Latest / Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football / Olympic preview: France with Assile Toufaily

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Olympic preview: France with Assile Toufaily · Into the Channel ⚽️ A Podcast Primarily About Women's Football

0:03
OK, welcome to into the channel podcast primarily about women's
0:08
football before we hit the pitch.
0:09
If you enjoy the show or love women's football as much as we
0:12
do, come kick it with us already.
0:14
We're doing this every single week.
0:15
I mean now we're we might be over three times a week in the
0:19
Olympics preview period. We're really cranking them out
0:21
special guests here today to help us get through one of the
0:24
favorites. I would say so very excited
0:26
about this episode. Subscribe follow YouTube,
0:28
Spotify, Apple podcast where every you'd like to watch or
0:30
listen links to all of our socials.
0:32
In the show notes of this episode.
0:33
I am host Dino de Suspis and as always, I'm joined by my Co host
0:37
Mr. Grant Angle. What is up man?
0:40
Oh, I'm feeling fantastic buddy. And that is because we are
0:42
celebrating the return of one of the greatest guests in the
0:45
history of this podcast. She is a footballer, APHD
0:48
candidate and a journalist who is currently a freelance
0:51
football writer for Forbes. She previously played for
0:54
Lebanon's women's national team and in the ecosystem of great
0:57
friends of the pod, we consider her among the greatest.
1:00
As I said, please welcome back to the show for her second
1:03
appearance, our number 10A seal to filing.
1:07
Hi guys, How are you? Thank you so much for this
1:10
introduction. As you said, you're considering
1:12
me as one of the stars of your show.
1:15
But I'm also, I have to say that over the last couple of months,
1:19
I said it last time, I'm really enjoying your episodes.
1:22
I'm also really enjoying the choices of the guests and now I
1:26
have this, the suede on my shoulders that after the two or
1:30
three previous guests on me this time.
1:32
So I'm really excited for this episode.
1:35
You'll more than live up to it. Absolutely.
1:37
Yeah, definitely happy to have you.
1:38
Yeah. You're now you're at the top of
1:39
the leaderboard in terms of appearances on the show.
1:41
It's basically you and Camp Hope.
1:43
So I think we're going to be hoping for a deep France run so
1:46
we can get you back and get you up to the top spot.
1:48
I see. I got to start.
1:50
I want to rewind back a bit. I got to say some of our
1:53
audience was very emotional after your last appearance
1:59
before the OL Barcelona Champions League final.
2:02
They had a lot of things to say, nothing too, nothing too bad.
2:05
But you know, they they definitely let their emotions
2:08
maybe get the best of them in our comments section.
2:11
So anything in particular you want to see to those Barcelona
2:13
fans? Not really.
2:15
Actually, I, I, I saw the comments and I talked to this
2:18
about this with the Grant. I'm one of those people who know
2:21
how to separate women's football from men's football.
2:24
I love Real Madrid on the men's side, but on the women's side I
2:28
watched them. I see the progress and
2:30
everything, but I don't like the club system of not investing in
2:34
the women's team as much. So when I was talking about
2:37
Olympic Leone against Barsa, I wasn't really doing it from a
2:40
Real Madrid point of view. It was rather from someone
2:43
who've seen how crucial this match was for Olympic Leone's
2:46
own success for the future. Because we've seen how French
2:50
football has done graded over the years.
2:53
England are better now, the Spanish system better, and I
2:57
needed this one. So I believe that they had a
3:00
chance. And I've watched the game two or
3:02
three times. I think Barsa were great, but
3:05
you'll never have this bad performance of you ever again.
3:10
They were really bad. So it's like they were too, too
3:14
emotionally unready to play Barsa because they knew that
3:17
they're gonna lose possession. Like Barsa will have the
3:19
possession all match long and they're just gonna run, run,
3:22
run, run behind the ball. And this is something they're
3:24
not used to because in the French league they have the
3:26
possession all throughout the season.
3:28
So I think that they weren't ready.
3:30
So the midfield battle was lost from the very first minutes of
3:35
it. I believe that Lindsay Horan or
3:37
Van de Dunk can bring something additional.
3:40
So I'm not gonna apologize or come back from what I said.
3:44
I'm still convinced that but but I could have played or managed
3:49
10 win if they managed to close up their defense.
3:52
But they weren't the first goal from Aitana Balmati.
3:55
She literally just ran behind the the Marise Gorola and she
3:59
was one-on-one with Vanessa Gill and we know how fast Aitana is
4:02
in one-on-one. So I think that they're just
4:05
Barsa were here. They wanted to win.
4:06
They wanted the revenge from 2022 and and Olympic Ronia
4:10
weren't. So that's how I see it.
4:12
Yeah, let's be, let's be honest, a little bit of luck for Aitana,
4:15
you know, a little deflection, You know, who knows what happens
4:17
from there? There you go.
4:18
Now they're coming at they're going to come after you, even
4:20
though you picked them. Dino, go back and check the
4:23
tapes before you start commenting.
4:25
All right, so let's get into a little bit of the France
4:27
preview. I think we all have pretty high
4:30
expectations for the squad, but you're on the ground.
4:34
What would you say the expectations are for this team?
4:37
It has to be the gold mental. You're the host.
4:40
It's the last chance for a couple of players like Wendy
4:43
Ronard, Amandine, Ori, Janila Sommer, who are all in their 30s
4:47
or mid 30s. So they have to push for the
4:50
gold medal. And if they enter the
4:52
competition not wanting to win gold, it's going to be hard.
4:55
So that's the, the, the, the normal thing to do is just to
4:59
enter the competition wanting to win gold.
5:01
So that's easy. As for the fans or for the
5:04
experts and the journalists around the women's team, I've
5:07
noticed that some of them are hesitant because of the last
5:11
performances, because of some statistics in the recent months.
5:16
I would say that they have they have to try to win it and if
5:20
they don't, because we know that I've tried to find the like
5:23
Francis Rd. they might bump into Spain in the in the semi final.
5:27
So when we saw the two zero loss in the Nations League, they have
5:31
to at least hope to get the 3rd place.
5:33
So at least a medal because France has never won anything on
5:38
the international level, not even a single medal.
5:40
So they have to or else why would I don't know.
5:44
We consider Revenge Ronach as one of the best in the world,
5:47
but herself she she wouldn't be satisfied if she has 20 plus
5:52
trophies with Olympic Leone and zero with France.
5:54
So she has to at least to win something.
