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USMNT Advances! Balogun Red Card Controversy & Belgium Preview · Inside American Soccer with Tom Bogert and Tab Ramos

0:00
Speaker 1: Let's let three people in Dallas or wherever they are
0:04
Speaker 1: in the bar not decide what's happening in the game
0:08
Speaker 1: two thousand miles away without really understanding the context of
0:12
Speaker 1: the game.
0:15
Speaker 2: What's going on? Everybody?
0:16
Speaker 3: Welcome to inside American Soccer. I am USM and T
0:19
Speaker 3: inside of Tom Bower, and I'm joined by one of
0:21
Speaker 3: the greatest players in US soccer history, tab Ramos Tap.
0:24
Speaker 3: The United States beat Bossi and Herzegovina to nail in
0:27
Speaker 3: the round of thirty two in northern California to set
0:30
Speaker 3: up a round a sixteen game against Belgium. We've got
0:34
Speaker 3: all of that breakdown and everything it means, the Balgan
0:37
Speaker 3: red card and much much more. But Tab, how are
0:40
Speaker 3: you doing?
0:41
Speaker 2: And right after this, I think you're gonna be doing
0:44
Speaker 2: a little bit better.
0:44
Speaker 3: As much as you like talking to me, you get
0:46
Speaker 3: to go call Christian Ronaldo, Luka Modric Portugal Croatia knockout
0:51
Speaker 3: round game of the World Cup.
0:52
Speaker 2: How are you feeling well?
0:54
Speaker 1: I feel great. You know, after watching our team yesterday,
0:57
Speaker 1: I knew and we about this last time, that this
1:02
Speaker 1: was going to be a much more difficult game than
1:04
Speaker 1: than most people would expect. You know, Bosnia is really
1:08
Speaker 1: not a great team, to be fair, and we knew
1:10
Speaker 1: we're better. But listen, we've seen Germany go down already,
1:14
Speaker 1: we've seen the Dutch are already home. Anything can happen
1:18
Speaker 1: in these games. And I was, I was really impressed
1:21
Speaker 1: by the way we professionally managed this game because and
1:26
Speaker 1: I know we'll get into analyzing the game, but we
1:28
Speaker 1: really didn't do anything outstanding, but we didn't give anything away.
1:32
Speaker 1: And and I thought, you know, we found a goal
1:34
Speaker 1: and we sort of protected it by having the ball,
1:37
Speaker 1: and I thought it was overall a good performance without
1:41
Speaker 1: having any single one of our players be, you know,
1:44
Speaker 1: have their absolute best day. So I thought it was
1:47
Speaker 1: great in terms of what I'm doing here. Yeah, I'm
1:51
Speaker 1: I'm excited. I'm in I'm in Toronto, and and I
1:55
Speaker 1: you know, I get to call today a game. You know, obviously,
1:59
Speaker 1: Portugal Croatia two great teams. They have a ton of
2:03
Speaker 1: good players. We're not going to go one by one,
2:05
Speaker 1: we know them all, but in particular, you know, it's
2:09
Speaker 1: it's Ronaldo against Modric and one of them is, let's
2:14
Speaker 1: just say, likely playing their last World Cup game and
2:16
Speaker 1: maybe their last national team game. Ever, so really excited
2:20
Speaker 1: about that because the is significant of these two in
2:24
Speaker 1: a different way, two giants, two legends of the game,
2:27
Speaker 1: you know, because of course it's hard to sort of
2:30
Speaker 1: put Modrid at the same level as Christiano Ronaldo, but
2:34
Speaker 1: in his own way he has he has marked a
2:37
Speaker 1: way over the last fifteen years by being consistent, by
2:40
Speaker 1: by not really ever playing a bad game. And the
2:43
Speaker 1: last game I called of Luka Modrids last week, you know,
2:47
Speaker 1: he was diving in the box blocking shots. So he
2:50
Speaker 1: I think he's ready. I think Ronaldo will be ready,
2:53
Speaker 1: and I think it'll just be a great Let let's
2:56
Speaker 1: just say football game today.
3:00
Speaker 3: Stuff for legends. I'm so jealous and I'm so happy
3:02
Speaker 3: for you. That again, that's work. What we do for
3:05
Speaker 3: work is never never sees the two maze. So you
3:09
Speaker 3: know when people are stop talking to fans outside the
3:12
Speaker 3: game in Santa Clara last night and how excited they are,
3:15
Speaker 3: and you sometimes you have to remember that, like, wow,
3:17
Speaker 3: this is incredible and tab one of those moments when
3:19
Speaker 3: you when you get to watch Luka Modrits first Christian Ronaldo.
3:22
Speaker 2: In a knockout round game. Oh yeah, this is work.
3:24
Speaker 3: That's that's that's not so bad, but we're here to
3:27
Speaker 3: talk about the United States. They beat Bosnia to nil,
3:31
Speaker 3: a goal in the first half by Flow Balgon, goal
3:33
Speaker 3: in the second half by Malik Tillman.
3:35
Speaker 2: It was a busy day for Flow Balgain.
3:38
Speaker 3: He was shown a controversial red card in the second half,
3:42
Speaker 3: and Tab, well, I want to talk about the overall
3:44
Speaker 3: game before we get into the Balgan stuff, because there's
3:46
Speaker 3: there's lots of unpacked there. But there was two things
3:50
Speaker 3: that I that sit up to me. Bosnia though they
3:54
Speaker 3: had maybe the first ten minutes they got a corner
3:56
Speaker 3: kick with they created nothing, and they played almost a
4:00
Speaker 3: third of the game up a man. They had I
4:03
Speaker 3: think XG was like zero point one to nine something,
4:05
Speaker 3: basically nothing. The United States completely dominated this team with
4:09
Speaker 3: eleven men and ten men.
4:11
Speaker 2: Tab when they went.
4:12
Speaker 3: To the hydration break, what he's Heo Pochattino brings the
4:16
Speaker 3: team together and says, this is where we show everybody
4:21
Speaker 3: we're a team. This is where we show where united,
4:24
Speaker 3: and this is where we show everything we've said. It's
4:26
Speaker 3: not just words, its actions. We come together and we win.
4:29
Speaker 3: We see this out and I think that they went
4:32
Speaker 3: up but even another level down to ten men Pochatino
4:35
Speaker 3: didn't make a sub until the eighty seventh minute, so
4:37
Speaker 3: the starters, even after a red card, played basically the
4:40
Speaker 3: entire game. And if you were watching that game and
4:44
Speaker 3: didn't know that there was a team down a man,
4:47
Speaker 3: you wouldn't have been able to tell. And if somebody
4:49
Speaker 3: told you there was a team down a man, you
4:51
Speaker 3: might ask if it was Bosnia.
4:52
Speaker 2: I thought, I was so impressed by that. Tab.
4:55
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree more with all of the things you said,
4:58
Speaker 1: and also with Poschettino hitting the right note there right
5:02
Speaker 1: because I think he hit the heart of the American
5:06
Speaker 1: player right there. You know, I've been saying all along
5:09
Speaker 1: for the last six seven years that this not just me,
5:12
Speaker 1: but a lot of people have been saying that we
5:15
Speaker 1: lack that energy that American teams have. And I think
5:18
Speaker 1: when you bring an American team together, and I know
5:21
Speaker 1: this by experience, you know an American player will run
5:25
Speaker 1: through the wall for you. You just have to ask
5:27
Speaker 1: him to do it. And I think, and I think
5:29
Speaker 1: that was the right moment, and I think he hit
5:31
Speaker 1: the right note, and you know, and you could see
5:34
Speaker 1: it on the field, and I totally agree with you
5:36
Speaker 1: that if I had to pick which one of the
5:39
Speaker 1: two teams had was down to man, I definitely would
5:42
Speaker 1: have thought it was Bosnia. Yeah, you could see him
5:44
Speaker 1: attack a little bit more and I wouldn't say attacked,
5:47
Speaker 1: but hold the ball a little bit more. But they
5:49
Speaker 1: were also down a goal, so they needed to. But
5:52
Speaker 1: I definitely would have never guessed that US was down
5:54
Speaker 1: a man. If anything, I thought they were up a
5:56
Speaker 1: man and we were in no danger ever in this
6:00
Speaker 1: game of losing it or not advance into the next round.
