Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Marcelo Balboa on the World Cup, USMNT's chances to make a deep run, 3 superstars with multi goal games yesterday + more

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Marcelo Balboa on the World Cup, USMNT's chances to make a deep run, 3 superstars with multi goal games yesterday + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: That's me and Connor's tone.
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  Speaker 2: A Sean O'Connell Show from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of
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  Speaker 2: ESPN seven hundred and ninety one half a World Cup
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  Speaker 2: conversation here on the Sean O'Connor Show, brought to you
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  Speaker 2: by our friends over at Beer Bar. If you're looking
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  Speaker 2: for a great place, great food, great drinks, great atmosphere
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  Speaker 2: to watch all of the World Cup matches, head down
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  Speaker 2: to Beer Bar in downtown Salt Lake City. We're lucky
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  Speaker 2: you to have to welcome Marcelo Balboa, former US men's
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  Speaker 2: national team captain, soccer legend here in the United States.
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  Speaker 1: Marcelo, welcome to the show.
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  Speaker 3: How are you good, buddy?
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  Speaker 1: How are you? I'm doing all right. I appreciate you
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  Speaker 1: giving us some time.
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  Speaker 3: I sat.
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  Speaker 2: I started the show today gushing about just the unique
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  Speaker 2: nature of what the World Cup soccer brings to the
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  Speaker 2: American sporting landscape, because yesterday we watched a brace from
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  Speaker 2: Erling Holland, a brace from Killing and Bope, and then
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  Speaker 2: Leo Messi, the Arguable Goat, finishes the day with a
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  Speaker 2: hat trick and just one ups everybody. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: if you try to draw the equivalent in other sports
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  Speaker 2: in other environments, you just you almost can't, right, It's
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  Speaker 2: like very rarely did Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes and
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  Speaker 2: Peyton Manning all have great days on the same day
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  Speaker 2: and one up one another. And that's when we got
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  Speaker 2: yesterday just in pool play, so pretty incredible.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, listen, you had for probably one of the finest
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  Speaker 3: days in soccer right when you got Messy playing, you
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  Speaker 3: got Holland playing. I mean it's it's you've gotten goals
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  Speaker 3: there where you got in bope. So it's one of
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  Speaker 3: those days where it was it was great to see
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  Speaker 3: because it was like who's going to outdo who? You know?
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  Speaker 3: And Boppe scores and Holland's like, fine, I'll score too.
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  Speaker 3: And then if you want to talk and top it
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  Speaker 3: off with an expresso marquee, Yeah, put in Messi and
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  Speaker 3: you take your three goals.
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  Speaker 2: A hat trick that draws him even with the all
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  Speaker 2: time record, which I guess makes us assume that he
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  Speaker 2: will leave this World Cup as the singular holder of
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  Speaker 2: the World Cup goals record. And you know, we we
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  Speaker 2: have been discussing this this it's probably I don't want
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  Speaker 2: to make any assumptions, but it's probably the final World
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  Speaker 2: Cup for Leo Messi when he is not here four
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  Speaker 2: years from now, what are we going to be saying about,
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  Speaker 2: you know, filling that void.
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  Speaker 3: Ah, Listen, We're we're gonna take it one step at
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  Speaker 3: a time. So, but yes, it will probably be the
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  Speaker 3: last one for him. Modridge, you're looking at probably Ronaldo,
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  Speaker 3: So you know what I mean, that's it's an end
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  Speaker 3: of a wonderful generation. But in four years from now,
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  Speaker 3: we're gonna wonder who's going to step up and be
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  Speaker 3: the snack fleeter, who's going to step up and be
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  Speaker 3: the showman, who's going to lead this this next generation
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  Speaker 3: of athletes into that era, Because listen, you know how
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  Speaker 3: blessed we've been. We are blessed enough to have been
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  Speaker 3: with Ronaldo and Messi and Motgoradge. I mean, you can
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  Speaker 3: keep going down the list and Leven Daowski. So it'll
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  Speaker 3: be interesting to see the next World Cup who takes
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  Speaker 3: the rings of this of this Uh, we'll say, of
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  Speaker 3: this horse.
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  Speaker 2: I want to talk to US men's national team. Obviously
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  Speaker 2: you were a captain on this team and represented the country. Well. Uh,
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  Speaker 2: the the growth of the game of soccer in the
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  Speaker 2: United States, we've obviously seen it here locally with RSL
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  Speaker 2: and the success that they've had. And the only major
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  Speaker 2: championship we have in our professional sports community is that
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  Speaker 2: our that MLS Cup that Ursel won a few years back.
