Latest / Sorta Sophisticated / Episode 107 - What's Your Number? The Secret Language On The Back Of Every Soccer Jersey

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Episode 107 - What's Your Number? The Secret Language On The Back Of Every Soccer Jersey · Sorta Sophisticated

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Welcome to Sorta Sophisticated with Pete and Amanda. Okay, so you guys have heard of the World cup, right? I'm assuming. Duh. Like everybody in history has heard of the World Cup.
• 0:09
  Speaker B: Am I allowed to comment?
• 0:10
  Speaker A: You may.
• 0:10
  Speaker B: Oh, right now?
• 0:11
  Speaker A: Yes. Go. What?
• 0:14
  Speaker B: This is the Provide Education.
• 0:16
  Speaker A: Let's go. We're looking at a little messy mag.
• 0:21
  Speaker B: No, Sports Illustrated, yo.
• 0:22
  Speaker A: Let's do it. I have, like, the original one where he came out on it when he was, like, I don't know, like 16 or 17 years old. Yes, it was excellent.
• 0:29
  Speaker B: No, but it's just about the global game.
• 0:31
  Speaker A: Okay, so you. So you've heard of it?
• 0:33
  Speaker B: The World cup, right here.
• 0:34
  Speaker A: World Cup. Trent, welcome. Trent Houston guest host. Have you heard of it? I'm assuming I've heard of it because half the reason you're here is because, of course, you are the ultimate World cup aficionado.
• 0:46
  Speaker C: I am as official as you can find.
• 0:48
  Speaker A: Let me officially introduce Trent. Not only does he run and manage OC wealth, coach, he also, in his off time, you have been managing the, what, U17 US soccer team now for how many years?
• 1:02
  Speaker C: That'd be cool, right? No, the seventh. There's seven.
• 1:05
  Speaker B: Okay, whatever.
• 1:08
  Speaker A: Some obscure club out here in Orange County. Anyway, Trent is smart about soccer and knows more than I do, so I figured might as well get somebody more sophisticated than Amanda and I on the show. So. Thank you for coming, Trent.
• 1:22
  Speaker C: Thank you. Good to be here.
• 1:23
  Speaker A: All right, so here's the deal, because instead of explaining soccer, that would be the dumbest thing in the world, because I think almost everybody knows soccer now, except, like, offsides. And nobody wants to know the rule, and nobody gives two shits about the rule. I understand. But today I figured we could explain the numbers on the back of the actual jersey and what they signify, because up till about 15 minutes ago, I had no idea. Did you know?
• 1:46
  Speaker B: No, I have no idea what you're talking about.
• 1:48
  Speaker A: So each of the numbers means something specific. Like, they're a map to, like, where they're supposed to do their jobs. And this was the whole. This was the whole reason me and Trent talked about this whole thing, because I was like, trent, do you know this? He's like, yeah, I totally got this. I'm like, do you know how many people don't know this about the World Cup? So they're going to be watching and
• 2:03
  Speaker B: be like, specifically, the numbers match only in the World Cup.
• 2:06
  Speaker A: The numbers match in the World Cup. Don't spoil this whole thing. He's got a lot. He's going to Bring in the numbers match in the World cup, and it is absolutely about formation. So you can be sophisticated and watch this now and be smart and know how to, like, impress your friends. So here's our promise for today, everybody. First, we're going to explain the whole map and what each jersey number means. Then we're going to tell you about the little controversy. I hope you're ready. In the 1990s, when basically David Beckham blew this whole thing up, decided to change the entire system around. Right? He did. He did.
• 2:36
  Speaker C: There's a reason.
• 2:37
  Speaker A: Okay, I like that. It's a good teaser. And finally, by the end of the episode, we are going to promise you that you will be absolutely insufferable watching the World cup with your friends because you will be so frigging sophisticated. So here we are, episode 107. Welcome back to Sort of Sophisticated, the podcast where culture, curiosity, and chaos collide. I'm Pete, that's Trent, and Amanda is in a new position today. You have taken position three today.
• 3:04
  Speaker B: That's so horribly inappropriate.
• 3:05
  Speaker A: Well, here we are. What are you going to do? I. I always enjoyed position three with Gabby. Okay, whatever it's worth, what are you going to do?
• 3:13
  Speaker B: Did your position number three have anything to do with football? Because if not, I feel like we should just nix that conversation right now.
• 3:19
  Speaker A: No, that's staying in. That was good. Oh, that was. That was quality podcasting material.
• 3:23
  Speaker B: Well, then I'm going to pass it off to the guy who knows football then. Are you going to official title this?
• 3:27
  Speaker A: I have to. Official title. Okay, let me. Official title. That's my favorite part of everything. Okay, all right. Official title. What's your number? The secret language on the back of every soccer jersey. Dun, dun, dun.
• 3:39
  Speaker B: My mind's kind of blown right now because.
• 3:41
  Speaker C: Why?
• 3:42
  Speaker B: Like, how is that even a thing?
• 3:44
  Speaker A: It's a thing.
• 3:44
  Speaker B: Yeah. I didn't know it was a thing.
• 3:46
  Speaker A: Trent, we'll explain it all. Let's just go. Word of the week.
• 3:49
  Speaker B: Word of the week.
• 3:50
  Speaker A: Word of the week. Word of the week is blatherskite.
• 3:52
  Speaker B: I'm sorry, what?
• 3:53
  Speaker A: Blatherskite.
• 3:54
  Speaker B: Blatherskite.
• 3:55
  Speaker A: Blatherskite Sounds like it's like, Irish or something. Blatherskite. Blatherskite. You. It's a noun. Blatherskite is a person who talks at length but says absolutely nothing of substance. Don't look at me like that. I don't like. I don't like where this is going at all. Okay. Oh, it is Scottish. It comes from Comes from Scotland. Blather, meaning to talk nonsense. And sky.
• 4:19
  Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
• 4:19
  Speaker A: Which is a Scottish slang term for a person you don't have much respect for. So literally a nonsense person. It showed up in American slang during the Revolutionary War, believe it or not, in 1776, when soldiers used it to call each other bad words. Like American soldiers did you Blatherskite. So it's been around a while. I don't know how we're gonna use this, because related to soccer and Jersey numbers. We got to figure out blatherskite, somebody who talks nonsense.
• 4:42
  Speaker B: Okay, here we go.
• 4:43
  Speaker A: We'll see how this goes.
• 4:44
  Speaker B: Okay, are you done blatherskiting?
• 4:45
  Speaker A: Yeah, I'm done.
