Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / JP Chunga on Spain vs Messi and Argentina in the World Cup Final, Utah Royals back in action + more

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JP Chunga on Spain vs Messi and Argentina in the World Cup Final, Utah Royals back in action + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: He's not Sean O'Connell's show, You were Home of the
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Best inside of your use Let's get back to OC
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: from a murder Chevrolet studio of ESPN seven and ninety one, alf.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Am, if you're just tuning in, I made a confession
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: at the beginning of the show that I have become.
• 0:32
  Speaker 3: I've become a soccer fan, not just World Cup soccer.
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: I went down and watched RSL Burnley last night and
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: it was a great game. It was awesome, very excited
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: for the second half of the RSL campaign in MLS soccer.
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  Speaker 3: We still have two more World Cup games, one more
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  Speaker 3: that I think we actually care about. The third fourth
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: place game. I'm not sure why they even do it.
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  Speaker 3: I know it's tradition, and I know it's something that
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  Speaker 3: is part of the of the World Cup. It defies
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  Speaker 3: American sensibilities that you should play for the third and
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  Speaker 3: fourth place. This is not the Olympics. But let them
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  Speaker 3: do what they want. England and France can figure that out.
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  Speaker 3: It'll be Argentina Spain in a World Cup final. Joining
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  Speaker 3: us to talk about that and much more. JP chunga
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  Speaker 3: a man of he wears many many hats, host of
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  Speaker 3: the Round Bowl Roundup podcast, the voice of the Utah
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  Speaker 3: Royals FC. He also voices Salt Lake City Stars games.
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  Speaker 3: He also works for the Utah Jazz in their digital
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  Speaker 3: media department. He is also a friend of the program
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  Speaker 3: and this conversation is brought to you by Beer Bar,
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  Speaker 3: your home for World Cup Soccer on ESPN seven hundred
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  Speaker 3: and ninety twofm JP Chunga. Welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 4: How are you, John, I'm great. How are you doing.
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  Speaker 3: I'm doing all right. You know, it slipped my mind
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  Speaker 3: that you were up in the booth on Friday night
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  Speaker 3: when I was down at America First Field watching a
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  Speaker 3: Princess drone show with my family. I would have come
• 2:02
  Speaker 3: up and said hello and probably made your job worse.
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  Speaker 4: Wow. All right, So what's the favorite princess?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it varies. I have three princesses of my own,
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  Speaker 3: so I think right now, I think right now Mawana
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  Speaker 3: is probably top billing for the younger two and my
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  Speaker 3: seven year old has decided that like the traditional wear
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  Speaker 3: a dress type princess is not her thing for now,
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  Speaker 3: so I think I think like Princess Leah is probably
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  Speaker 3: her favorite princess at the moment.
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  Speaker 4: That works. That works great for me. Then show Yeah, yeah,
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  Speaker 4: as he shaw on the Drone show, a lot of
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  Speaker 4: people were there and excited about the entire evening and
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  Speaker 4: you know, to watch the Utah Royals.
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  Speaker 3: It was great. It's a great night out at the ballpark,
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  Speaker 3: so to speak. If you ever want to get down there,
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  Speaker 3: relatively family friendly ticket pricing and things like that. I
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  Speaker 3: highly encourage any of you to go watch a little
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: NWSL and I don't know, like you know, put some
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: headphones in and listen to JP Chunga on the broadcast. Look,
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  Speaker 3: I got caught up at this soccer fever because it's
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  Speaker 3: the World Cup. And I fully expected Jp that it
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  Speaker 3: would be kind of a pump and dump, you know
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  Speaker 3: what I mean, that I'd be like, all right, let
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  Speaker 3: me get as much content as I can out of
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  Speaker 3: this for the summertime. Dog days in the show, and yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we'll have fun watching and cheering on the US men's
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  Speaker 3: national team, and then I'll put it away, like I do,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Olympic volleyball until four years from now and
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  Speaker 3: when I care about it again. But soccer really caught
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  Speaker 3: me this time, and I determined part of it is
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  Speaker 3: because I've gotten deeper into hockey these last couple of seasons,
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  Speaker 3: and there's some similarities to like the passing that sets
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  Speaker 3: up the scoring. And maybe it's I'm a little better
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  Speaker 3: at watching soccer than I was before. But I'm wondering,
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  Speaker 3: do you feel like this North American World Cup, this
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  Speaker 3: American hosted World Cup, a little bit of hype around
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  Speaker 3: the US men's national team will have any kind of
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  Speaker 3: sustainable effect on soccer fandom in the United States outside
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  Speaker 3: of of course the most important one.
