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WCAD 4-40: Argentina Do It Again
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Austin and Amit come together to break down another wild World Cup game from Argentina, this time a 3-2 comeback win over Egypt. The guys then close with a look at Switzerland moving past Colombia on penalties.
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
At this point, you're just running out of things to say. Down two goals, 79th minute.
Argentina's Remarkable Quarterfinals Comeback
00:00:08
Speaker
Surely, surely, Amit Malik, this is the time that Argentina have used up all their lives and this magic of back-to-back World Cup runs will come to an end.
00:00:18
Speaker
But no, they surprise us once again, come back and are into the quarterfinals. Did you see this coming in this way? No, of course not.
Analyzing Argentina's Resilience and Determination
00:00:31
Speaker
You never see it coming, but Argentina are never dead.
00:00:33
Speaker
And as you said, as we've said for months on this podcast, really for years on this podcast since the last time we did it, is you don't want to be the team that has to kill Argentina. And you really got to kill them. You just leave them hanging around and...
00:00:48
Speaker
One of the, you know, never say die teams of all time. One of the most vibesiest teams of all time, led by one of the greatest players of all time.
Comparisons to Iconic Sports Comebacks
00:00:55
Speaker
And this is a electric, electric comeback. um Yeah. And, you know, sure, you see the meme, Tom Brady's like 28-3. Oh, does this, you know, this tops that. That's wrong, by the way.
00:01:06
Speaker
23 is much, much more improbable than this. That being said, the fact that he said it just speaks to the truly supremely entertaining nature of this
Argentina's Talent vs. Recent Struggles
00:01:16
Speaker
comeback. And what a response from Argentina, who...
00:01:20
Speaker
you know, had to huff and puff against Cape Verde, have to huff and puff against Egypt. I think that reflects on their ultimate talent level. But at the same time, it's one game at a time. And you just you just relish a moment like this. Like it meant so much to Messi and this team just to get through this stage. So, you know, a really, ah really, really another, you know, storybook moment for this gen this specific team.
00:01:45
Speaker
You just keep beating the teams that front of you until there's no more teams to beat. And that's what this team
Luck or Team Spirit: The Key to Argentina's Success?
00:01:50
Speaker
has done. Argentina are either the luckiest bastards that have ever existed, or they are the vibesiest vibes monsters that have ever vibes. If you've listened to this podcast for any amount of time, I think you know which way Amit and I are going on that equation.
00:02:08
Speaker
It could be both, but yeah, it's mostly the vibes. I mean, this one
Midfield Challenges and Messi's Missed Penalty
00:02:12
Speaker
today, right? Really. But they also make their own luck so many times. And, you know, that's a a silly phrase. Make your own luck. Like I think is, you know, nerds, like how much can you believe that? But they never stopped coming and they do just enough. And.
00:02:27
Speaker
The other thing about this game, right, there is a disallowed goal that it feels like Egypt maybe could have been up 2-0 sooner. But the way the game goes, I don't think Egypt to get a pass on that one. Like up 2-0 with 12 minutes to go still is up 2-0 for 12 minutes to go. There's no guarantee that that goal makes it 3-0. That's not quite how it works. Right.
00:02:53
Speaker
I understand where egypt Egypt is coming from, but like at the end of the day, you have to see
Egypt's Missed Opportunities and Argentina's Comeback
00:03:00
Speaker
see this out. And there's a great, great moment in this madness of the 12 minutes where they they could have made it 3-0. And that's where, you know, despite everything, we still have our textbooks. The textbook is just at the top of the class. Every podcast, finish your chances, guys, kill the team, get the goal. You let someone good hang around. This is what happens.
00:03:21
Speaker
This is the world cup after dark podcast. Austin Miller, Amit Malik here with you. i think you're right about the the, the, I don't agree with the foul call that brings back the initial two. Oh, but I also don't know that that necessarily conditions.
00:03:35
Speaker
And we shouldn't believe that the second two Oh happens. Yeah. without the first two ah getting chopped off, if if that makes any sense. Look, at the end of the day, your two goals up in the 79th minute, that has to be a winning position, or that at least has to be a position to get the game to extra time. you can't even manage to do that.
00:03:54
Speaker
I said on the show yesterday, mean... that your dark horses, you know, came up lame, rounding the bend into the final stretch. My door dark horses got all the way to within sight of the finish line and then just got ripped by a tranquilizer dart and simply stopped running.
00:04:10
Speaker
Oh, man, you have to feel, I think, for Egypt. And let's start there. I think Egypt played a really good game. I think they executed their game plan. I think they challenged Argentina well in their midfield, which is I think, a spot on the pitch that is becoming more and more of a problem for Argentina as this tournament goes on.
00:04:28
Speaker
I think Egypt for 80 minutes took their chances, right? they They made their chances. They got a great goalkeeping performance. But you said it, Argentina aren't dead until they're dead.
00:04:40
Speaker
And down 2-0 on the 79th minute, they weren't dead.
Messi's Impact on Argentina's Turnaround
00:04:45
Speaker
They weren't. And it's a, I like to call these Jedi mind tricks or magic tricks or whatever, in that you find goals in weird advantages you have like Kuti Romero, who does this for the second straight game yeah for Argentina. And one mismatch, despite everything that had gone wrong for Argentina was going to be set pieces. It's how Egypt had trouble with New Zealand a little bit. There's just that physicality element in the box and Argentina just needed to get
00:05:12
Speaker
to the game state where they could really lock Egypt in their box. And that that comes through on the second goal too. And, oh, it's really frustrating for Egypt because I'm with you. Like we're in agreement. Like they they basically did everything they could. they They come out hot. They play through Argentina's press. They press Argentina back and they get their goal and they have their game state and they get another goal. And like,
00:05:36
Speaker
That's basically it. Like you just have to do, you're up two too, right? You can withstand one. And at that point you, that's where, you know, you just, you have to sprinkle in the messy factor somewhere in there that like, it's never enough when the other, when that guy's on the other side of the field. And maybe the, maybe the real, real thing is to finish the job. They needed three. And that it's like, maybe you're only quibble, but yeah,
00:06:01
Speaker
Man, what a
Argentina's Defensive Vulnerabilities Exploited
00:06:02
Speaker
game from Egypt. Like they really, really took it to Argentina. As you said, expose the midfield. I thought the biggest story of the first part of this game was Egypt on the ball, totally totally shredding them.
00:06:13
Speaker
So Argentina make a change in the midfield to start this game. They take out Tiago Almada. They bring in Leandro Paredes, who had come into the World Cup with a bit of a health concern. He's finally fit to start.
00:06:25
Speaker
But they bring in Paredes and they keep all the other midfielders. So it's a midfield four of Paredes, DePaul, McAllister, and Fernandez. Paredes is kind of the player here who sits in front of the center backs. And then those other three midfielders just kind of clog the middle, but they don't do it super effectively, at least from open play. Rodrigo de Paul wasn't very great here in this game. We'll touch on that in a second. For Egypt, they choose not to start Omar Marmush.
00:06:53
Speaker
They instead start Salah alongside Zico. Hafez, their left back, is fit enough to start. That's something that you and I had pointed out in the preview show. And Argentina also start Julian Alvarez up top for Latar Martinez. And they bring in Tagliafico at fullback.
