Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Jason Kreis on the World Cup, Lionel Messi breaking the all time WC goals record, Expectations for RSL post WC break + more

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Jason Kreis on the World Cup, Lionel Messi breaking the all time WC goals record, Expectations for RSL post WC break + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You were listening to the Sean O'Connell show, your source
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: for the best Hutes football cover year. Here's BC from
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred and ninety
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: two to one half a.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Proof jay action in the FIFA World Cup just went
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: final Argentina to nil over Austria. Leo Messi scored both
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: of those goals. The brace puts him at eighteen all
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: time scoring in the World Cup, number one alone by himself.
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: Miroslav Close was the previous holder of that record, and
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  Speaker 2: now Messi in this twenty twenty six World Cup has
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  Speaker 2: passed him and stands alone killing Himbape hot on the
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  Speaker 2: heels and definitely within striking distance of the record if
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  Speaker 2: he continues to play.
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  Speaker 1: But a nice game for Argentina again.
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  Speaker 2: Talking about that and all things soccer, Jason Christ RSL
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  Speaker 2: and Utah Royals, President of Soccer Operations, stops by courtesy
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: of our friends over at beer Bar, your home for
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  Speaker 2: World Cup Soccer on ESPN seven at ninety TWOEFM.
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  Speaker 1: Jason, Welcome back to the show. How are you sir?
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me. I'm doing fine, doing well. I
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: had a little vacation this past two weeks.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going to ask you, how how much
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: is the you know, the daily grind still on it
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  Speaker 2: or you know, you're getting yourself caught up in World
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Cup love and action like the rest of the American
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  Speaker 2: sports fans.
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  Speaker 3: Well that's interesting because I went to Italy with my
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: wife for our thirtieth anniversary. We spent two weeks over there,
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: and what strange as when you're in hotels over there,
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: you can't really see much of the World Cup. They
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: don't they don't broadcast all the.
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  Speaker 1: Games, especially because they didn't make it.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah exactly.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's maybe because they're a little bit angry,
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  Speaker 3: But anyways, they didn't get to see much. But now
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  Speaker 3: that I've been back and watching most of it, and
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  Speaker 3: it's been incredible. I was fortunate enough to go to
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  Speaker 3: see the US in Seattle on Friday, and man, what
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: an experience that was.
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  Speaker 1: What an incredible atmosphere.
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  Speaker 2: Really all of these games have had, but especially these
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  Speaker 2: US men's national team games, and you know, I've been
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  Speaker 2: I've been having soccer people for lack of better term,
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  Speaker 2: on for the last couple of weeks, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: there's there's always been I don't I want them to
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  Speaker 2: say a disconnect. But there's always been sort of like
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  Speaker 2: a barrier to entry for the average American sports fans,
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  Speaker 2: someone who didn't come up playing soccer to really jump
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  Speaker 2: on board, to really love soccer, to understand the way
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  Speaker 2: the rest of the world feels about it. Do you
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  Speaker 2: get any sense that this World Cup is helping to
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  Speaker 2: break that down at least a little bit?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. I think so.
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  Speaker 4: I mean it's interesting.
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  Speaker 3: I think in the in the prior three World Cups,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: my experience, at least just even going around our country
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  Speaker 3: to different places the Sea Games, I was amazed at
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  Speaker 3: the atmosphere in a lot of different places around just
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  Speaker 3: watching the games and watching the World Cup, and then
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  Speaker 3: it kind of goes away a little bit. So I'm
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  Speaker 3: hopeful that in this World Cup, because it's in our country,
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  Speaker 3: it's gonna it's going to have a broader impact than that,
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  Speaker 3: on a more long lasting impact, and I think it will.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, just being around and seeing how much everybody's
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  Speaker 3: watching and watching the games and talking about the games,
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  Speaker 3: I'm hopeful this is going to have a massive, massive
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  Speaker 3: impact on our soccer culture in our country for many
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  Speaker 3: years to come.
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  Speaker 2: And with that Obviously RSL has, you know, the academy
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  Speaker 2: system and homegrown prospects that are now playing at the
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  Speaker 2: professional level, and we're seeing on the World Cup stage.
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  Speaker 2: You know, some of these countries are fielding guys that
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  Speaker 2: are eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old, these young players, this
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  Speaker 2: next generation of great stars. Even as Leo Messi scores
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  Speaker 2: a brace and what we expect to be his final
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  Speaker 2: World Cup, plenty of games left to play, I think
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  Speaker 2: for Argentina in this World Cup, but.
