Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Spencer Warne on the World Cup, USMNT 4-1 win in Friday's opener, Cape Verde's draw with tournament favorite Spain + more

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Spencer Warne on the World Cup, USMNT 4-1 win in Friday's opener, Cape Verde's draw with tournament favorite Spain + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: It's hit the be Sclaire. You tune to the Sean
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  Speaker 1: O'Connell Show for the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of DESPN seven
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  Speaker 1: hundred at ninety two one am a seventy fifth minutes.
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  Speaker 1: Spain and Cape verd are still noted up at zero
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  Speaker 1: nil nil the surprise of many watching this twenty twenty
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  Speaker 1: six North American World Cup. Joining us to talk about that,
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  Speaker 1: and of course, the US men's national team strong debut
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  Speaker 1: the gov Spencer warn and this conversation brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by beer Bar, your home for all World Cup soccer broadcasts.
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  Speaker 1: Head over there to Beer Bar, drink and food specials
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  Speaker 1: for every one of the matches, and you've got a
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  Speaker 1: day full of them here on a Monday. Gove, Welcome
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  Speaker 1: to the show.
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  Speaker 2: How are you, sir, very well man? How are you
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  Speaker 2: you know?
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  Speaker 1: I am For the next couple of weeks, I am
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  Speaker 1: a football, a soccer die hard. Much like the Olympics,
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  Speaker 1: I become just completely enamored with it and then I'll
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  Speaker 1: forget about it for four years. But I love I
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  Speaker 1: love these I love what we're seeing so far, and
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  Speaker 1: obviously that love is strengthened by the fact that the
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  Speaker 1: US men's national team came out strong with four to
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  Speaker 1: one victory over Paraguay. Uh, how should I be viewing that?
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  Speaker 1: Spencer as the as the resident experts who actually knows
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  Speaker 1: what he was watching? Is that as strong of a
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  Speaker 1: win as it looked like?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, I was really really impressed by them. I've
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  Speaker 2: been impressed with the US over recent months and Mauricio Pochettino.
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  Speaker 2: They just it was a bit of a rocky start
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  Speaker 2: under his stewardship, but they've they've settled into a formation.
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  Speaker 2: Everybody seems to know what the their job and their
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  Speaker 2: energy on Friday night against Paraguay was was phenomenal. Well,
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  Speaker 2: Thursday and sorry was phenomenal and well deserved, very excited.
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  Speaker 2: It was really important that the host nations got off
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  Speaker 2: to a good start, I feel, to create the excitement,
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  Speaker 2: and both Mexico and more so the US did that
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  Speaker 2: with a plump and so it's very very exciting. It's
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  Speaker 2: been a really really outstanding start to the tournament as well.
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  Speaker 1: So all of us uninitiated were like, Okay, that's a
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  Speaker 1: four one is a big win, but how good is
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  Speaker 1: Paraguay Because they don't have the name recognition of a
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  Speaker 1: Spain of a France, of a Germany, of a Brazil
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  Speaker 1: or an Argentina. But when we're setting the level, when
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  Speaker 1: we're checking the level of Paraguay, as people have not
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  Speaker 1: watched Paraguay, where do they belong in those conversations.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I always felt like Paraguay would struggle to get
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  Speaker 2: out of this group. I think Australia are much like
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  Speaker 2: the US, incredible athletes and just work incredibly hard like
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  Speaker 2: the US did. We already saw that and then we
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  Speaker 2: saw Australia do that against Turkey, which was a surprise
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  Speaker 2: for me because I thought Turk would be the ones
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  Speaker 2: that would be top in the group. So yes, when
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  Speaker 2: it comes to Paraguay, I always felt like they would
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  Speaker 2: struggle to get out of the group. But it's the
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  Speaker 2: World Cup. Anything can happen, and the US put down
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  Speaker 2: the market. I felt like the pressure was on the
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  Speaker 2: US to get off to a good start in front
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  Speaker 2: of their own fans, in front of seventy thousand people,
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  Speaker 2: you know, really just cheering, and you know, obviously it
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  Speaker 2: was a home crowd, So the pressure was all on
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  Speaker 2: the US and I felt they dealt with it brilliantly
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  Speaker 2: and it only bodes well for the World Cup. When
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  Speaker 2: the host nations do well, it creates an atmosphere, a
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  Speaker 2: magic that the whole country can get behind, and for
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  Speaker 2: the folks that are just like you watch it every
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  Speaker 2: four years, it can leave a lasting impression when you're
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  Speaker 2: hosting it and doing such a good job in hosting
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  Speaker 2: this wonderful tournament.
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  Speaker 1: Malagan with his brace in the first game and it gets,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the spotlight shined on him. There's a lot
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  Speaker 1: of that conversation is, hey, you know he chose to
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  Speaker 1: play for Team USA. He could have been with I mean,
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  Speaker 1: I think he was eligible to play for England, right,
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  Speaker 1: He's also eligible to play for Nigeria. I don't know
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  Speaker 1: how appealing Nigeria would be for as a you know,
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  Speaker 1: as someone who's trying to compete in this World Cup.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know what the the pros and cons are
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  Speaker 1: of competing for Nigeria. But would he have been in
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  Speaker 1: serious consideration for the England squad had he elected to
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  Speaker 1: represent England?