6:02
Speaker 1: And that's why I called it a pro win. This
6:06
Speaker 1: was really a professional win in the terms of course
6:09
Speaker 1: all the guys are professionals, but this was just well
6:12
Speaker 1: managed all the way around by not ever being in danger.
6:16
Speaker 1: And I have to add to that that I think
6:18
Speaker 1: we have one of the best midfields in the world.
6:20
Speaker 1: I think, you know, McKenny, Adams and Tillman. It just
6:24
Speaker 1: doesn't get better than that. Yeah, of course, you know,
6:26
Speaker 1: you can talk about Portugal's midfield, you can talk about Spains,
6:29
Speaker 1: you can talk about France's, and maybe you can talk
6:32
Speaker 1: about Argentina, and of course maybe one or two, but
6:36
Speaker 1: our midfield is right up there, and then we're right
6:38
Speaker 1: up there. I mean those three guys are are like
6:41
Speaker 1: having a Ferrari engine and in a Fiat Chinkwa Cento,
6:47
Speaker 1: the Fiat five hundred. This is what this is like.
6:50
Speaker 1: This is really what it's like. I think we have
6:52
Speaker 1: a Ferrari engine in a Fiat five hundred.
6:57
Speaker 3: For me, that is why where that's been a special
7:01
Speaker 3: sauce of this tournament. I think of most of the
7:04
Speaker 3: good moments, great moments, it starts in there, even the
7:08
Speaker 3: attacking ones where you know it ends with Pool sick
7:10
Speaker 3: Er Bowgan. This midfield trio, the movement and intelligence of movement,
7:17
Speaker 3: like that combination, even before we get to the technique
7:20
Speaker 3: and the physicality and everything else that they bring, it's
7:25
Speaker 3: the motor and the intelligence of the movement that is
7:28
Speaker 3: setting the tone controlling games.
7:30
Speaker 2: Like again like Bosnia, Bosia.
7:33
Speaker 3: Had a central midfield yesterday that it's never a good
7:35
Speaker 3: sign for a center mid when you're the pressing trigger.
7:38
Speaker 3: But like the midfielders for Bosnia couldn't do anything like
7:43
Speaker 3: the The only moments that they could have is if
7:46
Speaker 3: they went long and Jeco won a knockdown, or a
7:49
Speaker 3: few times they got a little bit of spaceed down
7:51
Speaker 3: the wings. But really it was a no fly zone
7:53
Speaker 3: in the middle. Well, let's talk about Bowgan for right now.
7:57
Speaker 3: He gets sent off sixty fourth He inadvertently kind of
8:02
Speaker 3: got knocked off balance and the screenshot looks worse, I
8:07
Speaker 3: think than the video. But his cleats is the bottom
8:11
Speaker 3: of a shoe, makes contact down kind of the back
8:14
Speaker 3: of the leg the Posi defender. It goes to var
8:18
Speaker 3: the referee comes back gives a red card. I guess,
8:21
Speaker 3: first of all, before the ramifications, did you agree with
8:25
Speaker 3: the decision? What did you make of all that?
8:28
Speaker 1: You know, it's it's a lot easier obviously for us
8:31
Speaker 1: after seeing the replay many many times to have to
8:34
Speaker 1: make a decision. And I'll just start with saying that,
8:39
Speaker 1: you know, I wish just the rules were applied in
8:41
Speaker 1: one single way for everyone, right. And you know, we
8:47
Speaker 1: saw a similar play with Messi, which you know a
8:49
Speaker 1: lot of people are talking about. Now. You know, Messi
8:52
Speaker 1: is actually looking at the player as he's stepping on
8:55
Speaker 1: him and then takes the foot off right before getting
8:59
Speaker 1: to the ankle. But you know, obviously the foul is there.
9:02
Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to imagine that you don't know
9:06
Speaker 1: unless you're just purely only stepping on someone's foot. It's
9:10
Speaker 1: hard to imagine that your brain is now processing that
9:14
Speaker 1: information when your foot is going down somebody's leg, that
9:17
Speaker 1: you're going all the way to that handkle and not knowing.
9:20
Speaker 1: So my point is, you know, what we would be
9:23
Speaker 1: arguing here is if this is intentional or not intentional.
9:27
Speaker 1: We're not arguing the severity of the foul, because the
9:31
Speaker 1: severity of the foul is a red card foul. We're
9:34
Speaker 1: arguing whether it was intentional or not. And how do
9:37
Speaker 1: you argue that? How do you decide that? And that's
9:40
Speaker 1: the difficult part that you know, now you're sending this
9:42
Speaker 1: up to a var situation to three people who are
9:46
Speaker 1: not at the game, who likely are not following the
9:50
Speaker 1: context of where Balligin was and the battles he had
9:54
Speaker 1: been having with that player already. That's all part of
9:58
Speaker 1: you have to put the foul into context. Those players
10:01
Speaker 1: were already like they were man handling each other, and
10:04
Speaker 1: that's certainly part of it. But then the decision comes
10:07
Speaker 1: down to isn't intentional or is it not intentional? And
10:11
Speaker 1: I think as a referee, you have to move yourself
10:13
Speaker 1: from that part of it. And if you remove yourself
10:16
Speaker 1: from that part of it. Then you have to say, well,
10:19
Speaker 1: you know, in that case it's a red card foul.
10:21
Speaker 1: But if it is a red card foul, then why
10:24
Speaker 1: did MESSI not get a record? And by the way,
10:26
Speaker 1: I understand that it's Messy. You know, I'm not stupid.
10:30
Speaker 1: I've been around a little bit because we don't want
10:32
Speaker 1: to get Messy out of the game and we don't
10:34
Speaker 1: want him to miss another game. But the reality is
10:36
Speaker 1: the rules are rules, and you have to follow the rules.
10:39
Speaker 1: And if you're following the rules, then to me, this
10:42
Speaker 1: probably could have been taken care of for a yellow
10:44
Speaker 1: card and they're talking to as a strong yellow card
10:47
Speaker 1: and let the game go. This is a World Cup
10:50
Speaker 1: knockout game. I mean, imagine if the whole game would
10:52
Speaker 1: have turned it upside down because of this red card
10:55
Speaker 1: and we would have been knocked out. I think that
10:57
Speaker 1: would have been unfair. But I guess at this point
10:59
Speaker 1: it is it is.
