Transcript
Speaker: It's pretty crazy how fast a soccer match can go by when you're not living and dying with every single touch of the ball and whistle and watching the clock slowly count away the minutes until the Dutch equalize with a well -worked free kick routine at the end. England, France, a bit went by in like 30 seconds for me. Same. It was not enough time. I wanted more of that game. We didn't get it. But it was entertaining. It delivered.
Speaker: We bigged it up as a heavyweight fight, a clash of Titans that desperately needed an early goal. And that's what we got. And that's why you listen to the World Cup After Dark podcast, because we know what we're talking about. I'm Austin Miller. He's a bit Malick. My perfect knockout round bracket is in shambles. I went eight for eight in the round of 16. Quarterfinals have not been kind to me. Went one for four in the quarterfinals.
Speaker: I will tell you though, I almost put Morocco through the semifinals. And I was like, nah, man, because they're probably just going to lose to Spain. And then I looked like a dummy. And now, they're in the semifinals. What are you going to do? We did say that Morocco had a chance to be the how did they get here semifinal team. I'm not sure any of us were willing to commit to it. So we can't take full credit. But when we get to them, Morocco, what a great story. And they are more than deserving to be one of the last four teams standing.
Speaker: I, uh, I committed to Iran in the semi -finals. Yeah. That was, that was back. That was back way back. Yeah. A lot of time ago. Yeah. England, France a bit. We said an early goal was what this game needed. It got an early goal. Impeccable strike from shooting. And from there, this was a great high level match. And it kind of feels like England's major tournament luck maybe ran out here.
Speaker: Yeah, I think that's the good place to start because England made the semifinal in 18. In Euro they made the final and it was by getting through through the skin of their teeth and something we pointed out that they trailed for a total of 20 minutes across two major tournament runs and they had no point
Speaker: really had to go attack full bore and today we saw it twice and for the better part of this match they were a better team than France they just were and going in France were the more talented team on paper we thought
Speaker: And I think, maybe, but in this game England were better and it was because Southgate was willing to to stick with his system but they knew to break down France they needed their creative players, and they had Bellingham
Speaker: who were excellent in the middle all tournament and this was a really good day for Bukayo Saka and for Phil Foden and they just had four guys that could break down France's defense and they were very, you know, patient in getting them into dangerous positions and ultimately that caused a penalty kick that could put them back in.
Speaker: But then France scored that second goal really against the run of play. And that's credit to Olivier Giroud, and that's kind of what France can do. France were outplayed today, and they
Speaker: you know, just weren't on their best stuff. Their best player Mbappe was pretty limited by Kyle Walker, who was awesome and full marks to Southgate for getting him at right back and giving him the right game plan. But that's France. They only need a moment, right? And despite their defending not being good enough, it was good enough in the end for them to advance. So let's start there.
Speaker: France gave away two very sloppy penalties. The first one to challenge right at the edge of the box. Penalty, Harry Kane, boom, that's what he does. It's one -one. Here come England. As you said, France then against the run of play. England had dominated it. Olivier Giroud misses a great chance. That might've been the big chance to get France back in front. They're kind of wobbling. Insuing corner gets played back out, sprayed back in.
Speaker: Giroux just bosses Harry Maguire and gets the benefit of putting his header off Maguire's shoulder and in 2 -1. And then another lifeline for England in a remarkably unintelligent penalty from Taylor and Annes, who just blasted the masted mount completely needlessly, nowhere near the ball, up steps Harry Kane, and it's 2 -2.
Speaker: But it's not because he sent his petter to the moon for the first and only time in his career. Harry Kane was terrible on a penalty. What happened? Well, I think Stu Holden pointed this out really well. He thought he saw the Reese going to the same side that Kane had gone before. And he panicked. And his plan B was, I'm going to hit this high. And then he just indecision, late read. He missed. And it was bad.
Speaker: There's something to be said for not letting your penalty kicker go twice. But here's my good joke on it. No, he's your best penalty taker. You got to let him take it. I did say yesterday, on yesterday's podcast, when talking about penalty kicks, Harry Kane picks where he goes before the match. Well, he picked. He had one spot. He wasn't expecting another one. He was like, well, I only prepared to shoot this penalty to the left corner.
Speaker: uh and then Hugo was like you're going there again and then he went there Hugo knows they've came together at Spurs Hugo knows that Harry Kane's bit is I pick the spot and I kick it there and Hugo said let's see if you picked the second one and he didn't Eddie I think you're exactly right he panicked it just hit it really hard and he missed it and it went over the crossbar yeah and this is one where
Speaker: If Kane had a different approach, he is not the stutter guy. He is not the read the keeper guy. Kane's approach is I picked my spot and I'm going to put everything I have into that spot, which generally is a good approach to him because he's pretty unflappable. But he knew where he was going.
