What Went Wrong | The Beautiful Pod

Welcome to the beautiful Poddets Adam Friedland. At the top of the show I'm joined by Nick Wright of Fox Sports to do a post-mortem on the 4-1 loss United States against Belgium in the round of 16 the catastrophe of Seattle they're calling it and then after that I go back in time to yesterday where I talked to CR about the Azteca and of course about the the messy demolition even be messy it should be Cape Verde the Cape Verde it was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen it makes me want to cry do you remember when the tournament was beautiful it was anyway enjoy the show the beautiful pod is brought to you by Fandall this summer America's number one sportsbook is making it easier than ever to get in on the action across all your favorite sports think you've got today's home run hitter picked check out fandall's HR props including mood shots and lasers for a chase at even bigger payouts late to start fandall has you covered with all the live betting options all game long download the fandall sportsbook app today and play your game disclaimer 21 plus select states 18 plus DC Kentucky or Wyoming gambling problem called 1-800 gambler call 1-888-789-777-77 or visit ccpg.org slash chat in Connecticut imagine setting your makeup then forgetting it's even theirs meet new grippy setting mist from mavely new york gel to mist technology locks in your look for up to 24 hours with flexible all day comfy grip no tightness no stickiness no residue just clump dewey hydrated skin that still feels like your skin try new grippy setting mist from mavely new york maybe it's maplain nick right i talked to you you're in your bad shape last night is my we're we're good friends all dear friends dear friends last night we watched a noble four one defeat oh he didn't there was nothing noble as there was nothing noble about it by question of frequency how does this affect lebron's legacy okay 30 seconds well i mean i do think christiana run all those performance you know as enhanced lebron's legacy i heard on the broadcast yesterday that he you know i think landin said he's in the best shape of any 41 year old and i was like uh no he's not the so in that regard like can you still be performing at the highest level at 41 you know what i mean i just just for for for the record so it wasn't so much the usman's national team that made me think about lebron but it was christiana run all the limping around out there um but that was a catastrophe and i respect you yeah well you started there so i figured i'd go there that was a catastrophe for us bro yeah and only this was the only thing that mattered was can we break the hard ceiling of the round of 16 and the answer was resoundingly no yeah i they're not very good i mean we lost the turkey we're dog shit i mean yeah but that one i didn't agree that that was our b team that was our backups i they were very good i mean they weren't they were very good in that game and listen if we're going here's the way i think sometimes we patronize like the the sports that american media kind of parachutes into then don't give it the full respect of the full american media take storm so can we please give the usman's national team the respect to have the discussion we would have if this were one of our major american domestic sports which is christian ballistic cp did was a total no show the entire tournament you have to feel for him though right why okay you put on the hat the red hat right and then he goes he goes ahead and changes the rules an unprecedented way Donald Trump goes ahead and for a british guy and you're like i've been wearing the red hat the whole time see but he this why are you trying to save a british guy an unprecedented move in world cup history so i listen damn red hat i don't the i disagree when people say i don't want to show himself i disagree when people say how impressed and it is people are like in all of world cup history the vast majority of world cup history didn't have any red cards given out due to v a r there's literally that history out yeah well you know what i mean like it previously in order to get a straight red you had to do something so egregious that in real time on the field the referee was like holy shit what happened and he gave the red so i don't really care about that piece of it and i don't buy the idea that the that Trump stepping in it was bad jim jim jim for the red cars suspension well except for the suspension they never done it except they literally did it right before the tournament for renolda for they literally did it for they they he he got he got a red guard got a three game band and then they were like you know what we're going to suspend two of the suspension game so that's what i don't care about with your work in he went to the white house he put on a black tie is that there with mojama ben salman okay he showed a little bit of respect he returned back to our country after a decade being gone i don't know where why but uh but yeah this guy this english guy who lived here for a month Donald Trump's gonna turn around and and no i'm kidding but listen he's not r9 like we did it for a kind of like a pedestrian mediocre did not media he could bring it in the back of the net but he was an as in he was but the here's the here's the to me people are missing people are missing the the force for the trees here the reason balligan was so important and the reason we thought him being suspended was catastrophic was because the guy who was is doing a whole ad campaign about changing what american soccer is awful the whole tournament he got kicked in the calf yes he got to keep it nice during the group stages no he was not he didn't play bro you look like the name or yes first half of the first game he was good yeah and then he got kicked in the calf came out missed the second game the third he's the third game could only play part time and in a game we lost in our first knockout round game we're down a man he can't go the full 90 yeah and then yesterday he kicks a guy and then there's like i can't play especially because he's a crow at and he's playing against Bosnia that should have fired him up dude he didn't even think about that genuinely speaking it's kind of like it's a we're like hyping him up a little bit too much like he and and what i will say to defend who listens he has never really bailed on the United States he's always put it in the shift for the States i i have to say that are you being sarcastic it's just not true yesterday he was abject right but like beyond that like he skipped the gold cup because he was so tired baby it made us look baby and like teachers pets for the president to go like please can we have full that i don't listen a journey man from a farmer's league bro that is not the story as you hold a child's vape why did you get away from a junior high school what do you do team who didn't even want to be there who's like telling like a doku he couldn't like go see his kid being born the golden sex with the their talismanic midfielders like girl like they're a disaster their golden generation has been a disaster they're like a not being taken seriously going into this match i know got gassed they got they got to their they thought they were going to walk it but that's so that's why this is so disappointing bro because i understand Belgium's the number 19 in the world they haven't looked like that for a moment in this tournament they're disappointment a massive appointment right they drew against Egypt they drew against Iran they needed an absolute miracle to be segal they have looked awesome in two matches this tournament New Zealand and us the fact that they did