11:02
Speaker 3: I think that was that was level headed and important
11:06
Speaker 3: to you, like you before getting to like emotions. You're right, like,
11:09
Speaker 3: if you look at the screenshot, if you want to
11:11
Speaker 3: go letter of the law, I understand the logical pathway
11:15
Speaker 3: that the VR and the referee took that ends up
11:17
Speaker 3: in a red card. I think it's ludicrous. There is
11:22
Speaker 3: there is no intention. I understand that that you can't
11:26
Speaker 3: judge everything by that or or that gets that gets
11:28
Speaker 3: very very gray, but I just think to give a
11:33
Speaker 3: red card in that situation, like you said, both players
11:35
Speaker 3: have been battling all game. I don't think that there
11:39
Speaker 3: has been a yellow card given to that point. I
11:40
Speaker 3: don't think the referee. I think the referee was straight
11:42
Speaker 3: up bad throughout the whole game, didn't really have control
11:45
Speaker 3: of the game, was very inconsistent, and it comes to
11:49
Speaker 3: that moment and you go to VR and listen whether
11:52
Speaker 3: it was flow bagin or Lino Messy or Tim ream
11:55
Speaker 3: or a Bosnian center back. I just don't think that's
11:58
Speaker 3: a red card because it's just a normal like soccer action, right,
12:02
Speaker 3: he got knocked off balance. If you slow things down
12:06
Speaker 3: in slow mo again, it maybe it looks worse than
12:09
Speaker 3: it is. But that's one of the things I really
12:13
Speaker 3: dislike about the video review process. Sometimes SMO helps, and
12:17
Speaker 3: sometimes it gives you an impression of something that just
12:20
Speaker 3: wasn't reality, Like it strips away the context there, and
12:25
Speaker 3: I just don't like that that's a red card. Marisio
12:27
Speaker 3: Posatino after the game goes for me, never a red card,
12:29
Speaker 3: Never a red card. He talked about intention and then
12:33
Speaker 3: he kind of said, like, you know, all the fifty
12:36
Speaker 3: to fifty decisions, we didn't get one of them. So
12:39
Speaker 3: he had he had some words for the referee after
12:41
Speaker 3: the game. But listen, the worst ramification of this is
12:46
Speaker 3: Balcon suspended against Belgium. That's the team's leading scorer and
12:49
Speaker 3: best forward for so he misses obviously the last thirty
12:53
Speaker 3: or so minutes of a knock out round game, and
12:55
Speaker 3: now he's suspended for the next one. I just think
12:58
Speaker 3: the totality of the punish is ludicrous compared to the action.
13:04
Speaker 1: No doubt, you know. And again I think that the
13:09
Speaker 1: situation here is one that you know you're you have
13:12
Speaker 1: to take the foul into context of the game. I believe,
13:16
Speaker 1: if you're not going to follow a strict the strict
13:19
Speaker 1: strict laws of the game, whatever that is for that foul,
13:22
Speaker 1: if it's always a red card, then let's make it
13:24
Speaker 1: always a red card and then we don't have to
13:26
Speaker 1: argue about it. Anytime you step on the back of
13:29
Speaker 1: someone's leg, it's a red card. Okay, well that but
13:32
Speaker 1: that's not what we're seeing. So if that's not what
13:34
Speaker 1: we're seeing, let's let three people in Dallas or wherever
13:38
Speaker 1: they are in the VAR not decide what's happening in
13:42
Speaker 1: the game two thousand miles away without really understanding the
13:47
Speaker 1: context of the game. I know they're watching the game.
13:49
Speaker 1: I know they're qualified people in the VAR, they're referees,
13:53
Speaker 1: But I just don't think you're feeling the game two
13:56
Speaker 1: thousand miles away like the like the referee is. And
13:59
Speaker 1: by the way, it's it's not like the referee called
14:01
Speaker 1: it and gave a yellow card, and then they thought, oh,
14:04
Speaker 1: it's much more severe than a yellow card. The referee
14:07
Speaker 1: just called a foul, right, And so now to me
14:10
Speaker 1: it makes me think, okay, so now the VAR, the
14:13
Speaker 1: three people in the VAR two thousand miles away, are
14:16
Speaker 1: convincing the referee basically to look at something as hey,
14:21
Speaker 1: we think this is much more than just a yellow card,
14:25
Speaker 1: and and and for me to have the decision, you know,
14:28
Speaker 1: we I just think this is not the game. You know,
14:31
Speaker 1: you're looking at a second round, you know, World Cup game,
14:34
Speaker 1: you know for which teams have been preparing for four years.
14:39
Speaker 1: I think all of that is context. Tom. This is
14:42
Speaker 1: not just a regular game, you know. I think you
14:45
Speaker 1: have to take that into you know, if you remember
14:47
Speaker 1: back to the twenty ten World Cup, you know Deyong's
14:52
Speaker 1: kick on Chavi Alonso right in this chest. I mean,
14:55
Speaker 1: that's a red card on every field, every day, all
14:58
Speaker 1: year long, no matter where, no matter what the score
15:01
Speaker 1: is ever and for the for the World Cup final,
15:04
Speaker 1: it wasn't a red card that day, right, I think,
15:07
Speaker 1: But I think that was context. That was context, And
15:10
Speaker 1: I'm not by the way I'm saying, I'm still thinking
15:12
Speaker 1: that arect card. That's still a red card because and
15:16
Speaker 1: probably should have got arrested for that, but but it's
15:19
Speaker 1: still but it's still context. The referee didn't want to
15:22
Speaker 1: change the outcome on one play, and I think yesterday
15:26
Speaker 1: context was more important than the actual foul. That's That's
15:29
Speaker 1: just what I believe.
15:31
Speaker 3: I a whole heartedly agree and just logistically slashed. Legally,
15:36
Speaker 3: the United States cannot appeal this red card. The decision
15:39
Speaker 3: is final. This is If we asked FIFA about this
15:43
Speaker 3: last night, they referred us to Article sixty six point four.
15:48
Speaker 2: Tab. I know you've got the rule book off the
15:49
Speaker 2: top of your head.
15:50
Speaker 3: But essentially decisions are final when you can't appeal, which
15:55
Speaker 3: I should have assumed that was FIFA's policy.
15:57
Speaker 2: I should have assumed.
15:58
Speaker 1: I wasn't sure if it was point four point five
16:00
Speaker 1: that's the so I knew it was like fifty six.
16:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, But like that was part of the conversation after
16:08
Speaker 3: the game is people are trying to figure things out,
16:10
Speaker 3: and so flow Balgin something that I respected the hell
16:14
Speaker 3: out of. After the game ends, final whistle goes, he showered.
16:18
Speaker 3: He's in sandals because you have to leave the field
16:19
Speaker 3: when he get sent off, go to the locker room.
16:21
Speaker 3: So because he showered changed, he came back onto the
16:24
Speaker 3: field to celebrate with his teammates, which I thought was
16:25
Speaker 3: very nice, and he went to the referees. He just
16:28
Speaker 3: shook all their hands. I can't say with certainty that
16:32
Speaker 3: he didn't say anything, but he was. He was very
16:34
Speaker 3: clearly not going over to scream at them. He was
16:36
Speaker 3: going over to shake their hands. I will say, I'm
16:39
Speaker 3: not I wonder if he knew and in that moment,
16:41
Speaker 3: with one hundred per cent certainty that they couldn't appeal.
16:43
Speaker 3: Because after the game of the in the press conference,
16:45
Speaker 3: Pochattino said something like, we need to, you know, see
16:49
Speaker 3: our options if.
16:50
Speaker 2: You know it would be fair to be able to
16:51
Speaker 2: appeal something to that effect.
16:53
Speaker 3: And the next question, like the one of the men
16:57
Speaker 3: member goes, hey, by the way, FIVA just told us
16:59
Speaker 3: you can't, and he goes, oh, okay, So I don't
17:03
Speaker 3: know if they didn't know that. And and because it's
17:06
Speaker 3: completely normal to assume, like in every other governing body
17:10
Speaker 3: competition you could appeal record. You can't appeal every single one,
17:14
Speaker 3: but you can't appeal particularly a club.
17:16
Speaker 2: So I'm trying to a long shot anyway.
17:19
Speaker 1: By the way, I'm trying to think if this was Argentina,
17:21
Speaker 1: whether the appeal rule is now now can change that day, right,
17:26
Speaker 1: you know it's like, oh, you know, we decided to
17:28
Speaker 1: put up a new rule. I mean, that wouldn't be
17:30
Speaker 1: I wouldn't be shocked by that. I mean it's my
17:32
Speaker 1: understanding that you can appeal if you were to get
17:34
Speaker 1: multiple games, right, if they were to say, okay, you
17:37
Speaker 1: get three games, you can appeal and lower it to one.
17:40
Speaker 1: But I just don't think you can get a one
17:42
Speaker 1: game suspension appeal.
17:44
Speaker 3: Correct, Now that you do remember now now that you
17:48
Speaker 3: know that it was article point four or not right exactly.
17:50
Speaker 1: Now that's coming back to me, it's coming back.