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  Speaker 1: You know he and.
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  Speaker 2: Christiano Ronaldo, I cannot foresee either of them being involved
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  Speaker 2: in the next one. And so this next this next
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  Speaker 2: crop of stars that the world is developing.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, can we see that.
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  Speaker 2: Infrastructure is our infrastructure in the United States at a
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  Speaker 2: place now where we're talking about our guys maybe being
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  Speaker 2: in that group eventually, if not in the next one.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, obviously we have several dreams.
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  Speaker 3: Of American soccer people, you know. The first and foremost
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  Speaker 3: and I think ultimately much more important one is for
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  Speaker 3: us to actually win a World Cup. But maybe these
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: two things go hand in hand. The second one would
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  Speaker 3: be to develop a player that's seen as as a
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  Speaker 3: truly elite player. In the world, you know, a top
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  Speaker 3: three to top five player in the world, and I
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  Speaker 3: think we've got We've still got a long way to
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  Speaker 3: go with that, but I do think we're heading in
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  Speaker 3: a very positive direction. As somebody that's out and watching
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  Speaker 3: a lot of the Academy games and our not only
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  Speaker 3: our players, but all the Academy players from across the
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  Speaker 3: country and all the different MLS teams, I'm really impressed
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  Speaker 3: with the work that's being done there, Really impressed with
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  Speaker 3: the development of the individual players from a tactical perspective,
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  Speaker 3: technical perspective, mental perspective, all the areas that I think
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  Speaker 3: we're done a really nice job. And so yeah, I
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  Speaker 3: think there's there's absolutely no reason why in the future
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  Speaker 3: we couldn't have the next leonell Nasier Christiano Ornaldo that
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  Speaker 3: comes from the US.
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  Speaker 2: My explanation, my excuse for why America has not elite
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  Speaker 2: in soccer has always been the same one everyone else
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  Speaker 2: uses that it's not it has not been a popular
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  Speaker 2: enough sport in the US for the elite athletes to
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  Speaker 2: decide that's what they're going to pursue when they're twelve, thirteen, fourteen,
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  Speaker 2: fifteen years old. The best athletes in the US end
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: up in American football or they end up in basketball.
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  Speaker 2: Baseball is its own thing, I guess, but I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if that's a proper explanation, if it
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  Speaker 2: ever was, I don't know if it is anymore, because
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  Speaker 2: we're this nation of you know, immigrants, and there's a
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: lot of families that are American now that didn't start
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  Speaker 2: out as Americans who soccer is their first love and
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: they're funneling their kids into soccer instead. So if if
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  Speaker 2: it's going, if we are going to get like a
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  Speaker 2: chilling and bape from the is it because he's going
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  Speaker 2: to be the son of immigrants, or is it going
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  Speaker 2: to be like an elite, elite athlete who could be
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  Speaker 2: a football player, could be a basketball player, could be
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  Speaker 2: a baseball star, chooses soccer instead, maybe because he watched
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  Speaker 2: the twenty twenty six World Cup and saw what mess
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: you did or something.
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  Speaker 4: There you go, there you go.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, No, I think it's about it's a couple of factors.
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  Speaker 3: I think one of the factors is to actually be
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  Speaker 3: able to visualize heroes, right, and so for a young
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  Speaker 3: aspiring athletic person in our country over the past thirty
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  Speaker 3: forty years, right, their heroes were baseball, basketball, and football players,
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  Speaker 3: and so they wanted to aspire to be that because
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  Speaker 3: there wasn't even a professional league in our country and
• 6:41
  Speaker 3: it wasn't like this was the day and age of internet,
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  Speaker 3: so you weren't watching the German Bundesliga on the weekends.
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  Speaker 3: So I think there's a little bit about that. There's
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  Speaker 3: also a little bit about moving up in social economic status, right.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, in the majority of their countries, Argentina is.
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  Speaker 3: Brazils of the world, that soccer represents a way for
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: them to essentially get out of the slumps, right, And
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  Speaker 3: there's just a lot of money in it. And I
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  Speaker 3: think for our country that's always typically again been basketball,
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  Speaker 3: football and baseball. But now as our professional league continues
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  Speaker 3: to grow and as our players start to make more
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  Speaker 3: and more money, I think it is it represents that
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  Speaker 3: opportunity for our young people as well. So I'm hopeful
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  Speaker 3: with the sort of combining of those two things that
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  Speaker 3: that opportunity exists for us.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know every number that's in your phone, but
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  Speaker 2: I hope Tim Howard is in there. I need you
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  Speaker 2: to call him and tell him it is Unamerican to
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: go on television and tell your audience it's impossible for
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  Speaker 2: the USA to win this World Cup.