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  Speaker 4: Me absolutely and you are number one in our hearts,
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  Speaker 4: I think, and this is something that happened during the
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  Speaker 4: entire tournament in the group chats that I had with
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  Speaker 4: people who are varying sports fans, traditional baseball, football, and
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  Speaker 4: they would text and blow up these group chats during
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  Speaker 4: the games and say, this is the greatest World Cup
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  Speaker 4: game I've ever seen. And that happened seemingly every week
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  Speaker 4: and with nearly every single Argentina game because of the
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  Speaker 4: comebacks that they had to endure it during this entire tournament.
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  Speaker 4: But to the overall question of will this have any
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  Speaker 4: staying power, I think these moments where we have these
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  Speaker 4: crazy games, it's only going to help the entire sport,
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  Speaker 4: whether it's the Princess Knight that you show up to
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  Speaker 4: at the Utah Royals with NWSL, they'll feel this as well,
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  Speaker 4: with people being more interested into soccer. But I think
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  Speaker 4: back to Sunday when England and Mexico are playing at
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  Speaker 4: the Zteca in one of the greatest environments that we've
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  Speaker 4: ever seen in sports, and even the hardened English journalists
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  Speaker 4: are talking about how crazy of an atmosphere this is.
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  Speaker 4: It's razors edge stuff, similar to hockey, where the ball's
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  Speaker 4: in play, there's activity of defending a goal against a
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  Speaker 4: hostile crowd, and people can only gravitate towards that. The
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  Speaker 4: passion of this Cup has been unreal to watch, and
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  Speaker 4: you have some of the greatest of all time going
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  Speaker 4: at it with Lionel Messi and now this amazing picture
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  Speaker 4: with him and Lea MiG Yamal, the Goat and the
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  Speaker 4: new Goat. I mean, it's crazy. It's not even ai,
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  Speaker 4: it's what.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, we have to talk about this. So if people
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  Speaker 3: are not aware, I'm sure you've seen this viral photo
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  Speaker 3: at some point, and maybe we could add some context
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  Speaker 3: to it. I'm new to all of this, right, and
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  Speaker 3: I couldn't believe this is actually real. But a young
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  Speaker 3: Leo Messi did a photo campaign did like a charity
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  Speaker 3: pr kind of situation where they raffled off the opportunity
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  Speaker 3: to have your baby in a photo with Barcelona players,
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  Speaker 3: and Leo Messi happened to be one at the time.
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  Speaker 3: And the baby who won is now Spain's rising young superstar,
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  Speaker 3: le Mean Jamal. So there's real pictures, not Ai pictures
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  Speaker 3: of Leo Messi giving baby Lamin Yamal a bath. Basically,
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  Speaker 3: it is absolutely insane, and now they are teams face
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  Speaker 3: one another in a World Cup final. The mathematical odds
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  Speaker 3: on something like this being a reality have to be
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  Speaker 3: virtually impossible. It feels like destiny of some sort and
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  Speaker 3: I can't explain why it matters, but the fact that
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  Speaker 3: this happened twenty years ago and now they're facing one
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  Speaker 3: another is bananas.
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  Speaker 4: And it's starcross that Yamal is playing for Lionel Matthi's
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  Speaker 4: team in Barcelona. Of all the things that have to
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  Speaker 4: happen for you to be a youth product in Spain,
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  Speaker 4: be good enough to make it into one of the
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  Speaker 4: greatest academies of all and then be a talent that
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  Speaker 4: makes the first team and then gets selected to one
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  Speaker 4: of the most competitive national teams in the entire world.
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  Speaker 4: It is starcrossed. It might be destiny. And for this
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  Speaker 4: to be a precursor to a final in the American
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  Speaker 4: World Cup is It's exactly what the sports sport needed.
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  Speaker 4: And I was a little young in ninety four. Some
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  Speaker 4: would say one year old and not necessarily confidant.
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  Speaker 3: But don't flex your youth on the rest of us old.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, but that was a big boom for soccer. It
• 8:17
  Speaker 4: birthed Major League Soccer. It birthed an entire league that
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  Speaker 4: would lead to a professional team being in Salt Lake.
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  Speaker 4: And that comes up. I'm around when RSL starts and
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  Speaker 4: is playing at Rice Cycle Stadium and their coach is
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  Speaker 4: yelling at fence check. It's dad, Like, these things happen
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  Speaker 4: that make you connected to the sport and you're hooked
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  Speaker 4: for life. So if this is this is something for
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  Speaker 4: someone coming up watching soccer now, it's only good for
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  Speaker 4: this game. That is it continues to mature with Major
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  Speaker 4: League Soccer and the professional teams here.