00:07:08
Speaker
In Egypt, I thought Amit contested the midfield really well, and they did it with a team that's made up of, you know, two guys who play in Europe in Salah Lachine or Hassan, excuse me.
00:07:22
Speaker
And then they do it with everybody else just kind of contributing and playing their role. And they
Scaloni's Management Under Scrutiny
00:07:28
Speaker
matched Argentina bit for bit in the midfield. And they get their reward early in this game because they win a set piece.
00:07:34
Speaker
It's recycled after a short, cross after they take it short, right? And it's a perfect cross from Marwan Atia and Yassir Ibrahim. The center back is one-on-one with Lissandro Martinez and Yassir Ibrahim. Ibrahim just wins this ball in the air. He wins a header. He bangs it in in the in the net.
00:07:51
Speaker
This was a deserved start for Egypt. It really was. The the midfield quality playing to the press was good. This recycled set piece is good. And Sandro Martinez has had a really good tournament for Argentina, that's for sure. It's funny, like both teams are a little bit vulnerable in their boxes if you get the right mismatch. Sandro Martinez is Yasser
Argentina's Late Equalizer and Team Dynamics
00:08:13
Speaker
Ibrahim just kind of beats him inside the post. This isn't like Martinez is out of position. It's just a jump ball and... Yasser Ibrahim wins. And on top of winning, it's a perfect header. This is really hard to do. But we have seen this pattern a bit, right? The set piece is on one side, you swing it back to the other, and you've got to watch on the backside when the matchups get scrambled. And...
00:08:35
Speaker
That goal didn't necessarily reflect the way the game had been going before it for Egypt to be in their dominance, but it was reflective of Egypt's just intensity and surging and really, you know, putting good balls in positions and asking questions of Argentina.
00:08:50
Speaker
This formation from Scaloni is a bit weird, right? We've kind of been saying, like how do you get Alvarez into a spot that works? And is there a solution that involves Alvarez and Lartaro Martinez at the same time? like How do we get this to work? And the answer is, as good as Julian Alvarez is, his current profile...
00:09:13
Speaker
doesn't fit this Argentina team. It doesn't fit because he wants to go in the same spaces that Messi wants to go and Messi has to become the vertical threat, which he can do. But you want Alvarez to be making those runs that Lautaro Martinez is always making.
00:09:29
Speaker
And on top of all of that, This weird 4-1-3-2 has no width. It's super odd. and then you need those three guys. OK, I'm not going to bang on Predas, who's fine here. But then you have three guys in front of them. Two one of those three are
Chaotic Endgame and Argentina's Winning Goal
00:09:43
Speaker
slow. McAllister and DePaul. And we've always said they're slow. But you can almost protect the slow guys when they're kind of a bit more...
00:09:51
Speaker
defensive right they're in this in-between line and so they're always just too high too low and the balance is really off here and so i there's scenarios where this can work i don't think this was the right play for egypt i think if you had just kind of rolled out similar formations to what you've been doing and putting messy in that same spot it would have been more effective What it does is it makes Argentina really condensed, right? They just don't have width. And so this game for a lot of it, particularly after Egypt has the lead, is just
Reflecting on Argentina's Journey and Future
00:10:23
Speaker
Argentina trying to operate in tight space. And look, there might not be a better team in the world, maybe Spain, that is as good at operating in tight space as Argentina is. So it's not a space or it's not a situation. it's not a game state that they can't operate in, but it maybe doesn't feel like it's the ideal game state for them to try to be operating in. But after Egypt take the lead, Argentina, Amit, get a great chance to get right back on level turns. Talia Fico, who is really the only player until Argentina make changes that provides width, makes a run in behind. Messi plays a great ball Enzo Fernandez. Enzo Fernandez plays a perfect ball for Talia Fica.
00:10:59
Speaker
And Hassan, who's coming across, is late on the challenge. He's a step late. brings down Tagliafico, it's a penalty. And Lionel Messi steps up. And for the second time this tournament, amit he misses a penalty.
00:11:11
Speaker
His first one was off target. This one was maybe
Switzerland vs. Colombia: Penalty Shootout Drama
00:11:14
Speaker
an overcorrection for that. And he just hits that savable height penalty. We've seen so much this tournament. And Mustafa Shovir, excuse me, the Egypt goalkeeper who was great in this game, says, thank you very much. I'll save that. And for the second time this tournament, you kind of have Messi a bit lost from the spot.
00:11:34
Speaker
Really weird one. And
Colombia's Missed Opportunities and Set Piece Struggles
00:11:37
Speaker
so when we did our whole bit on the last podcast about this saveable penalty, or maybe it was two podcasts ago, it was kind of applying to the right footers going this way. yeah This is Messi's strong side and his left to go this way. What's...
00:11:50
Speaker
Weird here is that he goes this way again after missing wide and he just puts it not inside the post. He puts it halfway between the post in the middle, which, as you said, is the savable spot. So like some of this is just like.
00:12:06
Speaker
He's not hitting the the ace pen, the unsavable pen. So it's more of just a 50-50 or two out of three if you go middle, which he doesn't go middle. And some of it's just guessing, right?
00:12:17
Speaker
But then there's this level of if this is your guy taking it, this isn't a shootout where you're really like kind of chucking the odds a little bit. you've got to be hitting more unsavable pens. It's also like the greatest left foot of all time.
00:12:30
Speaker
He's somehow like exceedingly average at the one like easiest thing in soccer to do is the highest XG chance you could get. The guy just likes raising the difficulty level on himself clearly. And like, and don't really know if there's more analysis than that. Like over, we have, ah what is it? 25 years of sample size on him. He's just like a seven out of 10 penalty kick taker, which is like fine. But There are other guys in the field that could do it. Like, do you go to Scaloni then? Like, like yeah, take that take it off his foot.
00:12:58
Speaker
Yeah, that's my question. So, all right, this has happened twice now. Argentina have recovered from it on both occasions. Messi in particular has recovered it and has recovered from it on both occasions. But as this tournament gets further and further, Argentina get a penalty. Are you sending Messi up there again?
00:13:16
Speaker
and you're kind of like, yeah, are you not sending Messi up there again? and
Colombia's Creativity and Finishing Issues
00:13:20
Speaker
you're kind of like, yeah. It's a tricky one because we give Messi a lot more leeway than we give a player like Cristiano Ronaldo Neymar. And Messi is much better than both of those players. He's still here. They're still not. It's not that simple.
00:13:37
Speaker
But is there like what I don't know is how much Messi wants the pen. Because generally in our head, we have this idea that Messi will do what's best for the team.
00:13:47
Speaker
And he's not like... a weight on his team is that they just give it to him because he's messy or is it like in training is he the best penalty kick taker We don't really know that answer. And again, we don't really know what the other guys, but we just kind of, you know, do some posturing.
00:14:06
Speaker
I would hope that like, if there's another penalty, you'd give it to Julian Alvarez or even Enzo Fernandez, both guys that are tried proven penalty takers for their big, big clubs in Europe.
