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WCAD 4-49: Deserving Spain Crowned Champions
5.1k Plays18 days ago
Austin and Amit recap a World Cup Final made up of meaningful moments in the World Cup After Dark way.
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Transcript
Spain's World Cup Victory Over Argentina
00:00:01
Speaker
You do not have to listen to the World Cup After Dark podcast for very long to hear Amit and I talk about how we think at its core, high level international football comes down to individual moments and that those moments make games. And we were spoiled four years ago, Amit, in 2022 when the World Cup final was the best game of the tournament. That was not the case this time around in 2026. This was a return to form for a World Cup final.
00:00:31
Speaker
This was the better team eventually just barely strangling their way to victory and the team that lost having a moment or two or three that they can live to regret.
00:00:44
Speaker
But at the end of the day, it's the deserving side who lift the World Cup and it is moments that define who takes home the trophy. Right. The key word is strangle. It's the word we've used kind of all tournament, especially in the knockout round. So describe what Spain have done. They did it against Belgium. They did it against Portugal.
00:01:03
Speaker
And they they did it against France. And here it took them to the extra time to do it. But they strangled Argentina. Argentina put up 0.2 XG in this game. And to their credit, they the danger was there. Everyone in the world was feeling the threat that Argentina posed. They are never, ever out.
00:01:21
Speaker
But Spain to limit Argentina to.2xG in a World Cup final, a game you have to win, is very indicative of how they approach the game. And in the sense that they strangled them, it was attritional. It came down to guy 16, guy 17, the margins, right, of the way Argentina's subs played out, I think, is the theme of them not being able to get any foothold at any point over the course of 120 minutes.
00:01:47
Speaker
Because I think if when Scaloni draws up this game, he knows he's got to pick his spots. And he had some ideas for how to pick his spots. But he can never get to them. And going to talk about that on this podcast. And that just made it so, so difficult for him. And, of course, the moments, yes, the the goal is a moment.
00:02:05
Speaker
But the Enzo Fernandez game... derogatory is a big, big pair of moments for him. And i think there's a world, there is a very, very plausible world in which Argentina have 11 guys and get the single penalties and all bets are off at that point because it was very plausible. DB Martinez stood on his head, played a great game. It was there for Argentina to pull off some sort of devil magic game where they get to pens without any XG whatsoever, without any shots whatsoever.
00:02:35
Speaker
yeah, Just that little those little things, the subs and the red card, and the red card's are not a little thing in a World Cup final is enough to make it look like that Spain-Netherlands game, which World Cup After Dark, we had said on the preview podcast, was a very likely outcome for this kind of game. And so, yes, it took Spain maybe a long, long delay to get what they wanted, but...
00:02:58
Speaker
without with a if you Again, if you took out Argentina's vibes, like you would' have just it would have felt inevitable the whole time. And in the end, it it was, despite how hard Argentina fought for it.
00:03:09
Speaker
That on the other end of the line is Amit Malik. I am Austin Miller, and this is the World Cup After Dark Podcast, recapping Spain's 1-0 extra time win over Argentina in the World Cup final. i mean, I think you did a really good job of summing everything up.
00:03:25
Speaker
I think what happened in this game is this game started... naturally tilted towards Spain, right? And it just felt like every single major event of this game just kind of tilted it more and more in Spain's way until eventually that tilt became too much and the dominoes started falling for Argentina, right? And it kind of felt like...
00:03:51
Speaker
Maybe Argentina could have withstood two or three things, but just it gets to four or five. It gets to the changes. It gets to the red card, gets to the Spanish goal. It gets the and it's just like it just became too much. And we said for this show, right?
00:04:07
Speaker
Argentina, that they're pulling on the magic dust, right? They've got the magic dust in the pocket and they just turn and look down and they reach and there's no more left. There's nothing left to sprinkle and it's just enough for Spain to do it here.
00:04:21
Speaker
And just enough is the keyword, because even despite all of that and the aggregate in aggregate two to point two XG butt kicking, there are still two balls in the box in the final five minutes of extra time that are inches away from this being one one. And like that soccer for you, you, you. Like at the end of the day, it it's so hard to overstate how impressive it is to strangle the level it takes to strangle teams at the level of the team Spain does have done is truly incredible because soccer is not a sport. You can strangle anyone. There's always a bounce. There's always a ball in the box for 90, 120 minutes. you just don't get to
00:05:04
Speaker
get bad a thousand, right? Like there's always those moments and man, like that's what you were saying at the start. Like maybe two or three things Argentina will regret, but just given what they've done this whole tournament, like I thought one of them was going in. I really, I really did. And like, i know Argentina it's, you can't say it's a good performance. I don't like, I don't think you can. They, I think they will regret
Argentina's Tactical Struggles
00:05:28
Speaker
overall their performance on the day. don't think they played well. Yeah.
00:05:32
Speaker
But as you know as you signed off the preview podcast, you know they're going to die with glory. like They took this thing to the very end, right? They brought it to the very, very end and everything. they like They scraped the bottom of the barrel. And that, in a sense, is you know a befitting end for champions. And they like um imagine just imagine if Juliano Simeone's shot is a foot lower.
00:05:59
Speaker
Oh, man. I don't know. i don't know what we're looking at there. there we're going to penalties and I don't know who's taking penalties and i don't know what we're going to get a penalty shootout. Right. But that was there for Argentina. And I think like the super duper reductive way of looking at this game. And we're not going to do that on this show because the show is going to on and we're gonna talk about everything. We're to talk about all those moments. We're going to talk about how the Spanish changes were successful in the Argentine changes. We're basically just trying to stamp leaks in a very leaky boat. Right.
00:06:28
Speaker
That's very reductive way of looking at this game. is Argentina's entire hopes kind of fell to Giuliani Simeone, right? And he is intrinsically involved in the three moments that matter in the second half of extra time.
00:06:44
Speaker
He does not track Ferran Torres as Ferran Torres scores the goal for Spain. His low ball across is cut out dangerously. And the golden chance that you knew was coming that always seems to come falls to him and he skies it.
00:06:59
Speaker
And at the end of the day, right? Like before the game, you go to Lionel Scaloni in Argentina, you go to this Argentine team and you say, it all comes down to Giuliani Simeone today. They're probably not feeling great about it. And I think you see why.
00:07:13
Speaker
Yeah, and that's the player he is. He's a great, great hard worker, but his end product is not perfect. And, you know, asking him to track back 30 seconds after halftime and extra time, his brain's off a little bit. And that's tough. It shouldn't be. That one's, I think, more...
00:07:30
Speaker
less It's less excusable for that mistake, for sure. The other two, I mean, it's tough right to to get that final ball. And part of it is, again, i go back to attrition in that this is the eighth game of the World Cup and all the extra time that Argentina has had to play. And in general, I think we can say very clearly being the less fit team than Spain, even without all the you know miles they put on.
00:07:56
Speaker
they were They were dead and out of legs by the end. And so that goes to the way you said it, which is really important. Scolini was just plugging leaks. like He can never get to his change-ups, his curveballs. He's just fighting to to stay in the in in the game. And at the end of the day, like it was just it was a delay job. It was a delay job. And Spain eventually got it. And as we talk about the game...
00:08:23
Speaker
We knew the Spain changes, right? Spain and this tournament from start to finish never trailed. Insane. Never knocked off course.
00:08:34
Speaker
We never saw La Fuente have to chase a game. he just He just rolled out his lineup. He had a textbook that said, boom, boom, boom. These are the changes I make to change the game and strangle the game. And it worked every time.
00:08:48
Speaker
It's interesting because the one time it didn't work was the very first game when they drew Cape Verde and it didn't actually matter. Right. Because it's like they never were worried about the actual like they were like, look, we're going to do our strangle. Oh, 90 minutes.
00:09:01
Speaker
We didn't get it. But like, I'm sure if you played another 30 minutes of that game and if Spain had to win, it would have looked like this one. Right. And also guess who's coming up next? It's Saudi Arabia. We're just going to put five past them because doing this game state will work against them. And it's funny Cape Verde come into both of these equations here, right? Because they hold Spain. And in the very first game in the round of 32 for Argentina, when they just scraped by this dogged determined Cape Verde team, we kind of said to each other, man, this team's fitness is a concern, right? And that concern didn't go away. And I think they did some things. They did some smoke and mirrors. He like stuff to kind of get past that.
00:09:37
Speaker
But they just asked so much of these guys and they just kept going back to the well. And it just got to a point today where the amount of effort needed to get this over the line. And again, over the line here is probably getting this to penalties and taking your chance there, right? The amount of effort needed was just too much for this team. And so when Spain are able to change and change proactively and change in an attempt to go after the game and change in an attempt to make themselves more dangerous,
00:10:08
Speaker
Argentina are forced to change and just try to keep the status quo. We never see Lautaro in this game. And I think that is evident of Scaloni. He needed him, right? Imagine the legs on the threat on the counter. And yes, everyone could say, of course, he should have been in the game, but there were bigger fires to put out for Scaloni the whole time. And it's very much clearly spending to change on two center backs who you said a great to me before the podcast, uh,
00:10:36
Speaker
you You don't expect to use two changes in 120 minute match. You only get five. You're you're penciling in your center backs to play 120 minutes. they They move the least. It's the least likely players to need fatigue changes for legs.
00:10:49
Speaker
And you also said these guys had been you know held together with duct tape the whole time because they've been playing so many games and so many minutes. And eventually, like the depth center backs,
00:11:01
Speaker
being worse, right? Otamendi and Medina. And then you're, we said all tournament Argentina don't have wingers. And finally it being Simeone, as you did the whole point to, if you said to the team before, it's going to fall to him. Yes, that's a problem. Right. And you, and then Spain can go, Oh, if the chance falls to our backup winger striker in extra time, great. We love that guy to be in that spot. And it's like,
00:11:28
Speaker
At these, it you know, we get to the highest level and you you get to the marginist margin. And this is what you find. And i think it's, again, it's a testament that we had to get here. It is crazy that Spain got here. But even then, like the margin was still to get to Penn's. And that is still like, ah again, credit to Spain's truly, I think, eight game dominance. Not the best team, but eight game dominant run. They never trailed. That's insane.
00:11:55
Speaker
They only concede one goal the entire tournament. Right. And that is so much of a credit to how they play and what they were able to do and just the lack of danger that they faced. And in this game in particular, Argentina just don't have an outlet. And like for the first 45 minutes, I think they're okay with that.
