Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / The Olympic tournament is HERE

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The Olympic tournament is HERE · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:05
OK, welcome to into the channel podcast premier about women's
0:08
football. Before we hit the pitch.
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If you enjoy the show or love ones football as much as your
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in the show notes of this episode.
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I am your host Dino de Cespedes and as as always I'm joined by
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my Co host Mr. Grant Angle. What is up man?
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Buddy, I'm feeling fantastic. I think this show is worthy of
0:38
an early crack of the beer. You know, we're just in.
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We're hanging out. Look at you.
0:43
It's one of those days. Give me a little Arsenal logo
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and frame there of. Course, there we go.
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Yeah, sure, there. We go to you as well, man.
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I appreciate it. You know, I think that's in,
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it's in our banner image. I was actually thinking about
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that. I was like, this shirt hasn't
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been in the rotation lately, but I figured I'd break it out for
1:00
an important episode like this. And, you know, we're just over
1:03
here in the USA having a completely normal one over here.
1:06
Guys, don't look at us. Everything's fine in the United
1:09
States of America. Everything's going great.
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Everything's going as planned. We're going to be a OK.
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Yeah, man, to be honest, I've kind of checked out a little bit
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for everything going on. I've been heavy into this, like
1:21
Olympics, women's preview coverage.
1:23
You know, we're going to knock through our tears today, get
1:26
everyone slotted, which is going to be a super tough exercise.
1:28
So I've been totally heads down in my research here.
1:31
I mean, you could tell me Joe Biden dropped out of the
1:34
election. And I mean, I don't know.
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That'd be news to me. So with that said, where do you
1:38
wanna get? Started well.
1:39
I think we should describe the conceit of this episode.
1:43
How are we gonna talk about these teams?
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Let's rely on the old sports radio device of the tie ring
1:50
system, my good man. We've done it a few times on
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this program before and the NWSL and other competitions.
1:56
So I think it's only right. Let's dust it off, bring it back
2:00
for the Olympics. We have some teams that that
2:02
slot nicely. Maybe we'll have some
2:04
discussion, maybe we'll have some disagreement on it, but
2:06
let's place these teams on neat little tears for us to kind of
2:10
watch for going into the tournament.
2:11
I love it. So we did a little pre gaming
2:14
beforehand. We landed basically on 4 tiers
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that we like. So bottom tier, that's going to
2:20
be our participation ribbon tier basically.
2:22
Happy to be here. Let's not get hurt, let's keep
2:24
these games close, let's keep these games respectable.
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One level up from that is the bronze tier.
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So this is a team probably loses in the quarterfinals, but could
2:33
also maybe steal the bronze, make the semis.
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So that's second to the bottom, our silver tier.
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This is a team that I think we want to believe can reach the
2:43
final, but probably more of like a third place bronze medal type
2:46
team. And then there's the gold tier.
2:48
These are teams that we believe can win it all just flat out in
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this first tier, the participation ribbon tier, we're
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going to put four teams in here, right?
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So these need to be the teams that we don't believe are
2:59
advancing. So real quick, the top two teams
3:03
in the three groups that six teams total going to make the
3:06
quarters, which two third place teams are also going to make the
3:08
quarters. Now how that tiebreaker works,
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it's just total points, then it's goal difference, then it's
3:14
total number of goals scored. And then from there I think
3:17
we'll there's some fair play stuff.
3:19
It gets a little wonky. So one third place team is not
3:23
going to make the quarterfinals. None of the fourth place seems
3:26
to make the quarterfinals. So I think as we roll out this
3:29
participation ribbon tier, let's keep that in mind.
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Who do we think is finishing bottom of the group and then
3:33
which third place team do we think is going to be unlucky
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team to be on the wrong end of some of those tiebreakers?
3:39
Yeah, I think that makes sense. I will say after goals scored
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for the third place tiebreakers, Yep, it's fair play.
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Points and deductions for if somebody gets a straight red,
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people who get yellow cards, etcetera, etcetera.
3:51
And the 5th tiebreaker, the drawing of lots.
3:53
So let's see if we get down to that.
3:57
I know we had that situation in the Kakaf W Gold Cup, so
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hopefully it doesn't come to that though.
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All right, let's get into it. Let's take turns kind of naming
4:05
A-Team and let's see if we agree putting that team in that tears
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that sound about right. Well, we drew lots before the
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show, You came out on top, so go ahead and kick us off.
4:14
Very good at lot drawing myself. All right, let's kick it off.
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You know, no disrespect to this team.
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Some teams just aren't going to advance in this tournament.
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Let's kick it off with the Football Ferns of New Zealand.
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I do not think they have the firepower to get through.
4:28
Where do you land on this squad? I agree with that.
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I think probably least talented team top to bottom, they're
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going to really need to muck up these games to scratch out any
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kind of result. And ultimately the field is so
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stacked that you don't just need one result.
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Like even though even a big upset win from New Zealand
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wouldn't be enough to kind of carry them through.
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So full cosine, they are in my participation ribbon tier.
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All right, so I'm going to go up next.
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This one was a tough one. I've got Nigeria in my
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participation ribbon tier. They're in an absolutely stacked
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group. I think when you look at their
5:00
attack, which Anna Canon, she's cooled off for sure.
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Sisala, she hasn't looked all the way right in a good while, I
5:07
think probably since moving over to the WSL.
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Doesn't mean it's not going to happen.
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I just think the form is kind of cooled off.
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And I think ultimately this is just a pick based on the
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competitiveness of the field. And then the other tough thing
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for the Super Falcons, things get progressively more difficult
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for them. So they open the tournament
5:25
against Brazil, No easy task there.
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Then it's the world champion Spain.
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And then if if there's still anything left, anything in the
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tank, they've got to go heads up against Japan.
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So suffice it to say, they need a result versus Brazil.
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And I think even then might be a little tricky for for their
5:41
first Super Falcons to advance here.
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I think so. I think they'll likely have a
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hard time holding the ball in the midfield.
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You can never rule out in in a dozy game.
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Maybe it comes against Spain, maybe it comes against Japan.
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I agree with you here. I put I also had them in my
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participation ribbon tier. They were my first cut though.
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I'm kind of with you on the Oshwala point where she hasn't
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really broken out yet, but man, like it could certainly happen.
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So that's what made it tough for me.
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But the field is too deep. I think Group C is the is the
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real group of death or a group of life, depending on how you
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like to look at things. So yeah, it's a participation
6:17
ribbon this year for him. Agreed.
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All right, So that's two slots down to to go.
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Who else do you have not making it out of the group stage?
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OK, this one hurts my heart a little bit.
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We've rooted for this team. I'm actually curious to see
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where you land on them. And I hate doing this to both of
6:33
the African nations. I think Zambia is in such a
6:36
difficult group. I think there's a possibility
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that they concede way too many goals and even if they surprise
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me and finish third, who knows if their goal differential is
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going to hold up. So I am going to posit the
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Copper Queens of Zambia. Well, my friend, this is our
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first disagreement. There we go.
6:58
I thought I could. I thought it could be.
