Ep. 14 - USMNT Win Group D, Australia Match Review, Group by Group Updates and a Look Ahead to This Week

Brandon and Shaun get together to recap the latest USMNT win against Australia. We talk about our thoughts on the game and noteworthy moments and performances. We get into some talk about the potential pathway for the U.S. and likely knockout round opponents.

Next, we discuss groups A, B and C breaking down where things stand and our takeaways from the second round of matches. Mexico win their group and other hosts Canada dominate Qatar. The Tartan Army takes their talents to South Beach to take on Brazil with a lot at stake.

Finally, we look ahead to the upcoming matches over the next few days. Can France and England dominate? Will Portugal bounce back? Does Messi have another hat-trick in him?

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Hello, friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Friends on Football Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Sean Boyle, and joining me as always, my good friend Brandon Johnson. Brandon, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Sean, I am doing well. It is a great day. Excited to talk about these games with you.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

I am equally as excited. We are coming off the back of another United States victory. The US MNT beats Australia 2-0, and they have one group D, Brandon. It is all good news on the U.S. front. We are going to dive into that game. We'll break it down for you as we always do. And then we're going to kind of reverse engineer our way back to some of the other results that have happened. We'll set the table for what is at play in each group. And we will get you prepared for all of the remaining games of the group stage that are going to take place until the next time we speak to you. So a lot to get to today. Brandon, we have to dive right in. What a result for the US MNT. What a performance. We'll start how we always do. What were your vibes when you saw the lineup? Was there anything shocking to you? The big news, of course, was that Christian Pulisic was ruled out a couple hours before the match. Did that scare you in any way?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Sean, it didn't scare me. When I saw it come out, it was probably about an hour before the lineup came out, so maybe about one o'clock. And my first thought was just who was going to replace him. I read the reports and he wasn't really training. He was training on the side. So you kind of figured he might not be able to go. Maybe a substitute appearance off the bench, but clearly not fit enough, so that's alright. My thought was just where is Poch gonna go? Who is he gonna throw in in the team instead of Christian? Seeing Ricardo Pepe was interesting, and I think it may have led to a little bit of a formation shift. It didn't look exactly how this they looked against uh Paraguay, but we won 2-0, so not too many complaints on that on that that front from me, but yeah, it was more of what are we gonna do rather than oh my gosh, Christian was out.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah. I'm similar. It was we don't really have a like for like player for Christian, is the issue. I thought the only thing that we could have done maybe was move Serginho over to Christian's spot and start Weia, where Surge usually plays. I thought that would have worked because Sergino's pretty good at 1v1 attacking as Pulisic is. And I think if we had to pick somebody in the squad that is as close to Pulisic as possible in that way, it would be Serginho, but he's also so good in the role he's been playing that I don't think it made sense to move him. So I was completely fine with starting Pepe, but I do agree it was a little bit of a head scratcher at first. I didn't know exactly what that would look like because he's not in any way a half space player like Pulisic is. And honestly, I didn't think it worked super well for Pepi. I don't want to lead with that because we'll get into more of the good news before we nitpick. But yeah, I just don't think I think it was a situation where we just don't have anybody that can do what Polisic does. That was our best of what's available. We went with a little bit of a shift in tactics, like you said, because of it, and it worked out. So we'll start again with the first half, Brandon, and honestly, it was deja vu for me for the par to the Paraguay game. We came out, and overall in the first half, we executed great, we looked fluid. It was a lot harder, it was a lot tighter spaces than it was against Paraguay. I will not say it was as easy as we found it in that match, but again, we started the game in the first minute with a disaster pass from Alex Freeman, which leads to a goal scoring chance for Torre. And immediately within the first minute of the game, I'm shitting myself. So I'm like, oh my god, we can't we can't do this. Thankfully, it didn't come of anything, and from that moment is when we really switched on a respondent.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Yeah, Sean, and we'll get into it as we keep going. But yeah, that first 15 minutes really did just look like the Paraguay game all over again. But you gotta get those nerves out, and I understand that, but when a center back makes those kinds of passes and decisions, it's it's a lot riskier than when Balogun gives it up in the first minute, and we're like, all right, they get the first possession, no big deal. With the center back, it's a lot scarier. So yeah, there was definitely some fear, but thankfully we cleaned it up and you get that early goal.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah, we have to talk about the early goal. I do wish we could start a match. I'm fine with the jitters. I wish we can find a way to start without almost conceding, because we're two for two in terms of first minute scares, and we just need we can't do that against good teams. So let's figure that out. But other than that, first half was pretty brilliant, in my opinion. Cameron Burgess's own goal in the 11th minute kicks things off. We had a couple of chances before then. We started to simmer. My guy Serginho out on the right-hand side was linking up with Weston. They created a couple half chances, and then ultimately the goal, it's really a work of art from Florin Balogun. He just absolutely cooks his guy to the byline, just ran past him like he was a traffic cone, squares it, and then this boy Burgess, who was running his mouth a little bit before the game, saying how it's bulletin board material, how the US are treating us, he tosses one in his own net. A great finish from him.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

It was a it was a nice finish. I mean top top of the net. Yeah, he he finished it well. But that I think that goes to show, Sean, that if you get on that front foot, you you get attacking early, and you really make the other team make tough plays, good things are gonna happen. Did we think we're gonna have two own goals in two games to start our World Cup journey? Probably not. I mean, own goal is literally winning our golden boot right now for our team. Right at the top. But to be fair, like you mentioned, Balogun does all the work, he gets to the touchline. And if you put pressure on these teams, especially some of these weaker teams, their true colors will show. And nothing against Australia, but they're not the strongest team. And I think the US really pushing forward and and really looking for that early opportunity turned into that goal. Actually, from that goal, the own goal, I'm not sure who is the US player right behind him, but if Burgess misses that clearance, we probably still get a tap in.

SPEAKER_00 6:36

So Pepe was lurking right behind Burgess. And he would have tapped it in. I think. Yeah. Now, would a world-class defender have handled that better? Probably. Yeah, you know, but that goes back to the quality of Australia. Put pressure on them and make them make mistakes, and that's what we did. I don't think you can take anything away from the US. We were starting to percolate, and that was a really good chance that, like you said, unless the defender plays it damn near perfectly, it's going to lead to a goal in some capacity. So I think it was a little bit fortunate for us that it was a weaker player like Burgess who stumbled upon it and just hoofed it into his own net for sure. And maybe that won't work for us against some of the elite sides in this tournament, but listen here. I I couldn't be happier with the ball went in the net. We made the ball go in the net through our pressure, and that's all that matters. So a really good start to the game from Balogun again. He looks shot out of a cannon. I wish he got an assist on that. It feels a bit harsh, so we're not giving us strong goals because really that's an assist for that finish.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

That's a good point, Sean. We got to talk to the uh scorers for soccer games because I agree. He does all that work and would have been an assist if Bird just misses it and Peppy taps it in. Yeah. But he should he should really get an assist because he made the other team kick it in their own net. I feel like that should be worth even more than just an assist.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Yeah, we hand out assists sometimes for a ball that's played to a guy who then skins a guy, cuts back, and scores one of the top ins. It's like, well, I could have made that pass. Balogun here, he did all the work. He cooked a guy to the byline, plays it perfect, and then he doesn't get anything out of it. That feels a bit harsh.

SPEAKER_01 8:11

I agree with you though.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

From that moment, we really, really just grew into the game. We continued to be on the front foot. Again, I will say it was harder to play against than Paraguay. Aussies are a physical bunch. They made it a bit scrappier. I think what Paraguay, Paraguay intended to do, but just weren't able to do, and their physicality provided some difficulty for us. It wasn't as free to move, there was less space to attack, but we still continued to create chances and dominate the ball. Weston McKenney had a really good chance from a corner, kind of headed it right at the keeper, got blocked. Then Serginho and Wes on the right hand side. I would say most of our good ball progression came through those two. They really linked up well. Serginho's in his bag of tricks. I mean, this guy, he's looking to embarrass you one-on-one.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

He Sean, we've done stock up, stock down, and talked about all the players individually. He's someone, for me, that was already a locked-in starter. He was somebody that we would definitely rely on in this tournament, but I think he's taking his game to another level. Thankfully, it looks like he's fully fit, he's healthy, he's doing his thing, and on his day, he he's pretty unplayable. So uh big shout out to Dest because we're gonna need that moving forward. But like you said, that link up with Weston, I know you mentioned potentially changing the 11 and putting Sergio on the other side, but I agree with Poch in this situation. I mean, it looked fantastic, those two connecting and and working those channels on the right side, and Australia really didn't have a response, especially early.

