Latest / Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos / Pulisic to Premier League? World Cup Predictions and Mohawks with Clint Mathis

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Pulisic to Premier League? World Cup Predictions and Mohawks with Clint Mathis · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

0:00
Speaker 1: I've been fortunate enough to play with great American players,
0:03
Speaker 1: some of the greatest American players of all time, and
0:06
Speaker 1: what I can say about that is that none of
0:08
Speaker 1: them had all of the tools in the toolbox that
0:12
Speaker 1: Clint Math has had.
0:15
Speaker 2: Greetings, folks, and welcome to Inside American Soccer. I'm Matt Doyley,
0:20
Speaker 2: armchair analyst, and I'll be filling in for new dad
0:23
Speaker 2: Tom Bogert for a couple more weeks. Reports out of
0:27
Speaker 2: the Boger household have indicated no strife early days after
0:31
Speaker 2: the transfer window move for Young THEO. I am honored
0:36
Speaker 2: to be joined by my new friend, one of the
0:38
Speaker 2: greatest players in US soccer history, a veteran of three
0:42
Speaker 2: World Cups, you can say, the face of the national
0:44
Speaker 2: team in the nineteen nineties tab Ramos, and where joined
0:50
Speaker 2: by a guy who might have been the face of
0:51
Speaker 2: the national team for part at least of the two thousand.
0:55
Speaker 2: It's an incredible guest, another US soccer legend, an MLS
0:58
Speaker 2: Cup champion, and one of the greatest metro stars.
1:01
Speaker 3: Of all time.
1:03
Speaker 2: Clint mathis gentlemen, it is wonderful to be here with
1:07
Speaker 2: the two of you.
1:08
Speaker 1: Oh, thanks for having me. I appreciate it. Clint, Yeah,
1:11
Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming on. Obviously, I don't
1:14
Speaker 1: I don't really know where to start with you, because
1:17
Speaker 1: it is a little bit difficult for me. Clint and
1:19
Speaker 1: I were roommates with the Metro Stars for a little while,
1:22
Speaker 1: and then, you know, I was so happy to see
1:26
Speaker 1: like that was his sort of where his career started
1:29
Speaker 1: to lift into international stardom, and I had an opportunity
1:35
Speaker 1: to live a little bit of that with Clint in
1:37
Speaker 1: the room, with him eating all the jelly beans possible
1:41
Speaker 1: that he could eat. And I have to say this.
1:45
Speaker 1: I couldn't start the show by not if I didn't
1:48
Speaker 1: say that Clint has been my favorite American player of
1:52
Speaker 1: all time. And I know that everyone has different lists,
1:55
Speaker 1: and everyone can judge different people according to stats or
2:00
Speaker 1: how long their career was, or what teams they were on,
2:03
Speaker 1: or whatever else. But I can tell you that I've
2:06
Speaker 1: been fortunate enough to play with great American players and
2:09
Speaker 1: some of the greatest American players of all time, and
2:13
Speaker 1: what I can say about that is that none of
2:15
Speaker 1: them had all of the tools in the toolbox that
2:18
Speaker 1: Clint math has had, starting from his great technical ability,
2:23
Speaker 1: his speed, his ability to process information on the field,
2:27
Speaker 1: to deliver a pass, the quality and pace of a pass.
2:30
Speaker 1: He was good in the air. He could take a
2:33
Speaker 1: free kick with the right foot or the left foot,
2:35
Speaker 1: which no one can do. I mean, I could go
2:39
Speaker 1: on and on is dribbling. Everything Clint did was amazing.
2:44
Speaker 1: And on top of it, he was a down to
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Speaker 1: earth person with a huge heart who always spoke about
2:50
Speaker 1: his mom. We talked about his mom and Georgia in
2:53
Speaker 1: the room all the time. You know, Clint, I'm so
2:57
Speaker 1: happy to have you here. And for all those ads
3:00
Speaker 1: out there who don't know as much about you, I
3:03
Speaker 1: really wish they did.
3:06
Speaker 3: I appreciate it. It does sound like tab you did
3:09
Speaker 3: get the brown envelope that sent before the show, So
3:13
Speaker 3: I appreciate that. So you went right on Q. I
3:17
Speaker 3: think you read it verbatim how I wrote it, But no,
3:20
Speaker 3: I really appreciate it. That is, it was a it
3:23
Speaker 3: was a weird transition. I think at that time a
3:26
Speaker 3: lot of people don't know I enjoyed LA that's you know,
3:29
Speaker 3: who I got drafted by. And it was kind of
3:32
Speaker 3: a weird situation that nobody in today's world of the
3:35
Speaker 3: MLS would even understand. All the rules and stipulations and
3:39
Speaker 3: how I ended up at New York. But it was
3:42
Speaker 3: a blessing in disguise. Like Tab said, it was one
3:45
Speaker 3: of those things that I think kind of really launched
3:47
Speaker 3: my career. I mean I was doing, you know, pretty
3:49
Speaker 3: good at LA and getting to play and things of
3:51
Speaker 3: that sort, but I was definitely put on a different
3:54
Speaker 3: pedestal at the MetroStars and to have someone like Tab
3:58
Speaker 3: to put me under his wing and he helped me
4:00
Speaker 3: out was it was definitely a blessing. So I appreciate
4:04
Speaker 3: all the con words Tab, and you know, you have
4:07
Speaker 3: a lot to do with that, you know, being able
4:09
Speaker 3: to walk in your footsteps and watch what you did
4:13
Speaker 3: on the field and how you carried yourself. Definitely, you know,
4:17
Speaker 3: I think emulated a lot of stuff that I wanted
4:19
Speaker 3: to do as well.
4:21
Speaker 2: Well, it worked, he passed it down Tab and Clint
4:24
Speaker 2: of course became a star for the US during that
4:27
Speaker 2: two thousand and two World Cup. And on today's show,
4:30
Speaker 2: we're going to discuss some guys who are hoping to
4:33
Speaker 2: have their moment in the spotlight this summer in the
4:35
Speaker 2: twenty twenty six World Cup, including Weston McKenney, who's scoring
4:39
Speaker 2: goals for fun with Juventus now playing as a number ten.
4:43
Speaker 2: I'm not sure everybody saw that come. And we'll get
4:45
Speaker 2: Clint starting eleven for the current US men's national team,
4:49
Speaker 2: and of course his unique perspective on how this team
4:52
Speaker 2: would be best in attack, because Clint wasn't just a forward,
4:55
Speaker 2: he was also a playmaker and he would play out
4:57
Speaker 2: wide a little bit, so he kind of sees the
4:59
Speaker 2: game a little bit differently than I think most people do.