7:01
So I'm with you. Obviously we're we're going to
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be looking at a Group B team here and who's going to finish
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in fourth. I actually had Australia in this
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spot. OK, so no Sam Kerr, she's such a
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huge figure, you know, for this Australian team and Chelsea
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Football Club is just like, OK, yeah, obviously like massive
7:19
player, she's out. And then you look kind of up and
7:21
down that Australian team, a lot of good players, but no Sam
7:25
Kerr's. I mean, I think like, yeah, you
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know, maybe Ellie Carpenter might be knocking on the door of
7:30
like sort of that upper echelon type player.
7:33
But ultimately this Australia side, a lot of second and third
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options, a lot of really good players, you know, like, I think
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they're going to be really good and really solid.
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And then I think this is going to come into play when we talk a
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little bit more about Group B. But I feel like Group B is the
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group obviously USA, Germany, Zambia, Australia, where we
7:50
could see a lot of draws. We could see a lot of like knock
7:54
down, drag out, you know, like even that Spain, Japan, Brazil
7:57
group Nigeria, like you can imagine some variance there.
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Obviously Japan beat Spain for no in the World Cup.
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You know, Spain could like lighted, you know, like I feel
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like there's gonna be, the gold differentials are gonna be
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pretty wild there. And I think in Group B, the gold
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differentials gonna be a little flatter.
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So I actually have Australia finishing fourth in this group.
8:14
Oh wow. Yeah, so I think, I think that
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that's my team who gets eliminated.
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I mean, obviously we could see a Mary Fowler kind of like
8:22
explosion here. We talked to Samantha Lewis
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about that. But even then, man, like these
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teams, like you could get a massive, huge game.
8:29
You know, we talked about that with Brazil and Germany back in
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the World Cup. Both openers were straight
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fireworks. Both teams bounce down the group
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stage. So it's got to be more than just
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one really, really good performance.
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I think all of that is fair. I'll throw out there.
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So obviously, you know, you talked about somebody stepping
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up in the absence of Sam Kerr, Samantha Lewis from ABC Sport in
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Australia, who you should watch that episode of our conversation
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with. As Dino alluded to, Courtney
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Vine, she's 25 years old for Sydney in the A league last
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season she had ten goals, 6 assists.
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She's headed to the North Carolina Courage.
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I think she's going to be trying to use her speed to get out on
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the counter. You mentioned Mary Fowler four
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goals, 6 assists and 21 appearances for Manchester City
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last season. Let me let me run this one by
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you. Haley Rosso, 29 years old,
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reported to be leaving Real Madrid after one season revenge
9:19
tour, auditioning for a big contract at another club.
9:23
Little you know, kind of working on that chemistry with Mary
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Fowler 2020 year old Mary Fowler Manchester City football Club
9:30
kind of kind of an up and coming player.
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And then you have Kyra Cooney cross 22 for your Arsenal, 2
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assists and 14 appearances for your Lady Gunners.
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Another player who has a high ceiling and an opportunity to
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kind of just grow her profile and then go back to Arsenal, go
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back to London and say play me more like, this is like, did you
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see what happened back there? And I think you're gonna be
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surprised actually, where I have Australia on my tears.
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Spoiler alert. I think this is going to be the
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biggest gap that we have. Oh, so I get where you're coming
10:01
from. I like the way you put it, a lot
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of second options. I just wonder, is it the time
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that Mary Fowler or Courtney Vine evolve into a first option?
10:10
Could be, certainly could be. All right.
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So we'll put a pin in that one. You've got Zambia here, I've got
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Australia here. We'll make some final decisions.
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We want to come together as a team as we're entering this
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giant tournament, get into full, full alignment, get all of our
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X's and O's in a row and come up with one set of definitive pre
10:29
the Olympics tears. So that's what that's kind of
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like what we're that's the big objective.
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That's that's the the piece of plastic that we slap before we
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go out onto the to the pitch. Align tears, bang.
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All right, I like it. My 4th team not advancing.
10:46
This one was. This one was a heartbreaker.
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Apologies to the legend Julia Bellas Tindash.
10:52
I don't think Brazil is making it out of the quarterfinals.
10:58
You know, we talked about the the group dynamics and I think
11:00
this is where the tiebreakers play a huge role because I think
11:04
the goal differential ramifications of playing Japan
11:08
and playing Spain and maybe even Nigeria also I think just could
11:12
be too devastating. So Brazil could be a team that
11:14
that beats Nigeria three nil or three one or something of that
11:17
sort and then just sort of backslides from a goal
11:20
differential standpoint. So I think once I kind of ran
11:23
through a, you know, a little quick simulation on my notebook,
11:26
I just don't think Brazil has the the defensive prowess.
11:31
I think those more organized teams to Spain's, the Japan's
11:34
are going to put too big of an L on this Brazil side for them to
11:38
be able to overcome. I think one of those teams in
11:40
the group maybe, but but those two I think are just too
11:44
overwhelming. Yeah, I think that's totally
11:46
fair. They were close for me.
11:49
So I think I, I think I could be swayed.
11:51
Yeah. You have Tarsiana, you talk
11:53
about her, she's like still developing.
11:55
So like, how much can you really ask this 20 year old?
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I think she is somewhere around there like a young 20s player.
12:03
Like, hey, I'm going to need you to anchor the defense against
12:05
Spain and Japan. That could be tough.
12:09
Not a great spot to be in. My last participation ribbon
12:12
tier team, I had Columbia, who I knew that.
12:15
I thought that would hurt your heart to leave them out too.
12:18
I think they might end up being vulnerable in defense.
12:22
You kind of saw it play out in the World Cup.
12:23
They're able to get through the group stage, but then put in a
12:26
good effort, have tough, smart players, just not quite enough
12:31
talent around. So those were two teams that I,
12:34
I thought maybe could be, could be interchangeable.
12:37
So I had, I had Brazil and my bronze tier and Colombia as one
12:41
of my first one out after, after Nigeria.
12:44
So I feel like they're in the in a similar ballpark.
12:47
I think that's fair. Let me tell you what I liked
12:49
about Colombia. Yeah.
12:50
So First things first, they share a group in New Zealand,
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so. That's going to help.
12:56
That's essentially like, you know, it's almost like a bye
12:59
week in the old NFL playoffs. We're just like, this is a huge
13:02
advantage, right? So I think, you know,
13:04
unfortunately, I think that's three points and a pretty nice
13:07
jump start on the gold differential conversation.
13:09
Sure. I really like the firepower of
13:11
Colombia. I mean, just just to kind of
13:13
like scoot ahead. I had them in my bronze tier.
13:16
So it looks like we've got Colombia, Brazil sort of
13:18
flip-flopped. And I think ultimately what it
13:20
came down to is I think that I think having New Zealand in your
13:23
group is, is enough to speak, OK, this might be a free three
13:26
and a nice goal differential boost.
13:28
Brazil does not have the benefit of that, which is why I had
13:32
those teams where they did. So can I talk you into flipping
13:35
those two? I can buy that.
13:37
I think that is a is a fairpoint.
13:39
I do it with a heavy heart. Same with you.
