Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Lauren Beck previews the World Cup, USMNT opener on Friday, Success if they make what round (?) + more

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Lauren Beck previews the World Cup, USMNT opener on Friday, Success if they make what round (?) + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

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  Speaker 1: If you're tuned to The Shan O'Connell Show from the
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  Speaker 1: Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven hundred at ninety two
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  Speaker 1: to one AFM.
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  Speaker 2: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, chech Ya. Both games played tomorrow,
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  Speaker 2: one in Mexico City, one in Guadalajada, Mexico, the beginning
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  Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty six World Cup, hosted, of course
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  Speaker 2: in North America. The first American game, the first game
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  Speaker 2: hosted on American soil, will be Friday, USA Paraguay at
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  Speaker 2: SOFI Stadium in Inglewood, California. We'll be watching closely. We'll
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  Speaker 2: be talking about it every single day here on The
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  Speaker 2: Sean O'Connell Show. Lauren Beck RSL Insider, Soccer Inside World
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  Speaker 2: Cup Insider, brought to you by Beer Bar joins Us.
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  Speaker 3: Lauren, welcome, How are you.
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  Speaker 4: Hey, I'm great? How are your son?
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  Speaker 3: I'm doing all right?
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  Speaker 2: How much would you say the anticipation in your own
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  Speaker 2: heart mind body is building for this World Cup to start?
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  Speaker 4: Oh, I'm I'm always a big fan of the World Cup.
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  Speaker 4: You know, international football isn't something I'm regularly very into,
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  Speaker 4: but when it comes to you know, some American pride
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  Speaker 4: and the World Cup and the major tournaments. You've got
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  Speaker 4: to pay attention, all eyes on us. I'm stoked.
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  Speaker 2: So I know I asked you about this the last
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  Speaker 2: time we had a conversation of and asking all of
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  Speaker 2: our soccer insiders about this. You know, the ceiling for
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  Speaker 2: this USA team, the ceiling for Pulistic and company. When
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  Speaker 2: we're we're actually trying to be realistic about it and
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  Speaker 2: you're seeing like this, this laundry list of elite players
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  Speaker 2: from all these different countries coming in to represent their
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  Speaker 2: home nations, and you know, there's just there's not the
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  Speaker 2: megastar talent on this US men's national team roster. How
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  Speaker 2: problematic is that when we get into you know, the
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  Speaker 2: at least into the knockout rounds, what's the ceiling?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think unfortunately, I think you can say it's
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  Speaker 4: a successful tournament for the US if they make it
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  Speaker 4: to the round of thirty two, if they make it
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  Speaker 4: to the round of sixteen, and that's probably about as
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  Speaker 4: far as you would expect them to go. It's you know,
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  Speaker 4: it's unfortunate that that kind of feels like the ceiling
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  Speaker 4: for the United States. But we just haven't seen consistent
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  Speaker 4: performances from this team, and the star players have kind
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  Speaker 4: of struggled to find their footing in four club and
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  Speaker 4: country in recent games. So yeah, I think I think
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  Speaker 4: round of sixteen is a pretty solid tournament for the
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  Speaker 4: United States in this World Cup. You know, and that's
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  Speaker 4: not hosts don't typically win. That is not a trend
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  Speaker 4: in the World Cups. The host nations do not win
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  Speaker 4: the World Cup. So it's just kind of one of
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  Speaker 4: those things. So that's certainly not an expectation for this
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  Speaker 4: US squad. I think if you can get to the
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  Speaker 4: round of sixteen here, that's pretty solid for the United
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  Speaker 4: States in this tournament.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, that seems to be kind of a consensus. But
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  Speaker 2: no matter what happens whenever the team USA exit is
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  Speaker 2: no matter what happens in the pool play with losses
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  Speaker 2: or wins or accumulation of points, etc. From a local perspective,
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  Speaker 2: I think there are going to be a lot of
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  Speaker 2: folks that are going to say, well, what might this
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  Speaker 2: team have been or what would have happened in this
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  Speaker 2: particular scenario, How much better could it have been to
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  Speaker 2: have Diego Luna on this roster? And we have not
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  Speaker 2: had a conversation since he was omitted from the US
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  Speaker 2: men's national team run for this World Cup. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: he's going to have his day. He's going to be
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  Speaker 2: four years from now, he's going to be on the roster,
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  Speaker 2: I would imagine, But a bummer for OURSL fans. I
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  Speaker 2: can't imagine what kind of a bummer it is for him.