5:03
Speaker 2: And we'll also go inside the locker room with Glint
5:06
Speaker 2: for some stories including I don't know folks know this,
5:09
Speaker 2: but he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated pretty
5:11
Speaker 2: famously back in two thousand and two sporting that mohawk
5:15
Speaker 2: that became a signature. Look, you were a valuable part
5:21
Speaker 2: of that team that made it to the quarterfinals and
5:23
Speaker 2: arguably could have gone even further, maybe even should have
5:27
Speaker 2: gone even further. Pretty famously outplayed Germany in that quarterfinal game.
5:32
Speaker 2: So what did make that two thousand and two team
5:35
Speaker 2: so special?
5:36
Speaker 3: I mean, I think Bruce, I mean, what he's done
5:39
Speaker 3: really a great job in his career is managing the
5:43
Speaker 3: locker room. You know, is he the best tactician or
5:48
Speaker 3: you know, soccer mind or anything like that. I mean,
5:51
Speaker 3: that's up for debate on anybody's you know, standpoint of
5:55
Speaker 3: what they thought of Bruce. But I enjoyed Bruce. I
5:58
Speaker 3: mean he brought that, you know, that level of respect
6:02
Speaker 3: in the locker room, that each player valued each other.
6:06
Speaker 3: But he also got good soccer players. So I think
6:09
Speaker 3: that that's a mix that you know, maybe we didn't
6:11
Speaker 3: see all ways in the past. I mean, I bring up,
6:15
Speaker 3: you know, the the ninety eight World Cup, which I
6:17
Speaker 3: think TAB would agree was a disaster, and that was
6:21
Speaker 3: on many levels and things of that's you know standpoint,
6:26
Speaker 3: But I don't think you really saw that on that
6:28
Speaker 3: team in two thousand and two. I mean, everybody was
6:31
Speaker 3: having fun, They enjoyed themselves, they wanted to go win,
6:34
Speaker 3: and they cared about each other. We were always hanging
6:36
Speaker 3: out with each other, whether it be in the hotels
6:39
Speaker 3: on trips or going out to dinner and things of
6:41
Speaker 3: that sort. So I think Bruce did a really good
6:44
Speaker 3: job of being a manager in that case when the
6:48
Speaker 3: American you know, soccer team or the whole portrayal as
6:52
Speaker 3: a coach, and I think that, you know, you look
6:55
Speaker 3: across the world it's really you know about managing players,
6:58
Speaker 3: especially at the level that and what kind of money
7:01
Speaker 3: these guys are making now. Is being able to manage egos,
7:04
Speaker 3: being able to steer them in the right, you know,
7:06
Speaker 3: direction and get to that common common goal. And I
7:10
Speaker 3: think Bruce, you know, I think did a really good
7:12
Speaker 3: job there.
7:12
Speaker 1: You know, if I could go back a little bit
7:15
Speaker 1: on that team, because I was, I was part of
7:17
Speaker 1: that team until two thousand year, is a neat thing
7:20
Speaker 1: and I want to see if you remember. So I
7:24
Speaker 1: was on that team through the qualifying process until we
7:27
Speaker 1: got to the hecks, to the final hex, and I
7:30
Speaker 1: noticed obviously that you know, Bruce was not playing me
7:34
Speaker 1: all the time. I used to come into games like
7:36
Speaker 1: the last twenty minutes. Sometimes I started sometimes and then
7:39
Speaker 1: sometimes I would come off the bench. And I'm sure
7:42
Speaker 1: you remember at the time, I have both of my
7:44
Speaker 1: older kids now we're small at the time, and I
7:47
Speaker 1: always had them with me, and I really suffered, you know,
7:50
Speaker 1: traveling and being away from my family a lot. And
7:53
Speaker 1: then when I noticed that I wasn't going to play
7:55
Speaker 1: all the time, I went and spoke with Bruce and
7:58
Speaker 1: it was we're gearing towards that end before the hex came,
8:03
Speaker 1: which is obviously the most important games. And I said
8:06
Speaker 1: to Bruce, Hey, Bruce, you know, I went to meet
8:08
Speaker 1: with him, and I said, hey, Bruce, you know, I
8:11
Speaker 1: you know, you're not playing me all the time. I
8:13
Speaker 1: really don't feel like I totally understand it. Respectful of
8:17
Speaker 1: your your your your opinion, but you know, I just
8:22
Speaker 1: want to see where you see me between here and
8:24
Speaker 1: the World Cup, because that would have been my fourth
8:26
Speaker 1: World Cup. And he said, well, look, I mean I
8:28
Speaker 1: I like what you have to offer, but I see
8:31
Speaker 1: you more as coming off the bench holding the bow
8:33
Speaker 1: for us when we're winning or when we're losing, helping,
8:36
Speaker 1: you know, to make some plays in the final third.
8:38
Speaker 1: And I understood that, and I but I at the
8:40
Speaker 1: same time, you know, and every player is different. You know.
8:43
Speaker 1: Sometimes you have the veteran players who like taking the
8:45
Speaker 1: role of Hey, you know, I'm going to be on
8:47
Speaker 1: the bench and I'm just going to be supportive and
8:49
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna sit there and watch and when they
8:51
Speaker 1: need me, I'll come in. And I wasn't that guy.
8:54
Speaker 1: And I recognized that I wasn't that guy. And I
8:57
Speaker 1: said to Bruce, I said, well, Bruce, listen. If that's
8:59
Speaker 1: the case, everything is good. But after this round, I'm
9:03
Speaker 1: just gonna retire. And you know, I remember this because
9:06
Speaker 1: sometimes you also want the coaches saying, oh no, please,
9:09
Speaker 1: don't retire. But he didn't say that. He was like, well,
9:14
Speaker 1: you know, if that's how you feel about it, you know,
9:17
Speaker 1: and that's how you feel that this is gonna serve
9:19
Speaker 1: you best, he goes, you know, then I will support
9:23
Speaker 1: you in that. And so the reason I'm telling this
9:25
Speaker 1: story not about me, but because my last game, in
9:29
Speaker 1: the last game of that round before we went into
9:31
Speaker 1: the hex, was in Barbados against Barbados, and Clint, you
9:35
Speaker 1: scored your first international goal that day on my last
9:39
Speaker 1: game with the national team, so we have a little
9:42
Speaker 1: bit more of a connection. Actually, that ball of that
9:44
Speaker 1: game that you scored the goal with is right here,
9:46
Speaker 1: right behind me, right over my left shoulder. So yeah,
9:50
Speaker 1: so good story with your beginning of your great international
9:54
Speaker 1: career and my end.