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  Speaker 2: Well, and England actually struggle for number nine. Obviously, Harry
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  Speaker 2: Kane is Harry Kane. He's a wonderful player. But after that,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there's some good players, but he has certainly
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  Speaker 2: been in the you know, been looked at, particularly because
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  Speaker 2: he's playing is football in Europe as well or ready
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  Speaker 2: maybe he would have got a move to England because
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  Speaker 2: he chose to play for England. It might have been
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  Speaker 2: an option to have a homegrown player, which is a
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  Speaker 2: thing in Europe that you need. Well is everywhere, but
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  Speaker 2: they are at a premium, especially ones with the perform
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  Speaker 2: on the international stage. So yes, I think it might
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  Speaker 2: have been on the outside looking in. I think his
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  Speaker 2: home is definitely with the US and that's probably why
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  Speaker 2: he chose that. And you're seeing the benefits of that.
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  Speaker 2: The young players or the guys that are in their
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  Speaker 2: mid to late twenties that have been around the squad
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  Speaker 2: for a fair few years, they just look accustomed, especially
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  Speaker 2: to this tournament.
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  Speaker 1: The gov Spencer one our guest here talking to some
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  Speaker 1: World Cup soccer here on the Sean O'Connell show. These
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  Speaker 1: conversations brought to you by our friends over at beer bar.
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  Speaker 1: And look, I love picking the brain of soccer die
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  Speaker 1: hards because you know, I get to learn. And I
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  Speaker 1: watched that game and I saw the early score and
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  Speaker 1: then I saw the rest of it and I'm like, okay,
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  Speaker 1: I think that makes sense to me. I think I
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  Speaker 1: know why that goal came to fruition, but it's just
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  Speaker 1: I think it's not and I know so if I'm
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  Speaker 1: asking you, what was it that the US men's national
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  Speaker 1: team did against Paraguay that led to those four goals?
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  Speaker 1: Did they set them up similarly? Did they Was it
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  Speaker 1: the ball movement? Was it the possession in their own zone?
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  Speaker 1: What was it that allowed them to be so efficient
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  Speaker 1: and so proficient with their scoring in a four to
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  Speaker 1: one start to this World Cup.
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  Speaker 2: Well, first and foremost, I think they fed off the crowds,
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  Speaker 2: the noise that the fans created. It was it was
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  Speaker 2: a really wonderful to you know, kept turning the TV
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  Speaker 2: up so I could hear everything. And I think they
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  Speaker 2: really feed off of that. And I think Americans in general,
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  Speaker 2: you know, to make a sweeping statement when they get
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  Speaker 2: the crowd on site and they are die hard fans
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  Speaker 2: and well educated at this point, you know, you feed
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  Speaker 2: off of that energy. It was the energy of the
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  Speaker 2: players as well. They moved the ball quickly, They were
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  Speaker 2: building purposely when they had the ball, and when they
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  Speaker 2: were getting turnovers deep in their own half, they were
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  Speaker 2: moving the ball quickly, forward, hitting Paraguay on the counter attack,
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  Speaker 2: and I just felt like the defensive shape was very
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  Speaker 2: good and gave the US a platform to build from,
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  Speaker 2: which was really important. Able to break up play and
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  Speaker 2: let your attacking players, your flair players do the business.
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  Speaker 2: And we saw that with Christin Pulisik obviously goes off
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  Speaker 2: at halftime, but the first forty five minutes that he played,
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  Speaker 2: it was almost unplayable. They couldn't deal with his pace
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  Speaker 2: and him being direct and then providing opportunities for his
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  Speaker 2: attacking corps, which it was just an awesome first forty
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  Speaker 2: five minutes. That's where the damage was done.
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  Speaker 1: Next up is the Australia team that you already mentioned,
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  Speaker 1: also holding three points after they beat Turkey A. What's
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  Speaker 1: that match going to look like for the US men's
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  Speaker 1: national thing.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be a physical battle. What they what
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  Speaker 2: Australia lack in technical ability, they make up for in
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  Speaker 2: fitness levels. Excuse me, They're going to be a real
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  Speaker 2: tough and a different type of issue for for the US.
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  Speaker 2: They're probably gonna have to be a little bit more patient.