00:12:12
Speaker
Like, I think they play the first half to kind of stalemate, but just as this goes on, you just, it's so hard to stalemate a team for 120 minutes. It's so hard to stalemate a team that's this good for 120 minutes, right?
00:12:24
Speaker
And so they're just lacking that outlet and they never get to the point where everything else, like you said, the fires are just raging everywhere else and you can't, you have to put those out first because if you don't put out the defense, it doesn't matter what you do next. And so they never get to the point where they try to have an outlet where they can try to hold possession, where they can try to threaten Spain.
00:12:42
Speaker
And so this just, the ball just keeps coming. It keeps recycling and it keeps creating dangerous chances. And part of that is the game you have to play when Messi's on the field. Like, you take Messi's value 100%, 100 times out of 100 in the aggregate. You take what he gives you because even when they're down one, I think he slips the pass that unlocks that one ball across the goal that leads to the corner kick. Like, he still does gives you the moment that maybe ties the game, right?
00:13:10
Speaker
He has a bad game. his He's super ineffective. He doesn't get to see the ball because Spain just choked the ball in this game. in When you have Messi, you need the other 10 guys to do the running of 11. And Argentina have done that in the past.
00:13:26
Speaker
Then when an extra guy gets sent off, then you need nine guys to do the running of 11. And again,
Key Moments Impacting Argentina
00:13:32
Speaker
the margin, the math, that's just tough. And then there's another guy in Tagliafica who plays the last probably 20 minutes of this game. Basically one leg and he's just hobbling out. You see it at halftime of extra time. He like can't even get back out there. just crossing off guys who can do things. Julian Alvarez, probably like you're not expecting to have to play him 120 minutes because you're expecting you can get Lautaro Martinez on. and and And so you're just it's just like, oh, they're just out. They just yeah are. You cross it off. Taglifico, center back sub, center back sub. Julian, you wanted a sub for him and a sub for Taglifico. Those were the two. So you're like in four things gone wrong, plus the red card, five things. And like then Messi's defensive work. And it's like, yes, it took all those cascading things. I would have...
00:14:17
Speaker
been interested to see what this extra time looks like with two center backs making it to extra time getting lautaro in this game maybe a left back switch and 11 guys and yes that's a wish casting but like do spain sweat a little are there some moments on the counter if lautaro sees this game but the way it went it was like it was one It was one-way traffic, right? Even if they don't get this goal, there's 15 more minutes after it where they probably are just constricting, constricting, constricting.
00:14:48
Speaker
And Spain deserves so much credit for that because, right, all of that attrition, yes, some of it comes from what Argentina did beforehand, right? Some of this comes from, like you said, the fact that they went 120 minutes on a hot steamy night against Cape Verde in Miami and they had to go 120 minutes to beat Switzerland. And they all of these things they added up for sure.
00:15:08
Speaker
and then you take that and you toss in the ingredient that is Spain and just the relentlessness with which Spain played for the majority of this game but also doing so in a way that was very controlled, right? Luis de la Fuente deserves so much credit for this. He never panics in this tournament. And even when it looks like it's maybe hitting the fan a bit against Cape Verde in the first game of this tournament, de la Fuente and Spain never panic. They never get outside of their emotions until really the last five minutes here when kind of inexplicably they do. but We'll get to all that in a minute.
00:15:39
Speaker
And they just stick with it and they keep at it and they trust that eventually we are going to lean and tilt this enough that one of these is going to go in the back of the net. And on this day, that's all they need. Right against France, they probably needed it to happen twice to just take the energy and and kill that game off. they didn't need that today.
00:15:57
Speaker
And they just deserve so much credit for that because just basically from start to finish, They never let Argentina breathe in this game. And there's never a consistent, sustained moment of time when Argentina can settle and get into anything. And because of that, like you're just asking for this game to go this way. And Spain deserve credit because they implement how they want to play.
00:16:22
Speaker
It's very unique at in international soccer to control a game the way Spain does. We could see it at the club level with the talent disparity like a lot more, but the highest levels of international soccer like it's so rare and really only Spain do this like the the other best team right in this kind of modern stretches, maybe this France run and that's on like pure individual talent, which is generally how it goes. Right.
00:16:48
Speaker
you You roll out your history of football and you hope one generation gives you like five sick guys. And you're like, wow, we have a chance. Like, we could win. and then it's like, no, sometimes we just print 11 at once and they all are really good at playing the ball. And like, then we can just do this over and over again. And look, it hasn't worked for Spain. Sometimes this is a special generation. they They have some of the best guys, but It's a win for everything they do. And like it's it's fitting that they were able to just choke everyone out this tournament. right like I really don't know if we've seen a run like this. like I'd have to go back and look at 2010.
00:17:27
Speaker
Those guys, player for player, I think are better players in this. But this run to never be pushed is insane. Yeah. So, so good. And they are, there's no question that the deserving champions here, right? like mean I don't know if they are the best team of this tournament, but they were far and away the most deserving team here. The way that they played against France, the way that they basically, you know, dismembered the the historical team. And then they come in and the defending champions who all tournament, right?
00:17:53
Speaker
We kept leaning back on, you have to kill this team. You have to kill this team. They're the ones who finally do it.
Spain's Winning Goal
00:17:59
Speaker
And it's maybe not super conventional, right? It's not the 3-0 thrashing that we thought it might take to beat Argentina, but they just left Argentina without any gas at the end of this game. And they deserve credit for that. You ready to go blow by blow here? Talk a bit but about this game itself and and get into it?
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah, it was a good game for a World Cup. It was a slow burn, but that drama was real. And the the way Argentina make you question that they're somehow still in the game was so pervasive the entire time. And so it made for, I thought, a very compelling 1-0 World Cup final game. The tension was there, right? And that's what you kind of expect from the World Cup final is, look, again, we were spoiled with what happened in 2022 with how that game played out and everything that happened there. But the tension was very present, I think, in this game. So Spain do exactly what we expected them to do as far as the starting 11 is concerned.
00:18:52
Speaker
Argentina, however, admit, do not. So there's three changes here from Scaloni. The first, they bring Rodrigo De Paul back. The second, they put Nico Gonzalez in a left midfield wing role with ah Paredes out, Leandro Paredes out, and they bring in Gonzalo Montiel to start at right back.
00:19:11
Speaker
Montiel at right back, I think is fine. I get it. I think he's a bit more of the attacking. Nico Gonzalez, I think makes sense for a bit of width. It's kind of basically saying we're doing kind of the Simeone thing, but with a probably more dangerous attacking player in Gonzalez.
00:19:26
Speaker
I get that. Paredes being the guy who comes out, I think is a bit concerning because it's Rodrigo DePaul who comes back in. I don't think Argentina get a ton from DePaul in this game. These changes felt maybe a bit too much from Scaloni, but I also don't think this starting lineup is why Argentina end up losing.
00:19:47
Speaker
It's an interesting one. It's hard to say it's why they end up losing, but I think it sets up the cascade, right? Because Between your change-ups and curveballs, you know Lautaro is one.
00:19:59
Speaker
Now, because Simeone doesn't start, he's two. I think Gonzalez is better as a curveball. And you can see that he poses a very clear threat in some way in that he runs up really high on the right back and you kick a long ball towards him and he maybe beats Porro one-on-one. That was Argentina's like only thing in the first half. Now, did you need an outlet late? Yes. Could it have been him? Maybe. If he doesn't start though...
00:20:26
Speaker
then I'm not sure who's in this spot. Like maybe it's Almada. um Maybe another guy. We don't see it all. Right. Yeah. it's To me, it's a body. And the reason why I'm answering your question about does it affect them eventually is that like they're out of changeups. And also with is not important when it turns out after two minutes, you can't press Spain.
00:20:48
Speaker
You just need to run in your block. And yeah, you don't want to be in the mid block. You want to pass the ball. And having that outlet for some part mattered, right? The whole name of the game for Argentina is buying time. It's a buying time game. But if you're buying time to get to changes, those you need more changes. And so i feel like you...
00:21:07
Speaker
The Nico Gonzalez one is a weird one, but but worse is starting DePaul and McAllister in a very clear running defensive game. DePaul is effective in a game where he can get the ball with time and space. He wasn't bad. DePaul is not the reason they lose this game, but it's 60 minutes of like...
00:21:28
Speaker
Again, you could have used the body here and maybe had him or even just like he probably shouldn't have played. I just really don't think he should have played because it's Paredes. Paredes was much more effective all tournament for them.
00:21:40
Speaker
And Paredes is the one who comes out, right? So Paredes then has to come on at halftime. And that's one of your five subs. And again, that's to the point of not being able to get to your changes. So like... its It's not that these players lose the game, but it sets Argentina, I think, the the leaks, yeah the holes, like the crevice. These are you know these are little like crevices that that start. so like I don't know what the best—I think you said maybe overthinking it a bit, perhaps. But it's it's tough, right? like
00:22:12
Speaker
Argentina don't want to just get run through. like They don't want to. But you roll the ball out and it's like very clear that Spain are just going to pin you back. And it's really, really tough. i honestly think these these players on the field play a great first half for Argentina to generally frustrate Spain.
00:22:30
Speaker
And I think they do, but what you see, and these are the signs I think you see early, is Argentina can't really pass through the Spain counterpress, right? The Spain counterpress is very effective. And so Argentina are kind of floundering in the midfield with that, right? And so it's like, okay, we can't hang on to the ball ourselves here.
00:22:49
Speaker
And we can't win anything long because Julian Alvarez isn't really that player. And so, like you said, the one long ball they kind of get to work in the in the in the first half is boot it long to Gonzalez. And there's one that literally just hits his shoulder and falls into a dangerous spot.
00:23:03
Speaker
And it's like, that's just not a real effective way of playing here. And then those guys, look, I don't think there's any combination of players with which Argentina were going to be able to press Spain in this game. But it's certainly not with this combination that starts the game.
00:23:17
Speaker
Right. And so that's my point of just save your change-ups and just get legs to play this role that you know you're going to be playing. You wouldn't pick DePaul to play this role and at any point against this type of game. So that one's a little frustrating.