Speaker: was either guessing or reading, Hugo went relatively early. And there's what? A millisecond where Kane realizes that Hugo is going to the spot where Kane is shooting. And he tries to adjust. And that is fatal in these kinds of life or death World Cup moments.
Speaker: You know, it's easy for to say like roll it down the middle or read him and go the other way. But if it's even just a yard lower, it's in. It's it's unlucky is what it is. Kane misses and he just he didn't. He wasn't ready for that. And maybe he should have just hit it where he was going anyway and hoped it went in the corner and beaten Hugo to the spot. But he didn't. That's the World Cup. You got to make your penalties like I don't know what else to say. I love Harry Kane. I'm so bummed for him personally. I'm less bummed for England like
Speaker: I'm bummed that they played very well. This was a very good England performance. They probably deserved at least extra time here on the day for their performance. But I'm personally very bummed for Harry Kane because he was really good for England in this tournament. He was creative for them. He was everything they needed. They were at a better level than they were in 18 and 20 in the Euro. And at the end of the day, he's a very easy scapegoat. And some of it deservedly for missing a penalty kick.
Speaker: It's hard to make two penalties in the same match. He should have made them. I'm not saying he shouldn't have, but I'm personally very bummed for him. But that's life.
Speaker: I agree with you that Harry Kane was very good in this tournament. That is not something that comes easy for me to say, but it is undoubtedly true. He was very good for England in distribution. He was very good scoring. I am not personally bumped for Harry Kane at this moment. I don't think a lot of people that aren't Tottenham fans are. I greatly enjoyed this moment. I let out a very excited, very passionate, he missed just absolute surprise.
Speaker: Like the Dark Knight with Joker, yeah, exactly. I did not think that that, it just was not on my radar, that of all people in that situation, literal Harry Kane would flat out miss. And I get why it happened, I understand it, it's not that he just missed, that he picked a spot, he tried to adjust, and then he missed. But that's just not something he does. He does not miss penalties. That's his whole bit, is that he doesn't miss penalties.
Speaker: And he missed a penalty. And that is heartbreaking for England. It is just soul snatchingly bad because that is what you count on. Easier dude, you win a penalty. It's a goal because you have Harry Kane. And yeah, England were better today. They took the game to France. They did something we haven't seen them done do a lot under Gareth Southgate. And they weren't rewarded for it because
Speaker: France are also an elite team and France had an elite finish on the first goal kind of out of nothing that's not a very high quality chance it goes in from too many and then they had Olivier Giroud who has also been fantastic in this tournament doing the best Karim Benzema impression there is and he scored his header
Speaker: and England didn't score their penalty and that's the difference to one. I agree. Extra time was at minimum the fair result here. You could make an argument that England should have just won this game flat out in normal time. Extra time was the fair result and that's what should have happened, but it didn't. Yeah.
Speaker: It was frustrating because England found a way to rest control of this game from France and I think it was the reasons we said. Henderson has quietly, maybe not quietly, but
Speaker: despite his old age and slow profile, has really helped England in this tournament. Declan Rice was very good in this game. And then like we said, if you just count it up, England had four players that were very good in the buildup, very creative, really five, sorry, if you count the three forwards, Kane, the two wingers, Bellingham. And France only had
Speaker: Chomeini who was advancing the play, but Dembele was not great today. Mbappe was good on the goal, but in general quiet. And then Rabio and Griezmann weren't really getting enough of the ball. And France still had moments. They were dangerous transition. But you saw early on in this game, it was two teams waiting for the other to make a mistake, make a mistake, and then pounce.
Speaker: The goal happened because Kyle Walker lost the ball 90 yards from goal and France countered, but it still took a lucky hit. But then England didn't bat an eye. They really worked their way back into it. And Sacco was very, very good. Just working Hernandez all day, Upamakano all day. France's back line is leaky. It's an underrated problem for them, but they're in the semifinals and
Speaker: They'll take it, of course. I'm not shocked, but I'm really surprised how well England played. And it's a bummer for them because Kane missing a penalty taps into decades of English heartbreak, English penalty failures, very English to play this well and lose.
Speaker: very Tottenham spursy for Kane to miss it. Just the legacy of, you know, Tottenham have not won a title since 2008. And Harry Kane, as much as he is beloved in Tottenham circles, is kind of ridiculed with the club for just being underachievers. And for England to tap into that identity here when playing their best game under Southgate is cruel to them. But
Speaker: France, to be this good at two world cups, you have to be lucky and good. And they were both today. Yeah, I think.
Speaker: This was not France's best performance and that they've managed to go through against a supremely talented England team that troubled them is a good sign for France's fortunes going forward in this tournament, which now is just two games left. Like that's all it is now. You're into the semifinals. There's only two games left. A couple of other things from this game for me, Jordan Pickford, this is just going to be me just going player by player in England and saying what I don't like about them.