13:40
I know we got a lot of love for Brazil, the way they play
13:43
football as a nation in general. I mean, Gabby Nunez for Levante,
13:47
11 goals, 4 assists in Liga F last year.
13:49
That's good for top ten in that league.
13:51
We've talked about the form that Adriana has been in for your
13:53
Orlando Pride, especially lately, three goals and an
13:56
assist in the NWSL. Let me just put it out there.
13:58
I have in my notes Ketoline. What can they get from her?
14:03
Could she possibly be the difference between playing for a
14:07
medal or being bounced before you get to the knockout stage?
14:10
I think I think that's a heavy question and I know it's hard to
14:13
put that that kind of expectation on a player
14:15
returning from an ACL. But I thought in our discussion
14:19
with Julia Bellas Trindage for the Guardian, who you should
14:22
read her work and go back and watch that episode.
14:24
It seems like the courage has been purposely leaving her out
14:27
so she could be peak coming in the Olympics.
14:29
Man, that really kind of gets some ideas going in my head.
14:31
But I think you're right about the competition being stiff.
14:34
It's tough to put Ghetto lean in there and be like good luck
14:37
against Spain and Japan and Nigeria for that matter, because
14:40
they'll play physical defense. 100% I think it's really like
14:43
under selling it to call her an X Factor, but she she could
14:46
absolutely swing this team's fortunes big time.
14:49
It's wild to think this whole tournament's going to go down
14:52
over the course of 17 days. So it's like you got to you got
14:55
to get you got to get through six matches successfully over 17
14:59
days. So go figure.
15:00
All right, so bronze tier, I covered Colombia, that was
15:02
that's my first bronze tier team.
15:04
Who do you have in your bronze tier?
15:07
I can't quit them. I'm going to put Germany in this
15:10
tier. Never right off Germany.
15:12
Delina Oberdorf ACL injury brutal.
15:15
Really sucks. Giant bummer.
15:17
Good luck, Delina in her recovery.
15:19
You know, we wish her a full and speedy recovery.
15:21
As we always do. We say too much in this show.
15:23
As the ACL epidemic continues in this sport, we're just hoping
15:26
for some solutions and hopefully some better practices or you
15:29
know, just even discovery of what the better practices are in
15:32
this sport. But kind of moving past that,
15:35
the Oberdorf injury, I think it lowers the ceiling.
15:37
They still have a good roster. I think when I look at Germany
15:41
and I was kind of thinking about that roster and those players
15:44
and going back and watching some of their games.
15:46
They have to stop with the high turnovers.
15:49
They do not have a good enough defense to survive giving the
15:54
ball away in their own defending 3rd.
15:56
And they need to start hammering teams with set pieces.
15:59
Leia Schuler had six goals and two assists in their last like 6
16:03
€6 qualifying matches. Clara Buell had five goals and
16:06
one assist in Euro qualifying. Julia Gwynn has three goals and
16:09
one assist in Euro qualifying. And then when I said that to
16:11
myself out loud, like as I was kind of watching some old games
16:14
and thinking about looking at the roster, if you are a team
16:17
and your keys are we have to stop turning the ball over high
16:21
and we need to cash in on set pieces, then your ceiling is
16:25
probably a bronze. I agree with that, yeah.
16:27
And I think it would be, it would be a bit of a stretch to
16:30
even get that bronze. I, I, I did a whole faux wacky
16:34
bracket on my side. I had the same German side
16:38
getting getting through the group stage but getting bounced
16:41
in the quarters. I just don't think they have the
16:43
firepower. I think defensively they're too
16:45
much of a mess. We talked about this with Bridey
16:47
O2 on our USA preview show. Clinched or no clinched, you
16:51
still kind of have to like Merle Fromms can't be out here, you
16:55
know, butterfingering the ball and like just kind of giving
16:57
away goals, you know, just Willy nilly.
17:00
Yeah, especially just weeks whopping now it's like we're
17:03
days with these. It's coming up real fast.
17:07
Cannot wait. But yeah, I think I think
17:09
they're just too like too sloppy.
17:11
And I think the turnovers you mentioned is a great call to
17:13
certainly symptomatic of like just a team that's not really
17:17
firing totally on all cylinders. So I I also had them in my
17:20
bronze tier. All right, in agreement.
17:22
Boom. So I've got Zambia as my third
17:25
bronze tier team, I've got three in the bronze tier and I've got
17:28
Zambia here. I think they might have lucked
17:30
out with their draw, to be honest.
17:32
We talked about Germany, their defensive shortcomings.
17:35
Australia too, The great Sam Lewis was on the show talking
17:37
about, you know, gets a little spotty defensively.
17:39
And I think when you're going up against Banda, when you're going
17:43
up against Kundanagi, you know, in the NBA and NFL, when a
17:46
player gets drafted, what do they always say is the first
17:48
thing that is like the biggest difference from the last place
17:51
that they played, making the leap up to the professionals.
17:54
It's it's the speed, right? So playing Banda, playing
17:58
Kundanagi and just the the quick turn around nature of it.
18:01
And I know Germany knows this NBA side pretty well, knows
18:05
Bondo pretty well. Australia's got some athletes
18:07
too, but I think it's just going to be too fast.
18:10
Like I think there's going to be an adjustment period.
18:13
It'll take a lot for them to kind of like make a leap, but on
18:18
the same token, you don't expect like the eight favorites to be
18:21
the 8th that that qualify kind of do expect a little bit of
18:24
variance here. And I think Zambia might have
18:26
lucked out, you know, drawing a Germany drawing in Australia.
18:29
If they can scratch something out against you, I think they're
18:31
going to be able to score just going to become defensively.
18:34
Are they going to be able to stay in these games?
18:36
And I think Group B has a lot of like one ones, two twos, one nil
18:41
21, you know, like I think these are going to be close games in
18:43
this group. OK.
18:45
I can buy all that. I mean, obviously if I had them
18:47
in the participation ribbon tier on my individual tiers, it's not
18:52
a big stretch to put them in the bronze tier.
18:55
So I think that's, I think you raised some good points.
18:57
I mean, the speed is a problem. We saw the speed present a
19:00
problem for Germany in those pre World Cup matches in 2023.
19:05
I worry if they're going to have enough of the ball to not just
19:09
be completely run ragged before they get those chances.
19:13
But good luck running some supreme athletes.
19:17
It's like that. Good luck tiring them out in the
19:19
first 180 minutes that they play.
19:21
Maybe you might be able to get away with that in their third
19:24
match in like 6 days or something like that, but maybe
19:26
they're already qualified by then.
19:28
So I'm with you. Let's put let's put the copper
19:30
Queens on the on the bronze medal tier.
19:32
All right. So does that mean you're
19:34
swapping them? You're not swapping them right?
19:36
I'm not swapping them, buddy, because here's the curveball in
19:39
my in my tiers, I only had Brazil and Germany in the
19:43
bronze. OK, so we've already kicked
19:47
Brazil down to participation ribbon.
19:49
Now we got Zambia up top. So that means we've only got 3
19:53
in participation now, Nigeria, New Zealand and Brazil.
