Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Pablo Mastroeni on the World Cup, Sit key USMNT players tomorrow vs Turkiye (?), RSL ramping up for July 15th friendly+ more

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Pablo Mastroeni on the World Cup, Sit key USMNT players tomorrow vs Turkiye (?), RSL ramping up for July 15th friendly+ more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: You tune to the Sean O'Connell Show for the Murdoch
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two to
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: one a half hour.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Switzerland Canada underway here in group play in this North
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: American World Cup, Team USA already threw to the knockout rounds.
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  Speaker 2: Still a big game tomorrow night, looking forward to that one.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be talking about it right now, we'll be talking
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  Speaker 2: about it tomorrow. We are fully caught up in the
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: wave of World Cup hype here on the Sean O'Connell Show,
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: and we're lucky enough to welcome head coach of RSL,
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  Speaker 2: former US men's national team member Pablo Mastruini for a
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: few minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Pablo, Welcome to the show. How are you, sir?
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  Speaker 3: Thanks, I appreciate it. Yeah, doing great.
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  Speaker 2: I know that you've probably answered these questions a bunch.
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: With the North American World Cup in American soil hosting
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: this year's tournament and so far it has been really
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  Speaker 2: incredible to watch. But as a man who was, you know,
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: part of the development years of Major League Soccer, of
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: the game of football here in the United States, seeing
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: this kind of you know, global stage world tournament, the
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  Speaker 2: international fans reacting to our stadiums and seeing what the
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: culture is like really up close and personal. Is there
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: a certain level of gratification to being part of those
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  Speaker 2: foundational years and seeing how far the sport has come.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's it's it's it's been pretty awesome, you know.
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  Speaker 4: I think, you know, I've seen a bunch of World
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  Speaker 4: Cups played in a couple and there's been no better
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  Speaker 4: show than what I've seen in twenty twenty six. This
• 1:47
  Speaker 4: World Cup has been lights out. The way the guys
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  Speaker 4: are playing some of the best US soccer football that
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  Speaker 4: I've ever seen played, the support of the fans, and
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  Speaker 4: also the I think the hospitality of Americans across the
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  Speaker 4: country with all these fans from different places and you know,
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  Speaker 4: them bringing their cultures over and just really just sharing
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  Speaker 4: in this in this wonderful sport. That just bringing everyone together,
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  Speaker 4: and on top of that, putting on a spectacle. You know,
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  Speaker 4: every game is super exciting, the way it's presented, the coverage,
• 2:18
  Speaker 4: you know, having guys like Slots on and Tier around
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  Speaker 4: re headlining the the you know, the show. So it's
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  Speaker 4: been it's been awesome. I can't wait, you know for
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  Speaker 4: practice Dan to get back on the couch and just
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  Speaker 4: watch the whole slew of games into the night and
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  Speaker 4: then wake up the next day and.
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  Speaker 3: Do it all over again.
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  Speaker 4: So just really proud of how far it's coming, and
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  Speaker 4: you'd like to hope that you know that we can
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  Speaker 4: really gain some momentum as far as soccer is concerned
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  Speaker 4: in this country. Off the tail wins up such a
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  Speaker 4: wonderful World Cup.
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  Speaker 2: When you're watching, how much are you able to watch
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  Speaker 2: as a soccer fan and maybe even as a former player,
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  Speaker 2: and how much of your your coaching and your tactical
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  Speaker 2: mind comes in and you start taking notes and evaluating
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  Speaker 2: and hey, maybe that's something we could try. I like
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  Speaker 2: this up on that set piece, et cetera. How much
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  Speaker 2: you able to just enjoy as a fan versus the
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  Speaker 2: business kicking in.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's really interesting because now my brain
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  Speaker 4: has been so much towards coaching. You know. As a player,
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  Speaker 4: I always watch for excitement, you know, and watch players
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  Speaker 4: in my position, so I can learn a little bit,
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  Speaker 4: but more so for the excitement of the game. And
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  Speaker 4: now I just find myself every morning coming in with
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  Speaker 4: the coaching staff and going you got to see the
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: game last night? You know that three one bill that
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  Speaker 4: we were talking about, let me show you exactly what
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  Speaker 4: like they're doing it in real time. This is exactly
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  Speaker 4: what we're talking about. So it's a little bit of both,
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  Speaker 4: you know. I think you know, watching watching the quality
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  Speaker 4: of play on the field is phenomenal, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: there's a lot of teams that you.