Speaker: Jordan Pickford would be the most annoying goalkeeper to have behind you as a defender. This dude cannot make a save or allow a goal without immediately standing up and yelling at somebody. Like at some point, I would just turn around and say, that's why you're back there is to make a save. If I make a mistake, it's going to happen. Make the save. I hate Jordan Pickford. He drives me nuts.
Speaker: Yeah, he also has a pungible face. Yeah, he really does. Unfortunate for Jordan Pickford. It's the hair. It's the hair that really does it. I think both goalkeepers were good today. I know Pickford perhaps could have done better on the Chomanese shot. But I think he was screened. He was screened, yeah. He was screened. And by the time he read it, the ball was hit well enough to the corner that his full dive couldn't get there. He made a very good save on Giroud's chance
Speaker: minute before Giroud scores. And Olivier Giroud is really, really good for France. And the fact that France can lose Benzema and have a player of his quality, Giroud's quality in, that header goal is a very experienced striker's goal. He bailed them out today. And at the end of the day, right, France scored twice from open play and England didn't.
Speaker: their two best chances were penalty kicks their third best chance was a harry mcguire header that went narrowly narrowly wide of the post and
Speaker: Hugo Larisse was really good. And neither of Larisse or Pickford had really been tested throughout the four games before this. These were just two really talented teams going at it from start to finish. We were treated to a really good game. And I don't know what else to talk about. The subs, I think people were complaining about Sokka coming off because he had been so good.
Speaker: I get it, but you need fresh legs to run on. I don't think Sterling was that bad. And then Rashford for Foden was fine too. And then Henderson, he's too old to run for 90 minutes. So putting on Mount is fine. I think England after Kane missed, they had enough time to get something and they put balls in the box, but they were definitely emotionally stunned because for the reason you said, when you send Harry Kane to the penalty kick, you're expecting it to be tied. Yeah.
Speaker: Rashford had that great free kick right at the death. It was so close. Pretty much the last play of the match that is, you know, eerily similar to the one he scored against Wales. And you could tell he thought that he was going to be able to pick out the top corner and didn't. We should probably, unfortunately, bring up officiating here again. It's almost assuredly going to be a talking point. This was a South American officiated match. It wasn't consistent. There were things that happened. England are going to be upset with it. But at the end of the day, you got two penalties.
Speaker: I kind of find it hard to be particularly upset about officiating. I didn't think the referee was that bad. I guess he was inconsistent. I thought he was fine. I thought he gave some cards when he needed to. I think the yellow on Hernandez is the right call. You don't give a red there. No, there's a couple of Jeopardy. Mount is also never getting the ball, ever. Yeah. So it's a yellow, and that's fine.
Speaker: I don't know. I thought the ref was fine. Maybe I was just focused on other parts of the game. I guess like England maybe thought they should have had more. They got two penalties, like you said, and both penalties were fair, right? Yeah, I mean, the ref should probably spot the penalty on the second one without having to go to it's there for that reason. So whatever.
Speaker: I also find it incredibly ironic that English media, perhaps more than anywhere else, are the media that are very happy to throw stones at other teams when they have immature reactions to officials, when they go after refs, when they surround refs, when they do whatever to referees. And England did a lot of that today. There was a lot of whining, there was a lot of surrounding the ref, there was a lot of yelling.
Speaker: That doesn't bother me. I don't care about that. But it is ironic that the team of the country that is always throwing stones at other countries for doing that resorted to that sort of behavior because it's a universal behavior and everybody does it. Yeah. The English media is problematic in many ways. They're going to have a field day with this one. It's a bummer because this was good from Southgate. Kane has been good. The team was good.
Speaker: Um, and he's a convenient scapegoat and he missed the penalty. So.
Speaker: I don't know. England are in very good shape for the next cycles to be a top five, top four team in the world. They have really done a good job developing their talent. The issue is when Kane finally hits his cliff, which he must be close to just on age, even though he's now developed up a lot in the past two years, three years, they don't really have another good number nine in the pool at all. So that's an issue for them.
Speaker: If Southgate wants to manage them, they should absolutely keep him. Yeah, that was my question for you. Is Gary Southgate the manager for England?
Speaker: I think so, but I could see him being tired of it. It's a really hard job, probably one of the most scrutinized in the world, any big club, any big country manager is, but he doesn't have to do it. And we talked about Brazil yesterday, right? Brazil has this thing where there are not a lot of good Brazilian managers.
Speaker: You don't have to love England's, all of England's managers, but they just have more of them who are high profile than any other country. So there's options. They have time. Their crop of young winger talent, midfield talent, Bellingham, like Bellingham, Saka, Foden in four years is three of the best attacking players in the world.