00:23:31
Speaker
Look, Spain's counterpress is awesome. I thought Danny Olmo, secret superpower, all tournament has been... He basically leads a two-man. It's like a 4-4-2 sometimes without the ball. And him and our Yothar ball just...
00:23:44
Speaker
immediately get your center backs under pressure. You have no time. And DePaul, yes, can play the ball, but DePaul and McAllister and Enzo were were smothered. Argentino could not go through the middle. They had to go long. And that's where Fabio Ruiz, who starts, is great. Rodri, of course, is Rodri. But Cucurea and Poro's ability to hang on one-on-one in tough matchups never get dragged out of position, never lose a ball. Even the two maybe slip ups Porro has, he recovers and prevents a mistake from happening. And so like that's Spain's 11 man team defense, like just really suffocating Argentina.
00:24:24
Speaker
And it is an 11-man defense because Unai Simone is also key here in this first half because what you kind of see is Simone is playing this very like Manuel Neuer mid-2010 sweeper-keeper role.
00:24:38
Speaker
And you couple that with what Rodri is giving them and all of sudden, right, the window of space with which you have to play these hopeful long balls. Yeah, it's so small. It's so small. It's so thin. You can't go middle. You can't go too long.
00:24:52
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Anything too long, Simone is sweeping. Anything too short, Rodri is taking care of. And anything you're trying to play through the midfield, their midfield is winning. And so Spain is just very early on choking out any sort of outlet that Argentina get. And they're doing it pretty methodically. I don't think Spain create a ton in the first half, right? The XG at halftime is 0.23 to 0.0.
00:25:15
Speaker
There's maybe, there's nearly a moment for Pau Cuvarsi where Simone comes off his line. You mentioned the two kind of Pedro Porro plays. Spain is best chance really here is kind of Yamal going one-on-one. He doesn't do a ton.
00:25:28
Speaker
They're not really able to force Diva Martinez into a lot, but they play a very composed first half and Argentina are kind of playing a survival first half. And then the first Argentina change comes and it's even before halftime, right? And so Lissandro Martinez, la yes, Lissandro Martinez,
00:25:44
Speaker
Takes down Ouerthabo, gets a yellow, and at some point in this sequence or just before it, he picks up a k knock, and he has to come off, and they have to bring on Nicolas Otamendi. And this is a change where I think at some point, Scaloni was kind of expecting that one of these center backs was going to have to come off. But this is probably too early for it to happen. And as we see in the second half, when Romero has to become the second guy off, it just messes with everything Argentina's trying to do with the changes to kind of get out of the shape they put themselves in.
00:26:14
Speaker
Right. This is ah the cascading issue number one right here. And honestly, like I find it odd that Otamendi is the third center back for Argentina. He's the much more experienced, reliable player.
00:26:28
Speaker
But like Marco Sinesi is at Bournemouth. He just went to Tottenham. Otamendi is at Benfica, right? Or i believe... I'm doing the ones better than the other hand motion of like the juggling thing. Yeah. Otamendi at Benfica, but coming back to play at River Plate after this tournament. Right. So we're playing the guys coming back to Argentina point. Right. And like, look, it's a player evaluation one. Like.
00:26:59
Speaker
I like. I don't know. I don't think the difference between center backs is like super, super like crazy when at a high level, like, oh, to bet he's not a bad player. He's a very, very smart player, reads the game really well.
00:27:12
Speaker
But he's his biggest weakness at this point his career is his lack of pace. He is very, very, very slow. And so, You just have you have no ability to play any line higher than 10 yards off your own box the rest of the game.
00:27:27
Speaker
And like, again, can Scaloni fix that one? I don't know. I bet you no one in the camp or the coaches has probably even said to him, like, hey, have you thought about like changing your center back, backup rotation? It's probably like, oh, yeah, that guy, he's been here forever. He's our third center back. You know what I mean? like it's much It's much more of an easy like you know armchair analyst, Monday morning quarterback to be like, one of these center backs is clearly better than the other. I watch all the Premier League. like No, like we're not in the camp. But like...
00:27:59
Speaker
This is issue number one here. And Otamendi immediately is having to track much more runners in the space when Spain decide to run more in the second half. And it kind of, like you said, it pins them just that further back because you have to compensate for the fact that he can't turn and make a tracking run. Right. And so you can't try, like you're either trusting him to play ah an offside trap, which I don't think you want to do in this game, or you're just putting your line of confrontation that much further back. So we go to halftime. ah You got anything on the the Muppets, Shakira, Justin Bieber on an acoustic guitar, Ted Lasso appearing.
00:28:34
Speaker
Um, the Muppets shredding was funny doing seven nation hurry. Muppets were going hard. Uh, the rest of the show. I don't know, man. I was like, time to go make some snacks. Who is this for is what I sat and asked myself. And clearly it's for somebody. And I guess like people out there enjoy it. and And I understand like you want to big eventify everything. Right. And look, we come from a culture where the Superbowl halftime show is like the cultural gathering the year.
00:29:03
Speaker
you just ask for some names you type it in the machine give me some names please give me a buzz and it's like it spits out Muppets Bieber Shakira BTS why not and I'm like okay great but like to your point like did we need to megify it yes no we did not But we did. And I don't think it plays any sort of. No, and it's also interesting. Like you can tell the players are very not accustomed to this because they're waiting to come back out like five minutes before it's time to come back out. It's like, right, we've done our tactical stuff. We've done our technical stuff. And I have to tell you a minute, this is the moment in hindsight is 2020. But this is the moment when I knew it probably wasn't going to be Argentina's day.
00:29:42
Speaker
Because Argentina are coming and waiting to come out of halftime. And they're doing so in the same tunnel that the New York football Jets use at MetLife Stadium. And you just cannot afford to be this close to a Jets logo. You cannot afford to be this close to anything related to this team in this stadium.
00:29:58
Speaker
And I just saw it and I was like, oh, I got a bad feeling now. I got a bad feeling. Man, World Cup After Dark podcast, Jets catching strays. Sorry to any Jets fans out there. i mean, it's a stink, surely. So that's a tough one for Argentina.
00:30:14
Speaker
It was not great. So the second half starts and Argentina come out poorly, right? so they bring on Leandro Paredes at halftime for Nico Gonzalez. And this is where the Nico Gonzalez thing is really weird because you only you only get 45 minutes out of him. Like what's the point of having him on? If you're going to bring on Paredes, this feels like you're correcting something that you should have corrected pregame. You should have been able to foresee this and just have Paredes in the lineup to start.
00:30:40
Speaker
Because Nico Gonzalez, it feels like Argentina get nothing from him in this game in a game where there are scenarios where he could have been effective and could have been a useful piece. Agreed. Agreed. That's what we were talking about with the initial lineup. It's exactly what you said. He's kind of undoing a mistake. And now he's two subs down in minute 45. And like, you're just, you're not going to have enough guys with legs by the time this ends. You're two subs down after 45 minutes and the subs haven't made you any more dangerous, right? That's yes, 100%. Like one is Otamendi plugging the leak at center back and the second is kind of correcting and getting Paredes in. But in doing so, you're sacrificing the one guy you put in the midfield to kind of give you some dynamic, to make you dynamic. Right. And so now for the start to the second half, there's no width and there's no vertical threat. And so it's like...
00:31:34
Speaker
I don't know, man. In 2026, your midfield should never be Paredes, Fernandez, McAllister, DePaul. Like, that's not great. Like, that wouldn't get you to the Europa League finals. Like, that's not good enough. And if your midfield is those four guys, they have to be able to play the ball. Because that's what you're counting. Like, that's the one thing you're kind of thinking. It's like, we want these guys to make passes, and they just can't.
00:31:56
Speaker
And the issue is they can play the ball, but they can't. This four can't get the ball. There's no getting the ball off Spain. And so, look, I think Spain presents is such a difficult problem for teams in that your entire math, you're thinking like, I need balance, right? I need guys that can do things with the ball. But it's so hard to have a team where the guys that can do things with the ball are good enough to get the ball.
00:32:20
Speaker
You'd need such a rare blend of athletes and technicians. Oh, that's Cape Verde's music. no They didn't do it it didn't do anything against Spain with the ball, really. That one was just ah a bunker job. But this is what this is like how they got France in this exact way. right France couldn't get the ball. And France are you know better athletes than these Argentine midfielders. And so I think that managers don't understand the amount of running and scrappiness they need.
00:32:49
Speaker
And the other alternative is you could do what Austria did. We'll chase the ball for, you know, 80 minutes. And then by minute 10, we'll be dead and have shipped two goals and it's three nothing. And so like they just force you into these kinds of things where we say like you've burned two changes, you're drawing dead even worse, like and you you you can't touch the ball.
00:33:10
Speaker
And this second half just kind of starts this long constricting process for Spain, right? They kind of plant the seeds in the first half, but the second half just gradually goes into Spain, pinning Argentina further and further back and Argentina having less of less of an outlet.
00:33:27
Speaker
And right on the hour mark, it's another change for Argentina after Gonzalo Montiel... who was, I thought, pretty good here. He he tracks a late middle run from Cucarea, right? This is the type of run that Spain have killed teams on in this tournament. It's a guy coming from a spot that you're not expecting, making a run that you're not anticipating. Montiel does really well. He tracks it.
00:33:47
Speaker
And right after that, he's taken off. And he's taken off for Molina. And this, I think... is a change that Scaloni probably had planned, right? He said, Montiel is going to go 60. Molina is going to go the other 30 or 60. This is the change he always makes.
00:34:01
Speaker
I think you have to adjust here. I think you have to say, Montiel is doing okay. I'm going to need this change further along. I think I might want to do something else here. And this change really paints them into a corner because it's their second window.
00:34:14
Speaker
And now they're down to two more changes. They only have one more window to do it in. And they're gonna have to do it here soon. right i think you're spot on and that as much as you want to make this change montiel had not been an issue and i don't think the legs are necessarily an issue for him either if he look if not at this point in the game yeah like you probably can get another you know 20 at least probably to 90 with him and then you just you know you see what happens but i'm with you he did a really good job on baena too who you know we've always said by it is not necessarily the most threatening player in the spanish 11 but he kind of shuts down that side pretty well i thought and so like look you know nico williams is coming and maybe that's where you're afraid but i didn't think that doing the like for like and this is something we talked about a lot um in the dechamps game versus spain that Like for like against Spain doesn't save you. Like you've got to mix it up. And so now we're down to three ways that we've we've we've lost our ability to break out of this strangle somehow. And generally, i Spain are just now the entire like Argentine press has dried up. They're just walking into slightly more dangerous positions every minute.