to us what they did to New Zealand is criminal like that and did you big rum big rum is the only one that i will vouch for i would dot he's he's one of my favorites not the briner worry uh no i mean he didn't play yesterday one yesterday it was because de broida they they literally they gave him the in place no lukaku's an all-time great big ron especially when he's fat when he's fat he bangs it in the back of the net but yeah it's not as good kill say lukaku six back lukaku kind of kind of a disappointment when he has a little belly then that's really what you're in trouble he's kind of mariano he's kind of enter sandman style right now they bring him in they bring him in he's the closer uh no genuinely we were playing it it was a it was a good draw for us and that's the thing yeah we had we had a perfect draw we got super you know fortunate of the 32 teams to make the knock out real boss near yeah bossy is like 29th we're at home and the and to have that performance can i ask you this yeah yeah for the 45 seconds after the tillman free kick did you think We were going to win because I I thought the the world cup. Yes. I thought they were No, not the world cup. Just that game. Yeah. No. I you know what it is. Truly, the country is so like effed up outside of sports. Sports is being great. It's sports summer, right? We've got games every day. How dope is that? And we got this. It's been come on. Nick, we've had the best summer ever. Okay. Yes. We have to do it because of our jobs because we're serious sports pundits. And there's nothing they can say to stop us. No, but in reality, like, like, look at like the US and men's national team, like, genuinely, I played a real system. And that was the novel thing. The first half of the first game I thought was it looked like this is a sea change. This is miles better than we've ever seen before. But they get just like the personalities, like Trump making that move. I think alienated half of the stadium. I mean, you're speaking like we thrived. And I'm not saying we won chips, right? We thrived when we had Deb C and Donovan. We had like a little bit of a scrappy edge to us. Deb C was crib walking on the fucking pitch. He was saying, you don't know where I'm from, homie. Like he was a Texas guy. One of those guys that said patna, you know those guys? Like a UK. It was cool that we had that on our team. These guys are just like, there's nothing like that grabs me or grips me about the personalities on the team. It is a just fool's errand to believe that tactical football is a can apply to a knockout to knockout game state. We've seen it over and over again. Pep Guardiola trying to over manage over and over again. Every time he could go up against Carla Esalotti. And he'd be like, I'm going to play Kyle Walker at nine. And I'm going to have my goal is a midfielder and he'd overthink it. And yeah, this is something that is suited to a league campaign. It's not suited to knockout football. Knockout football is bloody and brutal and unfair. And it just wall-sing in there and being like, we're playing a terrible team that doesn't want to be there. But literally they have not looked like they wanted to be at the World Cup the entire time. They're like, you got shirts and the country says we have to have a soccer team. And just genuinely and then we're like, Oh, yeah, we're amazing now. No, have some fucking humility. We're America. They beat us before in the knockouts. Just have a little bit of fucking revenge on your mind. Don't don't have the president being a suck up to the fucking head of feet. So you aren't. Listen. The necked like a like at being an autocrat, he's being a napped at it. Like what they used to do is just say, I'm going to kill your family unless you throw this match. And that's how Peru loses six nil. You don't brag about being like, Hey, I talked to the teacher and the teacher says that we can, that flow can come back. No, we look like nerds. But that has, that had nothing to do with how we played yesterday. It alienated. I didn't. There was a spirit around. What alienated the stadium was that that Belgium scored immediately. Oh, Pulisit. He was stormed the capital and Trump didn't even care. He was there with a. No, I mean, the truth is this they were, they got to impress with themselves and they literally waltz in and they looked at like Belgium's recent form. They're like, Oh, they couldn't score against Iran. But that's why. So that's why I'm saying that Tillman goal should have been a hard reset. It's like, Oh, shit, we're very lucky. We're not down. There's a spirit. There was a soul there. Those teams were not good, bro. You are romanticizing those teams because of your age. You're 38 years old, right? We didn't even know the first match where we cracked four. We saw it going back the other way. And we're like, Oh, it's going to be a disaster if anyone tries to attack us. Are the thing we used to do well is create keepers. That was the one thing we did. Well, we had 10 hours in the prep three. We had goons on. Friedle and Howard and Howard was like, like, that is the one thing America did when we were crap at ball, right? And now we have this guy from Harvard. It's one of the most embarrassed. It's hilarious. I mean, that howler at the back, you don't see like it's it's it's. So let me ask you this question. Let me ask you a serious sucker question. Yeah. I read just some random tweet this morning. And I, are you sure you know what? Okay. Yeah. I was like, you know, it's one of the most well researched periods in history. I just just do an estimate. Okay. Stop. We'll cut. We'll cut. You don't have to cut anything. I'm not responsible for what you say. And the take of it here was the gist of the tweet. Let's hear it. That guy's three through 11. Yeah. Norway versus the United States are not that different. But Norway's Norway's best guy is a demigod. And Norway's second best guy Oda Gard would be the best player in American soccer history by a mile. Okay. But still would be the best player in our history by a mile. Like is is really what our ceiling is is not about the overall development of 30 guys. But the fact that every team that's going to make the final eight has one of these, you know, a guy who might one day or already has been a finalist for the ball and door. And we'll never, we've never had anyone. Yeah. You know, even being able to buy a ticket to the event. Ronaldo messy. No, I know what to say. Yeah. I mean, that's why I said a finalist. We don't have any like top 10 talent in the in the States. The problem is you don't have a top 50 player in the world. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. We the problem is that the in in Europe like sports is free. People go to academies young and like the whole thing about like if LeBron played soccer is like it kind of ignores like the way that they're trained like Spain, for instance. Like LaMacia, like Barcelona's Academy. It's like we will never have a physical advantages over other national sides. We are going to be the smartest at at sports. We're going to like we're going to out tactic and out maneuver and out chess every other team. And we're going to have a six like Busquets or like Bartiola used to be like, you know, the deep blind playmaking midfield. And we he's going to make a turn against you every single time and you're going to know the move is coming and you're not going to be able to stop it. And he's going to see every pocket of space around him. Right? Like there is more to just raw athleticism. I mean, like people have mentioned I mean, the best soccer player of all time is five six. You know, there's something about it. There's an education aspect to it. And the problem is there's no, but there, but so this is this is why I brought up. Norway and Holland degree there. Yeah. The reason I brought Norway and Holland is is because I understand what you're saying that there are ways to do it without great athletes. But there also is a way to do it with just one great athlete. Like Holland, Holland is the reason maybe. Yeah. I mean, I'm talking maybe not and you would get them to a final, but like use with truck drivers and you can never like drag it across. But I'm not I'm not talking about the U.S. winning the tournament. I'm saying, can we just at turn our hard ceiling? He just made soccer look wack yesterday. And it's the real beautiful. I mean, like the two games we saw this weekend, we're like the most beautiful games I've ever seen in any sport. I mean, like, and okay, are you talking about Argentina, Cape Verde and Mexico, and you can't say chase down block. Okay. What game is better than then that the Azteca, which was the most frenetic insane like like white knuckle, like I feel like I'm still like real like calming down after it was two days ago. And then Cape Verde, like the equalizer next your time, like the guy trying to find his girlfriend, like soccer looked so cool. It was so great. And you said what Momo was better? You said I can't say the chase down block. What other game? I can't I'm just about. So game 6, 2012 against Boston 45, 15 or five for the round legacy game. But emotion. No, it was like just Cape Verde is like, we didn't know one of these guys names. And they're playing against God. They're playing against Messi. They're going to tell they were waiting outside the bus afterwards. They can get a picture with Messi. So this is this shouldn't be lost in the US's catastrophic performance yesterday. Yeah. I'm not just saying this because it's on my network. Yeah. This has been one of the greatest months of sport I've ever seen in my life. I'm a singer. Maybe Ronaldo literally may have played his last game yesterday. And that's how bad Tim Reem. Tim Reem ruined Ronaldo's day. It really just it was so beautiful. And like there was a, I saw a friend of mine asking what team he should follow and declaring Arsenal. And then less than 24 hours later. It's don't be afraid to name drop, bro. Man like declared Arsenal, which I'm like, I would never wish upon my greatest enemy. It's like someone saying they're converting to Judaism. I'm like, you don't want no part of your team. They just won the Premier League for a horrible life. It's been there. It was a, it was a, it was a, it was a, they went to penalties against PSG to get the double. How can you say that's no bad down? We shut their asses down. No, he should. Van should root for Man City just because Highland so fun. No, it's plastic. Come on. It's not a real team. There's no history. What are you going to root for like, You are told not to do it first, so who are you going to be? The hope that kills you. It's like I'm gonna be a bills fan or something. I was like, well, you know who my team is right what you know My team is right you're awesome Well, no, I mean kind of the guy who does stats for our show is a diehard arsenal fan and so on his behalf I wrote for them for him, but this is such a layup for you Who is the team I root for I don't know is he going to the sixers or where is he going the Nick? No, you're on the right you're on the right track Never walk alone There are the other big six club that I could see myself like Romanticizing they're like a working class club, but I just I adopted Arsenal because they had like the crossovers and don't skies and man Man, you was like kind of the Celtics aren't you a part owner of Arsenal or something dumb You pay him money to be a member. I'm a club member. I'm proud of yeah, you pay him money to be like 38 pounds a year to be Can can can we talk before I go about Ronaldo it's really just I've been talking about it every episode of the show because yeah This is really the culmination of 20 years of these two intertwines kind of yeah like a superstar Of course and the the contrast I think that everyone's kind of ignoring yesterday out of empathy for him like seeing him Just be like the euros is more you he was he got injured in the final I know it's just like it's like bro just shut up just be like I'm I'm I'm fucking sick at ball fuck you Just be like don't be so insecure so publicly like you're so he's a genius of the game right and it's like a it's really painful to see How this story is ending and what Messi is doing right now, which is and Carbically, I'm like I hated Ronaldo. I loved Messi. I'm like good if someone told me this was happening I'd be like fuck yeah, but it's actually like too painful to even celebrate and this is where Roberto Martinez the Portuguese manager had a very tough job because he He's a loser. The ball is it he's like Ronaldo's autograph I know so like most famous Portuguese people in history in order. Are you ready? Okay. Yeah number one Vasco de Gama. Yeah number two Ferdinand Magellan number three Cristiano Ronaldo Yeah, so Roberto Martinez was in a position where well, he's like he's like a democratic campaign Consult him every he loses every time, but he gets a better job better He was a He was the golden generation Well, they were like to get to a semi like it was a waste of time, but so what Ronaldo needed to be was Late stage Kareem Which is hey, you're still useful. You're still gonna get minutes and we might even like people go back and look In 88 NBA finals game six season on the line. They ran the play for Kareem Kareem got a phantom foul made the free throws. They go on to win the championship Ronaldo They needed to set the precedent from the beginning of the tournament that Ronaldo was gonna be used in that role as like the ultimate sub He didn't have the courage to do it. Then I mean, I didn't live and written them to a chip I mean, yes, I think he's speaking there the best midfield in the Same for me, maybe but so I was at Portugal Columbia in Miami Yeah, and I was totally out on Portugal and then in their knockout round game who they playing around one I forget Croatia I bet Croatia. Oh, you're you're having a rough one this tournament It hadn't been great. Let's go. I'd rather not oh god, it broke my heart when I heard you say that Yeah, the Cape Verde Spain that was all it listen, it happens, you know, you live in your learn. It's not fair It's not fair, but it's fine. I so I had bet Croatia and the moment Ronaldo came out of the game. I taxed my buddy that I bet with and I said we lost it was tied and I was like We're going to lose I was like the Portugal just unlocked what they're almost like in a media. At least who are Yeah, and I and I thought that because Roberto Martinez had the courage in a tie game What could be Ronaldo's last game to take him out that he was then going to do that yesterday And if at any point yesterday, I believe they had taken Ronaldo out. They could have beaten Spain What a loser just tell me to fuck off tell us you're on the bench, dude You stink and you're making the team worse. It sucks because it's like actually protecting Ronaldo Listen, this is not going to be a mark against his legacy. This is not going to be remembered right now watching this is is Like it hurts my insides because it's like you see someone that's so desperately insecure that it could just be Like room he's so good in any other era. He'd be the best player in the world, right in any other era You can't say that about bird like bird wouldn't be the best player in the world now In any other era this guy is the best player in the world, right? And it's so if he was just