Episode 2 - Tackling Portugal vs Spain

Transcript

Speaker: Wow, football, football, football. Wow, football, football, football. Football, wow.

Speaker: Welcome to Penalty, the podcast where we chat football and spill the tea. My name's Janae, I am back again. My pronouns are she, her, they, them, king, queen, basically anything other than he, him, but that's a story for another time.

Speaker: I have with me today my darling wifey, Some may call her Lou, but for the purposes of penalty, we will be referring to her as Superwag.

Speaker: Hey Lou, introduce yourself. Hello, I'm Lou. Superwag, for anyone who doesn't know, a wag is like a wife and girlfriend in the football world. I remember it being like a big thing when Posh and Bex first got together, the whole wag era. um I'm not really a huge football enthusiast, but I do love what I've learned over the last decade and a bit from you. um My pronouns are she, her.

Speaker: Perfect. And I'd just like to caveat that with that doesn't mean that all wags are she, her. No, absolutely not. So just as a little reminder, Penalty is a queer friendly podcast with an aim to make the game more accessible and have the conversations that need to happen in and around football. So here we go.

Speaker: So Superwag, I am going to start off by asking you, what's been your red card of the week? What's happened this week that you want to show the red card to?

Speaker: I would say my red card of the week is waking up at 4am this morning with a dog on my face and you with a beer in your hand. ah think that's fair to say. I think that's fair to say, too. To be clear, this is being recorded the evening after the morning before, so to speak, after the England-Mexico game. It was it was intense. um i would say my red card of the week is is related to that. Yeah, on. Kick-off being delayed by an hour.

Speaker: Absolute joke. I was all prepped and ready. And just had to sit and watch them trying to fill time on the telly and delay having a beer that I tried to justify having in bed. Yeah, I think when it was supposed to be 1am, I felt like I was going to manage to stay up and watch it as soon as they said it was delayed by an hour. i was like, absolutely not.

Speaker: But I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well done. Thank you. And just to be clear, Superwag managed to see Declan Rice's yellow card within the first minute. That is all. Yeah.

Speaker: Super Wag, do you know what a nutmeg is? Yeah, I do. Partly because I was privy to listening to last week. Right, so what is your nutmeg of the week? What's been your nutmeg of the last week? My golden moment of the week. yes When I knew was going to be your guest today, ah yeah i thought, obviously we live together, we know each other disgustingly well, and I didn't think it was good for us to like practice what we were going to say. But I also didn't want to forget what I was going to say, so I've written something down for my nutmeg of the week. very prepared let's go yeah so we went to dublin last week and we had an amazing time we were there with some of our wonderful friends that we met um on the paramour cruise parahoy probably the last ever parahoy that's that's not a we're getting into here um but yeah had an amazing time it just so happened to be dublin pride which was also gorgeous So yeah, I guess my nutmeg of the week, my super great moment is Hayley Williams. And can appreciate why that's making you laugh because she's kind of your endless nutmeg of life. But what I wrote down was like her voice, but I mean, in like both senses of the word, obviously her singing voice, which is gorgeous. um But like her voice in the sense of like an artist who speaks and allows, it was essentially like a group process of trauma. I felt like there was this like outrage and grief that collectively was being expressed through the lyrics of that album. Because, you know, it's a really awful time to be empathetic, empathetic sorry, and informed at the moment. You know, there's just so many horrible things happening. And I don't actually think there's any humans in the world who are essentially thriving right now. So like, if you know anyone who's thriving, anyone listening to this, let me know. um but when But when I say thriving, like, I want to be clear, I mean, someone who's like hugely rich. And I mean, rich in everything other than the monetary sense of rich, because like, money can make life easier, it doesn't make you happier. But I mean, like deeply rich in the sense of like relationships with selves and others. as well as being like fortunate enough to be homed and clothed and fed and medicated, et cetera, like all of that stuff. But it just feels like sort of increasingly humanity's either being sort of murdered or mentally destroyed by the systems around them. So it was really good to kind of be with a huge group of people having like what felt like group process, to be honest, like singing out loud, um,

Speaker: about the things that they disagree with that's happening politically and to feel really safe together. So yeah, that was my nutmeg. Oh, beautiful.

Speaker: Beautiful, wouldn't For me, further evidence that whether you believe in a God or an all almighty being, whatever it might be, it is Hayley Williams. um But no, spot on, it was it was a beautiful space.