19:56
Now we got a math problem that I didn't expect, and I'm terrible
19:59
at that. I mean it, it really just
20:01
depends. OK, so I had Australia finishing
20:03
fourth just because I, I do harken back also to the World
20:07
Cup where, you know, even when they get past France, it's a
20:09
nil, nil that goes to PK's, you know.
20:11
So I think like I'm a little weary of their, their score,
20:14
boring prowess and a quick tournament like this and them
20:17
not being at home, which we saw them at home in the World Cup.
20:19
I think I I could be OK. Well, let me let me throw this
20:22
your way. You don't seem too enthused
20:24
about this German side. Is there a world where Germany
20:27
finishes 4th in this group? I certainly think there is.
20:30
I think it's on the board, yeah. So let me propose this.
20:35
Let me propose this. Fuck, this is wild.
20:37
But let's move Germany down to the participation ribbon tier
20:42
because I like Zambia advancing. I'm on my soothsayer shit.
20:45
This evening I lit some candles. You know, I was, I was, I was
20:49
tracking some stars and some celestial beings, you know,
20:52
moving, moving around. And I think I like Zambia
20:54
advancing. So I'd like to keep them up.
20:56
I want to put Germany in our participation ribbon tier.
20:59
I think we just do that. OK, I think we can make that
21:02
work because as I've pretty much spoiled it by saying there were
21:05
only two teams on my bronze tier.
21:07
I had Australia in my silver tier and that was because I I
21:11
like Tony Gustafson. I thought he made a lot of
21:14
adjustments. Samantha Lewis pointed to that.
21:15
He has them play different ways. He's an adjustments guy.
21:18
I like a lot of their young talent.
21:20
I do think they're kind of poised to all kind of start
21:23
taking those collective steps together.
21:25
You see Sam Kerr have a big injury like this.
21:28
They all kind of got to be looking at each other like
21:30
Father Time's undefeated. Eventually Sam Kerr's not going
21:33
to play for our side anymore. I'm pretty high on them.
21:36
But I say if we move Germany there, I'm cool with putting
21:40
Australia into the bronze tier. Is that kind of what you're
21:43
envisioning? So right now, that would put us,
21:45
this is funny, we're doing the show behind the show on the
21:48
show. So that would put us
21:49
participation. Nigeria, New Zealand, Germany,
21:51
Brazil. Right.
21:53
Yes. OK, so then for bronze, that
21:55
means that we've got Colombia and Zambia.
21:58
The textbook definition for the bronze is probably loses in the
22:01
quarters. This team could also win bronze.
22:05
Do we think Australia meets that criteria?
22:08
Probably losing the quarters. Could their Their ceiling might
22:10
be a bronze. I think so.
22:12
I'd say that's the more reasonable tier.
22:15
I think they're a threat to make the semis and either lose in the
22:19
bronze medal match or win the bronze.
22:21
OK, I love it. All right, so that means I had
22:23
them in the 4th tier. You had them in the second tier.
22:25
They're gonna settle nicely right into the third tier.
22:28
Look at that. We keep it moving there we go
22:30
love it all right silver tier. I've got two teams here.
22:34
I think you've got one left here because we bumped Australia
22:36
down. So I'll go first here give me
22:38
Canada silver super solid a lot like Columbia.
22:42
They share a group in New Zealand.
22:44
We can't overlook that simple fact.
22:45
You know like you kind of wonder Adriana Leon, who we talked
22:49
about on the preview show for Canada, if she can like really
22:51
carry all of that load. But in this instance, I do think
22:55
that a, all of their units are strong all the way back to
22:58
goalkeeper, right? So it's like they don't have
23:00
that absolute, absolute killer in attack.
23:03
But I love the unit. I think the unit got a lot of
23:06
good talent on it and they're going to be tough to contend
23:08
with. Athletically.
23:10
They're an impressive team. I do think this team could reach
23:12
the semis if things broke perfectly, perfectly for them.
23:16
I could see this team sneaking into the final.
23:18
Obviously, this is our defending gold medal squad.
23:20
So yeah, I think this is the right spot for this Canada team.
23:23
I think so too. I'm in agreement with you.
23:24
They are also who I had in the silver tier.
23:28
I'll say this was them in another squad for the too
23:30
toughest for me, because I did also think, OK, well, if I'm
23:33
putting somebody in the silver medal tier and I kind of play
23:36
with that a little bit with Australia, but for Canada and
23:39
this other team we'll talk about shortly.
23:40
I'm sure I did think like, well, if I think Canada could win the
23:43
silver medal, then they have to be they're on the board to win
23:46
the gold because if you make the final, you can win the final.
23:49
Something weird can happen and you like even if you're up
23:51
against Spain, like you know, you could nick one and you could
23:54
possibly get it. I'm glad you bring up Adriana.
23:57
Leon almost beat the USA by herself and she believes she was
24:00
their lone goal scorer in the 23 World Cup.
24:04
Which I had to like, remind myself, like I had to go back.
24:06
I was like staring at the stats. I was like, yeah, that is right
24:09
isn't it? But luckily she has capable
24:11
teammates on on her side with her.
24:13
Evelyn Viens, 27 years old, played at Roma last season in
24:16
Syria. Thirteen goals, 6 assists.
24:19
She's a top goal scorer in Syria.
24:21
She also had one goal in the UA for Women's Champions League and
24:24
she was fourth in Syria and assists with those six.
24:26
So a productive player. And then Miriam, you speak of
24:30
Miriam Karabi from she scores bangers.
24:32
Go subscribe to that podcast on any platform.
24:34
Of course, Miriam talked about Jesse Fleming and I just
24:38
couldn't agree with her more is that, yes, sometimes she does
24:40
have that little bit of tendency to kind of disappear from some
24:43
matches. But she also has the ability to
24:45
just for 30 to 40 minute stretches look like one of the
24:50
two or three or maybe even the best player on the pitch in her
24:53
ability to pick out passes, to play angles to just kind of
24:56
control the ball. You could see where sometimes
24:59
she looks like the fulcrum of Portland Thorns offense.
25:02
And in a couple matches this year with not a ton of time with
25:05
that club, obviously, this is her first year with the Thorns
25:07
after coming over from Chelsea, she was looking like the fulcrum
25:10
of the offense to get the ball up to Sophie Smith.
25:13
And so anytime you look that good on a team that has Sophie
25:16
Smith on the team, you're doing something right.
25:18
So I think the ceiling is high. And even though they are the
25:23
defending reigning Olympic gold medalists, I feel like we're
25:26
both also trying to do our pal Miriam a favor by we're
25:30
disrespecting you, Canada. You can't win the gold.
25:34
And then and then if they come back and they do it, then we can
25:36
we can just pull the sports radio thing and be like, well,
25:38
you know, we motivated them. I I'm pretty sure we did and
25:42
it's great. Great point on Jesse Fleming
25:44
too. You know, when you were saying,
25:46
OK, good 20-30 minute stretch, I totally agree with that.
25:49
But Jesse Fleming's also the kind of player that can make a
25:52
pass or make a play where you're like, oh, OK, almost nobody can
25:55
do that, right? Exactly.