00:14:20
Speaker
But if he gets it again and he scores, he's, It'll be fine. If he gets it again and misses, then you just have like a very, very, very, very bad hole that you've dug yourself into. So like, don't take the chance. Right. Yeah. And like these are the things that I think are kind of slipping through the cracks because like Argentina 132,
World Cup's Unpredictable Future Matches
00:14:40
Speaker
there's a miraculous comeback. All of the attention is on the final 15 minutes of this game. But like this was a massive opportunity for Argentina to get level after they had kind of gotten bullied to start this game and they didn't take it And these are things that to normal non-zombie vampire defending world champion teams that you have to kill, then kill again, and then they somehow come back and you have to kill them again. These are the things that cost you. This is what costs Brazil.
00:15:05
Speaker
You look at the Brazil-Norway game, missing a penalty is what... probably has Brazil out of this tournament because they didn't get to their favorite game state. These are things that normal teams can't get away with. And that against better teams down the line, you're also probably not going to get away with.
00:15:19
Speaker
So let's see. Rest of the first half of it is really the Mustafa Shabir show for for Egypt. I think Argentina come out of the Palsa much livelier and Shovir just kind of starts making saves. He saves a a header from Alexis after a cross from DePaul.
00:15:33
Speaker
There's a deep free kick from Messi that Shovir gets across to. He doesn't actually save it. It goes off the post, but he cuts down the angle. makes another save after a perfect cross field switch from Paredes to Tagliafico.
00:15:44
Speaker
There's a cross to Julián Alvarez Schaubier stretches out to make a save. This one was really good. This guy was really good. And I think in a tournament, am and this is going real in the weeds, this is for our CAF qualifying heads who have been with this podcast for years now. In a tournament where teams have kind of consistently stuck with guys maybe past their expiration date, I think kossa Hasan Hassan, the Egypt manager, deserves a lot of credit for going to show beer instead of Muhammad El-Shanawi, who has been their talismanic goalkeeper, who has been in so many penalty shootouts.
00:16:16
Speaker
I think Hassan said show beers, the better goalkeeper. And I think he was proven right in this game. We always say evaluating goalkeepers is really, really hard. But there is a certain level of like, you know it when you see it. And like Chobir is just really, really springy, right? Like he gets that ground covered on the hop. And a way that El Shinawi is more of like you're cutting the figure of like the more experienced goalkeeper. So it's hard, right? to it so It seems easy now. But I think you you're very spot on that. He didn't have to do it. And so Hasan Hassan gets that right.
00:16:51
Speaker
Man, some of these saves are really, really good and like kind of just... frustrating argentina i know that the goal goes against them i know that the penalty kick goes against them i know we're ragging on the the formation but generally like argentina are doing enough to crank up the dial and create chances it's not like argentina are playing badly in this half or in their chance generation their issues are not chance generation even with the shape it's everything kind of outside of that they they're revving the machine up pretty good here
00:17:22
Speaker
It also helps when Shobir and El Shinawi play for literally the same club, which is just bonkers to me. But they also play 50-50. Like, they split the goal. It's such a weird situation. the Things you only see when all of your players come from the same team. and ahll Not all of them. You get my point. So this goes to halftime. Come out of halftime, and Argentina, just as you said, it meant they just start to pin Egypt more and more. They start to get Egypt back.
00:17:44
Speaker
They start to commit more numbers forward. But the danger with that is Egypt is a very classy team on the counter. There are talented players with the ball. And one of them in particular is obviously the star player in Mohamed Salah.
00:17:58
Speaker
And Salah, I think, was really good here for Egypt, absorbing pressure, winning the ability to win them some time and then being critical on two massive breaks for Egypt. So the first one is the one that's eventually going to get brought back for what I think is a pretty cheap foul on Lissandro Martinez.
00:18:14
Speaker
But it starts not with Salah, but with Haysom Hassan. who wins the ball back after Lissandra goes down. And he just starts to kind of weave through defenders. And at first you're thinking, ah, don't foul, don't foul. And you're thinking, all right, foul, fowul foul, foul. And they never get the foul in.
00:18:30
Speaker
And he gets the ball to Sala. And Sala just has a peach of a pass. And Zico, who is his strike partner for this game, one-on-one with Diva Martinez, doesn't miss. But we go back to the VAR and Hassan is ruled to have...
00:18:43
Speaker
just brought down Lissandra Martinez. The foot just makes contact with the foot. I think you and i are probably both in agreement here that this didn't feel great. It didn't. I will say if it's a much more clear foul, if it's a very clear foul in the buildup where it happens, I'm okay giving it.
00:19:03
Speaker
But like this type of thing happens all the time and you would never give this foul. You only give this foul because it's a goal and because maybe someone told you to go look at it. That doesn't feel right. And that's probably what Hassan Hassan says to to the referees here on the touchline. Like,
00:19:22
Speaker
I'm not, I have no problem with the, like the, the, the framework of this foul. It's just the foul itself is really like, not, not great for me. And so Egypt feel really, really hard done by like, this was an awesome move. And just on the thing, like the Hassan weave is the run of a lifetime. Like the way he splits that double team right around midfield with the little shimmy. And This is on this and both, right? You just see like as as good as Argentina are at generating chances, they're getting up the field. It's like, oh, I don't want these guys to be running back 70 yards.
00:19:56
Speaker
And they don't have the legs to do that. And they don't really have. And again, this is weird for me to say, because we're going to compliment Leandro Paredes for a counter stopping tackle that he'll make when this game is two two but They don't really have a guy that you're trusting to just kind of leave back there and sweep this up.
00:20:13
Speaker
Unless it's kind of D.B. Martinez, the goalkeeper. And the pass here from Saleh is so, so good. This pass plus his run on the next goal. I mean, we did say in the preview, what's one way for Egypt to have a good game is a throwback solid game. And maybe it wasn't like the exactly how you envisioned him breaking down Argentina in a set way, cutting in. But when this turned into the counter game, I think that's the exact game state where Mo Salah could be helpful. yep He was just just waiting, just waiting for any touch from Egypt in their block. And as you said, Egypt's block was was a really good here for until it wasn't. But he he just knew the the positioning on the angles so that when the ball went through, he had a step. He always had a step, are the Argentine guys. And could have been could have been more too. And so...
00:21:02
Speaker
ah you know I don't know how many games Mo Salah has like this, and that's why he like really turned back the clock to see his his top end speed or or just positioning to leverage whatever speed he had left.
00:21:14
Speaker
He was really, really good today and probably deserved a bit better. So after this kind of situation happens, after a couple of minutes, Argentina make a double change. Lautaro Martinez comes on replacing DePaul. It was very clear that DePaul was going to be one of the first changes for Argentina. He was not particularly good in the midfield.
00:21:30
Speaker
I think that might be something they'll look to kind of take care of, particularly with how well I think Paredes played in this game. And then Nico Gonzalez comes on. theoretically to give them width, but he comes on in place of Taliafico, which kind of puts him at a fullback position. And immediately you think to their yourself yourself, there might be some joy here for Hassan going back against Gonzalez. And before you can even finish the thought, I mean, here comes the Egypt counter again, because one minute after these changes,
00:21:57
Speaker
Salah just drives forward, picks out Hassan, Hassan in the box, and it's a late run from Zico, 2-0. And again, this is Lissandra Martinez, who is basically one-on-one with Zico, and Zico just beats him on the run with a diagonal run.
00:22:11
Speaker
Zico's had a great tournament for Egypt. I mean, I think the guy he's doing fine where he is, but I mean, think the guy could could play for a big club the way he's shown his dynamism in the box and his ability to get across the defender.