00:35:33
Speaker
And again, it's another change where you're not making yourself more dynamic or changing anything or giving Spain a different look. And so you've used three of your changes and all you've really done is make yourself more narrow, right? That's the only thing Argentina have done here with these three changes. And Spain counter pretty quickly, admit, with the changes that we expected for them, right? So Ferran Torres comes on for your thawel.
00:35:53
Speaker
Pedria comes on for Fabio Andruiz. And this is just Spain gradually getting more attacking, but not doing so in a desperate way. And I think that's such a key for Spain in this game. Yeah, it's the benefit of their depth is that they can do the same roles and position without changing the formation, but tilt attacking. And because they don't have to ever worry about the threat the other way, it just feels like this is how they constrict you is these kinds of changes.
00:36:22
Speaker
Pedro immediately could just pick up the ball anywhere in the attacking half and play a ball to anyone in the attacking half. And so now you're, you know, giving up all sorts of connectors that you don't like.
00:36:34
Speaker
And Nico Williams can just sit there on the left wing, wait for the ball to come to him and do take ons one-on-one. And now you're defending on both wings. And the way to hurt this is to make Spain feel like they can't play Pedro and Nico Williams. You've got to hurt them.
00:36:51
Speaker
But there are too many players outside of the attacking players for Spain that win the ball back. And it just takes so much effort. And that's just not there. And it's, you know, some of it's the players, some of it's the subs, some of it is, again, like the 11 guys at Spain making you uncomfortable. It's so unique. It's so unique that they can do these kinds of changes. And it's so interesting because even up to this point, right, even up to the hour mark, even up to really the second half hydration break, Spain still haven't created anything clear cut, right? There's there's a Yamal free kick that goes into the wall.
00:37:26
Speaker
Danny Omo almost crosses up Debo Martinez on a shot from distance. But there's nothing here that's like, Clear cut. All right. Spain are cooking now and Argentina are really in trouble, but it's just laying the groundwork for what's to come. Right. And they're just putting all of these hints in there that at some point all of this is going to happen. And when it does, you're going to be in real trouble.
00:37:49
Speaker
The space is open in front of the center backs and Paredes is trying to cover like three guys. Eventually, in between the back four and the middle four, someone is going to get loose to your point of that's what's hinting here.
00:38:04
Speaker
um And it's again to the point that one thing that I want to bring up for the Argentina-England game is that Scaloni makes subs knowing that England aren't going to hurt them. And as soon as he knows that, he knows he can be aggressive. And that's what I was trying to say earlier. Luis De La Fuente is the same thing. He's watching the game and he's like, I'll just keep subbing on attacking players because they're not going to threaten me the other way.
00:38:28
Speaker
And that's because Argentina have been pushed through these changes. And it's because they come out of the second half hydration break and they make their final two changes. And one of them is enforced because Kuti Romero comes up limping. And so now your second center back, you've had to change off and they choose to bring on Facundo Medina to kind of deputize in a center back role. They keep Tagliafico on, but now you've changed the other three defenders. So it's Medina, Medina, Otamendi and Molina across the back with Tagliafico sticking it out of left back.
00:38:57
Speaker
And now all of a sudden you have to make your fifth change now because it's your last window. You can't make that fifth change at any other point. And the decision that Scaloni makes is probably another change that when you see the starting 11, you know that this is the change he's going to make.
00:39:11
Speaker
And he chooses to bring on Simeone for DePaul. And so this again is, I'm not trusting DePaul to paula they go 120, but this all circles back to how they set up at the start of the game, right?
00:39:22
Speaker
And so this change, which on paper generally makes sense, right? But again, this is the one attacking change Argentina make in this game. This is the one thing they do that on paper you say that might them make them a bit more dangerous.
00:39:37
Speaker
And it's just like you've got Lautaro Martinez right there and you might have to risk seeing this out. And again, I i don't know. It's a tough situation you're painted into here. But Simeone's not going to change enough to really be effective. And you have to do it. And now you've made the five changes. And oh, look, five minutes later, who's coming on for Spain? Oh, it's Nico Williams and Mikel Moreno. And all of a sudden, Spain have made four changes. And all four of them have made them dangerous.
00:40:00
Speaker
You've made five changes. And maybe with one of them, you could talk me into it making you more dangerous. That's just not good math in it. It's not. You nailed it perfectly. like that is That is the reflection of the subs in this game and what Spain can do. and yeah i think the more you and I think about it,
00:40:21
Speaker
It's not that Simeone should start. mean, you can make a case he should start, right, for legs over DePaul. But if he was going to be your curveball, I think you just, like, want a bit more running than DePaul. Like, I don't know. There's other guys that we've hinted at that maybe were never in the picture but should have been in the picture.
00:40:39
Speaker
And to your point, Simeone can help you change the game, but it's in a game state where there's ah like a little help around him. Like he needs a striker and ah like some, some time for Argentina on the ball.
00:40:53
Speaker
I think at another point, though, this is just a little bit of bad luck for Argentina so that he can't get Lautaro on. I think with Lautaro and Simeone on, like there's something here where Spain can't just walk you back because they have to worry about Lautaro. Simeone runs super, super hard in his minutes. Like he really tries. It's just that it's one spot ah you're trying. And...
00:41:18
Speaker
Cucurea, guys kind of shut everyone down. so it's awesome yeah It's a bad spot on the field. And this is the other thing. is like Second half, Messi just doesn't touch the ball.
00:41:29
Speaker
Just can't get on the ball ever. Ever. And like... In a way, that's where you have to point to Kuparsi, Rodri, Kukurea, Baena.
00:41:41
Speaker
Great job. like The attention to detail. like he just He never was dangerous until the last five minutes. To steal a term from earlier in the tournament, Messi almost becomes a bit of a black hole here, right? And again, it goes it goes back to the point that you made at the very start of the show where 100 times out of 100, you're going to take the tradeoff, but the tradeoff was really severe here because if he's not giving you legs, what is he giving you if he can't get on the ball?
00:42:07
Speaker
Yeah, this is what we said about Ronaldo. And it's not like Messi's very clearly better than Ronaldo. But against Spain, Spain is the team where 11 count, 11 counts. And so that's why we said earlier, you need the running of 10 guys to 11 guys. and And this gets worse, as we said. And so...
00:42:25
Speaker
There were moments in the, there are moments where it gets to him and you think, oh, can still do it. And there's like maybe two or three. And then you realize he looks up, there's two guys in front of him and Alvarez is dead. So he's like, I have to do it all myself. And it's like, even 2012 Messi is like, he's going to have a hard time. There's a reason Argentina didn't win anything with Messi before this run, right? Even when he was at the peak of his prowess is because there wasn't the help around him. These changes, I think the ones that decided, these are the ones that really flip the script here and tighten the screws for Spain. And from this point on, from this point until obviously they score in extra time, this just becomes kind of Spain doing everything. And they start to force Debo Martinez into making some of these saves.
00:43:10
Speaker
Yeah. Ogurthal and Olmo, good games. But now what you're seeing is that Mikel Moreno is just a striker. He's just pinned himself on the center back, and that pushes the center backs into the box. And Ferron Torres is just running in in the space and making them deal with him. And now they're just getting the ball to Nico Williams and he's taking guys on.
00:43:30
Speaker
And so then Patri's in that little half space where he's across like perpendicular from Nico Williams. And then someone has to come there. And then the next half space is over for Rodri. And it's like, Oh, free 25 yard shots at any point. Spain could just walk into that shot. And that's a problem. Debu, Debu is great. Debu is really, really important in this game. So yeah, he he makes a save on Pedri. There's one on Kubarsi. There's one on Laporte, right? Those are those, there's two center backs there and that's, that's 25 yard shot.
00:43:58
Speaker
And I think it's really interesting because I think Tagliafiko on the left, hold the zone in this game right? He doesn't pitch a shutout, but he keeps Yamal pretty well contained. Spain win this game, I'm it without getting the A minus A plus game. We were looking for Yamal.
00:44:13
Speaker
Right. Truly. i think Laminya Mall was a B- minus in this game. He doesn't really get the better of Tagalafico. I think what Tagalafico does really, really well is closing before the ball gets there, denying the turn in transition, and then closing really hard on the take-on to not give him the head start into his dribble move. And also understanding that... like Right now, this version of Laminia Mall does not have a left foot shot with power. He simply cannot get power on that shot. And so like he's a lot more two dimensional or one dimensional.
00:44:48
Speaker
He hits a few good crosses, but like I think Laminia Mall is just kind of not that important in this game for Spain. But this is why Spain are so freaking, freaking good is that like three other players in this game, I think, put on like matched like world world class level performances in terms of the players who get all the awards and plot it later. Yeah. And that is significant, right? And look, if you're doing this without your quote unquote best player, I don't know if you're actually their best player or not or whatever, but like your most into individualistic player, right? Your best one-on-one. If you're not getting anything from that and you're still able to do this,
00:45:28
Speaker
Pretty impressive. Then there's a significant moment in the 80, I think it's the 82nd minute where Enzo Fernandez picks up a yellow card and it's to be frank, I mean, it's a needless yellow card. We haven't talked about him a lot in this game so far. And we're going start to talk about him now because things kind of just go poorly. He didn't have a great game. I didn't think he made a lot of passes. I didn't think he was very effective in the midfield. And this is one where in a world cup final, we talk about moments battering and this is just a moment that you can't have. So he goes down, he looks for a foul.
00:45:56
Speaker
And he just protests and it's very demonstrative and it's a pretty clear yellow from, from, from the referee vintage. And like, yeah, this doesn't need to be a yellow, but it is a yellow and you just can't take this yellow card in this game against this team at this moment. You just have to be smarter than this.
00:46:13
Speaker
You do. And It's not really a foul. like enzo and And then Enzo just is like, I'm going to complain. And you the way in which he complains, you know you're going yellow. like You just are. I thought Vincic did...
00:46:28
Speaker
a A minus. He's pretty good all game. you know Maybe he was a little slow with the yellow cards in the first half. I think he handles everything pretty well here. I don't think any ref is not giving a yellow for what Enzo does. Because at his moment in the moment, he's like, ah, it's a yellow. I'm fine.