SPEAKER_00 9:53

100%. And from that first goal we scored, we saw some more of that link up. We saw some really good counter pressing. It was difficult for Australia to play out, and that ultimately led to the 43rd minute when Alex Freeman scores a bit of a scrappy goal, I think it's fair to say, but it's a it's it's a goal well taken. It's his first World Cup goal, a brilliant moment for him. I wish that the ref gave the goal originally, so we got the original celebration. I said, as that ball went in the air and I saw it, I said he's on because I knew he had a chance to hit it in and I saw that he was played on. You kind of could tell sometimes with these offside that it will at least looks close. And for them to stick the flag up immediately and ruin the party at least for a couple minutes was a little bit disappointing. But then absolute scenes when the goal was given, the team rushes out and embraces him. He said he was worried they were gonna tackle him, so he started running. It was it was really good stuff from Alex Freeman, and he completely atoned for that first-minute mistake.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Yeah, and just a few minutes before that, they were checking Freeman for a concussion. So it was a lot of grit that head. Yeah, a busy few minutes, a lot of grit and determination from him. And I feel like Sean, that to me is a typical US MNT goal. Like you like to say, there's no there's no photos on the scorecard, it all counts the same, and that's the kind of goal that we'd expect to see from a US team. Not always the prettiest, not the sexiest 10-pass combination to a tap-in. It's a shot rebound that flies 10 feet in the air, and it's a slam dunk header over his over the goalie. And for Freeman to do that in really his first World Cup, this is really his coming out party. I think we knew about him before, but we've always kind of been like, all right, this guy's on the come-up. I mean, he's still super young. I believe he's only 21. I think he's the youngest player actually on the uh US roster. And for him to step into this World Cup and perform at the level he's performing, it's it's great to see. You you don't love that early mistake from him, but he rebounds, he takes the potential concussion, ends up being okay, and then scores a goal right on halftime. That that's what you want to see. And you want to go into that half-time break, Sean, with a two-goal lead rather than a one-goal lead, and and knowing, all right, we we put our foot on the gas, and and we're really coming to to try to win this game three and four and five-zero. So yeah, not the prettiest goal you'll ever see, but it's a great time to get your first goal. It's a great moment for him. And uh, you mentioned him running away from his teammates during the celebration. He probably had a little bit of his dad in him, Antonio Freeman, former NFL wide receiver trying to run away from uh defensive backs and linebackers. So big shout out to Alex. Great moment for him, and and you love to see that, uh, especially going into halftime.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah, being up 2-0 opposed to 1-0 going in half is just a monumental difference. Absolutely huge. And I felt it was worthy that we got the second one. We we did dominate the run of play there in the first half. I felt way better going in 2-0. I have to say, I know the refs announcement. I know English is his second language, he's a German lad. We it was almost M. Knight Shamwan couldn't write that twist the way he was. I I mean, he went around in a circle. He was just leading me alone. I was like, they're not gonna give it. And oh, they did. I didn't know what he was saying. He, I mean, dude, figure it out. How about next time I'll give you a suggestion? Just goal point. Like, that's all we need to do.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

I I didn't need the runaround that he gave us. Yeah, I and Sean, one thing I I wanted to say, after kind of that last end of the first half, I was surprised. Australia really continued to sit back, and we got that second goal uh right before halftime, but for the last, I don't know, 20 minutes, basically the whole first half, really, Australia at points had seven, eight guys in their own defensive box. And to me, it was almost like they were playing for the goal differential. They were like, hey, look, we're not gonna score, we're not gonna get many chances, so we're gonna just sit back. And I understand because of the third place rules, and we've talked about that, you know, at length in this podcast, but I was surprised not to see a little bit more attacking from them, and and maybe that was their their identity. Let's get to half time and then we'll make some changes and and try to move forward in the second half. But sitting back so deep and having so many numbers in their own defensive box, it was really just a day at the park for Matt Freeze and Tim Marim and a lot of the defenders in the first half because they're just playing passes to the to the center mids. They don't have they didn't have much pressure on them. So, you know, I know strategy is kind of all over the place, but I was a little bit surprised to see such a defensive mindset from Australia even after going down 1-0.

SPEAKER_00 14:39

I think you're right that it was their strategy to get to halftime, and then we saw it with their changes that they made. Mystery Hirankunda comes on, and he's he's the guy I was most worried about in this match. And we didn't see him until the second half. But I think it was a mistake on their end, kind of how you're alluding to, because the moments that they did give us some problems in the first half were those moments where they actually came out of their shell. When they made our center backs make some decisions, when they pressured Matt Freeze and made him play it long. That's when they were able to get into the game a little bit and get some half chances. So I thought it was a mistake on their end because we'll never know how it would have looked. Maybe we're able to play through and get a few more goals and hurt their goal differential, but also maybe Australia are able to get a goal in the first half and then grow into the game a bit more. So I think it was a mistake by them. They really played scared, terroristic football, I must say. It was really, they didn't, they didn't try to play at all. So it was a bit gross. They made the game ugly to watch, and that was on full display in the second half. I mentioned the changes they made. They tried to become more attacking, but they're not really good at doing that. They're a team with an identity, and it's not to play with the ball. So that led to a really, really scrappy stop-start second half where it was really hard to get a rhythm in the game. I don't think we did a good job of responding to, I guess, playing really good-looking football in the face of adversity, but I would counter that with it'd be hard for anybody to play good football with how the Aussie's set up in that second half. They they are a team who, like I said, had to have the ball because they were trailing 2-0, but aren't good at having the ball. So they didn't really know what their possession would look like. We couldn't really get a foothold in it because we probably rightfully so maybe took a little bit of pressure off of the gas pedal. Being ahead 2-0, that changes how you play, how you set up. So it was really scrappy. I have to point out, Brennan, in the 50th minute, we had an absolutely unbelievable chance on the counter. Tyler Adams plays a ball to Florin Balagan, who is one-on-one with the keeper for about 60 yards. And in Flo, he didn't do his best here. The ball kind of got caught underneath him. He really squandered a chance where I thought he should have put the game to bed and made a 3-0.

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, you would have loved to see that in that moment. And he'll tell you he's he's got a score there, but that's gonna happen. That's football, Sean. And I agree though, because Australia did come out pretty strong. And I and I put that in my notes as well. We seemed to take our foot off the gas a little bit in that early in that second half, and Australia was putting their foot on the gas. So I think for a quick moment there, the US realized, oh shoot, these guys aren't gonna just lay down and die. They're gonna they're gonna fight, they're gonna try to get something out of this game. So if Balogun hits that that chance makes it 3-0 in the 50th minute, maybe you look at some rotation, you can kind of take your foot off and and ease your way into the the rest of the game, but by missing that, Australia's still alive, and they like you said, really showed some belief in that second half. They are fouling and getting scrappy and getting physical, and you know, I had some notes that they were really I feel like they were really put together in the second half, and that was their plan, just to muck the game up and stop start, stop, start, foul, be physical. And the US, for the most part, I would say match the intensity, which you like to see. You gotta be careful with the yellow cards, of course, because of the the next round, but I do like the US saying, hey, we're on home soil, we're not just gonna take these punches, we're gonna punch back, and it it ended up being, you know, a successful plan to finish the game up.

SPEAKER_00 18:19

100% agree that we matched the physicality. I thought that was a clear intent from the Australians, like, okay, let's go punch them in the mouth this half. And Brandon Always used the phrase, let's roll around in the mud. That's what they wanted to do. They wanted to get muddy. And I thought we did a great job of responding on that front. Now, did we excel and rise above and play some brilliant football? No, we did not. But again, I mentioned it's hard to do that when one team is trying not to. So I think that was completely fine. I was happy with the intensity. I was happy we we didn't really concede many big chances. They had a few half chances here and there where maybe some really quality finishing final third players would have put one or two away. But nobody on that team looked likely to score. I really wasn't scared at any point that Australia were gonna get a goal. We had another chance where Weston played a really good ball to Flo, and Flo really awful touch, which again does happen. He was probably our man of the match. I think he might have won man of the match officially. He did, yeah. Yeah. But I don't know necessarily that he was even great, but he was still really good. I just have such a high expectation for him now because of how he's been performing this tournament, that I I was expecting him to put one of those away, maybe. Maybe that's a bit greedy, but it would have just been nice to get that third.

