Curiosity is Key with Amanda Msimang

Matkustat turvallisi mielin tänä kesänä. Klarna Premium ja Max jäsenyden tarjoavat kattavan matkaisuajan sekä arvokkaat edut jokaiselle reissuille. Max jäsenena voit perua matkasi mistä tahansa syystä täysin kuolelta, liityny ja saat 30% alennuksen kolmeltä ensimmäiseltä kuukaudelta. Lataa klarnasovellus tai käy osoitteessa Klarna Piste-Kom. Klarna jäsenyden tarjotaan kuukausilisemaksulla edut vaihtelevat jäsenydenukan, voit peruuttaa milloin tahansa klarnasovelluksessa, veruta mistä tahansa syystä palvelun tarjoaa Klarna, eikä se ole vakutus. Vakuutus ja turva edut tarjoa X-Cover Coverage Injus Europe BV. Tarjous on voimassa vain uusille Premium ja Max käyttäjille ja vanhenee kolmas kymmenen ensimmäinen 7-12-26. Ehdo ja sovelletaan. "The Athletic FC" Hello and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Emma Payton. The World Cup Drama just keeps on coming. We've passed the 100-go mark with star players and teams taking centre stage. But just who is winning the World Cup so far? Well, here in the studio today we have the Athletics mark Critchlee and Karis Jones. How are we on this warm Monday morning? Mel warm. I'm wearing a jacket with Karis. I immediately picked up on. Critch walked in when you were mad. Yeah, why is it just the smart little chicken arms that I don't want to show off with the polish shirt? Being silly. Right, I said we've passed the 100-go mark, 121 in total so far. Another 12 on day 11. Is this tournament exceeding expectations for you so far, Critch? I think so. Although I think we've come to expect World Cup to start like this. I think it must be like four in a row now that I feel like we've had really fast starts, a lot of goals, a lot of people saying is this the best World Cup ever to begin in the tournament and sometimes it turns out that maybe not. I don't know many people have been saying that about this tournament but it does. It feels like a World Cup and I think it's been helped by the fact that A, a lot of the big stars have performed and we had that night last week with Harland and Bapay, Messi, etc. But also we've seen the Minos perform as well and like there's a lot of, you know, there's a, people will think different things about a 48-team tournament, but I think it's here to stay and I think this is a tournament we've got now and what we needed was for those teams like Cape Verdi, like Kursau, Scotland even, you know, credit to Scotland. Yeah, and the fans, that's for sure. We needed them to turn up and to make it feel like it wasn't a watered down product and it hasn't felt like that. You mentioned Cape Verdi there so after holding Spain to a goal is drawn, they're open. Well they grabbed another point with a tool draw against Uruguay yesterday. It's been, Karrit, an absolutely captivating debut campaign for them. It just feels like at the moment they're the story of the tournament. Yeah, I think what's really fun about it as well is that they've had these two draws, but they've been sort of very different performances like that first draw against Spain was so disciplined and dogged and very much sort of defensive-minded. There was that amazing statistic about them conceding one foul despite effectively defending for the entire 90 minutes, whereas the game against Uruguay, I thought was more kind of, they went for it a little bit more, because I think that was my concern with the expansion was that we would see, you know, it's fun to see the Orden Hill draw where an underdog sits back. You don't want them to do that for the whole tournament. So to see them actually kind of come out and go at it, I thought they were a bit more laks defensively. I thought the goals that they conceded weren't great and that could come back to bite them against a team that maybe punished them a little bit more, but it was nice to see kind of what they can do in attack as well, because we just didn't really see that against Spain at all. It was all about the goal. Yeah, yeah. Whereas last night, you know, when he scored the free kick for the first goal, there was a moment where the players just sort of stood still and kind of looked up at the sky and then like exploded and that was a really great moment. I really enjoyed that. Taking it back weren't they? It's a brilliant underdog story and they're clearly enjoying themselves and why wouldn't you, to be honest. Well, as mentioned, Spain were held by Cape Verd in their opener, but last night they responded in style, beating Saudi Arabia 4-0. They were 3-0 up inside 25 minutes. Before we talk about Spain, well, Paul Baus was in Atlanta for the athletic and here's what he made of it. So, Spain are finally here. The European champions showed their best version in the second game of the World Cup against Saudi Arabia, compelling win, a four-neil win and a lot of talking points to assess the first one, of course, and the biggest name of the day is surely Lamy Niamal, the teenager star whose goal, he's the first World Cup goal in his first start in the competition. Another name that needs to be mentioned here is Mikael Oyer Thalval. Mikael Oyer-Halins by Spanish media, quite funny nickname because of his goal contribution. Basically, it's been outstanding in the last 13 games for Spain. He