00:46:44
Speaker
But it matters in these World Cup finals. And... Look, Enzo Fernandez, I don't know what words you want to describe him. He's a hothead. e Of the players who we said on Argentina that could be involved in some sort of head loss would have been Kuti Romero, DB Martinez, Enzo Fernandez.
00:47:07
Speaker
Should have had Preda's in there too. But really those three guys, like you watch a lot of soccer, you watch these guys at club, watch them over the years. They just are prone to like getting into it, being characters, being involved.
00:47:22
Speaker
And look, I don't like want to use like mean words, but like this right here is completely, completely preventable. If what happens after isn't, this is just an unforced error. And in the world cup, you can't do that. And another thing we said is like,
00:47:36
Speaker
Who's getting under whose skin? Argentina, your job is to frustrate Spain. And there are moments where Spain wear the look of like, man, these guys are really pushing us. You can't be the team. You can't be the team to make the unforced error when you're trying to play this this narrow of a tightrope because it matters.
00:47:54
Speaker
Spoiler alert, what happens next is also preventable, particularly taking into account what happens here. But yes, this is definitely much more preventable. And as again, the type of thing that you just can't be sacrificing a yellow card for in this game. And Paredes does something similar, right? Where he just pushes out after a free kick is given. It's like there was that one's so funny because it's literally six inches in front of Vintage's face, the referee's face. You just can't take yellows for these things. Like you just can't. look there's an There's an art to the shove and the – Sure. There's an art to the elbow. There's an art to the contact and when the referee is looking and where you like can get away with a little more. But you can't do things that – like you can't invite the referee to have to give you cards. Like you just –
00:48:37
Speaker
yes Yeah, I agree.
00:48:48
Speaker
boom boom two things and you're done Yeah. So this game then gets turned on its head right before extra time starts. And there's a moment here where it almost looks like Argentina are going to find a bit of that magic dust and might actually just steal this. And it's actually not all that much. It felt like much more than it was when after, like in the moment, it feels significant.
00:49:09
Speaker
Then you look back, it's like, yeah, it really wasn't anything. But Messi wins a free kick and he gets this interplay after the free kick. And I think there's a moment here where maybe against mere mortals, there's a left footed half space window for Messi to fire one off here. Unfortunately for him on the other side is no mere mortal. It is in fact, guess who I'm it? Oh, it's Rodri. Who's just like, yeah, you're not getting a left footed half space. I know your bit.
00:49:34
Speaker
I know what you do. I've seen the tape. And so Messi gets blocked off here. And this sets up this sequence, this chain of events that leads to a low ball from Simeone getting cut out and then a counterattacking opportunity for Spain.
00:49:49
Speaker
That's three on three. And Nico Williams kind of goes hero ball here. a man And his shot is saved well by Debo Martinez. This sequence it was the boiling over point, like like you said. For 90 minutes, we had been seeing what was coming. And there's this, like you said, this one moment of belief, like, oh, Argentina, oh, Roger, go back the other way.
00:50:07
Speaker
Oh, my gosh. I thought it was just like all on the floor. It was just a puddle. Like everyone was in a puddle when this happens. And yeah, Nico Williams has to do better. But you just the space is when things happen. Right.
00:50:20
Speaker
And that's the the shot on both ends and Enzo second collision happens because. we try you know You're trying to prevent space for a reason. And sometimes it's like weird little things that happen.
00:50:34
Speaker
It got loose for one second. We had a glimpse of wildness. And that's what happens, right? So the shot is saved by Devin Martinez. He does well to save it, but he just kind of saves it anywhere. And he just kind of palms it. And it creates this kind of bouncy pinball sequence where at the end of it, the ball is just set there for Koubarci. And Enzo Fernandez is like,
00:50:54
Speaker
I can win this. It's the 93rd minute. I'm on a yellow card. It's fine. Nothing's going to happen here. And he just cleans them out. And he flips them over. This is Kubarsi, right? Yeah. He just cleans them out. Gotta give credit to Kubarsi. The flip.
00:51:07
Speaker
The flip is so comical. It's literally like a Scooby-Doo runs off the cliff and he's like like paddling in the air. Like he literally like does a Charlie Brown like kick too. It's comical in many ways, ah cartoonish in many ways, but he has to, right? And look, this is, this a part of soccer.
00:51:27
Speaker
Enzu collides with him, right? If you, if you could take out the flip and just watch the collision in slow motion, is it a yellow card collision?
00:51:39
Speaker
Maybe like you, you can't step, you you run into a guy, you step on his foot, you're in the You're in the territory, right? You just run into him. But to be on a yellow, to run full speed into a challenge that's not getting you anything. Like what happens when you when you get this ball?
00:51:54
Speaker
And then you give the guy the opportunity to to to take the contact. And this is – I was watching with my friend and she goes – This is a basketball flop or a charge like this is like taking a charge like Enzo just runs into him. and He's like, yeah, great. I got hit. I'm going flip.
00:52:14
Speaker
And like, guess what? Guess what that looks like to vintage. It's absolutely it's too. It's it's so obviously a yellow card. Like, I don't think anyone can debate this one. And it's also like, again, like you said, it's so avoidable and preventable because you don't have to charge into like this. Don't let the referee make a decision on this play. Right. And I think it's really intelligent by Kubarcy because like he knows this guy's coming at me on a yell. I'm just going to take it. And like, it's probably going hurt a little bit, but I'm going to take it because. Yeah. Again, is this a yellow card challenge?
00:52:47
Speaker
Probably. is it a yellow card if he doesn't do the flip? I don't know. but you also, you just can't put yourself in this situation. you just can't because again... the The juice is not worth the squeeze.
00:52:58
Speaker
The game you've had the the game you've had any hard foul is going to be looked at on the standard of like persistent infringement. like i gotta give I've got to ref this guy tougher because he's you know walking the line. If this is your first foul of the game with no cards, you might not even get a card. You might get a warning. But on the yellow and playing the game you've played...
00:53:23
Speaker
There's no way this ends. And that's just like... It's a really brutal 1-2 compound. And it's like such a shame that it's Enzo because he's such a good player. And he has a bad game today outside of the cards. But he lets that like make him do things that you can't do in a World Cup final. right This isn't like...
00:53:44
Speaker
January on Chelsea having a frustrating Premier League, you've got to be above it a little bit. And he like Enzo knows that. like Argentina players know that. But in the moment, he's just like, I've got to clean him out. And it's like...
00:53:59
Speaker
yeah But you don't. And that's the thing. like you can't let the bad game compound into this, right? Your bad game needs to just be a bad game. It can't be a this, right? It can't.
00:54:10
Speaker
You basically, the the die is now cast. Argentina are down to 10. And this becomes, from this point on, it's it's a straight up survive job, right? and there's only one like There's only one thing you could do after this. It was probably going to be this anyway, right? But there's no other way to play this now. And you've taken out a midfield runner from the equation, right? Somebody that you were counting on to kind of progress possession and win back the ball.
00:54:33
Speaker
You've now lost that as well. And you've also just straight up lost a man. And so Spain nearly win this before it goes to extra time, right? um It's Farron Torres who wins a free kick off Paredes.
00:54:44
Speaker
And it's a free kick that taken it by you all. but it's one of those free kicks where it doesn't quite line up for a left footer and he takes it and it's a good save from Debo Martinez, but this free kick for a left footed player to score from this spot is so, so difficult.
00:54:59
Speaker
Laminia Mall hits it really well and spins it really well, but the space is on the left side of the goal facing the goal. That's where you know the wall is and where Debu leaves the space. and You've got to like do the Dimitri Payet left-footed curve spin far post if you're going to go there, go around the wall, or this is a right-footer Benzid. Yeah.
00:55:21
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Lamin-Yemal is probably like, this is my my Kodak movie you know moment. I'm going to try it. And credit to Debu. Again, got tested so many times in this game and really was up to it. you know Even with some spills. like Talk about one like one guy. like Big game Debu.
00:55:37
Speaker
keeps Keeps the belt. For sure keeps the belt. So it gets this game to extra time. And so, oh, look, Argentina have an extra change. They're not going to use it to start extra time, but there's so many different fires for them to put out before they make this change, right? Where you're maybe thinking, oh, they can get Lautaro Martinez on and maybe he gives them a threat, but that's not the decision that Scaloni is going to end up making. We'll put a pin in that for a second because there's some things that happen before we get there.
00:56:03
Speaker
The first one being Nico Williams getting what I think is literally one braid of hair on a header. Yeah. He just gets his hair on the ball and Devin Martinez, to his credit, makes another really good save.
00:56:15
Speaker
Yeah, I was surprised the ah the XG on this chance wasn't higher. It was pretty low. The XG on target, though, from this chance, which is a different number, specifically looks at after the shot, is like 0.5. This is an incredible, incredible save, the best one of the match from Debra Martinez. It's a six-yard point-blank header that changes directions. He gets a big right hand to it.
00:56:36
Speaker
And you can just see that like Spain are shaking runners loose in the box. And then they very nearly get their goal when it comes from Nico Williams putting the ball in the back of the net off a rebound. But Vintage, before this goes in, calls a foul on Marino, on Otamendi. I think it's a foul here. I think it's a left, like he puts his left foot on his left foot.
00:56:58
Speaker
And to Vintage's credit, he's calling the foul, right? He lets the play play out so that if he has to go to VAR, he can and he can give the goal. But he sees this live, he watched the play goes in and he immediately gives the foul.
00:57:10
Speaker
I think I'm okay with this call. look it's a step on a foot it's similar thing to to earlier like I think if you had given this a goal VAR probably would have looked and and done it and again like I can't say credit to Khabarci and then not credit to Otamendi if your foot gets stepped on you've Got to make sure they know.
00:57:29
Speaker
Got to make sure they know. And it's like, good job. And like, I actually thought this was such a great play for Mikael Marino, right? The spinning touch here to to free it up and put Debu in trouble on the charge.
00:57:41
Speaker
But when he does his spin, he has a hard plant on his back foot. And unfortunately, that foot is on Otamendi's foot. So like, look, I'm sure you've seen that sometimes in other parts of the field not being given, but like, it's a step on the foot. It's a foul.
