The occasion has been such a long time coming, Timbers analyst Ross Smith and Timbers.com writer Richard Farley had to resort to extreme measures. For the second time in two months, Smith and Farley bring you an emergency podcast; this time, commemorating the first All-Star Game selection for Timbers legend Diego Chara

Three days ahead of the United States' next game, the Associated Press' Anne Peterson talks to us about being on the U.S. beat for the tournament, life as a Parisian for the last month, how the staging of this year's competition compared to previous major tournaments, and (of course) the United States' team, itself.

The break between the group stage and knockout round of France 2019 provides the perfect time to get the original voice of Portland Thorns FC, Ann Schatz, on the World Cup Podcast. Having covered the likes of Christine Sinclair, Tobin Heath and Lindsey Horan throughout their time in the Rose City, Schatz offers her perspective on the Thorns’ stars’ tournament was well as her view of a women’s soccer landscape that will make a United States repeat one of the hardest World Cups ever won.

Goalkeeping is taking center stage early in the 2019 Women's World Cup, and not always for the reasons you'd expect. While there have been a number of standout individual performances, the use of VAR to evaluate if goalkeepers are staying on their line during penalty kicks has become a point of controversy, with the global goalkeeper's union rebelling against video replay's new use.

That's the main talking point on this episode of our World Cup podcast, where two members of that union, Thorns FC goalkeepers Britt Eckerstrom and Bella Bixby, walk us through their reactions to the week's contentious calls.

In his second year in Portland, Timbers midfielder Eryk Williamson has become one of the standout talents for Timbers 2 and, late last month, earned his first minutes at the Major League Soccer level. Now a regular call-in for the U.S. U-23s, Williamson joins Breaking Lines to talk about his life off the field: his amateur dog-walking pursuits; the shoe addiction that's being emboldened by living in Portland; his life living out of suitcases; as well as the evolution of his personal style.

With the tournament in full swing, ThornsFC's World Cup podcast wanted to get a taste of life on the ground, not only in terms of the results we're seeing from France but how the country is embracing the tournament.

On this edition of the show, FOX Sports' Aaron West joins us from Paris, where he is recording a night wrap-up show for FOX with former Thorn Karina LeBlanc. In the wake of the U.S. women's national team's history Tuesday win, West talks blowout protocol, how to manage your FIFA losses, what we'e see from the Australians, and the life of a new broadcaster being throw into his first major tournament.

They first played together in 2011, in the last season of Women's Professional Soccer. Since then, Thorns FC players Katherine Reynolds and Angela Salem have been teammates four more times, with their travels together taking them to Atlanta, Western New York, Newcastle (Australia) and Portland. From sharing a house with four teammates while playing the Beat, Reynolds and Salem have kept finding each other over a decade in soccer, with Salem taking part in Reynolds' wedding last fall.

On this edition of Breaking Lines, we talk to the two Thorns about their time in the game, women's soccer progress over the last decade, the importance of players like them in stabilizing our domestic league, and what each friend things the world should remember about the other.

Part two of the Thorns FC coaches' round table arrives on the same day as the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. In this half of the discussion, ThornsFC.com's Richard Farley talks to Mark Parsons, Nadine Angerer, Sophie Clough and Rich Gunney about the U.S.' chances to defend their ground, who is most likely to dethrone the champs, and what to expect from Thorns FC's stars over the next month in France.

Throughout the 2019 Women's World Cup, ThornsFC.com will be bringing you a special podcast, one that hoped to keep you up-to-date on the thoughts, reactions, analysis and prediction from those in and around Portland's NWSL club. On this first edition, ThornsFC.com writer Richard Farley talked to the Thorns' coaching staff – Mark Parsons, Nadine Angerer, Sophie Clough and Rich Gunney – about the women's soccer landscape, the field of contenders, potential surprises, and, of course, the Thorns at this summer's tournament

Talk Timbers hosts Tom Kolker, Ross Smith and Richard Farley talk with Timbers defender Jorge Villafaña and video/data analyst Shannon Murray about the Providence Park re-opening and the path forward for 2019.