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WCAD 3-45: AFCON Round of 16 Delivers Tasty Quarterfinal Ties
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Amit & Austin run through the AFCON Round of 16, with special emphasis paid to Nigeria's latest drama, Ivory Coast's brilliance and Senegal's consistency. The guys also preview a fascinating quartet of quarterfinals, headlined by Algeria-Nigeria and Ivory Coast-Egypt.
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Transcript
AFCON Quarterfinals Preview
00:00:01
Speaker
AFCON rolls on. We have heavy-hitting quarterfinals on the way. A little bit of taste of Nigerian drama despite a 4-0 win. There's a ton to get to on
Introductions and Podcast Overview
00:00:12
Speaker
today's show.
00:00:12
Speaker
This is the World Cup After Dark Podcast. My name is Austin Miller. On the other end is Amit Malik.
Insights from Round of 16
00:00:18
Speaker
Amit, we got the heavyweight quarterfinals we were looking for, but I think we had a lot of learning that was done. A lot of data points given to us in the round of 16.
00:00:27
Speaker
Yeah, we expected teams to show us things in the knockout round. And even though a lot of our heavy hitters won, we really got a good sense of how they're problem solving knockout football.
00:00:39
Speaker
And that's good for the World Cup, great for the AFCON. And I think we're going to see some really, really high level soccer coming in the closing stages. So... You know, I think overall we're' we're liking where this is going and we got a good little taste of some good stuff um in the round of 16.
00:00:58
Speaker
That's kind of what you can hope for in a major tournament where it goes this direction. We're going to get even better stuff. Yeah, I think the 30,000 foot view is our four big favorites are all through.
00:01:10
Speaker
varying
Senegal's Knockout Resilience
00:01:11
Speaker
degrees of safeness, if you will. We'll get into all four of them. The biggest teams that we lost in the round of 16 was Tunisia on penalties and South Africa in a pretty even matchup with Cameroon.
00:01:22
Speaker
I don't think the grandness of the tournament is any less because of those two teams. And I think we have four very intriguing quarterfinals. And I think we had a pretty good slate of round of 16 games that gave us a good bit of drama. And we had a couple of really, really good games.
00:01:38
Speaker
Yeah, that's the best way to put it. I agree. ah let's Let's get into the good stuff. Yeah, let's get into the good stuff. Let's start with, we we went through all the group stage, right? We said, oh there's not not any surprises. We've got all the big hitters.
00:01:51
Speaker
For 15 or 30 minutes to start the round of 16, we thought we might have the surprise of all surprises on our hands. When Sudan took an early lead on Senegal, Amir Abdallah, who plays semi-pro football in Australia, an absolute world lead to give Sudan a 1-0 lead over Senegal,
00:02:08
Speaker
And from there, it was all one-way traffic. Senegal rallied for a 3-1 win. This, I think, is what you want to see from your favorite of the tournament in Senegal, right? Things happen in African football. Things happen in AFCON. Things happen such as... Sudan curling one into the top quarter in the first 15 minutes of a match.
00:02:27
Speaker
There are teams that that could really trouble, that they struggle and they hop and puff to try and come from behind. That wasn't the case here with Senegal. They basically just kind of flipped the switch, turned it on its head, forced Sudan to play a lot of defense, and they really couldn't.
00:02:41
Speaker
I think this is a strong performance from Senegal despite the less-than-stellar
Mali's Defensive Triumph
00:02:45
Speaker
start. Agree with everything you said. I think you nailed it. And the the biggest thing is the way they fought back. As you said, it can go wrong. But even almost just the the lack of panic at all. right You know you have to find a gear when you go down. Everyone knows that. But they had so much time, it didn't seem to...
00:03:05
Speaker
to phase anything. They're kind of just like, all right, just rev the machine up a gear, turn Sudan over, lock them in, get into our patterns. And they just were very, very methodical at that. And I think that's why, you know, I like this team. I really like their midfield engine.
00:03:22
Speaker
They showed here against a Sudan team that, again, we've said, is organized, can plan the break, but doesn't necessarily have that high-level talent. You know, they were like, listen, we you you can't beat us over the top one-on-one or even two-on-two.
00:03:39
Speaker
We can just get our guys up the field and really pin you in. And okay, okay you want a bunker even one, you're just not going to be able to chase our attackers. We just send them all over, all sorts of combinations, and just kind of and get the ball in the box. right The hardest thing to defend is against a better team Right. Is very quickly you're pinned into your box and the most dangerous guys are in her are constantly bearing down on you. It takes a lot of legs and discipline to deny them that further and further away from dangerous spots.
00:04:11
Speaker
That's kind of how you can gauge the strength of a defensive team. Can you, you know, can you keep them at bay? It was very clear within 15 minutes of Sudan going up that Senegal were not going to be denied. And it was just a matter of time. Yes. Can can you have the bad luck game where it doesn't go? it snowballs? No, you can. But no, that wasn't the case. Right. As you nailed. This was very, very impressive from Senegal.
00:04:37
Speaker
Didn't blink at all. And i you have to give credit to me personally. Sadio Mane was excellent in this one. good Good type of game for him. Listen, the Setan defense, if you're not slowing him down, you're in trouble. He was very good. So that said, um or that was part of it. And then also, yeah, the midfield again, the biggest key. That's why I like them.
00:04:56
Speaker
I think we nailed it. Yeah. Pop Gay with both the goals in the first half here for Senegal. You could tell how much effort Sudan had to put in to even keep this 1-0 for as long as they did, right? There were saves. There were defensive clearances. And as you said, it it was inevitable. It clear very clearly wasn't going to come back to this. So because of that, easy win for Senegal. They're through to the round of 16.
00:05:17
Speaker
They will face
Morocco's Tactical Analysis
00:05:18
Speaker
Mali, who took out Tunisia after a 1-1 draw. This might have been the most dramatic game of the round of 16. It was a bit... Predictably cagey. Mali went down to 10 men in the first half hour of the match. That obviously conditioned this game.
00:05:31
Speaker
Mali are generally not interested in doing things with 11. They were less interested in doing things with 10. And Tunisia, on the other hand, are not that great at doing things. And so it looked like this game was just going to kind of peter out into nil-nil penalties. And then we got this explosion of drama at the end of of regular time where Tunisia get a booming header from Firas Charao in the 88th minute to go up 1-0.
00:05:55
Speaker
Molly are immediately pressured into scrambling and the things that they're able to come up with is a cross into the box that it's a Tunisian hand and that's a penalty for Molly. Let's see. And I said, Yoko scores to extra time. We go.