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  Speaker 3: Know that that that you know snuck into.
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  Speaker 4: The World Cup that are playing a bit of a
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  Speaker 4: low block, which isn't something that that we like to do.
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  Speaker 4: But then how do you break down that low blox?
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  Speaker 4: So then I'll put my attention on the team that's
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  Speaker 4: trying to break them down, because that's something that we
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  Speaker 4: find ourselves struggling with quite often. So I think it's
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  Speaker 4: a little bit of both, but I'd say more geared
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  Speaker 4: towards the tactical application with with every game.
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  Speaker 3: And then given that.
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  Speaker 4: All these different counts trees, you know, have a lot
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  Speaker 4: of their their the fabric of the culture and the
• 4:04
  Speaker 4: way they play is really really interesting as well. You know,
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  Speaker 4: the Dutch play a certain way, the Spanish play a
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  Speaker 4: certain way. You know, Congo plays a certain way, Argentina
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  Speaker 4: plays a certain way, and a lot of that reflects
• 4:14
  Speaker 4: the respective cultures, which is really interesting.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, it's been it's been a lot of fun.
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  Speaker 2: It's fascinating in every sport. But it's been really interesting
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  Speaker 2: to see in this particular tournament, how the best players
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  Speaker 2: in the world, the biggest stars in the world, the
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  Speaker 2: best names, how much they have shown up.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: I mean, Holland's scoring goals.
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  Speaker 2: Messi's already got five in this world cub Christiano Ronaldo
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  Speaker 2: with kind of a slow, quiet game in their first
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  Speaker 2: outing and ended up with a brace in the second appearance.
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  Speaker 2: In your mind, as someone who's been here at the
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  Speaker 2: highest level, what is it that separates those those stars,
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  Speaker 2: those big guys that you know, can perform this way
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  Speaker 2: on the world's biggest stage, versus the ones who just
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  Speaker 2: maybe even if they're almost as fast, just as intelligent,
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  Speaker 2: they just can't seem to put it together even on
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  Speaker 2: this stage.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's a great question, and I think that's
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  Speaker 4: what makes these.
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  Speaker 3: Players great, you know. And Boppi's another guy.
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  Speaker 4: That's you know, And and it's been really interesting because
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  Speaker 4: there's players also that really turn it up with the
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  Speaker 4: national team, you know, and Bope had kind of a
• 5:20
  Speaker 4: up and down year with you know, with real Madrid,
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  Speaker 4: but then he comes out with France and he just
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  Speaker 4: feels comfortable in and around those guys and and with
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  Speaker 4: you know, probably the coach, coach and the culture as well.
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  Speaker 4: So I just think that both for club and country,
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  Speaker 4: these guys are the best players in the world because
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  Speaker 4: they can do those things right and there's no amount
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  Speaker 4: of pressure that gets to them. You know, MESSI missed
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  Speaker 4: the p K h and in their last game, but
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  Speaker 4: then came back and scored two wonderful goals.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that's that's.
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  Speaker 4: The difference between the mindset of of you know, great
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  Speaker 4: players versus just good players, is that the belief in
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  Speaker 4: themselves is so huge to where they can start off slow.