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Yeah, and I hear you, Sean, and I agree with you. I just I think it goes back to us wanting that traditional number nine, that Landon Donovan, that guy who just puts him in the puts him in the net whenever they get that chance. And we Balogun has shown signs of that for sure, and he's progressed, and I think he's having a fantastic World Cup, but we still don't have that true number nine killer. Give me a half chance, I'll give you a goal guy at this moment. And maybe look, and maybe with the roster we have and the team we have, we can put it all together and you know, kind of build our own little our little way of doing it, but it's just gonna look different from the US standpoint, and and maybe that's okay, Sean. But that true number nine, out and out, I'm gonna finish every chance. I just don't think we have that in this roster.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

And also, I think it's worth noting that it's hard to really ask you to put away a chance when it's there's so such a lack of rhythm in the game, and you're not getting as many touches as you were in the first half, and we're doing a lot more out-of-possession work, and you're making a lot of hard runs to try to stretch the defense. So he had a lot on his plate, and I completely get that. And it's not down to him, obviously, he weren't man of the match, but it's just it's I just want to hammer home the point. If you guys were watching this game as one of your first times watching soccer in the last few months, years, whatever, it wasn't pretty, and that's not how the game usually looks, but that's because of how Australia set up. It wasn't really down to the US. That blame falls on Australia, who were down 2-0 and still tried their best to make the game as ugly as possible. I will say, I have to point out, Brandon, I mentioned how he put in a good shift last time. Our first guy off the bench, again, Sebastian Baerhalter, subs in and immediately just a horrible ball out wide, starts a counter-attack and leads to an Australian chance. I I don't want to harp on it, but it wasn't his best showing. He was fine. And I think we can really transition because we could start talking about who our standout performers were and who maybe we would have liked to see a little bit more from because other than a big chance for Australia in the 85th minute, which I think would have gotten called back for a foul in the box anyway, the game sort of just played out like that for the whole second half. We had a couple chances on the counter, Australia had a couple half chances in possession, but really not much happened and it was ugly to watch.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Yeah, not too much going on, and like you said, it wasn't Burhalter's best moment, but I also know you're extremely critical of him. No, no, no. I I was first to sing his praise last week. So I'll take that with a grain of salt. But you're right. When you come in as a sub, you want to make an impact. And I think some of these guys may be pushing a little too hard to make that great play instead of just the good play. And you want to see some of that aggression because guys are upset. Look, they want to play 90 minutes, they want to play as a starter, and they're not getting that. So they're trying to do whatever they can to kind of crack that starting lineup, but they're just not there at the moment. So I hear you, but I also don't want to crush Seb for that.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

No, I just wanted to point it out that it was. If it was anybody else, maybe I would let it go. You're right about that. He's under a bit of a microscope. But he's also become our first guy off the bench, which I don't necessarily love. So I think it is noteworthy that he is, again, the guy Potch turns to first to sure up control of a game. Interesting choice. Not one necessarily I would make, but it speaks to the roster. I don't think necessarily he's completely wrong. There's not a ton of great options when you turn to the midfield. But yeah, the other guys that came on, Austin Trusty and Joe Scalley came on to really shore up the defense and replace some of those wing backs with more traditional defenders. And I thought they were both really solid, good in their time out there. And then we could barely even count them as subs, but the only other two players to come on were Giorena and Haji Wright, which I was happy to see Haji get a little bit of a sniff in the game. It feels like he's the forgotten man in this squad. He wasn't even in the second unit when they came in the friendlies, so I feel bad for Haji because he scored a brilliant goal of the last World Cup, and I think he does add a different dimension to that striking unit that the other guys don't have.

SPEAKER_01 23:36

Sean, I don't want to look too far forward, but in the match against Turkey A next week, it'll be interesting to see who Patch puts out because in some regard, maybe you do throw a few starters on just so they can get minutes, keep their legs up, but also you want to see a guy like Haji come in and score a goal. But Balogun's also in great form, so do you want to keep that form up? It'll be interesting to see, and I'm sure we'll we'll discuss as we as we move. But yeah, Haji, you want to get Haji on the field. I would love to see Haji. I think he's he brings something a little bit different to this team. And unfortunately, with the way Balogun's been playing, it's it's just hard to get him on the field. So interested to see if he gets an extended role in this third group stage game.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

And I would actually argue I think he would have been better suited to do the job that Ricardo Pepe did because he could play on that left wing a bit than he does for Coventry. So I would have maybe liked to see that, but it's clear that Poch prefers Pepe. And Pepe, credit to him, it wasn't a role that he should be good at, but he ran his ass off and made some really good runs to try to stretch the defense, just played hard, but really just didn't have any chances come to him. So I'm not going to blame him for that. It was more of just a tactical thing. But yeah, let's talk about kind of let's zoom out a bit. The United States have won the group. That's the great news. They have come in first, and Turkey have come in last, which it's a big shocker. Group D, it's all the play for between Australia and Paraguay on the final match day. But in terms of the United States, we have four guys now who have picked up yellow cards: Anthony Robinson, we have Tyler Adams, who in the first game picked up a yellow, Florin Balogun and Chris Richards also got one in a bit of the kerfuffle at the end of this Australian match. So I would not play any of them in the final group stage game because then if you play those guys and they pick up a yellow, they are out for the first knockout game. So I just want to remind everybody of that. If you pick up two yellow cards at any point in the group stage, you miss the next match. So I wouldn't risk playing any of those four guys. But I am interested, like you said, I don't necessarily want to shut it down and play all reserves because then it's a long couple of weeks until our starters are playing in that first knockout game. And it's going to be tough to match that intensity when whoever we face will likely have fought a hard game in their final group stage game and have some momentum heading in. So we'll get to that when we preview that next match, but that's something to be cognizant of just who you would play in that next one. Obviously, let's keep Pulisic on the shelf. I think we agree there. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Put them on ice. We'll wait until the next one. Which is a huge benefit, and that's it speaks to how important this result was. We took care of business in such a complete thorough way that I couldn't be happier about. First time we've won back-to-back games at a World Cup in God knows how long. It's it's been forever. I don't know if you even know if it's ever happened.

SPEAKER_01 26:23

I think they said I think they said 1930, Sean. So what's that? 90, 19 plus years. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:29

What are we doing? Yeah, of course. Let's all be happy. Let's celebrate this. It's been excellent. So, Brandon, let's talk. Who were your standout performers and who were some guys you maybe wanted to see more of? I think we could caveat it too. There's not many guys that put in a bad shift.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

No, I think top to bottom, they they played well. Dest, like we mentioned earlier, definitely took another step, in my opinion. Alex Freeman, I've been high on Alex Freeman. Before this tournament, I'd not really seen him in that right center back role. I'd more seen him as that right wing back, right back role. And seeing him in this tournament in that role, he's been great. So I I definitely give him a stock up. Balogun, we we've mentioned. And I think in the second half, especially, a guy like Tyler, it's getting it's getting messy in there. Guys are fighting, guys are kind of all over the place. A guy like Tyler just helps to keep that team together. Weston as well. So I think those two guys in the middle of the field are very instrumental for the US. Not just from the soccer standpoint, but just from a mental keep yourself together. We've been here before. They're trying to get us to get yellow cards. Uh, so so I think having those two guys in that midfield really help. I don't really give stock, quote unquote, down to anyone. I think if the Turkey A game was for something, in our opinion, in for the US, I don't think we'd change any lineup. I wouldn't say, hey, bring in X for Y. Maybe you look at the Pepe situation and maybe you give Haji a run out, but I don't know if I'd really give a huge stock, quote unquote, down to anybody from that matchup.