00:06:06
Speaker
And then admit, did you watch the the first 88 minutes of the game? Because if you did, you saw everything that was going to happen in the 30 minutes of extra time. Nobody really did anything. There weren't a lot of great chances.
00:06:17
Speaker
We went to penalties. Molly ended up winning. Where do you want to start here? This is kind of just what Molly does. yeah The master of the draw as the ah color commentator on being sports. score and there's heard of Yeah. And it's just so funny. Like they went down to 10 and it did not impact what they were trying to do. ever They were like, great. i for a bunker with like we're doing the same thing Yeah.
00:06:43
Speaker
So that was just funny. And I think it kind of tells us about exactly what we thought about both teams. Molly,
Cameroon's Opportunistic Victory
00:06:50
Speaker
Just great at Maki a game. Anything more than that, not really. and And to be fair, right? Like, they kind of should have lost.
00:06:58
Speaker
they They mucked it up for 88 minutes. Finally, a great header, which Tunisia could not get a lot outside of speculative crosses. But listen, you put in 20, 30, you get a good header. It's great. yep Great. That's how you beat it you know beat a team down 10. It takes you all match. And then Molly just got a handball pen out of really...
00:07:16
Speaker
Nothing. This is like the third or fourth penalty we've seen like this in this AFCON where I guess it's a penalty, but we're just whipping crosses into the box and they're just hitting it. They're not outstretched hands. They're not hands that are up. It's just we have such good aim on the crosses that we're just hitting hands and like, I don't know, man. I don't really like seeing that being rewarded.
00:07:37
Speaker
Neither do I. it was It was a bummer also for everyone that had to watch 30 more minutes of Mali Tunisia. But but like again, that's as we have said, you have to give some credit to Mali for their you know ability to make a game miserable. and but this is We talked about this, I think, in the preview, right? I respect a team like Mali doing this because it is your best path to victory. I'm not expecting you to do more because I don't think you can do more.
00:08:05
Speaker
Exactly. And so what that really comes down to is what we thought about Tunisia, a World Cup team, is that the ceiling is just not very high. They're extremely limited. Again, they were not like they were the better team for 120 minutes. They got the other team a red card.
00:08:23
Speaker
that's ah that's ah That's a situation where any like team that you really want to take seriously gets this done easier, right? Okay, yeah, you you got your goal in 90, but a better team, you're up two. You're up three. i mean even if More urgency.
00:08:36
Speaker
like the If the Tunisia bit is, oh, we're super organized, like, oh, you can't let us score because we'll be yeah You can't score in the 88th minute, and then and I know that it was a... like You just can't immediately give that back up. like You should be able to see that out. So then you go to the penalties. You like lots of penalties?
00:08:51
Speaker
No, I mean, that's where I was also going to go. Like, also, if you're both teams and you're going to play plague ball, like be better at taking penalties because you know you're going there. And Molly won, but neither team was good here. We we saw some field goals, which is not great. Some skied penalties. It's not often that you get to start the shootout with an absolute field goal, which is what Molly did here, and then go on to win, but that's how poor the penalties were on both sides.
00:09:16
Speaker
Goalkeeping wasn't great. i thought the Molly goalkeeper was was pretty good in the penalty shootout. This game delivered exactly what we expected of it, which was this. And it wasn't super great, but sure.
00:09:27
Speaker
Yeah, we kind of called Molly Tunisia could go to pens. No one wanted to win exactly what we got. And I do agree, though, as you the very first words you said, it was dramatic. It was fun. Listen, if you're a 10 man team and you win a knockout game in penalties, celebrate that the heck out of that. That's got to be a good feeling.
00:09:45
Speaker
So that sets up a bit, a Senegal-Mali quarterfinal. We've seen Senegal against a low block. They've handled it well so far. Now they're getting what is one of the best low blocks in Africa in Mali.
00:09:57
Speaker
How are we feeling about Senegal here? this is the appropriate next step
Nigeria's Win and Internal Drama
00:10:03
Speaker
up, right? Molly is going to, we talked about how you play a team that has a lot of talent, how you show, you know, you, you defend higher up, you can test more space. You've got to make it difficult. Molly is built to do that, right?
00:10:17
Speaker
I don't think that Senegal is going to be particularly comfortable. Right. That being said, Mali is just not good enough to to offer anything the other way. that Unless they really get a great early goal or you know they they have 15 good minutes somewhere they capitalize, I think Senegal is going to wear them down. But it's going to be a good challenge.
00:10:37
Speaker
That being said, I think that you know if you're going to pick out a few weaknesses for Senegal, you know I think the defending in space, yeah they – They do it, but they can be had.
00:10:48
Speaker
And then maybe Mali, you know, kind of just frustrates the striker position, which hasn't been their strength. It's kind of been a chance on volume type thing. Mali scored three goals this tournament.
00:10:58
Speaker
Two have been penalties. All three have been scored by Lesine Sinioko. I think Senegal are going to need to key in on him. And then just don't put your hands in stupid spots in the box and gift teams penalties. Right. And some of that is controllable and some of that is uncontrollable. But even if you do, there's going to be a lot of time presented. I'll get back here. I think Senegal are good enough to do this and probably do this with relatively little fanfare. I think that's my takeaway here.
00:11:22
Speaker
Mali's magic is probably running out. I think the round of 16 was probably about as far as you can stretch that. And on top of that, right, Molly put in a heck of a shift. 120 minutes. yeah The legs against a Senegal team that, again, we say it over and over again, their strength is they're running you.
00:11:40
Speaker
On a, you know, and ah in a vacuum, right, Molly's thinking their game plan is we can run with them and not give them, you know, space. That's just going to be so hard for the legs they put on, the miles they put on those legs. Yeah.
00:11:55
Speaker
it's going to be hard for Molly to imagine like ways to pull this off. and I'm struggling. Yeah, there's also legs for Senegal. There's legs for Senegal. There's depth for Senegal. This
Algeria's Late Game Heroics
00:12:06
Speaker
is a bit of a mismatch in that aspect. Moving on to to our next round of 16 game to break down here. i at Morocco 1-0 winners over Tanzania. Morocco are not going to be winning any awards for this game, but they're still playing in this tournament, and that is better than they did the last time out at the AFCON.
00:12:21
Speaker
Atraf Hakimi started and played 90 minutes. I think that's a big story. Tanzania were effective, right? they They gummed up the wheels. They they blocked. they They put in challenges. It also was pretty clear they weren't going to be able to do that for 90 minutes, let alone for 120. And that's what happened, right? Brian Diaz got into a tight angle right on the hour mark.
