Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast! (S14 E8)

                       Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast!  (S14 E8)

Proud member of the Sports History Network and endorsed by the National                                                  Soccer Coaches Association of Canada.     

Host Giovanni Pacini welcomes his worldwide audience to yet another exciting show. Don't forget this season will feature World Cup "bonus content" throughout the season and beyond!

This week's "Conversation with the Coach" is with "Eyes Up" author, TJ Kostecky where he talks about his most recent trip to Senegal. "Coaches Corner" features TJ Kostecky again as he discusses improving field vision. "News and Analysis" will feature Giovanni Pacini with news from the AP and Ralph Ferrigno checks in with the European Soccer Report where he talks about the UEFA Quarter Final Second Leg. The "American Soccer Revolution" features an audio clip from Harrison Szep where he addresses the issue- "Why rich parents have hacked US soccer".

The GP Soccer Podcast features new shows every Wednesday and can be found anywhere you listen to your podcasts. Listeners are encouraged to "Like" and "Subscribe" the GP Soccer Podcast and share the show amongst those within their social media network! Those interested in advertising on the show can contact host Giovanni Pacini at gp4soccer@yahoo.com. And be sure to check out the show website at www.gpsoccerpodcast.com. 

                    GP Soccer Podcast enjoys continued support from-
United Goalkeeping Alliance - Music Meets Sports - National Soccer Coaches Association of Canada - The Sports History Network - Feedspot.com - GP Voice Over Services - Zone 14 Coaching

GP Soccer Podcast welcomes a new sponsor- Zone 14 Coaching! Check it out at Zone14coaching.com. Use promo code GP20 for 20% off!

To purchase a signed copy of Dr. Joe Machnik's book- "From the Sandlots to the World Cup: 7 Decades of American Soccer", e-mail "Dr. Joe" at joemachnik@no1soccercamps.com. Be sure to mention the GP Soccer Podcast!

Enjoy the show!

Transcript

SPEAKER_13 1:21

Well, hey there, everyone. Giovanni Piccini here, your host of the GP Soccer Podcast. Welcome to all of you, my wonderful global audience, to yet another great episode. You know, pulling back the curtain just a little bit, sometimes the hardest part of putting together this show is the opening. Is the opening. As you all know, if you're a regular listener to the show, there's certain segments that we cover. And those are pretty easy in terms of structuring the show, but the hardest part sometimes is the opening. And so as I was preparing for today's show, I asked myself, well, how do you want to open the show? What direction do you want to go in? And I just, I guess I want to start today's show by saying thank you. Thank you to my to my wonderful listening audience, without which there would be no GP Soccer podcast. There are literally thousands of you from literally around the globe, around the world, that tune into my show each and every week. And as you know, uh new episodes come up every Wednesday morning. But you can listen to the GP Soccer Podcast from season one right up to season 14, and a lot of you do that. You go way back in time and take up some stuff uh deep in the vault of the GP Soccer Podcast, and you tune into those shows uh as well. And it's and it's an honor and it's a pleasure to make all those shows available to you so that you can go back and and uh and listen. And you know, when you go back to season one, and I and I do that every once in a while, I have to kind of chuckle, uh, as is any new venture, how kind of basic the show was. It kind of lacks some sophistication and structure, but as time went on, uh that that sophistication, that structure uh, you know, came came uh to light, came into being. Um the show is predicated or based upon, I guess more accurately, on three pillars. And this is no joke. I actually in my studio here, I'm looking at it right now. There's a on my bulletin board. It says educate, inform, and entertain. Educate, inform, and entertain. And each and every week, that's that's what I try to do here on the GP Soccer Podcast. So my opening today is really simple. I just want to say thank you to all of you. I appreciate your support. Uh, it encourages me, it motivates me to come down here to my studio each and every week and try to give you the very best in terms of soccer knowledge, soccer news, soccer instruction, soccer education, everything having to do with the great game of soccer. So that's how I want to start the show with a very, very heartfelt thank you. Conversation with the coach is a returning guest, a wonderful, and I do mean wonderful, TJ Kastecki. He's the author of Eyes Up. And if you have not picked up this book, if you have not picked up this book, go out of your way to do so. Add it to your coaching library. Uh, it's a terrific, terrific book. And uh, TJ uh and the work that he's he does uh with vision training has brought him literally around the world. In this week's conversation with the coach, TJ Kastecki, we're gonna talk about his recent trip to Senegal. You're not gonna want to miss that. In Coach's Corner, I kind of tied these two things together. It's gonna be again with TJ Kastecki, and he's gonna be talking about improving field vision. Soccer news and analysis with yours truly, Giovanni Piccini, soccer news from the Associated Press, and the European Soccer Reporter Ralph Rigno. He is gonna talk about, uh he's gonna give his overview of the UEFA competition's quarterfinal second leg. In the American Soccer Revolution, uh, this is a gentleman who I have played. I have pulled audio from his uh YouTube page on numerous occasions. I just think he's terrific. I think uh I know he and I are cut from the same cloth, and I'm talking about Harrison Zepp. I always spell the last name, so you can when you venture into uh uh YouTube, you can find him. It's S-Z-E-P. And um his topic for today, the audio of which I will share with you, is why rich parents have hacked U.S. Soccer. And he's gonna get into, well, you guessed it, pay to play, and he's also gonna talk about where the world's best players truly, truly develop. Um you're not gonna want to miss that. Um he does a terrific, terrific job. Checking boxes, checking boxes, checking boxes. Uh someone sent this along to me and wanted to get my kind of feedback on it. The top 20 greatest Italian players of all time. Well, I was I was very much intrigued with all of this, so I thought I'd kind of share with you. I'm gonna break this up into two weeks. I'm not gonna share with you all 20 this week. So I'll do the bottom 10, and then we'll go we'll do the uh 10 through one next week. Um, starting at number 20, uh Alessandro Del Piero, uh, you know, he's he's a Juventus legend, and he's known for his finesse finishing and free kicks. He's a 2006 World Cup winner. He capped in Juve, he won several City titles, and he's arguably amongst the club's top scorers and most capped players. At number 19, Adolfo Balconchetti. Um you might not be terribly familiar with Adolfo Balconchetti. He's an early 20th-century Italian forward, inside forward, as we used to call it in those days. He was celebrated for his technical quality and goals in the pre-Sidia A era. This is my Italian sneaking through that. Sidia A era. He played prominently for clubs including uh Alessandria and Torino, and he later became an influential as a coach and an educator. Marco Taldelli, Marco Taldelli, he's a midfielder, known for his intensity, his tackling, late runs into the box. He was a key player in Italy's 1982 World Cup win, and he's he is definitely remembered for his iconic final celebration. He's also won uh several major titles with Juventus. Up from Marco Tardelli, we have Silvio Piola. Silvio Pioli, he's a prolific pre- and post-war striker, remembering for goal scoring, longevity, and inside, and instinct in the box. He's a World Cup winner in 1938, and he remains one of CDA's greatest ever scorers and a landmark figure in Italian football history. Next up, we have uh, let's see, here Fabio Calavaro. Fabio is a center back and captained of Italy's 2006 World Cup triumph. Famous for athletic defending and leadership. He won the Ballon d'O in 2006 and played for top clubs, including Padma, Juventus, Real Madrid, and Napoli. Next up, next up, next up, we have uh Alessandro Nesta. Alessandro is an elite center back known for his timing, positioning, and reading of play, a World Cup winner. In 2006, he starred for Lazio and AC Milan, winning domestic titles and Champions League honor. Up from Alessandro Nesta at number 14, Gigi Riva. I always like the name Gigi Riva. There's something very soccer about it. But Gigi Diva had a powerful left, he was a powerful left-footed striker and a symbol of Cagliari. He led them to their historic uh 1970 City A title. He's Italy's all-time leading men's goal scorers for decades. He won the Euro 1968 and was runner-up at the 1970 World Cup. Up from Gigi Diva is Andrea Pirlo, deep line playmaker. Um, and he was famous for his control, his long passing, uh, and said pieces. He's a World Cup winner in 2006. That was a terrific team, by the way. And he won major honors with AC Milan and Juventus and helped to find the modern Regista role. Up from Andrea Pirlo at number 12, Francesco Dotti, Francesco Dotti. Roma's iconic, and I do mean iconic number 10. He spent his entire uh career uh with the club and a World Cup winner in 2006. He is celebrated for his creativity, uh passing range, and goals, and is Roma's all-time appearance maker and leading scorer. At number 11, we have Dino Zoff Finamento in Portiera, finally a goalkeeper, legendary goalkeeper. He was captain of Italy's 1982 World Cup winning side, and he was 40 years old during 1982 when Italy won that World Cup. He also won the Euro 1968 and enjoyed major club success, especially with Juventus, noted for calm leadership and consistency. And I guess we'll leave that there. That's number 11. Next week, uh we'll we'll do the uh the top 10. We'll start from 10 and work our way up to number one. So that kind of inspired me to say, well, you know what, if I'm gonna do the Italians, why don't I talk about some of our top American players? Now and I want to take a little different twist to all of this. So I asked myself, self, if you were to create a Mount Rushmore of American soccer, who would that who would be on that Mount Rushmore of American soccer? Who would those icons be? And I had a lot of fun kind of you know diving through the internet and looking up people's bios and kind of coming through um coming coming to a conclusion of the four people that I think. But I'm gonna break a rule. So my run, my Mount Rushmore of American soccer is not gonna have just four heads, it's gonna have six. Heck, it's my Mount Rushmore. I can guess I can do whatever I want. So, any, this is no particular order, no particular order. All of these people are worthy of having their face chiseled on a mountainside, uh, that being the Mount Rushmore of American soccer. First up, Landon Donovan. Um, he's he's widely regarded as one of the greatest American soccer players of all time. He's had skill, he had vision, clutch performances, most notably his game-winning goal against Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup pretty much cemented his legacy. Uh, Lennon Donovan's record as the all-time leader in goals and assists for the U.S. men's national team, as well as his success in Major League Soccer, make him a clear choice. He was a known braider to get on my Mount Rushmore. Next up, Abby Wombach. Abby Wombach's dominance in leadership on the field have been instrumental in elevating women's soccer in America with her powerful headers and 184 international goal, a record for any player, a male or female. Wombach helped lead the U.S. uh. women's national team to multiple Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship. Her advocacy for equal rights and visibility for women's sports continues to inspire generations. Next up on my Mount Rushmore, Mia Ham. Mia Ham is synonymous with the rise of women's soccer in the United States. As a two-time World Cup champion and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, Ham's skill, speed, and sportsmanship made her an international icon. She held the world record for international goals for years and was a catalyst for growth of the sport, inspiring countless young athletes. Next up, Clint Dempsey. Clint Dempsey's relentless drive and creative flair made him one of the most exciting American players. Dempsey starred both domestically and abroad, notably in the English Premier League and scored 57 goals for the national team. His leadership and ability to perform under pressure helped the United States compete at the highest levels and earned him a place among the all-time greats. Bruce Arena. You gotta have Bruce Arena on your amount, Rosh Moore. He's one of the most successful American soccer coaches. He is credited with leading the U.S. National team to its best modern World Cup finish in 2002, reaching the quarterfinals. He also won multiple Major League Soccer Championships with DC United and the LA Galaxy, helping to raise profile and competitiveness in the league. Arena's leadership and tactical acumen have left a lasting legacy on American soccer, both at the national and club level. And rounding off, Giovanni Piccini, he's Mont Rushmore of Great American Icons, Dr. Joe Mochnick, who I just interviewed, by the way, on the GP Soccer Podcast. He is celebrated for his multifaceted contributions as a coach, referee, administrator, and educator. He played a pivotal role in developing referee programs and served as FIFA and U.S. soccer match commissioner. Mauknick's influence extends to the growth of youth in college soccer, and he's widely recognized for his efforts to professionalize officiating and improve the standards of the game in the United States through education and mentorship. His decades-long dedication has shaped the infrastructure and quality of American soccer at all levels. So there you have it, folks. That's my Mount Rushmore of American Soccer. And since it's my Mount Rushmore, instead of having four heads, we got six. We got six. Hey, listen, I would love to hear who your Mount Rushmore of American Soccer Icons can be. If you go to the uh anywhere you listen to the GPU Soccer Podcast and you see the show notes up above, you'll see send a text, send an email. That's where you can share your insights with me, your thoughts on your Mount Rushmore. And I'll let you have as many heads as you want. I chose six. You can have ten if you like, but be able to make sure you back it up. So there you have it, folks. The opening of the GP Soccer Podcast. We're gonna break for a couple of commercial messages. You know how that all works. This is Giovanni Pacini. This is the GP Soccer Podcast. Don't you dare go anywhere. Youth soccer has changed. Expectations are higher, but systems haven't kept up. Coaches juggle endless tasks, players chase progress they can't measure, and clubs struggle to create consistency across teams. Zone 14 Coaching was built for this moment. A company built by coaches for coaches. 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SPEAKER_07 16:32

