Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast! (S14 E17)

                      Welcome to the GP Soccer Podcast!  (S14 E17)

                                    Bonus World Cup Coverage!

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

Welcome to this special edition of the GP Soccer Podcast! Listeners of the show can now enjoy bonus content featuring- "Stories from The World Cup". Host Giovanni Pacini each week will highlight World Cup stories that typically don't get front page coverage but are interesting and fascinating nonetheless!

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

Host Giovanni Pacini's new book- "The Importance of Unstructured Free Play: Coaching with a Street Soccer Mentality is now available on Amazon!

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_00 1:21

Well, hey there, everyone. Giovanni Picini here, your host of the GP Soccer Podcast. Yes, indeed, the journey has started. The journey being the World Cup. Very, very, very exciting. As I record this episode, we're about 10 or 11 days into the tournament, and there's been no shortage of excitement, of drama, great play by individuals, by team as well. If you're listening to the show, you're a soccer fan, you know all this. So in preparing for these for this bonus content of the GP Soccer Podcast, I decided to take a different route. Each and every week, each and every Wednesday, when you call the GP Soccer Podcast, wherever you happen to listen to your podcast, I decided to share with you stories from the World Cup. There is a multitude of opportunities throughout the course of all par all sorts of media to digest what goes on. You know, the breakdown of games, great plays, great players, analytics, you know, stats, all that great stuff. But I wanted to do something different. So each and every week, what I'm going to do is do a deep dive uh out there in the in the uh in in media and social media and local newspapers and that type of thing. And I want to bring to you stories from the World Cup. And these are things that might not make, you know, general conversation uh throughout the course of other uh you know uh programs you you might hear on social media uh or radio and television, that type of thing. So it's something different. So you can go to any number of podcasts out there take in all of the information that they're giving, all the all the nuts and bolts, statistics, analytics, all that type of thing. And then you could say, you know what, I'm now gonna go to the GP Soccer podcast. I want to listen to some stories from the World Cup. Stories that that might not make the headlines, stories that might not make the uh conversation that takes place each and every day regarding uh regarding the World Cup. So here's how I'm gonna start. Uh we're gonna break for a brief commercial message, and on the other side, I'm gonna share with you some audio that I took at the Norway Iraq game that was played at Boston Stadium uh a week or so ago, ten days or so ago. And I want to give you it will give you a first hand feel of what it was like to be in the stadium. Because it's one thing to be in your living room or your den, watching it on your big screen TV, and obviously, it's entirely different when you're in the stadium. So a break for a commercial, and then I want to give you a little bit of a taste of my experience uh of being at uh Boston Stadium for the Norway Iraq game. There's gonna be two portions some audio that I took before the match started, and then some secondary audio when the match was over and I had made it finally made it back to my uh my car. This is Giovanni Pacini, this is the GP Soccer Podcast, offering you some great additional content and stories from the World Cup. 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, Zone 14 coaching next generation journals of coaches and players help plan every practice, reflect on what worked, and track progress all season long. Built on intentional coaching and backed by neuroscience, Zone 14 coaching brings structure and purpose to your training. The founders of Zone 14 Coaching watched in awe as some of the game's best tacticians and mentors spent every precious moment with a simple pen and paper, meticulously sketching, writing, and planning in a journal. It was a powerful and humbling sight. The foundation of great coaching was a commitment to preparation and a passion for player development. This simple observation sparked a question. What if we could give every coach, from the passionate parent of the recreational level to the club coaching director, access to the same level of structured, thoughtful planning? Zone 14 Coaching is the answer. Visit zone14coaching.com and use the promo code GP20 for 20% off. And if you want to outfit your entire organization or even just one team, contact Zone 14Coing at zone14coaching.com for bulk pricing. Zone 14 Coaching, where high-level soccer knowledge and structured planning is accessible and simple.

SPEAKER_01 6:06

So June 26th, 2026, where might I be? Well, I'm at the boss and scale. Let's get in here. I'm gonna sit back. I'm gonna enjoy this wonderful Massachusetts evening between Iraq and Norway here at Boston Stadium here in Foxville, Massachusetts. And if you're watching this at home, enjoy it, enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 7:36