00:12:40
Speaker
The Tanzanian goalkeeper not square on his post. He gets beat near post. If you're going to play that way, those are the goals that you can't give up. Morocco, not super impressive, but they march on.
00:12:52
Speaker
Best way to put it. It was good to see Hakimi back. yeah And I think Diaz with the goal, right? It's a really good sign. He's a good player. He's a star player.
00:13:03
Speaker
Listen, sometimes the the other team mucks it up. It's not pretty, but you just need that moment. And he's ah you know we we call those match winners. yeah Great stuff. That's just kind of how you have to solve a round of 16. Again, I think our you know our evaluation of Morocco is we're maybe not as high on them as...
00:13:21
Speaker
the undisputed, you know everyone's got to give them credit, they're World Cup semi-finalist type team, but they're still, right? The floor is just so solid. And even on a day, you know the other team defends really well and you're you're not getting easy answers, you still have um you
Egypt's Unconvincing Win
00:13:38
Speaker
know an ace up your sleeve type thing, right? So that's there's not too much to write home about, but this is this is the type of stuff that you know good teams have in their bag.
00:13:47
Speaker
Yeah, we'll get to it in a second. I'm reserving judgment on Morocco until I see them play a team that I think could actually beat them. Right. Right. Like, OK, I got it. I know that Morocco could break down the low block. They might not score four times. I know that they can do that. I'm really interested in seeing them against somebody that provides some sort of question that's different than that.
00:14:07
Speaker
and we're going to get that in the quarterfinals. So let's put a pit in Morocco and get back to them in a second. Let's talk about Cameroon's 2-1 win over South Africa. The Cameroonian march rolls on in this AFCON.
00:14:18
Speaker
This was a very interesting game of it because I really felt like South Africa bossed the first half hour of this game and the last half hour of this game. And they didn't take advantage of what they were able to do in the first half.
00:14:30
Speaker
And they were not able to get all the way back with what they were able to do in the second half of that half hour and the middle half hour was, was Cameroon's here. And they took advantage of when they were on top of this game.
00:14:41
Speaker
Yes. It's a wicked deflection from a shot from outside falls right to Chamonix for, for the easy finish for the first goal. Second goal is a great bit of headed play, but this, I kind of thought Cameroon were deserving of this. Isn't, isn't maybe the right word to say, but they took advantage of their chances.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah, this was a great high-level game between two good but not highest-level
Ivory Coast's Dominant Performance
00:15:04
Speaker
teams. South Africa were better. They dominated two-thirds of the match, but not the whole thing. and If you're Cameroon, this is kind of how you you have to be opportunistic. and I think both of us were sitting there saying, South Africa just kind of ran out of time, right? This is a different game if South Africa scores first. I think the whole game is on different terms. It's on better terms.
00:15:25
Speaker
But to Cameroon's credit, like... Getting that second goal when they did, it was was really, really massive. Obviously, like we could sit here and go, yeah, I'd love to go 2-0. But really psychologically and just in terms of game state, it prevented South Africa from getting into that...
00:15:45
Speaker
you know, desperation mode, which we saw right in the last, what, how many, how many minutes was it? 10, including stoppage time. If you play that state for more minutes, like it's Cameron's folding. We know the defense isn't good enough. And so I think for South Africa, it's a little bit unlucky for sure.
00:16:02
Speaker
But at the same time, you as you said, i think so I think Cameroon did just enough to not also give up the goal in the first half. They're not a great defensive team, but they have enough athletes to to protect the box. And then a really great game from Baleba in the midfield to just kind of ward off enough of the South Africa press um and you know physicality and duels. This was a good battle because South Africa brought it to Cameroon and they held on for for basically 88 minutes. And that's what that was enough.
00:16:36
Speaker
Yeah.
Ivory Coast vs Egypt Preview
00:16:37
Speaker
and And then South Africa do get the goal, right? And it it was coming. It was obvious that they were going to get the goal from Matt Gova. And then it's like, all right, time's up. And they just sent everybody forward. And I think, as you said, as you alluded to, South Africa forget needed this to pull one back 10 minutes earlier. If you give them another 10 minutes in that sort of game, playing that sort of style, I think there's probably a second goal here.
00:16:58
Speaker
And my big takeaway on South Africa is... If you are going to play this style, you have to take your chances because they are not good enough to limit opposing teams from getting chances. And when they play high-level teams, high-level teams are going to convert those chances. South Africa have to match that chance conversion rate.
00:17:13
Speaker
They didn't in this game, and that's why they're going home. Yeah, just to flesh out that point more, like they don't have a match winner in the front four that can kind of do that for them. And even slightly worse teams than them, talk about, let's say we're a team we're going to talk about in a little Egypt, right? Has has a guy or two like that? And then, of course, teams better than you do that. And I think Cameroon overall, player for player outside of two to three spots on the field, I believe were worse than South Africa. But you can't translate that dominance into the results if you don't like it's soccer. Like someone has to score. yeah And that's that's that's just the difficulty with playing this style with this team. It's the right math decision if you were the manager of South Africa and you said, how do I get this team to get results?
00:18:07
Speaker
I like the decision. You just, you just have to score first. You got to score more. It's so simple. You really need Lyle Foster to go on a heater, right? Like, yeah, basically it comes down to is like, if they can get six weeks of Lyle Foster on a heater in June, there could be a run. Yeah. And the the issue with that is he's not a star striker profile. Like he's a good African. He's a good Premier League striker, but he's kind of a support striker. He does a bunch of little things well, and he elevates the overall system. But you might rather have, and again,
00:18:44
Speaker
these type of strikers don't grow on trees. sure a guy that like does nothing for 80 minutes and then scores the the two half chances he gets, right? So it's like it's funny how that ends up working. they They do
Quarterfinal Expectations and Surprises
00:18:56
Speaker
need him to be better than he is, and unfortunately, he's not. Yeah.
00:19:00
Speaker
And so it's like they can create all the chances, but again, the chance conversion, it's the ratio just isn't quite there. And that I thought was, was the difference in this game. It was a great game. This was a good game. it again, delivered kind of what we expected. And it sets up a bit, I think a really interesting quarterfinal, as I alluded to earlier, Morocco play Cameroon. And this is the first time in this tournament and really the first time in a long time that we are going to see Morocco go against somebody that can match them or at least pretend to match them, think that they can match them going back the other way. And also a team that knows that they're not going to beat Morocco by simply sitting back. If,
00:19:37
Speaker
Cameroon let Morocco get the gears going. I think Morocco probably sees this out easy. Cameroon have to do something else to win this game. And I think that's going to be really interesting. Look, Cameroon are chaotic. This team is still not as talented as it it could be, but they've made a good tournament so far. And I think the recipe is there for them to trouble Morocco. And I think the recipe is also there for Morocco to really kind of say, all right, it's time to step it up a level and go against something that gives us more space to to work in and to operate in. and I think that could be very successful for them.