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  Speaker 2: How much are we going to be second guessing that
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  Speaker 2: when we get to some of these junctures in the tournament.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, And that's that's kind have always been a conversation
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  Speaker 4: we have after World Cups, it seems with RSL players,
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  Speaker 4: is Kyle Beckerman, Nick Romondo in their final matches for
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  Speaker 4: the US and the World Cup? And I think, yeah,
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  Speaker 4: I think that's a fair conversation to bring up because
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  Speaker 4: Diego Luna has been so fun for Real Salt Lake
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  Speaker 4: this season, so important to the squad, and you know,
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  Speaker 4: he's not the only one that was left out that
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  Speaker 4: was raising eyebrows for this US men's national team. But
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  Speaker 4: the way that they've built this squad, they want those
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  Speaker 4: kind of swing players and they've they've included a lot
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  Speaker 4: of center backs to sit that formation and that three
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  Speaker 4: center back formation that they're they're wanting to play out
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  Speaker 4: of so I think I think it really could be
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  Speaker 4: a questionable decision, especially with the expanded roster. I mean,
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  Speaker 4: I think everybody thought he was a shoe win for
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  Speaker 4: this World Cup squad and the shocks that we all
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  Speaker 4: felt when he wasn't included. Yeah, if they don't perform well,
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  Speaker 4: especially offensively, if they're not able to find some creativity
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  Speaker 4: and kind of that that fight that Diego brings to
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  Speaker 4: the squad into the field, yeah, I think that's a
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  Speaker 4: fair question to bring up, but it's always going to
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  Speaker 4: be hindsight twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 2: Do you think we see some of that sting in
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  Speaker 2: his play when we get back from the international break,
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  Speaker 2: when when RSL is back on the pitch, do we
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  Speaker 2: think do you think we see the evidence of his
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  Speaker 2: anger over being omitted?
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  Speaker 4: Absolutely one percent. That's it was something we we saw
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  Speaker 4: with the Olympics as well when he didn't make the
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  Speaker 4: Olympic squad. So for for sure, coming back at the
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  Speaker 4: end of July, he I can't remember if we if
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  Speaker 4: we have All Star results yet, I'm not sure, but
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  Speaker 4: you know, we'll have the All Star Game and then
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  Speaker 4: back to Major League Soccer play and then they'll have
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  Speaker 4: the League's Cup tournament against the leg MS team, So
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  Speaker 4: I'm sure Diego's gonna come out firing and showing this
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  Speaker 4: US men's national team what they missed out on.
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  Speaker 3: All.
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  Speaker 2: Right, back to this US men's national team. From a
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  Speaker 2: player perspective, who's the most pressure on it? Is it
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  Speaker 2: the obvious of the you know, it's the guys who
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  Speaker 2: are in the credit card ads taking advantage of the
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  Speaker 2: popularity of this event, or is there somebody on this
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  Speaker 2: roster who you think is really going to have to
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  Speaker 2: prove that they belong there.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it's fair to say that Christian Polistic
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  Speaker 4: probably is feeling the most pressure of this US men's
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  Speaker 4: national team just because of the season he's had with
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  Speaker 4: his club in twenty twenty six, not scoring any goals,
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  Speaker 4: and the way that he's kind of acted for the
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  Speaker 4: US men's national team in recent games and friendlies. I
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  Speaker 4: think it's totally fair to say the pressure is on
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  Speaker 4: him in this tournament to perform. And that's also because
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  Speaker 4: he has performed in these tournaments for the US men's
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  Speaker 4: national team despite whatever form he's been in coming into
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  Speaker 4: the tournament for the national team or for his club team.
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  Speaker 4: He usually finds a way to perform in these major
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  Speaker 4: tournaments for the US. But you have a lot of
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  Speaker 4: other big faces that are emerging for this roster, and
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  Speaker 4: Robinson and Dastin Boligan, so I think it's I think
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  Speaker 4: it's a bit spread out as far as the pressure goes,
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  Speaker 4: but the focus will certainly be on the captain, Christian Pallistic.
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  Speaker 2: Lauren Beck is our guest here, brought to you by
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  Speaker 2: Beer Bar Talk and World Cup se Soccer.
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  Speaker 3: First games played tomorrow.
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  Speaker 2: First USA game will be on Friday at SOFI Stadium
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  Speaker 2: down in Inglewood, California, as they take on Paraguay. I
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  Speaker 2: have not looked today at what the ticket prices are
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  Speaker 2: for that. I'll give you that update after we talk
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  Speaker 2: with Lauren here. In goal this used to be a
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  Speaker 2: place where, you know, even though we were acutely aware
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  Speaker 2: of Team USA's kind of level on the global stage,
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  Speaker 2: there was always like a hey, but we got Tim
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  Speaker 2: Howard and Gole Hey, we got whoever like our goalies.