17:55
Speaker 3: Well, one more thing outside of Balgon. I know we've
17:58
Speaker 3: gone a little bit without talking about Miliek Tillman.
18:01
Speaker 2: What a goal.
18:01
Speaker 3: That was a free kick moment where he tells the
18:06
Speaker 3: media off for the game. His boots put open on
18:08
Speaker 3: the tackle and he had to like put on new
18:10
Speaker 3: shoes before the free kick, and as he's doing the interview,
18:13
Speaker 3: he's doing it like in his socks.
18:16
Speaker 2: His sock is split.
18:16
Speaker 3: Open and his his his he's completing like in his feet,
18:20
Speaker 3: his right foot, the one that he used the next time.
18:23
Speaker 3: He gets stamped on and then changes his cleats, puts
18:27
Speaker 3: the ball down as his as his big toe is bleeding,
18:29
Speaker 3: and whips the ball into the top of corner top.
18:31
Speaker 2: What a moment.
18:31
Speaker 1: Oh and it was. It was a yeah, it was
18:33
Speaker 1: a great free kick. And maybe he couldn't feel his
18:35
Speaker 1: foot it became a little easier to h to hit
18:38
Speaker 1: the ball. No, but you know, I have to tell
18:40
Speaker 1: you this, very few people can hit the ball that way.
18:44
Speaker 1: Uh where you where you hit it sort of with
18:45
Speaker 1: the between the inside and your instep. I don't want
18:49
Speaker 1: to get too technical on it, but I remember Clint
18:51
Speaker 1: Clint Dempsey was very good at it. I remember him
18:54
Speaker 1: in practice practicing that type of free kick. Obviously, Cristiano
18:58
Speaker 1: Ronaldo is the one who kind of put it out there.
19:00
Speaker 1: I think. I don't want to say he invented it,
19:03
Speaker 1: but the first time I saw it, dress was a
19:05
Speaker 1: Cristiano Ronaldo where he hit it with that part and
19:08
Speaker 1: then the ball kind of just drops without a spin. Yeah,
19:12
Speaker 1: but now I have to tell you, not very many
19:14
Speaker 1: players can do that. And I thought it was an
19:17
Speaker 1: excellent free kick because it's really difficult to put the
19:20
Speaker 1: ball from that close outside the box. It's really difficult
19:24
Speaker 1: to put the ball over the wall and into the goal.
19:27
Speaker 1: And not only did he put it over the wall
19:29
Speaker 1: and into the goal, he put it into the middle
19:30
Speaker 1: of the goal, which was really I mean, he hit
19:34
Speaker 1: the ball like not many players can hit the ball.
19:38
Speaker 2: I agree, And what a moment for him.
19:41
Speaker 3: We've talked plenty about how good his tournament has been
19:44
Speaker 3: and how good that we think he is, and he
19:47
Speaker 3: deserved that moment.
19:48
Speaker 2: He got that moment after the freaking happened.
19:51
Speaker 3: Well again, another thing that I like Pools sick seemed
19:54
Speaker 3: to want to take the free kick. He at least
19:58
Speaker 3: didn't protest too much. And when you I saw Anthony
20:00
Speaker 3: Robinson standing with it, Malik Tilman might as well have
20:03
Speaker 3: been alone. I don't think that the bossing goalkeeper defenders
20:06
Speaker 3: were falling for any any deception that it might be
20:09
Speaker 3: Anthony Robinson.
20:09
Speaker 2: And it didn't matter.
20:10
Speaker 3: And those are some of the most uh uh, most
20:13
Speaker 3: satisfying free kicks where it's like, yeah, like it's really
20:16
Speaker 3: cool to do a routine, or maybe the left footed
20:19
Speaker 3: player takes a few steps like no, no, no, this was.
20:22
Speaker 2: I'm gonna put the ball down.
20:23
Speaker 3: I'm gonna put it in that corner, good luck, and
20:26
Speaker 3: uh keeper couldn't get to it.
20:28
Speaker 2: And it was really cool.
20:28
Speaker 1: And and and if you if you remember, you know
20:30
Speaker 1: when he's stepping back, uh he stepped on Tyler Adam.
20:34
Speaker 1: Taler Adams was in the way, and I'm thinking, Tyler,
20:36
Speaker 1: get out of the way there. Well, he's so close, right,
20:39
Speaker 1: he taler Adams, right. And you're not taking the right
20:42
Speaker 1: right right. We know you're not gonna take this, so
20:45
Speaker 1: where'd you get out of the way? But yeah, and
20:47
Speaker 1: and I remember thinking, I wonder if this is going
20:49
Speaker 1: to bother him, you know, knowing that somebody's right behind him.
20:53
Speaker 1: But uh but anyway, Uh it was. It was a
20:55
Speaker 1: great free kick, and you know, I just wanted to
20:58
Speaker 1: make sure I said it that it's really difficult to
21:01
Speaker 1: hit the ball that way and very few players can
21:03
Speaker 1: do it.
21:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, what a cool moment and sent the stadium to pandemonium.
21:09
Speaker 3: And well again Malie Tilman gets the center the spotlight
21:11
Speaker 3: as he well deserves. What a time for a very
21:14
Speaker 3: very quick break up. Next we look ahead to Belgium
21:16
Speaker 3: in the round of sixteen. We talk about what Maricio
21:19
Speaker 3: Pochattino can do without flow Balgin in this game. So
21:22
Speaker 3: we'll be right back. Please rate, review, and subscribe to
21:24
Speaker 3: Inside American Soccer. Tom Bogan tab Rambles Reverence for podcast.
21:36
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Inside American Soccer. The United States beats
21:39
Speaker 3: Bosnia to nil in the round of thirty two to
21:41
Speaker 3: advance the round of sixteen against Belgium. It wasn't all
21:45
Speaker 3: the perfect news because flow Balgan picked up a controversial
21:48
Speaker 3: red card in the second half of that game, which
21:50
Speaker 3: means he's suspended for Belgium. Tab this is the team's
21:53
Speaker 3: leading scorer, somebody who has been extremely involved in a
21:58
Speaker 3: lot of build up moments and important physical battles. Most
22:02
Speaker 3: of all this so while the goals are the first
22:04
Speaker 3: and foremost, the team is going to be missing a
22:06
Speaker 3: lot without balgain.
22:08
Speaker 2: If you're Marisio Posatino, what do you do the starting lineup?
22:13
Speaker 1: Well, first, I think it's it's important to remind everyone that,
22:18
Speaker 1: you know, Balugan is an elite number nine and I
22:22
Speaker 1: think and obviously all due respect to you know, Brian
22:26
Speaker 1: mc Brian McBride, who is a true number nine and
22:30
Speaker 1: a great number nine for the US national team, all
22:33
Speaker 1: due respect to guys like you know, Eric Guinalda and
22:36
Speaker 1: the guys who have played that position at different times.
22:39
Speaker 1: I just think this is this is the best one
22:42
Speaker 1: we've ever had, you know. I he's just a true
22:48
Speaker 1: goals scorer Toime and I you know, when I look
22:50
Speaker 1: at the full World Cup and we're looking at the
22:52
Speaker 1: best players in the world other than the top four
22:56
Speaker 1: or five names that can that obviously everyone knows and
22:59
Speaker 1: you're talking about you know, the Embappes and the Hollands,
23:01
Speaker 1: and you know these guys, I think he's right right
23:05
Speaker 1: behind them. I don't you know, it doesn't take many
23:08
Speaker 1: chances for him to score. I mean yesterday, okay, he
23:10
Speaker 1: scored one, but he really scored like three right two?
23:13
Speaker 1: Got cold? I mean he does. And by the way,
23:17
Speaker 1: we didn't create anything yesterday. Think you know, you think
23:21
Speaker 1: about our game. We didn't create anything yesterday, and he
23:24
Speaker 1: almost scored a hat trick without us creating anything. And
23:27
Speaker 1: by the way, he got red carded with thirty minutes left.