has contributed in 21 goals with this sort of match and yet the bulls, the good vibes, the happy feelings around the Spain Cup are back. All the players, I think that there was a sense of them wanting to respond and I think that the tactical tweaks that Luis Telefonte made were really helpful as well, adding a lot of threat from white areas and basically putting peddhries as well and he's preferred B-Proposition, which is something that has helped Spain get their modes back. So, yeah, happy days are back in Spain and a huge, huge game is awaiting. In the last game of this group, a stage against Uruguay in Wada La Fana. Yeah, so just the one game left for Spain in the group, things looking a lot rosier after yesterday and critch after the likes of France, Argentina, England, all showing up in their group openers. Well, how much did yesterday seem a statement from Spain? Have they put themselves for you back in that kind of bracket of being real contenders for this tournament? I think in Spain they're saying tranquilla honbreyes, Paul Gay pre-occuparas, what were you worried about. Look, they took a lot of criticism last week. I think we we sort of criticised the performance against Cape Verdon on this show and maybe a little bit unfairly because what was it? It was like 27 shots on goal, 16 in the box and sometimes the ball just doesn't go in and that happened some days and then some days you're three no before the hydration break and that was yesterday. I think that this was the Spain that we were expecting to see and for me, I still considered them favourites for the tournament and I think they showed exactly why. The only thing is sometimes you worry about, is there a little bit too much of a focus on possession and I think we sin that. There was a stack going round after the game last week that I think they made something like 2500 passes since that last World Cup goal four years ago without scoring. But yesterday you could see the vibrancy, some of the directness that we associated with them from the year I was I think and it's that mix of styles and that blend of styles that they've got that they can adapt to certain situations which I think was the reason why I was picking them as pre-tournament favourites. Getting the win eases their path a little bit more, your malback obviously is huge and you see the difference that he makes but also some of the changes they were making with Pedri playing a little bit deeper as well. Just a much more all round performance and yet for me they're still I'm still just about having them as favourites even if you think after a brilliant start. Can I be harsh? I think that I think the tweaks that Delafone's in Made World really well particularly with Pedri with your mal coming in but I would have liked to see Spain stick the boot in a little bit more. I think that the criticism from I know it was still a heavy win but the criticism from the Cape Verk game was that they had the possession but up against the discipline defence they couldn't quite be ruthless enough. We talked about the number of shots that they had obviously we've talked about Vazenia and how great he was. I think Saudi Arabia gave them they gave up so many more kind of easy chances. We know that Spain are really technically gifted. We know that they can create really well. I don't know that you know once Saudi Arabia saw switch to like damage limitation mode to the extent that they were ever not in that. I would have liked to see Spain really test themselves and kind of go a bit further and go okay when teams are being especially kind of trying to make themselves hard to break down. How do we go at that? I think that they they showed kind of what they can do really well. It's the being ruthless and being insensitive through really difficult defenses that is the bit that could cost them. And I still agree with Critchett. They're one of the favourites for the tournament but I don't know that you know it was a great statement and a great response to that opening game but I don't know that they've necessarily like alleviated my concerns about them I guess. Not completely completely. Yeah. They're still one of my favourites to watch out the tournament and some of the stuff that they do in possession is great but I would have liked them. It feels like very harsh to say this after a four-knit win but I would have liked to see them beat a little bit more ruthless. And obviously we've touched on the fact that Liminja Master started and scored and they to be fair just seemed like a different prospect with him in the side. How much does their hopes this tournament really rely on him just how crucial is he to them potentially going all the way? I think massively because how many other 18 year olds have a conversation to be the best player in the world it's crazy. First World Cup start, first World Cup goal, first start since picking up his hamstring injury in April and I do think on KS point I think that has to be a factor in it as well you see him come off at half time the game is worn. I understand that you sometimes want to put your former throat in teams but Spain didn't need to do that yesterday and when you've got such your concern about your star player and his fitness and if this is him at 