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SPEAKER_14 17:19

Hey, this is Donnie Alberti, General Manager, Assistant Coach, and Director of Scouting with the St. Louis Ambush. You're listening to the GP Soccer Podcast with Giovanni Puccini.

SPEAKER_13 18:03

And welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Conversation with the Coach. We have a returning guest here on the GP Soccer Podcast. He's one of my all-time favorite uh guests and people. I'm terribly fascinated by the work he has done. And as we move along on those conversations, you'll learn uh uh all the great things that our guest today has gotten into, as well as his international travels. Well, who am I talking about, you ask? Our guest today is the terrific TJ Kistecki. And TJ has coached thousands of players and coaches from around the world. Based on his experience, he's the leader innovator of Vision Training Soccer, a developmental program that empowers athletes to maximize their playing potential. With four decades of head coaching experience, TJ is at Bard College, where he conducts Vision Training for Life leadership training workshops for college deans, various administration staff, citizen science fellows, and student athlete groups. TJ conducts vision training seminars and transformational leadership workshops for organizations, universities, sports teams, coaches, parents, and players of all ages. TJ co-produced the number one best-selling Vision Training on the Attack, soccer video and complimentary coaches manual. He is also the author of the terrific, and I do mean terrific book, Eyes Up. It is a comprehensive self-help guide covering all aspects of life, from career to family to spiritual fulfillment. It will show readers how small shifts in perspective can have a major impact on how they see the world, live their life, leading to higher levels of success and satisfaction. TJ Kastecki, my friend, welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the coach.

SPEAKER_02 19:48

Giovanni, my face is red. I'm gonna bring you with me when I travel around the world to introduce me. This is the best introduction that I've ever heard of my life.

SPEAKER_13 19:58

Listen, I'll I'll listen, knowing knowing where I know you have gone, man, uh I will uh I'll be more than happy to tag along. More than happy.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kind uh introduction of uh of of what uh what I'm passionate about and what I believe in, which is uh so similar to what you do in terms of uh spreading the spreading the word of the of our game that we love so much and how to make a difference in the world through soccer and football. So thank you, thank you. It's an honor and a privilege to be on with you.

SPEAKER_13 20:32

My my pleasure. Before we get into your international trials, where we'll spend the bulk of our conversation because it is it is such a wonderful uh journey that you've taken. Let's start with uh, you know, can you share with with my audience uh what initially inspired your interest in this idea of vision training and how it became a central focus of your coaching methodology?

SPEAKER_02 20:53

Well, it it it started. Um I have my business partner, Len, who's been on your podcast in the past, uh gosh, north of five decades ago now. Uh he uh w watched Franz Beckenbauer, the uh the the master uh field general, the Kaiser, who was the captain of the German national team back in the 70s and also led them to the World Cup and later on as a coach. Well he in his later career he played for the New York Cosmos with Kele and company. And what noticed is that uh as he played as a sweeper position in the back, although he Franz was not the fastest, he wasn't the strongest, didn't have a left foot, uh he consistently made the best decisions. And he was calm on the ball. And what was it that Franz did? And what he evaluated watching him is that he was constantly gathering real time information by scanning. So he would his head would be on a swivel all the time. So when the ball did arrive, he knew very effortlessly what he was gonna do with it. It was really it's really simple the the the way this whole uh programming started gosh in 1981 that's when lennon and i put together our company and and began to first locally domestically and then globally uh introduce vision training around the world you know tj it's not it's for me it's a no-brainer i'm I'm shocked that it it took us us being maybe the soccer community at large such a long period of time to understand the importance that everything you do as an athlete heck everything you do as a human being but we'll talk about athletics here begins with what you see and then you know you know you've seen something and then you process it in your brain and then you react to it you know um in your opinion what what took what took so long to to to to to bring this to light um amongst the masses particularly those in involved in athletics well interesting the the more I I I introduce vision training domestically uh folks that get it like you have the same question like why has it taken us so long to to understand and absorb and apply it well I'll tell you I'll tell you my this is my this is my take on it I also taught for uh two decades I started the sport management program at LIU Brooklyn Long University in Brooklyn New York I taught sports psych philosophy of coaching and that was an all and that was coaches from all different genres and understand the culture of this country the culture of this country is most of our top sports are coach centric they're not player centric football is coach centric you got the offensive coordinator defensive coordinator with headphones you got the guy sitting up top in the press box relaying information down to the quarterback who's making 40 million a year who's not unable to make the choice on his own basketball you have the the coach in the suit on the sideline hence on the court barking directions calling timeout baseball you've got the third base the first base coach they're they're tapping their hat their cap the players are looking what do they do do they take a ball so our our our culture is coach centric not player centric soccer is a player centric sport so those influences of our culture in America have contributed to the reason the fact why vision is not has is taken so long to be applied and accepted in this culture in soccer and all of that TJ and you know this it is to the detriment of the players absolutely particularly when we talk about younger players who are you know just getting involved in the game I'll heck I'll go right down to the grassroots level where you can make an argument please correct me if I'm wrong where scanning and you know uh you know amongst that age group is is most important and if they don't get it then they may not get it later is that a safe assumption that's a that's an accurate why because of habits you know our habits are formed our most most uh uh impactful habits happen when we're young you know our first memory the way our brain is hardwired it's like when you meet someone your first impression when you meet someone is our most powerful impression same thing we introduce a skill to to a player if we're introducing a skill to a player and we're and the head is down for example we're doing skill work footwork with skills and if the eyes are down guess what the habit and and the the scientific part is the myelin sheaf the habit forming sheath that's the thing that that are pathways that we repeat things you know we repeat things I could pick up this I have a cup over here I'm picking it up right now putting it down I could do without looking at it right if I was a child I'd have to use two hands perhaps right myelin sheath that neuropathway is so clear I could pick up the cup if we're introducing soccer to a young player and we're teaching footwork and we're spending hours of time with their head down, their eye down guess what we're doing we're developing tunnel vision. We're actually developing players that don't have the ability to look up and look around because of the amount of time we spent with our eyes down as opposed to our eyes up how do you define you know vision training from for my audience up there how do you define vision training uh what are the specific skills or attributes does it does does help it um does it help in in terms of um of athletes so vision training is defined as by empowering athletes to make the most informed decisions based on what they see empowering athletes to make the most informed decisions based on what they see that's vision train so uh and how do we do it it's it's in everyday life it's it's happens when we cross the street right before we cross the street what do we do before we cross the street Giovanni you look both ways right you you right you don't you don't want to go coach do I cross the street now or not no that would be that would be fatal possibly and and and obviously not smart at all right well on the soccer pitch the metaphor is if you're playing a big 22 players 11 on 11 the soccer pitch is a super highway right you have 22 people slash cars filled with traffic so as you're moving not just dribbling with a ball let's use a let's use the metaphor the ball is a car perhaps right as a young age as you're dribbling the ball or driving the car and if you're not your your job is to scan is to see why so that you don't run into traffic so you don't lose the ball so you don't have a collision so you can see where their other teammates are so vision training is everything that you do with the technical work you do in concert with making a decision because again we talk about our brain the science of our brain our brain functions and it rapidly much faster rate of recognition and retention when there's a decision to be made if I'm just doing a dribbling exercise without pressure without objectives to look and scan my brain is not firing at the rate of retention that it can eventually I will learn how to do these exercises but as soon as there's a decision so for example fingers up you know look up as you're dribbling one finger two fingers or three how many fingers do I have up do I have a fist whatever it is do I have a color a penny this is just very basic I'm just sharing you right now as soon as you start engaging your athletes to look and make a decision while they're dribbling get you know what happens their dribbling skills improve as well not only their ability to look up and see and and I would also assume that you scanning allows for recognizing actions that have yet to materialize it it's the old adage you see it before it happens.