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  Speaker 4: And Christiano Ronaldo the first game was quiet, but then
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  Speaker 4: he quiet it's his critics by coming back and scoring
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  Speaker 4: two in the following game. And so these guys operate
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  Speaker 4: emotionally and intellectually on a level that is very hard
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  Speaker 4: to achieve. But I believe it's with all these guys,
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  Speaker 4: they have a certain level of a self confidence that
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: would be that is almost like we consider people crazy
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  Speaker 4: to think like this in a real world, whereas in
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  Speaker 4: sport it's necessary to have that type of belief because
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  Speaker 4: there's going to be games that aren't going to be good,
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  Speaker 4: but your expectations for you are that you're going to
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  Speaker 4: come back and play to your level, and that's what
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  Speaker 4: these guys have been doing.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: I think we've maybe already talked about him in killing Embape,
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  Speaker 2: like you know, he's got well, he's two goals short
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  Speaker 2: of the record that is currently held by Leo Messi,
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  Speaker 2: but coming into the tournament to Messi was a goal
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  Speaker 2: behind Miroslav Close And so you see all these things happen,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: and Ronaldo's playing in his last World Cup. I'm pretty
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: confident we can say that Messi's playing in his last
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: World Cup. I think we can say that is killing Embape,
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  Speaker 2: showing us already that he is the next of those individuals.
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  Speaker 2: He's the guy that we're going to be talking about
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  Speaker 2: four years from now, eight years from now, the way
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  Speaker 2: that we talk about Messi today.
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  Speaker 3: I think.
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  Speaker 4: So, I think what you know and what he has
• 7:10
  Speaker 4: is is an elite finishing ability. But really his his
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  Speaker 4: one v one is elite and his speed is elite,
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  Speaker 4: and I think as long as he continues to have
• 7:19
  Speaker 4: those those those aspects of his game, you know, and
• 7:22
  Speaker 4: he's and he started at a real young age, you know,
• 7:25
  Speaker 4: showing these tendencies and scoring these goals. And so the
• 7:28
  Speaker 4: fact that he's only one or two behind Messi at
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: the moment, there's no doubt that he'll he'll at the
• 7:34
  Speaker 4: end of all this be the champ. And and and
• 7:36
  Speaker 4: that's what makes him such an incredible athlete soccer player
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  Speaker 4: is that, you know, he just continues to defy, you know,
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  Speaker 4: his the naysayers that you know, he's this and he's that.
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  Speaker 4: But when he gets when push comes to show, he's
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: the ones showing up and putting France on their back,
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  Speaker 4: as he did in the last World Cup in twenty
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  Speaker 4: twenty two, where you know, I think he had a
• 7:56
  Speaker 4: hat trick in the final game and they still lost.
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  Speaker 4: So this guy's scoring goals in the most you know, tense,
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  Speaker 4: pressure laden moments and still coming up Trump. So I
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  Speaker 4: think he will be the ultimate goal scoring champ.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Focusing on the US men's national team, put yourselves in
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  Speaker 2: in poshatino shoes. You've got a big one against Turkey
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  Speaker 2: a tomorrow. Turkey is out. A lot of people thought
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  Speaker 2: they might win. The group hasn't gone the way that
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: they thought it would. Obviously the US men's national team,
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: their future is secure at least into the knockout round.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: I still think games like this are important because of momentum,
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: because of tone setting.
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  Speaker 1: It is a North American Cup.
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: You're gonna have a bunch of fans of your team
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: right there in the stadium expecting to see the best
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: foot forward. How do you handle it coaching a game
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: like this knowing what's at stake in you know, the
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: next couple of weeks, and knowing what this this fan
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: base and what your your roster still expects from this
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: game against Turkey.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I think the first thing is is obviously the yellow
• 8:56
  Speaker 4: card threat, is making sure that you don't have.
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  Speaker 3: Any one that carries a yellow card over.