• 4:46
  Speaker B: Great.
• 4:46
  Speaker A: Okay. By the way, blatherskiting, it's not a verb. I said it's a noun.
• 4:50
  Speaker B: I'm gonna. I put it. You can't do that.
• 4:53
  Speaker A: No, just say, are you done being a blather?
• 4:55
  Speaker B: Googling. Google's a noun.
• 4:56
  Speaker A: Okay, fine.
• 4:57
  Speaker B: And then we. Are you done Googling that shit?
• 5:00
  Speaker A: I'm done. I'm not. Can we start now?
• 5:01
  Speaker B: Googling. See, it works. So I win.
• 5:03
  Speaker A: Chatgpting. That also does work.
• 5:05
  Speaker B: See?
• 5:05
  Speaker A: Okay, fine. Oh, all right, here's what we're doing. First of all, if you like what you're listening to, Hit. Subscribe. Follow us. New episodes come out weekly on your favorite podcast platforms. Maybe not even your favorites. Maybe they come out on ones that aren't your favorites. Still listen anyway, because we need listenership. Thank you very much. Here's what we're gonna do before we get to Trent, because Trent is gonna do all the heavy lifting. He's gonna do all the sophisticated shit for the show. But I wanna do like, an. A whole setup on how it all started, and then we'll launch Trent. Can we do that?
• 5:31
  Speaker B: So you're going to do a history on how numbers arrived on Jersey?
• 5:35
  Speaker A: I am. I'm going to do how they were born. Okay. So first time number Jersey even show up in soccer was 1928. 1928. That's like a hundred years ago. Okay. Not even sanctioned coach does it for Arsenal. Arsenal is playing Sheffield Wednesday.
• 5:46
  Speaker B: Okay.
• 5:47
  Speaker A: Which already is the weirdest name ever. Did you know Sheffield went. I didn't even know that was a thing. Okay. But anyway, it didn't even work because Arsenal lost three to two. So, like, the numbers did anymore. But. But I. What I can't get over is, even before 1920, what they were even doing, like, that doesn't even make any sense. They had two teams Literally playing each other with no numbers, no information, no identifying marks. So when they tried to figure this out and this guy from Arsenal was like, hey, I want to do this thing, the Football association in England told them, yeah, no, we're not doing it. We have a better idea. So they gave them different color socks and hats. Like caps, knitted caps. This. This was the big plan to be able to tell the difference between teams. So that's when the Arsenal guy was like, screw this shit. I'm just. I'm putting numbers on anyway. And then didn't work. And they told him to go basically F off. So they thought, hold on.
• 6:33
  Speaker C: You're like. You're way overthinking this.
• 6:35
  Speaker A: What am I What? What? I think this is the coolest thing ever.
• 6:37
  Speaker C: Soccer. Soccer started long before 1933 or 1928. These guys would just roll out of bed like they're coal miners, families, and, like, railway workers that are out there playing soccer. It's. It's a pickup game. It's like dudes just going out in the field.
• 6:55
  Speaker A: This reminds me of, like, cricket and baseball. We did these ones. Okay. Yeah. And I'm already. People. I'm already getting schooled. We're eight minutes into this episode.
• 7:02
  Speaker C: If you come from the coal mine, are you gonna match? By the end of the day, when you go out and play, I mean, you all be like, with coal. No, it doesn't matter if you at
• 7:10
  Speaker A: least play shirts and skins, though. I mean, come on, dude.
• 7:12
  Speaker C: Well, I mean, I don't know. Do you? Yeah, sure. So.
• 7:15
  Speaker A: So how does. How does a cap get involved?
• 7:17
  Speaker C: So they decided they're like, hey, just get, like, a blue hat so it'll be like, all these. They probably brought their own crap. They were just like, blue, navy blue, light blue hats versus red, pink. I don't know. Because that was the only way they could tell.
• 7:29
  Speaker A: And nobody thought of number. Nobody thought to use a permanent marker.
• 7:33
  Speaker C: No, these dudes are, like, in coal mine. Like, they.
• 7:35
  Speaker A: What are you suggesting? They weren't very sophisticated.
• 7:37
  Speaker C: I'm just.
• 7:37
  Speaker A: They were just a bunch of blathers
• 7:39
  Speaker C: for the love of the game.
• 7:40
  Speaker A: Oh, we're doing that. That's what it was for. Love of the game.
• 7:42
  Speaker C: Soccer life.
• 7:43
  Speaker A: That's how it all goes.
• 7:44
  Speaker B: They had hats to identify themselves as one dude.
• 7:46
  Speaker A: And socks.
• 7:48
  Speaker B: And socks and socks.
• 7:49
  Speaker A: They looked ridiculous.
• 7:50
  Speaker B: And then what? Arsenal came around and was like, everyone's gonna have a number because we want to know what position they are with
• 7:56
  Speaker C: rather than hats and socks. Right?
• 7:58
  Speaker B: So, yeah, but why numbers?
• 8:00
  Speaker C: Soccer was A spectator sport at that point. Right. So people were going out and watching, and it was becoming difficult for them to figure out who they're trying to watch. So they wanted to be able to identify. That's kind of what you were saying. Maybe it's like, I'm the guy in the pink hat that's out there. Cause it's red. Winner. So they literally tried this fiasco of, let's just make it organized. And I don't know, the association of Soccer was like, no, we're not doing this. This isn't a thing.
• 8:23
  Speaker A: Because it's England.
• 8:24
  Speaker C: Right?
• 8:24
  Speaker A: Because they're steeped in tradition. Back to your whole coal miner days and back to the whole how this whole thing started. By this time, every other sport in America was already doing this. Baseball was doing this, Football was doing this. Every. Everybody was doing this. Soccer was, like one of the last sports to have numbers. And it's because England was like, yeah, no, we are. We're traditionalists. We don't want to do this. But they finally caved somewhere on or around, if I remember reading this, right? Like 1939, I think they caved. 10 years after that Arsenal guy tried to do it. They were like, yeah, okay, we think this is going to work. Everybody else is doing it. We might as well get on board. That's sort of what happened.
• 9:02
  Speaker C: Part two of this is they were wearing these hats, and Arsenal themselves was the one trying to do this. Well, Arsenal was also a team that was. I'll call it inventing heading in soccer.
• 9:12
  Speaker A: Oh, really?
• 9:13
  Speaker C: They literally started doing it, and their opponents and fans found it funny. It was amusing.
• 9:18
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 9:19
  Speaker C: But I mean, now we know soccer. It's a huge advantage, of course. Well, you have these dudes running around in these weird silk hats heading this leather, waterlogged ball.