00:22:24
Speaker
I think a lot of this is on Sala, the timing and that he's driving centrally to just suck that defense in, spread it out and then come back across. That's tech books countering stuff. And I like the way you said it earlier. like Egypt are very classy on the counter. They don't get to... you know like At the World Cup, the level is different. But like this is how they hurt teams in CAF. This is how they they played really well in the AFCON. like This is a team that's right in that top bid of African soccer because of what they do here. And like yes, they need the ball. But they like they they just work this defending counter style very well. And I think Lissandro Martinez here, this is a really tough spot to be because he's alone. He's on an island in the box and you've got a runner in Zico and you don't really know. Like it's hard to anticipate where he's going to go.
00:23:16
Speaker
But it again, if you're going to play this style, if you're going to be this open, you're kind of counting on your center back to be able to put up a bit of resistance here. You'd hope Lissandro Martinez would be better at this style, right? He's shown in the past he can do this style. I don't even necessarily think it's slippage. Like, it's a hard thing to ask defenders to do all the time. Like, really, truly, how many guys can do it? You also think Kuti Romero can play this style. And it's almost like...
00:23:41
Speaker
Yes, they can do it, but you're almost looking at the guys in front of them to leave them in these vulnerable spots. like like I'm with you on Lissandra, but like this the the issues here are cascading 30, 40 yards up the field.
00:23:55
Speaker
So Argentina at this point are down 2-0. They go to the second half water break. They come out of it. They start to kind of pressure. They make ah another change. And it's, again, a fullback change. They they bring on Montiel for Molina. Egypt bring on Trezeguet, who replaces Hassan, who really looks spent by this point.
00:24:12
Speaker
And we get to the 79th minute and it's still 2-0. And this is when everything changes a minute. And it's just a brilliant ball from Lionel Messi, right? And it's a brilliant header from Cucci Romero. It's 2-1. And again, it's this combination where we're asking, where are the goals coming from, from Argentina?
00:24:32
Speaker
Who's going to come up with it? And for a second straight game, it's the Messi to center back combination. There are a few issues for Argentina in this game, in the last game. And it's, we don't have like a big number nine we can put on to like, or there is one that you're saying when we were talking outside of the podcast of like, who would come in and say it's Flacco.
00:24:54
Speaker
Yeah, so Flacco Lopez is like the nine of this team, but he's like a very like Borja Iglesias nine and like you're not building the team around it. He's in for the break in case of emergency situation and it felt like this was going to be it and then it wasn't because they got back in this game sooner than 10.
00:25:09
Speaker
So generally, right, it's Lautaro or Julian Alvarez. They don't feel like they have a guy you can cross to. And the other issue is, again, we don't know. Scaloni doesn't want wingers. He's like, I'm not going to play wingers. I'm going to play some fullbacks, right? I'm going to have some guys doing stuff wide, but I don't really have a true guy that could do the take on or I'm going to feel great about crossing.
00:25:31
Speaker
And so Messi's like, cool, I'll solve everything for you. What if I just did that? I'm still the the world's best problem solver. So before this goal, he gets out wide and he puts his butt on the touchline and he takes ball defeat and he starts dribbling the Egypt left backs and the Egypt center backs and the Egypt left mids. And you're starting to be like, oh my gosh, how is he doing this? How does it the energy to to go by line?
00:25:56
Speaker
And then you start seeing him working them off of him. Then he cuts inside. You know he's going to cut inside, but he plays this cross earlier than anyone thinks he's he's going to play this cross. And it's that left-footed, I guess it's an in-swinger, but like from a weird spot right into the center of the box.
00:26:17
Speaker
And... You need a nine. It's your center back. And this is the second time we've seen this. And so Scaloni has a lot to like juggle with, or or we have a lot to juggle with of like, is Scaloni good or bad? like I'm not sure. And the answer is like he he has Messi, and Messi solves problems, and he has a really good aerial center back. And at least he's pressing that button. It's a button we've seen other people press. It's not like some...
00:26:44
Speaker
unbeknownst button that you can't press, but like twice it's helped Argentina beat a lesser physical team than them in the box. And so keep going to the well. And it's just so good from Kutze Romero. And this is the moment that they needed it, right? This was floundering and Argentina looked pretty close to being just done here.
00:27:04
Speaker
This gives them the life and it gives them the belief and it gives them the buy-in. So Egypt, bring on Marmouche for Zico and you think, all right, this Egypt counter is now going to be lethal. They've got Salah and Marmouche up top, but it's just Messi starting to take over. And he puts the penalty behind him. He puts what I think for like an hour plus of this game, Messi was not great for Argentina. He wasn't able to put his stamp on this game. Egypt did a pretty good job of taking him out of it.
00:27:31
Speaker
It's because he's out of position, right? He's having to play as a striker next to Alvarez and he's not being able to cut across defenders from that wide position where he's at his most dangerous.
00:27:42
Speaker
Yes, he can be dangerous centrally, but as a 10, he's like kind of a second nine here and it's just not comfortable. But then he just kind of says, all right, I'm going to it regardless. Like we're we're just going to ball the feet time and I'm just going to take over. it and so he he has this play where he just dusts a couple of defenders and Latar Martinez gets a great header and he puts it into the ground and it goes over the bar.
00:28:03
Speaker
And then the next one is just straight up box assault from Argentina. It's we're down a goal. We're sending everybody forward. Egypt don't have an outlet and Egypt just can't get the ball clear. they can't get the ball to the feet of those dangerous players in the counter.
00:28:15
Speaker
And so Messi starts it and Messi finishes it. He delivers it in the box. It goes pinball. It ends up to Montiel, the right back and Montiel just kind of brings it down. He doesn't even bring it down well, but he just kind of says, i'm going to bring it down and it's going to get in front of Messi and Messi is going to do his thing. And that's what happens. He brings it down. It gets in front of Messi and Messi just puts a rocket into the back of the net and show beer stretches out and he was close. to the Kuti Romero one, right?
00:28:44
Speaker
He was close to this one from Messi, but he doesn't get it. It's 2-2. This is Lionel Messi, and this is Lionel Messi's Argentina. The ball falls to him. the boy He finishes it. He starts it.
00:28:58
Speaker
And like this isn't even his like great like great, great, great goal that he does. He's just in the right place at the right time. But of course, when the ball falled to him fell to him, he still was the guy on the spot. And he still puts in a great finish. This is excellent technique to strike this ball from where he does.
00:29:15
Speaker
And the thing that's hard about this play is like we always ask, how is Messi the unmarked late arriver? And it's because he... He crossed it. he wasn't like and then And then they watch the ball go in and no one gets them because they're so busy just trying to clear their back line.
00:29:33
Speaker
And the only other thing I'll add is like 79th minute was just the right amount of time for Argentina to get that goal. When you're down two, you need everything you can work with. It felt when Argentina got that after what we had just seen, that 10 minutes was too much time for Egypt to hang on to one goal. People because they were especially locked in. And it just was a matter of, was it going to be the counter or Argentina locked them in? And one too many times, it was this way.