like bro It sucks. I play at the same time as this freak He's like and Jesus Christ. It's suck. Hey like and guess what he probably made me work harder But like you think his biggest fans tragic. It's what percentage of the biggest Ronaldo fans deep down No, they're born on the wrong side of the argument. They're Bob. No, no, I'm saying right. He's bought I saw that I don't know if I believe that story or not. I saw it. Don't suffer LeBron. No, no, no, because I just don't know what I believe on Twitter. Yeah But I but so what person if we had a hundred I show speed types in the room die hard Nice kid. Yeah, I know I'm not this wasn't a knock one. It's not like but I'm saying I'm saying die hard or an auto fans. You got a hundred in a room What percentage of them now if you ask them be like hey Who's better messier Ronaldo all time? I think that they have come over really. I think they're finally just like he's not as good, but I think he's cooler Yeah, which is like also not true like there's no one left. It's really said Genuinely speaking like Chrissy on a Ronaldo Standing over the ball at Old Trafford the theater of dreams before a free kick It was one of the most scary intimidating juggernaut like you know, like it's a he is a great and The problem is I've explained this before the show like messy's Contents for understating his career is that Argentina said he was a loser because he never won for them And yeah, or Armando is better and you'll never be Maradona, yeah, yeah, okay, sorry. Yeah, they're like he'll never be as good as this guy who was good for six years and destroyed himself a cocaine It was a genius the game. He's honestly to for me. He's the second best of all time, but like so messy was home sick He missed he left home at 13 He was never able to return until he got in that world cup and what we're seeing right now is he's free Chrissy on a Ronaldo's framework for his career is messy So you see one guy looking in one direction the other guy looking at and he's like why is he isn't he looking back? I mean, I'm not saying that messy is not being competitive, but it's just like it doesn't It matters so much to Ronaldo and it genuinely speaking like his entire life He's been just trying to get as good as he can at sports because he wants except I mean like he thought it would make his dad Stop doing drugs and like he destroyed like he bought his dad his brother a mansion and he was like Hey, do you want to come see me play for sir Alex Ferguson? You know a Manchester United. They're like Yeah, I'd rather hang out with your brother and just do drugs All right, no put on I have one announcement for you and then I got to go. What is that you know what we're going to the final Well, you know what you're on the right track, but not quite. Oh close. Oh, so The you're a big nix fan Yeah, I mean you're a Laker fan, but yeah, yes, so I like the tibs The tibs like a identity that's still yes, so the guy who you I'm sure you saw it all the games Middle-aged white guy always wearing sunglasses Back hair no just shut up for a second sit next to DJ Khaled the best seats in the house next to the next bench is One of my buddies Ritchie so he has those seats and a Box at Arsenal He's a die-hard Arsenal fan. He has the best seats for the nix and a box at Arsenal Richie and I yeah my buddy Richie and I have kind of an open-ended invite If I can make it to England for an Arsenal game really good to go with him I I am you my my buddy Josh our stats producer and you are gonna be my plus ones Assuming Richie, you know will allow it and we'll go to an Arsenal game together. I guess in face of a TT this over What? He's in LA, you know, I'm working on it when I did your part the first time you were like this is your, you know You're golden. Good God. No, that's your guy in that position like him Imagine Holland as like a box presence juggernaut and imagine some of that's also also technically like can do everything else. He's the most comprehensive guy. Are you finding yourself a little? Because Terry has been, Terry's been unbelievable on the broadcast. What's a lot on his, Terry's been unbelievable on the broadcast, but it's a lot on kind of overshadowing him a bit. Is it making you listen to what Terry says? You learned so much about the game. There's a really good clip of him talking about what Vanger taught him about passing to teammates. He like express frustration and Vanger's like, you have to study how everyone receives the ball and you have to tailor every dish to everyone's like a skill set. So it's like, he said that like a actual true genius on the pitch is just like understanding how everyone else plays to such a specific degree. It's not everyone adjusting to your game. And when you listen to him, I mean, what he said after the Cape Verde match was like, he's a poet and he's no, he's great. He's absolutely great. All right, you're the best. You're the perfect me on. I appreciate it. There's no one better to talk American ball with. It was a joke. I never believed. I am an English fan. Come on. I'll talk to you. Bye. The beautiful pod is brought to you by Fandool on the biggest stage in the world. Fandool is changing the game because sometimes your player gets subbed off and your bet goes with them. Not anymore. With Fandool super sub, your player is subbed out. Your bet stays in. That's right. If your player leaves the match, your bet continues on with the substitute. So you're still in it until the final whistle because it matches like these. Anything can happen. And now your bet can go the distance. Let there be goals this summer on Fandool. Visit fandool.com/tfs to get started now. 21 plus select states, 18 plus DC Kentucky Wyoming gambling problem called 1-800 gambler, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat in Connecticut. Reese James is going to be the cane that they're going to throw back to Jude. Bye now you should again. He realized God be menu. Jordan pit for Dean. Henderson and James Shrefford are the golees. Dan Burr in the word is on the street. Daventoni in your heart is Gordon. Rashford you've heard it all preferred. All you walk into Henderson Jordan. I don't believe the Morgan Rogers feels the way I do about a second. And no need mad away, can you go Riley. And I'll be the one who says it. And after all. And after all. And after all. All right. Come on, England. Come on. The last. I thought that was one of the best songs I've ever heard. I'm going to go pee and then we get started sports summer. March is on Chris riding Los Angeles. How are you enjoying the tournament? I can't get enough of it. You know, the best thing I can say about last night, the England Mexico match is after watching it. I felt like I played in it. Like yes, it was so emotionally exhausting. It was the 11 minutes of at a time where the most gripped I have ever been by a sporting event, honestly. Yeah. Were you terrified for your life leaving the stadium? You're like the cartels going to get my ass. Yeah, I love the subplot of the like 17 hotels that they booked and they still found it. I can't believe that that one got out. You know, it would have been good if they got everyone from the Harry Kane TV show, right? All the guys that acted in whatever that show is on. Wait, it's the guests. It's the guests out of the Southgate. Yeah. Yeah. They could have gotten a, I don't know, maybe what's his name? The guy that did the Nazi and in glorious bastards. Christophe Valtz. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He could have been the gaff, but get all those boys, get all those boys. And while you're at it, get everyone from the Laker show on HBO and from the Clipper is one that no one watched. Yeah. Yeah. And get the real Clipper Daryl. I'm talking de-quiz on de-quiz. Yeah. They have to do a Saddam Hussein style de-quiz system. But it's like, did they really think that some guy working at the Mexico Hyatt was not going to be like, they're staying here. Yeah. Well, not if they marched in all those guys from that show. Doffelgainers. Doffelgainers. Yeah. I just saw they put it on Instagram Reels. They put a clip of Kane crying. He's like, "But all wars are always repenal toast, coach." And then Southgate's like, "It's a rot for Britannia." I want to talk England. I want to talk also messy. And this weekend, all the games that we missed from this weekend, but I think in Argentina, Cape Verde and Mexico, England, it's in the top 10 of games I've watched in anything of my life. Yes. Yeah. And also, I think the players think that too. I think that the guys in that Argentina, Cape Verde match were like, I took part in something way bigger than myself in the same thing for England, Mexico. The guy trying to find his girlfriend after scoring an extra time. It's a movie, Chris. This tournament is a movie. And thank you, Gianni Infantino. Thank you, Marco Rubio. Thank you, USA Department. We'll get to the red card. I think it'll be less of a discussion point when this comes out tomorrow, but I do want to mention it. But in those two games, I think cinema, we haven't processed them yet, but where do you see them in like the scope of like any athletic competition you've seen throughout your entire life? Well, you know what? The World Cup always brings in new football fans. And I have had several people ask me, like, is it always like this? And it's not, you know? It's like their club seasons are like more of like a long form, like a marathon. They're not like this like batting down the hatches. Let's fucking go. But it is kind of like what's primally interesting about soccer is the idea of like bunch of guys want to get the ball in a net. And a bunch of guys want to stop it from happening. And it's just a battle of the will sometimes. And when it actually plays out and a place like Asteca, you're just like, this is better than apocalypse now. Dude, like, I can't believe I'm watching this. I don't think I've ever seen a stadium like that before. I mean, it was just frenetic and psycho, like in that stadium. I literally, the England fans, how do they get them out? No, you know, you have to watch like Copa Liberty Doris games at Boca or something like that. But like, it's not even even that had like, this was like Istanbul meets what is are these meets, you know, everything you could want in a football match. Me said that like Serbian basketball games. Yeah. Yeah. No, seriously, like did Sicario get them out of the stadium? I wanted to see that. And also just like, was there like a nurse joker situation for Jordan Henderson? Like, I'm worried about him. A nurse joker situation where he's like walking away from the hospital. I have seen him in a cast. So he is since he has since gone out of surgery. But did you see that when England was coming to Azteca, they had the pickup trucks leading in the bus that are the same pickup trucks. Sicario from Sicario. Yeah. Oh my god. Yesterday truly was the day of the soldado. I always didn't want the match to start because like all of the footage was so incredible. All of like the social media like the buildup was down to the hour delay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I mean, yeah, and the fireworks the night before. Also just for us to be American snobs, seeing people react as if like this is zero class from the Mexicans as if like that doesn't happen every Champions League knockout. It's one of the coolest things. It makes it you feel like you're on the team. Yeah. Yeah. The funniest example of that of course is 74. The German tabloid, whatever it build. Send in like sexy girls for a sexy girl party pool party to like party with the the Dutch and the night before the final. They released it like in the in the and all of them were on the phones with their wives until like five a.m. Yeah. Like apologizing. Yeah. This is like what we were saying about Algeria Algeria Austria last week where it's like I'm not saying it's good. I'm just saying it's not new. Yeah. Oh no. No. It's always been crap and going back to your point about a ball in the middle of the field and guys wanting to kick it about and fight each other. That is literally what this game started off as. It started off as guys from Eaton trying to fight guys from a factory with a ball in the middle of the field. And that was like sporting and posh to have like a brutal like a salt. It was kind of like, yeah, it was more akin to like the basketball that you play in the pool. You know what I mean? Yeah. Just like elbows and like, yeah, it's drowning because let's do England, Mexico first, right? Yeah. Just last point down to the point down to the soft power propaganda of the of the regime. Like Donald Trump's like getting the red card dismissed. Oh, my God. This is exactly exactly what I'm like. We are. So we are recording this on Monday. They play tonight. I, regardless of whether every other country would, would or wouldn't try to do this. Do you think it's bad sports car man that you didn't lie about it? Just lie about it. It's like the Venezuela thing, right? Like it's just lie. Like Trump was like, and so like we just sent him Delta Force and they, we paid off like some, some schmuck cousin and yeah, it was so easy. And now we're going to steal the oil. We've always stolen the oil, just don't say that you're stealing the oil. They can feel better about this process. Yeah, just send Kissinger into the locker room and say, if you don't lose, we will give you the wall. Okay? And then act like Oh, Peru naturally lost six now, okay? Just the, it's, it's, it's not classy, right? We just have guys that went to Yale that were in a, some sort of secret society where they, they did like, they did battle reps from history against each other. It's not as bad as it sounds. And they used to kill the president, but guess what? They wore a suit, okay? And that we just want to get the Yale guys back in there. Now I'm, and now I'm going to tell you, what is this fetterman with his hoodies? Just they, they used to have, okay, no, just absurd and now come on. Let's go Kevin DeBroina, remontada, the Americans, I'm done with America. No. And I don't win, it makes it bad, right? But they have to win this match. Yes. I think if they win, they're, whether or not there will be an asterisk, I think we've seen that like the way that people consume information and news goes so fast that I don't think that people are going to be like, well, I can't really be happy about this because Baldwin had a red card. He's not R9. Yeah. Okay? He's not a fucking Ronaldo, Nazario, he's not like, yeah, he's not, he's not a central figure in that squad. They could have won it without him. Trump said it was their best player, so I, you know what, Trump, I respect nothing but respect for the office of it. Okay. Anyway, England, Mexico, in the Azteca, the ghosts of the hand of God, just literally, I'm still catching my breath from that match last night, the rain, the atmosphere, the fucking penalties, the fucking sending off, it had everything. It is arguably, we're not for the messy game, the best game of the World Cup, in a World Cup that every single fucking game is, is a fucking all-timer. And it had this thing that we have been talking about this entire show, which is the best players playing the best in the biggest games, which is what I think is really cooking everyone's noodle is Holland, introducing himself