00:57:56
Speaker
And so then from this moment, Spain make their two final changes. And these changes are actually pretty interesting. a it They take Rodri and Laporte off, they bring on Zubomendi and they bring on Eric Garcia. Rodri coming off didn't make a lot of sense to me. And I think in hindsight, it maybe makes even less sense, but it doesn't actually cost Spain.
00:58:14
Speaker
Yeah, it doesn't cost them. I think it's just legs for De La Fuente, who probably is like, look, Rodri, his job is to be excellent in two phases and sweep everything up. But I don't need the sweeping now that Argentina have been neutered to 10 and are dead with no legs.
00:58:32
Speaker
And I also don't need Rodri super incisive passing because I have Padre on the field. So I just need a guy to stand there and recycle possession. And Zubimendi is elite at that. He is an elite six at just, or eight, ah you know, I don't know the exact role, that he just gets the ball, gives it, he never loses it. So like, he's a discount, Roger. you Like, he's pretty good. And so like, I think this is like almost, it's not, um it's a reflection of how untroubled De La Fuente is. Like, I do think you you still probably want Roger, but like Spain don't really slip in the last 15 minutes because of it.
00:59:11
Speaker
Same thing, center back, like for like, like Laporte was fine. And it's not like Alvarez was hurting you. But like, there's almost a certain point where he's made all of his attacking subs. Like he doesn't have any different players to put on there. He's not, he can't really, he could untilt it a little bit more, right? He could have, i guess, taken off a center back for another attacker, but like his balance was just working for him. It was just a matter of time.
00:59:33
Speaker
Maybe that could have hurt them. I don't know. We don't know. And so the counter from Argentina here is Julián Alvarez has been dead for probably more than half an hour in this game. Just no legs left and playing alongside Messi.
00:59:45
Speaker
There's a lot of guys that could have come off here for Argentina. And there's a lot of guys that could have come on. If ar if you would have at this point said to Scaloni, right, you get five more changes. He's taking them and he's making all five of right And he's got guys that he's bringing on to try and rescue this and recycle this and survive job this.
01:00:00
Speaker
He gets one change. And the choice that he makes here, Amit, is to take off Julio Alvarez and bring on Marco Senensi, which obviously says this is a very clear survive job, which it always was going to be.
01:00:13
Speaker
i don't think this was the change I would have made, though. You would have put on Lautaro Martinez? I don't know if I would have put on Lautaro Martinez, but maybe I would have thought about somebody like... Macalester? Colosios? Yeah, maybe I'd take... But how far is this? I don't know.
01:00:29
Speaker
this is is's just how are you it's like yeah There's no here. There's no good player to take off. I think when you've decided you're getting to... you know, survival mode, you're bringing on Sanessi no matter what, right? Like you just are to, it's like what Tuchel does and Tuchel, you know, Tuchel shouldn't have been in survival mode, but Argentina, it's fair for them to be in survival mode given the game they've played in down to 10.
01:00:52
Speaker
And so like, I don't know. it's like, again, also, i guess it's taken us an hour to say it like, this is finally eight games in. Like this is what you get for running McAllister out eight times. Like the guy's legs were never going to hold up. I don't know. Yeah.
01:01:07
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't know, like maybe should you have had enough foresight to envision, hey, they're probably going to score and we're probably going to need to try and get one. Like we might need this. We should be left with an extra center back. yeah Like we may be waiting for the sub two.
01:01:20
Speaker
Yeah, like maybe we need this to be one one to get this to penalties and like we can maybe pin him in for five minutes and do something. And maybe I should use my change. I don't know. It's a tough situation. Like you said, there's just really no changes left.
01:01:32
Speaker
So that comes, we go before we even get to halftime of extra time. There's a glancing header from a arena. Mikel Moreno. This should have been it for Spain. Yeah. Is this Cucuré or Nico Williams on the right side with the cross? It's a great cross from that secondary crossing zone. And man, you see like Mikel Moreno doesn't get the goal in this game, but like he's really good at being a nine. Like he's, he's very good header of the ball. Very good positioning in the box. He almost scores this. Yeah.
01:01:59
Speaker
So we go to halftime of extra time. Argentina are deader than dead. Nicolas Taliafico, like they're trying to basically replace his leg at halftime of extra time, which is just not going to work. You you don't have enough time to to pull that off here.
01:02:10
Speaker
And Argentina just kind of are missing in various spots. And after one hour and two minutes of this show, Amit, after kind of beating around every single bush we could get to, we can finally talk about the goal and we can break it down in detail. And what happens here Argentina kickoff to start the second half. They boot it long very quickly. And Spain come back the other way. And it's just kind of all of these little things, all of that leaning, all of that pressure, 105 minutes of 1.72 XG against 0.00 XG.
01:02:44
Speaker
The dam just finally breaks here. And there's a lot of things that come together to make it happen. But you certainly can't say that it wasn't deserved. So the ball comes to Yamal on the wing. He plays it back for Pedro Poro, and Poro sends in a perfect cross at the far post. And Nico Williams at this point is one-on-one on the far post against Molina.
01:03:06
Speaker
And what happens here is he just wins it, and he wins it in a perfect way. i meante he just It's actually Medina here. I get my Medina, my Lena. all basically the same thing. But anyway, Williams wins the ball, and it's just this great kind of turning, twisting header, and he just keeps it alive, and he puts it into space.
01:03:24
Speaker
And what have we seen so often from this Spain team is it's the late secondary runs that really kill you. And so Argentina, they got four guys all pinned kind of in the six-yard box trying to deal with this cross.
01:03:36
Speaker
And it's Ferran Torres who ghosts him and he goes by Giuliano Simeone, who as this cross is coming in, reaches down and is kind of like adjusting his boot because maybe he didn't tie it right coming out of the halftime of extra time. And he doesn't think that this is going to be the moment that matters.
01:03:52
Speaker
But guess what? It's the World Cup final limit. Any of them could be the moment that matters. And this is the moment that matter. It's really good from Ferran Torres. Off the head down from Williams, he gets the ball and he puts his foot into it and does really well here because...
01:04:06
Speaker
Big game D was scrambling to get back and cut off this angle and he's got everything low taken care of. i think if Farron Torres plays this low, it might deflect out. It might get saved, but he plays it high, but he keeps it on target. He just roof smashes it and it's one. No.
01:04:22
Speaker
a great finish from Ferran Torres. Like, deceptively hard. Think about the blood coursing through your veins, how big your eyes must get when you see this ball score to you. And you know you have to go high.
01:04:34
Speaker
You can simply ask Simeone, who has this exact, like, basically a chance like this, and skies it. It's not so easy. And so it's a really, really good finish from Ferran Torres, who has had some very high-profile misses and has a reputation of being a guy that doesn't take his chances. So...
01:04:49
Speaker
It's a very fitting thing for Spain to have the t trust in him for him to get this moment. This is such a weird play because I think generally outside of the kickoff, Argentina's block is so deep that the second line is close enough to win the second ball.
01:05:04
Speaker
They've been defending their box so well, but because of the kickoff, how quickly Spain get back up the field, there's 15 yards of space. at least 10, then go watch the goal between the midfield four or five and the back four. There's a freeze frame that you sent me where there's four Argentine defenders in the six and no one else in the frame. And it's certainly on Simeone to track for on Torres. And this happens because of this weird kickoff where you're just asleep. And so the whole name of the game is space. You cannot give Spain space. And this is, this is space.
01:05:40
Speaker
Great cross from Pedro Porro, who, again, another hallmark for Spain right back being really good in this tournament. Luis Delefonte plays an attacking right back, gets an attacking right back contribution time and time again. Pedro Porro, underrated star of this tournament.
01:05:55
Speaker
And a really good header back, as you perfectly described for Nico Williams. And so it's just like, Laminia Mall is involved in this play, and the best thing he did in the whole game was just keep the ball moving, which he should have done more and why he had a B-minus game.
01:06:08
Speaker
But... hum perfect sequence otherwise and it's so cathartic you talk about like you have to kill him like i know there's time after this but you know 1.72 xg felt like the damn just bursts open with this goal and yeah it's probably simeone plus the other three guys in the midfield ball watching the track back right like he they i don't think this happens if it's not the kickoff but also it being, it's a really good play from Nico Williams to keep this alive, right? you
01:06:41
Speaker
these These kind of far post crosses, like it's a good cross on Poro, but it's not a spot where Williams is going to score on it himself, right? Like there's so much traffic that it's going to be really hard for him to score from this angle, but he just contorts himself in such a way. And it's like,
01:06:57
Speaker
This is very much what Spain do is when in doubt, just put the ball back across and a late runner's coming in. And that's what he does here. I don't know if he's in doubt. I don't know if he sees that it's yeah going to be Torres who gets on it, but it's a really smart thing to make this play because you know, we've got the legs and these are the runs that we make better than anybody else.
01:07:16
Speaker
Fabri-Nuiz, Mikel Moreno, Farron Torres. It's their their pattern of these kinds of runs. And it's what they do. They spread you wide, get behind you, and cut back. And this is a header, but it's...
01:07:28
Speaker
The genius header cutback from from Nico Williams. And so I think it's a very, very fitting goal for Spain. I think as yeah history ages like this will be up there with the NES to go and perhaps even cleaner and more satisfying for the way that on first viewing, it looks like maybe there's
Critical Plays in Extra Time
01:07:44
Speaker
a deflection. But you watch what Nico Williams does like that is a touch, a touch worthy of winning the final.
01:07:51
Speaker
So this puts Spain one goal up. This ruins Argentina's survive job. And now Argentina have to try to get something. And they are basically playing eight on five against 11, right? Like Tagliacico's got nothing else. Messi has got a left foot, right? So that's maybe your half. um But still, somehow, someway, they kind of pin Spain in and they kind of make Spain regret a couple of... They could have potentially, I guess, made Spain regret a couple of misses here. So the first one is Ferran Torres, who's just offside after he's one-on-one. He scores the second, right? But he's just offside as he's making the center back splitting run.
01:08:30
Speaker
And then there's another couple of counter chances that they don't see out. And so Argentina, like as much as they can huff and puff, and it's really not much here, they still get something from this. umit And right at the death, after the clock has ticked past 120, they get their chance, right?
01:08:47
Speaker
So the first thing that happens is Spain see out a low ball for a corner. And this is Simeone who gets played into a spot on the wing. Well, I guess first there's a shot for Messi that ricochets off the face of a Spanish defender and that stops the play. I don't know that that shot was going at this. So Simeone comes in on the right side.