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  Speaker 2: They're more than likely going to have the majority of
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  Speaker 2: possession because under Pochettino, he likes to have the ball,
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  Speaker 2: but there's they are going to have to be patient.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to be a real physical, bruising battle. As
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  Speaker 2: we know with the Aussies if you've ever watched their
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  Speaker 2: play cricket or rugby, they are Yeah, they are competitors
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  Speaker 2: and as I said, with the the maybe less or
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  Speaker 2: lesser amount of technical ability, where a lot of their
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  Speaker 2: players are still playing well, some of their players are
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  Speaker 2: still playing in Australia, and the US having the luxury
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  Speaker 2: having the majority of their squad playing in Europe and
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  Speaker 2: around the world, there's a little bit more no how,
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  Speaker 2: but I'm excited for this matchup up in Seattle. It's
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  Speaker 2: a good crowd, wonderful stadium and again I think I
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  Speaker 2: have to give props to all the nations that are hosting.
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  Speaker 2: These stadiums look wonderful and yes, maybe there's a couple
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  Speaker 2: of empty seats here and there, but that's just you know,
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  Speaker 2: me having a little dig at FIFA there with the
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  Speaker 2: pricing and whatnot. Well, that's been a wonderful occasion so far.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that because
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  Speaker 1: obviously you know so far when Team USA is playing
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  Speaker 1: is going to be fulling loud and crazy. But we
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  Speaker 1: saw a couple of games where you know, it seems
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  Speaker 1: like the prohibitive pricing maybe emptied some seats that otherwise
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  Speaker 1: would have been full. And that very much is a
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  Speaker 1: FIFA thing. That very much is a pricing thing in
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  Speaker 1: my opinion, And we talked about it in a run
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  Speaker 1: up to this World Cup, how insane it is to
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  Speaker 1: price your fans out of attendance, said this ultimate celebration
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  Speaker 1: of world sports. I don't anticipate that FIFA will make
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  Speaker 1: any downward adjustments in pricing, but is there a lesson
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  Speaker 1: to be learned here by some of those empty.
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  Speaker 2: Seats Maybe a little bit, But again I'm not a
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  Speaker 2: huge fan of the federation itself. I think it's become
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  Speaker 2: an apparent, you know, more and more money driven. We've
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  Speaker 2: seen that with the hydration breaks and the commercials. It
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  Speaker 2: feels like it's it's a ploy, you especially with a
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  Speaker 2: lot of these closed roof stadiums where they have to
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  Speaker 2: climate control where you don't need the hydration break. I
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  Speaker 2: get it for the open air stadiums where it is
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  Speaker 2: hot and humid, and especially my English slot, they're not
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  Speaker 2: used to that kind of that kind of heat. But
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  Speaker 2: at the same time, you know, we've got a roll
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  Speaker 2: with it. I'm hoping that the secondary market becomes a
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  Speaker 2: little bit more attainable for those soccer fans that may
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  Speaker 2: you want to catch a game here and there and
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  Speaker 2: experience the World Cup vibe. We've seen it in all
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  Speaker 2: the stadiums though, even though there's been a few empty seats,
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  Speaker 2: how wonderful the fans have done up and made it
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  Speaker 2: a real party atmosphere and all the stadiums so far,
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  Speaker 2: and it's looked wonderful. I just hope that it continues
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  Speaker 2: and we get some of those empty seats filled up.
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  Speaker 1: What other squads are, what are the results? Have caught
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  Speaker 1: your attention so far in the early play?
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  Speaker 2: Well, I know this might not, this will go against
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  Speaker 2: the grain because I know you Americans can't stand a tie,
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  Speaker 2: but I was really I loved the Brazil Morocco game,
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  Speaker 2: and I love the Netherlands and Japan game. I thought
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  Speaker 2: those were two really excellent games that the teams took
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  Speaker 2: a point each. But yeah, I think there's been so
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  Speaker 2: much fun. And obviously we're looking at watching Kate Burdie
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  Speaker 2: against Spain holding them nil nil still with five minutes left,
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  Speaker 2: or four minutes left in injury time. It's a great
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  Speaker 2: story Corrosal yesterday getting the equalizer against Germany. I know
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  Speaker 2: it went all wrong after then, but it was It
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  Speaker 2: was a delight to watch these small nations and how
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  Speaker 2: much it means to their fans, those small pocket of
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  Speaker 2: fans that are in the stadium and able to travel.
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  Speaker 2: I can only imagine what it's like in their hot
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  Speaker 2: countries watching these guys do them proud.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I think. I think what we're seeing is happily
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  Speaker 1: the US sports market kind of being swept up in
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  Speaker 1: the excitement of this World Cup, and I only anticipate
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  Speaker 1: that building more if the US men's national team can
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  Speaker 1: continue with some good results. So fingers crossed for that.
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  Speaker 1: We're enjoying it so far and can't tell you how
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  Speaker 1: much I appreciate you lending some perspective and informed perspective
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  Speaker 1: for once on soccer on this show. Thank you GOV.
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  Speaker 2: Oh always a pleasure, guys.
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  Speaker 1: That Spencer warn the GOV World Cup inside one of
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  Speaker 1: our World Cup insiders. We're going to be picking the
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  Speaker 1: brains up during this incredible tournament brought to you by
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  Speaker 1: our friends over at Beer Bar