to a hundred million people that didn't know who he was or didn't really know he was like that. Jude and Harry, getting after it in this match and being like, we are actually better than you guys. And we are going to like show you, belling him in the first hat like in that, it had a four, four, two Chris, it had a four, four, two. Here's my big takeaway from this one. Yes. Is Tuckle what we thought Carla was? Tuckle is now going into tomorrow on season. I'm sorry, like, they accomplished what he almost fucked up, which is they played such a high press. There was so much space between the rest of the team and their front three, and they just gave Mexico possession. But what they did was they shit-housed it to the first drinks break. Yes. Which mind you, because of the temperature in my studio that I'm shooting this right now, I think we will begin to institute hydration breaks. Yes. We will. And it's kind of amazing to watch the managers adapt to the reality where you can tell their kind of playing to the break. Yes. And in the second, that's what you have to do. There's a really good clip of Brad Friedle talking about it where he's like, they're not as good. Their players are nowhere near as good as yours. You have to catch your second breath. And the England, one of the assistant coaches, I forgot his name, he was like, we wanted to go into the end of the first quarter, quarter, no, no, and they accomplished it. They gave Mexico far too much of the ball. But as you were saying before, moments, guys, Jude cracked two. And then the clearance at the far post, the clearance at the far post. I mean, that is, it was what would have been remembered about that match had it not come so early in the match and had it not just the entire energy of the entire thing. It would have been so frenetic and insane. And so how did we? Yeah. The reason why I said the carlo thing is we were like, carlo just understands, man management needs to understand where to put guys on the feeling positionally. If not necessarily like mind blowing tactics, but like, I want to have Martin Ellie play here, right? That's what we thought Carlo was going to do when he got his pants pulled down. And this match, when Conza goes off, Tusha was like, this is why I brought Dan Bern. Is that like, we are going to win or lose in the 90, well, plus 11. And not, I'm not playing for pens. If this goes to extra time, we're dead because we've been running around up at altitude with 10 men. So what he does is he brings on burn for the exact right moment that he has to, which is dealing with 700 crosses as Tekka, you know, fucking lightning storm. There is only one guy you can bring for that. And it's this six wood seven monster which is even more out to do a bicycle kick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then when he bet it all and put it, he pulled Kane. He pulled Saka. He pulled Nico and he pulled Anderson and he puts on all those fucking center backs. He's just like, we're going to deal with it. It's going to be a war. We are dealing with it. I had nothing but respect for that. It's he parked the bus, but he parked the bus in a way that was just like, if this doesn't work, I'm willing to die on my shield right here. Two guys really fucking put in massive shifts. First is Princess Diane on the left as an outball. I mean, Gordon was fucking running for 90 minutes. He left him on to be the outlet. It was nuts. They need to make a beanie baby of Anthony Gordon, I think, yeah, they did a great job. Did you see that? I hear I say fuck you to him, like in laugh, but like when he was like, it was amazing. I love the chippinus. I loved how chippin it was. I loved how like literally the also him and fucking Jude as a front line with, you know, what was it? Eight center backs behind. Yeah. Consistones, gay. Yeah. Yeah. That's who I would say utility men could play anywhere on the pitch. No, genuinely speaking, Sam loved that, Sam loved that. That thanks brother. Thanks brother. No, genuinely speaking, the game had so many phases, right? You had the, like, why are they giving Mexico so much of the ball? Then you had the two minutes of like, do you think to your first point? Do you think that that was because of Declan's yellow? Do you think that through the wall to get a yellow in the midfield like, like the most important player they've gotten a lot of ways gets a yellow in the first minute and it's like, oh crap, is this going sideways already? It caused everyone to lock in and like focus, I think, genuinely speaking because it's like roll the dice. After those two goals, everyone's thinking, oh, yeah, second deck, I have to come off, right? Right. Asamo Gion, all sorry, first, first, oh, Jesus Christ, this guy, we're going to miss him for four years. Where does he go? Saudi? Yep. What are his stats in Saudi? He's going to get like 31 goals in front of like guys that fly out only fans models and poop on them. Uh, sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Well, they fun the show. How did Durant not have stats like that? Remember? Or a second, but then do you like do it off the clock? Well, I haven't even Tony. Was he begging them out there? Oh, yeah. Okay. How many how many goals does he have? I mean, pen hold those horse there. 32. Oh, better than Kenone. Yes. One less. Can I say 33? Okay. Uh, genuinely, that's the player of Mexico's tournament. Um, Mexico doesn't leave that match with their heads, uh, hanging, hanging low. The after the, uh, bringing it back to two one, they closed that half really well. Um, and it required a lot of heroic saves and a lot of heroic like, uh, you know, like the, the fucking clear is off the line in Jude. Second, third quarter, I think England got it together, right? And, uh, at three, one, I'm like, oh, this is being put to bed. Right. [BLANK_AUDIO] everything. Then I think what you were describing is the Southgate DNA. I think that England, we're like, we're not going to be too proud. Like, I think like Brazil was. Like, Brazil, I think, is a squad where you can't get 11 guys behind the balls. Yeah, and Carlo got spooked and brought name are on too. I know. And they'll know. And I know. I feel like it's sad. When he was talking shit. And if like in the grill of Norway, like a goalie, whatever. Anyway, so, so yeah, I genuinely speaking, where does this leave England? England has a path now. They've messy in the semis. They have Norway next match. Benedict Arnold himself, Erling Holland is going to be coming up against them after he was born in our beautiful, beautiful kingdom. You know, and he turns his back. He turns his back, the raiding marauder, marauders of the, the, the row thing I think is lame. Okay. I think it's lame. I talked into Norwegians. They think it's lame too. Actually, they're like, there's a complicated debate on the left about. It's so funny. They're so funny. They all have healthcare and they're debating about a cheer. No, I want to give just, Effie Gordon and this was the Jude game, I think in his England history. I think it's fair enough to say it. Like, would you say the same? It's just like, it's also like he's the one that never seems spooked by it. Like that's the thing is it's like, I wonder whether or not we, it's not that we overestimate it as Tekka, but these guys have all played at Galatasaray. They've all played at PSG. Like they've played in like, they, he plays at the Bernabéu. Like, he knows pressure. Yeah. Are you not entertained? Yeah. And I thought that header, I was like, that dude's about to go flying through the net head first. Like, that's how much he wants it. Yeah. Of, of their two moments, guys, the cool, like, contrast between the two is we