the state of the beautiful game in the United States. You can also catch the show streaming live on YouTube every Monday at 11 a.m. ET.

🥅 Scoreline (Daily): Scoreline is the newest place for fans to catch up on all the biggest news and results impacting global football, match highlights from the top soccer competitions and all the can't-miss goals from the day's action, starting Thursday and airing seven days a week.

📺 How to watch: CBS Sports Golazo Network is a free 24/7 channel exclusively dedicated to offering unparalleled coverage of all the top soccer competitions worldwide. You can stream for free on the CBS Sports app, Pluto TV and Paramount+.