9:57
Speaker 3: Yeah no, that is a good story. Remember uh that
10:01
Speaker 3: goal and actually my leg I got I remember that
10:04
Speaker 3: game that I might remember more than the goal, as
10:06
Speaker 3: I got studded pretty good about halfway up my leg
10:09
Speaker 3: and I still have that to where like the capsule
10:13
Speaker 3: that holds your calf. I guess that ripped and I
10:16
Speaker 3: had like a golf ball sticking out at halftime, and
10:19
Speaker 3: I remember the trainer Rick Gooters like, oh yes, just
10:23
Speaker 3: your muscle popping out. I was like, all right, no
10:24
Speaker 3: big deal, let's just move on.
10:26
Speaker 1: And by the way, we were zero zero in that
10:30
Speaker 1: game a half. I started that game, yes, and we
10:32
Speaker 1: were zero zero at halftime. It needed to win that game,
10:35
Speaker 1: which we ended up winning four zero. But but yeah,
10:38
Speaker 1: it was not easy.
10:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, the field did The field didn't help.
10:43
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that was a pure cocky field. It
10:45
Speaker 2: was a cow past year. And I remember watching that
10:48
Speaker 2: one and being nervous, and then I think the first
10:50
Speaker 2: goal was clean set about the hour mark, and then
10:53
Speaker 2: the floodgates opened. You guys were spun that forward into
10:56
Speaker 2: the hecks and the hexs was up and down, but
10:58
Speaker 2: you got through it. And then when you got to
11:00
Speaker 2: the World Cup, you know, made it all the way
11:02
Speaker 2: to the quarterfinals, and it's the one World Cup that
11:06
Speaker 2: I think people for the US US fans consider to
11:09
Speaker 2: be unambiguously successful. Bitterness over how it ended, the referee
11:14
Speaker 2: not calling that obvious handball on torsed and springs, but
11:18
Speaker 2: pride and success nonetheless, and it's always been shades of
11:21
Speaker 2: grace since then to one degree or another. And that
11:24
Speaker 2: brings us to this summer because we have players now
11:27
Speaker 2: playing some of the biggest clubs in the world and
11:30
Speaker 2: not just playing bit parts, right like Christian Poolisic is
11:33
Speaker 2: one of the best players for AC Milan and Weston McKenny,
11:36
Speaker 2: who I already mentioned scoring for fun for Juventus and
11:41
Speaker 2: playing a bigger and bigger role seemingly by the week.
11:44
Speaker 2: So given that, what is the barometer for success for
11:49
Speaker 2: the US at the World Cup this summer? Does it
11:53
Speaker 2: have to be at least quarterfinals or like, do you
11:56
Speaker 2: have to go further than the previous do you have
11:58
Speaker 2: to go all the way to the semi final? Where
12:00
Speaker 2: is that bar for you guys?
12:03
Speaker 3: I mean, I think you just look at through the
12:06
Speaker 3: history of this team or whatever, and the furthest that
12:10
Speaker 3: you know the teams have made it is the quarterfinals,
12:13
Speaker 3: and every team's come up short. Granted you know that
12:17
Speaker 3: two thousand and two team. I think people think you
12:20
Speaker 3: got stiffed or whatever. But the game is the game
12:23
Speaker 3: and whether you get through that, if we would have
12:26
Speaker 3: scored three goals, nobody would have been talking about the handball,
12:29
Speaker 3: So it is unfortunate that you know, that did happen,
12:32
Speaker 3: and you know we were the better team. I mean
12:34
Speaker 3: I remember even the German players even admitting that and
12:38
Speaker 3: telling some of the guys that, you know, the Claudia Arenas,
12:41
Speaker 3: the other players that played against those guys and with
12:44
Speaker 3: those guys in Germany, was like, yeah, you guys were
12:46
Speaker 3: the better team, but it wasn't our day, so it
12:49
Speaker 3: was unfortunate. So I mean, I don't really look at
12:53
Speaker 3: it as a success of failure. You never know who
12:56
Speaker 3: you're gonna get when you get out of group play,
12:58
Speaker 3: per se, or you don't. It's any even Sunday, like
13:00
Speaker 3: any sport, So you want to go out there and really,
13:04
Speaker 3: as far as success, you want to make to that quarterfinals.
13:07
Speaker 3: But I mean you want to see them go all
13:11
Speaker 3: the way. But is that going to happen. Nobody's gonna know.
13:14
Speaker 3: I mean, in two thousand and two, nobody would have
13:17
Speaker 3: thought England, Argentina, France wouldn't have made it out of
13:20
Speaker 3: their group play. But now you got a team the US,
13:23
Speaker 3: You got South Korea making it out of their group
13:26
Speaker 3: with Portugal in it, and so it is one of
13:31
Speaker 3: those weird things. And I think the level of soccer,
13:34
Speaker 3: you know, from a world standpoint, has gotten better. I mean,
13:37
Speaker 3: just look at us here in Conca calf when you
13:40
Speaker 3: could literally go all right, US and Mexico, we're going
13:43
Speaker 3: to go through, no problem, no big deal. Now we're struggling,
13:47
Speaker 3: you know, sometimes against you know, these Central American teams,
13:50
Speaker 3: and it's just goes to show that the sport itself
13:55
Speaker 3: has gotten better worldwide. So I think as far as
13:58
Speaker 3: just getting out of the group and then taking it
14:00
Speaker 3: step by step and knowing that it's game, game to game,
14:05
Speaker 3: I think that this team does have the potential to
14:07
Speaker 3: do things, but it's about stepping on that stage and
14:10
Speaker 3: not worrying about, you know, the surroundings or you know,
14:14
Speaker 3: putting pressure on yourself. I mean, I go back to
14:16
Speaker 3: two thousand and two, and that was one good thing
14:18
Speaker 3: that I think that I was good at my career
14:21
Speaker 3: is not putting any pressure. I was always joking. That's
14:25
Speaker 3: how the mohawk came about. I was trying to get
14:27
Speaker 3: the guys laughing. I don't think it made Bruce laugh
14:30
Speaker 3: too well, because I ended up showing up late to
14:33
Speaker 3: that team meeting because we thought it was thirty minutes later.
14:38
Speaker 3: But that's another story in itself. But it's just about
14:42
Speaker 3: making the guys laugh and not worry about it. Just
14:44
Speaker 3: go out and have fun and play. And that's what
14:46
Speaker 3: my mom always taught me, you know, And that's when
14:50
Speaker 3: you're gonna play your best. That's what I tell my
14:52
Speaker 3: kids now. No matter what you do, go have fun
14:53
Speaker 3: doing it, because that's when you're really gonna thrive and
14:56
Speaker 3: shine because once pressure sets in, just to your live.
15:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, And uh, I mean I couldn't agree with that more.