5:57
I'm curious. I mean, I think people know
5:59
manager Irvine Renard, he's going to move on after this
6:02
tournament anyway. Let's say they do fall short of
6:05
a medal, they lose to Spain, maybe they lose in the bronze
6:09
medal match. Are there shake UPS you can do
6:11
in an organization and like in a national team organization, are
6:14
there other parts of the infrastructure that they would
6:16
like have to think about? Or do you kind of sunset all
6:20
those veteran players that you talked about and say, hey guys,
6:23
thanks for thanks for everything you've done?
6:25
Like, what do you do as a national team if you kind of
6:28
fall short of expectations outside of just the manager
6:30
leaving? If you want to take an example
6:33
of the US women's national team lately, it was Vlad who resigned
6:37
and they brought in a manager who's considered one of the top
6:41
three in the world in women's football in Emma Hayes.
6:44
Well, it might be something as simple as just a managerial
6:47
change, but I believe that in France's condition or situation
6:51
it's different because the issue isn't about the national team,
6:55
it's the league. And I'm one of the people who
6:58
are convinced that when you have a, I'm not going to say bad
7:01
league, but a league with kind of no competition or no high
7:05
level intensity, you're going to have kind of bad national team.
7:09
So even if some will say that also in Spain, you have only
7:13
Barsa dominating the league, but the quality of players in Barsa
7:17
is incredible because of La Macia, because of the whole
7:20
Spanish system where it's all about possession, keeping the
7:23
ball, learning how to be excellent technically.
7:26
And you've seen it with the national team.
7:28
They want the Women's World Cup, the men's EUR, even on the under
7:31
19, on under under 17 sides, they're winning everything.
7:34
So in France, I think it has to be a change from the bottom.
7:38
If you look at the number of players who are coming up from
7:42
the youth ranks to the professional teams in France,
7:45
most of them aren't getting the minutes.
7:47
And if you look at this squad as well, you don't have youngsters.
7:51
So how do you want the team to improve if your youngest player
7:55
is Salma Bosh at 23, you you have Jayden Shaw at 19 with the
8:00
US national team. So there has to be this change
8:03
of philosophy where we have to make the league professional.
8:06
They just did it. It had to be done five years
8:08
later after the Women's World Cup, which was hosted in France.
8:12
They should have used it as a heritage or legacy to improve
8:15
the game, elevate the number of players, youth players,
8:19
introduce new teams, make it professional.
8:22
But they just did it now because they've noticed or like it's
8:25
like they got a bump in their face that OK, we lost the
8:28
battle. We're not the most developed
8:31
country in Europe in terms of women's football.
8:33
We have to move. They should have done this a few
8:35
years ago. So I think for this case, in
8:38
case they fail, nothing will be really done except for the
8:42
managerial change and to just wait and see what the
8:46
professional league might change.
8:47
But the real test will be the 2027 World Cup and the EUR next
8:51
year. With regard to this French
8:54
roster, you talked about the lack of maybe like young players
8:57
coming up. I know Vicki Beto's there as a
9:00
reserve, but were you surprised by any of the roster decisions
9:04
specifically? I've kind of expected it, like
9:07
if you have 18 players. I think.
9:10
For me, I had 16 players who were surely going because since
9:15
the Women's World Cup it's kind of the same players you've seen
9:18
with the Spanish national team. You have the the last 15 who
9:22
came back to the national team and the Emma Hayes added many
9:25
players recently. Alex Morgan isn't called up to
9:28
so you have changes in France, it's kind of stagnating.
9:32
You have the same players and Verona loves this idea of having
9:36
the experienced players with a few additions.
9:38
So I had 16 and team players who were kind of 100% going to be
9:43
caught in. My only hesitation was actually
9:47
seeing Janila Sommer because she's still recovering from an
9:51
injury and just I think 2 days ago, right after the I forgot if
9:57
it was after or before the Ireland match during the press
10:01
conference said that she had minor injury, I think quadriceps
10:06
or something and she's not expected to play in the group
10:09
stage. So Oh my God.
10:12
So. I.
10:13
Love that she's the top scorer in the history of France.
10:17
I love what she brings on the field.
10:19
But this is the Olympics, it's not the World Cup.
10:21
You have 12 nations. It's a very short competition.
10:25
So bringing Ajani and maybe she won't play until the semifinals,
10:29
if they reach the semifinals, I don't really like it.
10:32
They say that sometimes they take risk by this, but we all
10:36
remember what they did. They shot did with Kareem
10:38
Benzema. Benzema was about to miss two
10:41
matches in the group stage and he just sent him back abroad,
10:44
didn't even bring someone else. He had the squad missing a
10:48
player. So I really thought he would
10:51
take Vicky Basho and not take Virginia.
10:54
Actually, I wanted this. But at the same time, I knew
10:56
that he was going to take the most experienced player and
10:58
maybe this is her last Olympics ever or maybe international
11:01
competition. And I also thought he would take
11:04
F Peresi. Chelsea's right back.
11:06
She's started for Chelsea and with France, she's always on the
11:10
bench. Makes you wonder why.
11:11
Like when you see how he's playing, he plays Wendy is kind
11:15
of always the fixed center back and then you have buck aside
11:19
her. But if buck isn't fit, he has
11:22
either Laclaire or the Almeida. He plays one as a center back
11:25
and the other as a ride back. But she's not a ride back.
11:27
Like she's not purely a ride back.
11:29
So he's using a center back as a ride back and he has F Perise.
11:33
F Perise is a reserve. So it's kind of like like why?
11:37
Why being stubborn? Why wanting to keep the same
11:39
names if you know that perise has been excellent for Chelsea
11:42
throughout the season. So this is my I only regret.
11:46
Yeah, I feel like you see that with some managers and people on
11:49
the outside, pundits and sometimes even players.
11:52
You just kind of look at it. It's just I think using the word
11:55
stubborn is accurate or it's just like, dude, you gotta at
11:59
least try something like obvious.
12:01
Like I always say, I never, I'm not gonna pretend like I know
12:04
more about football than Irv a Renard.
12:06
But I do know sometimes if you have an outside perspective, you
12:09
might look at something and be like, hey, man, this is actually
12:12
right in front of your face. And it's it's obvious to a lot
12:14
of people. You just can't see it.
12:16
I actually think that the US team had a little bit of that
12:18
going into the 23 World Cup. A lot of players there that you
12:22
saw like immediately after the World Cup, they were kind of out
12:24
of the mix out of the US WNT mix.
12:26
So I think that Emma Haye is coming in, has made a good
12:29
amount of changes. I think we've seen a lot of
12:31
roster upheaval. So maybe a coaching change in
12:34
France could be sort of what's needed there.