00:29:59
Speaker
The ball bounce bounces to the wrong guy. Like it it just felt so inevitable. And I think there was a bit of comedy here on the the touch kind of to get it to, to messy from until he's kind of just like, i just need to like get it. However I can, it doesn't even matter where the height of the ball is, what speed of the ball, like just get the ball in that direction. And it worked.
00:30:20
Speaker
And he knows that Messi's making this run because Messi follows the play after having started it. It's just so good. So it's 2-2 at this point. And then this game, Amit, just goes tactics free.
00:30:32
Speaker
And I think this is pretty risky from Argentina. They should have probably just kind of... shut this up and said, let's play for extra time and let's trust that we can just kind of do this box assault, but with maybe less of leaving ourselves completely open on the break for 30 minutes, like we did against Cape Verde, where we scored two goals in extra time and won the game 3-2.
00:30:53
Speaker
But with this game at 2-2, it just opens up. And so there's there's a fizzing free kick cross from Messi that creates a stab chance that Schobier saves. And then it's Leandro Paredes with what is probably a World Cup campaign saving tackle from Argentina because Argentina have way too many guys forward.
00:31:12
Speaker
The center backs are completely out of position. And it's basically three on one here for Egypt with Marmoush central, Salah just off his shoulder, Trezegate making a run to his left. And then there's kind of a late run coming to the right that's covered.
00:31:27
Speaker
And I think Trezegate, or excuse me, I think Marmoush just... takes a second too long to make this pass. And Paredes omit sells out. He says, this is kind of like an ice hockey play where it's two on one and you're just going to ground and you're putting your stick out and you're hoping that you're deflecting the puck.
00:31:44
Speaker
And that's what Paredes does here because if Paredes doesn't block off this pass, it's trying get one-on-one with Demo Martinez with Argentina's World Cup at his feet. right? And Paredes sticks out his leg and the pass from Marmush isn't great. It's maybe a step late, but this is a great last ditch diving challenge from Paredes to keep this thing too too It's an incredible play from Predice, and it's also equally as frustrating as as a play from Marmouche. And you're like, why isn't Marmouche starting in this game? And I don't necessarily think it's related to what we see in this play, but in a sense, he wasn't quite as sharp as Egypt needed him to be on the counter. And he hadn't quite fired through um group play and the last game. And I think Zico was giving them more.
00:32:28
Speaker
Now, even that being said, Marmush can make this play. If you do this training drill, he probably does this drill. You run a three-man weave and defender or not, it's just about the timing to free up Trezeguet and the spacing. And you just got to get it wide or or hold and wait for Salah or yeah maybe pass it a second earlier. And...
00:32:51
Speaker
You could see it unfold in real time. Like there's a split second when it's on and there's a split second where Paredes makes the play. And so just in that flash, like everything happens. and it It is a great, great play by Paredes. But I think Omar Marmoush will tell you he has to make this pass. He has to make this pass.
00:33:10
Speaker
And he he just it's it's it's the margins are that close. And this is where, like, this is the second straight game Argentina have been in this situation where you're just like, it's a tie game.
00:33:21
Speaker
Relax. Don't get yourself caught open. And and they handled it okay against Cape Verde. But this is way too open to be in this situation. This was not necessary. This was not what you needed.
00:33:31
Speaker
Except admit this then leads to Argentina not having to play extra time because in this tactics free up and down situation, this is how Argentina wins it. And Salah goes down from a challenge from Julian Alvarez. It's clean enough. Salah stays down looking for the call. Obviously, you see it on the replay. There's not a whole lot there from Alvarez.
00:33:52
Speaker
Alvarez makes the challenge, recovers the ball, and just picks out a perfect long ball to Lautaro Martinez. And Lautaro Martinez is in acres of space with late runs coming.
00:34:04
Speaker
And he picks up his head and, omit to his credit, he just rips an absolutely perfect cross to Enzo Fernandez. And Enzo Fernandez comes up with an absolutely perfect header that kisses the post with three two These are three really great plays to combine for the three two the long ball from Alvarez, the cross from Martinez, the header from Fernandez.
00:34:25
Speaker
It's perfect. It's ruthless. It's brutal for Egypt, who even before this, they hadn't really been caught out. The game was open, but they hadn't really been caught out. But just when it finally breaks, it stretches, it stretches, then it breaks because of the Alvarez long ball. There's not a lot Egypt can do. And like they had been...
00:34:45
Speaker
frustrating the Argentine attackers with no space until this moment. And this is what happens when you give a team this good space. They uncork three passes, three touches that you're like, wait, you're not allowed to do those three touches, but you can because they're world-class players. You have to give a lot of credit to Lautaro Martinez here. He's jogging to this ball. He's huffing to this ball. And you're like, ah, he looks real tired. Ah, there's no way he's going to do anything with it. And he just puts a dime to Enzo's head. And...
00:35:12
Speaker
I think this is also a really, really great moment for Enzo Fernandez because you had to circle one player in the midfield that's still dynamic that shouldn't be old and wash. It's Enzo. And he's kind of flown under the radar a little bit in his Chelsea campaign internationally. There was so much hype around this guy. He was a $100 million dollar guy when he gets to Chelsea.
00:35:30
Speaker
And the whole point of Enzo was like, I'm not going to say he's Jude Bellingham, but it was kind of that he could do a little bit of everything, right? Good passer, good dribbler, great shooter, good defender. And the other thing you can add to these guys, even though he's not the tallest player, like good athlete, good header of the ball. This is maybe not a hundred million dollar finish, but this is one that's worth it. Priceless for Argentina, how good this finish is, right? It's not an easy header to even with the the location of the cross. And so...
00:35:59
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's three perfect touches and it's just like, how do Argentina get away with this? But all they needed was one moment for their quality to shine in a tied game.
00:36:11
Speaker
And they got it and they see out this game fairly easily. There's there's no real danger. it It kind of kicks off a bit. Egypt are understandably very upset. but Let's start with that quickly. There's no real case for Egypt to feel extremely hard done by here, right? There's there's no foul on Salah on the box. We talked about the situation with the second goal that gets chopped off that probably shouldn't have been chopped off or maybe controversially chopped off, but was, but they still get the second goal anyway.
00:36:38
Speaker
Egypt are probably, it's probably a bit much for Egypt to feel hard done by or that there's some grand conspiracy that's, that's sending Argentina through. Right. Probably. i don't know if there was a whole thing with the referee or Hassan Hassan is doing the X mark to the referee.
00:36:55
Speaker
I didn't really quite catch on the broadcast. His comments after the game were basically like, why should we come out if the refs are just going to give it to Argentina? And it's like... You were 2-2 and you went for the win. Like, why did you guys come out if Omar Marmoush isn't going to play the ball? So it goes both ways. Like, I definitely i feel they feel hard done by. definitely had a goal that probably was a tough goal taken off. But at the end of the day if you could go back, if you could tell Hassan Hassan in, you know...
00:37:21
Speaker
may you're gonna be up 2-0 and you're gonna you're gonna have 2-0 with 10 minutes to go he'd say yes thank you you're gonna be tied to two and three on one and the play the ball is at the feet of your Manchester City attacker he'd say yes I'd take that and then e gets to say why did we come out yeah it's it's understand it's understandable like he's not the only one in soccer that that does this but like tough it's tough it imagine how imagine how Egypt felt like when this goal goes in And ah you can't. and And imagine the joy that Argentina felt when when this goal goes in. And the scenes were amazing for Gina. But even just to like, I think, round out the the soreness from him and.