SPEAKER_13 28:42

Is that part of the scanning process as well seeing it before it actually happens for sure.

SPEAKER_02 28:47

So it's it's the other piece is that you empower players okay so you're you're clear I'm empowering you to make the most important decision. Why? Because you are the one on the ball who has potentially 360 degree vision right depends on where you are and and you know if you if there's pressure on the ball. So you the more you look and take peaks the more you look and take peaks your ability also to recognize and recall situations that occur does that make sense because as you looking these situations happen occur over and over in the game but if my eyes are down if I'm waiting for you Giovanni to tell me man on turn pass me the ball there's no recall there's no ability for me to problem solve on my own I'm just waiting for you to be the one directing information to me. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_13 29:39

So you're absolutely absolutely predicting what has happened in the past I'm gonna go kind of off just a little bit here as as we start our discussion here I'm trying to think about the coaches impact regarding uh helping athletes with vision and I guess that's a long way of me saying getting coaches to train themselves to keep their mouth shut I'm gonna be very polite here to keep their mouth shut uh not only in training but in maybe more so more importantly in matches as well what what is your message to to coaches in terms of well for the for the lack of better terms TJ keeping their mouth shut so that the players out there can can learn on their own make mistakes learn from their mistakes that's an essential that's a crucial part so one is that um it if I for me to coach you and to prepare you to be the best version of yourself if I am giving you information all right I'm basically joystick coaching right if I'm constantly giving you information I'm giving it's joystick coaching so the scenario would be some of the worst scenarios would be uh you're on the ball right and the ball is arriving or about to arrive and I'm already telling you turn what have you right whatever the information is meanwhile another player is calling for the ball out in the pitch uh another player is is is is calling for the ball another one's telling is telling you to shoot a parent is telling them to shoot right all of a sudden you're getting information from five different sources right that's overload of information what what is what decision you're gonna make I don't know for me it's like leave the ball you know time time time to end the game because you cannot make an informed decision when you have three four or five people two or three people giving you information uh and especially when it's contrary to that information so what does it look like and and I'll give an example I I watched a high level recruiting event recently about a year ago top players in the country it was a MLS next event and one of the coaches a top college coach was coaching a player alright and he had given him information to turn on the wing all right the player didn't look first he turned and he got picked off at midfield the midfielder got the ball went down a line served at goal and this this game is being filmed for the player to use as a recruiting tool and I'm thinking if I'm a college coach and this young man sends me the film or if I'm watching that film and he turns into pressure I'm not interested in this in this player.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

This was a top American college coach giving him information that was inaccurate information. Why? Because it's secondhand firsthand information is the information from the player. So studies scientific studies support that by the way so for example uh research in the Premier League the top hundred players in the Premier League look up to five times every 10 seconds the top very best the cream of the crop looks more than that messy takes more than five looks every 10 seconds so these are the best decision makers you follow me so if the best players are taking multiple looks then we need to introduce this at a young age because you don't have to be the fastest you don't have to be the strongest you have to be the most technical you don't have to be the best juggler but by looking you're gathering real-time information the fastest way of get at gathering information and you know given the fact that you've done this for quite some time and obviously an expert in it what what measurable impacts have you observed in players' performance as a direct result of of implementing vision training? Two things happen players can play in different rhythms so players now recognize do I play fast or do I play slow? Because soccer is a game of rhythm and understanding the pace of the game and that the rhythm is what unbalances our opponent is is that fair right that rhythm of play if you're you if you're going quickly and then you slow down so we move the ball and then we dribble in between now the opponent is unbalanced and playing out of rhythm. So vision training impacts and affects your ability to play in the right rhythm where you're unbalancing your opponent and hence creating opportunities to maintain possession for longer period of time and to go to goal as well and to and to score goals and have more opportunities to score so so that's one of the one of the real tangible ones. The second thing is players are more confident. Why are they confident? Because no one's yelling at them so in our system of training nobody tells you man on return because it's too slow. Why is it too slow? Speed of light travels 1860 miles a second speed of sound only travels a thousand feet a second speed of sound telling you what to do is the third slowest way Giovanni our brain process information the first is vision 186 thousand the second is emotion. When you meet someone you have a feeling right away you like them dislike them love if you saw a bear if a bear walked into my office right now right away I'd be fearful so our brain process emotion the second fastest and auditory is the third fastest or slowest way to process information. So when when you as a coach understand that you're coaching and teaching in the third slowest way whoa timeout I got to change what I'm doing and I got to incorporate make sure I'm coaching vision and not talking because we're playing at the third slowest rate.

SPEAKER_13 35:34

Yeah and it runs counter and as as you as you offer your answer there I'm I'm having all these flashbacks of the of countless countless coaches who are screaming at their players whether during the run of player or at halftime or sometimes I hear at the end of a match you know post-game comments you guys don't talk I don't hear you guys talking out there and um little do they realize and I'm not knocking them so so all you coaches out there don't you know no their hearts in the right place but they don't realize how counter uh you know um how that runs counter to to what you're what you're offering here is does that make sense?

SPEAKER_02 36:10

It makes complete sense so when I do my coaching courses uh globally and domestically uh one of the clips that I show is uh Michael Bradley one of our top midfielders ever in the history of the soccer losing the ball against Portugal in the World Cup uh uh in Brazil back when we played in Brazil we were beating Portugal 2-1 at the time and we were 37 seconds away from upsetting them and and Ronaldo and uh the ball was played to him he was between midfield and the and the goal line in the attacking half of Portugal the ball was played in in the air and he never looked and scanned he's just staring at the ball and he turned lost the ball got picked they countered Ronaldo looks up serves the ball uh cross field they head it game's tied and I show that clip not to not to diminish uh Michael Bradley's ability because he's a great player but faulting myself is that I haven't done enough due diligence to convince players and coaches to implement vision. All Michael Bradley had to do was scan over his shoulder when the ball's in the air that's all he had to do is take a look over his shoulder he would have seen two vulture Portuguese that were going to get have to get that ball rusted enough they're not going back to Lisbon after losing to the U.S. And then he would have made an informed decision whether it's spinning away from pressure playing the ball backwards kicking in the stands whatever it is. So it's it's no one's fault the coaches that are listening here I it is not your fault. We're a product of education but once you see you cannot unsee. So when coaches take my course and participate in it's a game change afterwards they're like oh my gosh I've been doing it the long way my whole kind it's not the wrong way you've been doing it the way that works for you that you've been taught so vision is the next level it's the missing link in our developmental model in this country. In uh in 2025 years um probably on well my feet won't be on this planet anymore but in in in America everyone will be doing a version of vision training doesn't matter what these called I don't care it's not about that but we'll be doing it it's like the cell phone you cannot stop innovation. There's no longer phones that are put to the wall in your house and you have to with a court vision training is the same way it's uh it's taking and empowering players um how to make the best decisions before we shift gears into your international trials uh because that's you've done such wonderful work on just here in the United States but internationally as well I got one last question you said you've been you started this like in 1988 or 1981 81 yeah so how how has your approach to vision training evolved over the years um especially as new research and technology become available so what I've done is we we've in an hour and a half we can improve players performance 10 to 20% improve their performance permanently in an hour and a half that quickly now where there by by performance I mean decision making is that clear so we we've been able to take those steps kind of like kind of taking a like a surgery or building a house or or building a car where you're efficient we've been able to cut out the steps that were unnecessary and put in a framework where players go from level two to level eight and they're now making informed decisions on the fly and as you're watching them you're going oh my gosh your performance your ability to connect passes not to lose the ball to put us in dangerous positions has dramatically improved so um and that's and that's globally that's and regardless of language whether it's you know Spain Ukraine uh China you know Costa Rica uh doesn't matter where uh you know Senegal and fr and French it and regardless of language your ability to perform at a much more higher official level that that's been the biggest game changer and regardless of ability level too by the way it could be working with an eight year old or a nine year old or a 24 year old you know Senegalese international uh pro. So yeah regardless.