00:20:06
Speaker
I think you framed it really well. it's It's a good opportunity for both teams. Exactly. For for me, I think the first 15 minutes are key, as the as they are. But like I think that's how you're that's where you're going to see Morocco say, OK, as you said,
00:20:22
Speaker
If this game demands us to crank the gear higher, let's show it. And I think Cameroon are going to have to survive a bit of an onslaught. But if they do and they're going to have to defend, then it opens up to, OK, let's run at them. We have a very good physical midfielder.
00:20:38
Speaker
I know Morocco has some good ball playing midfielders, but can we you know turn this into a duels game? Can you, if we ping some long balls to Mbwemo, can you run after him? He's a great holdup player. He's great in space. Can you defend in transition against us?
00:20:54
Speaker
Again, player for player, even considering Mbwemo and Baleba, This Morocco team is so, so talented. It's it's going to be tough for Cameroon to sniff you know time and quality on the ball.
00:21:07
Speaker
But they can physically you know ask a lot of questions of Morocco that we just haven't seen all i'll tournament outside of Mali. And that was a grimy 1-1. And so like if you're asking Cameroon to play that kind of game and survive, yeah, I think the more belief they get...
00:21:23
Speaker
Morocco is going to um beat Challenge. So I think it sets up really well. the The question is obviously, the more it goes, like I do think there's some depth in Morocco that Cameroon doesn't necessarily have. So it's got to be more opportunistic stuff. But Cameroon just showed us they could do that. and The other last thing before I turn it back is that, you know, the vibes are great for Cameroon right now. yeah This is house money. You're not in the World Cup anyway. You're the away team against the team on home soil. All the pressure is on them. I think Cameroon sets up really nicely into that, you know, underdog house money role.
00:21:56
Speaker
Yeah, and they can hurt Morocco in a way that nobody that Morocco has played so far can. And that's why I think this match is interesting, is you've got the the push and the pull of, okay, how forward do Morocco want to go? How much pressure can Cameron actually withstand? And that, I think, is was what makes this really interesting. Because again, Morocco pour all the clothes on, but this is still an even game. All it takes is one counter the other way, and it changes it.
00:22:18
Speaker
Yeah, if you if you're Morocco and you watch that last 20-ish minutes, you're thinking, oh man, if we if we put the calls on like they're in trouble. But exactly as you said, you know when do you do that in a knockout game? You don't want to get caught. it's you know These quarterfinals are also you know at this stage in tournaments, right? Everyone you got to respect. So we'll see how it goes. And I think as the neutral, you're hoping that... you know we get 30 minutes here and we're still looking at an even, even game. Cause then we're, we're in for a good game. There's definitely scenarios where Morocco shows us the gear they haven't yet. and And that's for you and us to think about, do you believe that Morocco is bringing that level? Is that still in them? We, it's been years since we've seen it, but I think we all think it's there.
00:23:03
Speaker
Yeah, should be. The names on the team sheet so definitely definitely suggest that it is, right? Are you ready for our ah our Nigeria fun? I mean, i talked I talked about it in the open.
00:23:14
Speaker
Nigeria are unquestionably, unquestionably, The only national team in the world that could come out of a 4-0 round of 16 win with massive question marks about them. And why is that? Because they are Nigeria. So 4-0 win over Mozambique.
00:23:30
Speaker
Nigeria were fluid. They flowed. They were smooth. Luchman, Oshiman, Jukwese combining, dancing, shooting, scoring. It was good. It was Eric Schell's dream. He had this team humming as he wanted.
00:23:44
Speaker
And then, as it often does with Nigeria, it went wrong. And it didn't even go wrong in the let the other team back in the game kind of way, which is how it usually goes wrong for Nigeria. It went wrong in the maybe Adam Oluokman didn't pass to Victor Oshiman when he should have. I don't really understand where all of this is coming from, but it has in fact come. And so Oshiman asked to be subbed off. I'm getting a lot of this from a really nice piece of The Athletic from Jay Harris, who did a very good job of summing up all of this drama.
00:24:12
Speaker
Basically, Nigeria are cruising in this game. Adam Oluokman maybe doesn't pass to Victor Oshman when he should have or could have on multiple occasions. and or check I don't know. Oshman's not getting the ball, and he wants the ball, is is apparently what this comes down to.
00:24:25
Speaker
He has to come off. He kind of mopes on the bench. He's the first guy off. He doesn't go celebrate with the team. He's the first guy out of the dressing room. He's the first guy on the bus. He doesn't talk to the media. Supposedly, he sits alone on the bus.
00:24:36
Speaker
This is exactly what Nigeria didn't need. And it's also a bit exactly what Nigeria we're almost assuredly going to have.
00:24:45
Speaker
Just art, really, as as you said. This is their tournament to win. Who's put the best attacking display on the field on paper in four games? It's easily been Nigeria.
00:24:58
Speaker
And as you said, the front line is so fluid. And you know why also it's pouting because he's wide open in the box because he's got great teammates and the ball movement's good. And of course, they've just found a way to.
00:25:11
Speaker
come crashing down i mean like so so here's the here's the first thing we have to make yeah haven't actually crashed down right there's just no swirls yeah there's there's whispers there's talk there's things swirling that shouldn't be swirling but none of it's gone wrong yet they're still in the tournament they're still in the quarterfinals is osman still here i think so i we i feel like if he wasn't we would have known by now i heard he might he wanted to he he wanted to go back to turkey but he's still here You gotta still be here, dude. This tournament is right in front of you. You can quit it. ah He needs to be appeased. He needs to spend three days at trading where he just stands there and everyone crosses in the ball for an hour and then he scores all the goals. Which, again, this this probably speaks more than anything to Victor Oshman's, like...
00:25:54
Speaker
Yeah, his whole deal. And there's probably a reason why he's wanting to go back to Turkey and that's Turkey where he's going. Right. Like, again, there's there's there's certainly something there. There's a there there. Right.
00:26:05
Speaker
But you also part of what national team football is, is, dude, you are 10 days away from winning a major tournament. Like, just put that behind you for a bit. And.
00:26:18
Speaker
It's great stuff. I think it's a great like ah look into the psyche of these teams, specifically a team like Nigeria. like We have always asked, like why can't they just get their stuff together?
00:26:29
Speaker
And the answer is, like they so it's it is simply against like their DNA to do it. And I mean that, you know... I mean that in like Osman's ego is, as you alluded to always been an issue for him. And national teams are a core tenet of this podcast has always been the vibes are right up there.