And I finally made it back here to my car after the match here uh at Boston Stadium, also known as Gillette Stadium. Uh, if you're from the New England area, um Norway four, Iraq one, which I'm sure you'll you're all aware of. Um, you know, you just call the early hauling show. Uh, you know, he scored two back breaking goals uh that uh you know thwarted Iraqi runs because I'm gonna tell you from my vantage point, um, Iraq was a good side. Uh when in possession of the ball, they did a nice job moving the ball about, probing, trying to find opportunities to go forward, which they did on a number of occasions. But then uh there was Erling Haaland who would come in and uh you know score a goal. The second of which was uh kind of a bit of a layup was a bad very poor backpass from the Iraqi defender to the goalkeeper, and um, you know, the in the in the ensuing quasi-collision, it bounced off of Erling Haaland and it went to the back of the net. But as they always say, it counts. It absolutely counts. Uh you know, getting into the stadium, as I noted to you in the opening of my of my uh my report here was was easy. Uh plenty of great people offering guidance, um an ample amount of people. If you had a question, you could go talk to. Uh security great. Our seats were terrific, uh, and they were, by comparison, affordable. Um and uh yeah, it was it was a great match. And then upon the return to our vehicle, again, same thing, very, very orderly. Uh people making their way outside of the stadium. But what did not diminish was the absolute joy that was exhibited by, well, in this case, mostly the Norwegians, obviously, because they won the match 4-1. But certainly Iraqis were joyous as well uh in terms of just being a part of what is a glorious event, that being the that being the World Cup. And the one thing, and I was sharing with my friend and colleague when I went to the matchup, the one thing I just kept repeating and and and and observing was you had Norwegians, you had Iraqis, you had Americans, and you had a smattering of other nationalities throughout the course of the stadium, all of whom were uh you know joined together in this common language that we call football, we call soccer. And if the entire world on a regular basis could just act the way we see in these World Cup matches where people from different different parts of the globe just get together uh and respect one another and find common joy in one another, my goodness, what a what a great place, what a great world we we could live in. Uh there's nothing like it being in the World Cup uh environment. Yes, you can watch it from the confines of your of your home, which I do more often than not, in my den my den, in front of my big screen TV. It's great, but uh it cannot capture, obviously, the joy, the the magnitude, uh the passion uh that it's what it's like to be in the stadium in the midst of a World Cup match between two countries, no matter who the countries happen to be. It is an absolutely glorious, glorious, uh uh glorious uh uh event. So that's it, uh my report, uh live, if you will, from uh Boston Stadium. And uh looking forward to the next matches that will take place. Well, I'll be in my in my den watching it on my big screen TV. This is Giovanni Pacini, this is the GP Soccer Podcast. Um looking forward to uh more World Cup reports and stories. And welcome back. Uh so hopefully that gives you a little bit of a taste, a little bit of a feel, if you will, as to what it was like to be in Boston Stadium for the uh Norway Iraq match. A couple of blips on that audio. I said June 26th, it was June the 16th for that match. And um, you might have said to yourself, was that Bruce Springsteen? Uh I heard it for a brief second there. Yes, that's my ringtone. Uh so I quickly shut that off. So not only do you get my report from uh from uh Boston Stadium, but you get a little taste of Bruce Springsteen as well. We're gonna bring forward the last commercial message of uh of the show. And on the other side, we'll come back with stories from the World Cup. Giovanni Pacini here, GP Soccer Podcast. Don't you dare go anywhere. It is time to bring back the game that teaches players how to think. Modern youth soccer is more organized than ever, yet many young players are missing one of the most powerful development tools in the game, unstructured free play. The importance of unstructured free play, coaching with a street soccer mentality, challenges coaches, parents, and player development leaders to rethink how young athletes learn. Drawing from decades of coaching experience, child development principles, and the timeless lessons of street soccer, author Giovanni Piccini shows why creativity, decision-making, resilience, joy, and soccer IQ grow when players are given space to explore the game. The importance of unstructured free play, coaching with a street soccer mentality, is a book for grassroots coaches, youth soccer directors, parents, educators, and anyone who believes that player development should produce more than organized drill followers. It offers a practical approach for balancing structure with freedom using guided learning, constraints, small set of games, reflection, and activity designs that let the game be the ultimate teacher. Order your copy of the importance of unstructured replay by coaching with a street soccer mentality on Amazon today. And welcome back to the GP Soccer Podcast. So I chose a c a couple of stories to share with you. Uh the first one I will share with you is from uh June the 18th from The Boston Globe, written by Amin Tori. It is entitled Foxboro Faithful. I share joyful experience of events, and it goes something like this. In the weeks before the World Cup, it was easy to forget what this whole thing was about. Two games in, the batches in Foxboro have served up a reminder. Four teams that have have come to Boston over uh uh after decades out in the World Cup cold, Scotland and Norway appeared for the first time since 1998, Iraq for the first time since 1986, and Haiti for the first time since 1974. And their fans know it's a joy and a privilege to be here. The Scots and Haitians came first on Saturday by packing Gillette Stadium, which FIFA is calling Boston Stadium for the World Cup, for a 9 p.m. kickoff. Scotland fans belted out their anthem Flower of Scotland, an incredible voice. Haitian fans waved flags like helicopter blades every time their team got on the front foot. Opposing fans could not have been happy to see each other. They posed for photos, photos, and wished each other good luck. There was even a clip circulating on online of Haitian and Scottish fans swapping jerseys outside the stadium, much like the players do after games. Tuesday served up the same flavors of camaraderie and joy, with