00:38:02
Speaker
Again, maybe there'll be more reporting, but I think just kind of the reason what explains the whole thing is he goes, why was this game even played at 12 in the first place? Like who plays a soccer game at 12? And it's like, welcome. Welcome to big nude kickoff, buddy. Welcome to the United States. Welcome to Mercedes Benz Stadium, which, by the way, at this point is just a home game for Messi in Argentina. The the last home field advantage remaining this tournament.
00:38:27
Speaker
look, it feels like you just played an SEC away game and you just got like, maybe there was one dubious pass interference call. And on the last play of the game, like they ran back the kickoff and you're just like, what happened?
00:38:39
Speaker
And I get it. I get it. Right. You, you come all the way here. You have a historic run and you run into the as you said, the vibesiest team of all time. Yeah. I'd be saying a lot of really, really upset things in the presser after too.
00:38:52
Speaker
It's also heat of the moment stuff. Like you get it from that perspective, but like you said, look, you're two goals up with 11 minutes to go. Like there's no great conspiracy against you. you just got to defend your box and you can't let the best player to have ever done it, do it. And he did it. um What do we make of Argentina? I have no idea what to make of Argentina. I'm it because,
00:39:12
Speaker
You would think that this team should be taking care of Cape Verde and Egypt much easier than they have. But also they've gotten two really game performances from African teams that are up for it and they've survived.
00:39:27
Speaker
But does them surviving this game make you feel any better for their chances once they actually play a big boy? But also, are they actually ever going to play a big boy because it's Switzerland next?
00:39:39
Speaker
There's a lot of ways to attack this. Let's start first from the the big picture in the draw. And the reason why they were such a favorite heading into this draw is because they had the softest two games here, right?
00:39:50
Speaker
Egypt and Cape Verde, I think out of the top four seeds was probably easier than anything. France... um yeah I guess France had two easy games, but then their quadrant is a bit more stacked in terms of their quarterfinalist, Morocco.
00:40:04
Speaker
Spain had to had to play Portugal. Really tough game. Survived. England had to really go to the Azteca. Really tough game. The Arcongo was a tough game. And so...
00:40:16
Speaker
They also have Norway-Brazil winner. Turns out to be Norway. I think that's a bit easier, but still a tough game. Argentina, on top of these two games, had the Colombia-Switzerland winner. And that felt like the most like fringy round of 16 opponent. We're about to to talk about that game. So you really just had three opponents in their way that felt like they would walk into the semifinals.
00:40:37
Speaker
That is kind of, in my mind, the numbers rationale for Argentina being... perhaps the second or third on the odds at the start of the knockout round. Talent-wise, right, entering this tournament, I felt like they were fourth behind France, Spain, and England.
00:40:54
Speaker
There were even some models that put them behind Portugal and Brazil. Yep. At this point, doesn't matter. Those teams are out. But, like, clearly they're somewhere in that range. And so, to me, my question is, do you think they're better or worse equipped to beat England? And my answer is...
00:41:12
Speaker
worse, you were hoping that England lost. That was part of your draw. Your hope and England could still lose. England could still lose it you'd hope to see Norway. But if you see England, I think I know who the team's going to be favored on ah in a semifinal. If it gets there, they're still around to get there.
00:41:28
Speaker
So that's kind of where I'm at the team. And the reason why is because they have clearly shown, despite Messi's incredible, and incredible talents, they're being dragged by him, which is a bad thing to be. Then their midfield is able to be played out of a game by better athletes. I don't think Egypt are like in the back is physically strong, but they were faster and more lively to every loose ball. And yeah, we did a whole thing on Cape Verde's incredible blend of athleticism and ah technical ability.
00:41:56
Speaker
OK, well, I think England showed at the Azteca that they're up for it. So like, look, it's not a game they can't win. It's not that they can't win this World Cup. If you if you beat England, yeah, you're in the final. I think it can happen. So like there are a few coin flips away, but I just don't think they're they're going to be favored in the last two games. And that's fine for Argentina. It's the whole point is like they're just in these games with bounces and you have to kill them. And so far, like the two teams worse them threw their A plus punches, but it didn't work.
00:42:25
Speaker
And surely you think that at some point the bounces are going to run out, right? Like that's what I thought this day was. It really felt like it's over. The ride is done. the You know, the roller coaster has stopped and they just somehow find a way.
00:42:41
Speaker
But also they cannot keep finding a way. Can they? They can't. But in this game and in last game, we said the bounces can't go their way. They create enough XG in the end to make up for it. Two goals and extra time. It was a really, really they didn't quit. Right. They and they like Sidney Lopez Cabal scores a zero point zero three XG chance. The XG final in this game is like two point eight to point nine for Egypt.
00:43:08
Speaker
Egypt put up two and Argentina are like, great, we'll just score three the hard way. It wasn't like Argentina are getting the bounces on offense. The bounce is going against them. um Yeah, you could say the penalty was a bounce for them, but like generally they've created enough. The attack is not the the issue for for them and that's a macro reading of all of it if you want to quibble with individual moments sure the thing is like what happens if they have a bad finishing day and they don't get to create enough against a defense that's up for it none of the teams they've played have had the defense to stop them like cape verid egypt played great games but did not have the defense to stop them over 90 minutes now that ratchets up from this point on even with switzerland
00:43:52
Speaker
But then what happens when Argentina doesn't have to be the team that takes the initiative? And we haven't seen that in forever, right? Like we haven't seen that since the 2022 world cup and Argentina even took the initiative in that game against France in the final. So like, I don't know what it actually looks like when Argentina play another big team, because as you and I talked about a lot before this tournament started, they haven't played a big team and they kind of,
00:44:15
Speaker
Dodged playing any sort of big team before the World Cup. So if they get to a semifinal against England, I don't know what that game looks like, but I think I'm with you that logic would tell you that you should back England and you could maybe back England heavy because generally...
00:44:30
Speaker
when these things run out, they run out and it just closes, right? It's not, you you don't go out in in a blade flying blaze of glory, one strike away. Like, it's probably just going to close and it's going to end. And can they ride this to another World Cup win?
00:44:46
Speaker
I guess, but I don't think I feel great about it. I don't. And listen, I think this next game against Switzerland is going to be tough. Yep. I think they'll be in the spot. You and I say we'd like they're going to be on the front foot.
00:45:00
Speaker
England's going to be very tough. I don't know about heavy. I like the word heavy. I'm with you ah numbers wise, but I think vibes wise, England Argentina is going to be a tough one. um Yes, we're in agreement. But then even then, if they get through both of those games,
00:45:15
Speaker
I'm imagining it's France or Spain on the other side. And I don't feel good about either of those. That's where I'll go. Yeah, I'll go heavy for sure on either of those. And so the you know the the deck stack against you twice. And so let's see. And we we did the Scaloni thing. like I'm not sure he he's an elite problem solver. Argentina as a team are a problem solver because of Messi and because of vibes. um like Did you think he did a great job managing in the 2022 World Cup when they won?