00:26:50
Speaker
Just as important as all the on field stuff. And so for anyone else, this would be, you know, a deal breaker. But maybe... Because it's so volatile, they could just just as easily put it all together. He reminds me in like the the funniest ways of like an NFL receiver diva. yeah The talent is just so like jaw-droppingly good, and you just need to like keep him focused.
00:27:17
Speaker
This should have been ah a romp. It was a romp. I don't know. How does it go wrong? like Did he need his hat trick that bad against ah against Mozambique?
00:27:27
Speaker
I guess, apparently. So let's put a pin in them for a second. and We'll talk about them when we get to the quarterfinal. Nigeria will be playing Algeria, Amit. Your boys. Is this as best, as good as any of your boys have done in any tournaments we've covered?
00:27:43
Speaker
ah Yeah, maybe. Did Austria make a Euro quarterfinal? I feel like they might have done similar. No, they might have lost. and i i think we got I think they got out the round of 16. I'll look that up in a second. But your boys, Algeria, through to the quarterfinals after a 1-0 win over DR Congo. I personally... Thought that this was a really, really good game between two relatively equal teams.
00:28:02
Speaker
Two teams that brought two opposing styles of play to to the to the occasion here. And I thought they matched really well. And I thought this was good. I enjoyed it. It was back and forth. Algeria saw more of the ball. Diarcaglo threatened the other way. They were good on set pieces. They created opportunities. This was a great clash of styles. It was fun knockout football.
00:28:21
Speaker
Nobody took a chance in the 90. Nobody took a chance in 28 minutes of the 30 minutes of extra time. And just when we thought we were going to peddle these, Adil Boulbina wearing the number 27 shirt, mean, cuts onto his right foot and just rips a bullet into the top right corner. Algeria win this match 1-0.
00:28:39
Speaker
Probably deserved... I think just so on the fact that the game was asking for someone to be the hero and have the moment of quality. And you you know you can't have a better moment of of quality than that, truly.
00:28:55
Speaker
I think you nailed it. This was a great game for a 0-0 of 118 minutes. You'd to find... like a game not that ah entertaining despite being a 0-0. Both teams went for it. Both teams kept creating chances in the ways they did. It was great cat-and-mouse stuff.
00:29:11
Speaker
What was hard is that Around 70 minutes, right both teams had to sub off their star players. and I think that's just the legs, the prescription. 100% for DR Congo, it makes sense. like We don't want to overdo the miles on these guys. where They have club football. Also, we have a big thing. and Also, that's just in a knockout game, like we have to trust our the next players for the legs because this was a physical, physical game. Yeah. Both of them needed to cover a lot of space. This was not a walking pace game.
00:29:41
Speaker
And then for Algeria, a similar thing like Mahrez is an older guy, you know, and I Norrie is, you know, he's he's at Manchester City. He's also having at a left back in this game instead of left wing covering a lot of ground.
00:29:54
Speaker
This was just very demanding, demanding football. So the subs made sense. As a neutral, then you're sitting there, well, if all these good players are off, who's going to score? And that's where we got even more chaotic soccer with less finishing. But then, as you said, the finish kind of made it all like make sense at the end.
00:30:12
Speaker
I don't think pens would have been unfair to DR Congo, but Algeria with the finish in a game like that, that's all that matters. I was very, very impressed by both teams. I came away thinking, okay, I i trust Algeria to to show me this level again and again at a World Cup scenario. And then i just kind of, this is what we thought about Dirk Kongo.
00:30:35
Speaker
A very, very tough team to play against. To illustrate your point, Amit, right? DRK played at 4-1-4-1 in this game. Everybody from the one forward in that 4-1-4-1 was subbed off, right?
00:30:48
Speaker
All four midfielders, Bakambu came off and Mutsamae went off injured in the midfield. That just speaks to to what they had to do. And it's pretty much the same case for Algeria, right? They played 4-4-2. All four midfielders went off at some point. Benissaire injured. I think that could be big. And one of their two strikers went off. And and obviously, then Ait Nori, who was again is one of their most creative players, also went off in the 70s.
00:31:08
Speaker
This game featured so many changes that really made a difference. And we got to see the depth of these teams. And again, look, is Adel Bouvina coming off the bench in the 113th minute, the guy that you're picking out for that moment? no.
00:31:20
Speaker
But so often, and we talk about it endlessly, what these international matches come down to is that exact type of thing happening. That guy coming off the bench and finding that one moment and scoring, and it went Algeria's way here.
00:31:32
Speaker
Yeah, I think if you play this game a bunch of times, 100 times, right? it's i think it'd be pretty close. Like yeah fifty s fifty s one way, you know, not 60.
00:31:43
Speaker
Just a really great game, and it came down to that, as you said. Credit to Algeria. like yeah That's how it goes. you You had the guy that did the thing. It's so funny like to be that reductive, but that's what we saw.
00:31:54
Speaker
feel Feel good about it. And I think Dear Congo can can head home thinking... acquitted themselves pretty well and know that when push comes to shove, if we advance, we got to take care of business. We've got gears too, right? Like they yeah they, you know, both teams kind of were careful about all of it, specifically the running involved that, that it took care of as, you showed with the sub. So great game, great game.
00:32:21
Speaker
Yeah, and some of this was also just like unfortunate the way that the draw goes, right? Algeria were winners. They were undefeated. DR Congo were on seven points. They were a second-place team. This probably shouldn't have been round-of-16 matchup, particularly not when teams like Tanzania and Mozambique and Sudan are swirling around here.
00:32:38
Speaker
But that's just how the draw goes, right? Algeria drew a second-place team, and that's what it was going to think that was a point that you made before the tournament. And that's why you hear both of us just complimenting the game. It felt like a quarterfinal level game. Like truly, like in the games we're about to talk about, i don't think the level is is far off at all from what we just saw. So that's ah another good way that the point that the draw just kind of gave us that, which we're thankful for. Yeah, and I think it's a good point as well. DR Congo, they didn't change any of my opinion on them going towards March. I think they are favored at that Intercontinental playoff, and I think they should do well there. This is probably like...
00:33:12
Speaker
Yes, they would have liked to have gone further in one, but I think, all right, they put their paces in. They know what their team is. They got their guys. Thumbs up. We're good. See you in March. See you in Mexico. Yeah, they were a hundred thirteenth minute golazo sub golazo away from Penn. Like exactly. So, yeah.