15:04
Speaker 1: And obviously, you know, that's the one thing about Clint
15:07
Speaker 1: that always stood out to me was that nothing was
15:11
Speaker 1: too big for him, you know, and he Clint would
15:14
Speaker 1: come in and regardless of the game, regardless of the pressure,
15:17
Speaker 1: regardless And I think you'll remember this, Clint, right before
15:20
Speaker 1: you ended up going to Hanover that you know, Bayron
15:23
Speaker 1: Munich obviously was really interested in you and all of
15:26
Speaker 1: those things. You know, Clint was really the guy in
15:29
Speaker 1: US soccer that everyone was looking looking at and looking after.
15:34
Speaker 1: And I don't remember Clint ever changing at all. I
15:38
Speaker 1: remember being his roommate and him always being the same
15:42
Speaker 1: and we always had sort of that that type of relationship.
15:45
Speaker 1: And now you know, I'll go back to the story
15:47
Speaker 1: now that actually has nothing to do with this World Cup.
15:49
Speaker 1: But you know, later on I became you know, technical
15:52
Speaker 1: director youth national team and the under twenty coach, and
15:55
Speaker 1: I broke Clint with me on a trip. Clint, if
15:58
Speaker 1: you remember, we were in Atalanta in Italy. We're getting
16:02
Speaker 1: read to play at the lant time. We're training at
16:03
Speaker 1: this facility out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by horses.
16:07
Speaker 1: Let's see if you can read, if you can call
16:09
Speaker 1: this story right. And so what I did with all
16:12
Speaker 1: the coaches is before before we start the training sessions,
16:15
Speaker 1: the coaches would get there early. We'd set up the
16:17
Speaker 1: whole field and then we'd play soccer golf. So it
16:20
Speaker 1: didn't matter if it was you know, if I brought
16:22
Speaker 1: on Landon Donovan or Clint or whoever it was. The
16:24
Speaker 1: assistant coaches. We would all get together. We each have
16:27
Speaker 1: a ball and we'd say, okay, now you got to
16:29
Speaker 1: bend the ball around that goal and then on the
16:31
Speaker 1: second touch you got to put it into the d.
16:33
Speaker 1: On the third touch you got to put it into
16:36
Speaker 1: let's say the goal only hitting the net, right, So
16:39
Speaker 1: you make up all these things that we play soccer golf.
16:41
Speaker 1: But I don't know if I don't know, if you
16:43
Speaker 1: remember it was you and I and Tony Miola and
16:46
Speaker 1: we're playing soccer golf, and you know, I think you
16:50
Speaker 1: kick off and it's like, you know, you had to
16:51
Speaker 1: hit a fifty yard ball. And then I'd go next,
16:54
Speaker 1: and I hit like a fifty yard ball, and then
16:55
Speaker 1: Tony comes on in shanks one.
16:58
Speaker 4: And by the way, Tony hit a great ball, but
17:00
Speaker 4: shanks it, and see shanks it. Do you remember what happened?
17:04
Speaker 4: I'll try shanks it. There's a horse in the background
17:08
Speaker 4: that goes like, oh.
17:10
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you were dying laughing because like a
17:16
Speaker 1: jackass right right. It was like the horse is paying attention.
17:19
Speaker 1: When Tony shank that ball, that horse right away made
17:22
Speaker 1: that noise. It was the funniest moment I had with
17:25
Speaker 1: the youth national teams. That's good stuff.
17:29
Speaker 2: Keeping it loose is gonna be key for any team
17:32
Speaker 2: that wants like you never hear a story about a
17:35
Speaker 2: team that goes into a tournament does well. It says, yeah,
17:37
Speaker 2: we were tight the whole time, Like there's always a
17:40
Speaker 2: certain level of camaraderie and everybody being on the same page.
17:43
Speaker 2: It's what we're hoping for from the US men's national
17:46
Speaker 2: team this summer. Guys who are gonna be playing key role.
17:50
Speaker 2: I already mentioned a couple of times. Wes McKenny doing
17:54
Speaker 2: really well for u Ventus right now. They have reportedly
17:57
Speaker 2: offered him a four year contract and now want to
18:00
Speaker 2: make him a centerpiece, which is something that it felt
18:03
Speaker 2: like he was never going to happen for Weston. He
18:05
Speaker 2: had to come in and prove himself over and over
18:08
Speaker 2: and over again to one new coach after another. Now
18:12
Speaker 2: there's inter Milan rumors as well, they may try to
18:14
Speaker 2: swoop and because he is out of contract this summer. Technically,
18:19
Speaker 2: what did we think, like what role should Weston play?
18:22
Speaker 2: And do you want to see him stay with Juventus?
18:26
Speaker 3: I mean, for me, I look at it as it's
18:30
Speaker 3: always easier looking from the outside end. You don't know
18:33
Speaker 3: what's going on behind closed doors or anything like that.
18:37
Speaker 3: I honestly won't what's best for him. If it's something
18:41
Speaker 3: where he feels like at his point of his career,
18:43
Speaker 3: if he wants to make it change, so be it.
18:46
Speaker 3: I mean I think I learned this a long time ago,
18:49
Speaker 3: with a little help from Tab as well. But nowadays
18:53
Speaker 3: loyalty is out the window. I mean people expect that
18:56
Speaker 3: loyalty to be from players, but it's not recipile it.
19:01
Speaker 3: And so, you know, what loyalty is there for Western
19:04
Speaker 3: or you know, it's what's going to be best for
19:06
Speaker 3: him and his family and his future. And and the
19:08
Speaker 3: only person that's really going to know that is Weston.
19:12
Speaker 3: So there's going to be shame whether he stays. There's
19:14
Speaker 3: going to be shame whether he leaves. But I honestly
19:19
Speaker 3: just want what's happy for him and what he thinks
19:21
Speaker 3: what's best for him and his future, you know, moving forward.
19:25
Speaker 3: If that's somewhere that he's comfortable and he thinks that
19:29
Speaker 3: he's going to you know, play better, get more minutes,
19:31
Speaker 3: I mean that can change at the drop of a hat.
19:35
Speaker 3: But I think that that's something that you know, he
19:38
Speaker 3: needs to think through and say, hey, is it time
19:40
Speaker 3: for a change. Do I want to push myself to
19:43
Speaker 3: try another team, try another league? You know, where where
19:47
Speaker 3: does that sit with him? So? Uh, that's that's really
19:51
Speaker 3: the advice that I could give him is like, don't
19:54
Speaker 3: worry about what people are telling you what to do
19:56
Speaker 3: and what you should do. Just think about what's best
19:59
Speaker 3: for you right now now and what's gonna you know,
20:02
Speaker 3: keep you mentally right because as tap can at test,
20:06
Speaker 3: you know, in a blink of an eye, this career
20:08
Speaker 3: is gone, and so you're always looking back going could
20:13
Speaker 3: I have done this? Could I have done that? Should
20:15
Speaker 3: I have done this? At that point it doesn't matter.