01:09:04
Speaker
He just fizzes the ball in a cross. And there's way more Spanish guys here than Argentine guys. I think it's fitting that the Argentine crashing this is Marco Sinesi, right? Like that's what we're down to here is Simeone to Sinesi to try and equalize this.
01:09:17
Speaker
But it's a pretty dangerous ball across that could have been generally a problem. But Spain do well to see it out for a corner. Seeing it out for a corner and and the the replay looks safe, but in real time, this ball is just into a thicket of bodies. And you see it deflecting. You're like, that thing's going in the net. It was really dangerous. And as I said earlier, at some point in the pod, the little slip here is Messi's little stroke of genius to to free up Simeone against the grain. He does that ball so well, so well.
01:09:48
Speaker
this was This was weird. And so like you said it's not quite regret. like Spain, it's not that they weren't trying to get the second. It's not that they let Argentina back. They give 10 minutes of really like maybe getting the second and just being off.
01:10:03
Speaker
But then the minor issue, the only quibble, the only quibble you can make of Spain is that Marino, Laminia Mall, and Nico Williams are just hanging out. They're like, oh, we're on the halfway line. The ball will get to us. We're going to go score. But Argentina are like, yeah we don't care if you score. We have to go score. And so somehow you've backed up eight and a half into 11 into like – eight on eight because because you left three guys over there and somehow Argentina are getting box touches after a game where he would deny the box touches Thomas Tuchel is like this is just what they do but you can avoid it guys don't come back and defend with 11 it's Argentina that's what they do
01:10:41
Speaker
So they see that out for a corner, right? And then here comes the Argentina danger. And this is the one chance, right? We said pregame, man, Argentina, they might need to take one of these 0.1 XG chances.
01:10:54
Speaker
It turns out they had to take 1.1 XG chance because that's the only thing they're going to create in this game. You got to take your one And so from the ensuing corner, Messi plays a near post ball in and it's one legged tag Lee of Fico who like holds this up really well at the near post and just kind of gets it across centrally.
01:11:12
Speaker
And it's the guy we talked about at the start of the show. It falls to Simeone. There's space here. This is not an easy chance. Like this is not the type of miss that you feel like, oh, that's got to be a goal, but also got to be a goal.
01:11:26
Speaker
The XG on this one is like 0.1 because of where he is. And I don't understand. Like, I think it should be higher, but there are a lot of defenders in the way.
01:11:37
Speaker
And he's at least got to get it on frame. He's just his. He puts his plant foot down. And the second he puts it down, it's too far in front of him. And he's leaning back.
01:11:47
Speaker
And when you're leaning back, it's really tough to keep it on frame. And like. Yeah, it's the look to tie a World Cup. You simply got to have it. And it's tough, right? You only had one, you know, fell to Simeone. But it falls to like five other players at Argentina. I'm pretty sure it's going in.
01:12:11
Speaker
That's how the vibes are, right? That's how good the vibes are. Yeah, I mean, yeah, hopefully Simeone doesn't lose sleep forever over it, but he probably will. Like, it stinks. It's the way you yeah it's the way it goes in a World Cup, right? And, like, this is all that Argentina, like, the entire survive job depends on something like this happening, right? You either have to keep Spain from scoring or take the one sliver of a chance that you can pin it and create in the 120-plus minute of this game.
01:12:38
Speaker
And, like, yeah, that's not a very good thing to pin your World Cup hopes on, right? But also you got something. Yeah. Like, I don't want to say we've seen Argentina do it with less, but we've we've seen Argentina do it with less.
01:12:51
Speaker
We saw Enzo Fernandez on cork a 25 yard shot to be Pickford and they were saved in the game that way. So like we we have seen them do it with less. So yeah, look, the drama was insane, right? Like the fact that there was a sense of disbelief that even for two minutes that Argentina might do it again. Like the aura was real.
01:13:11
Speaker
it felt like like It felt like this was the kind of moment that, like again, they just kind of reach back to the magic dust and, oh, we've used it all. And we've used it well, right? We've won two Cup of Americas. We won a World Cup. We knocked out our bitter rivals in England. We got to a World Cup final. We got it to action time.
01:13:28
Speaker
We got it to the 120th plus minute and we just needed one more sprinkle and we were out. And that is how this goes. And again, it it harkens back all the way to the point we made at the start. Spain are deserving winners. Spain are 100% the team that deserved to win this World Cup. They deserve to win this game. They played better in this game.
01:13:44
Speaker
They proposed more in this game. They were dangerous in this game. They created more in this game. But there's still that chance that Argentina almost pulled this out. They get the penalties at least. and well Yes. And that's why the World Cup After Dark textbook has a big disclaimer that does not apply to Argentina. Because Spain...
01:14:04
Speaker
Spain didn't do the job, right? They should have been up two and they left themselves open for the the vibes monsters. But yes, I think we're in agreement how
Spain's Defensive Mastery and Talent
01:14:11
Speaker
the game went. And it was, you know, I think very fitting way to go. There's still that one little sliver of hope, but at the end, the strangle of all strangles and a really impressive in the end for Spain.
01:14:23
Speaker
Look, 105 minutes of this game, Argentina created 0.0 XG. right like No shots. No shots at all. That is just such a testament to how well Spain played. Rodri gets the golden ball for this tournament. I think that is very, very well deserved.
01:14:37
Speaker
Pau Cubarsi is the player of the match. I think that's fine. I maybe got Enzo Fernandez sent off, so sure. Yeah, look, he's an interesting player. I think at times this year with Barcelona under Hansi Flick, he's looked a little vulnerable with his top end lack of athleticism, but his composure on the ball and to quarterback the counter press and to read the game and for him to be 19 and for Spain to be as on the ball as they are and for him just to never misplay a pass like rarely ever in this tournament.
01:15:10
Speaker
He pockets Messi, pockets. But he you know he goes up against Messi. He goes up against Mbappe. Doesn't let a goal to these two generational teams. Yeah, I mean, I'm not going to like you know I think Spain as a team are more necessarily impressive than Koubarsi as some like best center back I've ever seen. But for him to be of the level of such a generational team, to me, it in its own right, is super, super impressive. And...
01:15:37
Speaker
Look, when you go back to our preview preview podcast and we said, what's what's the deal for Spain between them winning it all and them not winning it at all? It's Rodri and it's Laminia Mall. Laminia Mall, maybe not at the level that you would have needed, but Rodri certainly was. This was Ballon d'Or winning Rodri.
01:15:53
Speaker
Very clearly the best player in the tournament in terms of how one-sided he made all of Spain's games look. by far the like most valuable, right? If you think about it from like an MVP perspective to to use the American sports term, right?
01:16:09
Speaker
Just what he was able to provide for Spain, what he allowed them to do. and it's interesting And what's so funny for Spain is that he's not even on the field. He's their MVP and they, right? He's not on the field when they score their winner. And like,
01:16:24
Speaker
There you go. That's Spain. guy Guy 18 or whatever it is. i don't know. i can't count the subs, right? Six sub. 17. 17 is the type of guys that that come through for them. So.
01:16:37
Speaker
Yeah. Uh, when I see one wins best goalkeeper, which is like, okay, that's just the goalkeeper on the team that won, but sure. Yeah, that's fine. I guess. I don't think there was any real standout goalkeeping performances from anybody that got far in this tournament. So I think that's fine. Well, like Dibu Martinez played really well today and was maybe deserving of that. But again, I'm not going to quibble with the awards. Um, but yeah, Spain, look, we'll take some time, I think to try and contextualize this and to figure out where they fit historically.
01:17:03
Speaker
Where they go from here, I think is really interesting because there's no reason why this Spain team can't continue to be generationally good, is there? No, I mean, we've talked about this. We've hinted at this before on this podcast is that basically to be good at international soccer, you need to print talent at 11 positions. And there's only three countries that can do that. It's like France, Spain, and England.
01:17:26
Speaker
And Spain not only print them at 11 positions, they blueprint them how to play together from a young age in a way that France and England can't replicate yeah because of how centralized the talent development is in Spain at Barcelona and others, but Barcelona yeah and the academy being so important for what they do. And the Barcelona genes were coursing through all of this. And so like, yeah, it's really scary because as you also mentioned earlier, Laminia Mall was B, B plus all tournament. And at the Euros, right? He was more of that A level. And then you saw them have to slay some of the giants and they did.
01:18:02
Speaker
But so like, I think the rest of the world is in an arms race to catch up. And there's certainly teams with talent. I, Really, really wanted the Spain-England final. We talked about how you beat Spain. You need to have enough threat to hurt them, but you also need to get the ball and keep the ball.
01:18:19
Speaker
I thought England matched it well, but it's way too late for that. right so yeah We'll see what happens in Euro 2028. I think I know who the favorite is. 2030...
01:18:32
Speaker
We'll see. Well, it's it's too far out to know. But like, look, at this point, as long as Spain's talent development pipeline is the best, they're always going to be a threat of these tournaments.
01:18:43
Speaker
Absolutely. And look, there's a lot more to see where this goes, right? Like what happens next with France is is supremely interesting. Getting out of the the shadow of the champ, even given how successful he's been, will be interesting. What happens next with England, right? All signs are pointing to Thomas Tuchel running it back, but a bad Euro in 2028, which... feels like it's probably going to happen if they run it back anyway. um You know, that could set them on some other path. And and look, there's plenty of other countries that can come up and can challenge.
01:19:11
Speaker
There's a Portugal post-Fernaldo era, right? And there's even, yeah. yeah But Spain are like, I think we have changed our priors on them throughout this tournament and they answered the questions and even the questions that they didn't answer, right, would only make them more dangerous going forward, right? Like you said, this wasn't a plus, I mean, Jamal and they still got it done and didn't trail once and only conceded once.
01:19:38
Speaker
There's even a higher level this Spain team can get to and i think that's really scary for the rest of the world. It is. Look, at the the whole stretch was impressive. I do think there's scenarios where the semifinal game goes differently. Sure.
01:19:51
Speaker
If it's not Luka Dean, like, kicking Laminya Mall. France, i were so were ah we're close and could have been close. That game could have been different. But in hindsight, yes. Like... You just can't say that stat that they were never scored on a World Cup and it never being like any more astounding. And perhaps, right, let's do a little bit of narrative projecting in that this eight match like super attritional World Cup, Spain's depth and cohesion during in the depth was a plus that showed up in terms of.
