They make their living covering the Five Stripes, but for an hour, the local Atlanta media got to play against each other.
Under a blazing hot sun, Atlanta United hosted the 2026 annual Media Match at the team’s Children’s Hospital Training Center. The participants were…
Team Guzan (led by former Atlanta United Goalie Brad Guzan)
Elsa Barrionuvo (Le Mejor); Pablo Borges (Pp12 Sports); Juan Carlos Brando (Conexion Deportiva); Georgia Chambers (Fox 5); Andrew Clark (ISI Photos); Cody Dallas (Atlanta News First); Rafael De Los Santos (Fox 5); Justy Diaz (Univision); Ivett Gaona (La Mejor); Abe Gordon (92.9 The Game); Connor Hines (ANF); Sam Jones (Five Stripe Final); Danilo Linares (Conexion Deportivia) Alison Mastrangelo (WSB-TV) Tyler Pilgrim (Scarves and Spikes); Lee Smith (ANF); Julien Virgin (WABE)
Playing against…
Team Garza (Greg Garza, former soccer defender for Atlanta United)
Nick Alifti (Soccer Down Here); Felipe Cardenas (The Athletic); Reggie Chatman Jr. (WXIA); Chris Cole (ANF); Madison Crews (Soccer Down Here); Sofia Cupertino (Soccer Down Here); David Hickox (WSB_TV); Juan Jordan (Sports Venezuela); Chris McCulley (ANF); Joe Patrick (Five Stripe Final); Jackson Popkin (Scarves and Spikes); Victor Prieto (Fox 5); Gilberto Ramirez (Estadio Sports); Joey Rogers (ANF); Jesus Saez (Univision); Jose Silva (ATL UTD 2); Dave Williamson (Iconic Magazine); Daniel Zamarron (La Mejor); Mia Zamarron (La Mejor)
It was a wild game with a lot of goal attempts and more successful shots than many Atlanta United games so far this season. Team Guzan won 8-3 after Guzan himself scored the final goal that secured the team’s win. You can see for yourself how the game went by watching the livestream video above. It’s garnered 407 views in its first 10 hours online.
“The ATLUTD media match is always a good time; can’t say good soccer was played, but I was on the winning team!!”, wrote Mastangelo on X, her third appearance in the game.
The match, held yearly, is a special event where journalists, broadcasters and content creators who cover Atlanta United play a friendly, fun soccer match against each other. The match was streamed live as it happened, with play-by-play by 92.9 The Game commentators Mike Conti and Jason Longshore.
Image credit: Atlanta United/You Tube