• 9:29
  Speaker A: Oh, my God.
• 9:30
  Speaker C: So, A, it probably hurts, and B, it's. I'm sure it's just knocking their hats off all over. Cause they're trying to do this thing. So I don't know why I would try to come up with some other solution than hats, too. So it kind of makes sense. So this entire thing of hats, and we'll circle it up, is where, literally, to this day, we use the term capping for your country.
• 9:49
  Speaker A: What?
• 9:49
  Speaker C: So when it said, if you look on the World cup website.
• 9:52
  Speaker A: No, they'll.
• 9:53
  Speaker C: They'll say how many caps you have?
• 9:55
  Speaker A: Yeah, no, I know. I didn't know where that came from.
• 9:57
  Speaker C: I know what they know, because England started handing out these hats.
• 10:00
  Speaker A: All right, that's the fun Fact of all fun facts right there, people.
• 10:03
  Speaker C: If you were playing an international play, they would hand. They would give you a hat. And England's was like, I don't know, white silk hat with embroidery. And they did that for soccer, they did it for rugby, and they did it for cricket.
• 10:15
  Speaker A: Holy crap.
• 10:16
  Speaker C: You would earn a new hat. It was part of your uniform that they were doing that because they didn't have it for international play at that point. So that was their uniform.
• 10:23
  Speaker B: Okay, wait, so when did officially this cap go away?
• 10:26
  Speaker C: 39. England in 1939 decided to finally adopt this idea of using jerseys and numbers for all the teams.
• 10:33
  Speaker B: Okay, but is the goalie number one?
• 10:35
  Speaker A: Goalie number one?
• 10:36
  Speaker B: Number one. And I got a point that I was listening.
• 10:39
  Speaker C: So goalie number one in soccer formations, everything's listed from the back. So the original formations were literally two defenders, three mids, and then five attackers. So there's 11 guys that are playing. Hence one through 11. Yes. Goalie gets one. Every goalkeeper, I think, on the planet uses number one.
• 10:56
  Speaker A: I don't think it's ever changed. Yep, yeah, I got it.
• 10:59
  Speaker C: So one onto two, it would be the defender. So they started also from right to left on all these numbers. So the right defender got number two, the left got number three. And in that particular formation, that made sense. England was attack heavy. So they only played two defenders, three mids, and basically five forwards to try to attack.
• 11:20
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 11:20
  Speaker C: Early soccer was like recession for 12 year olds. They all want to score, nobody wants to play defense.
• 11:25
  Speaker A: Okay, so this so far, pretty easy.
• 11:27
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 11:27
  Speaker A: We got one, two and three, all goalie, two defenders. I'm following.
• 11:31
  Speaker C: Done. Okay, so from there we jump to the mids. So now the right mid is getting four, center is getting five, left is getting six.
• 11:39
  Speaker A: Okay, you've already. You've just blown it all up for me. Why the center midfielder's number five?
• 11:43
  Speaker C: That at that point it was okay. Yeah.
• 11:46
  Speaker A: All right.
• 11:46
  Speaker C: So at that point there were different rules. They adjusted stuff. But we'll just say at a particular point they changed the rules for offsides and it resulted in an explosion of goals. Because now why aren't we watching that?
• 11:59
  Speaker A: Soccer, that's the shocker. Should be in America right now. Or sorry, football. I'm getting too. My co host Amanda would say, okay, go ahead.
• 12:06
  Speaker C: But originally you actually needed more players behind and so, well, fans wanted more goals. It was very difficult to score when you needed to have three players behind, AKA goalie and two. And they changed the rule to be a goalie and one, which is the rule we have today.
• 12:20
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 12:20
  Speaker C: But tactically, that messed with this 2, 3, 5.
• 12:24
  Speaker A: Okay. The formation. Right, right, right.
• 12:26
  Speaker C: So this is where that striker would come up. It was way too much. They didn't have enough players back, so. So they moved the five, your center mid back. It was an emergency.
• 12:35
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 12:35
  Speaker C: They're like, hey, go play way behind the defenders, basically. So now we're center defenders. 1, 2, 5 threat now in the middle. So since five was missing now there's no mid. So they basically pinch four and six together.
• 12:47
  Speaker A: Okay, so we turn into a three, two, five instead of a two, three, five.
• 12:51
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 12:51
  Speaker A: Okay, got it. Yeah, I'm following now.
• 12:53
  Speaker C: Six and four hanging out there. Basically, teams started to figure this out and realize, oh, we're going to throw some more players forward. And now it's. It's getting jumbled. They had to move another player back to play defense also.
• 13:04
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 13:04
  Speaker C: It turned into the number four, basically came back and played.
• 13:07
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 13:08
  Speaker C: So literally they slid 2 and 3 that were original out to the outside and played 4 and 5 as center defenders.
• 13:15
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 13:15
  Speaker C: Which is still basically how soccer is played.
• 13:17
  Speaker A: 2, 4, 5, 3.
• 13:18
  Speaker C: 2, 4, 5,3.
• 13:19
  Speaker A: Across the back line. Yeah. Okay, I'm with you.
• 13:21
  Speaker C: Okay. It leaves six out there all by himself.
• 13:24
  Speaker A: Right.
• 13:25
  Speaker C: So he's. He's a defensive midi. He needs to hold back and he also needs to try to transition from those four guys that are now playing backward to play forward to the attack.
• 13:33
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Okay.
• 13:34
  Speaker C: So basically a lot of the time now we. We call them holding midfielders. They're out there.
• 13:39
  Speaker A: That's a sophisticated term.
• 13:40
  Speaker C: Holding it down.
• 13:41
  Speaker A: I've heard that. That's what announcers will say. They'll call it the holding midfield. Yeah, yeah.
• 13:44
  Speaker C: His job is to break down the attack as soon as it comes in to their half of the field and facilitate. He's the middle child of the family. Nobody cares about him. His job is to be in the in between and love it.
• 13:55
  Speaker A: But does he?
• 13:56
  Speaker C: I think he does. Yeah. If you're number six, you enjoy it.
• 13:59
  Speaker A: He. He's the unsung hero of the team.
• 14:01
  Speaker C: He's the unsung hero.
• 14:01
  Speaker A: That's. That's. That's number six.
• 14:03
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 14:04
  Speaker A: Do you know any number sixes? Of course you don't.
• 14:06
  Speaker C: They're.
• 14:07
  Speaker A: They're nameless, not terrible. You only know number seven and number ten. How dare you.