01:20:24
Speaker
Maybe a few other teams had 18 guys, but they couldn't all play at the level and just plug and play and get to that changes so easy. Like that is certainly a very much ah a hallmark of Spain.
01:20:37
Speaker
But like, that's what the world cup is going to be now, right? Like yeah you can't just roll out 11 guys and win it in four games. You're going to have to show more. You're going to have to be able to deal with attrition. You're going to have to be able to deal with conditions, right?
01:20:50
Speaker
As long as the world cup is played in the summer, given the way that summers are going, this is what it's going to look like, right? Like this is how these games are going develop. And I think Spain deserve a lot of credit for the way that they did that. And yeah, look,
01:21:01
Speaker
They only conceded one goal. Like you do that at a major tournament, you are always going to be very, very successful, particularly if you have the type of talent that they have going forward. So tip of the cap to Spain and quickly on Argentina, mean this this is the end of this run, right?
Lionel Messi's Transition and Scaloni's Impact
01:21:16
Speaker
I don't think we'll see Lionel Messi play another major tournament. Could he maybe hold out for Copa America two years from now? Maybe he could. I don't think there's any chance he can hold out for a World Cup. And I think also Argentina needs to move on from that. um There will be a Lionel Messi send-off game that will be very well-deserved.
01:21:31
Speaker
They took this run as far as they possibly could. As you said before, it wasn't a good performance today from Argentina, but I don't think they need to hang their heads about it. They got painted into a bit of a corner, and some of that is relying on guys that were probably never going to be able to go 90 or 120 minutes at a high level.
01:21:49
Speaker
There's a lot of cascading things that lead to this game looking like this for Argentina. But I think the fact that this game looked like this shouldn't take away from everything that came before. And obviously it doesn't take anything away from what happened in 2022.
01:22:04
Speaker
ah Agreed. A hundred percent. Perfectly said. They, they milked every last drop out of this run. And at the end of the day, like, Messi dragged these guys to a final like he did on his magic over and over again.
01:22:18
Speaker
And it's always been the question for Messi is how much help does he have? And the answer is this was closer to 2014 than it was 2022. It was good. It got them to a final. Like, I don't think they're the second best team in talent on the world. Like the cohesion, the fight, the messy situation.
01:22:37
Speaker
what's been there for this team was there and so like I think you take this run a million times you just would for what they got um ah for Messi too and at the end of it like three World Cup finals ridiculous over that many years too to basically for Messi to take two cycles of Argentine talent to to finals and win one of them obviously yeah and win one of them so like I do think like a lot of times I go back and forth on Scaloni being a good or bad coach. like I think he's pretty good.
01:23:13
Speaker
I think he like he he gets the most out of his players. he i think he made some mistakes today, for sure. But I think on the whole of the tournament, what he did, particularly against England and like totally punking Thomas Tuchel, is really impressive.
01:23:26
Speaker
Really interesting to see where they go because... They are not in the France, Spain, England camp of producing talent every generation. I think Argentina is going to have a very, very hard time, as is the rest of South America, to catch up with Europe.
01:23:42
Speaker
They have a lot a lot of work talent-wise to get there. Argentina have a lot of the best managers and minds in the game. So they they have that head start. The post-Messi era is very, very hard to imagine.
01:23:54
Speaker
What they have done is they've also, I think, kind of renewed some of the belief in the national team, which was objectively not the case before Scaloni takes over. Right. Scaloni takes over because literally no one else will.
01:24:05
Speaker
Right. Scaloni gets this job after Sampaoli leaves everything in flames after 2018 because every single Argentine manager looks at it and says, that's not going to work. I'm not taking that.
01:24:16
Speaker
Scaloni takes it and make something of it and and deserves a lot of credit for that. All right. A bit. We're 85 minutes on the show. You ready for England six France four? Yeah.
01:24:28
Speaker
no the only thing i can say about this game which is not real and anyone who texted you what a game amazing what a game what a game amazing it's not real soccer that was pro clubs that was five aside that was doing bits is that where in the world was bukaya sacca for england against argentina
01:24:50
Speaker
He was saving. He was waiting for the next big game. I i think Didier DeChamp and Thomas Tuchel should have to manage the third place game into eternity for their anti-football that they've put on in their careers. And they should just have to only get to manage that game where there's only space and fun.
Reflecting on the World Cup Series
01:25:06
Speaker
Look, soccer's fun. You must have fun. it's ah It's the World Cup All-Star game, basically, right? Which, like, in its own right is fun, but, like, also, like, if this is what it's going to be, we've got to fix the records. That's not really, you're like, in the spirit of the game to me. Yeah, Kylian Mbappe taking home a top score because he bagged two in the third place game. Hit, make the third place game. That's how you get to ah to take top score. All right.
01:25:33
Speaker
That is it from us on the World Cup After Dark. We have had one great tournament. We have loved it. There's a lot of thank yous that we need to do at this point of the show as we kind of wrap this up. World Cup After Dark isn't done.
01:25:46
Speaker
We're going to take some time. We're going to take a breath. We have gone daily for like two months now. We need a little bit of a breather. We would hope to do some post-World Cup stuff. We're hoping that we can do some, you know, kind of post-mortem on some of these teams, maybe a more general World Cup recap. We have a lot of best games to look back. weve got I guess do some worst games to look back. um I watched some of those worst games, right? We watched those worst games. We'll hope to do that at some point. um There's a lot of thank yous that Amit and I have to get off. First of all, a big thank you to the guys who stepped into the start of this tournament. at Isaac Bushnell, John Arnold, Jack Collins, Parker Johnson, all friends of the show, all people who listen to the show regularly. A huge thank you to them for stepping up and stepping in and helping us out at the start of it.
01:26:32
Speaker
A massive thank you to all of our listeners, but most in particular, admit the listeners who have been with us before this World Cup even started. The ones who were there for Indonesia in World Cup qualifying. The ones who sat through CAF Group C of chaos, right? The ones who were CONCACAF after darking with us. The ones who enjoyed New Caledonia at the Intercontinental Playoff.
01:26:54
Speaker
Those are our day one listeners. And it's a massive thank you to those people for always tuning in to this show. A massive thank you to our friends, family support system. Amit and I both have significant others. They have been very supportive of this throughout the World Cup. ah They have consciously watched us or sometimes in my case, unconsciously watched us do this podcast at just God forsaken hours. to help I'm getting a look from her right now. She has looked over and looked at me. And right now, as I'm doing this, basically to say what you're doing with this podcast is crazy, but we do it because we love it.
01:27:28
Speaker
That's a massive thank you to obviously you, Amit, as well for joining me on this ride. Very much enjoyed it. It's the third World Cup that we have done this. and It's far and away the best that we have done. um So yeah, that's the World Cup after dark. we We've loved this tournament. We love the drama, the pageantry, all of it.
01:27:45
Speaker
It's been a great ride. I agree. i agree. It's been awesome, man. We've had a we've had a really really great tournament. We love this podcast. We love doing it. We love international soccer.
01:27:56
Speaker
um we We really put a lot into it. And for like this was the best one. And we've been... i know we we said thank you to the fans. like And I'm sure if you haven't picked up, you've picked up by now. We've been watching international soccer for years and years to build up to this. And it's funny, we get to the end of the tournament and it's just kind of these like...
01:28:14
Speaker
biggest names that everyone knows and it's like less exactly of our warehouse but like i really like we both take a lot of pride the amount of international soccer we watch and work we put in in like thinking about international soccer as its own exercise to be respected and understood think that's what makes this podcast great that's what we love to do and so That is important.
01:28:39
Speaker
I'm very thankful, Austin, for you and for all of our support systems. Everything you said, echo all of that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm just feeling grateful. this was This was a really special experience. You know, both of us, we love doing this. It's our passion project. We we have jobs. We do this for fun.
01:28:55
Speaker
So who knows what's next for World Cup After Dark? But if you liked this, like... let us know. We really appreciate it. It means a lot to us. It means a lot. It keeps us going. And we know and we don't necessarily do it for everyone. We do it for us. But ah it just feels like it's been super fun. This tournament, we've waited our whole lives for this World Cup to be in America.
01:29:14
Speaker
And even like, you know, you're not here and I'm I didn't get to go to a game this tournament. Like we missed some of that magic. But like this was our World Cup magic. Part of it was this podcast. Doing this podcast with you is the best part. So we're just very, very happy and grateful.
01:29:31
Speaker
As Amit said, if you like what we do, let us know that you like what we do. And also, if you maybe have capital hanging around in your back pocket would like support people doing this, we would also like to hear from you as well. You know where to find us. ah You can find us on social media. You can get in touch. Patreon.com slash WCAD is our, where we kind of house everything. You can reach out and contact us through there. As we said, we're going to take a bit of a breather. We're gonna take a bit of a rest. We hope to have some World Cup recap stuff for you. We hope to have some post-mortem stuff on some of these teams. And Amit,
01:30:00
Speaker
Baby, mark a calendar. This January, Saudi Arabia, AFC Asian Cup 2027. Look, the Asian Cup is underrated, sneakily
Closing Thoughts and Future Coverage
01:30:10
Speaker
good. There's a lot of good fun out there, a lot of drama to be had with some of our favorite characters and coaches.
01:30:16
Speaker
And like, for example, how does Korea atone for their embarrassment of a World Cup? There's a lot of pressure on them. They got to perform. We love that stuff. Which Middle Eastern job is Heather and are going to pop up to for a major tournament? You know what's coming. Look, if you liked watching Qatar at this World Cup, have I got an Asian Cup I can sell you, right? It's going to be great. It's going to be fun. So, you know, we'll be here for that. and then obviously there's couple of Americas and Euros and AFCONs and World Cup qualifying and maybe an expanded World Cup and so much more. And before you know it, it'll 20, 30. And I will almost assuredly talk ourselves into running this back and being right here. with you as well. So that is it. That is another World Cup in the books.
01:30:55
Speaker
Spain champions Argentina runners up again. One final thank you to our listeners who have joined us along this ride. We will hope to talk to you guys soon and we hope that you've enjoyed the show as we've gone on a great World Cup in the books.
01:31:10
Speaker
All congratulations to Spain who take home the title.