SPEAKER_00 28:05

I'm right there with you. That's why I kind of caveatted it with we had a really good team performance, and I don't think anybody necessarily played poorly. I will highlight, I'm in a complete agreement with you in terms of the guys you mentioned, and I would just throw Chris Richards into that mix as well. I thought he was a really calming presence at the back where Alex Freeman, he was a standout player on many respects. He scored the second goal and had a couple of really good moments and showed such grit and determination, especially after an injury. I will say he also had a couple really, really disastrous moments. The one in the first minute, one in the second half, where just playing square balls across your goal at a high level, you can't do it. And he'll learn from that. But I think he showcased exactly what a 21-year-old with loads of potential is. He's not a finished product yet, and you saw the really, really good stuff and you saw some bad stuff. But I'm so happy with him being in our starting lineup and being a focal point of this team because I think that's gonna pay dividends for us for the next 10, 12 years. I think that's the level of player he can become. He's already playing regularly in La Liga at Villarreal, so very happy with Alex Ruman overall. Just got to clean up a couple of those moments. If Alex, if nothing else, just don't play that square pass. And if you do, play it exact, please. Yeah, Wes, I think him and Tyler were unsung heroes. Wes got more praise because he was playing more balls in the final third, but they were both really good and dependable, and that's what we needed from them. You mentioned Serginho, his link up play with Wes was great. And then the only other person we have to shout out again, overall, really good, Florin Balogun. Ran the hard yards, basically scored a goal, one man of the match, all good stuff. On the flip side, the one guy who I just have to point out I'm a little growing a little bit worried about is Tim Reem. There's just a couple moments where he's caught with cement feet. And when you're playing as a 37, 38-year-old team captain, you have to be so good at your positioning and being think and thinking a step or two ahead, and he normally is. But the problem is you have to do it 100% of the time because of your lack of recovery pace. And that's such a high bar, I know, but unfortunately, because you're that age, that's what you have to do. And he's just had one or two moments in each match where he's making a wrong choice and misstepping or getting caught in a position where he can't be caught out at. And I don't think it's come back to bite us yet, but I just want to note that it very much can and will against some stiffer competition.

SPEAKER_01 30:34

Yeah, the Tim Reim one is interesting, Sean, and I don't I don't disagree with you. I think we sort of know Tim Reim's ceiling, and maybe he's just hitting that ceiling, so I didn't really put him on the stock down because I know he's gonna be slow. He's gonna he's gonna have to, like you said, think ahead a lot more than some of the other guys. But also I think that brings in the brilliance of uh Chris Richards because he's able to cover for him at times. He's able to know, hey, Tim's not gonna get this one, so I gotta go get it. So yeah, I I agree with you, but at the same time, I'm also like, no offense to Tim Marim, but he's not getting any better. Like he's not gonna be faster all of a sudden in the next games. So that's gonna be a point. A point. Look, we've made this point since the roster came out. Who's gonna be the center back situation? So I think it's a weak spot overall as a team, but I feel like they've done well enough to cover each other that it hasn't bitten us yet. But come knockout time, yeah, it's gonna get it's gonna get a little dicey back there.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

So let's talk about the knockouts. We're we're through. We're we've won the group, so we know our pathway, Brandon. I'm gonna tell you this. I don't know if you've seen the pathway yet, and I'm gonna tell you the teams we have the highest chance of playing, and I don't know if you've seen that yet either. Okay, no, thank you. I have not seen it yet, so I'm interested to hear. A good live reaction. That's what we wanted. So, in terms of when we will play, we play a round of 32 match, Wednesday, July 1st in Santa Clara. We're staying out west. Okay, good. 8 p.m. Eastern prime time. Good stuff there. Yeah, it's great. Round of 16, and by the way, listeners, we're gonna go through the whole thing because we're we're gonna win all these games. So stick with us. Round of 16, Monday, July 6th, 8 p.m. Seattle, Washington. We're heading back to Seattle.

SPEAKER_01 32:15

All right, I like that. Still on the West Coast, still in that same Pacific time zone. I like that. Easy flights. Body clocks are staying put.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

I love that. Yeah, and the 12th man, we're back with you. I love that. Quarter final, quarter final, which could be against the likes of Spain. We'll see. That could be tricky. But quarterfinals in Inglewood, California. We are not even thinking of coming back in. It is July 10th, Friday, 3 p.m., another Friday, 3 p.m. If we could get to that Friday, July 10th, 3 p.m., that needs to be a national holiday. Clear the cover, clear the clear him. Get rid of any work scheduled for that day. Now, the semifinal. Can I interest you in the semifinal? That's gonna be in Arlington, Texas, Tuesday, July 14th, 3 p.m. Why we were playing a semifinal at 3 p.m. on a Tuesday? Heaven knows. It's one of the three biggest games in the in the whole sport, and we're playing it on a Tuesday at 3. Absolutely as fine. I don't know who scheduled that, but that needs to be moved. But I don't know what's going on. But we're starting to make our way back east, Brandon. Okay. And then finally, of course, we'll be here. The World Cup final is in Newark, New York, New Jersey, East Rutherford, whatever you want to call it. It's $200 to park, it's $300 to get there. It is Sunday, July 19th at 3 p.m. That's a proper, that's a proper time for a kickoff of a game of that stature.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Okay. I like that, Sean. It's yeah, the just based on the schedule, and I know you're gonna go into potentially who they could play. That's good. I don't know if you could ask for a better lineup than that. You slowly move back to the East Coast, going to Texas, and then and then the East Coast for the final. So I'm very happy with how that panned out.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

A hundred percent. And now we're not guys who get ahead of our skis. So we just wanted to inform you. So if you're having a conversation in the office, you know the schedule. You might want to cancel any meetings for those days and times because I have a feeling we're gonna make a run. Now, where the run starts is our possible opponents in the round of 32. I have some percentages brought to you by, I believe, the athletic. So our most likely opponent in the round of 32 is Bosnia and Herzegovina. A 58% chance we see the Bosnians in the round of 32. And let me just say I would happily sign up for that. Yeah, we'll take that match for sure. I don't want to laugh them out here, but let me just say this. We'll we'll win that one. Next, an 18% chance we see the Qataris. And I would trade the Bosnians in a second for those Qataris because Canada just battered them, which we'll get to, but 18% chance we see Qatar in the round of 32. We're absolutely loving life, Brandon.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Yeah, that's even better. That's I don't want to get ahead of ourselves, like you said, but that's a 4-0 win for sure.

SPEAKER_00 35:09

Yeah, we might wrestle starters in that one too. Now, here's where things get a little bit tricky. We're having a laugh, everything's good. Now, it's only a 5% chance. I don't know how these numbers work, but 5% chance we see Ecuador. No good, no good. Yeah, we don't want that. No good. I don't want that at all. 4% chance we see Senegal. Don't want that either. No Bueno. No. 3% chance we see Norway. Don't want that. No thanks. 3% chance we see Algeria. I'll take it, but I don't love it. I'd much rather Bosnia or Qatar.

SPEAKER_03 35:45

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:46

2% chance Austria. Fine. 1% chance Curacao. Sure. Sure. Yeah. Bring them to see you there. Please. 1% chance. Now here's a real bad 1% chance. Ivory Coast, Germany, Sweden. I don't want any of them. I'll take Sweden if I have to. I'll take Sweden. I had to, yes. I completely agree. I don't want Ivory Coast or Germany. And then 1% for Jordan and Iraq. So those are our possible opponents. There's seven others that are less than 1% chance. Surely it won't come to them. Just give us, just give us all sign the dotted line for Bosnia. We'll take the second hardest option. We don't need to play with fire and risk an Ecuador, which is a disaster landmine. Yeah. But I I would sign up happily for Bosnia or Qatar.

SPEAKER_01 36:31

I think, yeah, Sean, I think that's right. That's not a bad situation to be in. Uh of course we'll learn more over the next game, next couple match days. We have a lot of teams playing their second games coming up. So we don't we're we're still a little bit far out on that, but yeah, if today we had to decide Bosnia or Qatar, that's I think you said 51 and 18, so almost 75% chance it's one of those. Sure, sign me up.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

We're happy with that. So we'll tie a ball in the United States for now. With that, we're in a good spot. Vibes are high. We're gonna continue that for another week at least. We're gonna we already mentioned the group D, still all the play for in terms of the second place position. Australia plays Paraguay on the final match day. We'll see who gets second. We'll see if third is enough to qualify. They both have three points under their belt. I it might be. We'll see. It's gonna be between three and four where that cutoff is, and it might come down to goal differential for those final spots as third place qualifiers. Let's move to group C. This one, definitely the most fun group, Brandon. I mean, the vibes between these fan bases are electric, but it was a tough one for my Tartan army. I I've become completely indoctrined into this. I'm a huge fan of these folks. They've welcomed me with open arms. I'm getting invites to Edinburgh, Glasgow. It's just been brilliant. I wish I could be there in Boston with them, the party. It didn't end the way we wanted, but I will say they played better than they did against Haiti and ultimately just faced a tougher team in Morocco who they couldn't get one over the line against. The ref called absolutely nothing in this match. I'm not sure he brought a whistle. He just let them play. And it was honestly kind of refreshing at some points, but then at some points it's like, all right, dude, I wouldn't hate a foul here or there. So a tough one for Scotland. They were in first place heading into the second match day. Now they have a bit of a sweat heading into the final match day.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