SPEAKER_13 40:22

So shifting gears as I noted uh you you've this is caught on obviously um you've traveled internationally um to share and develop vision training programs uh for my honest can you discuss some of the countries that you've worked in and and share with uh them some of the unique experiences you've had there sure uh let me let me start the first place that I realized that this could be impactful was Finland and if you remember the story in eyes up in my book because uh you've I I'm aware you've read the book you had share that with me uh back in gosh 20 north of 20 years ago uh Giovanni when I was recruiting in uh in Finland in uh Helsinki and then Turku I ran a coaching course for uh coaches about thirty thirty four coaches in Turku that were youth coaches on vision training and it was an hour uh it was an hour and a half on the pitch and it was in a classroom for an hour session and afterwards you could see the dramatic improvement of the it was the top U15 team in Turku Turku is the second largest city in in um in in Finland uh so fast forward six years later I'm at the National Coaches Conventions in California and I'm introduced to the new director of coaching of Finland and he asks who I am what I do and I told him that I was in Turku six years ago and he was just hired and he looks at me goes interesting we have been wondering trying to an analyze why we have some of our best decision makers on our youth national team are coming from Turku on the boys and the girls side something we have not experienced from any other city in Finland their ability to see the field so that was a you know right away in a span of about five six years that the impact of just one coaching course in a cluster of 34 coaches impacted that nation right so that that was one one example.

SPEAKER_02 42:25

Then I also went to Ukraine about 12 years ago and I did a coaching course in Ukraine before this full invasion uh for uh a football club uh through the Ukrainian Federation and uh at that time they had coaches that were connected to the youth national team well three years later ukraine won the under-20 World Cup in in in the men's in the men's and they had they had coaches that were on the course that began to implement vision training. So these are some of the experiences to me that told me that gosh this this has some legs and it has the type of impact to that can make a an immediate impact and such a huge impact uh in global performance in in we took we we specifically been talking about vision training in soccer and play but but this is this is evolved into something else something beyond just playing soccer share with my audience um you know your your work in vision training for life okay yeah I was doing a coaching course thank you for that question by the way about 10 years ago in in uh northern California and uh a coach as I was introducing the so it's the five Ps vision training is also the five P's so coaches understand a little bit of the framework perceive process plan perform and persist and think of it as a as a as pistons firing in a in uh one after the other and firing quickly so the first one is perception wide bright and deep right so if you're on the Picture gathering a lot of information, right? Real-time information, whether it's uh 180 or 270 or 360 degrees, right? So you're perceiving your surroundings, right? Processing, abstracting what you see, planning, what you next extra performing, executing, and then persistence the ability, right? When you're persistent about something, it becomes automatic. You don't have to think about it. Your newer pathway is the example I used earlier about a cup. So that you're persistent about scanning all the time, it becomes automatic. So I was introducing vision training at a course, and then we went into the classroom, and a coach had really, or one of the coaches had grasped the concept very well, and his performance had changed very quickly in that hour and a half. And he looks at me and goes, Coach, he raises his hand, he goes, You're talking about life. I go, What do you mean? He goes, those same qualities apply to life. To be open, to be you know, pr persistent about you know being open. What does that look like? Perception. You know, are you gonna have blinders on? Like on the pitch, do we have blinders on? No, we don't have blinders. Do we want to have blinders in life or do we want to be open? If we're open in life, we're processing a lot of information. So I thought about that. And at that time, there was a an a gentleman that asked me to do to speak to him about leadership to his graduate class at LIU Brooklyn. And I took the same model of vision training soccer, and I used it for vision training for life, and I found that the same skills apply in our lives is to be open. As we're open, we gather information. So the same model of off the pitch I do now in leadership work with C-suite executives, with soccer clubs, with executive boards, with coaches. Um, San Francisco, uh San Diego, excuse me, FC. Um, I'm going to be visiting them in the next two two two months. They've asked me to evaluate their coaching methodology on their youth level and to see if there's ways of perhaps implementing vision training soccer and vision training for life uh into their work that they're doing with leadership. So the five P's are perceive, process, plan, and perform, and persist, right? And we do that in life. By that I mean perception wide, bright, and deep. Because we are hardwired when we meet people, from what scientists tell us is that we right away we judge, right? We do we get into judging because of our fight or flight mechanism in our brain. If we didn't do that, scientists tell us we wouldn't be alive. But the challenge is, is Giovanni's too often is when we see someone and we judge, we have our blinders on, like on the pitch, playing with blinders. And when our blinders on, we miss the tapestry and the beauty that every human being has. So my little model of vision training for life is the three L's look, listen, and learn. Pull away the blinders, look, listen, and learn. When we do that, I'm gathering information, right? I'm learning and I'm moving forward in life, and I'm connecting, which is something we deeply need to do in our country and globally right now, is connect with people in an authentic way. So that's how I pivoted to uh vision training uh for life. Um and I've done a TED Talk back in June. So um, if any any of the audience uh listens to TED Talks, uh it was just launched in June. It's the the topic is Building Bridges by Living with Your Eyes Up and Your Heart Open by TJ Kastecki. If you plug that into TED Talk, it's 17 minutes, and I talk about vision training soccer and how that pivoted from Messi watching him as well into Vision Training for Life.

SPEAKER_13 47:31

So last year, uh back in July of 2025, you had the opportunity to go to Senegal and did a leadership and vision for training for life workshop with with the folks there. Uh you spent uh 12 days in Senegal, and you had the privilege of conducting a dozen transformative leadership and life skills workshop across Senegal. And not only did you engage soccer coaches, but you had players, you had university students, elected officials, diplomats, uh rising business leaders. There was uh it was quite an array of folks you you were involved with. Um share with my audience the genesis of that trip to Senegal and you know your initial impressions of the folks there before and then after their uh being involved with your workshops.

SPEAKER_02 48:18

So this this experience happened, uh it was a three-year project, Giovanni. I live in a tiny village here upstate New York called Tivoli, about 1,500 people, and the postman introduced me to a gentleman in town, uh Robin, who does work in leadership and and and in soccer and football globally. And once we had it, we had tea on three occasions, Robin runs a not-for-profit, and it's one of the pro one of his uh projects is in Senegal. It's called Peace Club Senegal. And what we decided after about a month and a half of having tea, uh that let's do a GoFundMe and send me to Senegal and put me on on basically essentially on a tour and introduce Vision Training for Life and Vision Training Soccer to Senegal. So that's what July's event was about. Um and my experiences were were life changing. About two weeks prior to it, I I was I was a bit nervous. Uh and I don't I don't get nervous that often because I've done this a lot. Why would why'd I get nervous? Senegal uh is 97% Muslim uh and black. I am Christian and I'm white. I'm uh a liberal Christian and I accept different religions and beliefs and and kind people that are kind. So uh, you know, I'm very open to uh very all all religions and faiths, and you'll hear about that on on my TEDx. But still I I'm not a Muslim and and I'm not a uh person of color, and I was thinking, gosh, I'm gonna come into this country and how am I gonna impact what am I gonna do? And how will I be res how will I be received? So I wasn't I was I was nervous. And I didn't speak French. Uh the Senegalese speak uh Wolof, uh which is one language and also French. Um but I quickly found out none of that mattered. I had a translator that was a young man, a college student that understood both languages well. And uh my workshops, the first one I did was for the university professors in Dakar, which is Dakar's the capital. And it's supposed to go two hours, it went three hours. And afterwards, I stayed another half hour. And there was so much synergy between the things that I talk about with discussion workshops. So for your audience, what are what are the vision training for light uh uh ethos that we talk about that eyes up in my book I talk about? I do a deep dive into ten qualities of life and leadership. I start with integrity and I end with confidence and belief. I talk about gratitude and selflessness, communication, listening, positivity. I talk about uh empowerment, innovation, the power of modeling, that every time that we meet someone, we impact them and how to harness that and to help you become the best version of yourself and how to help everyone in your community become better. Well, guess what? The Senegalese are just like us. They want to be the best version of themselves. So this information and these topics that I was sharing here in the States for so many years uh mirrored what the Senegalese people felt was important. And my group, uh I traveled with four guys, I call them the A Team, and we stayed in the Airbnbs, and they would take notes. And one of the gentlemen was from Maratona, which is Maritona, which uh which is uh about north of Senegal, and he was a principal and a teacher of a school. He drove eight hours to be part of us. He was the brother of one of our uh uh uh uh coaches. Ever after every session, he would have a notepad, he would be taking notes. And I would I'd asked him, I said, Why are you still taking notes? Because you this is the eighth time we've done it. He goes, TJ, I'm focusing on one thing that you're talking about, and I'm expanding on it in my own life because there's so many ways to expand on it. So my initial impression, Giovanni, and my takeaway was that the the qualities of life and leadership that are meaningful to us as Americans are global.

SPEAKER_03 52:28

They're they're everywhere.