25:57
Like in a good spot. So I think she's got both those
26:00
things going for her. And like we said, I think front
26:02
to back they're, they're going to be really tough to contend
26:05
with. I think I might surprise you
26:06
here with my second silver tier team.
26:09
Let me know if you're ready. I am ready.
26:12
I've got to put them here. I think the US women's national
26:15
team is drawing a little, drawing a little dead.
26:19
When you look at the absolute top of this field.
26:22
I think this team can reach the final.
26:25
I think this team will reach the semifinals.
26:27
I just about lost my fucking mind last week when I was just
26:30
like, give me the USA for the field.
26:31
I think I was coming off, you know, a very riveting one.
26:34
Nil over Mexico to nil, nil go to against Costa Rica.
26:37
Not sure what got into me. I think looking at the attack
26:40
and I think we'll get into some of the favorites a little bit
26:42
later, but I just get mesmerized by those three up top.
26:46
Yes. And then there's like excellent
26:48
singular players in spots on the squad.
26:52
Doesn't mean as a unit they get fully cooking, but they're
26:55
excellent players all over the field and those three up top are
26:59
just devastating. But with that said, there's a
27:01
lot still left to be desired. So a lot still left to be
27:04
figured out by Emma Hayes and this team.
27:07
It's not just, hey, does Emma Hayes know what to do?
27:09
But can things get stalled, digested, downloaded, you know,
27:14
rolled out and actually observed on the field in play, like when
27:19
the tournaments going on against these top tier teams, that's
27:22
when it gets a little bit tricky.
27:24
And I think ultimately, I think the Cat Macario injury, you
27:27
know, might have popped the balloon before things even got
27:30
started just because you really did see, OK, we're missing a
27:34
we're missing a pretty important connector there in the middle of
27:36
the field that could come into play later down the line.
27:40
So I want to take a quick 22nd here.
27:42
Let me know what you think of my USA in the silver tier.
27:45
It doesn't sound like you you we're on the same page, but I'm
27:47
I'm dying to hear your your feedback on this one.
27:50
I don't vehemently disagree, man.
27:52
They are the team that I had the hardest time choosing between
27:56
gold and silver. And it's for a lot of those same
27:59
reasons. I think Lavelle is a more than
28:02
capable #10 do I think you can play Rose Lavelle 70 minutes in
28:08
three matches that happened in the span of like six or seven
28:11
days? I don't think you can.
28:13
I think it will. It would be borderline
28:14
irresponsible to do that. I bet you Rose Rose wants to be
28:17
out there. I bet you Lavelle wants to play.
28:19
But her injury history suggests that that would not be the right
28:24
thing for her. And then when you do that and
28:26
you know, like you and I have been on this program for a while
28:28
now, touting Jaden Shaw as a potential up and coming
28:32
superstar. And Bridie O'Toole touched on it
28:35
in our conversation with her. I don't think Shaw is quite that
28:38
number 10 yet. I think she can grow to be that.
28:41
I think she has the all the physical skills and the
28:44
definitely the mental ability to do it.
28:46
She doesn't quite have that yet. So the Macario injury is a
28:50
killer, pretty devastating, maybe more so than we we even
28:54
thought when it first happened. So even though I did, I had them
28:58
as my last one on the gold tier. I can easily cosign drop them
29:02
down to the silver tier with you, I think.
29:04
I think that's fair. All right, let's go ahead and do
29:06
that. Like I mentioned, I filled out,
29:08
I did fill out a little bracket and in my in my little wacky
29:11
bracket, I had Japan actually winning Group C, which pushes
29:16
Spain to the second spot because I could just see Japan like
29:19
lighting up either Brazil or Nigeria.
29:21
Sure. Sort of like storming out ahead
29:23
from a goal differential standpoint and then just
29:25
basically winning on the math, right?
29:27
Doesn't mean they're better than Spain, but that could happen.
29:29
If that does happen and USA wins their group, it's USA, Spain in
29:33
the quarter finals. And I'm not necessarily rooting
29:35
for anything. I like all these teams for
29:37
different reasons. But the thing that I am rooting
29:39
for, I want to see USA versus Spain on the field.
29:43
That's the only thing I want. I want to see these two teams
29:47
play head to head. I mean, it's a guaranteed
29:49
banger. You know, it might end up being
29:51
very fortunate for for USAI think, you know, in our
29:55
conversation with Brady, I can be a little self deprecating and
29:58
say, you know, I love a good overreaction and and things like
30:01
that. But I I stand by I think if USA
30:04
plays Spain, I think it's probably more likely than not
30:09
that it's not that close of a match.
30:11
I think there are probably two goals between those two teams
30:13
right now as it stands. And like you make a great point.
30:17
Emma Hayes hasn't installed everything yet, and the players
30:20
aren't playing in that system with any kind of consistency
30:22
yet. Emma Hayes has talked about that
30:24
specifically, too. It's just like we can't just
30:26
snap a finger at everything I want everybody to do.
30:28
They just do. It's just not realistic.
30:30
And I think Jaden Shaw, who you brought up, I mean, she could be
30:34
an excellent player. You know, when she hits her
30:36
prime, she could be an excellent player in this tournament.
30:39
Sure. But this roster is currently
30:40
constructed. Kind of needs Jaden Shaw to be
30:44
that now, right? Which is tough because I think
30:47
like Rose Lavelle, I mean she's an excellent player too.
30:51
And it's not her fault, you know, the injury, not even lift
30:54
take the injuries off the table. I think Roosevelt is a little
30:58
bit maybe too much of like a heads down attacking type
31:02
player, which is extremely valuable, right?
31:05
I mean, you cannot predict where she's going to go.
31:07
She can go any direction at very fast speeds and and be
31:11
dangerous. But against these top tier
31:13
teams, we're going to have to work to get some of these goals
31:16
and we're going to have to string together 345 excellent
31:20
passes. And I think like Roosevelt,
31:22
could she do that? Sure.
31:23
But like, is that her game? Is that who she is?
31:25
Is that her like sort of like top tier skill?
31:28
She's better at other stuff than that.
31:30
So I think it sort of leaves, you know, a pretty big vacuum
31:33
for for a player looking to do that.
31:35
I want to Fast forward, though, to our gold tier because we've
31:37
already hit a couple of these teams, if I'm not mistaken.
31:41
Well, if we agree on USA as a silver, that means you've got
31:44
three teams in your gold. Yep, and I think it seems like
31:47
we're perfectly aligned at this point.
31:49
I believe so. All right, so let's start with
31:51
the Champs. Spain, who we talked about a
31:53
little bit when I say the Champs, so talk World Cup champs
31:57
and nations that even include that.
31:59
Disrespecting Canada? He did it again, Miriam.
32:06
Now, I would never disrespect, you know, Evolvia ends in that
32:09
in that squad. So Spain, when you look at that
32:12
USA matchup specifically, right? And we know the USA's weakness
32:16
is probably the midfield. And just like the general
32:20
creativity and being able to control the game from the
32:22
midfield. Let's go through who Spain is
32:25
sending to Paris in their midfield from Real Madrid.