Speaker: um I'd like to caveat my nutmeg of the week with I second everything that Superwag has just said so that my answer sounds warmer. I got to see Hayley Williams two nights in a row because we got last minute tickets for the Monday night as well as the Tuesday night that we already had tickets for. That's my nutmeg of the week! Yeah, that was a bit of a juicy nutmeg that night. That was lucky. That was like, oh, give me the narrowest legs and I'm going to kick that ball straight through and the goal is Hayley Williams.

Speaker: Yeah, fair.

Speaker: So, superwag by name. Yeah. Are you going to be super wagged by knowledge? Absolutely not. It's time for your football knowledge test. Are you ready? Yeah, come on.

Speaker: Okay. Question number one. Yeah. Finish the sentence. Okay. Football is a game of? Two halves. Well done. Thank you. It is most of the time, apart from as we're currently seeing in knockout to tournament football.

Speaker: Right. When it goes to... Extra or added time. hey So that moves us firmly on to our next question. Yeah, go on. In knockout football, if it is a draw at the end of normal time, what do they call the next section where they play for longer?

Speaker: Is that where it's added time? No. That's extra time. So it's added if they are adding something on because they've stopped or they've fallen over. Yeah. And it is extra time if they're whapping on an extra 30 minutes because the game can't end in a draw.

Speaker: Yeah. Spot on. ah What have you done to me? I can't believe I know that. actually quite i'm cut Whereas like Jakey seemed a little bit embarrassed by not knowing things. I think I've got the opposite of that. I've got kind of embarrassment of what have you done to me? How do I know this? Repeated exposure. Yeah. Repeated exposure.

Speaker: Next question. Yeah. I think you'll know this one. How many players for whichever football team you're watching m are on the pitch at one time playing? 11. Well done.

Speaker: Well done. Thank you. I'm going to go a bit harder. oh Who is the oldest player to have participated in this World Cup? Is it um that captain of Morocco you and Jakey were talking about? Croatia. Croatia.

Speaker: Shit. Croatia. Ask me that again.

Speaker: Who is the oldest player that has participated in this World Cup? Is it the captain of Croatia you were talking about before, the 40-year-old? No, it's not. Oh. It's actually a Scottish guy. yeah.

Speaker: Is it an early? No, I'm not going to do that. Yeah, go on. All right, so it's 43-year-old Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Go on, Craig. That's lovely.

Speaker: Love that for Craig. On the subject of age, how old is Cristiano Ronaldo? Is he playing? Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, then he must be younger than 43 then. So how old is he?

Speaker: Forty hun. Let's make him Forty hun. He is. He's Forty hun. Is he? Yeah. He's Forty hun. Nice. Cristiano Ronaldo, Forty hun. Okay. Final question. Yeah. Are you ready?

Speaker: Yes. What is a penalty? Like the only guaranteed fun part of the game. i No, like a penalty is when you are able to kick the football at the goal without having to get it past any other people it's just the striker is that right the name the striker if it's a striker that's doing it striker or other positions are available on the team is kicking the ball just them against the goalie trying to get it in and it's been like awarded to them sometimes or if we get into this joy of like more time playing football like if they've

Speaker: If they've done that and it's still the same score, then it will go to a penalty shootout. Yeah. Because someone has to win this game. Perfect. Yeah. Perfect. And do I love penalty shootouts?

Speaker: No, you don't. i get I get the sense that anyone who actually really loves and respects football doesn't like a game ending and penalties. For me, I think it's quite fun.

Speaker: Tonight's game is a big one. wait you can You can see it from the warm-ups and the build-up to the match that we've got on the screen here. The atmosphere is going to be huge. It's a big derby. We've got Portugal versus Spain.

Speaker: oh so do you still call that a derby? Is it like a local derby? Yeah, but on a national level. This is the Iberian derby. Oh, yay. Okay. Turns out Portugal and Spain touch each other. Mm-hmm.

Speaker: So it's the round of 16. So the winner of this game yeah is going to get through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. So it's huge. Which is how many in the quarterfinals?

Speaker: Eight. Oh, so it doesn't go to 12 before... No, so this is the round of 16. So you've got 16 teams playing each other. So therefore there's two game two teams in each match.