23:30
Speaker 1: You know, this is a true like a true number
23:32
Speaker 1: nine who can do so much, and that's a big
23:36
Speaker 1: loss in terms of replacement. Here's what we got to
23:40
Speaker 1: play the we have to start playing the game again.
23:42
Speaker 1: What is Pogettino gonna do this time? Yeah, you know,
23:46
Speaker 1: I think for me and I think you're thinking the
23:49
Speaker 1: same way. Well, you know, just go, Peppy goes in.
23:52
Speaker 1: You know, Belligan is on Peppy goes in. Now does
23:55
Speaker 1: Bogettino decide now to maybe go I mean, it's Hachi
23:58
Speaker 1: Wright still there. You know, I haven't seen him at all,
24:02
Speaker 1: but could you know, since he hasn't played at all,
24:05
Speaker 1: is this the right time to put him in? I
24:08
Speaker 1: probably would say no to that. And because of that,
24:10
Speaker 1: we're really down to only one player that you can
24:13
Speaker 1: put in unless you want to you want to change
24:15
Speaker 1: completely the way you play, and I don't see that happening.
24:18
Speaker 1: I don't see that happening. I think you keep the
24:20
Speaker 1: team as it is. You stick Peppy in there, who
24:22
Speaker 1: has gotten a lot of minutes this World Cup already,
24:25
Speaker 1: and that's your best lineup, and you go with that.
24:28
Speaker 1: That's my feeling.
24:29
Speaker 3: Yes, So there is no like for like because Pepy
24:33
Speaker 3: has his own different strengths to bal him.
24:35
Speaker 2: There is no like for like for this player.
24:37
Speaker 3: But in terms of positional like for like and the
24:42
Speaker 3: least amount of changes you can make to the team,
24:44
Speaker 3: it's Peppy for Balgin. And again he won't hit the
24:47
Speaker 3: channels in the same way that Balgin does, so you
24:50
Speaker 3: have to make little tweaks, little nuances to try to
24:51
Speaker 3: get the most But in terms of a center forward,
24:54
Speaker 3: and I think that is the most likely scenario. Tap
24:56
Speaker 3: you brought up flow Balgin, and actually, let me start
24:59
Speaker 3: about Pepe.
25:01
Speaker 2: He hasn't scored for the US since twenty twenty four.
25:04
Speaker 2: He's been he's been ineffective at this World Cup. I
25:08
Speaker 2: don't even I don't.
25:09
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's fair to say that he's
25:11
Speaker 3: been bad because he hasn't had many opportunities, and while
25:14
Speaker 3: he didn't do anything individually against Australia, I thought that
25:18
Speaker 3: his movement and presence alone helped free the game up
25:21
Speaker 3: for other players. Turkey A he was pretty non existent,
25:24
Speaker 3: so you could probably dig him for that, but that's
25:26
Speaker 3: a team that was fully rotating. For Hajji Wright, I like,
25:31
Speaker 3: I could kind of talk myself into all right, well
25:33
Speaker 3: we haven't seen much much from from Pepe.
25:36
Speaker 2: Maybe HOW'DI Wright could get a run out.
25:38
Speaker 3: Hajji Wright has played one minute for the US in
25:40
Speaker 3: twenty twenty six. He missed the March camp with an injury,
25:45
Speaker 3: and I don't think he played in the friendlies. And
25:48
Speaker 3: that feels like all that is to say is Hajji
25:52
Speaker 3: Wright is very clearly behind Ricardo Pepe in Pochatino's and
25:57
Speaker 3: the staffs of mind. So it would be you know,
26:00
Speaker 3: while I like the idea or that, like we could
26:04
Speaker 3: talk about the possibility like he didn't. He just doesn't
26:07
Speaker 3: play that much under a Pochattino. But I think for
26:11
Speaker 3: me it's Peppy is most likely. And then right like
26:15
Speaker 3: you said, or I hope that they don't, but you
26:19
Speaker 3: could get a little bit overcomplicated and play polistic through
26:23
Speaker 3: the middle or play way in the attack and have
26:26
Speaker 3: him in polistick, changing and moving all the time. I
26:29
Speaker 3: just I think we've seen that a few times and
26:32
Speaker 3: a few times too many.
26:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, let's not forget he tried. He
26:36
Speaker 1: did try polistic as that as that false knowledge right
26:42
Speaker 1: right before that Belgium. Again, it was right before the
26:45
Speaker 1: Belgium game, right it.
26:46
Speaker 3: Was against Portugal, because it wasn't against Belgium, right like
26:50
Speaker 3: it was.
26:50
Speaker 1: Right before the Belgium game. We tried that. It didn't
26:53
Speaker 1: really it didn't really work. Now, maybe it didn't really
26:56
Speaker 1: work because you're also playing Portugal and Portugal is a
26:58
Speaker 1: great team anyway, you know that, So that that that
27:01
Speaker 1: could be. But I just don't think you have options
27:05
Speaker 1: at this point unless you want to change the rest
27:06
Speaker 1: of the line up around. And I just don't see
27:09
Speaker 1: at this point, with how well our three central midfielders
27:12
Speaker 1: are playing and how much support they're getting from both
27:15
Speaker 1: Robinson on one side and Desk on the other, I
27:18
Speaker 1: just don't I just don't see a reason to change
27:20
Speaker 1: so much. But I guess you never know. But I
27:24
Speaker 1: could see a straight up and I agree with you
27:26
Speaker 1: that you know Pepe has not had a great World
27:29
Speaker 1: Cup so far. But if it's one thing that you
27:32
Speaker 1: can count on with pepy As, he's going to give
27:34
Speaker 1: you that effort and if that's what you need, and
27:37
Speaker 1: he can come into midfield and hold the boat a
27:39
Speaker 1: little bit, you know, a lot of our dangerous runs
27:41
Speaker 1: can come from desk Tillman and McKinney. You know, those
27:45
Speaker 1: are the guys that have been getting in the box
27:46
Speaker 1: and have been dangerous. So those are the guys that
27:48
Speaker 1: could potentially come from behind with Polisic sort of you know,
27:51
Speaker 1: being the added uh sort of a server to those guys.
27:56
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think this really only one guy and
28:00
Speaker 1: only one thing we can do.
28:01
Speaker 3: Here, right, and it's just to tie bow too, Like
28:05
Speaker 3: Pulistic played through the center for Milan and was not good,
28:07
Speaker 3: right Like we've seen this in twenty twenty six, So
28:11
Speaker 3: you're compromising your best player, whose importance gets even more
28:16
Speaker 3: heightened without Baalion. So playing him out of position is
28:20
Speaker 3: first first, something that I would not do, and second
28:23
Speaker 3: it's not as if So if it's not Peppi the
28:27
Speaker 3: other or not a natural center forward, the options off
28:29
Speaker 3: the bench to start would be Weya Reina Zendejas Aaronson.
28:34
Speaker 3: None of those four players did anything this tournament to
28:38
Speaker 3: warrant all right, we should, you know, get get a
28:40
Speaker 3: little tricky with it, get a little complicated to get
28:42
Speaker 3: them in the lineup, like Giorana had the Trivella off
28:45
Speaker 3: the bench against Paraguay. Hasn't done anything else, Like I don't.
28:48
Speaker 3: I'm not even trying to take a shot at him
28:50
Speaker 3: or any of those other players. But if you're going
28:53
Speaker 3: to move Polistic out of like his natural position or
28:55
Speaker 3: his best position in this team, then for what to
29:00
Speaker 3: to start some like players that you're going to debate
29:02
Speaker 3: or be unconvinced about. So Tap, you and I both
29:07
Speaker 3: know well enough to uh never never be too confident
29:11
Speaker 3: and what we think the staff is going to do.
29:12
Speaker 2: But that's that's pretty straightforward to me.
29:15
Speaker 3: And so you you'd say, Peppie in and the rest
29:17
Speaker 3: of the eleventh the same is today.