Speaker: You know, England will be fine, but it's two World Cups now where you've missed a window when you were in a semifinal in winnable games. And last time in 18, they didn't play better than Croatia. But this time, they did play better than France, literal best team on talent left in the tournament, World Cup holders. They didn't get it. So keep the long in coming, baby.
Speaker: go to your pub haunt and down some ales and sing songs, because it's painful. It's painful. Last question on this game for you a bit. What is going back in Declan Rice's suitcase? I think the team that beats him should get to choose. I think he should have to take home a suitcase full of slimy escargot. France are just allowed to stuff it full of snails. Have fun with that, bud.
Speaker: What is that gonna smell like when it gets off the plate after baking in the Qatari sun on the runway for three hours? Ew, disgusting. All right, other game, Portugal, Morocco. If before the game, Amit, with no context, I told you that this game was decided by an attacking player jumping really high to score a header, that that was the only goal of the match, and that the losing team failed to create very many chances, your reaction would have been,
Speaker: Ronaldo master class. But that's not what happened. This was a Moroccan striker jumping really high to score a header. And Morocco are the very first African teams to make a World Cup semifinal. This was great theater. It was awesome to watch. And all of the plaudits are well deserved for Morocco. And they are just a really good team. Full stop. End of story.
Speaker: I agree with you completely. They were not lucky in this game. They had a great game plan, executed it well, and had
Speaker: more of the game, not in terms of possession, but they were, they dominated this game the way they played it against Portugal, a very good team. A team that just scored six against a decent enough European outfit in Switzerland. Exactly. And you just have to give credit at this point. I don't know anyone who isn't, but maybe we were late, not we, but everyone was late to recognizing it. But at this point, there's no other way around it. Morocco from
Speaker: top to bottom, right? Great talent in the squad. That's something we outlined last time when they beat Spain. They're up there with, you know, not at a top eight level, but they're right in that. I think you could put them into 10 to 12 range of just on talent, right? All of these guys, at least their starters play for big clubs and they have a few star players that play for top, top clubs. Great. Their organization is really good, right? Their manager is really good. We've talked about all this before.
Speaker: And they have the home soil boost. Yes, it's here. It's finally arrived. We were wrong about Qatar. No, no home soil boost, but you can't deny that they're playing in front of home crowd atmospheres and it's all working together. You'll hear the broadcasters say, right?
Speaker: This is just a great team. They know how to play as a team. It's all team. But they're kind of right. It's cliche, but this is a well -constructed team that plays well together. And to me, starting in the game,
Speaker: What makes them so good is their approach to defending because they are compact, but they are not sitting back. Their line of confrontation, which we highlighted against Spain, was excellent again today against a more difficult opponent, right? This would have been an easier game to have backed off.
Speaker: from Portugal and respected their talent. And instead they didn't because their midfield dudes starting with Amrabbat are just insane. They're running and pressing is insane. And that's where I want to start. Yeah, it's there. They're so impressive. I'm thoroughly impressed. This was not lucky for Morocco.
Speaker: Sofion Amrabbat is absolutely going to be in the team of the tournament. He is up there in the player of the tournament conversation. That's how good he has been in the midfield for Morocco. And Nesri got the goal today. Great goal. Well taken header. I think Diogo Costa, the Portuguese goalkeeper, did not cover himself in glory. Shouldn't have come off his line knowing that he wasn't going to win that ball, but it's a great header and you have to finish it. And he did.
Speaker: Exactly. And World Cup of Headers, back, always. Jeru. And this goal. But this was an awesome sequence of build -up play for Morocco. Because normally what they do is counter -attack. But today they showed their class in building up, right? It was from the back of 10 plus, I don't know, 10. But it was a long sequence. They broke a lot of lines. And you have to give credit to Azidinunahi, who
Speaker: We've talked about Ziachen Buffal. You also have to give him credit because what makes Morocco so good at playing our style is all of their attacking players creatively, not their striker, are insane dribblers too. They get the ball and it's like, I'm going to take on the first guy and maybe the second. And it works, right? Portugal were kind of chasing shadows at points. There were points when Buffal was just running through three straight Portuguese defenders consistently. Yeah. And that's where,
Speaker: We knew Morocco were good on talent, but to see technically that these guys are just cooking defenders from these top teams consistently all match.
Speaker: I don't have enough good things to say about this Morocco team. And go ahead. I'll let you go. Here's another point in their favor. They were without two defensive starters today. And a third in Roman size made it 60 minutes. And it was a miracle that he got that far with how much tape he had on his leg. There's no knife outward who plays for West Ham. There's no Ms. Raleigh who plays for Byron Munich. They were down defenders in this game.