Speaker: Only one team can win a match. Surely there's always only two teams in each match. Yeah, so if you do the maths, it's the round of 16. Yeah. Oh, and then it has to be half. Hey! There we go. So that's the quarterfinals. So how many teams are going be in the semifinals?

Speaker: I'm going to throw it out there and say four. Whee! Maths GCSE has not failed me. So it should be a really fun one to watch. It could get quite heated.

Speaker: Are you aware of who the favourites to win the World Cup were coming into the tournament? I mean, i thought it was Brazil, but that's obviously not happening. No, no. Erling Haaland made sure of that.

Speaker: So the the predicted winners coming into the tournament were Spain. Oh, OK. But as as we've seen, as we've just referenced, there have been some big shocks and big upsets. Yeah.

Speaker: Portugal have always been a great squad, but they have struggled a bit in recent years, which on paper makes you go, cool, Spain are going win this, no problem. But in our experience of tournament football and particularly this World Cup, that means nothing.

Speaker: Anything could happen. Kind of love that, though. Like, it's nice not knowing who's going to win. Right. So let's get ready. Let's watch the rest of the build up. Countdown to kick off. OK. They're going to do their like big hurrah again where they bring out a big old flag and stuff.

Speaker: Oh, we can hope so. So it says it's like 22 degrees in the stadium. That's like significantly cooler than it is in London right now. Oh, lucky them.

Speaker: We're in our sitting room. It currently says it is 27.5 degrees and it is nearly 8pm.

Speaker: Oh, look, they've got face paint. yay That's what I like about coming to Fulham. You like it when they do fireworks before kick-off. Oh, my gosh, I love it. I love it when they do fireworks. Like when we saw... um the Lionesses at Wembley. That was amazing. if you're going to talk about me enjoying football, that was pretty great. Okay, so yes, the first ever women's finalissima.

Speaker: Yes. Who were they playing? We played against Brazil. So it was the winner of the Euros versus the winner of the Copa d'America. Yes, and they had some exceptional fireworks. Yeah, I love that. And we won. And we won. Yay.

Speaker: Oh, look at all the little mascots. Yeah, to be fair, they are sweet. like them How do you get chosen to be a mascot? ah There's various application processes. I'm not sure how it works at like an international tournament level like this. Look, that is the football. Like on our WhatsApp, they changed the normal football emoji that funky colourful one.

Speaker: So we're about to have one of the highlights when they do all of this kind of big showy stuff before a game with all the flags and the players lined up and the mascots as the cameras pan across.

Speaker: often during the national anthems, just watch the mascots' faces. Most of the time, there is at least one child staring directly into the camera and grinning. And it is somehow simultaneously adorable and terrifying. Oh, does it kind of look like they're looking into your soul? Yeah, there he is. Fast, kids. Go on, man.

Speaker: Right, we've kicked off. Let's go. Portugal versus Spain. World Cup round of 16. So this should be a very attack heavy game. Yeah, I think the thing that I still really don't understand about football is how they kind of have these kind of set manoeuvres and things that they've practised.

Speaker: that I find really obscure to understand. Because for me, I'm like, the ball goes there and then surely it's just like fluke where it ends up and you've just got to be reactionary. But I get the sense from when you've tried to explain things to me before that that's not it at all. Like they they're where they should be, yeah? And waiting for who they're expecting to pass them the ball.

Speaker: Exactly that, exactly that. so it's ah it's it's not too dissimilar to like when you're watching kind of choreography. if we're watching a group of drag performers like we did at the Mother Pride block party at Dublin Pride. Yes. And you had that group of... Shakira Knightley. Oh, Shakira Knightley from the House of Wig. Yeah, they were all great, to fair. They fantastic.

Speaker: But in the same way, they have to kind of choreograph their routine, but also prepare for any eventuality. who because not everything they do is fully choreographed every single second of movement.

Speaker: Very similar. These guys have got all kinds of tactical movements, whether it's a set piece or open play, that they have their choreographed positions. and Remind me what a set piece is So a set piece is when the game has come to a stop and is restarted by...

Speaker: some kind of position where the ball is still. So that could be a free kick. That could be a throw in. It could be your favorite. Ooh. Got a corner. Meat pie, sausage roll. Yes.

Speaker: That's reminded me of the guy who um put a bet on himself to eat a sausage roll in the FA Cup. Do you remember? Was it a sausage roll? it a pie? I can't remember. was a pie or a pasty or something. Oh.