00:33:27
Speaker
All right Algeria, Nigeria in the quarterfinals. I mean, I see you rubbing your hands there. yourere You're drooling over this one. Well, given what we just heard, Nigeria are awfully vulnerable.
00:33:38
Speaker
And Algeria are a very, very slick team. And the question with Nigeria on top of you know, can they manage the egos in the room is what happens when you ask the back line to defend yeah some very coordinated patterns? Because... you know I think individually, we we we don't hate the Nigeria defenders, but team defending, transition defending is what we've seen them struggle with in the past.
00:34:05
Speaker
So this is a great, great question. And then on the other side, I think... it's very clear who the best attacking unit has been all tournament. And if awesome men is there, that firepower is tough for anyone to stop. And I don't think Algeria, um, necessarily match up well.
00:34:22
Speaker
So I think they have to kind of play ball control attack and, I don't know. This could be any team bunkering against any team. It could be open. I'm not sure how it's going to go, but I do know both sides have two or three punches to throw, which makes it good. You just have to hope you're not down two before you throw your first one. Yeah, so I think there's a couple of very key things here in this match. And you touched on some of it. You alluded to some of it.
00:34:54
Speaker
Nigeria's defense has really only been asked questions at one point in this tournament. And that's when they were 3-0 up against Tunisia. And what they do, they gave up two goals and nearly gave up a third to Tunisia. Not a great sign for them.
00:35:05
Speaker
At some point in this game, Algeria are going to have 15 or 20 minutes where they can ask questions of Nigeria. And we'll see how Nigeria responds to that. The issue is, how long is Nigeria going to be able to ask questions of Algeria? Because that is going to be key here as well.
00:35:22
Speaker
Nigeria amit could set themselves up in a position where they simply score so many goals that it doesn't matter they can win this game 4-2. That is absolutely on the cards. And if that's the case, Nigeria would probably take that.
00:35:33
Speaker
So that, I think, is where this push and pull comes to. is Can Nigeria be clinical enough? Can they be as good as we have seen them so far in this tournament to make anything happening back the other way not really matter?
00:35:48
Speaker
Well said. I think that's exactly how it shapes. And you're specifically thinking the Nigeria midfield has been good, and I do think is a physicality ball-winning advantage over Algeria. But can Algeria...
00:36:01
Speaker
wrestle the ball and and slow the game down and kill transition, then it's a little bit easier. You're specifically looking at, okay, we know Bassey and Ajayi are good center backs, but those outside backs for Nigeria are both the the weak points that you're trying to target with your very, very good wingers for Algeria.
00:36:21
Speaker
Of course, it's just, as you said, right? Like the math is not good. As good as impress as a jury as we've been, you play a game where goal goals are happening. You, four, two is like, just, I really like that. That number is in terms of that's the type of game that Nigeria is thinking about.
00:36:39
Speaker
Right. That's very scary if you're Algeria. Yeah. They're comfortable playing that. Cause I don't think if this comes down to, there's just chances flying in on both sides opportunity.
00:36:50
Speaker
Who is more clinical? It's Nigeria, right? But, Yeah, but the issue is also if you're Algerian, you say we need to play low event football. It can't be low event bunker football because you're also just you're in trouble. So it has to be a very considered control, but not bunker game plan. low of like Algeria has some needles to thread, and I you know i think this is a high-level game. they're They're going to be scouted well. They need to tire Nigeria out. Yeah.
00:37:19
Speaker
Let's see. And as you said, who scores first? and And one goal is definitely not enough either way. So that means should be must-watch the entire time. Working against Algeria, they just went to extra time. I know they made subs. They get one fewer day of rest than Nigeria do This has been a really tough draw for Algeria, right? With the winning the group, having to play a tough DRCago team, having a day less of rest. Things are not really working in their favor here, but the opportunity is still there.
00:37:45
Speaker
That's a good way to put it. And I think all of that considered... Despite the mess that is the the that we just saw of the Nigeria headlines and body language and all of that, the macro factors are kind of pointing to them here, especially on that day of rest, especially on that was a you know that was an exacting match against DR Congo. Nigeria were coasting against Mozambique. So all of that is an uphill battle, but you got to play.
00:38:12
Speaker
I think my point for Algeria to to close this is you need to be good enough that if Nigeria are actually about to fall apart, that you take advantage of them falling apart. right like I don't think Algeria can beat Nigeria straight up one-on-one in this game, but the potential you know options of outcome for Nigeria are so vast in this game that there is still a wide swath of it that works in Algeria's favor that they can take advantage of.
00:38:39
Speaker
You kind of just got to hang around until maybe they implode. Make sure that you were within a goal in the last 15 minutes because you're probably going to be able to ask questions of Nigeria. And that's going to be interesting.
00:38:50
Speaker
All right, Egypt, 3-1 winners over Benin in another round of 16 match. They have a hit special from Barwon Atia, gave Egypt the lead. This game didn't look like anything was going to happen.
00:39:01
Speaker
And then again, as is so often the case, it was a moment. And for Egypt, it was this cutback ball that just flashes past everybody. You're like, oh, they didn't get it to anybody. And then Atwa, again, goals the best goals always start when the player is not on the screen.
00:39:15
Speaker
Right. When a dude is coming off the screen to score a goal, that just always is a great goal to watch. That's what happened here. But Benin then rally well, played some good stuff. They had Egypt under pressure and then they turn that pressure into a goal. And yes, there were breaks. Yes, there were reflections, multiple of them on the goal.
00:39:31
Speaker
including an insane shave from El Shanaoui, but he actually, unfortunately, managed to save this deflected shot right to the pouncing Jodell Dosu for 1-1. And that moment, iit it felt like that was going to be Benin's chance to take this game. They had Egypt on the back foot. They had them scrambling.
00:39:46
Speaker
They Didn't do it in the 90. Egypt kind of got their foot back into it an extra time. And they got a header from Yassi Abraham to make it 2-1. Mo Salah scored an empty netter, an undeserved empty netter, some would say, to make it 3-1 to finish this off.
00:40:01
Speaker
I think Benin missed opportunities here. And I think my takeaway from Egypt is they are not as good as they have been at playing this game in the past.
00:40:11
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with all of those. Egypt have a little more offensive firepower than they've had in the past because they have Marmush and Salah. And they are more diverse than they have been, right? They're not as Salah-dependent as they have been in previous forms.
00:40:29
Speaker
Agreed. The issue is that Salah, unfortunately, can't deny the slippage. I think they he plays like a star player, right? the The offensive system is designed for him to run in behind as much as possible. And if you're guarding the run in behind, he checks the ball, gets the ball, and he goes to cook.