Yeah, I also just want to say, Sean, before we really dive into that game. Tartan Army, I'm also available. Like I've seen the comments inviting Sean to all these places. Oh, come out with us, come drink with us. Look, I'm a fun guy too. So bring me with you. I I will say I also love that the Tartan Army, we didn't hit on this, Sean, but they've donated a ton of money to different children's organizations in Boston and Rhode Island, hospitals. I saw they did made a donation to a program to teach kids how to play the bagpipes. Like, Sean, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00 38:57

So Tartan Army over $50,000 at this point as well. Like not insignificant amount, like a really proper donation, just the classiest people around.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Yeah, and you'd love to see that. You'd love to see communities coming together. I feel like you mentioned this, Sean, last time. The Scotland Boston fit was just ideal. And so kudos to all of you, Tartan Army. Uh, I'm willing to join as well, so bring me with you. Like you said, turning back to the to the football, third game against Brazil in Miami. Brazil's gonna be ready for it. It's gonna be a tough one. I think if Scotland can get a point, maybe they can potentially look at a third place situation getting through. But it's gonna be hard. It'll be difficult, but they they're gonna have to create chances. And we talked a little bit about the the Morocco game they had. They just didn't seem to really create a lot. The referee, of course, not really calling much definitely hurt them. But giving up a goal that early and just not being able to generate much offense after that, it's it's gonna be tough. So Scotland playing against Brazil, you wanna you gotta press early and you gotta hope that Brazil just isn't awake yet. At the Haiti game with Brazil, I feel like Haiti hung hung around for the first 20-25 minutes and unfortunately gave up gave up a goal right on the uh hydration break. Scotland, I think if you can potentially put one in before that hydration break and and really kind of then sit back and pray for the best, you have a chance. So, you know, we'll be cheering for you. We we we support you, but we it we know it's gonna be a tough one, and I'm sure you do as well.

SPEAKER_00 40:44

Yeah, there's a chance they get through with the three that they do have. It's just it's a lot looks a lot better for them if they get that fourth point. And I don't think it's impossible by any means. It'll be a stiff test, but I have faith they could get the job done. Brazil does sit up top of the group by two in terms of goal differential. They are level with Morocco with four points apiece. Brandon, you were at the Brazil game, three goals in the first half, kind of a chaotic game. It was lively in the stadium, a lot of energy for both sides, it seemed like it sounded good on TV, came across well from the fans of Philadelphia. It just feels like Brazil almost should be disappointed with that because it really should have been more with how aggressive Haiti played trying to chase the game in the second half. They really pressed some high, and and I'm shocked Brazil wasn't able to get another one or two on the board.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Yeah, and in this tournament where goal differential matters, Brazil probably leaves that game feeling a little disappointed. Haiti, look, they knew on paper they were gonna be the underdogs, they knew it was gonna be a tough one. But for them, I say you know, I'm proud of them. They they really still tried to push in that second half and get a goal back, and they probably knew, look, we're not gonna win this game, but let's let's go home with something to celebrate. Let's go home with something tangible to go into our next our third group stage game. And for them to be pushing that high and Brazil not to capitalize even on a counter, Brazil will feel disappointed. I think Brazil goes into that game thinking they're gonna win six or seven zero, but Haiti held their own, and unfortunately, they just don't have the quality up front to really put away a lot of chances. So Brazil wins on paper pretty easily 3-0, but 3-0 could have been 5 or 6-0 with a little bit more uh tenaciousness from from Brazil up front.

SPEAKER_00 42:31

Yeah, or if they knew what the offside rule was. Yeah, I've never seen this game called offside more. Oh my goodness gracious. And just a few parting thoughts on group C because it's one, it's probably the most fun group, as I mentioned, just in terms of fans, and you have Brazil-Morocco, two really big threats to win this thing. I thought that their attack, their front three looked good. They looked creative, and then they lose Rafinha in the first half with a hamstring, which hurts, but then they just bring in it's like a conveyor belt of young attacking elite talent. They have Ryan come off the bench who plays at Bournemouth. He's unbelievable. He's from Vasco da Gama. He he's good. He didn't play great in this one, I don't think, but then in the second half, you see Endrick and Martinelli come on, and I thought they were both really, really good for Brazil. They freed Endrick. I asked for it at the end of the episode. My guy, Don Carlo. This guy hates Endrick. He was at Real Madrid, Endrick couldn't get a sniff. He follows him to Brazil, he can't get a sniff, even with injuries. Endric comes on, he looks like the best player on the pitch. Some of the holdup play he does, he starts some counterattacks, he scored a goal, which of course he was off side for as well. It's just it's just uh I think we need to see him start the next match, in my opinion. Start him out on the right hand side in place of Rafinha. But also, Brazil are getting Neymar back. So it's been confirmed that he's going to be fit at least to play some minutes against Scotland. So that adds to the intrigue in terms of that game in Miami. I can't wait for that one. I'm rooting for Scotland. Just get a point. I'd love to see a 3-3. Because Brazil, you could get you could get at them. Yeah. They don't they're not bulletproof at the back, like you mentioned. It just took Haiti just needed a little bit more composure in that final third, which they didn't have. I'm hoping Scotland does have a lot to play for still in group C. In group B, Mexico have won the group, which Brandon, hey, one of my bold predictions. United States, Mexico, and Canada all win their groups. Two out of three ain't bad so far. I'm not even Jesse. We'll get to that in a second. But Mexico hold on to beat Korea 1-0. Kind of a sloppy one, wasn't pretty. Last minute save from Raul Ranhel to clinch it for Mexico. It was a complete blunder by the South Korean keeper that they he came out and got tackled by his own man, basically, and a disaster for Luis Romo scored the only goal in this one. But it does mean that the hosts have won their group, and South Korea are still likely to advance because they have the Bafana Bafana in the last game. What were your thoughts on this one? And do you think Mexico is the worthy winner of group B? I do.

SPEAKER_01 45:04

I think it wasn't a beautiful game. I just I'm not sold on South Korea. And maybe there was a little bit of sunny bias coming into this, Sean. He's a guy that we love, we we followed for for years, and they just they've just really disappointed me overall. I don't think Mexico played their best game. They really scored, like you said, I'm kind of on a fluke, uh fluke goal. But this group overall just hasn't impressed me at all. I think Mexico's done what they had to do, and you'd expect them to do it on home soil. But this this group, in my opinion, and I don't know how the numbers will fall out, Sean, and I apologize, but I don't think the third place team deserves to go through in this group. It's just it's just been really, really, in my opinion, bad football overall. Mexico kind of just had to be a little bit better than these teams, but I mean, shout out to them. They're through. You predicted it, and they're they did it, but this group just overall has really been a little stinky for me.

SPEAKER_00 46:10

Snoozefest. Yeah, yep. Complete snooze fest. And and I was expecting some I will say South South Africa gave us a moment against against Chechia, but they they were so wasteful throughout most of that game, South Africa. They're they're getting guys yellow carded, red carded, left, right, and center. I don't know what their disciplinary rules are in place there, but we need to revamp them. I agree. If it's Chechia that's getting a third place spot, I don't care if they have more points than Scotland. I'd like to sign, I think we'd get all of America to sign a petition. Get them out, get the tartan army in. Because nobody wants nobody wants the Czechs going through playing that ugly football. It this whole group's been stinky. South Korea's been disappointing. I kind of thought they would be. The vibes are bad heading into the tournament. They weren't great. I said almost that Czechy or South Africa could finish above them. I might have even predicted South Africa finished second, which they still could, which is shockingly enough. All it takes is one match where they win, and they are second place, likely. So yeah, not my favorite group. Pretty easy for Mexico to win, and they didn't even play their best either. So let's move on to group A, where a little bit more intrigue in this one, at least at the top of the group. We had the Swiss beat Bosnia 4-1. I don't get a lot right, Brandon. I predicted Endrick to be the breakout player of the tournament. He can't even get a minute. But I did mention when you were doing the Swiss preview, watch out for Johan Manzombi. And this guy, he came in, he changed the game for them, scores two, I think he assisted a third, a 4-1 win for the Swiss after not looking like they were going to score for much of the match. Johan came in and made the difference. They, along with the Canadians, have it all to play for on the final match day. So Canada, obviously, we could touch on both these games. Canada just battered Qatar. We didn't expect much from Qatar, and it showed just how bad the Swiss played with their food in that first match. Because boy oh boy, Canada embarrassed Qatar 6-0. Before we get to the big storyline from that game, just kind of talk through your thoughts on those two.