Speaker: and still put in an incredible defensive shift as something they have done in every single game this tournament. They conceded one goal at this World Cup, and it was an own goal against Canada on a weird deflection. They kept clean cheats going into the World Cup. They are phenomenally hard to break down, and that works in their favor, and they did it again today, and they even did it without their best players, the guys who got them here. They had to rotate, and it still worked. That is such a credit to them.
Speaker: Yeah, it's just a really impressive five -game body of work. And that defensive record is no mistake. And you have to give credit to Waleed Raghwagiri, who has organized them so well. And I was going to add, one of the most impressive parts to me is when Portugal were chasing this game in the last 30 minutes or so,
Speaker: They could not create easy chances. They had to launch balls into the box and they couldn't even get it to their guys in the box. They had a particularly bad day at crossing, which is unfortunate because they needed to cross better. It was super interesting. They just were bad at crossing.
Speaker: But Morocco didn't give them easy access into the box. It was really labored. And the best chance was a header for Pepe that, man, I mean, it was closed. That could have been it. But it was one really chance, one real chance for
Speaker: for Portugal, and they just missed it. There's the Pepe header. There's the chance that I thought Ronaldo was going to score. When a really good through ball gets played to him, he gets on the end of it. It's on his right foot, and he just drives it right at the goalkeeper. And then there's also the weird cross come shot that hit the crossbar.
Speaker: that I don't know that that was necessarily a good chance, but that certainly could have been the moment, but that was really it. And it was really interesting and kind of ironic. This whole tournament, we talked about how Cristiano Ronaldo made Portugal worse and he objectively did.
Speaker: Today was actually a day when they could have used Cristiano Ronaldo in his current form. Because this turned into a game where they were launching crosses into the box. And that is something that even at this age, he is really good at doing. Getting on the end of crosses and scoring goals.
Speaker: And they just weren't able to make that click today. And when he could have actually been useful for them, they brought him on it early in the second half. I think that was the right call. You have to start the solo hummus after what he did in the last game. You have to bench Ronaldo again. And for all of the gesticulating, the pass me the ball, you should have passed me the ball. Ronaldo still could have been useful here. And they just couldn't get him the ball. Yeah. And that's why I said it was a bad crossing day, specifically from
Speaker: Bruno Fernandez, who was not great, and who was genuinely very good for them. When Joe Conselo got subbed on, he wasn't good at it. Delo. Yeah, Delo had some moments where he was like, I'm not passing it all up.
Speaker: I played with that. It's what it looked like. I'm sure it wasn't actually it. But when we were watching, I was like, man, he must really hate Ronaldo from his United days, which is not a good sign. I do think really interesting. I agree with you completely that this was actually an OK situation for Ronaldo. But upon further review, I think it was maybe a little too early from Fernando Santos to do it, what, with 40 minutes left in regulation? Because then he kind of whenever you put him, put Ronaldo in,
Speaker: you're less dynamic going forward in the buildup. And I get Morocco were hard to break down. So it's not like it was a game for transition. So in that sense, I understand. But maybe save him for the end because there was a 20 minute stretch before Portugal were really going for it where they didn't have that outlet up top. And that hurt them. But I think worse is Santos's management of Liao in this tournament.
Speaker: they really could have used them to start when there was space and because they kept hitting that ball. Fernandez would be on the right and he'd hit it all the way over the top to Felix or Guerrero the left back overlapping. If that's Liao on one wing and then you move Felix to the other wing
Speaker: And he could do the dribbling things and combining he does. Then you have options over the top. And when you're in a neutral game, you can play, you know, stretch the defense. Liao came in and he was actually good. He could cross and he could dribble his defenders. He was good against Takimi, but Morocco were too set in. It was too late, right? He could beat his defender. There was three more waiting for him.
Speaker: He was too talented for Portugal to use as a super sub. And they got to the quarterfinal, but by the time he came on, his effect was neutered. So overall for Portugal, this is disappointing, right? Yes. I think Morocco were good and deserved. But if you told Portugal, you're going to get a quarterfinal against Morocco,
Speaker: Same thing. Sign me up for Nando Santos's. Sign me up right here. I don't have to play Spain in the quarterfinal. Great. And at the end of the day, the Ronaldo and the vibes killed this team. Yeah. They had, they didn't get enough attacking their chemistry, whether that's bad crossing or timing of the runs was noticeably bad. Their vibes, they didn't look like they would, were
Speaker: wanted it as much as Morocco did, right? Where was the desperation we saw from the Netherlands? Why is Louis Van Hall's smack balls into the box the best the team has looked chasing a result in these last three quarterfinals we saw? Tell me why. England after Kane missed
Speaker: They didn't look as good as the Netherlands, Portugal. They didn't look as good as the Netherlands. Like, why was that the best we saw chasing a result? And we talked about England. I think they were shell shocked. Portugal, like the end of the day, had a big Ronaldo problem and it hurt them. Can we talk about WALL -E Chanera?