• 9:01
  Speaker 4: I know they wipe out after the first round, but
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: I believe if you get two in the first three games,
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: then you have to sit out one. So knowing that,
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: I'd make sure that I'm not putting the group in
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: any kind of position to where we lose a player.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: From that perspective, the other part is, like you said,
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: I think you want continuity, but at the same time
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: you want to make sure that you give players that
• 9:23
  Speaker 4: you think are maybe twelve thirteen fourteen, maybe fifteen, a
• 9:28
  Speaker 4: good run just in case something. If something happens in
• 9:31
  Speaker 4: the later stages, those guys have already been able to
• 9:35
  Speaker 4: get up to speed and feel what the game looks
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: like for you know, sixty seventy minutes in that regard.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: So those are kind of the two things I'd be
• 9:42
  Speaker 4: looking to do, and just making sure that what we
• 9:44
  Speaker 4: don't want to do is drop momentum, drop belief, because again,
• 9:47
  Speaker 4: if you risk too much and you change a lot
• 9:50
  Speaker 4: of players here, now you have doubt going into the
• 9:53
  Speaker 4: next knockout game, which is something you don't want. So
• 9:55
  Speaker 4: a lot of what happens in these tournaments is predicated
• 9:58
  Speaker 4: upon a confidence belief when you when you get out
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: of the group stage, right, and so you want to
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: make sure you're going into the next round full of confidence,
• 10:06
  Speaker 4: full of belief. And from what I've seen from from
• 10:08
  Speaker 4: the first couple of games, these guys are flying on
• 10:10
  Speaker 4: all cylinders. And more importantly, the fan base has been
• 10:13
  Speaker 4: the best I've ever seen, you know, And I think
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: there's been some comments in the past where you know,
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: we're not selling out the national team games when they're
• 10:20
  Speaker 4: at home. I think those days are behind us now.
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: That that that everyone's felt what it is at you know, at.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: SOFI Stadium, packed house.
• 10:30
  Speaker 4: Opener against Paraguay and and the emotions that I even
• 10:34
  Speaker 4: felt on the couch watching the game as a fan
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: was phenomenal. So, but I think those two things would
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: be highly important, uh, you know, to to make sure
• 10:43
  Speaker 4: that we don't put jeopardize yourself.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: By losing a player.
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: But more importantly, we don't lose that that momentum that
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: we've built in the previous you know, two three games.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: How do you handle the pulistic question because you know,
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: you put in all this work to get himself ready,
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: still wasn't able to go in the last one. If
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: he's healthy now, he's probably not one hundred percent healthy,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: so you can give him more rest and you're still
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: going through to the group stage.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Maybe he wants to run a little bit. How do
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: you handle that?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's a big part of it. It's
• 11:14
  Speaker 4: got to be player driven, right because I think he
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: needs to feel good about what he's doing. Obviously, he's
• 11:19
  Speaker 4: got to pass all the medical tests in the physical
• 11:22
  Speaker 4: performance exams that they do with these players that have
• 11:25
  Speaker 4: been injured, make sure that they're not going to put
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: themselves at risk. But the other part too is like
• 11:29
  Speaker 4: to make sure that they're the player is also owning it.
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: So if he's clear from that perspective, it feels like
• 11:34
  Speaker 4: he's good to go. You know, maybe maybe it's coming
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: in the last thirty minutes of the game where you know,
• 11:40
  Speaker 4: the game slowed down a little bit. He's got fresh
• 11:43
  Speaker 4: legs because he hasn't played in a bit. He's feeling good.
• 11:46
  Speaker 4: But it really breeds that bit of confidence, and maybe
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: he scores a goal because the back line is the
• 11:51
  Speaker 4: opponent's back line is a little bit tired of lethargic.
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: He comes in with his pace and his ability, knocks
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  Speaker 4: a goal in and now we forget that he you know,
• 11:59
  Speaker 4: he's missed.
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  Speaker 3: The last game.
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  Speaker 4: So I think that's it's going to be take a
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: team effort. But I also think that the player's inputs
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: really important these type of situations.