20:18
Speaker 3: So when when you do have it in the in
20:20
Speaker 3: the palm of your hands, you know, think what how
20:23
Speaker 3: this is going to affect you in the future and
20:25
Speaker 3: what's going to make you happy, because that's going to
20:28
Speaker 3: you know, drive the career longer. Happiness is is what
20:32
Speaker 3: this everybody in this world needs and so you need
20:36
Speaker 3: to find what's going to make you happy in that
20:38
Speaker 3: regards and not about putting you know, these great patches
20:42
Speaker 3: of of all these great clubs wherever, because at the
20:46
Speaker 3: end of the day, it's going to be gone.
20:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Matt, you know, Uh Weston is in
20:51
Speaker 1: a great situation right now. He's been the best player
20:54
Speaker 1: for you vent this over the last two months. Uh,
20:56
Speaker 1: you vent this fell asleep on this one big time.
21:00
Speaker 1: This is something that they should have done likely about
21:03
Speaker 1: six to eight weeks ago and now they're in a
21:06
Speaker 1: tough situation. I think the offer, I'm sure I've seen
21:09
Speaker 1: the same you've seen. The offer seems like a pretty
21:12
Speaker 1: good offer for Weston for multiple years. I would like
21:17
Speaker 1: to see that happen because it seems like Juventus is
21:20
Speaker 1: really putting their foot forward and making a good effort
21:22
Speaker 1: to pay them like a true international star player, which
21:27
Speaker 1: he deserves to be. And I'm not surprised that other
21:31
Speaker 1: teams are in at this point. You know, Western's in
21:33
Speaker 1: a great situation and and he'll have plenty of teams
21:38
Speaker 1: to choose from, but haven't said that. I mean, you know,
21:40
Speaker 1: the value that he has for Juventus. I mean, let's
21:42
Speaker 1: you know, you look over the last two months. He's
21:45
Speaker 1: played three or four different positions for them and has
21:47
Speaker 1: done well in all of them. And I think he's
21:50
Speaker 1: invaluable and I and I think they will do if
21:53
Speaker 1: if Western McKinney ends up leaving Juventus is not going
21:56
Speaker 1: to be because Juventus hasn't tried their absolute best to ca.
22:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, especially now that he is playing not just the
22:05
Speaker 2: utility role though, as he said, he does play three
22:07
Speaker 2: or four different positions, but he's become a centerpiece player. Right,
22:10
Speaker 2: They're finally putting him in position not just to cover
22:13
Speaker 2: for other players deficiencies, but in a position to sort
22:16
Speaker 2: of maximize his skill set with that box arrival, his
22:19
Speaker 2: ability to pick the last past. It's fun to see.
22:22
Speaker 2: It's also what we've seen from ac Milan with Christian
22:25
Speaker 2: Polistic the past couple of years. Now, there are some
22:28
Speaker 2: reports out of Italian media. I'm gonna call him dubious, right,
22:33
Speaker 2: They're not as well sourced as the stuff around Weston
22:35
Speaker 2: at this point, saying that Tottenham Hotspur have identified Christian
22:41
Speaker 2: as one of their primary transfer targets this summer. You
22:46
Speaker 2: understand why, given how much they're struggling Spurs, and given
22:52
Speaker 2: how good Christian has been, given that he has experience
22:57
Speaker 2: in the Premier League and has played really well at
22:59
Speaker 2: times for Chelsea. Do we want that to happen or
23:05
Speaker 2: is that something where you know what you have it
23:09
Speaker 2: good with a great team in Ace Mulan, you know,
23:13
Speaker 2: ride that and become a legend there, rather than trying
23:17
Speaker 2: to salvage something with Spurs.
23:21
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I agree with what you're saying. I mean,
23:24
Speaker 3: it's one of those things that you know is Spurs
23:27
Speaker 3: obviously trying to rekindle everything what they had you know
23:31
Speaker 3: during the Harry Kane times and things of that that sort.
23:35
Speaker 3: I go back to what I said about Weston. You know,
23:40
Speaker 3: Christians should be selfish and what makes him happy. It's
23:43
Speaker 3: not just because you know it be like a squirrel
23:46
Speaker 3: and every golden shiny thing you go to chase. He's
23:50
Speaker 3: proven that he can play in that in the Premier League.
23:53
Speaker 3: He did it with Chelsea. You know, maybe he didn't
23:57
Speaker 3: get you know, all of the chance says and all
24:01
Speaker 3: of the playing time that maybe he should or he
24:03
Speaker 3: is getting at a C. Milan and then that does
24:06
Speaker 3: that does come into a factor. So I think that
24:09
Speaker 3: that's one of those things too. From from his standpoint,
24:13
Speaker 3: you know, is it going to be a money grab
24:15
Speaker 3: and say hey, I would like to go back to England.
24:18
Speaker 3: Maybe he misses it. Who knows. That's something that he's
24:21
Speaker 3: going to decide. But you know it's about, you know,
24:25
Speaker 3: once again, what's going to make him happy during his
24:28
Speaker 3: playing time. Is it to stay somewhere where he's playing
24:30
Speaker 3: and comfortable and doing well. Is it something where he
24:34
Speaker 3: just stays in Italy and maybe goes to another team
24:36
Speaker 3: like you know Weston's looking at as well, because that
24:41
Speaker 3: is a big jump, especially when you know you're used
24:44
Speaker 3: to a certain playing style, which we all know that
24:47
Speaker 3: playing in Italy is definitely going to be different than
24:49
Speaker 3: playing in the Premier League. Do I think Christian can
24:51
Speaker 3: do it, Absolutely, but it's going to be more of
24:55
Speaker 3: something that I think that he needs to make that
24:58
Speaker 3: more selfish decision of of where he's going to be happiest.
25:01
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'll make it sure. I mean, obviously I
25:03
Speaker 1: agree with all of that. You know, money obviously is
25:06
Speaker 1: a factor. You know, I don't think that Milan would
25:09
Speaker 1: be able to match an offer that potentially, you know, uh,
25:13
Speaker 1: Tottenham could put put on the table. Christian has been
25:16
Speaker 1: in the in the Premier League before. That helps. He's
25:19
Speaker 1: done great in Italy now, which means that even if
25:23
Speaker 1: he went to England, he could always come back to Italy.
25:25
Speaker 1: I'm sure. But you know, having said all those things,
25:29
Speaker 1: you know, I've been sort of against Christian leaving Syria
25:33
Speaker 1: because he's done so well in it and he's comfortable there.