• 14:11
  Speaker C: Their job is to not be flashy. They come in, they handle what's going on and they distribute the.
• 14:15
  Speaker A: Okay. So I. I don't want to, like, rain on your parade. Here. But I got to assume at some point here, then 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, who are originally the forwards, are going to end up taking over some of the midfield because 4 and 5 just ended up in the back. Okay, I. I get where you're going, I think.
• 14:29
  Speaker C: Okay.
• 14:30
  Speaker A: Okay. All right. All right, gotcha.
• 14:31
  Speaker C: So the front five now, the attacking five.
• 14:33
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 14:34
  Speaker C: Seven through 11.
• 14:35
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 14:35
  Speaker C: Now, a lot of the time with formation, people just think that they're in a straight line. Like.
• 14:38
  Speaker A: Well, originally that was the plan. Like back. Back in the day.
• 14:41
  Speaker C: I mean, I didn't watch a lot of soccer from 1920s.
• 14:44
  Speaker A: We weren't alive.
• 14:46
  Speaker C: But I. I really doubt they played that way because nine was the attack. They probably played more of like a. Yeah, yeah.
• 14:51
  Speaker A: Like. Like a. Like a V or like a.
• 14:53
  Speaker C: There's like a whole formation.
• 14:54
  Speaker A: Yeah, I'm with you.
• 14:55
  Speaker C: They called it the WM, meaning three were forward. It was two were back of that five, so it's easier for pass.
• 15:02
  Speaker A: So seven was forward, maybe eight was back, nine was the center forward, 10 was back. All right, got you, got you, got you.
• 15:11
  Speaker C: Okay, so number seven, what side is number seven on?
• 15:13
  Speaker A: Number seven. Number seven is on the right side.
• 15:16
  Speaker C: Okay, so number seven would have been Cristian Ronaldo. Cristiano Ronaldo. He's playing on the wings, we'll call them. But number seven was traditionally played. A lot of players were right footed. They put them out on the right side and. And they were fast. The whole point is put them out in space where nobody's in the way because there's a lot of traffic going on, and let him just run and take on the defenders on the other team that are outside the left back,
• 15:38
  Speaker A: dribble through his ass or take him down the sideline.
• 15:41
  Speaker C: Yep. So now at some point, they basically learned that you don't always want to play the player on their good foot side because they have to shoot bad. I'll call it bad footed when they end up cutting back in after they beat the defender. So Cristiano Ronaldo actually plays on the left side?
• 15:56
  Speaker A: Oh, no, no, no. That makes perfect sense.
• 15:58
  Speaker C: So he may have grown up.
• 16:00
  Speaker A: Yeah, I get what you're saying.
• 16:01
  Speaker C: On the right side.
• 16:01
  Speaker A: Yeah, I get what you're saying, because
• 16:02
  Speaker C: that's what we would do with right footed players, to cross the ball. And at some point they realized he has a cannon and they said, why don't you play on the other side and you can switch.
• 16:10
  Speaker A: All right, so wait, so number seven's job is it to go down the sideline and Cross or is it shoot to score?
• 16:16
  Speaker C: It is take on somebody one on one. And either you are now break away with the goalie.
• 16:22
  Speaker A: So you make that decision as you. So he every right to go either way.
• 16:26
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 16:27
  Speaker A: They're just. They just are really skilled at centering the ball.
• 16:30
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 16:30
  Speaker A: If they have to go outside.
• 16:31
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 16:32
  Speaker A: Okay. Okay.
• 16:32
  Speaker C: Go ahead.
• 16:33
  Speaker A: Top of that.
• 16:33
  Speaker C: That line.
• 16:34
  Speaker A: I got you. I got you.
• 16:35
  Speaker B: Who else is the number seven?
• 16:36
  Speaker C: David Beckham was number seven.
• 16:37
  Speaker B: Like Ben did.
• 16:38
  Speaker C: Like Beckham and those old Manu highlight reels.
• 16:41
  Speaker A: Posh Spice. Is it Posh Spice? I don't remember which Spice girl he was married to.
• 16:45
  Speaker B: I think so.
• 16:45
  Speaker A: I think it's Posh only sort of sophisticated. Don't vote me on. She'll come back. Continue. Sorry.
• 16:50
  Speaker C: Okay. And Pete's favorite, Rodrigo de Pol.
• 16:53
  Speaker A: Do you know who's your favorite? Do you have a favorite team? National team.
• 16:56
  Speaker B: No.
• 16:57
  Speaker A: Do you?
• 16:57
  Speaker C: National team.
• 16:58
  Speaker B: I mean, I'm going to favorite national team usa, Right?
• 17:00
  Speaker C: It's going to be usa.
• 17:00
  Speaker A: Oh, how am I going to choose another team? You guys are so white. Okay, go.
• 17:03
  Speaker C: So we had. Six is kind of the least celebrated on the team. Seven is the most.
• 17:08
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 17:09
  Speaker C: It's his job to be showy and fun and flashy.
• 17:11
  Speaker A: Beckham.
• 17:12
  Speaker C: Their job description is flashy, fast flare and good hair. I'm pretty sure.
• 17:17
  Speaker A: Wow. Okay. Well, no, that does make a lot of sense, now that I think about it.
• 17:20
  Speaker B: They're the studs of the team.
• 17:22
  Speaker A: Okay, settle down, number eight. We're on number eight.
• 17:25
  Speaker C: Yep. So eight. We now take a step back in that zigzag.
• 17:28
  Speaker A: Okay.
• 17:29
  Speaker C: Right. It's down into the middle of the field, and it's generally considered to be the box to box midfielder.
• 17:34
  Speaker A: What is box to box meaning? I mean, I have my own definition of box to box, but, you know.
• 17:38
  Speaker B: Oh, my gosh.
• 17:38
  Speaker C: There's a. A penalty box. It's very large.
• 17:41
  Speaker A: Oh, you mean penalty box. My bad. Okay. Huh.
• 17:44
  Speaker C: There's a penalty box in both goals, and literally their job is.
• 17:48
  Speaker A: Oh, so they gotta run like banshees. They.
• 17:50
  Speaker C: The whole time.
• 17:51
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 17:51
  Speaker C: They need to help on attack and they need to help on defense.
• 17:54
  Speaker A: Anybody want to guess who the best number eight in the world is? Who? Javier Mascarano.
• 17:58
  Speaker B: Is he RG2?
• 17:59
  Speaker A: Yeah, he's retired, though. He's excellent. He was the backbone of their team. The backbone, Javi. Yeah. No, but that makes sense because he was everywhere.