00:40:48
Speaker
Well, he's a little less fast, just ah just a half step, which you can notice. He's a little less dynamic dribbling. And then even when he does get the ball, And he's in those positions where you go, uh-oh, that's dangerous for Mo Salah to be dribbling out my defense like that.
00:41:03
Speaker
The final ball has been extremely underwhelming this game, this tournament. And listen, I don't like... I don't think Mo Salah is as washed as the, like the, the, the online discourse or jokes are again. I really think a great comp for him is young man. Son. i think if you dropped Mo Salah in MLS right now, he could put up 30 goals. That's MLS. Like, that's not like, I'm, I mean that not in like a defending him, not defending him kind of way, but like,
00:41:34
Speaker
In international football, should that be the player you're like funneling your whole offense toward? It's a bad sign if that's your team. it's it's ah It's a strategy of a star that's not as good. like I get it. And all that's being said about Egypt to say that they are more dynamic, but they're overall worse, and they their ceiling is unchanged. like Benin were...
00:41:58
Speaker
just kind of replacement level round of 16 team. Not bad. Like they were, they, they asked questions this game and Egypt kind of had the, had the pattern all game to work it and didn't get enough.
00:42:10
Speaker
And at the end of the day, yes, the two, one goal was deserved. There's a crazy header from Yasser Ibrahim, we're you know, falling backwards, 12, 12 yards out, arcs it perfectly into the net.
00:42:23
Speaker
A credit to you. Like if you score that great. And I will say Egypt, right? enough defensively. They were a little shaky 1-0, right? So I don't know. So then you start asking, well, if they're shaky defensively and the Zala stars... What are you doing? What are you bringing to the table? What do you bring forward, right? And I almost think when push comes to shove, this team's final form in a World Cup is Bunkerball.
00:42:45
Speaker
like yeah They're playing more um more adventurous than that in this AFCON because they're trying to introduce as much verticality for Zala and Marmouche as possible.
00:42:58
Speaker
that's If this is what it looks like, I know it was 3-1 final score. I think both of us came away thinking Egypt didn't really show us enough, particularly Salah. Now, can he kind of can he have a game where he you know puts in one game of playing like a star player again? Yes.
00:43:18
Speaker
Is that repeatable? I don't know. Is that rep repeatable against a team much better defensively than Benin? Yeah, that's the question. And so I think there's there's two things there. One, Egypt just aren't as good defensively as we've seen from them in the past. And that they got up a goal here and Benin just absolutely pinned them. And they had them pinned and it was you could tell, right there's a goal coming here. And yes, it was kind of fluky how it ended up coming about, but it was well-deserved.
00:43:42
Speaker
And I thought Benin let the moment slip because I thought... But they had Egypt there and they should have kept going and they kind of didn't when they should have. I think that was a missed opportunity. And the second point on Egypt, you made this point to me during the game and and I want to bring it to to the listeners because I think it was such a good point.
00:43:55
Speaker
Egypt have one ball. They play one ball, right? yeah There's one ball that they play. they they They kind of work it into the like 30, 40 yards out. A guy cuts inside and then Marmush or Salah run in behind the fullback. And it's a tough ball, right? You have to turn your head and chase like, a you know,
00:44:14
Speaker
and run behind you and the center back and the fullback have to talk about it but it's one ball they their entire offensive system is to get of a winger running in behind so number one way to stop that is don't give them the behind right give they back it up park it and they really can't do anything and then they have to dribble at you or two like you know And instead of watching the the midfielder play the ball, you know, he's going to play. Look at Mo Salah and go, are you running? I'm going with you. like you Head on a swivel, guys. Come on. and And listen, that's Benin. Like, again, an average defensive team.
00:44:56
Speaker
they I'm sure the Benin head coach turned on the tape and said, this is what they're going to do. And, you know, soccer is hard. You can't stop it all the time. But show that to better athletes, more prepared back lines, more communicative back lines. know where that ball gets you.
00:45:10
Speaker
Yeah. And that a bit brings us to our next game, which was Ivory Coast 3, Burkina Faso 0. We'll get to the Ivory Coast-Egypt matchup in a second. This was really good from Ivory Coast. This was...
00:45:22
Speaker
We know that we can do this whole score once and defend type thing that we did. But also, look, we have this in our bag. And if Ivory Coast had this in their bag, they are a very, very good team. This was probably, I think, the best performance of anybody in the round of 16.
00:45:37
Speaker
This might have been the best performance we've seen from anybody in an AFCON considering the opposition. There is a big level of difference between what Mozambique bring the table and what Burkina Faso bring the table. And it didn't look like it in watching this match. Ivory Coast were very good.
00:45:50
Speaker
Burkina Faso were wide open in their box. They couldn't get the ball clear. And Diallo and Diomonde with first half goals, those young attackers, if those guys make that jump right now and with six months to keep that jump going and you match that with the organization and the defense that we've seen from Ivory Coast, that's something to watch for.
00:46:12
Speaker
Well said. This is the profile of a team we really are intrigued by yeah to do something dangerous. This was a performance I think had both of our eyes up, ears up. you know Burkini Faso is not bad, as you said, better than Mozambique.
00:46:26
Speaker
And Ivory Coast just kind of did not mess around. And I think more context here, right? Senegal... very good, right? The midfield machine is very good, but they kind of brute force you. And me being the guy, I admire the brute force. yeah Nigeria, I mean, that it's just the three is insane. and i you know the three the front three can do anything, right?
00:46:49
Speaker
We're impressed by that. But the team stuff here for Ivory Coast in three phases, again, there is a striker thing that Senegal also has, but the the midfield is bringing in goals and the way they crash the box against Burkina Faso or Diamande specifically kind of popped up in that that trailer role where you can get a shot in AFCON. You know, the guy coming in late, right? yeah It really worked.
00:47:14
Speaker
And Diallo, man, I mean, Diaz has been great for sure. But Diallo's creativity, one-man hub, he's he's short and he's shifty. He's got that burst.
00:47:25
Speaker
You can't guard him with one guy at any point. It's barbecue chicken. And, you know, we saw that against Cameroon, really struggled. A good team who was also here in the quarterfinals. That was their other, you know, big kind of foe in group stage. Gabon also kind of shredded.
00:47:44
Speaker
So I think right now he's the best player in the tournament. And when you've got that and he's in a dangerous spot like the winger and he talked about you need a creative hub to run your offense through, he's checking the boxes. So then you start going the other way like...
00:47:57
Speaker
as you said, they've always had the solidity. It's pairing really nicely. We are, yeah we both are very impressed by this. I think deservedly. And to that point, even second half, no sweat, right?