00:45:47
Speaker
to To relitigate that very briefly. and not to like we don't We don't have all the games in front of us. We're just kind of going off of like our thoughts. I think what they did in the final was really impressive. Yes. Like I think that was managed very, very well. I think there were other moments of that world cup that maybe weren't managed very, very well, but I think the way Argentina approached the final, the tactical setup that they had, the pieces that they had in the way that they played, look, they made Didier to Sean make two changes at the half hour. That's how good they were yeah in that final. I think they deserve a lot of credit for that.
00:46:17
Speaker
But I also can't look past the fact that, right, this was a whole big thing in Argentina today. Oh, you know, the last time Paredes, DePaul, McAllister and Fernandez started a game together, it was against Croatia in the semifinal. That went really well. That was also three and a half years ago.
00:46:30
Speaker
Great. Like we're just kind of trying to run this back and we're going to run it back for as far as we can. And let's see. Look, at the end of the day, Scaloni, not Scaloni, Messi, not Messi.
00:46:42
Speaker
Argentina is limited or you know boosted by its players on the field who are ah older and slower than four years ago. And so, like yes, they can, but it's just harder and harder every time. We've said this all over and over again, but... like You have to keep revisiting it for the way each of these games goes. Like it's constantly making you think, how can they keep doing it? And so we have to ask, how can they keep doing it? And the answer is we don't know, but we'll see.
00:47:09
Speaker
And that's what's so fun about this is we will see and we will probably enjoy it. Other game today, i mean let's go quickly. It was Switzerland-Colombia. It finished nil-nil. Switzerland went on penalties. Is there anything from the 120 minutes you want to point out here? Am I alone in thinking that this game never really took off and it was probably due to the lack of final third quality on both sides?
00:47:33
Speaker
100%. That's what this game was. Mzombie is out. we He picked up a knock on the final day of training before the game. Listen, before the game, we had said it's two star players trying to save their teams against two really defensive blocks.
00:47:48
Speaker
And then one of them was out. So I think in general... You're going to give some fault to Columbia yeah seeing the team without Monzambi and not getting a goal over 120 minutes. They were the slightly better team. They finished with one XG on a litany of shots from distance and just miss hits and one good chance, one half chance, but a good chance.
00:48:09
Speaker
In general, the story of this game is two B-plus attacks kind of just running at each other with defenders back and not really getting any traction. And on the quarter chances they are, the keepers are up for it.
00:48:21
Speaker
And so, like, ah subs were made is the best way to describe it. Like, changes happened. Soccer was played. But were there any interesting wrinkles? Like, not necessarily. I think Switzerland...
00:48:35
Speaker
played the defensive resolute style you expect with their old and slow back line. Shaka, Froehler, Akanji, Elvedi. And they held up like they are. Columbia needed to get more guys or more creativity in the attack.
00:48:51
Speaker
They couldn't really rev the engine up enough on brute force because Switzerland worked hard and they didn't have enough interchange or one on one ability. And James didn't work.
00:49:03
Speaker
Quintero had moments in the second half where the ball's at his feet. None of them come off. um in Diaz, at a certain point, you have to say it's both that he was not effective enough for Colombia and it's also that he did not have enough help.
00:49:19
Speaker
When he plays with Bayern, he's got a lot of attackers around him to unlock space for him to get in the spots he wants. Switzerland was able to sit on his pet tricks all day. And basically he was shooting into shins or dribbling into shins. And so that's basically it. Like the Switzerland attack was worse.
00:49:40
Speaker
And Colombia, throughout this entire cycle, throughout their run to the Copa America final in 2014, always had the set piece fallback. And when things from open play didn't come off, it always felt like they were getting a set piece in a dangerous position, taking advantage of it and putting it in the back of the net. And that, Amit, is something that they didn't do today. They didn't create a bunch.
00:50:08
Speaker
And they had one set piece where they get a header for Lukumi, and he puts it off the bar instead of in the back of the net. But it didn't feel like they created enough set piece opportunity to be dangerous. The set pieces that they did, they didn't quite have the delivery that they needed. And as you said, there wasn't help from the nine position. I think they really missed John Cordoba. They didn't get a much of a contribution from John Arias coming in behind.
00:50:30
Speaker
And Luis Suarez, who started this game and played 82 minutes, mostly forgettable, is then replaced by even more forgettable, Cucho Hernandez, who, to be completely honest with you, listener, I had forgotten existed until he came onto this game.
00:50:43
Speaker
And then he came onto this game, and I proceeded to once again forget that he existed until he missed a penalty in the shootout. They just didn't get anything from their nines when they needed it. And the Quintero-Campaz combination...
00:50:56
Speaker
does a little bit, but not enough. And so you're just left asking. And when Switzerland aren't really providing the other way, this game kind of just stagnates into, like you said, do B plus attacks going at set blocks and not having success.
00:51:10
Speaker
A hundred percent. And Ricardo Rodriguez was the guy to target. And because it wasn't a one V one take on artists on Columbia's right, Switzerland left, it's a lot of crosses. And that's not how you threaten Rodriguez, right? You needed to get dynamic and dribble at him.
00:51:25
Speaker
And Columbia's guy who does that is on the other side. And he's even more of a vertical threat. And Dennis Zakaria, the right back for Switzerland, the 87 minutes that he played, I thought he was really good. And then by the time he comes off for Vidmer, I think Diaz is kind of gassed and doesn't really have that takeoff. So I think Zakaria deserves a lot of credit. Yeah. And so really, I think what stands out in this game is Akanji and Ovedi turn the clock back. Like they're both really good center backs. Akanji is leaving Man City, I'm pretty sure.
00:51:54
Speaker
but they were just excellent at defending their box and commanding the block and really frustrating Columbia outside of the one set piece chance. And the only other chance in this game is Jaka like biffs a header behind him and it falls right to, uh, can Tara. Well, it falls to Cantero who then gets it to compost one-on-one.
00:52:16
Speaker
And this is the the chance of the game for Columbia. And he's leaning back and it's just like, oh, that's what position is compost. Is he a right back or right? he's ah He's a winger. Yeah, he's a winger, but he's playing at Rosario central in Argentina. And you can kind of see it with the finish here.
00:52:31
Speaker
He just, you just got to have the composure to roll it around cobalt into the wide open left side of the net. And he's leaning back and he's thinking, I'm going to score a goal. It's going to look pretty. And he just sales it. And so,
00:52:45
Speaker
Both teams lacked final third quality, but in the team that didn't have Monsambi, you knew what they were trying to do. And the team that had Diaz and players that they would back to score, they didn't. And it's really, really frustrating for Columbia because we get to pens. We're going to talk about the shootout. But in general, if a team wanted to avoid pens in this game, it should have been Columbia.
00:53:06
Speaker
and Did they like try to avoid pens? Yes, but they didn't really. like it felt like It felt like it was never really enough. like There was always that bit of caution. And maybe maybe you look dumb if you fully sell out, but they never sold out at any point. like Give me at least five minutes, right?
00:53:23
Speaker
Yeah. And we get to penalties and I think Switzerland just like, it's this simple Switzerland take better penalties than Columbia do in this shootout and outside of the first penalty for Columbia, which is Juan Fernando Quintero who goes down the middle and scores. I don't think any of their penalties were very good. So after Quintero scores, Vargas goes the right way on Shaka, but Shaka takes a really well taken penalty that hits Vargas's hand and goes in. That feels like it's a turning point.