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Publo Mastruheni is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: Show for some World Cup talk, brought to you by
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: our friends over at Beer Bar. Great place to watch
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: every single World Cup game if you have not been
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: down to take advantage of the drink or the food specials.
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: It will continue all the way through the World Cup tournament.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: Beer Bar official partner on the Sean O'Connell show for
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: all World Cup talk focusing on your RSL squad coach,
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: how have your guys handled the international break? I know
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: that there were you know, a couple of guys at
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: least that wanted to be participating. You've already answered this question,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: I know, but I mean Diego Luna I thought was
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: a shoe in for this roster and we were all
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: disappointed for him that he didn't get an opportunity to
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: do it.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: So we'll start there. How is he handled the snub?
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: And of course, you know, the break and getting back
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: to form maybe after a little rest.
• 13:01
  Speaker 4: Yeah, So you know, I think first, I think the
• 13:05
  Speaker 4: guys when you give them three weeks off, you never
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: know what to expect because you obviously want them to
• 13:09
  Speaker 4: take time away. But given that the break is in
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: the middle of the season, we've done a lot of
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: good work in preseason and the first you know, the
• 13:16
  Speaker 4: first third of the season to make sure that we're
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: in a good position. And now the expectation is that
• 13:20
  Speaker 4: the guys keep some sort of fitness so that we're
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: not starting from zero.
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: And so we did our our fitness test and everyone.
• 13:27
  Speaker 4: Passed with blind colors, which for me was a sign
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: of a great group that understand understands how good of
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: a team that we have and the momentum that we
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: need to keep in order to be able to achieve
• 13:37
  Speaker 4: our goals for the year. So that that part was
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: really encouraging. And then as far as Diego, you know,
• 13:42
  Speaker 4: I think everyone was kind of blindsided Diego himself myself,
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: you know, and and and given the amount of you know,
• 13:50
  Speaker 4: advertising and marketing that he was doing for the national
• 13:52
  Speaker 4: team all lend itself to the understanding that he was
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: going to take part. And not only that, it's the
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: fact that he was one of the most cap players
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: in twenty twenty five and the team really leaned on him,
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: especially in the Gold Cup where he had such a
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: fantastic run and was an integral part of that group.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: I just felt like, you know, that's a.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: Great uh, that's a great place to kind of assess
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: a player is in a tournament setting, you know, And
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: I think he did. He did so well in all
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: the games that he played. He showed his leadership, he
• 14:23
  Speaker 4: showed his quality, his grit, all things that I think
• 14:26
  Speaker 4: you need in a tournament to.
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: Make a deep run.
• 14:29
  Speaker 4: So but you know, the life happens, and and and
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: now it's how you.
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: React to it. And Diego has been awesome.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: You know, we've we've trained now for a little over
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: a week, and he's been so sharp, he's been so hungry.
• 14:41
  Speaker 4: You can see how this moment has actually motivated him.
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: And that was also a concern. You know, he's a
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: young he's still a young man.
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: That's that's learning the game.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: And trying to figure things out, and when you have
• 14:53
  Speaker 4: such a big letdown, you never know how it's going
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: to go. But I think it's a bit synonymous to
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: being left off the Olympic team, where he went off
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: and scored, you know, in the next you know, five
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: or six games and really made a statement. And so
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: the expectation for me and obviously for Diego Luna, given
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: what I've seen, is that he wants to make a statement,
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: no showing that he's he's capable of playing at this
• 15:14
  Speaker 4: level and he's driven to make sure that he gets
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: to the next one.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: What do you need to see from your squad after
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: the break that maybe you didn't see enough of before
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: m hmm.
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I think the biggest thing for me is one, you know,
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: some of the goals that we've given up this year,
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: I've been on set pieces and it's really a difficult
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: It's difficult to really train the moment of a set
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: piece in a game, right, So we do it in
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: training and you know, if something happens, it's not a
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: big deal.
• 15:42
  Speaker 3: It's training.