32:29
You've got Teresa by era and Athenea del Castillo, 2 absolute
32:35
home run hitters. The other three players in the
32:37
midfield, Batri, Alexia, Pedeas, and only the best player on the
32:41
planet, Aitana Bomati. So they're sending those five in
32:44
the midfield and the USA is sending.
32:48
We already know who the USA, the USA is sending.
32:50
That's going to be a long day contending with those players.
32:53
I think upfront is maybe where Spain doesn't necessarily have
32:57
the best attacking unit. Still really great players.
32:59
Caldente Sampatibello, Jenny Hermoso are kind of like the
33:02
three headliners there. Defensively super solid.
33:05
We already know that back line got that coy and goal.
33:08
Batier and Carmona up the left and right hand sides.
33:10
They're going to be extremely dangerous, but I don't feel bad
33:13
saying that the USA is probably drawing dead against Spain.
33:16
Most teams, almost every team except for one that I want to
33:19
get into soon here, might be just absolutely drawing dead
33:22
against against the Spanish side.
33:24
Yeah, I think that's fair. I mean, I can't I can't walk
33:27
back that I said I think there are probably two goals between
33:30
Spain and USA on most days. Obviously you never know what's
33:33
gonna happen in football. But and you know, you bring up
33:35
Puteas. We talked about it back when we
33:37
talked about the the Champions League final with Chris Sharples
33:41
from the zone who called that match.
33:43
You know, Puteas won the ball endor in 21 and 22 and then had
33:48
that devastating injury and kind of Beaumati took the mantle.
33:51
So, you know, as Puteas kind of keeps working back, she's coming
33:55
off that an incredible Champions League winning goal.
33:59
You got to deal with her in the midfield and if your team has
34:02
any questions in your midfield or even any questions in the
34:06
defense, you're just not going to have a chance against this
34:09
squad. This midfield is going to
34:10
dominate. Yeah, so I'm glad you bring up
34:12
the the midfield. Obviously possession is a huge
34:15
indicator of kind of how your midfield, you typically how your
34:18
midfield is able to control a match.
34:20
So let's just talk about some of the the latest Euro qualifiers,
34:22
understanding that these are not Olympic caliber squads.
34:25
But just let's let's hear the numbers for a second.
34:28
They had 77% of the ball in their last match.
34:30
First Belgium, they had 76% of the ball versus Chechea in that
34:34
weird loss where they conceded a penalty.
34:36
They missed a penalty. Pattihuela hit the woodwork what
34:38
felt like 8 times. The two fixtures versus Denmark,
34:42
they had 70% of the ball in 174% of the ball.
34:45
In the other, in their first match against Chechnya that they
34:47
won that 76% of the ball. And then in their first match
34:51
against Belgium where they beat them like 7 to nothing or
34:53
something like that, they had 72% possession.
34:56
They just play keep away and they know where everybody's
34:59
going to be and they're playing every single passing angle that
35:02
they can. And you can never disrupt all of
35:04
their passing lanes. They all know where each other's
35:06
going to be. And just for fun, if you say,
35:08
OK, well, Belgium, Chachiya, Denmark, congratulations, they
35:12
had 60% of the ball versus France in the UEFA Women's
35:15
Nations League final. And we watched that game.
35:18
That game was not particularly close either.
35:20
No, I mean, that was a total handling of of that French side.
35:24
Yep, this is where I kind of don't feel so bad about about
35:28
having these three teams up in that top tier just because they
35:31
could do everything. All right, So let me know who
35:33
else you had in your gold tier outside of the Champs.
35:37
I can't contain myself. I want to talk about Japan now.
35:40
Let's go. I think they could win the
35:42
tournament. Anata Miyazawa, 23 years old,
35:45
Golden Boot winner in the 2023 World Cup.
35:48
She signed with Manchester United Football Club at a wrong,
35:51
wrong Manchester club. Anata, come on anyway.
35:54
She signed with Manchester United, fractured her ankle in
35:57
December, went on to miss like 3 months for the Reds, making her
36:00
come back back on the national stage.
36:02
Alba Fujino, another forward, 19 years old, had really just like
36:07
audacious play, lots of skill in the 23 World Cup, was like one
36:11
of the players that really kind of stands out in my memory.
36:14
She LED her squad in the Wii League, the WE League in Japan
36:18
with nine goals. She also LED Japan in the last
36:21
World Cup in just minutes played.
36:24
I just love her creativity out there.
36:26
She plays with an attitude too that I really like.
36:28
Then you have the legend Saki Kumagai, 33 years old, the
36:31
ageless wonder in use. She played pretty well for Roma
36:35
during the Champions League, from what we saw.
36:37
She did have some moments where she kind of looked 33 out there,
36:42
but it's only natural that you're going to see this
36:44
champion slow down a little bit. But we call her a champion for a
36:47
reason. She was a part of that 2011
36:49
World Cup champion team for Japan.
36:52
And then the last player I want to highlight, Mina Tanaka, 29
36:55
years old, of Kobe Leonessa over the wee league in Japan.
36:59
Eight goals and eight assists helping Kobe Leonessa to 2nd in
37:04
the WE League. They play together, they're
37:06
skilled, they're audacious, they're daring, and they're
37:09
smart. I'm just so excited to watch
37:11
every match this team plays, just like we watched every match
37:14
they played in the World Cup. Yeah, I'm totally with you man.
37:16
I not to reference the wacky bracket again, but in my wacky
37:20
bracket I had Japan in the final.
37:21
I love it. They're going to be just a
37:23
nightmare to deal with. You didn't even mention Yui
37:26
Hasegawa from Manchester City, who pretty much led the WSL in
37:30
past completion percentage from the from the midfield.
37:34
They're just going to be a problem.
37:35
And I think you see it. Their style of play is unique.
37:38
Tough to deal with, tough to kind of like know where the runs
37:41
are coming from. I think we saw that in the World
37:42
Cup. We've seen that in some of these
37:43
big tournaments. What I love about this, the
37:45
Japan side is they obviously share a group of Spain.
37:48
So we'll get Japan, Spain in the group stage, which will be a
37:51
rematch from last year's World Cup.
37:53
Japan blank, Spain 4 nil. Spain goes on to win the whole
37:56
thing. We'll get the rematch here and
37:58
we could get another rematch down the line.
38:00
Well, at least that's how my bracket shook out.
38:02
So I think there's going to be some real swagger to that
38:06
matchup. Like, you know, both teams are
38:08
going to feel like, yeah, this is this is this is just a day at
38:10
the office for us. I think when they, when they go
38:12
heads up, there's not going to be any, you know, it's not the
38:14
same dynamic as we have Spain and France where big sister,
38:17
little sister, like France gonna need to like really, you know,
38:20
go up a level, maybe 2 levels, you know, to kind of like get
38:23
over the hump versus a Spain. Japan's not going to feel like
38:26
that at all. I could not agree more.
38:28
I think you're totally right. And so I I went back and I
38:31
watched some highlights and just kind of skipped through the
38:33
match just to watch different parts of Japan's loss in the
38:38
quarterfinals to Sweden at the 23 World Cup.