50-60% and that needs to be managed then I think it makes sense to just maybe just take the foot off a little bit. He just lifts everything though like him coming on against Cape Verd the reaction within the stadium and how suddenly there's a lot more just electricity in Spain's play while he's on the pitch. Exactly and then you see that right from the start yesterday where he's putting crosses in he's taking shots some from four minutes and then he's scoring in the tenth. He is just a fennel, he's just incredible. And I think you want to see him play 90 minutes and until he does that, we won't be absolutely certain about just what level he's at. But Spain didn't really need him yesterday largely because of the platform that he'd given them the difference that he makes. Yeah. Yermal, their star player, one of Spain's more underrated players maybe is Oyathabal who pole mentioned Oyathabal Holland sounds a bit clunky but I'm not sure if it's going to catch on. Of course we know all about him, you know, breaking our hearts in the Euro 2024 final but 15 goals in 15 appearances now for his country. Yeah, it's quite incredible. Like we talk about how good Spain are in possession, how good that midfield is but you need a focal point. Like that's what we see with so many kind of possession based teams and he can really be that, you know, not all of the goals are a gorgeous, some of them are very scrappy sort of very much, punches goals, but that's exactly what you need. And he's definitely put himself right in the mix for that gold boot race which looks like it's going to be my pick for the tournament. Yeah. Saying that now, not after he didn't have a caution for his staff around the first game, but I'm saying that now he was before the tournament. We've got it on the record. We haven't seen that in a fact. Okay, elsewhere on day 11, Mo Salah scored as Egypt got their first ever a World Cup win beating New Zealand 3-1 had to come from behind to do that and Belgium and Iran played out just the third goal of straw in the 40 games that we've seen so far. Before we move on, do you want to touch on Mo Salah because of course his club future is uncertain feels like this is almost a perfect shot window for him if people weren't already aware of what Mo Salah can do. Yeah, exactly. I think we've seen from kind of how his final season at Liverpool went that and sort of how vocal he was about how he felt things were going for the team that he is very much not kind of winding down or he doesn't see himself as winding down. He still sees himself as this main man in a side and this difference maker and someone who wants to be at the heart of things. So this is a really important opportunity for him to show that he can still do that on a big stage. I don't think I can necessarily see him going to another Premier League club but you know he'll be wanting to put himself in the mind of kind of recruiters in like the rest of the Big Five European leagues potentially. So it's a really important kind of opportunity for him. It feels funny talking about a player of his quality needing to like put himself in the shot window but I think he does a little bit and the World Cup is a great opportunity for him to do that. I'm Paul Tnoreo, I cover soccer for the athletic. Whatever you call it the biggest competition in the sport is happening right now and the athletics World Cup coverage has everything you need to follow the tournament. This 48 country staking part from the tiny island of Kuros out to the five time champions Brazil. Even if you don't know your offside from your onside if you're eager to know more about the teams the matches all the stories on and off the pitch we've got you sorted. Maybe you're the kind of person who's already up early every weekend waking the neighbors when your favorite club scores will make sure you get equipped with more information more insight than anyone you know. We've got more than 70 obsessive reporters on the ground covering the ins and outs from every game. I almost forgot to mention the best part Amy free access to the athletics World Cup coverage in our app. Download the athletic app and see that. So what a weekend it has been with goals flying in big wins for Spain, Japan and the Netherlands Germany with a lake comeback win over the Ivory Coast as well can kind of be hard to keep a track of it or kind of guys the athletic are ranking every side after each match day which you can of course read for free over on the app. This is constantly changing based on results based on performances so at the moment France and Argentina sit first and second respectively that is despite of course playing just just the one game so far so Critch let's start with France three one win over Senegal where they're well the second half performance wasn't it really kind of cemented their credentials as one of the big favorites are they where they deserve to be at the top of the rankings the live rankings no not in my opinion well this one asking you to help people you wrote it I think it was Tim Spears and I'm on here with him tomorrow so I'm going to try and be honest all right we'll come back to this time I think you can make an argument for France as being number one I can see it I think you can also