Speaker: Oh no, I thought it was going score. Yeah, he like, wasn't he the manager and he put a bet on himself. He was part of the coaching team and yeah, there was the bet put on that he would be spotted on camera eating a pasty of some kind.

Speaker: and then yeah i love that for him. I mean, it was great until he ended up effectively losing his career over it. Oh, did he? Yeah, it was very... yeah you you can't do As silly as it was, you can't do that kind of stuff. Well, I don't know. You can apparently take away red cards.

Speaker: Yes, we will be coming on to that, don't you? I think that's a bit worse than eating a baked goods to get a few extra kids. Because they weren't a big team, were they? No, they weren't. No, they Give the man his prize money and give him an extra pie.

Speaker: Oh, that was very, very close from Spain. Very close from Spain to get an early goal. That's the thing. The longer this game goes without a goal, the the kind of more fiery it's going to get.

Speaker: Oh, that's a shame that didn't go in. It would have been lovely. Yeah, because also there was no one else really there in the way. that he probably should have got that. He should, yeah. From my limited football knowledge. You know what that should have been? That should have been on target.

Speaker: So I have just realised that our pilot episode, episode one, London vs Croatia, was taking place in Dallas, Texas. Yes. This game is taking place in Dallas, Texas. Oh, stop it. Yeah. Out of all of the different places in the three different countries, just so happens to be the same one. Hey, maybe Dallas, Texas needs some more queer sport representation. Yeah, I think what Dallas, Texas is thinking right now is, gosh, I would love for some mixed race lesbians in the London Surrey borders to be representing us right now.

Speaker: I think we'd be really welcome there, Nene. I think they'd love us in Dallas, Texas. Corner. Say it correctly. Ooh, got corner.

Speaker: Thank you. They are pushing each other a lot, Nay. They are pushing each other a lot. It's it's a physical sport and i think, you know, it used to be much more physical than it is now.

Speaker: You could get away with a lot more. There's a lot more kind of subjective rules and you've got your video reviews, etc. um But, you know... In and around the penalty box. The goal mouth.

Speaker: In and around the goal mouth. Goal mouth. Is that an actual phrase? It is. Goal mouth. We may have just found your favourite football phrase. In and around the goal mouth. That is ridiculous. Yes, often in and around the goal mouth. There's a lot of physicality. There's a lot of holding, pushing. And that's where the referee has to keep such a close eye on it. Yeah.

Speaker: um and different football federations and governing bodies will have different rules um as to you know whether, let's say, someone gets pushed down before the corner is taken.

Speaker: There are some regulatory bodies that would say that's a foul. There are others that would say it's not because the ball is not in play. What do you mean different regulating bodies? I thought it was just FIFA. FIFA is the world governing body. Yeah.

Speaker: Then you have it by continent. So, like for Europe, it's UEFA. And then you also have it by country. So, in England, it's the FA. Oh, really? Mm-hm. So they're not all just the same thing?

Speaker: No. Sure. No. They are shooting for the stars today, aren't they, no? So when you see someone shoot a goal and absolutely sky it... Yeah...if that happens, like, at Fulham, for example, you'll just see random people jumping up going, oh, Twickenham Stadium's that way for the rugby. Yay!

Speaker: I think it's funny. I don't get it What, because in rugby you have to kick the ball high? Yeah. Oh, okay. Nah. Is that good for a pity giggle?

Speaker: Okay, so we've just had 15 minutes. Ticks over. Yeah. So we're 15 minutes in. Spain have had 61% possession. But both teams have had three shots on goal.

Speaker: None on target? um No, they've both had one on target. Oh. So quite evenly matched thus far. Thus far, fairly equally matched. Actually, yeah, that's a good point. We haven't discussed a score prediction.

Speaker: Ah, OK. What's your score prediction in normal time? So at 90 minutes. I think at the end of like full time, i think it's going to be 2-2. I think they're going to for an extra half an hour. i think it'll still be 2-2. And then I think we're going penalties. Oh, right. And who's going to win on penalties?

Speaker: um Spain. And how many penalties are you going to take? Are they going to do it in best of five or is it going to go sudden death?

Speaker: Sorry, what? What does that mean? So in the penalty shootout, yeah it's best of five. So you get five each. Okay. um But if it's so even after that, you go to sudden death.