SPEAKER_13 52:31

And like a lot of things in in the life, TJ, when you when you become an expert in something and you and you go out and kind of spread the gospel, um, there's always gonna be the cynic out there. In your travels, not just not just including Senegal here, in your travels, have you have you encountered uh you know a bit of pushback or you know, uh how were you how were you received initially? You know, did they say, well, what is this American guy going to be telling me about this stuff? Um did you did you deal with any of that? And if so, how how did you how did you deal with that?

SPEAKER_02 53:01

Not at all. Uh because what when I do my presentations, I engage the audience. It it the presentation, all my work, even the workshops on leadership and vision training soccer are interactive. They're not TJ standing up here in the gospel saying, Oh, let me tell you all that I know. No, no, no, no, no. They're interactive. And vision training soccer, by the way, so coaches that are trying to get their grasp on that, think of what you're currently doing, the exercise that you're doing right now, and we have great coaches that are on your podcast. I know that because I've listened to your podcast as well. So think about the work you're doing, and vision training enhances your work. It's not throwing away what you're doing and adding a series of 150, 30 drills. It's value added. That's what vision training soccer is. It's enhancing what you're doing, making it better. So I'm not coming in and saying lead a better life because you're doing these things wrong or what have you. Add this to your life. Add this to your game, and you'll enhance it. And if you're a growth mindset human being, you're all in. If you're a fixed mindset human being, you got all the answers. That's okay. This is not for you. Go on your journey and continue to do what you do. So I'm okay with that. I'm not I'm not trying to convince and change everyone in the world. Only those that want to improve and want to change. So I've managed in my process. Early on in my career, I would get a lot of pushback and I would get defensive and I would be argumentative, argumentative. I stopped doing that literally 30 years ago. I'm like, you know what? I can't change everyone. You've got to come to the event wanting to improve. If you're open to improving, you will improve. Yourself, your players, your life, your family, soup to nuts. So I rarely uh experience pushback um now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 54:49

And you're a busy guy while there. You you conducted a number of vision training uh, you know, seminars uh while in Senegal. For example, Professors uh World Peace Academy, uh Senegal Football Federation. Share the audience some of the some of the folks that you you spoke uh spoke to regarding what you do in vision training.

SPEAKER_02 55:09

Sure. So uh I'm gonna I'm gonna share three stories with you. The first was that uh I ran a vision training soccer course. I certified, because I certify coaches in this methodology. I don't just go into a clinic and people write notes or participate and they go home, which is one way of learning. Then I learned decades ago that if you certify someone, you give them a license, my license, a certificate. Uh and again, I'm not competing with U.S. soccer or NSCAA at all. The United Soccer coaches, which are incredible. And I have all my licenses there, but it's a separate license of certification of vision training. Um, so one of them was for the uh 44, the 44 Senegalese national coaching staff, youth coaches and senior coaches. So I ran them through a uh uh on-the-pitch coaching course where they participated in vision training, and then a classroom, and I certified 44 coaches. In addition, I did a leadership workshop for all the coaches and for the executive uh branch of the general secretary of Senegalese football and so forth. Uh at that time, they were still qualifying for the World Cup and they were I don't know, I don't want to say struggling, but they were kind of they weren't there yet. There was there was a real question. I was so stoked when they qualified because coaches on that course that were with me implemented vision training already into the team. So I was so excited that the timing of my July visit coincided with them still in the walk of qualifying. And then uh we took a ferry down to south of Senegal to Sadi Omani's village. So I'm sure many of your listeners are familiar with the great Senegalese footballer, Sadi Omani, who who led Liverpool to the Champions League uh championship uh less than what 10 years ago, and then uh was traded to Bayern Munich. Uh and now he's in uh Senegal. Uh not Senegal, he's in Saudi Arabia, and I believe he's playing with uh Ronaldo. Yeah, he's playing with Ronaldo there. Uh well Sadi Omani is an incredibly kind human being. His story is a fascinating one. At 12 years old, he uh left his village, and the village is remote, it's in the middle of really nowhere. Uh dirt roads and what have you, and uh farm animals on the road. So he left his village and made his way up north to Dakar, where he was eventually seen by pro scouts and signed in, as I said, the rest is history, but he's never forgotten his roots. And uh everyone, what he's done is he's built a hospital in the village of Bambali. He's built a school, a bakery was just finished when I was there. They gave me a tour of all these facilities. Um, every family, he's built a 4G network, every family has a cell phone per family, and he gives each family a stipend per month, and he built a soccer mini soccer stadium. So we said we gotta go to this guy's village. If he's making such a difference in his village, how can a vision training soccer, how can uh uh uh vision training for life come in and and be impactful in the village? That was an amazing experience. The workshop I did was in a small conference room, Giovanni, down there, and that was for the villagers. They invited villagers from the uh uh from the area, uh from Miles, people came in. We had 70 people in this tight, tight space, no air conditioning, for three hours, and people were at my feet because there was no room to sit. And you're thinking, oh, there are people that are come from uh you know very rural areas, maybe not educated. Uh-uh. One of the questions at the end, ready? What's the difference between a manager and a leader? Do they have the same qualities and skills? That was one of the questions. I was like, you folks are paying attention. Uh so I did that for them, and then we went on the field and I worked with Sadio Mani's uh players that are tremendous players that have a goal and a pathway to eventually make it to Europe or to America and did a uh course there uh for them on the pitch. And then uh the third highlight was the last workshop I did was at the U.S. Embassy in Dakar before we flew back to New York. Um that was uh that was for uh folks in the community leaders, uh primarily all Senegalese leaders, and also uh folks from the U.S. Embassy in Dakar on Vision Training for Life and leadership.

SPEAKER_13 59:46

So you your your journey, literally and figuratively, TJ, you you've served an extraordinary bridge between uh shared values, uh institutional vision, grassroots community development all across Senegal, uh which kind of begs the question: well, what's next? What's what is what are your what's the impact now and and going forward?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:08

Well, in Senegal, Peace Club Senegal, the president of Peace Club Senegal, we just did a little GoFundMe, and he is expanding the program that we introduced initially. So that program is now expanding and ongoing. So all the stakeholders that I had visited, and there was a dozen of them, and I and I and I we we not I just I because it was my A team of five, every workshop that we did in each of those communities is now we're following up with them and give and providing them with more of a specific and comprehensive program that they could introduce with life and leadership and skills to the youth and the stakeholders in our community.

SPEAKER_13 1:00:51

Let's let's take a I want to take I'm curious about the um the kind of players you saw over there. I mean, you're you're a college coach, you're been a coach your entire professional life, and um what kind of players do they have in Senegal? How are they technically, tactically, functionally, uh creatively? What did you um what impressed upon you the most when you were watching uh Senegalese players uh participate in the game?

SPEAKER_02 1:01:14

Uh two things that that stand out. One is they're explosive and they're strong. They're explosive and they're strong. So when I introduced, for example, I introduced the three three S's, shield scan, and spin. One of the uh gaps that we have in our American developmental uh training methodology is how to protect the ball. We we that's a huge gap in American football, American football, I mean soccer. So I've introduced I call the three S the Shield scan spin as Messi Javi and Yesterday, De Bruin, uh Madric, um yeah, the the top players in the world, how they protect the ball. And when I had introduced the three S's in Senegal, every time I introduced it, I got one of the players, one of the top players to demonstrate with me, and they were so strong with their arm, I couldn't, you know, I couldn't knock them off balance. You know, we're in America, easier for me to knock guys off balance in China when I I've done this in China, I've done I've done it in various countries, as you know. But in Senegal, the guy that was every place I did it, the shielding was was like trying to move a mountain, number one. So really strong, right? And then when I uh share the techniques about scanning, looking as you shield, you scan behind you, and then you dribble, you spin away from pressure. You can imagine how messy does that when he's under pressure, the old Javi Niesta clips, how they do that effortlessly. And uh so their ability to explode, so not only shield and hold you off, but then explode and create that separation, which is vital for you to then maintain possession and restart the attack. So that was uh that was evident uh in with the with the pro coaches, it was evident, and it was also evident with the Senegal East players in Bombali.

SPEAKER_13 1:03:03

Now, I I didn't have this on my talking points here on my sheet in front of me here, but I just got struck by this, you know, during the course of our conversation here. TJ, do you ever get choked up? Uh this is a very human thing we're talking about here. Um the the the the ability to to kind of get people to change for the better and look beyond our difference differences. Did you ever just get choked up to see the benefits and the wonderful things that have transpired through your work with vision training both here and abroad?