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  Speaker 2: And should we use whatever US men's national team does
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  Speaker 2: in this World Cup, with this Golden Generation as they've
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  Speaker 2: been called, should we use that as a measuring stick
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  Speaker 2: of just how much the game has grown in the
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  Speaker 2: United States.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think we can measure it by this or
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  Speaker 3: by that. I think you look at the growth of
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  Speaker 3: what MLS has been with new stadiums, state of the
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  Speaker 3: art facilities. I think that's where we're going to judge
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  Speaker 3: the fact that a guy who everybody says is the goat,
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  Speaker 3: but he's playing in Major League Soccer, the competition isn't great. Well,
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  Speaker 3: he scored three goals yesterday at the highest level possible
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  Speaker 3: in the World Cup. So you've got more than forty
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  Speaker 3: players representing MLS, and even more because you've got former
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  Speaker 3: players who have left the MLS and got sold in
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  Speaker 3: our plans for their country. So the measuring stick is
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  Speaker 3: our own. We measure it how we build it, how
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  Speaker 3: it's growing, how the fans show up to the stadiums.
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  Speaker 3: I think that's how we're going to measure where we're moving.
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  Speaker 3: But that stick is moving quite nicely, and I think
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  Speaker 3: everybody's starting to open their eyes up a little bit
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  Speaker 3: about where our sport is.
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  Speaker 2: So if very strong start to this tournament for the
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  Speaker 2: US men's national team with an impressive win against Pataguay,
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  Speaker 2: and for the average soccer fan and the casual soccer fan,
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  Speaker 2: it's maybe a little bit difficult to level set how
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  Speaker 2: meaningful that win is because most of us don't know
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  Speaker 2: how good Paraguay is. Like how well should we should
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  Speaker 2: regard the competition? I mean four ones for one, So
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  Speaker 2: help me out with that. How good was this Paraguay
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  Speaker 2: team that US beat?
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  Speaker 3: That doesn't matter. How good was the US's that's the key. Sure,
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  Speaker 3: the US didn't allow them to do anything. They pressed them,
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  Speaker 3: they repressed them, they made them feel uncomfortable, They never
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  Speaker 3: let them get into the game. So I think that's
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  Speaker 3: that's what we're looking at Paraguay. Listen, they qualified out
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  Speaker 3: of Common Bowl. That's always a tough air because you're
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  Speaker 3: playing Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador. So it's a good team.
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  Speaker 3: The US just came out and you know what. They
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  Speaker 3: showed the aggression we wanted to see. They showed the grit,
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  Speaker 3: they showed the mentality, and when they had a chance
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  Speaker 3: to finish the game off, they finished the game off.
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  Speaker 3: And that's what we're in waiting to see for a
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  Speaker 3: long time. So we're finally able to see what we've
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  Speaker 3: all thought this team could do. Show up. Now they've
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  Speaker 3: got to do it. If we're going to get a final,
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  Speaker 3: you got to do it seven more times, but at
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  Speaker 3: least two more times to get out of the state
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  Speaker 3: the group stage.
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  Speaker 2: Friday coming up, Australia represented themselves well in their first
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  Speaker 2: match of the tournament. How do you see that game
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  Speaker 2: playing out?
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  Speaker 3: A tough game, very difficult game, only because when you
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  Speaker 3: look at Australia, you look at a group that plays
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  Speaker 3: five in the back, they play four in the midfield
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  Speaker 3: and they push one up top. They're very good at
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  Speaker 3: counter attack with Terrey and Imo Kure is the other
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  Speaker 3: forward who scored the other day. So this is going
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  Speaker 3: to be a very good team. But again, when you
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  Speaker 3: look at the first game, Turkey had thirty shots. So
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  Speaker 3: if they're going to allow the United States that much
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  Speaker 3: time to control and that much time to do all
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  Speaker 3: what they're doing, the US is a dangerous team. Now,
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  Speaker 3: it's going to be tough because you got eleven bodies
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  Speaker 3: parked at a low block. But the US has enough
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  Speaker 3: players and I think this is where we may see
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  Speaker 3: Giorina come in little tighter spaces. He's better at flicking
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  Speaker 3: balls on and moving. So, like I said, this is
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  Speaker 3: this is going to be a very tough challenge, not
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  Speaker 3: going to be easy, but I think that we've got
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  Speaker 3: enough of the talented players that can break down that
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  Speaker 3: eleven man low block.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously, this answer could potentially evolve over the course of play,
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  Speaker 2: but after one match in World Cup play with this
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  Speaker 2: roster set, what do you view as the greatest strength
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  Speaker 2: in the greatest weakness for the US men's national team.
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  Speaker 3: Weakness is back line, because I mean there's going to
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  Speaker 3: be a weakness. They get caught sometimes in transition. That's
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  Speaker 3: always difficult. Strengths is when this team's pressing, when this
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  Speaker 3: team's on its front foot, when this team's not allowing
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  Speaker 3: other teams to feel comfortable, that's when they're at their best.