Speaker: So one each until one of your schools and one of your misses. Oh gosh, what a lot of pressure. Like if it goes to sudden death, like for the person doing it I mean, full stop, I think it's a lot of pressure, isn't it um I reckon it'll happen in the five.

Speaker: Nice. What do you think is going to happen? i I was thinking it's going to be two all, so 2-2 again at 90 minutes. I think Spain will then nick it and win it in the half an hour extra time.

Speaker: Maybe even 40. oh What does the winner get now? They get into the quarter finals. No, out of you and me. oh of he Out of whose guess is correct. I mean, of course we could both be wrong. um The loser has to take the dogs out for bedtime wee-wees.

Speaker: Do you quite enjoy a slow motion replay? I think it gives me slightly more respect for them because I guess that's the other thing. Like since I've started over the last 12 years, watching a bit of football. Yeah.

Speaker: having not grown up with it, I always just assumed they were all just taking the piss whenever they fell over and were hurt. I was like, oh, come on, like, just get up. But actually, when you see it slowed down like that, and you see how painful it looks to get kicks like that, or if, is it the studs they're called at the bottom of the booties? Like, if they get hit with the studs, or their heads crack against each other, um all that kind of stuff. I think I've got more respect when you like see it in slow motion, just how physical they are with each other.

Speaker: Oh, did you see that sign that Spanish lady was holding? no what did it say? She's in a Spanish shirt and a Spanish hat and she's holding a sign with the Portugal flag colours that says Portugal. Exquisite wordplay, yes.

Speaker: Oh, Portugal. oh Oh, what a save from the Spanish goalie. Oh, my gosh. He was like a clay pigeon there. He just flew right across the sky. Yes, buddy.

Speaker: Right, so that's the first half over. Half time and it is still 0-0. Any highlights for you?

Speaker: ah No, not really, if I'm being honest. And I know that might sound a bit harsh, but I don't think anything's been particularly spectacular. No, I take it back. the goalie. That save. Yeah. The clay pigeon save. Yeah, the clay pigeon save. That was beautiful.

Speaker: Okay, so it's half time, which means it's time for some team talk. Yee. let's get on to the the big story today, other than England-Mexico being wild game last night. Yeah. And that is what I am going to refer to as rescinded red card gate.

Speaker: Have you heard about this? Yeah, I have. So as a non-football fanatic, yeah I'd be really interested to hear your understanding of what you've seen of this whole...

Speaker: red card suspension debacle sure so my understanding is that if you get a red card it's an immediate one one game ban from the next game maybe two games in this tournament yes one game one game right so yeah you get a red card and you get a red card typically because something's being verified by var as being like dangerous or unnecessary or like fundamentally taking the piss. Like they don't just hand them out very often. So my understanding is a player from the USA has been given a red card and Donald Trump has contacted the head of FIFA and been like, no, I want my best player to play tonight because USA are playing Belgium and FIFA have gone, yeah, fuck the rules.

Speaker: Of course he can play winner of our peace prize. That's my understanding. And I think that's really inherently wrong. Like I've always suspected there's a huge amount of corruption in football, um but that is like so blatant. And I would imagine like deeply unfair on anyone else who's got a red card this season and has had a rightful ban.

Speaker: You have you've have phrased it even better than than i could have dreamed of doing. it's edit it It just goes to show you don't have to be a ah football fanatic to understand the corruption within it.

Speaker: it's It's mad. And yeah, my understanding is you've got Gianni Infantino, who is the head of FIFA, coming out and saying, no, we followed all the protocols.

Speaker: Like, it doesn't matter if I had a phone call with my my best buddy, Donald Trump, because, you know, I speak to lots of different prime ministers and presidents throughout tournaments like this. And we're just following protocol and doing a review and and suspending the ban. It's rubbish.

Speaker: Because Trump has also come out and said, yeah, I called him because I don't believe it was a foul. And this guy's like our best player. We can't be without him. So what about the other 10 or 11 players that have received red cards in this tournament?

Speaker: And also, like last time I checked, I mean, Donald Trump is not an expert on football. I know he thinks he's an expert on lots and lots of things, but just because he doesn't deem it to be a foul doesn't mean it is. But it's quite representative of world politics full stop, isn't it? So maybe it's not surprising. Now, in the interest of impartiality, I would like to counter that with a quote from The Orange himself. Yeah, go on.