12:37
But obviously, it's always, always tricky, too, to have a
12:39
manager that, you know, is 1 foot out the door, you know, in
12:42
a tournament like this because you just sort of wonder, are his
12:45
messages being heard? You know, does he have the same
12:47
influence in the locker room? Is it sort of going to be like a
12:50
one last rally for the coach moment or is it sort of like,
12:52
all right, let's get through this tournament and see what
12:54
happens? There was also this problem, I
12:57
don't know if you guys knew about it, but during the gun,
13:00
which is the African Championship, the Ivory Coast
13:04
head coach was fired and the federation called Harvey Honar
13:09
and asked if he would love to come and coach the Ivory Coast
13:13
national team for 20 days duration.
13:15
And instead of saying no, he took the negotiations with the
13:19
French federation. The players, the French players
13:21
said they were OK and it's no, it's not a big deal and we
13:25
understand his choice and he's 100% focused on us.
13:28
But how, how is he focused on the national team if he's
13:32
searching for an adventure abroad?
13:34
So this caused a lot of problems in France.
13:37
It was in January. And right after that you've seen
13:40
that the the performance isn't great.
13:44
You're not enjoying the matches. There's no tactical schemes in
13:47
the match and you have him saying that he's not going to
13:50
stay. So was this just a rebound for
13:53
him? Like he has just finished from
13:54
Saudi Arabia? He wanted to be in the media, so
13:58
he got the French national team, you know how how it is followed
14:01
by the French media and maybe just want to find another nation
14:04
to coach. So I had my deserves on this.
14:07
I knew he was a good choice, but at the same time, he's not a
14:09
women's football expert. He's not a coach who he never
14:12
coached women's football. And he's here for the duration
14:15
of I think he stayed one year and four months because he came
14:19
in March. Yeah, not even a year and a half
14:22
and he's just leaving to join another national site.
14:25
So this also left some questions.
14:27
Was it really the best option or was it just a media coup from
14:32
the federation just wanting to bring a big name to show that
14:35
they invested in women's football?
14:36
Could be that is really interesting.
14:38
And he has, I had to look it up just to make sure I wasn't
14:42
misremembering. Yeah, but he has that.
14:44
I mean, he has a pretty in depth history in African football on
14:48
the men's side that is pretty crazy to you're the manager of
14:52
the French national team. And to think that like maybe I
14:55
can moonlight a little bit or pick up a side gig doing doing
14:59
this other other job. That's pretty bold.
15:02
I would say maybe a bit, maybe edging on the on the side of
15:05
arrogant if I could say. If you just compare it with what
15:08
Serena Wigman said two days ago when she was asked about the
15:11
Three Lions rumors, the FA had her as an option.
15:15
She's like, this is so disrespectful for the women's
15:18
side. I'm 100% committed with the
15:20
women's side. Maybe she's already talking with
15:23
FFA about this. Maybe she will end up being the
15:26
men's coach, but she has the qualifiers, she's here, she has
15:30
a match. She's not jumping around
15:33
searching for another opportunity.
15:34
Or personally, I didn't appreciate it at all.
15:37
I had an opinion about. I was convinced that he might
15:40
bring something new and when I saw this decisions I kind of
15:44
withdrew. I'm like, no, it's not the best
15:46
option. You really have to have someone
15:48
who wants to develop the women's football in the country not only
15:52
work for his civil or work to have another job post France.
15:57
Yeah, for sure. So I mean, I think the big part
16:00
of a manager's responsibilities and it sounds like it's not
16:04
something that Renard has really been focused on.
16:07
But to me, I always think about developing young players.
16:10
You had mentioned earlier that there aren't a ton of of really
16:14
young players on this roster. But if you kind of had to look
16:17
around, is there anybody that jumps out or are we looking at
16:21
or would we have to go to the reserves or like is there anyone
16:24
who might on a star-studded roster, is there any kind of
16:28
youngish player who people might look and say, oh, OK, this
16:31
player is even better than I expected?
16:33
I have one name in my head. We've seen Vicky Basho at the
16:36
Women's World Cup so we know she she's got the potential and she
16:40
could have had her chance. I don't know.
16:43
You have five or four, four words.
16:47
I have the list right in front of me.
16:48
Maybe Sandy Batimar wasn't as important as Vicki Besho the
16:52
last year for example. But for me, the player who had
16:56
to be in the squad is a 19 year old in Espenaria.
17:00
She's a Olympic Loni Academy product and she played the
17:04
season on loan at LUAF. She finished as the top prospect
17:09
of the Di Aquema. She won the award of being the
17:11
best. And she's back with Leon now.
17:14
And so far there are talks and Leon that she's going to be one
17:18
of the key players in midfield. She plays as a 10.
17:20
And ever since Luisa Nessie back in, I don't know, 5-6 years ago,
17:26
France never had the real #10 you know, the playmaker who can
17:30
really get in between the lines. And she was with the squad, she
17:34
got an injury. So some of them are saying that
17:36
maybe that's the reason. But it wasn't even in the list
17:39
when they announced it. So I would have loved to have
17:42
Ines because all our midfielders like Santi, Toretti, Montinori,
17:48
Kenza, Dali, Cazquejo, they all CDMS and CMS.
17:51
You don't have a pure CM who can drive the ball forward or create
17:55
these chances. And you've noticed all of
17:57
France's game is from the white, someone who comes place to
18:00
Sakina or Salma and just cross and hope for a miracle from
18:04
Katoto. So it's not it's not something
18:06
from the width and it's something that France used to
18:09
have with Louisa Nassib and Camille Abili.
18:11
So I really wanted to see Nasban, yeah, because she's in
18:14
terms of technically gifted or technically able to drive
18:17
through the middle. She was the the go to player.
18:20
So I really wanted to see her that's.
18:23
Something we're going to keep an eye out for this upcoming season
18:26
for sure. I wanted to ask a quick question
18:28
now moving things on to the pitch like tournaments coming up
18:31
to right around the corner. I don't want to put the the gold
18:34
medal pressure necessarily on on on France.
18:36
But if this team is to reach a final, let's say, what would you
18:40
imagine is the recipe? Like what kind of ball do they
18:43
need to be playing for for that outcome to hit?
18:46
I think it has to be adapt, something that is that works
18:51
according to every opponent. I've had a discussion with a
18:54
former national team player for the article for Forbes that is
18:57
coming up next week. Her name is Jessica Huaira, she
19:00
used to play as a right back for Pezzier and Lyon.
19:03
She played at the €2017.00 and 2015 World Cup, so in Canada and
19:10
she told me we had the best squad in the history of France
19:14
with the Luiza and Camille and Elise Buserkia.
19:17
And the problem was always mental.