• 18:06
  Speaker C: He's everywhere.
• 18:07
  Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah. Yep.
• 18:08
  Speaker C: All right, so the nine.
• 18:09
  Speaker A: So wait, do people appreciate number eight or they like number sixes? Where people don't really know who they are. Or is it like. Yeah, no, they get. They get some action.
• 18:15
  Speaker C: I mean, you get some big names that have had an 8, but they're not generally going to be the attacking 9, 10. That's about to happen.
• 18:22
  Speaker B: They're the ones that fall over in the box, so that way they get the penalty.
• 18:25
  Speaker A: No, but I mean, if they're going. If they're literally running from side of the field to side of the field, like, that's.
• 18:29
  Speaker C: It's a lot.
• 18:30
  Speaker A: That's a lot.
• 18:30
  Speaker C: They're the workhorse. They need to help on both sides. They need to kind of iniesta.
• 18:34
  Speaker A: I think he was number eight.
• 18:36
  Speaker C: Sounds right, right?
• 18:37
  Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 18:37
  Speaker C: Okay. All right, we'll move on to nine. So nine, we came back up on the zigzag. Now attacking front center, man.
• 18:43
  Speaker A: Goal score.
• 18:44
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 18:44
  Speaker C: Goal score.
• 18:45
  Speaker B: Your middle forward.
• 18:46
  Speaker C: It is their only job.
• 18:47
  Speaker A: Not Messi. Not Messi.
• 18:51
  Speaker C: Not Messi.
• 18:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. Which I don't understand.
• 18:53
  Speaker A: Which is insane, but go ahead. Yeah.
• 18:54
  Speaker C: All right. So back when we talked before, right, we had this issue with the lineup, and they ended up telling number five to go mark the center attacker. Well, they kind of figured out to maybe cheat that number nine back in order to get an advantage and pull that player out, so. But traditionally that number nine was the primary goal scorer. It still really is to this day. The number nine on the team is, if they don't score, you're going to lose.
• 19:17
  Speaker A: I always thought number nine was the guy who had to be the tallest and the biggest on the team. Like, he's the guy that, when, like, somebody centers the ball, he wants to head.
• 19:23
  Speaker C: He's incredibly aggressive. Large individuals.
• 19:27
  Speaker A: Yeah. I remember Iguain on Argentina. That was his. He was number nine. Right. Like. Like, there's certain players that are just made for that. Who's. Who's the one guy. I don't know how to say his name. Ibrahimovic. Him. Right.
• 19:38
  Speaker C: Mass.
• 19:39
  Speaker A: Massive.
• 19:40
  Speaker C: You mean Zaba from Ted Lasso?
• 19:42
  Speaker A: There we go.
• 19:42
  Speaker C: Yes, yes.
• 19:43
  Speaker A: Totally. Oh, my God.
• 19:45
  Speaker C: But Holland. Good. I forget.
• 19:48
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's right.
• 19:49
  Speaker C: On Norway.
• 19:49
  Speaker A: Norway. These.
• 19:50
  Speaker C: These guys are.
• 19:51
  Speaker A: That guy is massive.
• 19:51
  Speaker C: Massive.
• 19:52
  Speaker A: Okay, Right, right.
• 19:53
  Speaker C: You.
• 19:53
  Speaker A: That. Those are real. Those are. Those are true number nines.
• 19:56
  Speaker C: Yes. Very physical.
• 19:58
  Speaker A: So their job isn't really like Ronaldo's job is to, like, outrun or outmaneuver somebody down a sideline and then cross. Number nine job is really one touch. Yep. They're basically maybe a second touch. One touch, two touch, get the ball in the back of the net.
• 20:13
  Speaker C: Not much time.
• 20:14
  Speaker A: I'm with you. Which is. Which is absolutely not messy. That's why he's not a number nine. Even though he scores a million goals.
• 20:18
  Speaker C: Basically.
• 20:19
  Speaker A: True. But that's not, that's not.
• 20:20
  Speaker C: They want him with the ball at his feet. You don't have much time as a nine.
• 20:23
  Speaker A: All right, all right, I got, I got it. I'm tracking.
• 20:24
  Speaker C: All right. So are we on to 10?
• 20:27
  Speaker A: We are on to 10.
• 20:28
  Speaker C: All right.
• 20:29
  Speaker A: So I believe it is time.
• 20:30
  Speaker C: From Sports Illustrated, Messi. Messi.
• 20:32
  Speaker A: Talk to me all about the best player in the history of the world.
• 20:35
  Speaker C: Okay.
• 20:36
  Speaker A: Or top three, I guess.
• 20:37
  Speaker C: So number 10 back in the middle of the field. Right. Technically they play as an.
• 20:41
  Speaker A: Originally. Originally a forward pulled back to midfield.
• 20:44
  Speaker C: Yeah. It's because of this five up front.
• 20:46
  Speaker A: Correct. Yeah, yeah.
• 20:47
  Speaker C: So their job can, generally speaking is they have a little more space. They're in traffic and they need to do something with this ball. Like Send it to 9. Send it. Something like that. They have to be available in there.
• 21:00
  Speaker A: I learned at some point, I don't know who it was from. I heard that they call that position El Volante, the steering wheel. Like literally, that was the name that they made for the number 10, which perfectly fits him. Even though his nickname is. Do you know his nickname? Fun Fact. Messi's nickname. La Pulga.
• 21:15
  Speaker C: Oh, Flea. The flea. La Puga. The original number 10, the one that really made the name for it is Pele.
• 21:23
  Speaker A: Right?
• 21:23
  Speaker C: He was the original number 10.
• 21:24
  Speaker A: Oh, shit.
• 21:25
  Speaker C: Of course, Brazil built their entire game around running the ball through him.
• 21:29
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 21:29
  Speaker C: And they dominated for a decade at doing that.
• 21:33
  Speaker B: Oh, donovan was number 10.
• 21:35
  Speaker A: We can't compare us. I mean, he's talking about Pele and Messi. By the way, Maradona was number 10. Okay. You can't compare Donovan or. Who is it now? Christian Pulisic. You can't.
• 21:48
  Speaker B: Oh, he was. Yeah, he was number 10.
• 21:50
  Speaker C: No, he's not. Pele.
• 21:50
  Speaker A: Hold on. I mean. Okay, continue.
• 21:53
  Speaker C: Okay, so Maradona, Pele, Zidane.
• 21:57
  Speaker B: Ten's the best player. Got it.
• 21:58
  Speaker C: Then we have 11, right?