make an argument against you know on the basis of three one win over Senegal very decent opponent by I saw a came away from that game a little bit unconvinced and underwhelmed as much as they turned it on in the second half as brilliant as in Bapay was as brilliant as Alisa was I think that first half and particularly the midfield would rabbi on to your mainy they look so overwhelmed in there and I think when you know that that's the midfield that played through most of the last World Cup got to the final obviously but I think that if you compare that to all the midfields been under tournament that we've seen whether that's Spain whether that's England whether that's even Portugal I just I think it's an area of weakness for them and I think it's something that is going to be really interesting to watch going forward and just whether they get exposed as much as they did during that first half I think Jay Shamps fixed it you know didn't have the front players pressing as much and a little bit more protection but it is a balance that he needs to strike within that team and I think they looked a little bit vulnerable in there so yeah look at you still got taken like I said the the quality of the opposition they face in that first game in Senegal very good side tougher than you know a lot of teams that others were the face a lot of the other favorites but yeah I don't think they entirely convinced me. Kerris Argentina second of course it was the messy show against Algeria does second sound about right for Argentina from what you've seen so far? Yeah I think it's hard having France and Argentina top on the grounds that they're two of the teams that have only played once so far I think Argentina obviously I would argue in Algeria they face kind of a weaker opponent than France did in Senegal but they were really impressive messy obviously it's really hard to talk about the game in the context of anything other than him kind of being the star of it and I think in some senses that can feel dangerous when we talk about teams kind of relying on like a superstar like that but also he keeps consistently delivering right it becomes a problem if he doesn't but he's not showing much sign that he won't so in that case it feels it feels fair to have Argentina up there as holders if by the end of the group stage they continue to match that performance level then they'll they'll go up in my estimation a little bit but I need to see a little bit more from them before kind of like nailing my colors to that mass. Let's talk about a couple of teams then that we have seen twice I wonder if either the Netherlands or Japan's performances over the weekend change your expectations of either nation the Netherlands I think on our rankings piece moved up from April to 5th Japan I mean hugely impressive yeah massively I think Netherlands first I think so you asked me for a big nation to go out the groups on one of the episodes before the tour I wasn't going to mention this but say Guns in my head I'm probably going to say I did say no none of them I did say none of them but Guns in my head Netherlands it's obviously not going to happen now I think there was a big doubt about center forward for them and then Brian Robbie comes in so powerful brilliant with his back to go I don't know if it's going to work against every opponent and so maybe there's a little bit of a question mark still over who comes in against certain teams certain types of challenges but I also think that you know how good a sweet them that's one thing that we really don't know because they had such an awful qualifying campaign and only really getting through for the nation's league performance they beat Tunisia but how good a Tunisia they might be the worst team in the whole tournament so I do think that there's a little bit still to prove with the Dutch I'm not totally there on them and again like this is a group where you don't have the benefit I think if you win it you play a runner up rather than a third place team so I think they're currently slight to become against Morocco that's tough that that'll be a very difficult game Morocco I've really quite impressed so far I think so I'm not too sure about how far the Netherlands still go though you know they couldn't have done much more on a Saturday and I liked Japan a lot they've got such strength in depth you know and I I see you either the top scoring the air to visit this season he was brilliantly the night I thought they missed my tome and it doesn't seem like they happen so much so really impressive side I just wonder for both these teams how far they're actually going to progress just because the draw is back tough for them yeah I think it's fascinating the fact that you mentioned there's no Karamitoma no or taroendo either it was like they weren't sort of missing some of their superstars but no problem so far I've really enjoyed you aides so far in the game the other night I thought it was excellent again Tunisia you know we can talk about they were obviously weak didn't pose much of a test defensively but I really enjoyed like the fizz on some of Japan's passes they're sort of long range goal I've found them really an entertaining team to watch I think especially my concern to them is perhaps a