19:19
We had the best players. In terms of technical ability,
19:22
she told me we had nothing to envy. the US women's national
19:26
team, we were better technically and we were also good
19:28
physically. The only difference the the
19:31
girls at the US squad, they were ready to die on the pitch for
19:35
the international team or just to grab the win.
19:37
This is something that France lacks.
19:39
And she said a sentence that really I, I knew about it.
19:42
But the way she said like it hit me, she told me we have to know
19:46
how to hurt ourselves. If they have to know that
19:49
against Canada they might have 60% possession so they can play
19:53
open play football, they can play through the wings, try
19:57
something new. But against Spain they will lose
19:59
possession, they won't have possession.
20:01
So they have to know how to stay patient, to be patient and to
20:05
wait for the right opportunity to attack.
20:08
So I think this is what is important for France.
20:11
They have to know that in the group stage you have 3 opponents
20:15
with different type of football. So you have Colombia who likes
20:18
to keep the ball, which is the opening match.
20:21
You have to stay aware of Linda Caisedo and mileometers and it
20:26
might get physical during this match because we've seen how
20:28
physical Colombia plays against Canada.
20:31
It's more of a France has the possession and Canada might play
20:35
on the on the long balls. And you've talked about this
20:37
with Mariam, you can never count them out because they can bring
20:41
gold or bring a silver medal out out of nowhere.
20:44
Even though they're most of the countries consider them as the
20:47
dark horse, even though they're not, they have a good squad and
20:51
New Zealand, with the recent problems of the field, might be
20:54
the weakest link in the group. So it might be another
20:58
opportunity to try something new.
20:59
So that's the thing, when you're playing such a short tournament
21:05
with 12 of the best national teams, they have to adapt.
21:08
I have stat for you. There's a guy, he's a
21:11
journalist, he's French, His name is Danielle Marquez.
21:14
He's one of the few who work on statistics and data and French
21:18
football. In 2024, France scored ten
21:21
goals. Only one of the ten goals was
21:25
out of open play. It was an open play goal.
21:28
It was the last hole of Vicky Bisho against Ireland.
21:32
Other than that they had nine goals, 5 coming from a corner, 2
21:37
from a free kick and two from a penalty.
21:39
So it's like they're not managing to find the solution
21:42
even though they have Cadija to Gianni da Finca's Carino,
21:45
Mariota, Cato Canzadari and midfield.
21:48
So it's not working tactically. So maybe if they know it's not
21:52
and maybe if it's continues to be tough, maybe they're going to
21:56
go for set pieces. We really don't know.
21:59
When you have Wendy, Ronald and Katoto and and Bok, maybe that's
22:02
another thing. So Francis case, it's really
22:04
weird when you look at all these players and you see the input,
22:08
you're like why? Why can't they perform on the
22:11
field? Why is it too hard to just
22:13
assemble the best 11 players and produce nice footballer like
22:17
efficient football? See.
22:19
Yeah, that is an incredible stat.
22:21
And you really kind of clarified it for me because so we've been
22:26
able to watch some of some we've had to watch on replay for some
22:29
of these Euro qualifiers. And like against Sweden and
22:33
their two matches against them, they won the possession battle.
22:36
In that first match against England, they lost the
22:39
possession battle 58 to 42. They still won two to one.
22:43
But as you kind of go over those stats, it just it really
22:46
clarified it for me because even watching those matches,
22:49
something just doesn't look quite right.
22:52
And you talk about those weapons like how are you not scoring
22:55
from open play when you have Diani and Cascarino on the field
22:59
for you? Like you have to be able to get
23:01
goals. You have to be able to put
23:03
pressure on the opposing team's defense.
23:05
That is symptomatic of there is something in the link up that
23:08
they're just not quite getting right.
23:11
I think it'll be really interesting to see.
23:14
So they open with Columbia. Let's say Urvey Renard, you're
23:18
out a seal Tofaili, you're in. What do you what do you let's
23:23
make that happen. Also, by the I know, by the way,
23:25
that would just be happening anyway.
23:28
What is it that you want them to focus on in that opening match
23:32
versus Columbia? Sometimes The thing is, OK, we
23:35
we kind of put the not put the blame on or not, but we're like,
23:39
why isn't he doing something else at the same time?
23:42
When you look at these names and you you're not coaching under 19
23:47
side. You're coaching the French
23:48
national team, which has some of the best players in the world
23:51
who are starring week in week out for Belgian, you know, So
23:54
sometimes you're just wondering if I don't know if is asking
23:59
them not to play through the middle, why not try like, what
24:03
is he gonna do? Like punish you in the locker?
24:06
What is he gonna do? Like take the phone from you at
24:08
night? See.
24:09
And sometimes I'm like, why don't they just go and like try
24:12
to do something else. Last time my friend told me, I
24:16
missed the days we used to score from A12.
24:19
So literally just someone has the ball, plays A1, you get the
24:22
two and you shoot out of the like from outside the box.
24:25
And she's like, our goals are all the same.
24:27
It's either a corner, it's either across from Selma and
24:29
Katoto is there to score. So if I had the choice, I would
24:33
just like love to ask like why? Why isn't it working?
24:37
Some kind of combination? And when you look at the
24:40
midfield, you kind of have the answer because in the last
24:44
matches, the midfield really changed because of the
24:46
opponents, because of the last match against Ireland.
24:49
And they wanted to rest some of the players because it was kind
24:52
of a match with no, nothing at risk because they already
24:56
qualified. But the midfield is usually the
24:59
same. It's Amondin, Ori has a six and
25:01
then you have Kansa Dalia and Gras Galleo.
25:03
So none of them has this additional attacking touch.
25:07
And that's why I was also one of those who wanted Amel Majhi to
25:11
be in the squad. She's not even in the 2022.
25:15
Why is ML Mushri not even called up?
25:18
That's a subject I don't want to open because I don't want to
25:21
create issues because I think it's not a sporting decision.
25:25
That's my opinion. It's surely not a sporting
25:27
decision. There's something else we might
25:30
not know about because she's been great since coming back
25:33
from her injury. So I don't really have a secret
25:37
to tell. Like I can't tell you.
25:38
Like I don't know, just play 433, have this, have that, but
25:41
just wanted to be faster, make it.
25:44
I don't care if they're gonna have a 65 possession against
25:47
Colombia, if they're only gonna manage to have three shots on
25:50
target. They have to try.
25:51
They have to create opportunities and to do it, they
25:54
have to, to have better options or better ways to do with play
25:58
from the midfield, play low crosses.
26:02
I I don't know. It's it's kind of a hopeless
26:05
case at this moment. That's and I'm I'm kind of
26:07
reflecting the opinion of many fans on X about the women's
26:11
national team. That's also why you're here.