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  Speaker 1: That is the thing that we need.
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  Speaker 2: That is the final ingredient in the recipe, because we
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: are front runners, as much as we don't like to
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: admit that to ourselves. The reason why we get so
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: excited about the Women's World Cup is because we know
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  Speaker 2: that the US has a great chance.
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  Speaker 1: Of winning that thing. When we're you just won the group.
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  Speaker 2: Don't throw cold water on my hopes and dreams here, Tim,
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  Speaker 2: Tim Howard. I mean, I'm obviously being facetious, but there
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: is a certain element to like perpetuating that belief as
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  Speaker 2: we ride this wave, isn't there?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah?
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  Speaker 4: No, I mean I think there's real validity to.
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  Speaker 3: The idea that what you put out in the world
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  Speaker 3: can happen, right, So speaking things into existence, I'm a
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  Speaker 3: proponent of that, and so why would you say anything else.
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  Speaker 3: I think that there's you know, that we should all believe.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's also part of being an American as well,
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  Speaker 3: is to be the eternal optimist. And so that's you know,
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  Speaker 3: my father always taught me that he was the optimistic
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  Speaker 3: guy for sure. As a leader of our family, so
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  Speaker 3: I wouldn't say anything less than yeah, we can do it.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: Jason christ is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell show,
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: RSL and Utah Royals President of Soccer Operations. So, now
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: that you're back from Italy and you're having a chance
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: to sit down and watch some of these games, are
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: you able to do it from just a passionate soccer
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  Speaker 2: fan perspective or does the does the executive mind always
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: you know, you're always like, Okay, that guy who just
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: came in for eight minutes for Cabo Verad, what can
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  Speaker 2: we do.
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  Speaker 1: To get him the like? Is there any of that
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  Speaker 1: going on while you're watching?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, of course the work never stops in my mind,
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: to be completely frank and honest, and obviously coaching the
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: game for a long time, I have a love of tactics,
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  Speaker 3: so especially when I watched the US play, I'm analyzing
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  Speaker 3: the tactics there more than anything else and trying to
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: figure out whether I agree or disagree with decisions that.
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  Speaker 4: Are being made.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, the job never leaves me, and I'm continually
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: going to look at the smaller countries and the players
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  Speaker 3: there and see if there would be opportunity for real
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: Salt Lake.
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  Speaker 2: For sure, ignorance has been blissful for me when it
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: comes to watching this uspen's national team. I don't know
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: enough to know whether I should be questioning Mauricio Poschatino
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  Speaker 2: with his lineups or his formation or the tactics. You
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: do not have that bliss ignorant So, I mean, I
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: think the results speak for themselves. But is there anything
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: on the positive or negative side that a change that
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: he has made that you think is significant here?
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: Well, I think, first and foremost he said it absolutely
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: correctly that the results are what matter in the tournament
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: like this. You know, it's all well and good to
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: play the most attractive soccer, but to be doing that
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: not getting results would certainly not be good enough. So
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't. I'm not going to detract or be a
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: negative person about about what I've seen with the US
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: I would say frankly, I thought, in this last game
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: against an opponent that sat back and was very negative,
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: it did prove to be extremely difficult for our team
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  Speaker 3: to create goal scoring chances, and I thought we lacked
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: a little bit of tactical acumen to open the opponent
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: up and to actually create those good chances. But frankly,
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: I don't think that as we enter the knockout stages
• 10:52
  Speaker 3: that we're going to we're going to be facing many
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: opponents that are going to try to put all eleven
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: players behind the ball and within forty yards of their
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: own goal. I think the opposite might be true. So
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: I don't put a whole lot of weight into what
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: I saw in that game, other than to say I
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: would have liked to seem to see us be a
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: little bit more tactically astute to create more goalscoring chances.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: What do you expect from the final game of group
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: play because you're going against a team that's eliminated, you
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: have won the group already. That chain when you don't
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: have pressure or the pressure has changed on both sides
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: like it could alter the dynamic of the game. So
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: how do you anticipate this next one playing out?