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  Speaker 3: And we saw that this week, how comfortable they were
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  Speaker 3: pressing teams, moving line side to side. So I think
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  Speaker 3: that's probably the strength of this team is when they forward.
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  Speaker 2: Talk a little World Cup Soccer presented by Beer Bar
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  Speaker 2: with Marcelo Balboa, former US men's national team member and captain.
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  Speaker 2: When you mentioned that you know the back line might
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  Speaker 2: be the weakness, and you played defense in your career, Like,
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  Speaker 2: what is the way to fix that? Is it a
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  Speaker 2: personnel problem? Is it something you can develop in a
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  Speaker 2: short time. I'm a I'm a novice soccer guy, so
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  Speaker 2: give me a sense of how they can shore that
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  Speaker 2: up if it is the biggest weakness.
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  Speaker 3: Listen, when you go forward with quite a few numbers.
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  Speaker 3: When you got Sir Genio Deak going forward, you got
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  Speaker 3: Jedi going forward, you got Malik Killman, and you got
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  Speaker 3: Weston McKinney going forward. You're pushing a lot of bodies
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  Speaker 3: into the attack. So there's always going to be a
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  Speaker 3: weak point, and the week point would be the back
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  Speaker 3: line at that point only because you're sending so many
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  Speaker 3: bodies forward. So when you look at this, the the
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  Speaker 3: only reason I say it's a weakness is because we're
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  Speaker 3: always on the front foot and we want to send
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  Speaker 3: bodies forwards. When you hit transition from attacking to defending,
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  Speaker 3: that's where you got to take that foule. Slow the
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  Speaker 3: game down, that's where you got to, you know, push
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  Speaker 3: a little bit, push the lines a little higher, and
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  Speaker 3: sometimes you're gonna have to go man to man. So
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  Speaker 3: we're not the fastest in the back. But like I said,
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  Speaker 3: when you're willing to push the game forward and you're
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  Speaker 3: willing to take chances to go score goals, there are
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  Speaker 3: always going to be a little bit of a weakness
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  Speaker 3: in the back.
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  Speaker 1: You are sort of in the middle of your professional career.
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  Speaker 2: The last time the United States North America hosted a
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  Speaker 2: World Cup, and now twenty issue years removed from that,
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  Speaker 2: we're doing it again. And so far, so good, it
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  Speaker 2: seems like. But what has so far been your assessment
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  Speaker 2: of the overall event of the US host cities of
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  Speaker 2: the broadcast?
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  Speaker 1: Is this a success so far?
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  Speaker 3: Listen, It's a success because stadiums are ninety nine percent full.
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  Speaker 3: It's a success because what we started in ninety four,
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  Speaker 3: we can see that full circle comeback around. The way
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  Speaker 3: people got behind the United States fill in bars, fill
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  Speaker 3: in the stadium, screaming and yelling supporting their team. And
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  Speaker 3: when you go back to ninety four, people really didn't
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  Speaker 3: know soccer. They came out. They wanted to see what
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  Speaker 3: the World Cup was about. Now we know what the
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  Speaker 3: World Cup's about, we know what the nast team is about,
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  Speaker 3: and it is absolutely fantastic to see the support that
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  Speaker 3: these young men the United States are getting and how
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  Speaker 3: well the World Cup has been perceived. Again in the
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  Speaker 3: United States.
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  Speaker 2: This is maybe a silly question, something that we experience,
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  Speaker 2: especially here in Utah.
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  Speaker 1: The US men's national team.
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  Speaker 2: Everyone's rooting for the home country, but a lot of
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  Speaker 2: people here have a secondary allegiance because either they served
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  Speaker 2: an LDS mission in a certain place, they have a
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  Speaker 2: relative from a certain place, right, So it's like the
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  Speaker 2: US shirt is the primary, But then they're also pulling
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  Speaker 2: for Argentina, or for England, or for Cabo verd or
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  Speaker 2: for whatever. And you're of Argentine descent, right, So what
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  Speaker 2: is that like in the Belboa household?
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  Speaker 3: You know what, when I played for the United States,
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  Speaker 3: my mom and dad cheered for the United States first,
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  Speaker 3: and now it's Argentina. Listen, it is pure Argentina. Last
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  Speaker 3: time they won the World Cup called mom and dad
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  Speaker 3: and iuldn't even talk to him because they were in
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  Speaker 3: tears crying how happy they were. So listen. The beauty
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  Speaker 3: about this World Cup is the fact that every possibility,
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  Speaker 3: every culture is being put into play. We see what
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: the Belgiums are I mean that the Belgians are doing.