38:41
And this is another match like I talked about, like kind of the
38:43
weird bounces that led to Spain losing the Chechnya and the Euro
38:47
qualifiers. You know, we talked about it at
38:49
the time we were watching the tournament, kind of doing our
38:51
thing for a different podcast than for a different show then.
38:54
But I will go the rest of my days and maintain that Japan
38:58
could have won that match against Sweden.
39:00
They were not physically overwhelmed.
39:02
And Sweden, you know what time it is when you go play a big
39:05
Nordic country like that, they try to beat you with set pieces.
39:08
They try to out physical you. Japan was not fazed by that
39:11
style of play. They still knocked the ball
39:13
around. They missed a penalty in that
39:15
that match. They hit the crossbar a couple
39:18
times. They had a couple balls off the
39:20
post, they had an unlucky handball in the box to concede a
39:23
penalty. So at the risk of repeating
39:25
myself, they are smart and organized, but what they put on
39:28
top of that intelligence and that organization is that they
39:32
will take you on. They have multiple players who
39:34
will take you on one-on-one and say I could beat you with skill
39:37
and speed and precision at the same time.
39:39
And I just think in a condensed tournament like that, that can
39:42
be a recipe for winning the whole thing.
39:44
Yeah, I mean, it could be. We mentioned the six matches, 17
39:48
days. It might take ten matches, 30 or
39:51
40 days to kind of figure out exactly what this Japan is
39:54
doing, but just determine it's going to be well, you know, well
39:57
over and done with and they might be holding one of those
39:59
medals. All right, so we got full
40:01
alignment there. That leaves one side and that is
40:03
France. This seems loaded with talent.
40:05
Also shares a group with New Zealand, a CO2 Filey.
40:08
She joined us for our France preview and I think the thing
40:12
that she said that really, really stuck with me is this is
40:15
a little bit of now or never for France.
40:18
You know, there are no young players.
40:20
Selma Basha, future ITC Hall of Famer, 23 years old, I think the
40:23
youngest player in the squad as of right now.
40:26
So this is sort of. Their golden generation all the
40:29
way up to like Eugenie Laissemer who found her way onto this
40:33
team. And then you have Irby Renard, 1
40:36
foot in, one foot out and they're at home and there's the
40:39
big, there's the big bad squad from Spain that's just gave them
40:43
that work. The last few times they've gone
40:45
head to head. You sort of feel like you're
40:48
going to get everything that they have in this tournament.
40:51
I think if this was played in a different country, I might have
40:54
dropped them down to the silver tier, but they're at home and
40:57
they're just sort of like everything sort of is
41:00
culminating towards maybe hopefully for them, a storybook
41:03
ending. But even still, you zoom out,
41:05
you look at objectively they have tremendous players.
41:08
They got a pretty clean draw with their group.
41:13
So I think you do expect them to advance.
41:15
And lastly, if France is able to win Group A, they will get
41:19
matched up to the third place team in either Group B or C OK.
41:24
They won't be matched up against the 2nd place team in the
41:26
quarters. That could potentially be Zambia
41:29
or Australia or Germany for France, or it could be Nigeria
41:34
or Brazil. Pretty nice pathway into the
41:36
semifinal, maybe for this French team.
41:38
I couldn't agree more, buddy. And let me just, it was a little
41:42
sweaty as I pull it out of the Koozie 2 beer show.
41:46
Hey, to celebrate the Olympics, let me just make sure I get this
41:52
all right. Yeah, no splash.
41:53
Little bit of a splash. It's all right.
41:55
Be OK. Splash napkins over here.
41:58
OK, Yeah, now, now we're cooking.
42:00
OK, let's start with I agree with a lot of your points and I
42:03
want to get to some of them. Let me just start with something
42:05
that's a little alarming. Let's get the bad news out of
42:07
the way first. Let's do it.
42:08
And a seal. Tufile, who Dino mentioned,
42:11
writes for Forbes. She referenced this and kind of
42:13
how it was going for France in the Euro qualifiers.
42:16
Here's something alarming for you.
42:17
Here are the goal scores for France in these six Euro
42:21
qualifying matches. 3 by Marie Antoinette Katoto and then one
42:25
by Caddy to DNE, Wendy Renar, Sakina Karshawi, Elise Dale
42:30
Maida and won by Vicki Betcho who is a reserve and this
42:35
Olympic squad. And that's the list.
42:37
So 345678 goals and six matches shouldn't sound that bad, but
42:44
when you have the players that France has, you might want
42:48
something a little better and at worst, you might want a little
42:51
better spread than that. Yeah.
42:53
You don't like Ketoto as a center forward.
42:55
I know her job is to score goals, but you got other players
42:58
who can score on that team. Like, we don't have a single
43:01
Cascarino goal yet. We got to get something figured
43:03
out here. So with that in mind, I
43:06
completely agree with your with your thought process on this
43:09
kind of being the last shot. I know we live in an unjust
43:13
world, but Wendy Renar and Eugenie Lisa Mare Never winning
43:17
a major international tournament feels especially unjust.
43:22
I will say that give the caveat, they won the 2017 She Believes
43:25
Cup. That was a four team field.
43:27
It was a banger of a four team field though.
43:29
It was USA, Germany and England with France in there and that's
43:32
a great achievement for France. I take nothing away from that.
43:35
It's not the Olympics, it's not the EUR, it's not the World Cup.
43:38
So I honestly think, and I know I drew, I drew the parallel when
43:42
we were talking to a seal. I drew the parallel to the
43:45
English men's national team, if you can believe it.
43:48
They have to play on the front foot.
43:49
They have to play attacking football with the players that
43:51
they have. And that first match against
43:54
Columbia's defense in the in the opener, I think you got to set
43:58
the tone for the rest of the tournament there.
44:00
And so I'm just going to be locked into that one.
44:02
That's going to be a banger, a little bit of USW and T flavor
44:06
also where the midfield, more specifically that the attacking
44:10
midfield, a little bit of a gap there and then you probably find
44:14
this team running up the sidelines, either Karshawi or
44:17
Bosch on the other side. And that kind of leads me to
44:20
maybe like Grace Galloro. Like could she be an X Factor?
44:23
You know, we talked about like for the US, Lindsay Huron
44:25
dropping back a little bit, which she kind of switched up
44:28
against Costa Rica. So I think she was a little bit
44:29
more forward. Could we see Grace Guerro play a
44:33
little bit more forward? She's a big game, big moment
44:35
kind of player, yes. So I think that could be
44:38
somebody that you're like, hey, we just we just need this we we
44:40
need more passes to connect. I agree with you, Katoto.
44:44
She's a deadly finisher, but it sort of feels like 8090% of her
44:50
of our finishes are are relatively straightforward.
44:53
Great ball in great service. It's kind of like catching a lob
44:56
in basketball. You jump up, you really tall,
44:58
you catch it, then you slam it. So she's the ultimate lob
45:00
catcher. A Seal talked about this too.
45:02
No ML Manjri. So I think they're pretty locked
45:04
in with who they have and how they want to play now.
45:07
It's just could be a matter of was that the right setup.