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  Speaker 3: Someone needs to go find if there was there's ever
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  Speaker 3: a photo of Michael Jordan giving like baby Lebron or Bath. Okay,
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  Speaker 3: because that's this level, that's it's completely bananas. While that is,
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  Speaker 3: like you said, starcrossed and crazy. Let's talk about the
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  Speaker 3: matchup itself. I mean, Messi should not be doing what
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  Speaker 3: Messi does, right, the guy he's coming up on forty. Soccer,
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  Speaker 3: like every other pro sport, is very much a young
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  Speaker 3: man's game, and yet he is. He's been better in
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  Speaker 3: the last two World Cups than he was in his
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  Speaker 3: first four World Cups, and he has an opportunity to
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  Speaker 3: go back to back. Spain is the only thing that
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  Speaker 3: stands in Argentina's way. How do you handicap the game?
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  Speaker 3: What do you think the keys to it are?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's it's pretty regular for you to
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  Speaker 4: have the favorite not being Argentina, as it has been
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  Speaker 4: at different points during this tournament, and it's fine. I
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  Speaker 4: think I agree with that. But Argentina has created a
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  Speaker 4: team and environment, a system that is built around their
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  Speaker 4: best player in Lionel Messi, and for him to deliver
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  Speaker 4: in these moments every single time. It's going to be
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  Speaker 4: how Spain matches up with Messi and whether they decide
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  Speaker 4: to crowd him like England did for seemingly eighty minutes
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  Speaker 4: and then he gets off on this crazy run, going
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  Speaker 4: wide and crossing balls into the box. But Spain has
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  Speaker 4: a very talented group and it is the type of
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  Speaker 4: scenario where you're seeing a team that has grown up
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  Speaker 4: together at the same academies playing for Barcelona. There's a
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  Speaker 4: very Barcelona influence in the way that they play, and
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  Speaker 4: Spain exerts control by having the ball, playing a little
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  Speaker 4: bit more conservatively than the Argentinian style, which will be
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  Speaker 4: very physical and ultimately rely on the brilliance of Lionel Messi,
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  Speaker 4: but having all these players to protect him, whether he
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  Speaker 4: can find the ball in different spaces, whether it's out
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  Speaker 4: wide or whether it's those one twos that they do
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  Speaker 4: in the middle, that'll be the key to the game.
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  Speaker 4: And whether Argentina, as the ultimate underdog in another World
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  Speaker 4: Cup final with Lionel Messi leading the charge, whether they're
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  Speaker 4: able to come up on top. But I think Paine
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  Speaker 4: should be the favorite and would be the team that
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  Speaker 4: I would pick on sutday.
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  Speaker 3: So obviously Messi has scored a bunch of goals in
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  Speaker 3: this tournament and a bunch of goals in international competition
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  Speaker 3: and as the all time goals leader in World Cup play,
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  Speaker 3: and especially in this England matchup, we saw how important
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  Speaker 3: he is to Argentina even when he doesn't score the goals,
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  Speaker 3: right when he facilitates for somebody else to score the goals.
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  Speaker 3: Is there any meat on the bone for Argentina. Of
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  Speaker 3: course they want Messi to score, But is there any
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  Speaker 3: way that you can just say, Look, they're going to
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  Speaker 3: mark Messi, They're going to over index toward Messi. If
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  Speaker 3: we pulled Messi out and have him out on the
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  Speaker 3: edges to where he's servicing into the box with cornerkicks
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  Speaker 3: like we saw with England, Like we can create a weakness,
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  Speaker 3: we can create an opening for somebody else because they
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  Speaker 3: have the talent around him to at least capitalize on that.
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  Speaker 3: Is that something that tactically would make sense for Argentina.
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  Speaker 4: So people have been thinking about this question for twenty
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  Speaker 4: years his entire career, and nobody has a perfect answer
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  Speaker 4: for that. Just showing people how deep his talent is.
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  Speaker 4: He can do anything, whether he's being the provider, whether
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  Speaker 4: he's being the score, whether he's picking it up. Sometimes
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  Speaker 4: you see in these tournaments and with these exceptional players.
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  Speaker 4: They'll go back into the defensive line, pick up the
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  Speaker 4: ball and try to carry it forward, just through individual
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  Speaker 4: skill and brilliance. It's the reason why Diego ben Aradona,
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  Speaker 4: in a game against England in nineteen eighty six, goes
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  Speaker 4: on a fifty yard run. It's the greatest goal in
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  Speaker 4: World Cup history. He has all the answers to the test.