26:13
We need to kind of hear exactly what what it is that we don't
26:15
know to kind of fill these gaps. And yeah, obviously watching
26:18
Ahmadine Henri and NWSL this season, you know, you kind of
26:22
see her slowing down a little bit and maybe not as effective.
26:27
And then you look at the roster construction for France, like
26:30
you mentioned, it's basically the four listed midfielders,
26:33
Henri Gayoro, Kenzidali, Sandy Tuletti and then Sandy
26:37
Baltimore, depending on what you, you know, she's sort of in
26:39
the middle. So yeah, I think the roster
26:41
construction probably a little bit weird.
26:43
Have they announced if Les Samir can't appear?
26:47
I believe the way the rules are set up, somebody could take that
26:51
spot for maybe some of those games and they can kind of
26:53
switch out. Has there been any talk about
26:55
whether she'll be dressed or would a reserve come in and grab
26:58
that spot? He gave a very long answer and
27:02
he was asked about this. He was like, she's not totally
27:06
fit yet. She had the meniscus injury or
27:09
something in the knee, so she had the surgery a few months
27:12
ago. She just made the recovery.
27:14
She was starting to get back to training the squad and she got
27:18
the muscle injury. So his answer was we prefer to
27:22
keep her out of the 18 for the match against Ireland to kind of
27:26
preserve her and to watch her. She's on her recovery, she's
27:30
getting bad to it but we're not expecting to see her play soon.
27:34
We would need her to play in the knockout round.
27:38
Yeah, Emma Hayes was talking about it a little bit.
27:40
I think during the group stage, I think you can switch out a
27:44
player, but then you have like 6 hours to notify the Olympic
27:48
Committee that you're going to switch back.
27:51
It's all seems kind of nonsensical.
27:53
And I think there is even a change that Emma Hayes was
27:55
talking about with those rules where it's like you can switch
27:58
but you have to send it by carrier pigeon.
28:00
And it's just like all this stupid stuff.
28:01
Just make the roster 23 players come on Olympic.
28:05
What are we like book a couple extra rooms in the Olympic
28:09
village so we have enough players and we we reduce the
28:12
injury risk. I just I don't understand all
28:14
the rules. Sorry for the digression, it's a
28:16
silly way to do it. Yeah, 18 players for the
28:19
Olympics. It's it's insane already,
28:21
already have 12 teams, so that's insane, right.
28:24
But having eighteen players for the men's side, the Olympics
28:28
isn't that important because you have many international
28:30
competitions and the game is already developed.
28:33
The Olympics in women's football is so crucial because you really
28:37
have the 12. I'm not going to say 12 best
28:40
because you really have the best of each continent.
28:43
See, like some will say, why is England and not there?
28:46
It's because you only have three places in Europe, but you have
28:49
12 of the best teams in the world and you're only able to
28:53
bring eighteen of their players. And it's insane.
28:56
Why? Yeah, just for the cost of extra
28:59
medals. Yeah, the price of gold's been
29:04
going up, I guess. Yeah, the Olympics, historically
29:07
a very poor organization doesn't generate any money at all.
29:10
So feel bad for the for the for those guys.
29:13
The Lisa Mayer injury question, it makes it even trickier
29:16
because you look at those attacking players, you know, I
29:19
could see doing this for like your most important player,
29:22
Right. All right, let's let's hold this
29:24
spot for like if you're Australia for Sam Kerr.
29:25
If Sam Kerr is almost back, I can see essentially what they
29:29
did at the World Cup. But Lisa Mayer, like she might,
29:31
I mean, she's probably a reserve I think on this team like with
29:34
with those attackers, but a seal.
29:36
Is there a player that you think because of the form they're in,
29:40
maybe the season they had last year, what they've looked like
29:43
in Euro qualifiers, you're like this player.
29:45
We haven't seen it yet, but I think they can take off here in
29:48
this tournament. I have to go with Johnny because
29:51
I would have loved to choose Cascarino because I'm still
29:54
convinced that in the French squad, the player who's most
29:58
efficient, who's most dangerous, and she can really bring the
30:01
opportunity to like create the chances for France is Delphine
30:05
Cascarino. The only issue with Cascarino is
30:09
that she plays, we talked about it in the last podcast.
30:12
She plays as the right wing, which is also Johnny's position.
30:15
And whether it is in Lyon or with the French squad, it's
30:19
always Johnny who's praying on the right wing.
30:22
Cascarino is left on the left wing.
30:24
She doesn't have the best left foot in the world, so it's kind
30:26
of hard for her to always have to cut inside to play the cross.
30:30
So I have to say Khadija to Jani because at 29, she's also
30:35
considered now at one as one of the best French players, but she
30:39
hasn't won much yet and she hasn't shown her importance or
30:44
how crucial she is for the French side.
30:46
So she might be able to bring, especially on her right side,
30:50
bring something. And it has to be through her
30:52
because as, as we we've seen, France only scores through the
30:56
wings, through the crosses and she has to find Katoto as much
31:00
as possible. I would have said Katoto, but I
31:02
can't choose striker because you have to bring the ball to the
31:06
striker to score. If if if she ends up touching 5
31:10
balls in match, you can't expect her to score a hat trick.
31:13
But if you manage to fool her with balls and reach her, she
31:17
can be dangerous. We all know how good she is
31:19
physically. So I have to go with Jenny.
31:22
I get. From the squad, like you look at
31:25
Spain, you say Eitan Abu Mati, you look at the US, now you can
31:28
say Sofia Smith, like you always have this one player who's kind
31:32
of rising above being the player.
31:35
And in France, you kind of don't have this figure, except for
31:39
Gianni, who's trying to make make your way for him.
31:43
I think that sounds about right. And I always wonder, and this is
31:46
kind of like the little bit of like cosmic magical part of
31:51
football that I always enjoy. Dianni is also the type of
31:54
player who might score 1 from 22 yards out in open play and all
32:00
of a sudden everybody goes, okay, take a deep breath.
32:03
We have great talent on this team.
32:05
I always kind of look for what is a turning point, What's a
32:07
moment where you could almost like unlock everybody elses
32:10
confidence. I feel like DNA is is that type
32:13
of player. But to your point, I mean, if
32:15
Cascarino cuts in onto her right and she gets the ball onto her
32:18
right foot, she could hit a shot like that too.
32:20
So I wonder if if they're kind of just looking for that moment
32:23
of magic to kind of get their confidence back a little bit.
32:26
Yeah, it's happened in 2015 World Cup in Canada.
32:30
Amandina, he scored a great shot.