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: It's difficult, really difficult to say. All I could say
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: is that if I was coaching the team, I would
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: certainly start.
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  Speaker 4: With number one.
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  Speaker 3: Anybody that's had the yellow card doesn't play, because I'm
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: not going to take the risks that they're not going
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: to be available for the first knockout stage and number two,
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  Speaker 3: I would look at it as an opportunity to get
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: more players out there playing minutes, to show me what
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: they're capable of, and to earn the trust because to
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: go through the knockout stage you know that there's going
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: to be injuries, there could be potential suspensions, and to
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: have a deeper group of players that already feels like, Okay,
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: I got my opportunity, I'm in this tournament. I did well,
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  Speaker 3: I'm ready when I'm called upon. I think that's meaningful.
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  Speaker 3: So I would like to see him make you know,
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: five six changes. I think there's three or four guys
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: that have yellow cards. Those guys wouldn't play, but I'd
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: like to see another two or three changes as well,
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: just to get more players involved in this tournament such
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: that if we need them in the latter stages, they
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: are ready and ready to rock.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie to you, Jason.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: I thought that there would be some opportunity for us,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: maybe even in group play, to come on there and say, ah,
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: this would have been you would have been better off
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: if you had moon Man on this roster. That wouldn't
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: have happened to Team USA. If Diego Luna was out
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: there for them, I guess, thankfully from a patriotic perspective,
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: that hasn't happened yet. But have you seen anything, even
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: as he is not on the roster, where maybe you
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: know he or any of the RSL guys Goza whoever
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: would have fit in to this formation, fit into this
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: US men's national team roster and been a help.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think starting off with the fact that
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: the US in possession is playing the same game model
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: that RSL plays, I think that's that would be useful
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: and the likes of Luna and Goza would fit into
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: that seamlessly. I would say again that you know, against Australia,
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: against a team that was sitting back so deeply, we
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: needed a player like Diego Luna to come into that
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: game that could potentially unlock it. Now, obviously we won
• 13:33
  Speaker 3: the game to zero, but I do think that you know,
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: an opponent like that is the exact opponent that that
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: that you want to have a Diego Luna against. With
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: this creativity and his ability to create things individually, I
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: think that that could have helped us a bit.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: Have you spoken with him directly privately since he was
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: omitted from the roster.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, of course, I was very concerned for him and
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: also disappointed, very disappointed, I think for our club, but
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: also for Diego and a lot of it just didn't
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: quite make sense to me. So I was worried about
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: how he would take it, and I think he's He's
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: obviously done a very good job. And this is a
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: kid that has literally come from nothing and has always
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: been a fighter, So I don't see the situation being
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: any different. He's just going to have to get back
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: out there and fight and show that he belongs for
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: the for the national team games that are coming up
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: after this World Cup in the fall of the opportunity
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: and for him to show that he's he should be
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: a part of that group coming forward.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: What are your RSL guys up to today? When does
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: the work begin again or begin in earnest again for them?
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: Actually, they all got three weeks off from our last
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: game at Minnesota and they started training Wednesday of last week,
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: So now they'll be they'll be in and training. We
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: have a friendly game against Nashville this weekend. Nashville actually
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: came out to Salt Lake here to train for a week.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: We'll play a friendly game with them on Saturday, and
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: then from there going forward will have like regular sort
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: of friendly matches to prepare our players. I mean, this
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: is essentially a second preseason, is exactly what it is.
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: Burnley coming in in mid July. Is Burnley the JJ
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: Watt team? Does he does he own piece of that?
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: It is.
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: And also Alan Pace who's from Utah and Dave Checketts
• 15:20
  Speaker 3: are are both and Allen's actually the chairman of the
• 15:23
  Speaker 3: board and make the principal owner of the team.
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: And then Dave.
• 15:26
  Speaker 3: Checkets is on the on their board. So a lot
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: of familiar faces.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: It shows you exactly where my dumb football brain works
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: when I think of a soccer team, Well, there's a
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: there's an NFL guy associated with that one, and I
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: leave out the important Utah figures in it. So what
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: is the what is the ramp up like for when
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: you're in these friendlies and you know you're coming off
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: an international break, especially for a team that does not have,
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: you know, guys on the US men's national team does
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: not has not sent to an entire roster full of
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: players out for international duty. What is the ramp like like,
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: what are the what's the emphasition training right now?