29:19
Speaker 1: Everything stays the same. So you go with Freeman, Richards, Rheim, Robinson, Adams, Tillman,
29:25
Speaker 1: McKinnon in the middle desk on one side, Polisic on
29:27
Speaker 1: the other side, and just you add Peppe to that.
29:30
Speaker 1: You know, obviously there's going to be some different challenges
29:32
Speaker 1: from Belgium, because now Belgium may be the first team
29:35
Speaker 1: that actually attacks us, because we haven't had that yet
29:38
Speaker 1: this World Cup. So that'll be a completely different challenge
29:43
Speaker 1: for us, and it'll and it'll be a very tough
29:46
Speaker 1: opponent to deal with because they can hold the ball. Now,
29:48
Speaker 1: I think it's a better opponent than had we drawn Senegal,
29:51
Speaker 1: with the way Senegal played early, their speed, the way
29:55
Speaker 1: they can turn any you know, any play into a
29:59
Speaker 1: goal possibility, and I think that we're peaking at the
30:03
Speaker 1: right time Senegal too, And unfortunately in five minutes they
30:06
Speaker 1: blew their whole World Cup.
30:10
Speaker 2: That was crazy. One of the a quick sidebar.
30:14
Speaker 3: So I'm in the stadium hours before the US game
30:18
Speaker 3: starts and fans are getting let in, so they're the
30:21
Speaker 3: concourses are filling up. But it's not like right before
30:23
Speaker 3: the game, like you could still move around the Belgium game.
30:27
Speaker 3: It's like at the dying minutes there is American fans
30:30
Speaker 3: and Bosian fans hold old around TVs in the concourse
30:34
Speaker 3: and it was just like a really cool, like little
30:37
Speaker 3: moment of and like nobody it's not as if there
30:39
Speaker 3: was any animosity either way, but nobody's talking to each other,
30:41
Speaker 3: like everybody's just completely locked and focused on this incredibly
30:45
Speaker 3: wild game in which the winner of US Bosia faces
30:48
Speaker 3: the winner of that game. It was just a really
30:50
Speaker 3: cool moment where like I'm walking because I left where
30:53
Speaker 3: the press box it's to nothing and everybody talking about Senegal.
30:57
Speaker 3: I'm in the elevator right here that there's a goal, okay,
31:00
Speaker 3: And then I like, I walk onto the Congress like
31:02
Speaker 3: three minutes later and I'm like, what is every is
31:04
Speaker 3: the game over? It's like, oh no, it's too too
31:06
Speaker 3: It's going to extra time. Like that was that was insane.
31:09
Speaker 3: So Belgium on the other side, We're gonna get into
31:12
Speaker 3: the full Belgium preview breakdown everything in the coming days,
31:16
Speaker 3: so again subscribe to Inside American Soccer for that that's coming.
31:20
Speaker 2: But from a US perspective, the US.
31:23
Speaker 3: On Thursday will have their normal recovery session and then
31:26
Speaker 3: I'm assuming head to Seattle because that's where the next
31:28
Speaker 3: game is and get into market and have some preparations.
31:31
Speaker 3: So if you're Poachatino, what are you saying to the team,
31:35
Speaker 3: you know, after the game and in these coming days
31:37
Speaker 3: in the lead up to Belgium.
31:40
Speaker 1: I think if if you're him at this point, you're
31:43
Speaker 1: taking advantage of what just happened in the last thirty
31:46
Speaker 1: minutes of that game, because if we analyzed the game
31:49
Speaker 1: as a whole, we didn't create chances. We really were
31:53
Speaker 1: not good in the final third in this game, but
31:56
Speaker 1: the game kind of fell in our lap when we
31:59
Speaker 1: win Balag turns and scores that goal, and from then
32:02
Speaker 1: on we had a real professional performance in which we
32:05
Speaker 1: didn't give up anything. So I wouldn't focus so much
32:08
Speaker 1: on that part because that's sort of a little bit
32:10
Speaker 1: more of the negative part. I would focus on just
32:14
Speaker 1: the last thirty minutes of the game and on that
32:16
Speaker 1: unity of playing with ten and how we fight for
32:19
Speaker 1: each other, and how this is who we're going to be.
32:21
Speaker 1: And now we're going to play against Belgium and by
32:23
Speaker 1: the way, you know, they they got a little bit
32:26
Speaker 1: lucky to win their game, and now we're with eleven
32:28
Speaker 1: and we're re energized and we're ready to go. I
32:31
Speaker 1: would I would use in terms of mentality. That's that's
32:35
Speaker 1: the part that I think sticks out for me that
32:37
Speaker 1: as a coach, I would really I would really lean
32:40
Speaker 1: on us being so good with ten on the field
32:43
Speaker 1: and how we fought for each other. I think that
32:45
Speaker 1: becomes a key part of the next game.
32:49
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more. And I think that's I think
32:51
Speaker 3: that's what Poachatino was best at. Honestly, that's not to
32:54
Speaker 3: take away from his tactics or anything else, but the
32:58
Speaker 3: emotional motivation, locker room team building stuff. I think. I
33:01
Speaker 3: think he's very, very good the obvious. Trying to think
33:06
Speaker 3: of a different way to say, there's no other way
33:08
Speaker 3: to say than this is a legacy game. This could
33:11
Speaker 3: be a legacy game for him right that he is
33:14
Speaker 3: the most important attacker for the US, especially with Boalgan out.
33:20
Speaker 3: What is your outlook for Poolisic in this game, because
33:23
Speaker 3: he's pretty quiet against Belgium in March, completely different scenario,
33:27
Speaker 3: different situation, not the World Cup tap but also they weren't.
33:29
Speaker 2: Playing this current system for whatever reason.
33:32
Speaker 3: There was players in that group that three months later
33:35
Speaker 3: didn't make the World Cup roster, so that is a
33:37
Speaker 3: data point. But the two teams have gone into complete
33:40
Speaker 3: opposite direction since that day. What can we expect from
33:42
Speaker 3: Poolsic this week?
33:44
Speaker 1: Well, I mean we'd have to get into Belgium a
33:46
Speaker 1: little bit, and I won't go to get into it
33:48
Speaker 1: too much. But I think we have a clear advantage
33:51
Speaker 1: on that left side where Pulisic is because Kasetana is
33:54
Speaker 1: there by himself. Basically. You know, they tried to play
33:57
Speaker 1: Trusts Haard on the right side for Belgium, but he
34:00
Speaker 1: always goes inside. So that whole left side for Robinson
34:03
Speaker 1: and Polisic will likely be a playing against one player.
34:07
Speaker 1: Unless Belgium brings somebody out of midfield to cover one
34:10
Speaker 1: of those guys, there's usually no one, but they're outside
34:13
Speaker 1: back there. So I think Polistic is going to be
34:16
Speaker 1: in a situation where he's going to have an advantage,
34:19
Speaker 1: in particular because Anthony Robinson is very good at making
34:23
Speaker 1: those diagonal runs inside in which he gets someone busy
34:27
Speaker 1: and leaves leaves Pulisic on a one on one wide.
34:30
Speaker 1: So look, you know, in the end, I think we
34:32
Speaker 1: need more from Polisic. He has been kind of quiet,
34:35
Speaker 1: you know, if we look at the whole World Cup.
34:37
Speaker 1: You know, he played the first half of the first
34:39
Speaker 1: game and we've seen very little since. But I think
34:43
Speaker 1: I think that this is the moment, right, this is
34:46
Speaker 1: and by the way, you know around the sixteen where
34:49
Speaker 1: we are, this is where we always are right. The
34:51
Speaker 1: reason we have Pugettino here and the reason you know
34:54
Speaker 1: we hired a coach from outside to come in and
34:57
Speaker 1: and and that we went after the best coach we
34:59
Speaker 1: can so that we can win at least this game,
35:03
Speaker 1: right and so and so this is important. This is
35:05
Speaker 1: where the big players have to step up. And I
35:08
Speaker 1: think we have a lot of guys on a great
35:11
Speaker 1: part of their careers and at one hundred percent, and
35:13
Speaker 1: this is the moment where we have to shine.