32:34
I think she was at 2025 meters away outside the box and she
32:38
scored a wonder. And before this, this goal,
32:41
friends were kind of like, you feel like they were frozen, like
32:45
not managing to play too much stress.
32:47
And after the school, they kind of were liberated.
32:51
And I don't really remember because they always get out in
32:54
the quarterfinal. So I think this year they got
32:58
out against Canada on penalties or something.
33:01
But at the time everyone was saying that they didn't deserve
33:04
to get eliminated. Like like what happened last
33:07
year in in the Women's World Cup against Australia.
33:09
They dominated, they failed to score.
33:11
And after the longest penalty session ever, they eventually
33:15
they were eliminated. So France, they need to feel
33:18
like they can count of Jani or count on a shot from, I don't
33:22
know, maybe Dali or a header from to just boost their
33:27
confidence or like, yeah, actually we think we might be
33:29
able to do something if we play smart.
33:33
Do you think it's as simple as the vibes?
33:35
Because it sounds like, you know, like France is playing
33:38
this tournament at home. You know, there's some
33:40
expectations manager 1 foot out the door.
33:43
We've seen like this tightness from them.
33:45
I think Germany's another team that we've seen get tight in
33:48
these types of tournaments, even though the talent's really
33:51
there. And then to your point, if we do
33:53
get a Cascarino rocket or AD and E rocket early and now we ease
33:58
the tension, the crowd's happy, we're celebrating.
34:01
Do you think it's as simple as is that that it's like it really
34:04
kind of depends on which way the game turns because like I think
34:07
alternatively, you look at Columbia, they can be a fast
34:10
strike team as well. Kaiseto, Ramirez, you know, they
34:13
can flip the game their way pretty quickly.
34:15
Do you think it's as simple as like, what kind of start do
34:18
these games have for France? And then maybe what kind of
34:21
start does France have in this tournament overall that can kind
34:24
of like propel them forward? I don't think it's really that
34:27
simple because as we said, maybe they're gonna manage to, I'm not
34:33
gonna say dominate the group stage because I believe they
34:36
want. I think they're just gonna
34:37
manage to get after this group stage, first or second, which is
34:41
the least minimum. The minimum is getting out of it
34:44
on top. But if they manage to qualify a
34:46
second, which means avoiding Spain, because if you qualify as
34:50
a second, you're gonna play against, oh, Germany.
34:55
See, see, that's, that's how, that's how hard the Olympics is
34:58
because you don't have time to rest.
35:00
You have three very high level matches in the group stage and
35:04
then quarterfinals against Germany or Japan or Brazil and
35:09
then you move to the semis. There's no place for error.
35:11
You have to benefit. So is it really that simple,
35:14
like you just have to count on a moment of magic from one of the
35:18
players? No, because even if they managed
35:20
to imagine out outperform Colombia and win 30 and then
35:25
dominate New Zealand and then win against Canada, when they
35:29
play against Spain in the quarters or in the semis, they
35:32
have to remember that Nations League final can't happen again.
35:36
They have to reset as we're not the favourites here.
35:39
We have to absorb Spain, we have to stop Bon Mati, we have to
35:42
watch out for Salma, Para, Vuelo.
35:43
That's the thing that they need these individual players, but
35:47
they also have to be realistic that Spain are currently the
35:50
team to beat. the US wants their revenge from everyone after the
35:55
last World Cup and from them themselves as well.
35:57
Emma Hayes first competition, Germany wants to win it again
36:01
after 2016. So everyone has something to do
36:04
or something to say to so France, but the French players
36:06
just have to be smart and maybe just have this motivation of it
36:11
maybe being the last competition for many players.
36:15
I don't know. You know how messy at the men's
36:17
World Cup in Qatar, you feel like he's transformed you.
36:20
You always used to see Messy smiling and everything.
36:23
And at this this World Cup, he kind of become this monster who
36:26
wants to find everyone, wants to win every ball.
36:28
So maybe I'm on Gino. He has to do this.
36:30
Maybe when Giovanni knows that's now or never for her.
36:33
So I'm excited to see if they're really gonna do it or they're
36:36
gonna fail or like fall into this, this stress or this scary
36:42
event, which is an Olympics at home and what I expect to be
36:46
empty stadiums. So.
36:47
It'll be really interesting to see and there's always on the
36:50
table. If I'm looking at the knockout
36:51
round correctly, the number 2 finisher in Group A could face
36:56
the number 2 finisher in Group B.
36:59
So maybe Canada wins Group A, France comes in second, maybe
37:03
Germany wins Group B and USA comes in second, Maybe we could
37:06
get France, USA in the knockout round.
37:09
So that could be fun too. I've kind of like zoned in on
37:12
your point earlier of France to play different ways to beat
37:18
these different teams and kind of figuring out ways to adapt.
37:21
The other thing that that sticks out to me that now that you
37:23
mentioned Spain again, is that in that Nations League final, it
37:27
just felt like Diani was like in the corner almost like they were
37:30
just pushing her so wide every time they had the ball.
37:34
It just felt like they were never threatening in that match
37:38
because they just, they never had any angle to get on goal.
37:41
And to have that happen to a team with strikers like that,
37:45
it's got to be frustrating for them.
37:46
So I do wonder, do they just kind of try to force the issue
37:50
and get the ball in the middle of the field themselves?
37:52
Yeah, see, like you just resumed it all because I've watched
37:57
these these two matches a lot. And this is Dino is always to go
38:01
back and like respond to the Parsa fans.
38:04
At the beginning when France qualified to play the final
38:07
against Spain, I had a bunch of my friends who went to watch it
38:11
and said I'm like, I have a lot of things to do.
38:14
I'm not going to go, we're going to lose.
38:15
Like I don't consider myself French, but as someone who lives
38:19
in France, like you kind of become attached to the country
38:22
and I knew that they were they were going to lose.
38:24
There was no way they managed to tactically stay on the same line
38:29
as Spain. 4 OL match against Barsa and the Women's Champions
38:32
League final. Because you had some
38:34
internationals with Damaris, with Lindsay, I thought it might
38:38
be a different image. It ended up not being because
38:41
the players, you felt like some of the players who played
38:45
against Spain, we're entering the match against Parsa with the
38:48
same fear. Like what are we going to do?
38:50
Like I'm I'm saying I'm just giving something.
38:53
I've noticed that Selma Basha is one of the best at taking the
38:57
ball and moving forward on the line and just crossing.
39:01
She was too busy defending on carrying Graham Henson that she
39:05
did nothing in the match, which also happened in the nation's
39:09
big final. Because Spain are so fast with
39:11
moving the ball, you have to stay awake, awake, awake, awake.