00:53:49
Speaker
And then this is something we've seen far too often in these penalty shootouts at the World Cup. But the second taker for Columbia is a center back. It's big Dobbins and Sanchez. He comes up with the slowest walk up imaginable.
00:54:02
Speaker
He's slow to get to the ball and then he just blasts it and it goes off the bar and down and it stays out. And this is just what you worry about when you send a center back up to take your second penalty. Stop letting your center backs take penalties. it's It's pretty clear at this point. Your players who are better at striking a ball in the course of a game should be the ones that strike it in a controlled vacuum of a penalty shootout.
00:54:26
Speaker
That being said, this is like an inch, right? If this is an inch lower on the bar, it's bouncing in. And so I feel really, really bad for Davison Sanchez. A bit spursy from my former Tottenham man.
00:54:38
Speaker
just He was really good this World Cup. he He's really good this World Cup. He's really put on some good tape that I think should make a team feel like he is better than the Galatasaray level. He might not want to leave. I'm sure he's he's at Galatasaray because he's having ah ah a good deal to to play there. But he showed his quality. And he he and Lukumi were excellent. Lukumi also goes out for Yerimina right in like the last few minutes of this game. I don't know if Lukumi was going to take a penalty. Yerimina doesn't.
00:55:07
Speaker
Probably best to keep the center backs away. And we see another center back too, right? Keep going. We do. so So it's on duty for Switzerland who scores. Kampaz takes what is a really poor penalty, but squeaks it under Koble. And then for Switzerland, up steps Akonji and he sends it to the roof of the BC place.
00:55:29
Speaker
This one is tough. This one is tough where Akonji just blows it all the way up. I mean... The other one was close and forgivable. This is very unforgivable. And like, I just don't think a Kanji should take a pen. Switzerland have too many guys in the field for him to take a pen.
00:55:46
Speaker
Is it the players are saying they don't want to take them? Like, is that what it is? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, we saw that with Germany, right? We saw that with Goretzka where it was a situation where like nobody wanted to take this penalty and so Toss steps up and that's a sixth penalty. I think that's a a completely different situation. um So then this is the opportunity for Columbia, right? This game is back level after the Akanji miss. You've gotten away with a bad penalty from Compas, but then up steps Cucho Hernandez and it's saved by Cobble. And this is actually not that bad of a penalty. I think it's a pretty good penalty.
00:56:17
Speaker
This is a really good save from Cobble. It is basically. And I think, yes, the margin of the bar is one for Sanchez. Vargas gets a hand on Shaka. Kobo has a hand. Both are good pens, but one of them is just saved. One of them isn't. And so like this was a very, very margins you shoot out. Like, yeah, i'm I'm with you on the whole Columbia took worse pens. But like it was right there. It was right there.
00:56:42
Speaker
The rest of the penalties are all makes. I really thought Luis Diaz was going to miss that penalty. He looked so shook. And his runoff was not convincing either. He's like, oh man, I don't want to be doing this. But to his credit, he made it. And then it's Vargas who makes the winning penalty for Switzerland. He was also an injury concern coming into this game, but then did play the last half hour when it got to extra time. Switzerland through, they will play Argentina.
00:57:05
Speaker
For Colombia, Amit, man, this tournament was right there, but what was our big concern for them coming in? It was the finishing and against Portugal in the group stage, even against Ghana in the round of 32. And then in this game, they play three games and they score one goal. And that was kind of our concern about this team coming into the tournament.
00:57:24
Speaker
It is. And at the end of the day, the James thing didn't work. Quintero was fine as a mix-up, but it also doesn't work. They needed a bit more chance creation, like in terms of take-on ability, and they needed better finishing. The Cordoba-Suarez thing, both players are okay, but... At the end of the day, you can say maybe not quite of the quarterfinal level of of the World Cup. And Switzerland get away with it. like I don't think Switzerland's finishing was good enough to deserve to go through here.
00:57:52
Speaker
But you put yourself in that situation. I think on the whole, Colombia slightly better team than Switzerland, maybe at 11 positions. But they didn't deserve to win. They didn't they didn't they didn't stretch that 11-piece advantage to break Switzerland the way they needed to. And...
00:58:10
Speaker
It's really tough. There's kind of this feeling for Colombia in these major tournaments. like they They always get up for it. They always play really hard. They always have the set piece thing. And then every time you go out, you kind of just – they go out. You kind of just are sitting there like, man, they they could never create. They're just kind of not as one-dimensional as Ecuador, maybe not as one-dimensional as Mexico. But at the end of the day – still relatively one-dimensional. And that's tough, right, to hold them to the standards of the Argentinas and Brazils and all these European big boys.
00:58:41
Speaker
But they're so close to the conversation, right? And so that's the exact level preventing them from getting where they need to be. Switzerland was a very beatable team. that's the That's what I think stinks. Not that club was winning this thing, but I think you you you really want to win this game. You're going to be very, very upset for the next four years.
00:58:57
Speaker
And look, Colombia could have beaten Switzerland. They could have beaten Argentina in an eventual quarterfinal. Like they can play that game tight. And then you're in a World Cup semifinal. it's all And that's the thing. Look, maybe it's unfair to hold Colombia to that standard. But those are the teams you have to beat if you're going to finally win one of these things. If you're going to make a final at something other than a Copa America. So I think it's disappointment for Colombia.
00:59:16
Speaker
I think they were good at this tournament, but they just didn't quite have the the goals that they needed. also good at this tournament, and it has been the World Cup After Dark podcast. and We will keep going. There's an off day tomorrow, the first off day of the World Cup.
00:59:28
Speaker
The last time, Amit, that there were no World Cup matches on a day, you were in Indonesia. That's how long ago it's been. i don't even remember that, man. It's a fever dream. At some point, Youngman's son was playing on a screen. don't even know what was going on.
00:59:45
Speaker
ah It's been a whirlwind. People are still waiting for the travel log. They'll just have to keep coming back for the travel. guess it's coming folks. I promise we'll get amidst Indonesian travel log. We tomorrow or later tonight, or at some point there will be a quarterfinal preview from us at this year's show.
01:00:01
Speaker
You can find that on your feed, Spotify, Apple podcasts, everything. We'll have that out before the quarterfinals. We'll have daily shows Thursday, Friday, Saturday recapping. And then obviously we'll be here for the semifinal and the final. This world cup is wrapping up, but have no fear. There is still plenty of drama yet to come.
01:00:16
Speaker
And we at the World Club After Dark Podcast will be here for it all. If you would like to support us directly, You can do so at patreon.com slash WCAD. It's been great to see some new Patreon subscribers. You get access to subscriber-only benefits. There'll a couple more Patreon-exclusive shows as this World Cup goes on for sure. And you also directly support us doing what we do here. So if that's something that you would like to do, be sure to check that out.
01:00:39
Speaker
And it makes us feel good. And at the end of the day, that's why we're doing this show. That's why we're here for an hour on a Tuesday night. It's Tuesday, right? Yes, because tomorrow's Wednesday. You lose time in the World Cup, folks. You lose time in the World Cup. That's all for a bit in I today.
01:00:53
Speaker
We'll be back with the quarterfinal preview. We'll be back with quarterfinal recaps. Hope that you guys enjoy the games until then. And we'll talk soon.