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: And so how did we mimic what that game feels like?
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: And so we started off the second part of our
• 15:48
  Speaker 4: our second preseason here showing the goals that we conceded
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: and saying, guys, we're not giving up a lot of chances,
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: but the ones we are are are very fixable, right,
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: And so that's been a big focus for us defensive
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: set pieces. And we've changed our structure a little bit
• 16:06
  Speaker 4: to help the guys and feel a little bit more
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: comfortable in what we're doing. So again, a collaborative team effort,
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: the players, coaches and everyone really coming together and saying
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: these are things that we can do better. So that
• 16:17
  Speaker 4: part is big. And then the other part is managing games,
• 16:20
  Speaker 4: especially with the lead, where we've done a decent job,
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: but I think we can do a better job of
• 16:26
  Speaker 4: creating more control with the ball as opposed to letting
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: teams kind of dictate the game towards us when we
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: have a lead, you know, and obviously the natural inclination
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: is to blot and protect your goal.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: But oftentimes when you spend a lot.
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: Of time doing that, you involve the referees and there's
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: fouls and then around your box and now you're defending
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: a ton more set pieces, which has been an achilles
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: heel for us. So managing the game with the ball
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: and understanding how to play for territory with the lead
• 16:54
  Speaker 4: along with the set pieces, I think we'll put us
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: in a good position moving forward.
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: Coach, forgive a dumb question from a guy who's soccer
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: peak was reached at age six and a half. But
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: you know, it's just it's something that a game I
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: still need to learn a lot about. When we talk
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: about formational changes, when we talk about, you know, a
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: tactical adjustment, even the guys that maybe their club plays
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: a certain formation and then they go to compete for
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: their national team and it's a totally different deal.
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: How easy is it? How difficult is it?
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: Like?
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: Does everyone adjust the things the same way? If we're
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: trying to draw an equivalent with basketball or football.
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: Or something that we might be more familiar with.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: Is it just like, all right, well it's a different
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: part of the playbook, and yeah, you got to practice
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: it a few times, but eventually you get it down.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: Or there's some guys that are just suited to play
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: in certain formations, et cetera. Because I truly have no
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: frame of reference for the how heavy the lift is
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: when you're making those level of adjustments.
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: That is actually a great question, and I think it
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: just varies, you know, I you know, I think what
• 18:02
  Speaker 4: what what I think most international teams do is they
• 18:05
  Speaker 4: look at this is the way we want to play
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: as the national team, and so they're going to be
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: biased towards the players that are playing in those type
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: of systems that are doing exactly what they don't but
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: what they're what they current the way they want to
• 18:16
  Speaker 4: play with their national teams. So I think that that's
• 18:19
  Speaker 4: going to be obviously an easy transition. But then you
• 18:21
  Speaker 4: have very uh, you know, high caliber players that might
• 18:25
  Speaker 4: be playing in a different system. But but I think
• 18:27
  Speaker 4: the biggest thing is if you're playing in one of
• 18:29
  Speaker 4: the top leagues in the world, you're you're you're going
• 18:31
  Speaker 4: to be tactically flexible. In other words, you're gonna you're
• 18:34
  Speaker 4: going to be a little bit more knowledgeable about the
• 18:36
  Speaker 4: tactics of the game, so making tweaks or adjustments. So
• 18:40
  Speaker 4: for example, if you're an out an out winger like
• 18:42
  Speaker 4: Sally is for Liverpool, and he plays out wide for Liverpool,
• 18:46
  Speaker 4: but for Egypt he plays a bit more inside, it's
• 18:49
  Speaker 4: not going to be a big adjustment for for Sala
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: like you know, it's he's not going to have the
• 18:53
  Speaker 4: one v one area, but he's knowledgeable enough and understands
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: the game at a high enough level where he can
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: still contribute from an interior piece for Egypt.