39:15
And when you have the ball, you're too busy trying to keep
39:18
possession that you don't manage to to create chances.
39:21
So to get back to your question, Grant, I think that they have to
39:26
realize that if Gianni isn't able to do something from the
39:29
wings, maybe if Dali finds herself in a place where can she
39:32
shoot, she can shoot. She has to try.
39:34
Maybe the goalie won't catch it, maybe it will fall, maybe Katoto
39:38
will be there to continue. So they have to create or be
39:41
creative because we've seen against Barsa, but also against
39:45
Spain, it was too hard to watch really.
39:47
Gianni was just running, trying to get the ball, trying to find
39:51
a like make herself visible so that her team mates in the
39:56
middle try to find her, but it was kind of impossible.
39:59
Grant and I have talked about this also with the US women's
40:01
national team where they seem to have kind of like under invested
40:04
a little bit in the midfield and they're like, all right, we want
40:06
to go around you or we want to go over the top.
40:08
And it is real frustrating. You know, obviously we we just
40:10
watched a nil nil send off match against Costa Rica.
40:13
But but yeah, I think Graham Hanson against Basha, I don't
40:16
like to think about that too much.
40:18
It's it's very upsetting for me as one of the the world's
40:21
foremost. Spasha fans.
40:23
But I think I agree with USC. I'd love to see France kind of
40:26
attack in the middle of the field.
40:28
I'd love to see just maybe Baltimore just sprinting up the
40:30
middle of the field with the ball, just kind of trying to
40:32
dance a little bit, Gayoro maybe in support there and then just
40:35
creating some different angles because when defenses know
40:38
what's coming, even what we just saw here with like a Costa Rica
40:41
and the USA, if they know what's coming, it's sort of easy to
40:44
defend. And I think we saw that both
40:46
with OL and Barsa and in the Nations League final being a
40:49
little bit unpredictable would be would be definitely a benefit
40:53
to this team. One final question from my end
40:56
of ground. I don't know if you have
40:57
anything else but a seal. I know you mentioned maybe the
40:59
expectations or the hope is the gold medal, but if you're making
41:03
a prediction, where do you imagine this team finishes by
41:07
the the end of the tournament? I think it's really going to
41:09
depend on the opponent of the semifinals.
41:12
If we fall against Spain, we're going to stop at the semifinals
41:17
and hopefully try to get the bronze.
41:20
But if they manage to finish second and then they're going to
41:23
face Spain later on in the final, it would be a final.
41:27
But me personally, I think it's going to be a semifinal exit.
41:30
So hopefully a bronze medal, we'll see.
41:32
The first ever like bronze medal for France.
41:34
Yeah, that. I mean, I think that would be in
41:37
the midst of kind of coaching turnover and generational
41:41
turnover on the squad. Expectations are high in French
41:45
football, as they should be. But I think if you walk away
41:48
with a bronze medal, I think that's something I think that's
41:50
still something to be proud of. And it would be a night.
41:52
I think it'd be a nice moment for those players kind of making
41:55
their way out after so many just historic careers.
41:58
Lisa Mayer and Renar like that would be a wonderful way for
42:02
them to go out. Not quite as wonderful as
42:03
winning as winning the gold. But I I still think I'm with
42:06
you. I I still think that's that's on
42:08
the table. Dino and I joke that it's hard
42:11
to convince me when a team has a great roster that they can't do
42:14
great things. So if they can kind of get over
42:18
those troubles in the midfield and and be a little more brave.
42:21
And again, you're going to be surprised by the Cecile.
42:24
I'm going to make a comparison to the England men's national
42:27
team. Just play fast, play attacking,
42:30
play on the front foot from the start.
42:31
Don't wait till you get down a goal against Spain to try to
42:34
attack. Just go and attack.
42:36
You have the players to do it. So I am just wildly excited and
42:40
this actually leads me into my final question, the atmosphere.
42:44
This is the Paris Olympics, there are going to be matches
42:46
across France. What are you expecting in the
42:49
atmosphere in these football stadiums?
42:51
I think if you're asking from a fan perspective I would tell you
42:56
I don't mind seeing friends get out of the group stage if this
43:01
means just being guaranteed that stadiums will be full because.
43:06
It's it's. It's the thing that is kind of
43:09
terrifying everyone now. If you go on the website of the
43:13
Paris Olympics tickets and try to get a ticket for the women's
43:17
football matches, it's too easy because you have too many
43:22
matches with kind of not even a 10% capacity sold so far.
43:27
Oh. My God.
43:28
Because you have to, you have to understand something.
43:30
Is that French? I think it's almost everyone
43:33
now. But French people love the
43:35
Olympics. And for them, because of how
43:38
long the football season is, for them, the Olympics means
43:42
shutting down the football door and just enjoying tennis,
43:47
enjoying swimming, gymnastics. I'm someone who doesn't watch
43:51
any men's football match at the Olympics.
43:54
I just look at the results and highlights.
43:56
I watched the women's football at the Olympics because I think
43:59
it's important for its development.
44:01
So a lot of French people don't mind paying or even the fans who
44:06
are coming, 203 hundred, maybe $500 to watch track and field
44:11
instead of spending their afternoon watching a football
44:14
match at $15.00. Because I'm I'm going to watch
44:17
many matches. The opening against Colombia and
44:20
the Kubama, the ticket is at 15 dollars, €15, which is $14.00
44:25
nothing. And that's my expectations.
44:30
We will have around 10 to 15 K in the stadium if Colombia fans
44:34
show up. If not, it will be a disaster.
44:37
Most of the French are on vacation.
44:39
Most of them were going to run out of France to avoid the
44:42
tourists for the Olympics. And football isn't the priority
44:46
of the French people. So this is France you're saying
44:49
of talking about France. I'm going to go watch the US
44:52
against Germany and Marseille. I really hope, I really hope, I
44:55
hope I'm not alone with a bunch of people.
44:57
So far, you don't have the numbers, you don't have the
45:00
opportunity to see how many tickets are sold.
45:03
But it looks like you you won't have full stadium, so it won't
45:06
be like the Women's World Cup in 2019.
45:08
It will. I'm really afraid that we're
45:11
going to have many matches, especially, I don't know,
45:13
imagine Nigeria against Japan. You don't have many Nigerians
45:17
living in France, You don't have many Japan.
45:19
I don't know if they will come to France or if most of the
45:22
people coming will really stay in Paris to watch other
45:25
competitions other than football.
45:26
So that's something that is frightening, I'm gonna say.