were saying, I was saying the was last episode. Like, Kane thrives in, in calmness and having his brain completely empty and just thinking about like the attempt on goal and like, just kind of like trying different attempts around a keeper, like, throughout a 90 minute span. Yeah. Jude thrives on chaos. And that game state required chaos. And he rose the occasion. He is, for me, the England player, the tournament, but it's obviously close. It's not even worth debating. I mean, it's the, it's one of one or the other. The funny thing on the horizon is day game Miami, Norway, England. Yeah. Well, there, there will be that's a trap, that's a trap game in some ways, because you get through us. Tech and then you start dreaming about Argentina and you got to take care of business against Auto Garden and Holland. But I, I, one day is that match Saturday. It's a 5 p.m. Eastern, I think. Yeah. If six days of recovery, I don't know if Jordan Henderson will be ready by then. That, that's, I think he might not. Yeah. Yeah. They, Jordan Henderson's gone. Obviously, he's with Colby's broken arm guy in Switzerland right now. So there is, there, there's a roster crisis. I think, I think it's fair enough to say, right? This is the nice thing about the singles team is they're relatable. I would have been Jordan Henderson if I had been on that team. I would have got a yellow card on the sideline and then I would have fallen down celebrating Wonderwall. It was a very like, like Don Zimmer being thrown down by Pedro. It was like, you can't not laugh. It looked so painful. It looked brutally. It was like, it broke it. It was like a spaghetti. You just saw it like a fold like an accordion in his arm. They need a vet presence in the locker room. And I think that this is a crisis. They need Gerrell Kwanza in the next match available. This is a massive crisis. It's going into the next match. His real chance ever going to play again. Is he out for this tournament? He was getting into it with the show on the sideline. So I was like, oh, is this like a freeload to him? Yeah, that's a show. With a show. Yeah. He's like the smith. So the smith saw actually not the best band of all time. Yeah, it must have been hard for them to like go against the Depeche mode. Smith's country. Seriously? Yeah, yeah. They really rock with it. But maybe it's American Mexican's boys. There is one person. I think they can maybe they labor has new leader in parliament. Britannia has someone is at the wheel again. Prime Minister waiting. Andy Burnham. Yeah. He plays ball. Also, there's a clip of him scoring a class finish. I think Trump loved going to Buckingham Palace. I think he's got sway with FIFA. You got to get this constant card. You got to get it out. And then you got a petition to have another vet brought in and you know who that man is. It's pretty obvious. Trent. He's at. At no. Come on, Bart Bowdoin. Hey, McGuire. He's at the ready. McGuire is on fire. He's signing Pony stickers in my cousin. He's been there the whole time. Maybe the right one for you. He's been jailed in America the whole time. No, that was in Greece. He cleared it up. One last guy asked one last boring question, which is I saw a lot of critique of Mexico for just lumping in crosses for 40 minutes. It's Mexico. I didn't really. It's like they're not by our Munich. I don't really know. They're not going to carve England up when England's just going to be standing in their own box the whole time, right? But they're supposed to be doing croif turns for like 90. No, it's it's Mexico. And guess what? It almost worked. Yeah. It nearly worked. I mean, they're striking a place for wolves. Like it's just like honestly credit to them. They were like they were they had a ton of chances. It was hell it was white knuckle. Like I don't think that they leave that if if their fans are giving them and I mean, no, it was more like online punditry. Like that was bad tactics. And I was like I don't know, that's like usually that's the easiest way to attack a big block like that. It's going to be 44 years before they could L tree make it to the quarter finals. Poor guys. Cape Verde Argentina. Let's talk about it. Yeah. I for me, I I turns to my girlfriend's brother. I was watching it with him and I said, I said that was beautiful. Yeah. The first one. It was it was one of the most incredible matches I've ever watched my entire life. I think we were saying before that it was like pure cinema. It's like a cliche. I just in the scope of sports games. I can't like where for me, what's the most special is like when I have like an emotional attachment to something when deck hit those two free kicks against rail Madrid. It was like it meant something to me when Kobe had the 60 obviously it meant something to me. The the fact that I didn't know any of these people's names at all. Yeah. No wonder and if you say it's Sam even Sam didn't even attempt to lie that he knew any of their names. You did say you knew one of them. Well, he played for Benfica. Who is it? Cabral. He's lying. No, I mean, the the players were at the Argentina bus because they wanted to meet Messi. They're going to be able to tell their families and grand because they played against Messi and they almost beat him. There was a post somebody did where it was all of the Cape Verde players. Their most recent Instagram post was any shot of them with Messi. Yeah. And it was like nine of them, but it was like Sam, dude. That's what I would do. It's the most beautiful like sporting event I've ever seen. It's just these guys that were fearless in the face of like demons. The best player of all time. Both of the criminals scored also. You got Christopher Merrill and you got the butcher get goals. Although they they ruled out. They said old goal in the Romero thing. Sam, that was a fair, right? It was on frame. I think it was probably a little wide. No, they wanted to take the assist away from Messi. Everyone knows that Infantino once Messi out of this turn. No, I mean, I guess it leaves Argentina with the tastiest path to the final and it kind of gives us just like a collision course for rematch of the last of the last World Cup final. Sure. Speaking of like when you said when you said like games in the World Cup typically aren't like this, I think maybe there was something in the cosmos. I get so like hokey like when I talk about ball, but like something in the cosmos changed. The last final changed things and now everything is chaotic and like incredible. These games are supposed to suck. And like even the games that suck are amazing, like even France Paraguay was incredible because France was like we're not going to fucking succumb to this like you know, like and they're laughing at those guys like in Cape Verde, Argentina. The thing that was obviously amazing was Cape Verde like going for it. My favorite moment of that match was when Argentinus scored their third, I think, Scalone grabbed like tagliafoco and or tagliafico and Montiel and he was like nobody fucking plays anymore like no more football. Like we all you guys do is stop these guys. Yeah. Yeah, Messi signed Voxenia for Inter Miami after the match, which is like funny. Like the only people he ever gives flowers to or goal. like there was a championship like match Celtic Barcelona 2-1 and he said Fraser Forster, he said he's not from this planet. The Messi said he's not from about Fraser Forster. Granted, he was on an absolute heater. It was incredible to see, to like, I mean, that is like the game or day of his life. When they hit that equalizer in extra time, I just kept screaming, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. The added element for me, I'm sorry, I'm