Speaker: Oh. Our bad. You laid it out perfectly. Morocco, they have all these talent. There are these players playing at these great clubs. Atrophikinis, at PSG. They've got Nezraoui, at Bayern. They've got ZH. They've got this team spirit. They've got all these great players.
Speaker: And then their backup striker is playing in the second division in Italy after having won them promotion to the second division from the third division. This is a guy who one year ago was in the third division in Italy, and he does a lot of things good. I understand why Rigwawi has brought him on in both of these games because he's far different than their other number nine, which is Arozak Kamdala, who has not seen a lot of play in this tournament because he's kind of the big dude that you put on when you need a goal. He's not a game chaser, presser type guy.
Speaker: This is Morocco's version of Haji Right. He's a transition forward. Yeah. And he can get into spaces. He runs the channels well. But the fundamental problem for Wale Chidera is he is not particularly good at the game of football.
Speaker: And that has costed on multiple occasions in this tournament. Could have had a goal today and then got two really kind of stupid yellow cards and got himself sent off and left Morocco with 10 guys down the stretch. I am all for the Wale Jadira tournament. And if Morocco go on to lose their semifinal and have to play in the third place game, I want Wale Jadira up top.
Speaker: Yeah, let's play the game of how much volume can we create for him before he scores. Like, how many chances would it take for a lead to Deere to score, at least like four or five? Volume striker is what we can call him. Yeah, no. Funnily enough, it didn't hurt them the way the game was, and it won't hurt them in the semifinal against France. If they're up a goal, I'm sure he could just sub someone else on, and it won't be that noticeable.
Speaker: The Moroccan legs, it was impressive today. Just like Croatia, they just didn't look tired. They should have been. After all they had to do against Spain, all the side -to -side defending, it was insane that they had those legs. And also, we forgot to mention in talking about the goal, a fantastic job of television production by whoever it was in the host broadcast who obviously had a camera on Cristiano Ronaldo all game.
Speaker: the goal is scored Cristiano Ronaldo style high leaping vertical header and in the replay you just slide in the Cristiano Ronaldo reaction which is a dang I can't do that anymore he did have that perfect look he just kind of like rolled his eyes a little bit he was like oh man that was impressive that was great production also good production when Kane missed they had that little kid ready to go
Speaker: This is really sad. Somebody was, somebody was camped up at the top deck of the stadium. Just like, I got the kid regardless. We're going to the kid and he missed and it was like, we got the kid. Oh, to be a world cup producer. So regardless of what happens going forward, this has been a fundamentally successful tournament for Morocco. We don't have to get into the X's and O's, the ins and outs of a potential semi -final with France. Can they do it?
Speaker: Yeah, of course they can for all the reasons that we've gushed about them. They just fit this profile of a team collective playing well, they're doing the right things, and they're organized. And France, for as good as they are, are vulnerable in the back. And Morocco's style is pretty opponent proof. They took it to Belgium. They took it to Spain. They took it to Portugal.
Speaker: And without getting too much into it, right? France is totally different if you can control Killian Mbappe as much as you can control a player that good. And Kyle Walker was great. And you know who is Morocco's right back? It's Killian Mbappe's teammate at PSG, Atra Fakimi. So we'll preview that semifinal matchup more. But this profiles as a winnable game for Morocco and
Speaker: with the crowd for them, it will be a more than full effort for at least a half and more. So we'll see. I'm really looking forward to it. Super beneficial to Morocco that their best player, undoubtedly their best player, happens to be their right back, which is the exact position that you need to try to shut down Kylian Mbappe. That's a big benefit for them. It's going to be fascinating. And I think it's really interesting that the four semifinalists we have here
Speaker: two incredibly good collective teams in Morocco and Croatia. The Argentina squad, who I think are also a very good collective team, but in a different sense, in that they just have this sense team of destiny, fight will for it, etc. about them. Not that they're going to be able to shut down chances in this collective sense that Morocco and Croatia have,
Speaker: and then the best team at the tournament and the most talented team at the tournament in France. It's a really interesting group of semifinalists in that it's not as heavy hitting as maybe you would have thought. There's no Brazil, there's no Spain, there's no Germany, there's no England, obviously because they had to play France, but that's the luck of the draw. It's a very interesting group of semifinalists. It is. We got two kind of
Speaker: outsiders from the hierarchy of world football. And maybe we need to stop considering Croatia that I don't think Croatia will be in the insider circle when Luca Modric hangs up his boots. But that could be disrespectful Croatia clearly are very good overall as a country. It's not just Luca Modric clearly.