25:36
Speaker 1: As Clint said, at the same time, you know, if
25:38
Speaker 1: you could look at you know, the future there and
25:40
Speaker 1: potentially Solaki with with Chabi Simmons and Polisic behind, it's
25:45
Speaker 1: not so bad either, you know, And that's a good
25:47
Speaker 1: opportunity for him as well, to play. By the way,
25:50
Speaker 1: it's the best, you know, the EPL is the best
25:52
Speaker 1: league in the world, so it would be a great
25:54
Speaker 1: opportunity for him. But I think at this point, you know,
25:57
Speaker 1: looking at it from the outside, staying in Melon seems
26:00
Speaker 1: to be the right thing.
26:03
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's done well there. Milan for my money, better
26:08
Speaker 2: city than London. But you know, not everybody feels that
26:10
Speaker 2: way necessarily. But for us, it's time for a break.
26:13
Speaker 2: We'll be right back and get into Clinton starting eleven
26:16
Speaker 2: for the US men's national team. In the meantime, please rate,
26:19
Speaker 2: review and subscribe to Inside American Soccer. But Tom Boger
26:23
Speaker 2: and Todd Ramos wherever you get your podcasts. All right,
26:37
Speaker 2: welcome back to Inside American Soccer. We're here with Clint
26:41
Speaker 2: Mathis and Clint we want to get your thoughts on
26:44
Speaker 2: the best starting eleven for the US for this World Cup.
26:49
Speaker 2: So my friend take it away.
26:51
Speaker 3: All right, Well, you gotta bear with me. I'm not
26:53
Speaker 3: gonna be as knowledgeable as everyone, all the viewers out there.
26:56
Speaker 3: I do have four kids, so it's not the easiest
26:59
Speaker 3: to keep up with all the soccer.
27:02
Speaker 2: One of them, work one of them into the lineup
27:04
Speaker 2: and we'll give you that pass exactly.
27:07
Speaker 3: All right, Well, I got freeze in gold and then
27:11
Speaker 3: we'll go from left to right. Left back with Anthony Robinson.
27:15
Speaker 3: I still like Tim Reien in there, just because he
27:20
Speaker 3: has that veteran side of him. He holds the fort
27:23
Speaker 3: down really well. And then putting Richards beside him to
27:27
Speaker 3: add a little speed there. And then I still like
27:30
Speaker 3: Desk on the right. I think he's a great player.
27:34
Speaker 3: He's able to get up and down on that right side.
27:38
Speaker 3: He'd al we's seen. I know he's at PSV now,
27:39
Speaker 3: but just bringing back his Barcelona days watching him, so
27:43
Speaker 3: I like him there. I'm gonna throw Tyler Adams in
27:47
Speaker 3: that holding spot. I like Tyler being able to hold
27:51
Speaker 3: the fort down and right beside him. The reason I
27:54
Speaker 3: want Tyler there is having McKenny right beside him. But
27:57
Speaker 3: give McKenny a role where he's free to go forward more,
28:02
Speaker 3: you know, more of that up and down midfielder where
28:04
Speaker 3: Tyler can hold the fort down a little bit more.
28:07
Speaker 3: And then right in front of them, I think, you know,
28:10
Speaker 3: just from the little bit that I've seen him play,
28:13
Speaker 3: I think he's done real well as Tilman, so I
28:16
Speaker 3: think he would be a good one holding it up there.
28:19
Speaker 3: You could also put Christian in that same role where
28:22
Speaker 3: Tilman is, but I think from what we've seen push
28:27
Speaker 3: Tino do is having him out on the left side
28:31
Speaker 3: sometimes on the right side, I think he does a
28:33
Speaker 3: great job coming in, So I'll put Christian on that
28:35
Speaker 3: left side, kind of like as that winger forward that
28:39
Speaker 3: has a little bit more freedom, kind of like a
28:41
Speaker 3: landing sometimes when he would play out out on the
28:44
Speaker 3: wide being able to come in underneath on the right side.
28:47
Speaker 3: I will go with Weeya. I like his speed and
28:51
Speaker 3: I think him and Desk would be able to be
28:54
Speaker 3: able to interchange a lot. Weya still has the engine
28:57
Speaker 3: to be able to get back where him and could
29:00
Speaker 3: intertwine there and then put Baligan up top. I think
29:04
Speaker 3: that he's been real consistent from the games that I've
29:08
Speaker 3: gotten to see, so that would be my starting eleven.
29:12
Speaker 3: So this is the World Cup as of today.
29:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, So so this is interesting because you know, we've
29:18
Speaker 1: all been talking about potentially the three or five in
29:21
Speaker 1: the back right because that's what Pochettino has changed to
29:24
Speaker 1: over the last couple of months, and he's been successful
29:26
Speaker 1: with that. To be fair, this is also not a
29:30
Speaker 1: bad way to look at it, because if you think
29:32
Speaker 1: about it, you know, our first two games being Paraguay
29:36
Speaker 1: and Australia, it's likely that we're gonna need more attacking players. So, yeah,
29:41
Speaker 1: you know, Pulisic coming inside and playing sort of a
29:44
Speaker 1: little bit of a ten role right instead of being
29:47
Speaker 1: all the way wide and then way I be in
29:49
Speaker 1: on the on the right side with desk overlapping and
29:53
Speaker 1: the two of them changing. Is is certainly something that
29:55
Speaker 1: could that could give other teams fits. I'm more of
30:00
Speaker 1: the idea that we, you know, having Reim on the
30:03
Speaker 1: field sort of obligates us to play three center backs
30:06
Speaker 1: instead of two to protect him a little bit more.
30:10
Speaker 1: But of course everybody's gonna have different ways to go
30:14
Speaker 1: about it, and obviously it depends on the opponent as well.
30:18
Speaker 2: Yeah, Clint, you you played, as tab was saying, all
30:22
Speaker 2: over the place, right, You played underneath two forwards, You
30:26
Speaker 2: played as a second forward a lot, you even played
30:29
Speaker 2: as a center forward in my like, where would you
30:34
Speaker 2: fit best in this lineup? And do you see anyone
30:38
Speaker 2: like Christian kind of has some of the same skills
30:41
Speaker 2: that you had in terms of finding space, picking the
30:44
Speaker 2: ball up underneath a big target forward. Is that something
30:47
Speaker 2: that you notice when you watch him?
30:49
Speaker 3: Oh? For sure, I think that that would be a
30:51
Speaker 3: great spot for him. I mean I just remember starting off,
30:54
Speaker 3: and you know, obviously with Tab being on the show,
30:57
Speaker 3: but I just remember Tab saying, hey, just get open.