• 21:59
  Speaker B: The lefty.
• 22:00
  Speaker C: The lefty, yeah. It's basically just the mirror image of the seven.
• 22:04
  Speaker B: Now going to be a right footed player, not a left footed player.
• 22:06
  Speaker C: They could invert them too.
• 22:08
  Speaker A: Okay, do we know any number elevens? Do we know any number 11s? I don't know any number 11s. I don't even know Argentina's number 11 is. Give me an 11.
• 22:13
  Speaker C: Yeah. Neymar.
• 22:14
  Speaker A: Neymar. Neymar. Made the team. He's playing for Brazil. Did you see that? He was excited. He was crying. It was a big deal.
• 22:21
  Speaker B: Isn't he old, huh?
• 22:22
  Speaker A: Yeah. Aiden was hurt and old. They put him on the squad, man.
• 22:25
  Speaker C: He's going, let's go.
• 22:26
  Speaker A: But I see him. I'm not rooting for Brazil. Chill out, everybody. I'm an RG fan, but. Okay, got it. Neymar, thank you very much. Thank you.
• 22:32
  Speaker B: Hold on.
• 22:32
  Speaker A: What?
• 22:33
  Speaker B: This is only based off of a 2, 3, 5 formation, which doesn't exist anymore.
• 22:37
  Speaker C: It started from that, and we just talked about how it morphed through that with formation.
• 22:40
  Speaker B: Sure. But like today, currently in the World cup, that's not going to be the formation.
• 22:44
  Speaker C: No. They will not play two defenders anymore, right?
• 22:46
  Speaker B: No, it's going to be like four defenders.
• 22:48
  Speaker C: Yes. Generally speaking, soccer plays what they call a flat four. There's four across the back, flat four. And so four and five are the center defenders. And now tactics wise, they actually throw more players forward. And a lot of the time it is those outside players that are now 2 and 3 also help.
• 23:04
  Speaker A: So 6, 8 and 10 will even come up. Of course they do. But then two and three comes up on the right. So I. I was trying to figure this out earlier, and it's more like now. I mean, the best way to explain it, Amanda, it's like the back line is the back line, and then the. The front line's a front line. But then 6, 8 and 10 are sort of like. They could play anywhere. Like, 6 is sort of the. The holding. The holding midfielder. The 10 is the attacking midfielder. Eight has to play both. So it's sort of like a. Like a capital I. If you were actually put them on the field, it's a capital. I mean, it doesn't really work out that way, but that's the easiest way to explain. And then they can sort of. The midfielders can go wherever they need to. Right. And then two and three can come up on the. On the edge.
• 23:39
  Speaker C: There's a lot of flow now in soccer than.
• 23:42
  Speaker A: It's a lot more than they're used to. But the point still remains the same is that if you see a 2 or a 3 all the way up there, you know they're in attack mode.
• 23:49
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 23:50
  Speaker A: Right. And you're like, okay, like, here's what's going on. Or if you see, you know, six back and you see eight coming back. Okay. There's a defensive piece going on here. It's sort of a big deal. So you can play along with understanding the game by knowing where the numbers are on the field.
• 24:07
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 24:07
  Speaker A: Right. At any given time, why would 2
• 24:08
  Speaker B: and 3 be up that far?
• 24:10
  Speaker C: Soccer is all about unbalancing the other team, and so throwing an extra player forward can force a bunch of exchanges that they have to start defending that attack from the player that's coming in.
• 24:21
  Speaker B: Hey, but I have a question. So, like, during the game, though, the people who are subs, they don't. They don't swap jerseys as they're going on the field?
• 24:29
  Speaker C: No.
• 24:29
  Speaker B: So, like, there's extra numbers, Correct?
• 24:32
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 24:32
  Speaker B: Is it a roll the dice? Like, how does this even work?
• 24:35
  Speaker C: I mean, general, in the World cup, generally speaking, you're going to have 12 through 22 be the substitutes, but that's not always true. And those players will end up on official squads. They have a substitute number that they're probably waiting to get the seven from somebody else, but they haven't yet gotten it.
• 24:55
  Speaker B: But wasn't like Beckham 23.
• 24:57
  Speaker C: Yeah. So he started at number seven, Manu, and when he moved over to Real Madrid, he got offered number four or number 23. And Victoria Vice herself.
• 25:08
  Speaker A: There it is. Victoria, I didn't know the name.
• 25:10
  Speaker C: Said, Hey, 23. Makes a lot of sense. That's Michael Jordan somewhere.
• 25:13
  Speaker A: Who wouldn't love Michael Jordan?
• 25:14
  Speaker C: Legend has it that's how it was started.
• 25:17
  Speaker A: And that's when everything blew up from there. Because, like, if you watch the players in the English Premier League or in La Liga, they aren't playing the same numbers as World cup sanctioned stuff. World cup sanctions are easy to follow.
• 25:29
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 25:30
  Speaker A: For the most part. 1 through, like you just said, 1 through 11, 12 through 22. But these other teams, it's like crazy land. Yeah. Is that kind of how it, quote, unquote, got started?
• 25:39
  Speaker C: Basically, yeah. I mean, sometimes this is so ingrained in the culture that they don't. They have to wait in order to get this number, and they end up just with number 20 forever. And that's just the number that they decide to wear forever. But sometimes they still do want to earn that official number.
• 25:53
  Speaker A: Right. So. But if Beckham were to go. I'm using Beckham as an example. If he were to go on to England's squad and play in the World cup, he'd be number seven if he was their starter.
• 26:01
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 26:02
  Speaker A: Like, they would change that number to that.
• 26:04
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 26:04
  Speaker A: But if he's playing on his regular team, then he's 20. He's whatever he liked.
• 26:08
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 26:09
  Speaker A: After. After that. Okay.
• 26:10
  Speaker C: Did you know what he was after 23.
• 26:11
  Speaker A: No, no, I didn't.
• 26:12
  Speaker C: He's actually 32.
• 26:13
  Speaker A: Why am I following back? Magic Johnson, let's go. Okay, kind of. Maybe I like, maybe I like that.
• 26:17
  Speaker B: Glued to the basketball nerd.
• 26:18
  Speaker A: Who knows? Who knows? Let's go. Yes, that makes sense because I, I, I, I don't know if it's a fun fact. I don't know where. Like I read this. It was, it's insane. The, the jersey sales exploded completely, like exponentially because you weren't up to that point, you were like buying number seven and it was like whoever was number seven. Yeah, but then it was. You're buying Beckham's number 23 or Beckham's number 32. Bonkers.