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  Speaker 3: We see what the Norwegians are doing with the Viking row,
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  Speaker 3: the Dutch with their three man slide to one side
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  Speaker 3: to the other side. We're enjoying each other's culture. So
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  Speaker 3: no matter what people say, you know what, Soccer is
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  Speaker 3: the biggest sport in the world. The World Cup is
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  Speaker 3: the biggest sport in the world, and it brings people
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  Speaker 3: together and we enjoy We enjoy soccer, and that's what
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  Speaker 3: we like to see, is people enjoying their sport and
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  Speaker 3: coming to support their countries and enjoying other people's culture.
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  Speaker 2: Is there satisfaction for someone who's kind of a foundational
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  Speaker 2: piece of American soccer to see the game take center stage,
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  Speaker 2: even if it's just for this tournament in the United States?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, we don't, and I'm part of the problem.
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  Speaker 2: We don't view soccer the same way. It's it's not
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  Speaker 2: our national pastime the way it is for almost every
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  Speaker 2: other nation on Earth. The passion has certainly grown a lot,
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  Speaker 2: but is there is there a certain amount of I
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  Speaker 2: don't know, gratification that you and the guys that are
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  Speaker 2: kind of in your same category feel when it's almost
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  Speaker 2: forced upon the American fan base. See, look what this
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  Speaker 2: game is, Look how big of a deal it is,
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  Speaker 2: and all of us get caught up in it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, I think people are. I think there's
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  Speaker 3: a lot of people worried about soccer. And I'll tell
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  Speaker 3: you why. Because the one sport that has almost a profession,
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  Speaker 3: the league. In every part of the world. You can't
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  Speaker 3: say that about football or baseball or basketball. You go
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  Speaker 3: to Europe, there league, You go to Asia, you go
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  Speaker 3: you go to Africa, there's leagues. You go to South America,
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  Speaker 3: North America, South America, you Central America. So I think
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  Speaker 3: people are scared of it because they don't know it,
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  Speaker 3: that they haven't learned it yet. And then in this
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  Speaker 3: country are we have grown so much from ninety four
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  Speaker 3: to now that people love this sport. They love either
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  Speaker 3: their EPL teams or they love their MLS teams, they
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  Speaker 3: love their national teams. So I think that's the best
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  Speaker 3: part of how much we've grown as a as a
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  Speaker 3: soccer country here in the United States, because you can
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  Speaker 3: look all over the place and we are so diverse,
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  Speaker 3: and most of these countries that people come from all
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  Speaker 3: love soccer. So we're getting there, man, We're getting there.
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  Speaker 3: I think we're making a lot of people nervous in
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  Speaker 3: other sports right now.
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  Speaker 1: Do you like Poschettino? So far?
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  Speaker 3: Love Pochettino, And I'll tell you why, because the biggest
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  Speaker 3: games are the three the three stage games, so Australia
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  Speaker 3: and Turkey, and no matter what happened before the World Cup,
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  Speaker 3: that does no longer matter. What matters is what we've
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  Speaker 3: done in the World Cup. We will remember Pochettino for
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  Speaker 3: the job he did, if he doesn't leave, if he stayed,
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  Speaker 3: we will remember Pochettino for what he did in this
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  Speaker 3: World Cup. Now, what happened against Belgium, Now, what happened
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  Speaker 3: against Portugal, We'll remember this. And he led a team
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  Speaker 3: out there the other night that spanked Paraguay. And that's
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  Speaker 3: what we wanted to see. We wanted to see an
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  Speaker 3: aggressive team. We want to see a free, fluid team.
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  Speaker 3: We want to see a team that put the ball
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  Speaker 3: in the back of the net. And we got it.
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  Speaker 3: So so far, the mission is on a straight path,
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  Speaker 3: and we need to keep going that way.
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  Speaker 1: All right.
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  Speaker 2: Before I let you go, you already told us put
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: some context on the Australia game coming up on Friday.
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  Speaker 2: Does US men's national team leave that contest with a
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  Speaker 2: points or points?
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  Speaker 3: It's going to be difficult. I think they can leave
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  Speaker 3: with three points. And if they do that and the
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  Speaker 3: other result, they're right where are we threw into the
• 15:07
  Speaker 3: next round with an opportunity to win the group. So
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  Speaker 3: I do believe the US will win this game. It
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: will not be easy. It'll be a blood bath because
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: both teams are very aggressive and physical, but I think
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  Speaker 3: the US pulls out the three points.
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  Speaker 2: Appreciate you giving us some time today, Marcelo. Enjoy the
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: rest of this tournament and we'll chat again soon.
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  Speaker 3: You gotta buddy, Take care man.
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: Marcelo Balboa, former US men's national team captain,