Norwegian supporters filling one half of the stadium, Iraqi fans the other, and pockets of each mingling. And while there may have been more Norwegian jerseys in the crowd, there were probably more Iraqi flags as a proud people that brought its colours to the World Cup stage for the first time in four decades. It was a different level of happiness that we never expected before, said one Iraqi fan named Ahmad, who grew up in Iraq and now lives in New York. Last time, our parents were the ones who saw Iraq going to the World Cup. Now it's us. This is the first time since coming from my country to the US that I see so much of my people in the same place. Norway got the last laugh, a 4-1 win, with two goals from Star Striker Erling Holland. But the biggest roar of the day came from the Iraqian, when striker Eamon Hussein leaped highest to power home aheader that nodded the score at one. It was Bedlam in the stands and on the pitch where several Iraqi substitutes ran on to the corner to celebrate their first country's World Cup goals since 1986. Of course, the Iraqi fans are everywhere, said Iraqi defendant Murchus Dosky, but they filled the stadium so it felt also like a home game. Unfortunately, we lost and we didn't make them happy today. At halftime, Norwegian and Iraqi fans chatted in concession lines and snapped pictures together, but one Iraqi fan could be seen supporting a Norwegian Viking horns. A Norwegian fan was spotted in a kiffy, a traditional Iraqi headdress, presumably by the products of another swap. There were certainly downsides to the expanded 48 team tournament, but with concerns about diluted quality and weaker matchups, particularly in the group stage. But without that inflation on the field, we might not have had to see Haitian fans screaming for Le Grenadiers or the swelling of the Iraqi pride. We would likely have missed out on the Cape Verde's stunning result against Spain and one of the greatest moments in history of the Kakura Saiyan sport. In the coming weeks, Foxborough will host a slew of visitors who are certainly not just happy to be here. The French and their fans expect a serious run at winning the World Cup, as do England. After semi-final semifinal appearances four years ago, Morocco isn't just a group stage fodder anymore. But for the last few days, we got to witness a lot of firsts. Every player who has played at the World Cup in Foxboro thus far was appearing on soccer's biggest stage for the first time. And very few were even born the last time the country was here. For any Scottish or Norwegian fan under 35, Iraqis under 50, or Haitians under 60, this is all new too. So it's no wonder. The first two games in Foxboro, despite matchups lacking star power and less than ideal kickoff times, were sold out or very close to it. There are real concerns about price gouging, political tensions, and logistical nightmares, but for a few hours, the fans that have come to Foxboro from near from nearby as Bridgewater and as far away as as Baghdad have found joy, identity, and a little common ground. We're just happy that we are here and the world can see us, said an Iraqi fan, Ned Kadim. Added his friend Rokid, this is history. We have to be here. So there you have one of the stories from the World Cup, and it gives you an idea of some of the things that I'm gonna be looking for. I've got a second story. I don't know if it's a story, but it's gonna uh enlighten you and educate you on the World Cup mascots. And this is from the USA uh Today Network from June the 14th, and it's written by Jim Riking. And it goes as follows Telestar, Questra, my favorite Noah, Jubalani, add Trionda to the long list of memorable signature balls used for the World Cup matches. The Adidas Trionda, a colorful mix of blue, green, and red, on a new four-panel construction that was introduced as the official ball for the 2026 World Cup in October of 2025. The three-color scheme for the Trionda play pays tribute to the three host countries for 2026 World Cup. Canada in red, Mexico in green, and the United States in blue. Inside each color wave on the Triana, there is an iconography representing each host nation with a maple leaf for Canada, an Eagle for Mexico, and a star for the United States. Now, since 1970, Adidas has been FIFA's official ball supplier for the Men's World Cup. At the 2026 World Cup, Clutch, Maple, and Zayu will carry on the proud tradition that has featured the legendary likes of World Cup Willie, Piquet, Stryker, Athortix, Goleo, and Leib. If these names are familiar to you, well then study up. Clutch, Maple, and Zayu are the official mascots of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and they join a decades-long lineage of iconic costume characters that dates back to the 1966 World Cup in England. That was when the World Cup Willie broke mascot ground and was the first of his kind at a World Cup, or at least in an official capacity. For the 2026 World Cup, there are three mascots. Since there are three host nations, Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Let's take a look at each one of these mascots. Mascots. Clutch, the bald eagle. Clutch represents the United States and is, of course, a bald eagle, which is the country's country's national bird officially as of December 2024. Klutch, like all great midfielders, unites people wherever they go by proving the true flight is about purpose, passion, and play. Maple the Moose. Maple represents Canada. And according to FIFA, Maple is a street style, street style loving artist, music, enthusiast, music enthusiast, and dedicated goalkeeper. Maple found purpose through creativity, resilience, and an unapologetic individuality. There's a lot for a mascot that was birthed in September of 2025. And finally, Zayu the Jaguar. Zayu is the mascot representing Mexico and is characterized by FIFA as more than an athlete, a symbol of cultural celebration and connection that carry the heart of Mexico with pride. So, as you're watching the 2026 World Cup matches this summer, keep an eye out for the sideline shenanigans of this colorful trio. So there you have it, folks. A couple of stories from the World Cup. Now you've got a flavor of what you can look forward to each and every week. So that's our show for today. Our bonus content for the World Cup here in the GP Soccer Podcast. If you like what you hear, please tell everyone. And remember, those likes matter. Make sure you hit those likes buttons. It helps me, helps my sponsors. If you could you can follow the GP Soccer Podcast, all of the social media, and new episodes are available every Wednesday morning. Don't forget, don't forget, 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 for at yahoo.com. This is your host, Giovanni Pacini. And I will catch you later.