• 13:03
  Speaker 4: This is the ultimate version of Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes,
• 13:07
  Speaker 4: Aaron Rodgers. Pick the quarterback of your flavor, that is
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: Leon and Lessi, and he's doing it at a Tom
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  Speaker 4: Brady pace where it doesn't even look like he's going
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  Speaker 4: to slow down. He could change leagues. He'll do it.
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  Speaker 4: He'll do it in the French league, He'll do it
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  Speaker 4: in the Spanish league. He'll do it in Major League Soccer.
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  Speaker 4: So even if they crowd him, even if they turn
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  Speaker 4: him into a provider, he will still have an answer
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  Speaker 4: to the question and he'll able to find a solution
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  Speaker 4: at some point.
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  Speaker 3: As he said, this is his last World Cup. Has
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  Speaker 3: Leo Messi said, I'm not doing it again.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think he can and I don't think he
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  Speaker 4: should because you see how long athletes are going now
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: Lebron's captivating the NBA audience at forty one with his
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: free agent decision. Now he likes the attention, and I'm
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: sure he's going to make a big deal about where
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  Speaker 4: he picks next. But you're seeing athletes going even longer
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: and longer Tom Brady, who I mentioned earlier. Messi could
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: do this for as long as he wants. And as
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: you watch him week to week in the MLS with
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: Inter Miami winning a championship there, how are we supposed
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  Speaker 4: to doubt this man? He's proved us wrong at every point.
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  Speaker 3: And I know I've over indexed on this fact, but
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  Speaker 3: he's He has scored more goals after turning thirty five
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  Speaker 3: than before he turned thirty five.
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  Speaker 4: Right and only doing it? I mean consider also the
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  Speaker 4: weight of the jersey that you have with him. Many
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  Speaker 4: people have Diego Maradona as their goat before Messi. They
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  Speaker 4: think he's the greatest World Cup performer soccer player of
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  Speaker 4: all time. Him and Pele are the tops of the tops.
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  Speaker 4: It's because of that Maradona with his shadow. Mardonna even
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  Speaker 4: coached him at a World Cup. That's how heavy the
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: shadow was. He was theirs he played in Argentina, he
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: wore the jersey, he performed for the national team, he
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: performed for a club team, and Messi was the one
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  Speaker 4: who left, who went to Spain, who did his development
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: with the Barcelona academy. So he wasn't necessarily theirs until
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: he wins a World Cup, and then he does it,
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  Speaker 4: and then he's now on the precipice of doing it
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  Speaker 4: again after making it to two previous finals. It's incredible
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  Speaker 4: what he's been able to do with all that pressure
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  Speaker 4: on top of his shoulders.
• 15:34
  Speaker 3: Outside of the final matchup that we've got here was
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: what was your favorite moment of this World Cup?
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  Speaker 4: So I was rooting for Mexico a lot during this
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: World Cup and it was because of the atmosphere of
• 15:49
  Speaker 4: the Azteca and that game was it was exactly what
• 15:56
  Speaker 4: needs to be advertised about the sport because it adversity.
• 16:00
  Speaker 4: It had what some would describe as densethory. With the
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: red cards. You had multiple things going on, and ultimately
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: you saw a team powered by a brilliant young star
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: with Jude Bellingham fail to withstand it, have a goalkeeper
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: stand once had it had chances back and forth, and
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: that on road soil altitude. They're talking about the smog
• 16:28
  Speaker 4: heading into the game, all the adversity that England had faced.
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  Speaker 4: Even as someone who is rooting for Mexico in that
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: moment and seeing how it felt as a fan to
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: see them not come through, to appreciate that as a
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: sporting moment, I loved that game. Every minute of that
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: match was spine tingling, put you on the edge of
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  Speaker 4: your seat and exactly why we love sports.
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  Speaker 3: JP, I appreciate you giving us some time and perspective
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: on soccer. Big thanks to Beer Bar for making it
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: possible to have soccer guests on throughout this World Cup.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: You've got Saturday action with the Utah Royals.
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: Is that right.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: At Saturday? As the Utah Royals take on the Orlando Pride.
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: Take off at six forty five, So you can get
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: your tickets at Utah Royals dot com.
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: Thanks, JP, appreciate you, no worries.
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  Speaker 4: Thanks man.
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: JP chunga voice at the Salt Lake City Stars, voice
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: of the Utah Royals, soccer aficionado, and you can hear
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: his work again on Saturday. I recommend you get down
• 17:38
  Speaker 3: to a Utah Royals game. It's a they got a
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: good thing going on. There at America First Field,