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: So it's going to be you know, it's going to
• 19:03
  Speaker 3: be dependent on each player.
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: But I don't think they would put players in positions
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: that that wouldn't make their team better. And obviously you
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: can't do that with every player, but there's certain you know,
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: three or four players that can make those adjustments and
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: moves move along streamlessly like it would be, you know,
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: streamline the whole thing. But I think there's there's also
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: players that are particular that play a certain position that
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: aren't very you know, they don't adapt well that you
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: might not maybe bring into the group because of those
• 19:34
  Speaker 4: kind of things. But I think again, if you're playing
• 19:36
  Speaker 4: in the top league in the world, you obviously understand
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: the tactics of the game at a really, really high level,
• 19:43
  Speaker 4: and if you have technical ability and physical ability tied
• 19:46
  Speaker 4: in with the tactics, it shouldn't be that big of
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: adjustment to go from playing one way with your club
• 19:51
  Speaker 4: team to plan another way with the international team.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: And for you and RSL right as you're like watching
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: and seeing how things are going, how often is it
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: just you know what, I thought we had the personnel.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: I thought we had the speed or the ability or
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: whatever to play this way, but it turns out this
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: might actually be better. How much of it is personnel based?
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: Because I imagine correct me if I'm wrong. There are
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: certain guys, especially in coaching positions, who probably are like, no,
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: this is the way, this is the best way to
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: put a soccer team in in for the level of success,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: you have to have these guys out wide to use
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: your solid analogy whatever. But then maybe the personnel doesn't
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: actually adapt to that. So how much do you have
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: to let your players dictate what your formation.
• 20:35
  Speaker 3: Is no, that's that's another great question. I think we're Major.
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: League Soccer is still you know, it's we're still growing, right,
• 20:42
  Speaker 4: and so we can't just pick a player and say
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: this is a guy that's gonna you know, execute the
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: tactics that have the physical output and have top level
• 20:52
  Speaker 4: technique to get all these things done right.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: You know, the game, the game on a.
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: Magnet magnet board is basically the best eleven in the
• 21:00
  Speaker 4: world because they're all moving and sync, and you know,
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: from a coaching perspective, it's a really false narrative. What
• 21:05
  Speaker 4: we have to do is is how do we how
• 21:08
  Speaker 4: do we keep our structure, But maybe we have tweaks
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: within that. So for example, I'll give you an example.
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: So Gozo playing as a wing back, he can just
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: play free because he's one v one. He goes out wide,
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: sometimes he comes inside, sometimes he goes out.
• 21:22
  Speaker 3: But when we play him as a ten.
• 21:24
  Speaker 4: He's he struggles receiving the ball in between the lines
• 21:27
  Speaker 4: because it's something that's not familiar with he's not familiar.
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: With at a certain level.
• 21:32
  Speaker 4: So oftentimes when we play with him as a ten
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: playing in the pocket, we'll have him run and we'll
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: have our nine, who's Sergey Solars, who's comfortable with his
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: back to goal, occupy that space, and so you do
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: little tweaks like this to make sure that you're you're
• 21:46
  Speaker 4: You still have your structure, but within that structure there's
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: tweaks to put the players in the best positions for them,
• 21:52
  Speaker 4: for them individually, but also for us as a collective.
• 21:54
  Speaker 4: So we're constantly tweaking things to put players and positions
• 21:58
  Speaker 4: to be successful so that the whole group it's successful.
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: Well, Coach, I appreciate the time and the insight today.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: I could keep picking your brain, but we got to
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: stay on clock and we gotta respect your time as well.
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: Enjoy the rest of this World Cup in the break,
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: and we'll be very eager to see what adjustments are
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: coming for RSL when we see you next.
• 22:17
  Speaker 4: Sounds great, Sean, I appreciate you having me on.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: Pablo masterwhenni former US men's national team member, current head
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: coach of RSL. That conversation on World Cup and RSL
• 22:28
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• 22:31
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