00:48:07
Speaker
Right. Like, yeah. So, uh, I don't know. i mean, if we were a bleacher report and or I'm making jokes, if we were doing power rankings, you know, after every day, they're one right now. They were maybe, we had dropped them a little bit. Now they're back up, but they have to be, don't they? That was the most, as you said, the most impressive game of the tournament. Yeah, I think so. And and so as as we kind of pivot to talking about Ivory Coast and Egypt in the quarterfinals, I think my biggest thing is I think Benin and Burkina Faso are pretty similar, right? They are that next tier of African teams that didn't make the World Cup, but in a different, you know, multiversal world could make the World Cup. And in the future, they can make a World Cup that will consistently make the World Cup. To me, they're kind of right there.
00:48:52
Speaker
And you compare what Egypt did and what be and what Ivory Coast did in those games, not even close, right? Ivory Coast cruised, they were clean, they were through. Egypt struggled and struggled and struggled and got through in the end. And so when you put those two teams against each other, i think the biggest mistake that Ivory Coast could make in this game is not consistently ask questions of Egypt.
00:49:14
Speaker
I don't think they need to play the organized shut up shop game because i they could probably win doing that. But if Ivory Coast play the game that they just played against Burkina Faso, if they just run that back and do that against Egypt, I don't see any way that Egypt can withstand that for 90 minutes.
00:49:32
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with you. This is interesting for Egypt because you should they should they try to ask questions to Ivory Coast or should they bunker? i think you do. It's a lose-lose, right? For sure, because you're the worst team. There's never good answer. But you have to pick.
00:49:48
Speaker
And I think you look at the Ivory Coast midfield and you're drawing blank, like drawing dead against that. So I think Egypt is going to bunker and ask Ivory Coast to we know that you can bring it, but we're going to try to defend better than Burkina Faso did and make your striker who might be your one offensive weakness have to score from some crosses.
00:50:11
Speaker
Because you know i i I still think they can do that, but that's a better proposition than... Introducing any space for Diamande or Diallo or even the midfield, um who was excellent very quietly against Burkina Faso and also revving up that engine.
00:50:28
Speaker
And then you're trying to counter, right? But I don't know, man. You saw that we saw the ball that Egypt's going to play. If Ivory Coast shuts that down, what does Egypt have in this game?
00:50:40
Speaker
yeah you're you're trying to You're trying to bait them in numbers, numbers, numbers. One ball to Salah. One ball to Marmush. One on two. Salah had that moment. Marmush, excuse me, had that moment against Benito. He had the run straight and shoot. And he got the run straight part, right? And he didn't do the shoot part. And so, again, Egypt are getting two and a half chances in this game, probably. They need to score one and a half of them. They probably need to score two of them. And it's just not good math. And I think I would post...
00:51:08
Speaker
in a way that nobody else in this tournament does, i think the math just really works for them because it's exactly what you said. Okay, what do you do with Nigeria? Okay, you just, you decide we're going to go attack because they can't stop.
00:51:20
Speaker
That's not going to work against Ivory Coast. I don't think you can stop them. Ivory Coast are good. That's my my big, yeah yeah I think they are really good. It puts you under a lot of pressure. And I think i the answer for Egypt will be, we have to we have to slot into the the really underdog role, the really bunker role.
00:51:39
Speaker
And you're hoping, like you said, can we get Salah or Marmouche one-on-one, one-on-two, even one versus two guys and make something happen? Because you start committing any numbers into Ivory Coast, you're just in trouble.
00:51:54
Speaker
So it's ah it's going to be that grimy kind of game. Playing for pens. And listen, that's what we always said about Egypt. Their ability to overachieve their ceiling is winning a penalty shootout in a game they had no business winning. Well, this is that game. Because I i struggle, both of us struggle to see ah a fair fight where Egypt comes out on top.
00:52:12
Speaker
um So the thing for Ivory Coast is don't mess around too much, right? Yeah, but I think my big takeaway there is two hours is a long time, right? Like 120 minutes is a really long time.
00:52:24
Speaker
And another point that we brought up in all the games, Egypt played 120 because they had to slog against Benin. Sala played 120. That's not good for the old man's legs. And Ivory Coast very much cruised. So the deck gets increasingly stacked here against um Egypt.
00:52:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think yeah I'm intrigued by Ivory Coast. Like and the performance against Burkina Faswell is one of the most impressive things I've seen in in quite some time. So I you take note of that for sure. I think these quarterfinals are going to be really good. Two games on Friday, two games on Saturday.
00:52:57
Speaker
Are we going to see as we wrap up the show, are we going to see the four quote unquote big favorites all get through? At the start of our very preview podcast, I was like, that never happens. But it's kind of happening a little more in international soccer just because the the strata is stratified and this tournament has been that way. But listen, Nigeria are trying to give us something, right? yeah yeah but If I had to pick one, that's the most vulnerable...
00:53:26
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think it's that. And I think we've got to kind of keep an eye on Morocco too a bit. Yes, that's vulnerable. The level for Morocco hasn't been the same level that we've seen from Senegal and and from Ivory Coast and obviously from from the Nigerian attack. So yeah, I've got to see it, I think.
00:53:43
Speaker
I still think we'll get ah one surprise at least, yeah I'm hoping. But if we get four, i'm great. I think it's it won't be without ah blood, sweat, and tears from the favorites. There's there's nothing easy about this. um So it's been a very it's been a very good soccer AFCON. We maybe missed...
00:54:03
Speaker
10% of the drama that you and I love about an AFCON and you, the listener, love about AFCON. But I think we've been rewarded by, you know, kind of the the rising level of soccer. This has been the best AFCON we've seen in terms of the field, on the field stuff.
00:54:16
Speaker
Yeah, I think that 10% that we missed is now about to be paid back in 20% of the eight best teams in this tournament. like Probably seven of them are in the last eight and ten of like the top 10 teams, eight of them are are in the quarterfinals. And that, I think, is is going to be really good. And we've got different propositions and we've got a lot of interesting games. So... Amit and I will we take all of this in on Friday and Saturday. We're both really looking forward to it. We will be be back on the other end.
00:54:42
Speaker
We thank you, as always, the listeners, for making us a part of your international soccer podcast rotation. I don't we may be the only thing in your international soccer podcast rotation. If that's the case, we definitely thank you for that.
00:54:53
Speaker
If you would like to support us, you can do so at patreon.com slash WCAD. $3 a month, Patreon-only content, plenty of stuff. There'll be lots of stuff going into to the March World Cup qualifiers.
00:55:04
Speaker
And we've got some really good AFCON quarterfinals coming up. so So be sure to enjoy the football, and we will see you guys on the other end.