little bit defensively but kind of creatively and in attack I'm really enjoying them so far probably more than I thought yeah what about Germany then who are already through to the knockouts are you more or less convinced of them after they fought back against Ivory Coast I think more I think the difficulty is that it was that sort of like late suck a punch that's what you need in a tournament sometimes and it's good to have that impact available off the bench. It's interesting because you know I think after their first game against Kurosawa we were all sort of you know how much can you really take from that and then we saw Kurosawa against Ecuador right who really haven't lived up to their billing but it was still a strong performance from from those kind of underdogs the debutants but I think Germany they are one of the most complete teams at this tournament and most of the teams that we've spoken about most of the big names we are talking about the balance between defense and attack and sort of how do they control the midfield you look at the quality they have all over the pitch they have to be the favorites or up there with the favorites which is why it's so concerning to see the need like a late brace off the bench to get past our recourse you played really well but there's lessons that they need to take from that one for sure. I mean you fell at the group stage the last couple of World Cup so progress. Yeah just getting out of the group I can't be saying about Germany and it's funny isn't it because like they I suppose they obviously won it in 2014 but they have underwhelmed in those two since it's something that we sort of associate with Brazil you know this this iconic World Cup nation but aren't quite delivering in how the the way that they used to be. It's getting the quality on paper to match up with what actually plays out is what we're seeing with with a number of teams isn't it? Yeah and I don't know I didn't again I didn't really I think what they third place still a little too high for me to be honest I think like they didn't didn't totally convince me either I think Nico Schlott of Beck getting injured is going to be big for them we'll see how how serious that is I just thought I recall particularly for the first hour of the better side and again had them largely where they wanted them and then a dinghy with that chance towards the end before and after scores the winner like you have to put that away and if he does in that situation it's a very different narrative that we're talking about with Germany. Moving on from Germany then both France and Argentina in action on Monday evening did he a day shop side facing a rock so we can see France can pick up where they left off in that second half against Senegal ahead of that game it they chance has added to the criticism of the pitch at the MetLife Stadium which will of course host the World Cup final Matt Slater has written about that if you want to check that out over on the athletic away from France I mean Linaw Messi could become the outright World Cup Topgo Skora against Austria tonight up with everything we've seen it's funny isn't it because we're talking about you know the magic of Luminium R yesterday brilliance from killing in Bappé Harry Kane delivering Harland as well but is Messi still just the star of this tournament. Must the thing he seems inevitable doesn't he when we talk about you know looking at past World Cup and the amount of times that has been raised the question of are this is his last dance and then he just pops up again four years later and kind of picks up where he left off it's such a treat to have a player like that and I do think you know to make the sort of inevitable comparison to what we've seen from Cristiano Ronaldo so far I think it's really easy to underestimate how difficult it is for Messi to do that you know his advancing age and and everything it's a real treat to watch what I struggle with sometimes is when massive names end up a sort of the star of the tournament it doesn't feel very organic it feels as though it's sort of put upon for commercial reasons or whatever or just because they are the biggest name even if they're not necessarily one of the standout players whereas I think Messi is living up to that building doesn't it always is he gonna break closest record tonight is a feeling that he will at some point he's got time he's got time you know he's going to have at least three more games I reckon so there's an opportunity there look maybe it's tonight maybe it's not it would be some moment when he does I think the hat trick is probably the moment of the tournament so far outside of the Cape Verde heretics that we've seen as well I was in Moscow in 2018 watching him against Iceland it was the Argentina's first game and he missed the penalty and then they struggled to get out the group and went out in the round of 16 and then Bappé was against France and then Bappé was like he's arrived and it felt like you know has has the torch been passed everyone asking these questions I think at that point Messi had six goals in World Cup after four World Cup but what we've seen since you know at Qatar and now at this tournament after just one game is him earning his rightful place at the top of