SPEAKER_02 1:03:38

Uh yeah, I I I did. And and I did at this event, Giovanni, I feel like you were with me. The fact that you would ask this question is actually pretty remarkable. So I'm I'm visualizing, describing the session I did um with Sadio Mani's players, okay? And at that time, it's a rainy season in Senegal, especially down south, and there were huge clouds, and and there was thunder and lightning. It's not like in America, my friend, where as soon as there's a bulk of lightning, everybody clears the field. Nobody was clearing the field. Nobody was. And this is a once-in-a-lifetime that I'm going to be there, right? Is that fair? Who knows if I will ever you know be there again? You know, God willing again, but you don't know, right? So I didn't I didn't cancel anything. I mean, there's thunder, lightning, and we're six, three quarters into the session. By the way, at the beginning of the session, there was conflict because an opposing club had the field rented and not the club that I was doing the session for. So there was conflict beforehand. And we had to convince the coach that had rented the peel to allow me to work with his players so the coaches that I was certifying could observe and learn how to implement vision training. You picture this right now? So there was like there was a 10 minutes of conflict. So the players were not receptive initially to have me work with them, nor was the coach. But we finally, they finally came to a compromise realizing that the the gentleman who ran the club said, TJ will help your players become better, and please will you be open for that? So after a long time and rain coming down, he agreed. So I'm working with players that were skeptical. Okay. I introduce them, we're playing, the level goes bam. Because vision training unlocks your potential, and they've got massive potential. And they're listening and they're paying attention through a translator, by the way, through a French translator. So we finish, it starts raining really hard, and I look at my assistant, I go, We gotta end this thing. It is raining so hard. He goes, You're right, coach. And it was the very, very end. We wrapped up, and I said, you know, I did a quick debrief. We can still stay it out there in the thunderbike, didn't matter, but I was like, we gotta go for safety. So I do my finish, my debrief, and I'm going off the field, and they're stopping me, the players. And they're taking selfies instead of running off. And they all come back. And and they're all taking selfies. And they all come We're spending three, four, five minutes taking selfies. And they're hugging me afterwards, Your Vine. They're coming up to me, hugging me. They can't speak English, but they're so grateful for what they learned and they saw the difference in their game. And I have photos of of them hugging me that were sent to me, right? And I said, Finally, we gotta get we gotta get going. So I'm I'm it's pouring. I hear thunder. All of a sudden there's a bang of lightning. As if someone shot a cannon behind me. I dive on the turf and I'm like, what's going on here? And I run to our car and we drive away a half hour to where we're living, and it's pouring.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:45

And I got emotional. I got emotional. I said, Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:50

How fortunate and lucky I am to be at this place on the planet in rural Africa, introducing these ideas and concepts and having these strangers appreciate so much that they're hugging me and hopefully impacting them forever.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:07

It's extraordinary, TJ.

SPEAKER_13 1:07:09

It's extraordinary. Uh and I and I mean that in all sincerity. Um, you know, this this type of thing, you touched upon it earlier in our conversation. This is the type of approach, type of mindset, type of thinking that that needs to transcend soccer. Um, this is something that you know that that human beings need to understand, particularly in this day and age. And we're not going to get into what's going on uh, you know, uh in our world today, but my goodness, um it's so very impactful that uh yeah, I I I would be I'd be a mess. I would be a mess as well. So uh you're doing you're doing wonderful, wonderful work. Um our guest today uh has been TJ Kastecki. He's the lead innovator of vision training soccer. He's the author of the terrific book. And I do mean that, not because uh TJ's a friend of mine, but it's a it's it's well worth picking up. He's the author of Eyes Up. Uh it's a comprehensive self-help guide covering all aspects of life from career to family to spiritual fulfillment. TJ Kastecki, thank you very much for coming on the GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the Coach. Once again, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:10

Giovanni, thank you for having me on. An honor, a pleasure a pleasure to be here with you. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_13 1:08:17

Always enjoy our conversations, always enjoy the conversation. Giovanni Pacini here, GP Soccer Podcast Conversation with the Coach. We're gonna break for a commercial message. You know how that works, gotta pay the bills, and then we'll re-engage on the other side. Don't you dare go anywhere. Soccer is known around the world as both a sport and an art, with players of all ages and abilities enjoying the game. Now, the art of the game is only realized after hours of mastering ball skills, learning to communicate with your teammates, and receiving support and instruction from the right coaches. With over 100 years of coaching experience, Director John Virata and the coaching staff at the Beautiful Games Soccer Academy are pleased to offer their expertise to players and their parents. Coach Barada is one of the most decorated and accomplished soccer coaches in the Northeast with a proven track record of developing both talented players and coaches. The Beautiful Games Soccer Academy believes that success on the soccer field breeds success elsewhere in a young adult's life. Players who attend learn the importance of forming good habits, attempting new challenges without the fear of failure, and seeking out support and advice from others. The program fosters the creativity within each player and encourages them to experiment, improvise, and problem solve on the fly. At the Beautiful Game Soccer Academy, every day starts with a smile on our face and a ball at our feet. To learn more about the Beautiful Game Soccer Academy, visit www.beautifulgamesa.com.

SPEAKER_09 1:09:51

Hey, this is Mike Skelton, Associate Head Coach of the UVM Women's Soccer Program, and you're listening to Conversations with a Coach on the GP Soccer Podcast with your host, Giovanni Piccini.

SPEAKER_13 1:10:03

And welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner, where you'll find great tips and advice on how to teach the great game of soccer. Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast, Coach's Corner. Today's coaches are TJ Kastecki and Len Billis. Their topic today is how to improve players' field vision and decision making.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:28

Hi there, this is TJ Kastecki, and I'm one of the directors of Vision Training Soccer. I'm speaking to you here from Tivoli, New York, with uh my other director, Len Billis, who's in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. And it's our pleasure to be on the GP Soccer Podcast Coaches Corner. Today is our first of three segments. Our topic is how to improve players' field vision and decision making. The missing link in the game. Len and I have had the uh pleasure and privilege of uh teaching vision around the world uh for four decades. We've licensed coaches in our own methodology. Costa Rica, Ukraine, Norway, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica, Canada, and other places around the world. We're gonna share with you some of these simple ideas and ways that you can implement vision training into your own sessions and to improve your players' decision making. Uh Len, why is vision uh important in soccer?

SPEAKER_08 1:11:35

Well, as everybody knows, uh the top players in the world have great vision. Or when you're looking at Messi and you're wondering how he's able to create all these chances and players like the droign, how they're able to deliver passes that very few people anticipate. They're doing it because they've been scanning the field on and on. Um there's a scanning rate, for example, that Messi does. He scans five plus times every ten seconds. So the more we can see the field, the more we can become creative, the more we can create passes that most people don't expect.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:15

Well, since that is such an important piece, it's something that we need to integrate into essentially every every practice, every training session so that it becomes a habit. Um we can do it in various ways, right? We can do it uh we we taught players and coaches how to do it dribbling, uh passing, receiving, finishing, on the defensive end, and combination play. All of those uh parts of the game involve looking, scanning, and quick decision making. Um what I'd like us to do this this first uh session is is let's introduce it, Len, how we do it with dribbling for possession. Can you give us an uh interview an overview excuse me of the first uh lesson? What would that look like, the first lesson of of dribbling uh for possession, please?

SPEAKER_08 1:13:04

Right. The uh first and most important part is to switch how we look at field versus the ball. If we look down at the ball, our peripheral vision is good for three to five feet standing still. As soon as we move the ball forward, that drops to zero because we're running out of room. So if we can flip that and use our peripheral vision to look at the ball, and then use our primary vision to scan the field, all of our problems will be getting solved much quicker. So as we move the ball around, we can continue to scan in front of us, to the side of us, and behind us. And that might makes us much more comfortable uh performing the dribbling task and being comfortable with it.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:56

Uh specifically, uh how do we engage players to uh take looks? Where should they be looking as they're dribbling the ball? What what should we be coaching them? Where should they look?

SPEAKER_08 1:14:06

Well the first place to look is in front of us, and then we need to expand that. We need to try to build to 360 vision. And by doing uh first forward and then scanning to the sides and eventually scanning behind us, we can accomplish that.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:24

In terms of changing direction, uh, because players are always changing direction and they're waiting for others to tell them, man on, turn, or calling nameland. What what should they do instead uh before they change direction or make turns or or make a pass instead of waiting for someone to shout their name?

SPEAKER_08 1:14:43

Right. Uh so the the most important thing is always preview what you're gonna do next. So if you're gonna change direction, pull the ball back, you don't look. There's an opponent right there behind you that'll be ready to dispossess you. So scan first and then move.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:02

Terrific. So what we're doing is we're gathering real-time information, coaches. We're not waiting for someone to tell us uh man on or turn. Why? Because the speed of sound and the speed of light are totally different. Speed of light is the fastest way that we process information, which is 186,000 miles a second. Speed of sound, if I'm waiting for someone to tell me what to do, is only a thousand feet a second. So the first step is to build the most important habit, is empowering players to look around and scan so they could gather real-time information. You know, our next segment, we're gonna talk about adding pressure of a defender and how we deal with the pressure of a defender. This is TJ Kastecki and Len Villas, and that's today's coaching tip here on GP Soccer Podcast Coaches Horror.

SPEAKER_11 1:15:53

This is Soccer News and Analysis with Giovanni Puccini.