• 16:04
  Speaker 3: Yeah? In training right now. It's just about getting the
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: guys physically back up to a place where they can
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: play ninety minutes. Thanksfully, we did a fitness test for
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: the guys actually on their second day back, and the
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: fitness level showed to be pretty good. And then as
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: we get closer to the season, are closer closer to
• 16:22
  Speaker 3: the renewal of the season, I should say, then it's
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: going to be about really fine tuning things and preparing
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: them to fight for this second half of the season.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: So the Burnley game is on the fifteenth, which is
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: one week one week exactly prior to our MLS return,
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: which that game is on the twenty second at LAFC.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: So that game is going to be a time for
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: us to really fine tune things with our starting group
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: and so the fans can expect to see a really
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: strong lineup out there to play against the Burnley team
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: that will be in the middle stages of their preseason.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: So it should be a real I think it's going
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: to be a great game and a great experience for
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: everybody to see our guys after for so long off,
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: but also to see what a what a team that
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: was just in the Premiership last week. With last year,
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: what those players might look like.
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: I would be remiss if I didn't also ask you
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: about this Utah Royal squad that's been off to a
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: really good start in their season, and what number two.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: This is a The NWSL is a product that, like
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: a lot of women's sports, is having its moment in
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: American culture. But also, like I think we need to
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: amplify it more. And I mean I don't follow it enough.
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: I'm not doing a good enough job making sure that
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: I'm asking the right questions and getting out there and
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: things like that. But you know, what do we need
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: to know about the Royals and what we can do
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: to support this NWSL?
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, that's a fantastic group of young women,
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: really is that there are. I started working with them
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: almost exactly a year ago. I was very hesitant and
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: nervous about it because I had frankly never worked with
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: women's sports at all. And it's just been such a
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: rewarding experience because these young these young ladies are are
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: not only ambitious and terrific professionals, but they're fantastic people
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: and so thankful of everything that we do for them
• 18:18
  Speaker 3: and the resources that we've been able to put behind
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: them has been nothing short of spectacular. The Miller, the
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: Miller family has has been aligned with me and the
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: other leadership to to really put the right amount of
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: support around our players from a medical and health perspective
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: to a performance perspective, and.
• 18:37
  Speaker 4: We've done some.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: They've they have provided some real strong support and I
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: think we're seeing dividends for that. You know, the girls
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: have really have a tight knit group of as a
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: team and have just performed. I think from a performance
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: and athletic perspective, that's performed extremely well this year. So
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: I think we're getting a lot of given in is
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: paid from the work that has been put in and
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: from the resources have been put behind this group. So
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: if you haven't been out to a game, I tell
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: you should come. But if we've started to get more
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: and more fans, the atmosphere of the games has been
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: fantastic and the team is nothing short of of phenomenal.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: You know, they're second place in the in the league,
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: but I think we have a game or two in hand,
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: so we handle that right the right way, we'll be
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: back in first place.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: I actually I got some family coming in.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: We're coming to the I think the game against Gotham
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: is the one we plan on. July tenth is the
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: one we're planning, and it'll be my first I'm really
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: excited about it. Like I said, I have family coming
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: in to visit, and that was one of the things
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: like we got to check that box. We want to
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: go to a Royals game, and I was like, sweet,
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: I think I can make that happen. So I'll be
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: calling someone in your building to try to get I
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: don't know, some kind.
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: Of you can call me.
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: You can call me because it's funny because I haven't
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: extended family coming in at the same time and we're
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: also all going to be at the game.
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: Awesome.
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: Well, well, enjoy the rest of this World Cup. I
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: can't tell you how much I appreciate your time helping me.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, Jason. I'm well
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: late to it, but I'm jumping on the bandwagon, and
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: I think we need results on the men's side in
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: order for the country to really join me in crowding
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: along with the people like you who've been on this
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: thing the whole way.
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: Awesome. Welcome aboard.
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: That's Jason christ RSL and Utah Royals President of Soccer Operations.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: World Cup Talk brought to you by Beer bar rsl
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: Back in action with some friendlies Burnley FC coming in
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: July fifteenth at seven thirty pm, if you want to
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: check that out. The Utah Royals will be back at
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: America First Field. Looks like that July tenth game. They're
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: back in action July fifth in Chicago. But July tenth
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: and then July eighteenth they're at America First Field.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: So we'll see you out there at the park. I
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: suppose