SPEAKER_01 48:10

Yeah, Switzerland, Bosnia game was interesting because nothing really happened until I think it was like the 75th minute. Uh, Switzerland was definitely in control, but not being able to finish anything before then, and then to pump in four goals in the last 15-20 minutes of the game is was good. Great. Uh the actual goals in this game were were pretty good on both sides. Like the actual finishing was fantastic. So Switzerland, I think they were playing with their food a little bit, but eventually turned it on and finished. Switching to the Canada Qatar game, I mean, Sean, Canada. Canada and this might be Jesse Marsh or whoever, but they just said, hey, let's come out and score as many goals as we can. And I think the two Qatar red cards, of course, that puts them down to nine men, so Canada already has an advantage there. But I think it motivated Canada even more. Terrible, terrible injury to Ismail Kone, I think, was that sort of last sort of ignition point for them. And they were like, we need to go score as many as we can after this. And you know, we our thoughts go out to him because that was a terrible injury, and you never want to see that happen in a World Cup. I don't know, Sean, if it was an intentional foul, quote unquote, but it's definitely a hard foul, and unfortunately, just got him in a spot on the leg where it pretty much shattered his lower leg. So sad to see for Kone, but Canada continued to pour it on, and my guy, Jonathan David, finishes with a half trick, which for those at home counting are a lot of points. I'll let Sean do the calculations, but a ton of points for the team Brandon in the player pool. Uh, so we'd love, love, love to see that. And and again, the goal differential matters, so that helps Canada going into this third game against Switzerland on the 20.

SPEAKER_00 49:58

Yeah, I can't believe what Jonathan David did to me in that player pool. Absolutely unbelievable. I was I was doing well, it was back and forth battle between us, and then Jonathan David just comes with a hat trick. And because Canada's a tier three team, they count for a billion points. So Brandon has the lead there, and I have some catching up to do. But yeah, the tackle on Ishmael Kone, I agree. I don't know the intent of it was that nasty, but the result was it seemed like the Qatari player came into the Canadian locker room to apologize after, which was a nice gesture. Of course, Jesse Marsh made it about himself, got in a fight on the touchline at the end of the game. That's what he does. It's all Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. I do need you to win the group, Jesse, as I predicted. So please go ahead and do that. And then maybe you'll that's a step in the right direction in terms of an olive branch. But yeah, that group, it basically it all comes down to the final match day. We have two matches that decide the finishing order. So it's nice when you have groups come down to the final match day and aren't decided, like the United States of Mexico groups are. So, Brandon, we've talked about the teams that are playing on Saturday and Sunday already. We're recording this Saturday morning. Saturday could be the day of the tournament so far. These games on paper are going to be absolutely electric. I can't wait to sit and watch all of them. We have the Dutch play taking on Sweden in group F. We also have Japan playing Tunisia. And then in group E, we have Ecuador against Curacao and Germany against the Cote d'Ivoire. We'll be watching those. We'll be watching the game Sunday. I'm excited for all of it. On Sunday, we have Spain taking the field again. I'm interested to see what they put out. It better be better than last time. They take on Saudi Arabia. And then we have Uruguay taking on Cape Verde. A lot to get to there. We have Belgium and Iran and Group G, and then New Zealand and Egypt. So we've touched on all those teams' first games already. We don't need to preview them because some of you might be listening to this Monday morning. But just wanted to make note for our Saturday listeners that there's some good action this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

Yeah, this is a good, good weekend. Eight games over the next two days, Saturday and Sunday. Definitely tune in. I'd encourage it. Uh, we got Father's Day tomorrow. If you're celebrating with your family, maybe put it on at the table. I know, I know Sunday, Father's Day is typically a golf day, Sean, and you're a golf guy, and you'll definitely know more about this than I do. But uh it might be a little bit of a different, different, different show on the television this weekend. A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_00 52:28

Yeah, I'm I am a big golf guy. I can't I haven't even watched the US Open. The World Cup has completely taken over my focus. Yeah, no, no, thank you. So I'm I'm all World Cup. And my dad's out of town, so nice and easy. Then Monday, we have some teams that we haven't talked about their games yet. So we'll dive into those quickly. Monday and Tuesday are the last of the second match day games. And then on Wednesday, that's when the final group stage match days begin. We'll preview those at a later time. We'll talk about those later, but Monday and Tuesday are full of teams that we haven't mentioned since they kicked off. And one of the big games Monday is Argentina taking on Austria, which will likely determine the winner of group J. Brandon Messi Hattrick in the opener. Is that any good? Not not too bad. Another member of Team Brandon just saying, but which was disgusting by you, by the way. You talked about how much you hated Argentina and then went and took Messi right in my face. I thought I could get him last.

SPEAKER_01 53:24

Look, I I'm not the biggest Argentina guy, but I'm not an idiot. So in my head, I didn't think I didn't think you'd be so disingenuous, but that's on me. Now I know you I know you played me 1230, so for next time I know. Gotta play in the mud, just like you like to say. Pull me down with you. I had Yulian Alfred as another guy coming off the bench. I swear, I swear these managers watched that you watched your your draft and were like, hey, well, let's just bench all of these guys. And then they come on and the team looks better too.

SPEAKER_00 53:56

It's like, well, hey, hey, bud, how about stardom? You know what I mean? I don't know. I don't know. But I'm excited for this one. I think it's a clash of styles for sure. It'll be a better test for Argentina than Algeria was. But I'm interested because the winner of this will win Group J.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

Yeah, I think Argentina will try to look like the Argentina that they always do. They're gonna get on the front foot, they're gonna get ahead, they're gonna try to pass their way through a lot of the problems, get a lot of chances, a lot of shots on goal. I think Austria, if they play a sound defensive game, it will help them and then maybe hope to score on a corner. Uh, but they're gonna have to get the game dirty, they're gonna have to slow it down and not make it pretty. But like you said, Sean, based on this group, Austria will still very, very likely go through, even with a loss. So I think they'll want to keep it tight just goal differential-wise, if they can't pull out goals. So this could this could be a fun watch. This could also be an awful watch, depending on how the first kind of half shifts out. So, yeah, I mean, I'll definitely, I mean, we watch all the games, so I'll I'll be watching. But this one might not be as pretty as it looks on paper.

SPEAKER_00 55:12

Yeah, uh I I hope that we do get an entertaining one, but sometimes those clash of styles can lead to some ugly football as well. So we'll we'll see how that breaks out. We have Algeria taking on Jordan. Jordan played Austria in the first match day, and I believe this was one of the midnight games because I only saw the extended highlights for this one, but there was some it was kind of an electric factory of a game. It was just in the middle of the night, so nobody saw it. But I'm interested to see Algeria and Jordan because this is a desperate times, desperate measures game. They are fighting for their lives here. Though they need, if you want to advance in a third place spot, you need to get all three points in this one.

SPEAKER_01 55:46

And I think Algeria, in my opinion, should should take care of business. They should win this game. Nothing against Jordan. I just don't think they're very strong. And Algeria didn't have a great first game, but I think this could be a good bounce back for them and really kind of get them on the right path before their their third group stage game and put them in that potential position for a third place qualifier into the next round.

SPEAKER_00 56:10

Yeah, we thought group J would have three teams coming out of it, and that still seems to be in play, but it does require Algeria getting the job done on Monday. So we'll keep an eye out for that. Also on Monday, we have Group I, which a great group. Maybe that it's been referred to as the group of death. I don't like that term. I don't think it's the strongest, but it's close. France, they played their first game against Senegal, and they stunk out the gaff in the first half of that one. They were horrific. Mbappe looked disinterested. His first touch was horrible. And then all of a sudden, in the second half, it's like, oh, there he is. There's Kylian Mbappe. Scores two great goals, could have easily had a penalty as well. I don't know how that wasn't really. It was for me, it was probably a penalty. But they take on Iraq. I want to get your thoughts on what you thought the French looked like and how you think they'll do against Iraq.

SPEAKER_01 56:58

Yeah, the first half for them, I think was still, hey, all right, this is the World Cup. We have to actually start playing together and playing as a team. And that second half, I think they just they have World Cup quality teams, Sean, have that ability to just turn it on when they need to turn it on. And it's a luxury for France that they don't need to play 90 solid minutes. They can just say, hey, alright, we'll we'll kick around the first half and then the second half we'll we'll really turn it up. I would love to see a complete 90-minute performance from France. You know, maybe it gets a little ugly. Uh, I will be at this game, so I really want to see some goals, but I would love to see them say, hey, we are in this tournament, not just to be here. We're here to win this tournament. And I want to see a full 90 minutes, I want to see Killian come come out from the start. I want to see Dembele get involved. I want to see all these guys, Desiree Dewey, really kind of stick it to Iraq and say, hey, we're a favorite, and we need to show that. I feel like Germany, Germany's really been the only quote unquote favorite, and we'll get into England maybe a little bit as well, that have really said, Hey, we're here, we're here to win. Brazil a little bit last night, but again, that was a lesser opponent. So a little wonky on that one, but I want to see 90 minutes from France and and say, hey, we're gonna win this group. We're we're easily going through, and and this is ours to lose.