gonna, I'm gonna dig right again, of like, the chance of like saying that this could be goodbye. It just made it, it just made it like, you know, all the more like insane and incredible. We haven't even mentioned Croatia, Portugal yet. That's how insane this World Cup is. Yes, you know, that game was maybe the fourth craziest game of the weekend. And like, I don't understand like how are they getting every single one to be this, this nuts. We're recording now. I have no idea what's going to happen in Spain, Portugal. It could be even crazier. No, it's gonna be boring. They're gonna like, let's see you like, win it. Maybe see you next fucking World Cup when you're 46 years old in Portugal. See you next World Cup when you're 46 years old in Portugal. Cut that guys. Come on, cut that guys. I, yeah, there's the way Messi took down that, that through ball and and just one touch and then fired it in. I was like, and the way that this goalie, who was a nobody nothing, but it was unbeatable at the time. It's just like, I don't understand how they could keep topping it. And it's just like, it's so cool that for work, I have to watch this and I can't, I can't be told not to. You're right, though, because like every time he gets the ball, like, there is like a weird like pregnant moment where you're like, oh man, like, this is probably one of the last like 100 times I'm gonna see him do this. Like, I know he might keep playing for Inter and maybe he goes super hero and plays one more World Cup. I don't know if that's possible. But yeah, like during that Cape Verde thing, I was like so torn between wanting Cape Verde to pull up the greatest upset maybe in sports history versus wanting messy to stand the tournament. On a read, like after the whistle was like, the story is not the result. The story is, is these guys that they did something sewing. What was their FIFA ranking? In the hundreds. In the hundreds? He's wrong. And then I think we're booking tomorrow. Okay. It. Yeah. Let's go golden boot tally. Let's go through the really dope thing is that messy Holland and Bob air all on even goals at seven. Yeah, it can't have six. Kane is at six. Yeah. But that's because of the agenda. That's that's because of the anti-British agenda. That's because he shares more. And then and then of course, Cristiano Ronaldo, right in their heels at three. Yeah. So I think he's now side chance, depending on what happens today. Real quick, Norway, Brazil. Did Carlo get too stupid? Okay. That's the real question. Like Marnelli changed the game when he came off. I thought the profile of the game changed. To be fair, they could have very easily won that match. They missed a penalty and and Drake just blew a one-on-one with the keeper. Holland announced himself. He had a moment. I think Norway now. I know. Who was the center back who was going home? Allison Becker. He's playing center back. The keeper was Allison Becker from Liverpool. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. He's the he wasn't done any favors by his defense. He plays ahead of a mom Mardash really. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Gabrielle's crap. You know my agenda. I want him out. He's terrible on the bowl. Who was the center back? Who was the center? Okay. Uh, Holland announced himself any other takeaways from that match. Uh, no. I, I feel like they, I feel like that's probably the last big name arm moment we're going to get in his career. Speaking of like, goodbyes, I don't, I wonder whether he's done on the national team after this. We don't even recognize that that was good by the name or that's how like insane, like the, just like, uh, the next match is coming and we, there's something even crazier we have to focus on. Yeah. It's like, they were talking as lots on about it after the match and he was like, this is a guy who's like one, plenty of trophies and played well for his country and clubs, but there always is going to be a feeling like there was something more that could have been achieved. Special, uh, name or memory, uh, in international tournaments, I think was the goal against Croatia, where he needed that extra touch because he knew that it would have been cleared on the line and then he roofed it. Yeah. Uh, I watched that all the time. Uh, he's the most what if superstar, I think we've seen the last 20 years. Um, yeah, I, I remember actually fun fact. Do you, do you know what, uh, Barcelona did for him to get him to finalize the deal? I did, uh, when he was leaving from Santos, they organized an orgy for his father in London. That's cool. Yeah. He's a family man. He loves his family. Okay. Uh, friends, Paraguay, I said to Waz, you need a racist low block to defeat this team. It was a perfect blueprint for the racist low block. There was a member of parliament. She says it was like, it was like, it was like, she was in Nuremberg in front of a fucking like, uh, uh, uh, a hundred thousand. So awful. Yeah. Terrific. Terrific. The way, like, the other thing is this like, no one registers, like, and Bob Bay, like, uh, gets just as bad a treatment as Vinnie or any other, like, uh, uh, superstar of color, uh, especially after the last World Cup, uh, there was a incident with Enzo, of course, uh, you need to literally approach France like their PSG in the Champions League final. As I said last episode and like, what you have to do is like, recognize you don't have as many good, uh, good players. You have to have, uh, 11 players buy in and like, be psychos. Uh, and the only team, I think remaining that's equipped to like defend for their lives is, uh, Argentina. I think at this point, um, England doesn't have enough talent. They could, they could buy in, but I don't see them being talented enough to actually pull that off. Uh, any other takeaways from France Paraguay? Uh, Manu Konoi come down to Liverpool FC, play with a real club. Let's go. VR number six, play with Grav. I, I loved when he blew up like he basically did Paraguay to Paraguay. And, uh, so you're done with Enzo. You think he's a loser? I think I believe he's quite injured. Okay. Yeah. I'm just saying, but I think he's a loser. I think he's a great vibes guy. I don't know if he should play defensive midfield for us. And then yeah, I loved, uh, that only say is like single handedly able to destroy somebody try to do shit housery on a, on France because he can just like cut in and dribble 30 yards and nobody can bring him down and nobody can touch him. Uh, he's next. Do you think he has more dribbles than French words? Like, like, honestly, like, that's more completed dribbles or French words that, yeah. Why does he play for them? It's insane. Uh, imbappe fun fact has never lost a world cup match. Isn't that crazy? Did you see there's an image of like a bunch of Paraguay fans and then a dude standing in a, in a imbappe dictator t-shirt like among them? It's going to get to his head. Honestly, merino might, uh, just have him sent to Guantanamo. Like, I don't know how those two personalities are going to drive. Uh, Norway, Brazil. We talked about USA Belgium coming up over the horizon tomorrow. Let's, we're going to talk about it tomorrow. But, uh, the red card, honestly, it's, it, it's a little bit just lie. Just say, Infantino realized that the ref was, uh, taking money from what, what he called, uh, just say the bar assistant was watching something else when he was supposed to be watching the, like, I'd frame him. Yeah. Just like, what happened to the David Sterns of the world? Okay. This, like, uh, just, just bear, like, hide the body. Okay. Throw him into the sea. International waters. I'm exhausted. Yeah. 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