35:17
Speaker 3: I couldn't agree more and I can't wait to break
35:19
Speaker 3: down that game. Tap DraftKings has the US and slight
35:22
Speaker 3: favorites to advance minus one twenty two over Belgium. I
35:26
Speaker 3: wonder what those odds would have been if though it
35:28
Speaker 3: was set in March. I think Belgium would have been
35:31
Speaker 3: a pretty heavy favorite after all of that. But it
35:33
Speaker 3: just goes to show the two directions these teams have gone.
35:36
Speaker 3: But it's around in sixteen. I can't wait to break
35:38
Speaker 3: all that down in the coming days, So stay tuned
35:40
Speaker 3: for a new episode, but it's not for one more
35:42
Speaker 3: quick break. Next up, we do look back at tabs
35:44
Speaker 3: Draft Kings predictions and did pretty.
35:46
Speaker 2: Good again, so thanks for listening to in South American Soccer.
35:49
Speaker 2: Please break the kins and.
36:00
Speaker 3: Welcome back to Inside American Soccer. Let's check back in
36:03
Speaker 3: on Tad's draftings picks and see how he did. The
36:06
Speaker 3: Draftings app is now available nationwide, the easiest way to
36:08
Speaker 3: get into the World Cup with just one app the
36:11
Speaker 3: round of thirty two. My god, it's been fun to have.
36:15
Speaker 3: I it surpassed my expectations. There's been a whole lot
36:18
Speaker 3: of good games. Let's start with Ivory Coast Norway. You
36:22
Speaker 3: said two to one Ivory Coast. That ends up two
36:24
Speaker 3: one Norway. What a fun game that one was too
36:27
Speaker 3: sure was And.
36:28
Speaker 1: This is one of the ones. I you know, and
36:30
Speaker 1: I had a little disclaimer before my last picks where
36:33
Speaker 1: I said, you know what, I'm gonna take a chance
36:35
Speaker 1: on a couple because I just have a I have
36:37
Speaker 1: a feeling about it. And to be fair, I don't
36:41
Speaker 1: think I'vey Coast played their best game. I think they
36:44
Speaker 1: had played better before. I think I had they played
36:47
Speaker 1: their best game. I really thought that they would be
36:49
Speaker 1: better than Norway. But in this game, I mean obviously
36:52
Speaker 1: still a game that could have gone either way. I
36:55
Speaker 1: think Norway took it and I but but at the
36:57
Speaker 1: same time, I think they deserve to win the game.
36:59
Speaker 1: Norway was nor was a little bit better than Ivery
37:02
Speaker 1: close that day.
37:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was.
37:05
Speaker 3: That was again, There's been so many good games. That
37:07
Speaker 3: one was really good. Sad to see every coast go
37:09
Speaker 3: home though, that was. I was very impressed by them,
37:12
Speaker 3: A team with good quality and a fun attacking team.
37:15
Speaker 3: But I sow is Norway France Sweden. I think this
37:18
Speaker 3: was one of the easier picks to have. Have you at
37:20
Speaker 3: France to win three one, and they took care of
37:22
Speaker 3: business very easily.
37:23
Speaker 1: Three Now, yeah, I mean I wanted it, as I
37:27
Speaker 1: said when I when I made the pick, I wanted
37:29
Speaker 1: to I wanted to make it a France four or
37:32
Speaker 1: five zero, because you know they have the ability to
37:34
Speaker 1: do that. But you know they sometimes they go on
37:38
Speaker 1: cruise control a little bit. Still, this game, they could
37:41
Speaker 1: have won seven zero. They clearly could have won seven zero.
37:45
Speaker 1: I thought that somehow Sweden would get a goal in
37:48
Speaker 1: this game. They didn't, you know, I said three zero.
37:51
Speaker 1: They won three to one in the end, at least
37:54
Speaker 1: on this one. I wasn't that far off.
37:57
Speaker 3: No, listen to correct score. That's always a crap and
38:00
Speaker 3: I think you're getting getting all this. Well, the next one,
38:03
Speaker 3: no Mexico Verus Ecuador. You went for the upset for
38:05
Speaker 3: Ecuador and Mexico won two nil. And my god, the
38:10
Speaker 3: scenes that came out of Mexico City, Guadalajara anywhere. I
38:13
Speaker 3: was in San Jose and it's a very proud Mexican
38:16
Speaker 3: American population in community up here. There was a watch
38:19
Speaker 3: party in the city a couple of hours before the game.
38:22
Speaker 3: Watch party was capacity in a city square in San Jose.
38:28
Speaker 3: We got to watch the game with a lot of
38:30
Speaker 3: Mexican fans. It was really fun. Two hours after the game,
38:33
Speaker 3: come back out on the street, they're partying.
38:36
Speaker 2: It's it's you.
38:37
Speaker 3: If you walked out and somebody told you it was Guadalajara,
38:39
Speaker 3: you would have been like, yeah, that makes it was God,
38:41
Speaker 3: it was so cool to be a part of. But
38:42
Speaker 3: that game tap Mexico beats Ecuador pretty convincingly.
38:47
Speaker 1: Yeah. First, I'll say, I'm in Toronto and there was
38:50
Speaker 1: Mexico jerseys everywhere, so you know, just think about it.
38:54
Speaker 1: I think we had that going all over US and
38:56
Speaker 1: all over Canada, and the game was played.
38:58
Speaker 2: In Mexico, right, So.
39:00
Speaker 1: That's I think that's that's how many fans Mexico has. Really,
39:04
Speaker 1: they're you know, they're everywhere. Yeah, this was a This
39:08
Speaker 1: was a big surprise for me. I have to say,
39:12
Speaker 1: I haven't seen Mexico play this well in a couple
39:15
Speaker 1: of decades. I have to say, at the very least
39:17
Speaker 1: a couple decades. Honestly, this was a hard playing Mexican team.
39:20
Speaker 1: This was the Mexico team that we always thought we
39:24
Speaker 1: were getting, not only back in the day when I
39:27
Speaker 1: was playing, but a little bit after. Also you always
39:30
Speaker 1: got that maximum effort. You know, they go after every ball,
39:34
Speaker 1: you know, every every play is important, every play they
39:37
Speaker 1: go as hard as they can go. This was that
39:40
Speaker 1: Mexico team and and Ecuador didn't really have an answer
39:43
Speaker 1: for it. I thought Ecuador has a better team, they
39:46
Speaker 1: have better players, but they certainly didn't show it. And
39:49
Speaker 1: Mexico won to zero and actually could have won by more.
39:54
Speaker 3: There was there was never a moment after Mexico took
39:56
Speaker 3: the lead that I thought Ecuador were equalizing. What Mexico
40:00
Speaker 3: haven't conceded a goal with this World Cup, by the way,
40:02
Speaker 3: just stunning, stunning stuff. And Man England versus Mexico at
40:06
Speaker 3: the Azteca. That's one of that might be the game
40:09
Speaker 3: I'm looking most forward to in a round of sixteen.
40:11
Speaker 3: But let's talk about England. England beat the or Congo
40:14
Speaker 3: two to one. Boy, did they have to work for
40:16
Speaker 3: a tab? You said England won nil, so you knew
40:19
Speaker 3: it was gonna be a close game and the or
40:21
Speaker 3: Congo took the lead held on for a while.
40:24
Speaker 2: But Harry Kane is inevitable and scored both goals.
40:26
Speaker 1: Yeah, there really has not been a lot about England
40:29
Speaker 1: that has convinced me that they're a contender at this point.