45:30
Wow, OK, I did not expect that. And imagine, I mean, Japan
45:33
versus Nigeria, that's an incredible match like that, like
45:37
that. There's so many good players on
45:39
both of those sides. Hopefully people, yeah,
45:42
hopefully people come to their senses.
45:44
That's I did not expect that. Hopefully I'm wrong, hopefully
45:47
something immediately comes up. But imagine it's the Olympics,
45:52
people are dying for a ticket. And then the the organizing
45:55
committee is doing something which is if you buy 4 tickets,
45:59
instead of having the ticket for $20, you're gonna get it for 15.
46:03
So they kind of inviting people to the stadium, come take a free
46:06
ticket, just come because I think they, they know so far
46:11
that you have many matches with kind of no capacity.
46:14
Marseille isn't a women's football city.
46:16
They don't have that much of a big team.
46:19
Nice where the US women's national team is playing isn't a
46:22
women's football city. I had this.
46:24
Discussion with many French journalists, they had the same
46:28
fears. So hopefully we're all mistaken
46:31
and we'll have people in the stadiums, but I think it's not
46:34
going to be the best in terms of show and attendance and word
46:39
breaking records. Wow.
46:41
OK. And I got to tell you, I mean,
46:43
Dino, you might have to look into it because you're over
46:45
there on the East Coast. On my working class salary, it'd
46:49
be tough for me to go from Seattle to Paris.
46:51
I mean, I should have considered this.
46:53
I should have considered this months ago that I should get out
46:56
there to, to watch these matches, but it might be tough
46:59
for me to get out there. Do you know, I know you have
47:00
familial responsibilities to consider here.
47:04
Yeah, the, the two year old makes it a little a little
47:06
tough. I'm really, I'm really I I drew
47:09
a circle around the 27 World Cup in Brazil.
47:12
I already told the wife and then the kid, he'll be five by that
47:14
point. I think.
47:15
I think we'll be smooth sailing. So hopefully those $15 ticket
47:18
prices, you know, they persist all the way till 2027.
47:22
I'm very bummed to know I could have just saved a few 100 bucks
47:24
to probably seen every match. But I will say, if you're
47:27
attending the Olympics or if you're in France, go watch this
47:31
football. I mean, these are some of the
47:33
best players in the world, some of the best teams in the world.
47:36
Grant now were doing the math yesterday.
47:38
When you look at four of these teams are not going to make the
47:42
knockout stage, you know, you start looking at who that fourth
47:45
team might be. You're like, there's going to be
47:47
a big team that's really, really upset.
47:50
I think you have to be realistic about how competitive this field
47:53
is. I'm really expecting kind of
47:55
anything at this point. There's so much turmoil.
47:58
It's going to be a different, you know, different cities.
48:00
You're talking about maybe the empty stadiums.
48:02
I think a lot of flux with these teams.
48:04
We're talking about New Zealand, the the managing situation.
48:07
France has something similar. So I want to take all that into
48:11
consideration, but then also focus maybe on the football and
48:14
the pitch because I think the football is going to be
48:16
absolutely out of this world. If it's an extension of what we
48:19
saw in the World Cup and what we've seen also like in Euro
48:22
qualifiers and some of these other recent tournaments.
48:24
I mean, this is probably just going to take the sport to a new
48:26
level. So if you have the means, if you
48:28
can make it, definitely go out, grab a ticket.
48:31
You will absolutely not be disappointed.
48:32
I feel 100% confident saying that.
48:34
Yeah, I've seen a lot of people from Australia writing and like
48:39
or writing just on X that they're gonna make like they got
48:42
travel to France. I saw someone writing that he's,
48:46
he's staying for three weeks and he's gonna attend all of
48:49
Australia's matches because they kind of all in the South of
48:52
France. So that's a nice place to stay
48:54
in the South of France. There you go and we'll watch.
48:57
We'll watch football for $15.00, which is kind of a meal, so.
49:01
That's fantastic. Yeah.
49:03
All right, a seal. So we've got your prediction.
49:05
We've talked about the roster, we've talked about the
49:08
managerial situation. Is there anything else that
49:11
friends of the show, fans of the program, fans of women's
49:13
football, is there anything else we should think about before we
49:16
get out of here? No, I think that's it.
49:18
I think there's something for me, but also for you guys is
49:21
that we should really look or keep an eye on Nigeria and
49:25
Zambia because Zambia and the last Olympics at Tokyo, they
49:30
lost at 10, three against Netherlands.
49:33
Defensively they were kind of non existent, but these four
49:36
years they've developed a lot. They have two of the best
49:39
strikers at the moment with Kundananji and the Banda.
49:43
So I'm excited to see Zambia. Like when you look at USA,
49:46
Australia, Germany, Zambia, some will say OK, some Zambia is 4th,
49:50
who's the 1st 3? How it's going to end?
49:52
Maybe you shouldn't count the Zambia.
49:54
Also, as Dino said, that's the nice thing also about the
49:57
Olympics that you can't have favourites.
50:00
Everyone has something to do or something to say.
50:02
Same for Nigeria. Japan is AI know you guys love
50:06
Japan. So Japan is can be the dark
50:09
horse or is not the dark horse that they always present, always
50:11
ready to surprise. That's it for me.
50:14
Look at us, just three Japan fans doing a podcast.
50:18
All right, team, I think we did it.
50:20
This has been another episode of Into the channel.
50:22
Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching, listening, liking,
50:24
subscribing, just plain hanging out with us and remember it.
50:26
Like if you liked and subscribe or follow into the channel,
50:29
YouTube, Spotify, Apple podcast or wherever you like to watch or
50:31
listen links to all of our socials in the show notes of
50:34
this episode. Huge thank you to a seal for
50:38
rejoining us here at the ITC. Big thank you to my coast as
50:41
well, Mr. Grand Angle. I think this wraps up our
50:44
individual country analysis, but we'll be back later this week
50:49
with a little bit of a zoom out for this tournament.
50:51
We're going to go top to bottom, rehash all the teams, get
50:55
everybody fully prepped, hit some of those countries that we
50:57
weren't able to cover in our preview.
50:59
But yeah, man, I appreciate you rocking with me on this Has been
51:03
it's been quite a journey and we haven't even played any football
51:05
yet. So very exciting.
51:07
Yeah. Likewise, buddy, thanks for
51:08
handling the hosting duties. As always.
51:10
Thank you to a SEAL again for joining us.
51:12
And no matter you know where you are, hop on Google Flights.
51:16
Let's look at all the deal websites out there trying to get
51:19
out there, watch some football for, you know, roughly the the
51:22
price of a croissant and a tape. So I mean, if you can, if you
51:26
can get out there and and watch there, please do.
51:29
We'll be following along and we will talk to you guys next time.