Speaker: But yeah, no, for Croatia to do this two times in a row is really incredible to me. And I think there's a lot in that. But I think it's for the reasons we talked about yesterday that their mentality is something else. And then same thing for Morocco, who coming into this tournament, maybe we should have been more keyed in on their talent.
Speaker: But we knew that they were in a winnable group. At no point were you like, they can't get out. And then in both of their games, there was a case we made that they could win both of them. So it's all believable. But the fact that it's here just speaks to their mentality. And then they've gotten a bunch of other small things going their way. I do think it helped Morocco that they got Spain and Portugal, who in the top six to eight teams were perhaps a little more vulnerable.
Speaker: But that being said, that being said, Portugal was fantastic against Switzerland. Yeah. Right. Like I didn't start. Ronaldo, Spain is a good art is a good, I understand because Spain don't have maybe the attacking teeth that another team has, but Portugal do. And they did. And they showed it at this tournament and they just didn't today. And that isn't because Portugal were bad. And as it's because Morocco were really good, of course, there's an element that Portugal didn't play to their talent level, et cetera.
Speaker: Morocco were really good and they have been in this tournament. And I think we were on them generally. We didn't predict them to go to the semi -finals. I had Morocco in the quarterfinals before this World Cup started. I was in the semi -finals, but we're not going to bring that up again. And so this is a really good team.
Speaker: They are the first African team to make a World Cup semi -final, and they're doing it with an African manager, and that is fantastic to see. Interestingly enough, of the 16 teams that made the round of 16, 15 of them were managed by a manager from that country.
Speaker: The only one who wasn't was South Korea and Palo Bento. Every other country that made the round of 16 was managed by a manager from that country. I think that's really interesting. It speaks to the overall talent level in soccer growing on a global scale. So we have now omit four potential finals. We could have a rematch of 2018 France, Croatia. We could have France and Argentina. We could have Argentina and Morocco, or we could have Croatia and Morocco.
Speaker: of those four finals and we'll preview the semi -finals. We'll have a preview episode that'll come out on Monday. So we're just going to talk vibes, which is what this podcast does best. Which of those four finals do you most want to see? It's pretty simple. I want to see Argentina, France. Um, it's just the two best teams left. Um, it's a great narrative. They played each other in 2018 and around of 16 match where France pretty much walloped Argentina.
Speaker: part of that and assisting that. But Messi and Bape, you know, two of the best players in the world, teammates and.
Speaker: As someone that is partially on the Argentina bandwagon, I'm sure there's a case that it'd be nicer for them to see Morocco because that would help them. But just as a neutral, I want to see the two best teams, the two of the biggest countries footballing heritage in a final and
Speaker: teams like France don't come along that often. It's really hard to make two World Cup finals in a row. So even for them, even though I'm not necessarily rooting for them, like,
Speaker: I think it's good for soccer to have a powerhouse do powerhouse things. And I'm definitely not rooting for France to win against Morocco, to win in a final. But it's good for soccer for them to do it. And of course, if Argentina could pull that off, it would just be poetic, picture perfect. There'd be nothing left to leave off Messi's legacy and resume. That's what I'm hoping for.
Speaker: I would happily take Argentina, Morocco as a rooter for Lionel Messi. I think there's something particularly poetic about the thought of a World Cup final that features what we can now pretty convincingly say was the best player of his generation in Lionel Messi and the player that we are pretty confident is going to be the best player of the next generation in Killian Mbappe.
Speaker: That's a pretty good storyline to have and be able to go out. Messy is still good enough that it's a fun and the teams are good enough that it's a fair fight, right? Argentina, we talked about them yesterday, the roller coaster that they are, but they understand the World Cup and talent level or not. Are they as good as France? Maybe not.
Speaker: It's a fair fight, right? I think there's no denying if that was the case, it could go either way pretty easily. It's not like France would be some massive favorite. And certainly the way the game would play out would also not go that. So I'm with you. And just comparing to maybe some other sports, right?
Speaker: We never got Kobe versus LeBron in the NBA. It could have happened in 2009, maybe. And that would have been great. We never got Jordan versus LeBron and Jordan versus Kobe when they were at their peak. And in football, it's a little different quarterbacks. We never got Brady versus Mahomes in a playoff game. We did. We literally did. That was a Super Bowl, dude. I'm sorry. It was a Super Bowl. Brady had a better team. This is why we're a soccer podcast, not a pro football podcast. Don't listen to our pro football takes.
Speaker: Not very good. We did get Brady versus my homes, but that was a weird blowout. Your point just gradually got worse. You started out well at the NBA, and then you went to the NFL, and it was just bad. Don't listen to me there. That was bad. Listen.