31:02
Speaker 3: He goes, I don't care where you go, just you
31:04
Speaker 3: have the freedom to run everywhere. Our Tavio's Imbrano was
31:07
Speaker 3: our coach, and he goes, Clint, I'm just putting you
31:09
Speaker 3: on the field. Just get open and do what you
31:11
Speaker 3: gotta do. And you know, I was luckily to have
31:14
Speaker 3: a player like Tab, you know that was underneath that
31:17
Speaker 3: had that freedom too. But he was really that playmaker
31:20
Speaker 3: and at the time to where he said, Clint, get open,
31:24
Speaker 3: I'll get you the ball and then once you get
31:25
Speaker 3: the ball, just go do your thing. And so I
31:28
Speaker 3: see Christian is one of those players that has that
31:31
Speaker 3: ability to do that. And you know with having the Adams,
31:35
Speaker 3: you know, off the lineup that I mentioned, having a
31:37
Speaker 3: Weston behind him, if I was those two guys I
31:41
Speaker 3: would say, hey, we're going to be the workhorses for
31:43
Speaker 3: you here, Christian. We want you to have that freedom,
31:46
Speaker 3: save your energy defensively and things of that sort. If Tyler,
31:50
Speaker 3: you know, cheats out a little bit left or whatever
31:53
Speaker 3: to give him more of that freedom, I think they're
31:55
Speaker 3: fine there. Or if it's a Weston that cheats, I
31:58
Speaker 3: think both of those guys can you know, definitely intertwine
32:01
Speaker 3: and hold that position down. And then you look at
32:04
Speaker 3: a guy like Tilman, I mean he can even squeeze
32:06
Speaker 3: out on to the left and you know, use his
32:08
Speaker 3: size and things of that sort to help out. But
32:11
Speaker 3: I definitely see Christian being one of those players that
32:14
Speaker 3: is underneath, you know, a big forward that's just picking
32:18
Speaker 3: up little balls, whether it's flick ons or whether Baligan
32:21
Speaker 3: wins the header or not. You know, kind of like
32:24
Speaker 3: I used to do a lot with you know, Brian
32:26
Speaker 3: McBride up top. You know, I didn't know where the
32:28
Speaker 3: ball was gonna end up. I tried to get to
32:30
Speaker 3: flick or if it got knocked down or anything. You know,
32:32
Speaker 3: you're just trying to pick up whatever trash you can
32:34
Speaker 3: right there. And then that just leaves the defense vulnerable
32:37
Speaker 3: because they're not set, they're not organized because they don't
32:41
Speaker 3: know where the ball is. And a lot of times
32:43
Speaker 3: you can break out and you know, get a get
32:45
Speaker 3: a one on one with a goalkeeper there, or at
32:47
Speaker 3: least a one on one with a last defender or
32:49
Speaker 3: anything like that. So I definitely see, you know, Christian
32:53
Speaker 3: in that type of role. I put him out on
32:56
Speaker 3: the left now just because that's what we've seen as
32:59
Speaker 3: far as on paper, but I think that he should
33:02
Speaker 3: have more of that freedom to be just like a
33:04
Speaker 3: roamer type of a player. I mean, you see it
33:06
Speaker 3: in Messy. I mean not to compare the two or
33:09
Speaker 3: anything like that, but you know they try to just say, hey,
33:12
Speaker 3: you know, Messy, do your thing when you get the ball,
33:15
Speaker 3: but you know we're going to cover you defensively. Not
33:17
Speaker 3: that you know he's older now and who he is,
33:19
Speaker 3: but even as a younger player, I think that you know,
33:22
Speaker 3: you look back in the day that yes, he would
33:25
Speaker 3: work hard defensively and things of that trail and try
33:27
Speaker 3: to help out and show where he should be. But
33:30
Speaker 3: for the most part, when you have special players like that,
33:33
Speaker 3: I think it's good to try to take some of
33:36
Speaker 3: that extra load defensively off because it does make a
33:40
Speaker 3: big difference when you know they do have that freedom
33:43
Speaker 3: to go forward. Because the hardest part about it is
33:46
Speaker 3: it's scoring a goal. It's not, you know, necessarily defending
33:50
Speaker 3: the goal. It is hard to do that as well,
33:53
Speaker 3: but to get one in the back of the net
33:54
Speaker 3: you can endo game one zero if you're organized and whatnot.
33:58
Speaker 3: But that he should have more of that freedom.
34:02
Speaker 2: All right, it's time for one more break for us.
34:04
Speaker 2: We'll be right back with a story about Clint being
34:08
Speaker 2: on the cover of Sports Illustrated back in the day.
34:12
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening to Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review
34:16
Speaker 2: and subscribe. Welcome back to Inside American Soccer with Tom
34:31
Speaker 2: Boger and Tabraamos. I am Matt Doyle hosting for Tom.
34:34
Speaker 2: We're joined by Clinton Mathis, cover boy of Sports Illustrator
34:38
Speaker 2: almost twenty five years ago now. And you could tell
34:42
Speaker 2: it was in days long past because when I was
34:45
Speaker 2: talking about that cover earlier in the show, I remembered you,
34:50
Speaker 2: Clint having the.
34:52
Speaker 1: Mohawk while you were on the cover.
34:54
Speaker 2: But you could see clearly this was from before you
34:58
Speaker 2: had the mohawks. So, first of all, tell us about
35:01
Speaker 2: how this unfolded. You ending up on the cover and
35:03
Speaker 2: what the reaction of the rest of the guys was,
35:07
Speaker 2: and then tell us about the mohawk and the process
35:10
Speaker 2: for deciding to pretty famously. I think he had the
35:13
Speaker 2: second most famous haircut at that World Cup behind a
35:17
Speaker 2: certain guy from Brazil, gotcha.
35:19
Speaker 3: So yeah, through this we were preparing for the World Cup,
35:23
Speaker 3: A lot of media stuff is going on as tap
35:26
Speaker 3: kind of test, and they were doing photo shoots and
35:28
Speaker 3: things of that, and actually they didn't know who was
35:32
Speaker 3: going to be on the cover yet. There was a
35:33
Speaker 3: possibility myself landing and DeMarcus Beasley also did which ended
35:39
Speaker 3: up coming out for ESPN magazine. We were on the
35:42
Speaker 3: cover of that, and they were like, oh, are we gonna,
35:45
Speaker 3: you know, have Clint on the cover of this. He
35:48
Speaker 3: was just on the cover of that, So they didn't
35:49
Speaker 3: know what they were going to do, and then I
35:52
Speaker 3: ended up getting the call that it was gonna happen,
35:54
Speaker 3: which was cool. It was before obviously the World Cup
35:59
Speaker 3: and before or the mohawk, because I had no intentions
36:03
Speaker 3: to do a mohawk er. It wasn't really pre planned
36:07
Speaker 3: or anything like that. Pretty much like my whole life
36:10
Speaker 3: and my career was was just flying by the seat
36:12
Speaker 3: of my pants and you know, surprising people with stuff
36:16
Speaker 3: they agreed with and stuff they mostly disagreed with, and
36:21
Speaker 3: this was one of those instances. Yeah, it was fun.