the pantheon in terms of that legacy and so if he if he does overtake closer and get that then that's that's testament to just how much of a quality player he is okay we've got some quick fire questions for you now of course get involved if you're watching or listening as well so first of all Karris team of the tournament so far also France England England England okay we'll come back to that break out star Karris so Barry Boudi I said it before the tournament so yeah I can't find stick with him biggest disappointment Portugal be also yeah finally who or what is winning the World Cup goalkeepers that you have never heard of before we will come back to that the referee sent off almeram my favorite moment of the tournament by far the aggression incredible it was like it reminded me of like you remember when you had like a substitute teacher in school and you maybe be acting up in the class and then they'd absolutely flip out and it goes one or two ways it's either insanely funny or extremely intimidating and I watch that I still don't know if I find it funny or intimidating it makes you like the both did he somehow hear what he said behind his hand it was like a personal comment about him I said we'll come back to some so team in the Tournament England I really like this okay yeah better than France you heard it here yeah look I think what other team played a semi-finalist the last World Cup finalist the World Cup before that and dominated them for periods within the game but I'm not saying it's a perfect performance I don't think there's any one team at this tournament that has absolutely entirely convinced just yet and I'm not saying England did but I think outside of you can see the in a couple of sloppy goals I think there was periods where they blew Croatia away and real intensity and not in a way that was individual moments but sustained pressure attacks and it was the physicality the aggression the clear sort of important of a real Premier League club style onto an international stage I'm not I'm probably not getting carried away I'm really trying not to get carried away but I did think that that is right up there with the performances that we saw in the first round of games against an opponent that do we know how good Croatia are still maybe not but they've certainly got that pedigree and they show moments themselves but I thought defensively some some lapses some some pressure marks but overall especially second half and especially the first 15 minutes of that second half probably the most impressed by any single team that I've been during the tournament so far. Okay, love it. Carey's you mentioned goalkeepers we've had some unlikely heroes, haven't we? Yeah which is just there's what the World Cup's all about and I think it's also really fun that some of these goalkeepers you know usually when someone has kind of like a break out performance the talk very quickly turns into the transfer market and you know we're going to see someone going for them I don't think we're going to see Premier League sides entering the the market for Vizinho or for Elor Room or anyone like that which is in a way what makes it so fun that this is just kind of a moment for them to to shine and to be like a sort of backbone for their teams a lot of their performances have been you know like flawed I think Vizinho last night for Cape Verde perhaps didn't live up to his first game although to be fair it would have been very hard for him to do so I'll throw Baron Van for Iran in there as well to be fair who plays for I think Tractor FC is the genuinely the name of the club that he plays for and I thought he you know kept Iran in the game there are a few times when you know it wasn't all clean and it wasn't all perfect there were a few really dangerous kind of parries and failing to hold the ball that made you but that in a way kind of when you add it all to the highlights real at the end just adds to the sense of like heroism and the showmanship of it which has just been kind of one of the really fun subplots to watch. Yeah. [Music] Time now for our do you know daily trivia on day 12 now Chris you said you've been doing your homework ahead of this so Ron can homework. So today's question do you know which two nations played out the game which produced the most goals which is 12 because we're on day 12 in a single World Cup game. Netherlands. No Spain in that nope Brazil. No. Argentina. No Germany Portugal. No. Both no England wouldn't have been involved. USSR. No. Yugoslavia. No. There's the country exists. Yes. Both that are good. Both that. Yes. Both that. Yes. Well that now is it down. - It's only 48 teams. - Which World Cup was it? Can we go ahead and? - 1954. - Right, okay. (laughing) - Oh, Swedish. - So just the 50 years before I was born. - Can we get a continent? - Europe. - Both in Europe. - Yep. - And the both at this World Cup. Scotland. (laughing) - No. Belgium. - No. - I'm enjoying this, right? - Let's keep it going, okay, talk. - Tch, tch, right. - A seven five win. - Seven five. Austria. - Well done. - Oh. - That makes sense. - They were the winners, so who did they beat? - Seven five. - Versus. Switzerland. - Well done. (laughing) - The sweat. - The sweat was really cool. - That was, I'll be honest