Speaker: Let's just move on. Let's just move on. I can't release that game from my memory because of how one -sided it was. Yeah, that's fine. But yeah, you're right. No, coming into it, it was like that. So anyways, Messi is still good enough and Argentina are good enough that it's not like the aging star has no chance. Like it will be full go. So go ahead. Is that yours also? Do you have another fun show? I mean, like.
Speaker: From a personal level and just my personal brand and things that I like, I would want it to be Argentina Morocco. I would find that to be much more interesting for me personally, but I can't disagree with the narrative is better in Argentina, France. And those are very clearly the two quote unquote best teams left. The final that I would least look forward to would be France, Croatia.
Speaker: And that's unfair to Croatia, who have been really good for two straight World Cups, but just haven't quite gotten over the line of where I'm really excited to watch them.
Speaker: And that's a me thing. That's not a them thing. That's nothing to take nothing away from what they've done. And also we saw that final four years ago. I don't necessarily need to see a gassed Croatia team that has gone through extra time after extra time, go up against the most talented team in the World Cup in two straight World Cups in the final. I think France would be pretty heavily favored against Croatia should that happen. Is there any chance we get a Croatia Morocco final?
Speaker: Yeah, of course. There's a chance it could happen. I would be devastated because it would be that Argentina not only didn't get the final, but cost themselves a chance to play Morocco for the world cup. Right. Yeah, of course. And I think that would be a pretty wild circumstance. And that could do another sport for you. Yeah. Um,
Speaker: Tennis, my second favorite sport. I do love football, basketball. That's why you heard me talk about them. But we do get that generation stars versus each other all the time, right? We saw Federer versus Agassi and Sampras. We saw Alcaraz and these next gen people. But it's like the US Open, where you're expecting Djokovic, Nadal. And then one year we got Team Zverev. And it was just two players who were just overwhelmed by the moment of trying to win a World Cup. But they didn't have that experience.
Speaker: That to me would be Croatia, Morocco. It'd be like, wow, they both really want it, but maybe they're not that good. So it would be really dramatic. It'd probably be entirely ugly, but that's okay. Yeah, but it'd be two teams going for the first ever World Cup. So I'd watch it. I'd consume it. And I would like that better than France, Croatia, but also because of where I'm at with the whole Argentina thing, I don't even want to think about the possibility of
Speaker: to not making the final. Oh God, they're gonna have to play again. I can't believe I'm gonna have to do this whole thing again on Tuesday. You got one big thing to close out this podcast here, Amit? I think...
Speaker: No, I don't have anything. All of our takeaways kind of come and go. We're not always right on everything. But this is just pretty good record. That's what I was going to say. We're not always right on everything. But we've had a pretty good idea of what happens, what the managers are trying to do, explaining what kinds of things happen. And I think that's really borne out in what we've seen with Morocco at this tournament.
Speaker: because were Portugal and Spain better teams on talent? Sure. But Morocco's approach to the game and their understanding of international knockout football has been slightly better than maybe Luis Enrique, maybe Fernando Santos. So they've been good value. And I think same thing in England, France, right?
Speaker: You could play well and lose. And that's unfortunate. That's soccer. That's just a takeaway for me. And it's a bummer for England. But those were two really good teams, two really good managers. And we were treated to one of the best games of the tournament as well. It's a shame that it came down to a missed penalty. But soccer, for all of the predictions and numbers and everything goes into it, it can also be like, when you're 12 yards away from goal, you have to score.
Speaker: Yeah. And I think a point on what you said about Morocco, yes, they didn't have the amount of talent that Spain or Portugal have, but that gap is as small as it has been in recent memory in world football. The gap between teams is closing and it's closing to a lot of different teams, Canada, the U S.
Speaker: The South American Giants have kind of always been on equal footing in the talent, but a team like Ecuador, a team like Morocco, they've gone toe to toe. And Japan? Yeah, Japan. They've gone toe to toe with big European teams. And I think that's something that we will continue to see down the line as we continue to go.
Speaker: on with this. All right, that's all we have for today. Programming note, we will be back on Monday ahead of the semifinals. We're going to enjoy the Sunday off. On Monday, we're going to dive into the two semifinals, give you the preview. I'm going to get sweaty, of course, because that's what's going to happen. And then we'll be back after each of the semifinals to recap those. And we're wrapping up. This is also not something I generally do, not this type of person. We do this podcast because we like it. If you like it, that's great. If you don't like it, that's also great.
Speaker: It's not gonna change what we do. But if you have like this podcast, if you rate and review on whatever subscriber thing you're listing to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Senncaster, I don't know, there's probably other ways to do it as well. If you have liked what we've done and you do that, that'd be great. If you don't, it's not gonna bother us either way. So there you go. That's all from us at World Cup After Dark. We'll be back on Monday to preview the semi -finals. As always, thanks for listening. Catch you soon.