• 26:43
  Speaker C: Correct.
• 26:43
  Speaker A: Absolutely out of control.
• 26:44
  Speaker C: Yep.
• 26:44
  Speaker A: So good. Good for everybody, I guess. Except bad for fans who now had no idea who was playing where and what was going on. If you didn't follow sport, if you were a virgin fan, then it sucks because you have no idea what the hell you're, you're doing. But if you're not, then I mean, obviously it makes sense because you can follow these players. You know exactly what their numbers are.
• 27:00
  Speaker B: So just to Clarify, we have 1 through 11 who is going to be on the field starting players at the World cup. And then 12 through 22, 26, whatever number they are going to be your subs of some sort of. And then are there like certain players specifically for the US that we should be watching out for?
• 27:14
  Speaker C: All right, so Pulisic, Christian Pulisic, he's our number 10.
• 27:17
  Speaker B: Wait, is he always number 10? Like what team does he play for normally?
• 27:19
  Speaker C: Yeah, he's on AC Milan and he's actually number 11 there.
• 27:22
  Speaker B: Wait, so then he's not playing the mid striker?
• 27:26
  Speaker C: Well, he's only 11 there because number 10 is taken.
• 27:29
  Speaker B: Oh, so this is where the thing. Okay, okay. But for again the World cup, everybody who's playing on every team will have the numbers 1 through 11 where they should be.
• 27:41
  Speaker A: Yes. They'll put their best player at number 10.
• 27:43
  Speaker C: Pulisic 10. Pepe 9 if he doesn't score.
• 27:47
  Speaker A: Pepe. I like that. Pepe's ours. Pepe's ours. Are there any American last names? I mean, what's going on? Who's our goalie?
• 27:54
  Speaker C: Matt Turner.
• 27:55
  Speaker A: All right, do we need to know any more? Do we pretty much cover the important US positions?
• 28:00
  Speaker C: There is another guy, he normally wears number 20. Who is it? Buck?
• 28:05
  Speaker A: Baloguin. Yep, Baloguin. Okay, Reyna. I see. Reyna's number seven. Is he related to Claudio. Old Claudio Reyna?
• 28:12
  Speaker C: That's a great question.
• 28:12
  Speaker A: Do we know?
• 28:13
  Speaker C: I don't know.
• 28:13
  Speaker A: He's got to be related to Claudio.
• 28:15
  Speaker B: Born to US national team players Claudio Reyna and Danielle Reyna both.
• 28:20
  Speaker A: He's his son. Let's go. I didn't even know that. That goes to show you how much U.S. soccer I follow.
• 28:25
  Speaker B: My brain is thoroughly melted. Can we do some fun facts? Something fun like. I just need a little reprieve here.
• 28:31
  Speaker A: Do you have fun facts or you want me to do fun facts? Did you come prepared with fun facts?
• 28:34
  Speaker C: Can I talk about Dutch? Total football?
• 28:35
  Speaker B: What is Dutch?
• 28:37
  Speaker A: I don't even know if this is going to be great. He's going to fun fact the fun factor right now and make sure this isn't Blather Sky.
• 28:41
  Speaker C: No.
• 28:42
  Speaker A: The easiest word that will kill everybody. Oh, no. All right, here we go. First of all, Trent, thank you for coming on and being super sophisticated and teaching us everything that I had no idea about. And clearly Amanda was. How about this? Clearly Amanda was in left field, right. Wow. A baseball term. Let's go. But that's what it felt like in this episode anyway. Thank you, Trent. I appreciate it. All right, here we go. So, Dutch. You were just talking Dutch? Yes. Johan Cruyff, the greatest Dutch footballer in the world, didn't ever wear a traditional number one through eleven ever. Want to guess his number? Trent knows it. What's his number? 14. 14. A substitute player's number, which in the 1970s, mind you, was way before you were even allowed to do this stuff. Right. So Cruyff was just like, yeah, no, that's my number. Deal with it. And because he was the greatest player in the world, nobody gave two shits. He's one of the top three players in the world. Absolutely is.
• 29:37
  Speaker C: Absolutely.
• 29:38
  Speaker A: I mean, yes. Yeah.
• 29:39
  Speaker B: I'm going to ask Jocko about this.
• 29:41
  Speaker C: Yeah. About a Netherlands player. He's going to love it.
• 29:43
  Speaker A: I mean, he's going to say number one. Who are you? Do you have the top three in your head?
• 29:46
  Speaker C: I mean, it's going to be Pele. Pele.
• 29:49
  Speaker A: It's going to be Maradona. Messi. Cruy can argue. Top four.
• 29:53
  Speaker C: Messi's there.
• 29:54
  Speaker A: Yeah. Okay, so. So we agree on that. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. Number two, 1993. Remember we were talking about the jerseys and David Beckham and the whole thing? Okay, so I just looked this up. $9 billion a year is the industry. That was the tweak. That was the jersey. That was a tweak. $9 billion. Holy shit balls. On soccer jerseys. On soccer jerseys. Okay.
• 30:17
  Speaker B: It has to be a lot of money because there's a store in Downtown Disney.
• 30:19
  Speaker A: Okay, I'm at ticket store. That's just incredible. All right, number three. There is a number that to this day, many professional soccer players refuse to wear. Wanna guess?
• 30:33
  Speaker B: Bad luck. Thirteen. Duh.
• 30:34
  Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Okay.
• 30:36
  Speaker B: I don't know.
• 30:36
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 30:37
  Speaker B: Was it right?
• 30:38
  Speaker A: Yes, you're absolutely right. To the point where FIFA and SHUIFA rules explicitly state that players are not compelled to wear the number 13 if they feel superstitious, they don't have to. That's an actual written rule, and all the international governing bodies abide by it. That's insane. Don't.
• 30:56
  Speaker B: Luck or no luck. Let's go.
• 30:57
  Speaker A: I think it's funny. And finally. Okay, this was my favorite fun fact. I was saving, like, the entire episode that I said at the beginning. Do you know that when Messi retires from the Argentine national team, they're retiring his jersey forever? The Argentine Football association has officially announced that no player will ever wear number 10 again on the national team after Messi. Yes. Their president said, quote, when Messi retires from the national team, we will not allow anyone else to wear the number 10 after him. This number 10 will be retired for life in his honor.
• 31:28
  Speaker B: Dang.
• 31:28
  Speaker A: Argentina is retiring the number 10 because of the weight of what it means to us is simply too heavy to hand to anyone else. Wow.
• 31:35
  Speaker B: That's insane.