Speaker: I'm a person that loves sports and was a really good athlete. And I understand sports really well, really well. Oh, that's his response. Okay. So that undoes everything, makes complete sense. Yes, Mr. President, you can call the shots on a World Cup and what is isn't okay. But yeah, they are playing Belgium in the next round. Isn't that like soon that game? It's tonight. Yeah.

Speaker: It's tonight. And quite rightly, Belgium are going like, we are not going to be happy if that player is named on the sheet. You know, England had a player sent off last night. Yes. So is good old Keir Starmer, who's one of the last things he's going to do as Prime Minister, call up Gianni and be like, hey, we want Gerald Consa to play.

Speaker: So do us a favour, let's spend it for a year. like What about players that got sent off in the group stages and are no longer in the tournament? Yeah, no, it it kind of... um takes validity out of the whole process, doesn't it? Like when a rule that's that clear gets changed. um But yeah, in terms of Keir Starmer, I mean, he already got the pubs to stay open till 5am. I think he's trying everything he can to be remembered for something other than his ah lack of policies. And yeah, maybe too much for me to go into about how I feel about the Labour government. No, but it's it's just insane. And for me,

Speaker: the The additional two points I want to make on it. One, Team USA have actually performed really well at this World Cup. Now, if Balogun, the player that got sent off, if he plays and Team USA win, no one is going to see that as Team USA having won that on their own merits as a squad and all the work they've done.

Speaker: All anyone is going to talk about is this... suspended red card one match ban and that being the reason that they won. Yeah. So it's not really even in their best interest, is it Because it diminishes the efforts and the success that they've had. Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah. And it seems the president has had the foresight to consider all of that. um And it seems like he has also considered the fact that this player, who is one of their best players and a very important striker, as he said, that definitely didn't commit this foul...

Speaker: is a black man who has birthright citizenship as an American, which is something that Donald Trump wants to get rid of and deport people that have.

Speaker: He was born in America because his mother was not allowed on a flight home because she was too heavily pregnant, therefore has birthright citizenship, therefore plays for Team USA.

Speaker: So we're going to make sure we call up our buddy who gave us a made-up peace prize and go like, no, no, no, we need to let him play. And then what, once he's won the trophy, you're going to be like, by the way, I'm stripping of you of your citizenship. Thanks for the trophy.

Speaker: i mean, I wouldn't put it past him, though. That seems quite on brand for something he would do. It's just, ah it's just, it's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Shall we move on something a bit lighter?

Speaker: Yeah, go on. You can try. I've got something much lighter. It's time for our grassroots shout out. Oh, nice. Yes. So this is much, much lighter. So as Superwag touched on, we had a wonderful, wonderful week in Dublin. And it just so happened to be Dublin Pride weekend while we were there.

Speaker: And one of the things we stumbled upon with some local friends of ours was... this beautiful open park area in the city centre that had been opened up with lots of green spaces, lots of market stalls for queer sellers to sell their materials. Yeah. They had a wonderful performance area stage. It was all very accessible. It was sober and family friendly, which felt really important to us as it's close to middle sex pride. Yeah. It had very good middle sex pride vibes. And one

Speaker: and one of one of the groups they had on the stage, they had various performers and they had various speakers. One of the groups on stage we had seen earlier in the parade and were really, really privileged to hear them speak.

Speaker: They are called Mammies for Trans Rights. um A fantastic, fantastic group of mums. um And There are there a grassroots advocacy group formed by mothers, grandparents and allies to support trans children in the queer community. um Founded in Ireland by mums of trans children and they frequently march at events, they marshal some pride events. yeah um And they they really value the importance of being a visible presence and support. Their aim is to provide an alternative and positive narrative for trans youth and act as a visible allyship resource for families.

Speaker: One of the most poignant moments for me was when they were on stage speaking and talking about how no child should feel unloved, unwanted or rejected for being who they are.

Speaker: And to anyone that feels that in any way, we are your mammies. Yeah, it was very emotional, wasn't it, the mammies? So check them out. They're on social media. Mammies for the number trans rights. Big shout out to you. Yes.

Speaker: Hey, Superwag. Wifey. Second half time. Is it going to be more exciting? I think there's no way it couldn't be. ah We just got hope it continues with the momentum that they were starting to build towards the end of the first half, I think.

