S1E248 - Lee Desmond Interview & The Home Opener Win!

In this episode of State of the Republic, we’re joined by Lee Desmond, captain of Sacramento Republic FC, for a wide-ranging conversation about his career, leadership, and life in Sacramento. Lee talks about how the opportunity to join Republic came about, what it’s like leading a squad with many new players this season, and how he helps teammates adapt to both the club and the city.

We also look back at the club’s memorable run to the 2022 U.S. Open Cup Final, hear Lee’s favorite moments from those matches, and get his perspective as a defender — from handling one-on-one situations to organizing one of the league’s top defensive groups. Plus, we wrap up the interview with some rapid-fire questions and a few fun topics off the pitch.

After the interview, the SOTR crew talks about Republic’s 2–0 home opener win over FC Tulsa, preview the upcoming match against Lexington SC, and make our weekly picks for Podcast Winner Dinner, the show’s Sacramento Republic prediction contest.

Intro/Outro Music: "The Descent" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Podcast Winner Dinner Music: The following music was used for this media project: Fliegen by Sascha Ende Free download: https://filmmusic.io/song/2936-fliegen License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Golazos of Gratitude Music:The following music was used for this media project:Music: Nice Light Of Happiness by MusicLFilesFree download: https://filmmusic.io/song/7421-nice-light-of-happinessLicense (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Image:Sac Republic FC

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