SPEAKER_00 58:16

Yeah, I I'm with you. And I by the way, does this guy this guy does he work at all? He's at every game. Our guy Brandon here, friends of the football. He's at more games than Johnny Infantino. I got lucky, Sean. So it's awesome. He's coming to another one. Unbelievable stuff. Good for you. I'm glad you'll be at this one. I hope we do see a thorough performance from the French. They are coming off the back of one where it was a good half against Senegal, but they need to do it for a full 90. Senegal, however, they are unfortunate to lose that one. They they probably were a deserved loser, but through 70 minutes, they had to be thinking it was a little bit of hard luck. They take on Norway in a game where they are desperate. Norway's coming off the back of a win against Iraq, where they the score line flatters Norway a bit. I don't think Iraq was completely dormy in that game. I think they showed a lot more fight than the score line indicates. I'm interested to see this one because this will likely determine second place in this group, and I think it's a true 50-50. I couldn't give you a prediction on this one if I had to.

SPEAKER_01 59:17

Yeah, this one's tough. I put in my notes as well, battle for second in this group because these are clearly the second and third best teams. I think there could be some fireworks, Sean. I think we could see a high-scoring game. A game where you have Holland involved. Obviously, goals go through the roof. I don't love Norway in defense, and I think Senegal can get through and can get some opportunities as well. I think if they finish those opportunities, I'm thinking this could be a 3-3, 4-3 kind of game, and I'd love to see that because we need two teams who are just trying to win, you know, goal differential strategy, yada yada. We can go go over that all day. But at the end of the day, it's 90 minutes, and you want to win the game. And this one, I think you could really see both teams trying to get on the front foot, trying to score a lot of goals. So would love to see a 4-3 finish in this one. And I think it could go either way, just like you said.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:11

I will be taking the over. I'm with you. Yeah. I think we definitely have a leaky defense in Norway, not a great goalkeeper. Yeah, Holland going the other way. That's that bodes well for a lot of goals. And then Senegal, again, they they really look good in that game against the French, and I thought on a different day, maybe they get something out of it. It's just an overwhelming amount of talent that France has. And when you're able to give Olysse, Mbappe, Douay, Barkala chances over 90 minutes, they're going to eventually take them. So Norway are not bad. Norway are a lot easier to play against, and the French will be. So yeah, I'm very interested. I'll have eyes on that one. That'll be great. That rounds out Monday's action. And then Tuesday, the final day of match day two in the group stage. We have Portugal, Brandon. Portugal start their tournament with a horribly disappointing 1-1 draw to the Congo. Oh god, I I mentioned the Ronaldo. I said I love this team in spite of Ronaldo. I don't think he was the biggest issue in this one, but he didn't help the cause. And if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem. And it's just the way you have to play around Cristiano. It's it's not too dissimilar from the way Argentina have to set up around Messi. The difference is Messi is so good at bringing others into the game and linking play that you don't need him to do as much defensively because he serves as such an outlet where he could get the ball and make an incisive pass or go and score a goal like he did three times. Whereas Ronaldo isn't as good as that link up play and needs to get on the end of things, but is a step slower and can't run in behind people, doesn't offer any verticality. So, really a whole bag of problems for Portugal to figure out at the striker position. But they really just looked uninventive for much of that match against the Congo. And honestly, the Congo were a bit unlucky not to win it. I thought the Congo had some great chances on the counter late and a little bit more quality in the final third there. And Portugal are losers in the first day. So they need a big response against Uzbekistan. What do you think about the Portuguese so far?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:19

Sean, we we said it. We said if Ronaldo decides to take that secondary role and not have everything revolve around him, Portugal could win this tournament potentially. And we did not see that. He decided to take the main role, and he wants to be the guy, and he's not going to help his teammates very much. So we kind of predicted it going one way or the other. And like you said, DR Congo, it's not been talked about. Yeah, they could have won that game. They had chances and a lot of chances late, and Portugal was able to hold it together. But this one, Portugal, they need three points. They they have to win. And Uzbekistan, again, it's not the hardest opponent on paper. But if Portugal decides to mess around like they did against Congo, they may draw again or lose. So I don't know what's going on in that camp. Seems like there's just a lot of issues personnel-wise, and just the that that team cohesion is just not there yet. And maybe maybe they needed that first tie to say, hey, all right, guys, let's come together, let's let's sort this out. But if they don't figure it out, you know, they might mess around and be a third-place team or second place team having to play somebody fantastic in the round of 32 and then they go home. So you want to see Portugal really put it together. Uh they're a fun team to watch when they are playing good football, but right now it's it's been a little yucky.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:40

Yeah, Roberto Martinez. I talked about how he prides himself on being a tactician. Figure it out, dude. I I mean tell Ronaldo he's a super sub or he goes home. And if Ronaldo's coming on in the 75th minute and some tired legs, game's a little slower, he could get into positions in the box and finish and tuck away a goal. Yeah, that's a good use of him. Him being a focal point of your attack for 90 minutes, those days are gone at this level. So I don't think he scored a goal from open play for Portugal in the last 10 or 11 matches. I want to say. It's he's he scored penalties, but it's not a goal from open play. So that's an issue they gotta resolve. It's an issue we highlighted ahead of time. It seems like maybe you could have done your homework, and it's not exactly a complex problem. I think everybody knew it. So Roberto, figure it out, dude. That's my message to you. Elsewhere in group K, we have Colombia taking on the Congo. This one should be fun, man. The Congo were exciting to watch. Colombia, their fans are great. They were fun to watch. Jamez still pulling the strings in the center of the park. My guy Lucho Diaz scoring, assisting. I I'm a fan of this Colombian side. I'm a fan of the South American teams in this tournament. Hopefully, we see a good one here.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:51

Yeah, Sean, I think you will. I think Colombia probably has a little bit more firepower going forward and will edge out DR Congo. But like we saw with them against Portugal, I know it's a different opponent and a different sort of matchup. DR Congo is pretty stout defensively. So I think there'll be a lot of offensive firepower from Colombia. I think this ends up being maybe a three-to-one kind of game. Colombia's defense, not the best in the world, but uh I think they'll do well enough to come away with three points. Colombia's firepower on offense, I think, will just be a little too much for Congo to match. And uh I think Colombia wins this one uh by a goal or two.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:33

I'm with you. I think we see some goals in this one, and I think Columbia do win. I think that would be my statement. So I'm I think 3-1's a pretty good shout. We also group L, that's the final group to take place on Tuesday, and I have to tip my cap, Brandon. One of the more impressive sides in that opening round of games for me was England. Tommy Tuchels, England. I don't want to get ahead of myself and say it's coming home, innit? No, I'm not gonna. Go there. Not I'm gonna refrain, but Aery, Aerie Lad looked the part of the best number nine in the world, which he is still at this age. He's just incredible. He scores a brace. They get the job done in an exciting game against Croatia. I thought the second half for England in particular, that when you're able to bring guys like Ratchford and Bukayous Saka and Morgan Rogers off the bench, Jed Spence, even, they really made a difference. And then just the quality that England have in attack in reserve. It's it's special to see. So and with the manager, I did give you this. I do think Thomas Tuchel's a brilliant manager. So I know the England fans are in a tizzy because he's not English. Listen here, Bozo Southgate, you haven't looked like him in the last eight. You haven't looked like that in the last eight tournaments with that guy leading the charge. So I think it wasn't the worst idea to hand the keys over to Tuchel, the German.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:53