SPEAKER_13 1:16:06

From the Associated Press. Matt Crocker quit as sporting director of the U.S. Soccer Federation, just two months ahead of the World Cup to take a new job in Saudi Arabia. USSF and Crocker was leaving said Rocker was leaving to pursue an unidentified international soccer opportunity, said a person familiar with the decision, speaking to the Associated Press on the condition and anonymity because Crocker's new job was not announced. He also said that he will work in Saudi Arabia. His hiring by the Saudis was the first reported by Fox. The team announcing that the stunning development with the club off to a 3-1 and 3 start in sitting in third place in MLS's Eastern Conference, but winless in its first two matches in its new stadium. The team said Mascianano cited personal reasons, much like his predecessor, Tata Martino, did in November of 2024 when he stepped aside in the move that ultimately led to Mashana's joining the club and reuniting with Lionel Messi. FIFA President Johnny Infantino said that Iran will participate in the World Cup for sure, despite its war with the United States. Speaking at CNBC's Invest in America Forum, Infantino said it is important that Iran participates in the World Cup, even though its participation has been in doubt since the U.S. and Israel launched airstrikes on the country. Quote, the Iranian team is coming for sure, yes, Infantino said. We hope that by then, of course, the situation will be a peaceful situation. As I said, that would help that would definitely help. But Iran has to come. Of course, they represent their people, and they have qualified and the players want to play. Iran is scheduled to play two group stage games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle. Luis Diaz and Michael Olis scored late for Bayern Munich to beat Real Madrid 4-3 and advanced to the Champions League semifinals. Bayern won 6-4 on aggregate after it took the first leg of the quarterfinal 2-1 in Madrid last week. Bayern will play defending champion Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals. A scoreless draw with Lisbon sporting Lisbon at the Emirates Stadium saw Arsenal advance 1-0 on aggregate. The Gunners will face Atlético Madrid in the semifinals. Arsenal has never won the European Cup and only once reached the final. It was a disappointing day for two London Giants in the Premier League, starting with Tottenham, conceding and equalize a deep and stoppage time to Jorginho Rudo in a 2-2 draw with Brighton. That kept Spurs in English top flight since 1978 in third to last place and in grave danger of relegation with five matches to go. Chelsea then lost 1-0 at home to Manchester United in a showdown between teams fighting for a Champions League place. Mateus Cunha scored on all uh scored the only goal. Elsewhere, Wolverhampton lost 3-0 at Leeds and are 15 points from safety with five matches left. Former Arsenal and Austria goalkeeper Alex Manninger died after his car was reportedly hit by a train in Salzburg. Mr. Manninger was 48 and played for a number of clubs in Europe, including Juventus and Salzburg. Many of the clubs pay tribute on social media. Quote, we mourn our former goalkeeper Alexander Manninger, who tragically lost his life in a traffic accident. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. Rest in peace, Alexander. Salzburg posted on X. Salzburg police did not name Mr. Manninger, but Austr uh Austrian broadcaster, ORF, reported he was fatally injured in an incident at a level crossing on Thursday morning. Police said a car was struck. His car was struck and dragged by a train while crossing the tracks. The driver was alone and the train driver was unharmed. Manchester City swung the race for the English Premier League title in its favor by beating Arsenal 2-1. Thanks to a second half winner by Erling Holland. The Norwegians' league-leading 23rd goal of the campaign in the 65th minute allowed City to trim the gap to Arsenal, the longtime front runner to just three points with a game in hand, which will be at relegation threatened Burnley on this Wednesday. Another win there should give Pep Guardiola's team the EPL lead on goal differential with five rounds remaining. Elsewhere, Virgil van Dijk headed home in the tenth minute of added time to give Liverpool a 2-1 victory at Everton and a Merseyside Derby. Bayern Munich clinched another German Bundesliga title title by easing to a 4-2 win over Stuttgart, with England striker Harry Kane potting his league-leading 32nd goal of the season. That's news from the Associated Press. Next up, Ralph Rigno with the European Soccer Report.

SPEAKER_12 1:21:10

This is the GP Soccer Podcast, English Premier League, and European Soccer Report with your host, Ralph Rigno.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:29

The semifinals of the Champions League and the other UEFA competitions were decided this past week. And previously I'd taken a look at the first legs and will now reflect on how the second legs went, starting with the tie of the round between two heavyweight teams in European football, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. So to remind you, Bayern had shocked the Spanish team 2-1 in Madrid, but many, many commentators and neutrals felt that because of Real Madrid's Champions League DNA and history of success, this tie was far from over and a comeback was very much a possibility. And this was underlined in the first minute when German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer made a terrible error presenting the ball to Arda Gula of Real Madrid, the Turkish midfielder, who gratefully chipped the ball into the open net. After that, it became a real high-scoring thriller. And Bayern eventually had to come from behind to eliminate the 15-time winners. Instrumental in the game on the night were Luis Diaz and Harry Kane. And Real Madrid sadly ended the match with nine men after late red cards for Eduardo Camavinga and Ada Gula. Camavinga was sent off in the 86th minute for a second yellow card, after which time Bayern added two goals to emphasize that they would be the team moving on. Following the final whistle, Goula received a straight red for vehement protest towards the referee. Now Harry Kane of Bayern Munich has been having a fantastic season and he hit a milestone on the night, scoring his 50th goal of the season in all competitions when putting the Germans 2-1 ahead on the night. There were some other consequences, a little unsavoury perhaps, with potential disciplinary action against Bayern. And UEFA has opened proceedings against them following crowd disturbances at the Alliance Arena, where France reportedly climbed over the barriers to celebrate the late winner by the German team. Four people were injured, while uh midfielder Jamal Musiala was seen jumping into the crowd during these chaotic celebrations. Another place that's also noted for celebrations and atmosphere on European nights is Anfield Road in Liverpool. And the question was: was this going to be another one of those nights? Liverpool having lost 2-0 in Paris to PSG. And PSG had been very, very dominant that night at the Parc de Prince in the first leg, with Liverpool not even registering a shot on target. So could they come back with that famed European atmosphere and work their way back into the tie? Overall, I think it's fair to say that the defending Champions League Champions PSG produced a very thorough professional performance on the night. Liverpool did up the tie slightly in the first half before they really put the Parisian team under pressure in the second half. But Utemain Dembele scored a late brace with two goals in the final 20 minutes, effectively ending the tie and silencing the Anfield crowd. One controversial moment, however, was Liverpool's rescinded penalty, which was overturned after a lengthy VAR review. And this moment was thought of by commentators as a massive turning point that might have prevented a potential comeback. Another team that was having to come back from a two-goal deficit was Barcelona, who had been shocked at home by Atletico Madrid in a 2-0 loss in the first leg. And it was huge for Atletico to take into the second leg as the kind of team that they are under Simeoni, they really thrive in these kinds of circumstances as they can sit deep, defend, and counter-attack, as Barcelona had to be committed to attack, effectively playing into Atletico's hands. And credit to Barcelona. Not only did they attack, but they scored two quick goals to level up the tie. But having said that, it was still Atletico that progressed. Barcelona had, as I say, level the tie through Laminha Mal and Ferrant Torres. But as in the first leg, a late red card for Eric Garcia in the 79th minute effectively ended the tie after he pulled down Alexander Solov. He was deemed to be the last man despite Kude's proximity and effectively ended Barcelona's momentum. It should be remembered, as I say, that in the first leg they had also been reduced to 10 men. And it appears that if they had been able to keep 11 men on the field for both legs, they wouldn't have been undercut in terms of their efforts to win. And certainly it appears that Atletico have Barcelona's number in this competition, as this is the third time that they have overcome the Catalans in the quarterfinal round. Finally, we had Arsenal and Sporting Lisbon. And this, I think it would be fair to say, of the four ties was kind of the least in terms of incidence and what have you. The first leg uh sporting had really given it a good go and put Arsenal keeper David Rea under pressure, and he had responded by making Making some great saves. And then Kai Havertz, right at the end of the first leg, had given the gunners the lead. They were able to protect it at home at the Emirants. It was a very tense 0-0 draw. The closest anyone came to scoring was Sporting's Jenny Katimo, who struck the post in the first half. And possibly had it gone in, then the tie being level on aggregate would have made it very, very difficult for an Arsenal side that in terms of performances right now, both in Europe and domestically, are in very unconvincing form. However, having said that, Arsenal had only won three of their previous nine quarterfinal ties, and this is the first time ever they have really reached the Champions League semi-finals on consecutive seasons. As I say, this is something they have never previously achieved. So the upcoming semi-finals, which are due to be played one at the end of April, the other at the start of May, has Paris at Saint-Germain versus Bayern Munich, and they on paper look to me to be the best two teams left in the competition, with the other tie being Atletico Madrid versus Arsenal. Now also played last week, last last Thursday, in fact, were the other UOFA competitions, the Europa, the Europa League, and also the Conference League. So let's look at the Europa League first. And the fourth semifinalists have been confirmed as Aston Villa, Nottingham Forests, Braga, and Freiburg. So looking at the ties overall, Aston Villa were very convincing winners over the Italian side Bologna. Seven win on aggregate with wins both home and away. Same can be said for Freiburg, who defeated Spanish team Celtavigo at home and away for an aggregate score of 6-1. Braga of Portugal defeated Real Batiste of Spain. The first leg had been a 1-1 draw, but Braga triumphed in the second leg 4-2 to give them an aggregate win of 5-3. And finally, in a very tight tie, Nottingham Forest defeated Porto of Portugal. The first leg had been a tie, a draw, as we say in England. The second leg went to Forest by 1-0 to give them a 2-1 victory overall. And set them up for an all-English semi-final between Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. And the other semi-final is Braga of Portugal versus Freiburg of Germany. On paper, I think most would favour Aston Villa. And in fact, the Nottingham Forest Aston Villa tie brings back memories of the 80s when both teams won the European Cup, effectively the forerunner of what we now call the Champions League. Finally, we have the UEFA Conference League quarterfinal results to look at. And three teams successfully defended the first leg leads here, while Strasbourg of France completed a notable four-goal comeback. So they were playing Mainz of Germany. They were two down, and in that second leg scored four unanswered goals to qualify for the semis on four-two aggregate. Crystal Palace defeated Ferrentina of Italy. The score overall was 4-2. Palace having won the first leg 3-0 in London. They lost the second leg in Italy 2-1, but as I say, it was a 4-2 aggregate win overall. Shakhtar Denes of Ukraine defeated AZ Alkbar of Holland 5-2 on aggregate. The second leg being a 2-2 draw after Shakhtar had won the first leg 3-0. Then we had Ray Ray Rayo Velicano defeated A.E.K. Athens, 4-3 on aggregate. Well at the aforementioned Strasbourg had defeated Mainz of Germany. So that leaves a semi-final schedule of Crystal Palace of England versus Shakhtar Donetsk and Strasbourg versus Rayo Velicano of Spain. So that completes our overview of the UEFA competitions this past week. I will continue to follow those uh through the semi-finals and final rounds. The other thing that's on the agenda is we have the World Cup on the horizon. And in the coming weeks I'll start looking at the various European countries who've qualified and will be competing in North America this summer. So stay tuned, and I look forward to seeing you then. Bye now.