36:23
Speaker 3: It was cool. Right before we leave to go to
36:25
Speaker 3: the World Cup. A funny story about Sports Illustrated. I
36:29
Speaker 3: ended up finding out that they were talking about putting
36:33
Speaker 3: me on the cover back to back issues, which has
36:37
Speaker 3: never happened at Sports Illustrated at that time. I don't
36:40
Speaker 3: know if it has now where an athlete did back
36:43
Speaker 3: to back covers on Sports Illustrated, but I guess some
36:46
Speaker 3: things happened. I did not start the first game, and
36:50
Speaker 3: then that's when Landing came on the cover, so it
36:54
Speaker 3: was good to have another soccer player in Landing beyond
36:59
Speaker 3: that next cover whatever. But a funny side note, that
37:02
Speaker 3: could have been back to back, but cars didn't follow
37:05
Speaker 3: in my favor, which is okay. I enjoyed that one
37:08
Speaker 3: because I at least I have Kobe Bryant on the
37:10
Speaker 3: cover with me and the little snippet and up lose that.
37:14
Speaker 1: But anyway, what you know, I just I wish people
37:18
Speaker 1: could imagine how big that was at the time, right
37:21
Speaker 1: because now we're a little bit more used to seeing soccer,
37:24
Speaker 1: you know, being featured in stories and in magazines and
37:28
Speaker 1: obviously all over social media. But at that time, that
37:32
Speaker 1: was so huge to have a soccer player on the cover,
37:37
Speaker 1: you know that I wish people could sort of understand,
37:39
Speaker 1: like the moment and how big it was.
37:43
Speaker 3: No, it was really cool. I mean I grew up
37:46
Speaker 3: seeing people on the cover of Sports illustrateds, cover of
37:48
Speaker 3: wheaties boxes, things of that sort. And like you said,
37:51
Speaker 3: you do see more soccer now because it is more
37:54
Speaker 3: mainstream than what it was back in our day. Tab
37:57
Speaker 3: but yeah, that was one of the things. And I
37:59
Speaker 3: don't remember what the numbers were, but there was only
38:01
Speaker 3: a handful of soccer players that have ever been on
38:04
Speaker 3: the cover. I think Ernie was back in ninety four.
38:07
Speaker 3: I think Maridonna was one time, maybe Pele, So there
38:11
Speaker 3: was only a handful at that time. So it was
38:14
Speaker 3: a great honor for me to you know, be captured
38:17
Speaker 3: and be asked to be on that cover. And it's
38:21
Speaker 3: one of those things that's still come up, Like you said,
38:23
Speaker 3: twenty five years ago, it still comes up now to
38:25
Speaker 3: where all of a sudden, I'll get even here at
38:28
Speaker 3: my office I'll get a package because I'm glad they
38:32
Speaker 3: don't know my home address, but I'll get some package
38:35
Speaker 3: here or whatever, and it says, oh, you please sign
38:37
Speaker 3: this Sports Illustrated cover and that type of thing. So
38:40
Speaker 3: it is one of those one of those cool things
38:43
Speaker 3: that don't really happen too much in people's lives. So
38:47
Speaker 3: I do cherish that and I'll never forget that. It's
38:49
Speaker 3: pretty cool, pretty cool moment.
38:52
Speaker 2: Nothing but support inside the locker room. After that, I imagine, ah.
38:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, well they're probably getting fun, and I think on
38:59
Speaker 3: the inside of Sports Illustrated, I'm sitting in the back
39:01
Speaker 3: of a pickup truck. Because I was always the redneck
39:04
Speaker 3: on the team, and that's how I ended up getting
39:07
Speaker 3: my nickname. Cletus was from Paul Kallajeri when I go
39:11
Speaker 3: straight from my roots of Georgia to Los Angeles to
39:16
Speaker 3: play for the Galaxy of ninety eight. So yeah, a
39:19
Speaker 3: lot of little redneck and making fun of my twaying
39:22
Speaker 3: and stuff like that, but I rolled with it.
39:24
Speaker 2: It's authentic. It makes you stand out. So we're going
39:30
Speaker 2: to close the show, and I want to ask you
39:31
Speaker 2: before we go, what is your prediction for the US
39:34
Speaker 2: national team this summer at the World Cup. Like I
39:37
Speaker 2: said at the start, you guys laid a marker with
39:40
Speaker 2: that quarterfinal run twenty four years ago, trying to equal
39:44
Speaker 2: or better it this summer, I think the boys will
39:46
Speaker 2: be doing what is your prediction, Quinn.
39:49
Speaker 3: I think they can make it to the quarterfinals and
39:51
Speaker 3: get through that. Obviously it's going to be dependent on
39:55
Speaker 3: obviously injuries things of that sort. But I think the
39:58
Speaker 3: team gets through the group, see who that draw is,
40:01
Speaker 3: they win that game, and then I think that that's
40:04
Speaker 3: where the pressure sets in. I think this group, you know,
40:07
Speaker 3: probably has a little pressure to do a little bit better.
40:09
Speaker 3: I think we do have the players the experience, which
40:13
Speaker 3: you know, most most of the previous World Cup teams
40:15
Speaker 3: don't have that world experience. And we talk about all
40:18
Speaker 3: these guys that are playing in the big leagues in
40:20
Speaker 3: Europe and stuff like that. So I see them getting
40:23
Speaker 3: to the quarterfinals and maybe squeaking through and having our
40:27
Speaker 3: first semi finals.
40:28
Speaker 1: Yeah that, I mean, that's a great prediction. And I
40:31
Speaker 1: do think and I'm not sure if you were going
40:34
Speaker 1: in this direction or not, but I do think that
40:36
Speaker 1: you know, as a an American team, we have always
40:39
Speaker 1: been a great underdog, and unfortunately in this World Cup
40:42
Speaker 1: we're not going to be the underdog for a while.
40:46
Speaker 1: So but if we do get to that quarterfinal game,
40:48
Speaker 1: I think the pressure will finally be off. And if
40:51
Speaker 1: at that point we're playing a quarterfinal game with the
40:54
Speaker 1: pressure off, watch out for the US team.
40:57
Speaker 2: Absolutely, from your lips to God's ears, let's hope that's
41:00
Speaker 2: how it plays out. Voice and to all our listeners,
41:04
Speaker 2: thank you so much for listening to Inside American Soccer.
41:08
Speaker 2: Please rate, review, and subscribe, and please continue to leave
41:11
Speaker 2: your questions and comments on all of our platforms, Twitter, Instagram,
41:15
Speaker 2: TikTok and YouTube, tab and I. We'll be back next week. Clinton,
41:20
Speaker 2: thank you so much for joining us. Folks. We will
41:23
Speaker 2: see you next time.
41:24
Speaker 3: Thanks Glad, Thank you guys,