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  Speaker 2: Our goaltenders are good. Our goalkeepers, that's something that we
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  Speaker 2: can compete on the international stage. And that position is
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  Speaker 2: not nearly the strength that it once was. How big
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  Speaker 2: a concern is that for this US men's national team
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  Speaker 2: ahead of the World Cup.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, it's interesting because it might be, I believe, the
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  Speaker 4: first time that there's a potential for a goalkeeper who
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  Speaker 4: primarily played in Major League Soccer to be the starter
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  Speaker 4: for the US men's national team. But it is still
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  Speaker 4: pretty up in the air. And as you said, it's
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  Speaker 4: you've had huge names and goal for the US men's
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  Speaker 4: national team and who come up absolutely huge, Tim Howard
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  Speaker 4: against Portugal, against Belgium, absolutely massive in his final tournaments.
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  Speaker 4: And yeah, it's it's again kind of one of those
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  Speaker 4: that we you know, we had Nick Rimando that didn't
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  Speaker 4: really get looks in the World Cup, but big name
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  Speaker 4: in that position. That's a that's a fair point, Ocie.
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  Speaker 4: But you know, when it comes to the goal to goalkeeper,
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  Speaker 4: that's my favorite thing is that Nick Rimando always used
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  Speaker 4: to do is if he's making a save, he's angry
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  Speaker 4: as defenders because he's he shouldn't have to do his
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  Speaker 4: job right. So I think, obviously it's so important to
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  Speaker 4: have a great goalkeeper, but that back line really is
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  Speaker 4: where you need to have strength and chemistry and hopefully
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  Speaker 4: that you know, Tim Ree and Chris Richards Alex Freeman,
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  Speaker 4: whoever's whoever's playing back there, Robinson, They've they've got that
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  Speaker 4: figured out, especially in that group stage. And whoever is
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  Speaker 4: a goalkeeper, whether it's Matt Freeze or Matt Turner, they'll
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  Speaker 4: they'll hopefully step up into this this huge tournament. Again,
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  Speaker 4: the spotlight absolutely on the US with everything that's been
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  Speaker 4: going on with this World Cup and hosting it. So
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  Speaker 4: uh yeah, it's a massive position for for the US
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  Speaker 4: men's national team. And as you said, some big legends
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  Speaker 4: have come up in that position.
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  Speaker 3: Do you have a pick? Do you have a team
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  Speaker 3: that you think is going to win this World Cup? Oh?
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  Speaker 4: Boy, I don't know if I have a pick necessarily.
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  Speaker 4: It's it's interesting. I've I've been I've been doing a
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  Speaker 4: lot of reading about the trends that that you in
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  Speaker 4: the World Cup, right, and as I mentioned, not typically
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  Speaker 4: a winner the holding nation, the reigning champions typically don't
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  Speaker 4: win either. If you're the favorite going into the tournament,
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  Speaker 4: not good. Not good for you either. You know, there's
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  Speaker 4: so many interesting trends when it comes to the World Cup.
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  Speaker 4: European teams tend not to win outside of Europe. I
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  Speaker 4: think Spain in twenty ten is the lone exception to that.
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  Speaker 4: So I don't know if I have a favorite necessarily,
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  Speaker 4: but I do. I do think Spain is an interesting
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  Speaker 4: team and maybe a little bit of a sneaky team
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  Speaker 4: with some of the the youth that they have there.
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  Speaker 4: But if I had to pick, I think I would
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  Speaker 4: go Spain on this one.
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  Speaker 2: Spain's pool play, it's a Cape Verd Saudi Arabia and
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  Speaker 2: why I think we're going to see Spain in the
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  Speaker 2: knockout rounds at.
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  Speaker 4: The very least, you would hope.
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  Speaker 3: So, yeah, Lauren, we.
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  Speaker 2: Will be picking your brain throughout this tournament, so appreciate
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  Speaker 2: you giving us some time today as a preview. And
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  Speaker 2: next time we'll have a US men's national team game
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  Speaker 2: to at least react to.
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  Speaker 3: It'll be fun.
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  Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, very excited. Thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 2: Team that is Lauren Beck, RSL Insider, and of course
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  Speaker 2: Major League Soccer Insider our one of our World Cup
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  Speaker 2: insiders we're going to be leaning on during this tournament.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: Those conversations are going to be brought to you by
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: our friends over at Beer Bar, which will have the
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: entire tournament on the big screens. Any game you want
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: to watch if you're a junkie and you're like, I
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: have to see Iran versus Switzerland. Guess where it's going
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  Speaker 2: to be on and you'll have lunch specials, drink specials,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: great stuff at beer bar