Speaker: No substitutions at halftime. There have been no changes made. No, but during halftime, they did treat us to the cheerleaders um on the big screen. They weren't on the pitch because the pitch was having like a watering. Like, why would they be watering the pitch before they start playing again? Like,

Speaker: they're not gonna slip and slide around a bit? Is that part of the fan? like So that's to do with the conditions that the pitch and the playing surface need to be in. So there has to be a certain level of like moisture. It's gotta be the right type of moist.

Speaker: It's got to be slick for the ball to roll across. Obviously you don't want it too wet, you don't want it too waterlogged, but it's gotta to be slick enough for you to smoothly roll across. okay thank you oh advertising board for lay's crisps are they like american walkers exactly what they are missed the trick not getting gary leneca over stateside to do all the crisps ads as well no they walk they he did an ad with walkers i saw it the other day no but lays yeah gary leneca

Speaker: Oh, oh, yes, branding. um Also, I just think Gary Lineker's busy being a legend. Yeah, shout out Gary Lineker, you absolute hun. Please come on as a guest. he's He's a male hun.

Speaker: He is. Gary Lineker is absolute hun energy. mate. We've never thought about there being a male hun, but Gary Lineker is one, I agree. oh okay, yeah.

Speaker: I need to find a way to get this to get traction. so Hun culture, would you like to give that a Yeah, I was going to say, because like we when we were in Dublin, we were staying with a couple of American friends who we just love, and we were trying to explain what Hun culture is. Essentially, my understanding is Hun culture is a sort of whereby you've got predominantly gay men, but just the queer community in general really championing these sort of popular British women, um quite often from more working class backgrounds, campy pop culture, um people who really put the graft in to get to where they are, like Denise Walsh, Jane McDonald, you know, the absolute legends. Like Jane McDonald, when we saw her at Mighty Hoopla. My God. I've never seen a reaction like it. And we've been privileged enough to be to some really amazing musical things over the years.

Speaker: the response that Jane MacDonald got was out of this world. And I reckon if at Mighty Hoopla, Gary Lineker walked out onto the stage, he would get one hell of a reception.

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah, and I think the thing about the Hun culture is it's like there's a respect for the graft that's been put in to get you to where you are. Exactly. And you kind of stand up for the right things, typically speaking. Yeah, you're on the right usually they're on the right side of history. Yeah, and I think Gary Lineker is hands down on the right side of history with everything he has...

Speaker: said um and how he's conducted himself like you remember a few years ago when he was talking about refugees and someone was like oh i don't see you taking anyone in gary and he was like that's a really good point yes i will take in this refugee and he's had um he's had someone living with him for ages i think okay so we're 55 minutes in it's still nil nil I would just like to point out at this point in the wee hours of this morning, when it was England v Mexico or Mexico v England, and you were fast to asleep and I was being a lad and watching the football, we already had like three goals and a red card by this point.

Speaker: Yes, exciting. I wish I had been awake for that game. Like none of them are actually even that close to the goal. No. be good These bastards are going to make us watch an extra half an hour of this. No.

Speaker: What's better than an hour and a half of football, a Two hours. I don't know. Am I being harsh? like I'm not the football connoisseur here. like Are they playing well? Is it that they are all playing so well that no one can score a goal? Because I've seen a lot of goals where... or Sorry, attempted goals where it has just flown over.

Speaker: there's There's been a lot of good build-up play. Yeah. And not much quality with the finishing. Bar... the clay pigeon goalkeeper save earlier. Yeah, he's my he's my man of the match.

Speaker: What would be the gender neutral term for a WAG? Partners and lovers. Pals. Nice. And wonder what the equivalent is for any players that have a male partner.

Speaker: Boyfriends and husbands, husbands and boyfriends. Habs? Habs. I long for the day where we've got out proud, happy Habs. Statistically speaking, there is someone in this World Cup.

Speaker: Oh, more than one. More than Several more than one that are not completely binary straight. Yeah. I think that is on undeniable.

Speaker: um And I hope in our lifetimes, I mean, there's a lot of things I hope to see in our lifetimes change. But what I would really love to see is more kind of representation within the game of of different sexualities because we have it in the women's game. Yeah.

Speaker: And kind of comes back to, you know it doesn't, it shouldn't matter to other people. what type of person or gender etc e etc that you love or you were attracted to and lo and behold doesn't change how good you are at football oh we've got a yellow card you know is this the first booking of the game i believe this is the first booking of the game yes and it's oh did he punch him in the balls Oh, I don't know. No. I don't think so. No.