SPEAKER_13 1:33:14

Hey there, this is Giovanni Piccini, host of the GP Soccer Podcast. You all know me as a soccer coach and a clinician. But did you know that I'm a professional voiceover artist as well? My voice has been heard on radio, television, as well as other media platforms. If you'd like to learn more about my services as a voiceover artist, you can contact me at gp4voiceover at gmail.com.com or at 617-88968-81800. And I want to reach out to all of my great listeners who want to do it. Even those who don't. Listen, your local animal rescue organization is on a mission to provide loving homework for those in need and they need your help. Whether through adoption, fostering, or financial contributions, every bit of support. Join me in making a positive impact. Visit your local shelter today and help you these wonderful animals to get a second chance they so deserve. Together, we can create a community in which every animal is cared for and loved.

SPEAKER_10 1:34:23

Hi, I'm Skip Gilbert, CEO of USU Soccer, and you're listening to the GP Soccer Broadcast brought to you by your host, Giovanni Piccini.

SPEAKER_12 1:34:39

You are listening to the GP Soccer Podcast.

SPEAKER_13 1:34:51

And welcome to the final block of the GP Soccer Podcast that is entitled The American Soccer Revolution. It's a segment of the show where I uh take a look at the American soccer landscape and uh see what needs to be discussed, needs to be blown up, needs to be changed, needs to be altered. Well, you get the picture. Uh oftentimes, as I scour the internet for some quality content to share with all of you, um I I come across some great stuff and and today is no different. And I have shared some content from this gentleman in the past because I think he's just so good, so top-notch. The gentleman uh his name is Harrison Zepp S-Z-E-P, is on YouTube, and uh he is spot on. Spot on with his analysis of uh of the uh what's going on here in the American landscape, specific to the pay-to-play system. Uh, I think he and I are cut from the same cloth. As a matter of fact, I know that we're cut from the same cloth. I want to just play for you some recent audio uh about this very issue, and then we'll connect on the other side. Check this out.

SPEAKER_01 1:35:55

Cristiano Rinaldo, global icon, five-time Ballandol winner, one of the greatest players in history, yet he grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Portugal. His talent was his only asset, and that talent was his ticket out. But what if Ronaldo had been born in the United States of America? Would we have even heard his name? The uncomfortable truth is probably not. Because in America, talent isn't enough. Not even close. Today I'm going to show you exactly why rich parents have hacked US soccer, why true talent gets filtered out before it's even seen, and why America may never produce a legend of the game until this system changes. Let's start with a simple truth, and that is that US soccer isn't free, not even close. While kids around the world play pickup games in dirt fields and alleys, American soccer hides behind a paywall that only a small percentage of families can afford. Club fees start at around$3,000 per year just for an entry-level club. Elite clubs, we're talking north of$5,000 to even$10,000 a year for these elite clubs like MLS Next. Then add travel tournaments to that. That's an extra$1,500 each. Then you've got hotels, flights, camps, private training, you name it, the money just keeps on adding up. By the time a player graduates from high school, their parents probably would have spent close to$50,000 on their soccer journey to date. Meanwhile, a talented kid from a working class family might not even step on to a decent pitch. And the data tells the story. Families in the lowest income quantile have youth sports participation rates at just 34%, compared to 69% in the highest income bracket. And soccer has the steepest drop-off, a 42% participation gap between rich and poor families. In Germany, by comparison, youth club fees average from 150 to 300 euros annually. That's about 160 to 320. While Brazilian neighborhoods often charge nothing at all. This is the first filter in American soccer, and this has absolutely nothing to do with skill. Before coaches can evaluate your touch, your vision, or your creativity, the system has already evaluated your parents' bank accounts. The hidden truth of US soccer is that it is filtered by income before it is filtered by ability. For parents who can afford it, there is a clear path to maximizing their child's soccer opportunities. And it's not about finding the best coach for development, it's about buying visibility. The real cheat codes in American soccer aren't technical skills, they're financial. Private training sessions at$100 per session. Memberships at elite academies with former pros. Flying your kid to ID camps where college coaches gather, paying thousands for showcase tournaments where scouts can congregate. While other kids might be more talented, wealthy parents are purchasing something way more valuable, eyes on their child. And the numbers are staggering. 35% of youth coaches report that showcase tournaments are the primary recruitment pathway. Yet only 23% of players from families earning$50,000 annually can even attend these events in the first place, compared to 83% from families earning over$100,000 a year. Because in US soccer, the recruitment process isn't about who is the best, it's about who gets seen. And this is the uncomfortable reality. In US soccer, the hack isn't to work harder, it is writing bigger checks. While the rest of the world develops players through creativity and competition, America has developed a system where the primary skill is having wealthy parents. So who exactly gets filtered out by this system? Who are we losing before they even have a chance? The answer is painfully obvious. Talented players from working class families, immigrant communities, and urban neighborhoods. The exact population that has produced global superstars in almost every other country. And the data confirms it. In 2022, only 7% of Division I men's soccer players came from households earning less than$50,000 a year, while 63% came from families earning over$100,000 a year. While Barefoot kids in Brazil develop supernatural ball control playing on concrete courts, American kids grow up with$300 cliques, a$3,000 uniform, and practicing structured drills on a manicured suburban field. While hungry players from modest backgrounds fight for their future in countries in Europe and across South America, American players often approach the game as an extracurricular activity that their parents can afford. This is American soccer's greatest failure. We lose our potential Messes, Ronaldos, Mbappes before they even get noticed. Just like the UFC would never have discovered Francis Nganu or Charles Oliveira if it was required to pay$10,000 in annual fees. US soccer systematically excludes the very players who would bring that hunger, the creativity, and that raw edge that it takes to compete at the top level. Now, this isn't just a problem for excluded players. It is a disaster for American soccer as a whole. When half of your potential talent pool never gets an opportunity, you are crippling your national team at the very first hurdle. The most telling statistic among 32 nations at the 2022 World Cup, the US ranked 31st in players from disadvantaged backgrounds, with only 12% compared to Brazil's 87% and France's 76%. When your development system prioritizes your ability to pay to play, you've fundamentally broken the meritocracy that makes sports compelling. And when your sport becomes associated with suburban privilege rather than universal opportunity, you've killed its cultural relevance before it's even taken root. The contrasts couldn't be clearer. UFC built legends from underdogs. US soccer built a business for the rich. And I've experienced this disconnect firsthand. Growing up playing soccer since the age of three, I got new boots every single year, and my parents paid for traveling to every single game year on year. Had America's pay-to-play system existed where I grew up, it is likely that I would have never played college soccer or even moved to the US in the first place. The idea that talent gets filtered out by wealth before ability isn't just wrong. It is completely alien to how the sport operates globally. And until that changes, until soccer becomes truly accessible to kids across the country, regardless of their parents' income, the world will never take American soccer seriously. Because the greatest players aren't born in country clubs. They're born in the struggle with nothing but their talent and their determination to lift them up. And our system makes sure that we're never gonna find them. So what would it actually take for America to produce world-class talent consistently? What are the systematic changes needed to transform our soccer landscape from a playground for the privilege to a true meritocracy? If you want to dive deeper into this critical issue, check out my video, Why America Hasn't Produced a Soccer Go Yet, where I break down all of the factors that are preventing the US from producing world-class talent and what we can learn from other nations who are producing them on a daily basis. Click the link in the description and watch it now.

SPEAKER_13 1:44:39

And that bit of audio again is from Harrison Zepp S-Z-E-P. A great YouTube page. This requires no comment from me because I couldn't have said it any better uh than Harrison. Um in a nutshell, it is it is far beyond time that we eliminate the pay-to-pay uh model that that exists here here in this country and recognize that the best place, the best environment where our kids can truly develop it develop are in the streets. Much like Harrison uh pointed out, we're we're uh players from from different countries uh that are less fortunate than either those of us here in the United States, but they produce the best players because they play in the streets. They play in their bare feet, they play on concrete, they play on on ragged fields, they play with uh little less than less than the best, shall we say. And year in and year out, generation by generation, they produce magnificent soccer players. So again, check that out. Um Harrison Zepp S-Z-E-P. That's our show for today. If you like what you hear, please tell everyone. And remember those likes matter, subscribes matter. You can follow the GP Soccer Podcast, all of our social media and new episodes are available every Wednesday morning. Don't forget, please don't forget to check out my website at gpsoccerpodcast.com. And if you're interested in advertising on the show, then email me at GP4Soccer, and that's the number four, at yahoo.com. This is your host, Giovanni Pacini, and I will catch you later.