with you, that was a tough one. But well done. - Well, I think we got there in the end. - I think we demonstrated with the tough one. (laughing) - Right, now England take on Ghana on Tuesday. As Thomas Tuchel side, we'll look to build on their impressive win over Croatia. Let's hear from the athletics Jack Pitbrook on the mood in the England camp. - The big news really from the England camp from the last few days is that Dan Burton and Harry Kane went to go and see Countrystar Ella Langley on Friday evening. Obviously, tension now turns to England's second match against Ghana. The big questions that most fans will have will first to be about selection. Will Thomas Tuchel stick with the same team that beat Croatia for to in Dallas last week? My feeling on this is that he probably will and should stick with the same team. I'm not sure that Bacchia Sacka, who missed training yesterday, will be ready to start against Ghana. And so unless he's got any specific injury concerns about other players, I would imagine he'd go all out for the Ghana game. And then if anything they managed to get through that and they could well win the group on Tuesday, maybe it would then come to make some changes for the Panama game in New Jersey, which is England's third match, just to keep players as fresh as possible going into the knockout rounds. The other question going into the Ghana game is the weather. Obviously, there's been so much talk in the last few weeks about the heat here, whether it'll be too hot for England to play their Premier League style. And then in England's last game against Croatia in Dallas in an air-condition stadium, England were able to play it full intensity. But the weather forecast for Boston the next few days is rain, so I just wonder whether that familiar climactic conditions could allow England to play their natural Premier League style against Ghana. Yeah, well, England will absolutely be used to the rain, won't they? But the big news, it sounds like, from Jack, is that Harry Kane and Dan Burn went to see Ella Langley. Oh, we, um, we've been country fans who are both looking like, who is that? I saw Shenai Twain on Saturday night, which was probably the Shenai Twain. The Shenai Twain, which was exceptional. I can't say I'm as familiar with that. I can't believe it. I never heard Ella Langley until this. I don't, Glen Campbell, which is our line man, that is on the list of karaoke songs that I keep on the note, except on my phone, just, you know, when I'm in the Booth, I'm like, okay, what can I do? So, right, okay, that's your go-to. Glen Campbell, yeah. Yeah. Okay. And more of a Zach Bryan girl myself, you know. Just, meaning to me. I did actually listen to Ella Langley on my training, though. So, I can see the appeal to get listening to that. Okay. When you're heading back up time, I might. Is Ella Langley now going to be the backing of the montage, when England left the world? Possibly. Yeah, possibly. Jack talking there, saying that he would like to see Thomas Tuchel stick with the same 11. What are your thoughts on that? 'Cause like you said, obviously an opportunity to marry to top the group with Panamada the remaining group game. Yeah, there's an element of, if it's not broke, don't fix it. You know, we saw how well the England team worked against Croatia in parts. Obviously, that was the period in the first half where they lost control of that a little bit. And that's where I think the question comes in over the defense, over the centre back combination, particularly whether Mark A. He comes in potentially for John Stones, or I think, showed his lack of recent minutes a little bit. But I can't really see too cool changing that. I think he's not someone who is necessarily afraid to make big calls. And if he felt that Stones wasn't justifying his selection, I think he might have put Gain earlier than he did against Croatia. So I'm not necessarily expecting that to change. I think the rest of the team, with the kind of fitness concerns for Bacayo Sakka, the rest of the team probably picks itself. And we saw how well it functioned. I would like to see a bit more of Morgan Rogers, but I think Jude Bellingham did enough to justify his starting place. Yeah. There's a really interesting piece by Jack over on the athletic, where he's been writing about this idea of Finishes, which was something that was brought in by Eddie Jones when he coached the England rugby team. But the idea that substitutes are introduced with specific roles to win the game in the second half. Marcus Rashford obviously came on score to goal against Croatia. Does he start for you? Is he deserving of a start? Who are you standing? I think he's deserving of a start, whether he actually starts, I think is a separate question. And I always think that Finishes thing, it's just putting an arm around these substance shoulders, isn't it, and saying a lot? No, you're a Finisher man. You're playing a big role here. You've got a job to do. But I think players, certain squads, they do buy into that. And they will buy into it more if you are bringing them on. And I thought what was a game one thing that really impressed me about England the other night was that how bold and proactive that triple substitution was, where you're