Yeah, I think they put together a great performance. You know, we saw Harry and we knew what we could get from Harry. Uh that's just his quality. But everyone else around him also played well. I think Croatia is a very good team, Sean, and I don't know if it's being talked about a lot, but Croatia probably gets through as the second team in this group, and I think they have enough quality to maybe get into a 16 or even an 8, depending on their their draw. But England, yeah, they were one of the few teams that are quote unquote favorites that that actually showed why they're a favorite in that first leg. And that bench, that bench power that that Tuchel can turn to is absolutely absurd. I mean, not many teams have players like Sokka and Rashford coming off the bench and can provide even more energy. And then, of course, you love to see Jed Spence playing. That's our guy. Tuchel said he's not gonna bring the 26 necessarily the 26 best, he's gonna bring the 26 correct the right players for what he wants to do. And to bring Jed in to just basically lock down a guy at the end of the game, that might be his only role in this tournament, and that's fine. And he's he's okay with it. Tuchel's bought in, the players are bought in. So for England to come out in that first game and show that level of quality, I think I think it puts a little bit of fear in some of the other favorites. Going to this match against Ghana, I think England should win again, uh, but you can't let Ghana hang around. We'll probably hit on this a little bit, but the Ghana uh Panama game, Ghana just hangs around, hangs around, hangs around, and does just enough and scores in the 95th minute to steal three points. England will want to just get ahead of the game and get on them early. So Ghana has to come out of their shell and really play more attacking. But again, Sean, we we've seen this with Spain, we've seen this with Brazil, we've seen this with a few other teams. If you don't take care of your chances early, do you let teams hang? These are quality players. Like I know Ghana maybe doesn't have the best you know players playing in all of the top leagues, but they have quality players. They have players in the Premier League, they have players in La Liga and some of these other big leagues, and they are pros. So you you can't mess around, you can't underestimate that. So England, I think, do win this game, but Ghana's a sneaky good side, and I think probably finish in third in this group and maybe can get through uh to the knockouts as well.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:21

You touched on a lot of things there, and I think I'm gonna my official stance is gonna be on England. I I said before, I do think they have a high floor. I don't see this team getting upset early in the tournament, I don't see them knocking themselves out. I still do have those long-term concerns about their defensive side of the ball and how they look out of possession at times. I'm a bit worried about that, but when you see Harry Kane dropping between the center backs and building play from the back routinely, and just having a guy that could do it all at that position is so important, and then he has guys that play off of him really well, both on the wings, and then Jude in that 10 position. Yeah, they're they're scary in terms of what they look like on paper. But let me just say this, Brandon. You you earlier in the podcast said you you want to be a part of the Tartan army, and as I I would say a newfound member, I I just want to warn the listeners, this guy is an English, he's an Englishman. He says it's coming up before the tournament. That's a fierce rivalry. You can't have it both ways, brother. I am I am gonna hear by I'm putting my foot down. I want Scotland to go further than England. You cannot say the same. So just let the record show that, please.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:27

Tari Narmy, I love y'all. I I think you guys are great. You've welcomed Sean into your own, but uh yeah, I will I will, I guess, die on the hill that I did pick England to win this tournament, and I will stand by that choice.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:40

I just Uno reversed you there. Yep, you like that?

SPEAKER_01 1:10:43

You did. Thank you, Sean.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:45

The last game we'll talk about. Oh, by the way, I do think England, I think they beat the shit out of Ghana. I think that one could be, I think that could be a four or fiver. I think that could be a four-fiver. It doesn't mean I don't hope they flip flame out as soon as possible, but they will make it out of this group on top with nine points from nine, in my opinion. The last game we'll talk about is Panama against Croatia. Brandon, you alluded to how Croatia is a strong side and likely will finish second in this group. I do agree they'll finish second. I I didn't expect to see that performance from Luka Modric. He got yanked early. He was pretty bad in that one, gives away a penalty. I've never seen Luca put in a performance that poor. I know Father Time catches up to everybody, but I thought maybe he was the exception. You know what I mean? He's still balling in Serie A. I I thought, I don't know. I didn't expect that from him. And they Croatia turned some of their younger talent. Baturina comes in with a big goal. I I thought they were good against England, especially in that first 45. But when you zoom out, they really scored some worldies that came against the run of play, and I'm interested to see them against the side where they're going to be more dominant and just make sure that they take care of business in this one. I think it's they just need to keep their guard up a little bit. Agree.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:56

I think they do have the quality. I think they have the talent to get by Panama. Panama will be sneaky. They're they're pretty solid defensively, but I think Croatia has enough to put a couple in on that. I don't think it'll be as close as maybe others have said it is. I think this could be a 3-0, open and shut, take care of business game. And and with Modric Luck, Sean, you said it, you said it best. Father Time catches up to all of us. And maybe that's just a fluke performance from him. I think he'll he'll take it personally in the sense that he knows he wasn't good enough. He knows he he's not doing what his team needs. And I think I'd expect a big performance from him uh against Panama because he he understands what he means to this country and this team. So uh I'd expect a big bounce back from Moderct in this next one.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:42

So that does it, Brandon. I think we're in a good spot. We recapped a great USA win. We broke down all the groups of where they stand. I I I'm continuing to love all the action. I will give a warning to everybody we gotta appreciate these four matches a day for another week and a half because they're going away soon, and it's gonna be a a much harsher reality when there's only one or two of these a day. And we're spoiled right now, so let's just take it in. Yeah, we gotta enjoy it, Sean.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:11

It's a special time, and it's it's great being able to say, Oh, I just got home from work or just got home from going out somewhere, and let me just pop on the TV and see what's on. And there's almost always a game on. So it's been a great week, week and a half, and looking forward to the next week, week and a half of this. And unfortunately, yeah, it's coming to an end, but we'll embrace it, we'll enjoy it while we got it.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:35

Yeah, and it I will say we replace maybe we get less football, but we get more higher stakes. So higher stakes games. So I I'm fine with that trade-off, I guess, you know.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:47

Yeah, more higher stakes games, theoretically, better teams. You'll see more quality out there. You will see a little bit more strategy, though. You will see teams really honing into their tactics and and their beliefs as we move forward because it's gonna be winner go home. So, you know, maybe a shootout or two coming up. We love to see a shootout. I know you're not a shootout guy, but I enjoy I enjoy penalty shootout. I don't know why. I enjoy penalty shootout, Sean, when my teams are not involved, just as the neutral casual observer. When my team's involved, yeah, it's a little a little dicey. It's terrible. Yeah, just as the as the casual getting to watch two other teams, hey, I'm all for it. Put them put them in the shootout.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:28

I agree with that. When it's not your team, that's a lot more palatable. When it is, that's tough. It's it's not even fun to watch. It's misery. Brandon, we will talk again, I'm sure, before the next United States game. We'll find some time. Maybe it's just a short preview, a quick check-in on some of the other action, and then we'll try our best. We might not recap that one immediately because the game's pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:54

But we'll we'll get you a couple more episodes throughout the course of the next week. We'll round out this group stage. A lot to look forward to. I thank you as always for joining me.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:04

Thank you, Sean. And I just wanted to give a quick, I don't know if it's a PSA or a shout. June is men's mental health awareness month. And, you know, as two guys getting to do this podcast, Sean, it's been fantastic for my mental health, for just everything. It's something I really look forward to doing with you. And I think you always say it best. You say it at the end of the episodes, tell a friend to tell a friend, but I also think be a friend as well. You know, I I feel like as as guys, we don't talk about this as much. So putting this out there, just want to highlight this month and highlight everything that's going on, and and just to be a friend, reach out to somebody. We've got, I know you've gotten some few, a few texts and messages from people listening to the podcast saying, hey, it's just great to hear your voice. It's it sounds like you guys are having so much fun. And and I agree with that, but definitely just be a friend, be be someone that you can reach out to, be someone that they can reach out to you, and just take care of each other. So, you know, it's it's I know it's men's month, but men, women, anybody, bring them all in. We gotta take care of each other. So just wanted to highlight that real quick, Sean.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:08

Brandon, great, great stuff from you. Really wholesome. I I love that. It couldn't have ended the show in any better way. And I'm actually going to give you another little compliment. You sent me an article, which I I did stumble upon on Twitter as well, but you sending it made me read it. And it was about Jan Diamante and his background and the tragedy that he suffered losing his sister. And I think that that story is amazing, and it's relevant to this World Cup as one of the breakout stars, but it just shows you that he a 19-year-old kid who seems like he has it all is going through something unspeakable. And every time he takes the field, he has something on his mind that's very heavy. So, yeah, I think that's a great way to end the show. It's a good message. Be a be a friend, tell a friend, talk to a friend, reach out, tell him you love him. I like that. It's good stuff, Brandon. Thank you as always.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:55

Of course, of course, Sean. Uh, listeners, thank you always for listening. Thank you for your comments, your support. We we really appreciate it. Like Sean said, I'll repeat again tell a friend to tell a friend. We're growing. We we want to do more, and we're excited to keep keep covering this World Cup for you and bringing you information. So, Sean, thank you as always. And listeners, take care.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:18

Yes, free Andrick. No scholar, no party.