40:32
Speaker 1: You know, they have good players and no doubt about it,
40:36
Speaker 1: they you know, yet other than than Harry Kane, which,
40:39
Speaker 1: by the way, he can score a goal no matter
40:42
Speaker 1: what they're doing, it seems, you know, he's obviously one
40:46
Speaker 1: of the best number nine that I think, for me,
40:49
Speaker 1: one of the best nines that have ever played the game.
40:52
Speaker 1: And uh, and he's showing it, you know. And and
40:55
Speaker 1: when you have a number nine like that, you can
40:57
Speaker 1: really get on his shoulders. And that's basically Whatland is
41:00
Speaker 1: doing because the rest of the team has been for me,
41:03
Speaker 1: pretty much inconsistent and has not developed a way yet.
41:07
Speaker 1: So if I had to tell you, okay, this is
41:08
Speaker 1: what England is doing to hurt teams. I really don't know.
41:12
Speaker 1: I can't tell you. You know, Medawak makes some plays
41:15
Speaker 1: on the right side, you know, Declan Rice obviously, you know,
41:19
Speaker 1: goes you know a little bit like McKinney where he
41:21
Speaker 1: makes those runs into the box from behind. You know.
41:24
Speaker 1: But there's really nothing outstanding about this England team, and
41:27
Speaker 1: I think if they don't step up their game, they're
41:29
Speaker 1: going to have a tough time in Mexico City.
41:33
Speaker 3: The game against Congo, the commentators were noticing how tired
41:38
Speaker 3: or you know, how hard everybody was working that was
41:40
Speaker 3: in air conditioning with the pro England crowd in Atlanta.
41:45
Speaker 3: If they play like that, they're going to lose three
41:46
Speaker 3: to Zeril. Against Mexico, They're like, they're not going to
41:48
Speaker 3: touch the ball. So man, I'm really really looking forward
41:50
Speaker 3: to that one Belgium Senegal tab you said two one Belgium,
41:54
Speaker 3: You've got It ended up being correct in the end,
41:56
Speaker 3: three to two. It was quite the game though.
41:59
Speaker 1: It was I you know, I knew Senegal obviously, and
42:04
Speaker 1: we said it on the show that we were like, okay,
42:06
Speaker 1: this is the true African champion team. We knew that
42:09
Speaker 1: this was a great team and that and that, honestly,
42:12
Speaker 1: that this game could go either way. I didn't expect
42:16
Speaker 1: for Senegal to dominate Belgium the way they did. I
42:20
Speaker 1: thought Senegal was most of the game, you know, ninety
42:24
Speaker 1: percent of the game. They were the better team and
42:26
Speaker 1: deserving of the win. I thought it would be more
42:30
Speaker 1: of a you know, fifty to fifty game and in
42:33
Speaker 1: the end, Belgium's experience would get them through. Not that
42:38
Speaker 1: Senegal doesn't have the experience. I just think that Belgium
42:41
Speaker 1: is the type of team that's used to winning more
42:44
Speaker 1: of these type of games in World Cups, and they
42:46
Speaker 1: still have, you know, the remains of their golden generation,
42:49
Speaker 1: let's say. And you know, and in the end, don't
42:52
Speaker 1: forget that that games that are fifty to fifty goalkeepers
42:55
Speaker 1: play a big part in my way. You know, having
42:58
Speaker 1: Kurtwine goal is it deal. You know, he's not He's
43:02
Speaker 1: very difficult to be and so that's why I picked Belgium.
43:05
Speaker 1: In the end, I got it right. But the game
43:07
Speaker 1: didn't go as as I expected it to go, that's for.
43:10
Speaker 3: Sure, and Belgium subbed off to down too Nail fifty
43:15
Speaker 3: six minute they sub off Doku and de Bruna.
43:18
Speaker 2: Wonder how that went over in the locker room.
43:19
Speaker 3: So we'll see what happens if anything comes out over
43:22
Speaker 3: the next two days ahead of their game against the United.
43:24
Speaker 2: States, because the US beat Bosia too.
43:27
Speaker 3: Nail, And would you look at that sap you said
43:29
Speaker 3: to Nail USA in your DraftKings predictions, got that one
43:32
Speaker 3: spot on the big one.
43:34
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got that one right. And actually the game
43:36
Speaker 1: went exactly as I expected it. I remember mentioning that
43:40
Speaker 1: I thought that likely this game would go into the
43:42
Speaker 1: second half zero zero, and that we would eventually almost
43:45
Speaker 1: work through it. I thought we'd have a tough time
43:49
Speaker 1: breaking this team down, and you know, it's not every
43:51
Speaker 1: game that you're going to find an own goal by
43:52
Speaker 1: the other team to start the game. Not everybody's going
43:55
Speaker 1: to score an own goal to you know. So I
43:59
Speaker 1: thought we'd have a tough time breaking them down, and
44:01
Speaker 1: we actually did. The game was for sure. Maybe the
44:04
Speaker 1: game was even a little bit more difficult than I
44:06
Speaker 1: expected in terms of like the lack of creation that
44:10
Speaker 1: we had in it. But the game went according to
44:13
Speaker 1: what I thought it was going to go. It would
44:14
Speaker 1: take a while, we'd eventually get one and eventually get
44:17
Speaker 1: another and and win comfortably at the end. But I
44:20
Speaker 1: knew that we'd have we'd have a tough time.
44:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, And even the goal was off of counterpressing moment.
44:29
Speaker 3: It was ream a first time a difficult first time
44:33
Speaker 3: pass forward out of the air, and then I forget
44:36
Speaker 3: if it was Tilman or McKinney that turned and played
44:39
Speaker 3: another ball forward right or like that was well done
44:41
Speaker 3: by the US, because anytime that Bosnia was in their block,
44:44
Speaker 3: if they were really difficult to break down, they defended well.
44:46
Speaker 3: But even on that goal, it's an attempted through ball
44:50
Speaker 3: to Balgin that had no shot at getting to him,
44:52
Speaker 3: and a Belgian defender trying to like deflected the ball
44:56
Speaker 3: it rolls into Balgan's paths. It's a nice finish, but
44:59
Speaker 3: it's not as if that was a twenty two past
45:00
Speaker 3: sequence that broke them down like it was. I don't know,
45:03
Speaker 3: you know, it was very, very It was a difficult
45:05
Speaker 3: team to break down to all. All it is to say,
45:07
Speaker 3: it's your point that like that could have been, they
45:10
Speaker 3: could have went. That was that close to going in
45:12
Speaker 3: a halftime till nil and they then score on a
45:15
Speaker 3: free kick in the second half. It's not as if
45:17
Speaker 3: these were passages from the run of play that was overwhelming.
45:19
Speaker 3: The Bosie defense. Bosing defense is quite good.
45:22
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it was you know you talk about Yeah,
45:24
Speaker 1: I mentioned before obviously the first two games, you know,
45:28
Speaker 1: Paraguay in Australia, we got two own goals. In this
45:31
Speaker 1: case we got to know an assist, right, because we
45:34
Speaker 1: did get an assist from from one of their defenders.
45:37
Speaker 1: So but we'll take that that only happens when you're
45:39
Speaker 1: when you're pressing, you know, and and and that's what
45:42
Speaker 1: we did. We put them under pressure and eventually, you know,
45:45
Speaker 1: defenses will will break down when you put them under pressure.
45:47
Speaker 1: So that it certainly, I don't want to minimize the
45:51
Speaker 1: the goal because that that only comes from from you
45:55
Speaker 1: being front foot and being on top of the other team.
46:00
Speaker 3: Of course, what a day it was in Santa Clara,
46:03
Speaker 3: Northern California to nil the US over Bosnia and now
46:07
Speaker 3: the round of sixteen against Belgium. We will be back
46:10
Speaker 3: very very soon with a preview episode for that game,
46:12
Speaker 3: so please rate, review, and subscribe to Inside American Soccer
46:16
Speaker 3: wherever you gets your podcast. Can't wait to talk about
46:18
Speaker 3: this game's hab see you.
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