bringing on Rashford Rodgers, and it was Saka, and I imagine later on, it'll be Maddoecke or Ezier, someone like that. But if you can do that in games, particularly when you're ahead. It's something that we wouldn't be used to, necessarily on the Southgate, where still does that proactive attitude. And it's a real strength in England's favour, I think. And so I would still keep Rashford in reserve for now and see if he comes on later to affect the game. I like Anthony Gordon. I know he got a bit of a stick for the performance and given that Rashford came on and scored and what impacted. He has what I think, what he guarantees, he was a lot of work off the ball in terms of his pressing. I think he's built a real relationship with Kane, actually in a real understanding there. And there was a couple of times, you want to see it more often. There's a couple of times where Kane was looking, when he's come deep and he's looking for balls in behind, and he's finding Gordon. I would want to keep that relationship there for now. So to summarize, keeping Rashford as a Finisher. He's a Finisher. He's a Finisher, isn't he? Plenty more builds up to England tomorrow, of course, but time now to look ahead and focus on today's start of soccer. And we are talking today about Norway's Yens Petter, Hauge, who plays for Bodo Glim. Didn't feature for Norway in their opener, of course, could feature this evening against Senegal. Karrist has only got 15 caps. And that is since being handed his debut back in October 2020. A crucial part of Bodo Glim's story, anyone that watched the Champions League last season will know all about him. But he's got a fascinating story so far, isn't he? Yeah, sort of coming up through Bodo Glim, but then departing and then going to Milan, you know, that theoretically or not theoretically, a bigger club, but to then get his main kind of recognition and fame through what he has done since coming back to Bodo Glim. What they were able to do in the Champions League last season was superb, you know, that some of the results they picked up against teams like Manchester City. And I think he was really key to that. He's quite an unusual winger as well, I think in terms of his build, he's pretty tall, but he's pretty kind of nimble as well. He's quite unique and not unique, but he's unusual in that sense. He's not your kind of typical low center of gravity, tricky winger, but he's not like a low ping striker either. So I find him like an intriguing mix of attributes to watch, but obviously like you say his role for Norway has been much smaller than what it's been at club level. And he's obviously not the attacker who eyes are on when his country is playing that Serling Holland. So it will be really interesting to see if he can kind of use this tournament to stamp his mark on Norway's side as well. Yeah, interesting to see whether he features this evening. How much are you looking forward to Norway's Senegal? Because this could be the game of the day. I think it could be shot for game of the tournament. That's how far I'm going on. I'm really, I'm really excited. There's what is it? There's like one I am back into my round. There's some bold shoutouts in this forecast today. That's what it's for. Look, yeah, I just like the fact that both of them play very fast and direct, you know, maybe they're sitting a little bit Senegal, particularly in this. But I like how excited they are when they're going forwards. And I think both teams will look to take that approach. Yeah, again, last week, Senegal against France, just how often they got on the counterattack and the amount of damage that they could do. If Nico Jackson could just stay on side, they'd be almost, but they'd have one foot in the next round already. And then the summit about Harland in New York as well that I'm just looking forward to, you know, it could be a really good watch. It's fine. I think that's a really good watch. that now in the last World Cup. He was quite phenomenal, you know, because of his class and his talent, you know, he was beautiful to watch. Yeah, going back to the day is millions of plays you've been saying, it's spodied, but I have to say, Jeff, first, you know, as we're on from. Yeah. And if anyone is spised, they've got to come from where you're from because they're the people to say you've got a chance in life. Yeah. I like that, you know. Yeah. Big England fan, big West Ham fan as well. He is a character, isn't he? That of course, just a sniff it. You can check out the full interview over on the Athletic. Well, both thanks for your company today. You're going to be up all night then, watching every single game by the sounds of it. See you bright and early. We love. Yeah. Thanks to both of you. Thanks to Jack and to Paul as well. A reminder for you that the Athletic's coverage throughout the World Cup is completely free over on our app. So don't miss out. You can watch what you'll listen to us wherever you get your podcast and do subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you haven't already, I know I keep saying it, but we are closing in on 300,000. I'll be back with you tomorrow. We'll catch you then. Matt Kustot Turvallis Mielin Tänäkesänä. 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