45:10
Now I want to get into some predictions here only because
45:14
this French side in my bracket, I had them facing off against
45:19
Japan and not beating Japan. I had Japan in the final versus
45:23
Spain, France out in the semifinal.
45:26
Where did you have? I'm sorry an apologies if you
45:29
didn't do this but. So I did not fill out a regular
45:32
bracket. Well, I mean, what you usually
45:34
it's, it's one bracket where you go with your gut, one bracket
45:38
where you do your research in one bracket where you do a wacky
45:42
bracket because anything can happen in in tournament
45:44
football. I did not fill out any of the
45:48
three. I just kind of was going on like
45:50
general ceiling. So in that scenario where you
45:54
have France losing to Japan, does France win Group A?
45:59
Yeah, France wins Group A, Yeah. And like, I think that's an
46:02
important clarifier. Like when you actually look at
46:05
how the bracket could shake out, almost every combination is in
46:09
play because anybody could finish anywhere.
46:12
So there's really not, this is not Wimbledon, where it's just
46:16
like, right, you know, the bracket is the bracket.
46:17
And you know, Venus is a place to read until the final.
46:21
So really, this can go any, any number of ways.
46:23
I just sort of like ranked my 4I slotted everybody in.
46:26
I'll give you mine. Yeah, You know, if you're gonna
46:29
make a pic sort of on the fly here.
46:30
And apologies, I didn't do 3 brackets, I only did the wacky
46:32
bracket. Yeah.
46:34
OK. So in my semis I had Japan
46:37
topping France and I had Spain topping Canada.
46:41
OK. Because I had USA facing Spain
46:44
in the first round and and I had Spain getting past them.
46:46
Gotcha. So my 1:00 through 4:00 I've got
46:48
Spain win the gold, Japan silver between France and Canada.
46:52
I think you got to give the nod to France.
46:54
So Canada makes a semifinal, but they end up with a fourth place
46:57
finish. Very respectable.
46:58
France takes home a medal, so not empty handed.
47:01
And shout out to Samuel and the women's game because she did a
47:04
great job talking about the pursuit of a medal and the
47:08
Olympics being a different kind of tournament.
47:09
She was like, all right, most tournament, I'm paraphrasing
47:11
here, most tournaments are win or there's no alternative,
47:14
right? In the Olympics, though, winning
47:16
a medal, getting onto the podium and just taking home the
47:19
hardware is different than other tournament.
47:21
So shout out to Sam. We're kind of pointing that out.
47:24
But yeah, that that's, that's my final four, how I saw it.
47:26
OK. I think that makes sense.
47:28
Spain, Canada, France and Japan as your as your final four which
47:33
will lead to and I think in that scenario you're talking about
47:36
France. Canada 3rd place bronze medal
47:40
match should be a banger. I like the idea.
47:43
France versus Canada for the bronze medal.
47:47
Also Winner keeps Montreal. I love that.
47:52
So, yeah, I mean, I could, I could definitely see that
47:54
happening. And if France runs into Japan, I
47:57
mean, a what a banger, what an incredible kind of style clash
48:02
there. I could absolutely see Japan
48:05
winning that match, but I'd give France a good chance.
48:07
Just I mean with home field advantage.
48:09
I feel like that would help. Yeah, for sure.
48:11
Yeah. I just feel like Japan would
48:14
pose so many problems for them and a lot of the same problems
48:17
that Spain poses, only differently, right?
48:20
A different, a different flavor of a really, really hard team to
48:23
play. I don't know.
48:24
How far have you thought with regard to who do you have
48:26
winning, Who do you have possibly making the semis?
48:28
And apologies if I'm putting you on the spot here.
48:29
No, you're good. I mean, I, I would say I'm
48:32
either a, Spain beats France in the final or Spain beats Japan
48:39
in the final. I'm with you on that.
48:41
And in, in terms of who can make it to the semis, obviously, I
48:44
think USA is live. I think Australia is fairly live
48:49
also depending on how the bracket shakes out.
48:52
But my, my winner, I think it's Spain.
48:54
I think every team is kind of chasing them.
48:56
We are looking at the 1519 USA squad where you walk in, you are
49:03
the stone cold favorite against everybody you play against.
49:07
And people act like with that era of the USA squad, it was
49:11
just 'cause they ran faster and they were more physical than
49:14
every team. That's a little revisionists.
49:16
I mean, Carly Lloyd, I have a lot of opinions about Carly
49:19
Lloyd, but when she was your center midfielder and you had
49:21
Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe and Tobin Heath, but then you
49:25
also threw later in the mix Sam Lewis, the aforementioned Sam
49:28
Lewis and Lindsay Horan. Yet a lot of players out there
49:32
who were also smart and connected and playing a, a, an
49:36
intelligent style of football too.
49:37
So, and I just think that's where, where Spain is right now.
49:40
I will not make the mistake of betting against Spain or
49:43
Barcelona anymore. Sure.
49:46
And that's what I say now until we get to the next Champions
49:49
League final and I'm like, I don't know.
49:51
Maybe it could be a couple weeks from now, or you might fall back
49:55
in love with Japan and you know, who knows?
49:57
That's fair. You might get a little wacky on
49:59
your side as well. Damn, you're so right about
50:01
that. Yeah, come on, man.
50:03
I think. All right, man.
50:06
So it looks like we both have Spain taking home the gold.
50:10
The good news is the ball gets rolling this week.
50:13
Thursday, the games kick off. Your boys will be back Thursday
50:17
night. We're going to try to turn that
50:18
one around ASAP. So make sure to keep it locked.
50:21
Make sure to subscribe. Anything else you want to hit
50:23
before we get out of here? I think that's it.
50:25
I feel like I've sufficiently covered some of my bases by
50:28
trying to just put like a sneaky flyer out on Australia, a sneaky
50:32
flyer out on Brazil. I'm trying, you know, I'm trying
50:34
to run the gamut here and protect.
50:37
But yeah, man, I have almost forgotten that I like track and
50:41
field and I like swimming and I like, I mean, Jesus Christ, we
50:46
talk about basketball enough on this on this show.
50:49
There's a men's and women's basketball tournament happening
50:51
at the Olympics, too. I keep just thinking about the
50:54
football, though. So, yeah, it's going to be hard
50:56
to squeeze it all in. But yeah, the, the football's
50:58
going to be so good. So I'm I'm happy to grind all
51:01
that tape. Track and field too.
51:06
Yeah, exactly. All right, man, I think we all
51:08
right, man, I think we did it. This has been another episode of
51:11
into the channel. Sincere thank you for watching,
51:13
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51:15
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51:25
the show notes of this episode. And a big thank you to my coast
51:29
as well Mr. Grant Angle for just being absolute top tier week in
51:33
week out. You already know what time it
51:35
is. I appreciate you bro.
51:36
I appreciate you. This has been another episode of
51:38
video that oh, wait, you already said that.
51:39
Sorry, wait, yes, keep it locked with us.
51:43
We appreciate you guys. And also, you know, we're going
51:44
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51:47
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51:51
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52:01
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52:03
Thanks for rocking with us. Let's get to this football and
52:06
we will talk to you guys very soon.