Speaker: No, but it was um it's a Man City player on an Arsenal player. So they already got a bit of beef. Oh, they've got massive beef. Why? Because it's Man City and Arsenal. And Arsenal finally got the better of them this season and won the league. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker: I remember. Football. When does the Prem start again? Late August. and You've got about six weeks. This is the thing, right, in terms of the rise of the women's game. Like, I am all for the rise of women's football. I'm delighted by it.

Speaker: But it does mean that there is always football now. Always. Every summer there's something, isn't there? Yep. Oof. So, yeah, I'm sorry. That's okay. I mean, I think in the grand scheme of things, I make you watch more musical theatre than you've managed to make me watch football over the last 12 So we're just about to hit 90 minutes and we've had one yellow card. That's been the most exciting thing that has happened.

Speaker: No, I think the most exciting thing that has happened is that Spain fan holding up the sign setting Portugal. Portugal.

Speaker: Oh, and there it is. There we go. Spain have done it. Just after they announced six minutes of stoppage time at the end of the 90 minutes. Marino. There we go. Premier League winner.

Speaker: potentially about to be the goal scorer that has sent Spain through to the quarterfinals. He's just done his dad's celebration of running around the corner flag. Is that like his thing? Yeah, it's what his dad as a footballer would do, celebrate a goal, is do a little circle around the corner flag. So he has honoured it. Oh, cute.

Speaker: Well, well done to Spain because I am totally here for this game ending in four minutes. LAUGHTER

Speaker: Oh, okay, that's going to be a free kick to Portugal when this is now what's probably going to be the last major move of the game. A set piece. It's a set piece. Yeah. Not a cod piece. No, not a cod piece. Shout out, Jakey.

Speaker: Right, okay. no that was Portugal's chance right in the dying moment. And there we go. Surely that's it. Yeah, is that the full-time whistle? Done.

Speaker: Right. Congratulations, Spain. Commiserations, Portugal. Viva España! So our score predictions were not right. No, our score predictions were so far off.

Speaker: But we we called the winner correctly. We did. We did call the winner correctly. So full time, one mil to Spain. All finished in normal time and Spain goes through to the quarterfinals and Marino is a very happy man.

Speaker: Okay, Superwag, are you ready to hit the showers? Oh, yeah. Yeah? Alone? No, a shower alone is a shower wasted. Perfect. So, in my mind, this is where I ask you, what was your takeaway from that match?

Speaker: However, it was pretty boring, let's be honest. So I'm going to open that question just a tad wider to what has been your takeaway from the recording of this episode with this match in the background?

Speaker: I think my takeaway from all of this is that it's weird to watch football without the commentary on. and that the little so watering spouts come up from under the pitch. He knew. Perfect. Anything particular that you're going to take away?

Speaker: um i mean, ideally, like a Zinger Tower box meal. Is that what you want right now? Take away. Oh, no no no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no. No dad jokes. um No, I think my main takeaway from that was...

Speaker: Marino, the goal scorer, doing what he has been doing the last couple of seasons for Arsenal when he's needed to. He's never been a striker until he was asked to at Arsenal.

Speaker: And he has just in that moment, it almost felt like he saw the stoppage time come up and went, no, we're done and scored.

Speaker: And I think the main takeaway is good luck to anyone but Spain the rest of the tournament because they know what they're doing. So they're now into the final what?

Speaker: So this was the round of 16. So they are good they are the first people into the final eight? No, because the first two, I think, were Norway and England. Oh, so England are into the final eight? Mm-hmm. We're into quarter finals. Oh, gorgeous. Yeah. Well done, boys.

Speaker: And you know, as Reform said, you better keep winning. Oh, my gosh, yes. Can we reflect on that for a quick moment? Oh, just how abhorrent it was that that's what they said. Keep winning, boys, so that men don't beat women, effectively. that Well, that's exactly what they said like she said. She came out and she said, we know that when England men lose, domestic violence goes up.

Speaker: So you know what that means. Keep going, boys. Like, how out touch and disgusting is that? ah Anyway, maybe that's that's for another podcast. Yeah.

Speaker: okay so that's that's a wrap for this one super wag darling lou wifey for lifey thank you very much for participating with me being my guest and watching that with me how was it for you oh it splendid no i well keep your eyes peeled for what match i will be tackling next and with who by