• 31:36
  Speaker A: That's incredible. They're never gonna have a number 10 again in our lifetime.
• 31:39
  Speaker C: No, they're not. Just the Argentine team.
• 31:41
  Speaker A: Well, I know, but we just sat here and said the entire World cup is based on these numbers, and Argentina is pulling it out of the rotation.
• 31:48
  Speaker C: They're saving a seat for.
• 31:50
  Speaker A: I think it's cool.
• 31:51
  Speaker B: But, like. Wait, so then they move all the numbers around? No, they're gonna.
• 31:55
  Speaker A: No, my guess is they'll pick another. Like, they'll pick 20.
• 31:58
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 31:58
  Speaker A: Or they'll grab, like, 21 or what? Like, they'll pick the next. The what? The substitute number and put it in there. That's my guess. Okay. Anyway, Fun facts out, huh?
• 32:05
  Speaker B: I mean, I really thought we were gonna talk about the World cup, and, I mean, I'm glad you just decided
• 32:09
  Speaker A: to come back to life and show up for the, you know, ending of this episode.
• 32:12
  Speaker B: Y' all hurt my brain. Like, this was a. This was a hard one. But it does make sense if you, like, catch on and pay attention. Okay, well, if someone is gonna watch the World cup, is there anything else that we should do next before the World cup or.
• 32:24
  Speaker A: There's always something to do. Yes, we always give homework first, folks. If you want any of this information, please remember to DM us on Instagram and we'll send you the fun facts and Amanda's wonderful episode summary that she's about to give for us. Okay, first, watch Sunderland Till I Die. Have you seen Sunderland Till I Die?
• 32:39
  Speaker C: No, I haven't.
• 32:40
  Speaker A: Have you seen welcome to Wrexham?
• 32:41
  Speaker C: No, I haven't.
• 32:42
  Speaker A: Oh, my God. Okay. All right, so both of these are exceptional. So welcome to Wrexham is the ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenny thing. They're both documentaries. They follow lower, like, level English premiere English league clubs. Right? Welcome to Wrexham is more like Hollywood. But dude, they went from like, whatever it is, tier five. They're in tier two now. Sunderland Till I Die is more legit documentary. It takes out all the Hollywood bullshit. Both are excellent. I would watch them. Incredible ways to learn soccer. They're not going to talk about all the numbers. I'm not telling you that. It's just an incredible way to learn about the, you know, ongoings and insight into soccer. Okay. Second, if you do want to understand more of, like, formations and tactics, look up tifo Football on YouTube. It's a channel that does all these super simple, like, animated shorts on how the formations work, what Trent was talking about, what each position does, why the teams play the way they do. So you get a good sense of knowing if you want to start following soccer, who's doing what and when. And they're super short and easy to follow, highly recommended. And then last, of course, go watch USA play Paraguay. Sofi Stadium in la. That all rhymed. That's awesome. And then pick, like, what was it? Brena number seven. And, like, see what they do the whole game so you get a good vibe of, like, how all this stuff works, then you will officially be sophisticated. That's the homework.
• 34:00
  Speaker B: All right? And if you don't want to do any of that, let's see if I can tell you the things that you need to remember.
• 34:05
  Speaker A: Let's go.
• 34:05
  Speaker B: Here we go. Okay, number one, the numbers on the soccer jerseys were never random. They actually tell you where a player is supposed to play, whether it be that number one is the goalkeeper. You have defenders who are number two to five. You have some midfielders that are like six to eight. And then the forwards are always seven through 11. But if you know where the number is supposed to be playing, you will know the position of the player as they are playing.
• 34:25
  Speaker A: Well, that was the whole Point of the episode, so I hope so.
• 34:28
  Speaker B: That was number one. Got it. See?
• 34:29
  Speaker A: Check.
• 34:29
  Speaker B: Check. I was listening. Number two. The whole system was invented by a rogue English team coach of the team from Arsenal, something like that. In 1928, he did it without asking anyone's permission and he got banned for it. Bad stuff happened. So then in, like, 1939, it, like, became the thing to do.
• 34:45
  Speaker A: Check.
• 34:46
  Speaker B: Okay. Number three. In the early 90s, the Premier League let players pick their own permanent numbers. And then the whole thing kind of fell apart because now you can't just watch soccer and know where everyone's supposed to be. I'm going to blame Beckham for this. For number 23. Fair enough.
• 35:01
  Speaker A: Yep.
• 35:01
  Speaker B: Okay. Number four would be that the World cup never fully went along with it. Like, with the whole. You can pick your number and we can monetize all of this. Everybody is still one through 26.
• 35:11
  Speaker A: Correct.
• 35:12
  Speaker C: Okay.
• 35:12
  Speaker A: For World cup only. Yes.
• 35:13
  Speaker B: And every four years, they will change the numbers depending on who made the team, who didn't make the team. Um, but really, I guess we could all think of it in the way of. The World cup is like the purest version of the original system for numbers on the back.
• 35:27
  Speaker A: I like the way you said that. Yes.
• 35:28
  Speaker B: Okay. And finally, the most important number in the history of the sport is definitely number 10. Always. Forever, clearly, because Argentina is going to retire it. But Pele wore it, Maradona wore it, Obviously Messi wears it. So if you're going to watch the World cup, look for number 10. That's the one that you're going to want to pay attention to the whole
• 35:48
  Speaker A: time you were listening. Job well done. 10 out of 10.
• 35:51
  Speaker B: I know you say that. I don't, but I try. I gotta process a little.
• 35:53
  Speaker A: I don't process well. You did good. There you have it to your listeners. A numbering system that started as a wild hair up some coach's ass and ended up becoming the smartest thing they ever did until the Premier League decided to blow it all up and turn it into a $9 billion industry. Thank you. Somehow, through it all, though, it survived. Thank God. Maybe not on the jerseys, exactly, but in the language, the number six, the number 10 words that have outlived the system they came from by 30 years so far and counting. And if we did our job today, you're gonna be sitting down on June 12th to watch the USA play Paraguay and actually be able to tell what the hell is going on for the first time ever, and not just see guys running around in different colored shirts. Or hats. Thank you very much for your little story about the caps. Who would have known? You'll see a formation, a map, 100 years of tactical history playing out in real time right in front of you. As always, if you like what you just listened to, hit subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who's been nodding all along at soccer watch parties for years, pretending they get it. Cause today they finally do. Until next time, stay curious, stay in formation. And remember, the map was always there. You just needed someone to hand you the key. Thank you, Trent. Somehow, just the same as.