Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
WCAD 4-16: Day 3 Recap w/ Jack Collins
1 Plays4 seconds ago
Jack Collins of Ranks FC joins Austin to recap the third day of World Cup action, headlined by a 1-1 draw between Brazil and Morocco, Australia's late night upset in Vancouver, and World Cup scenes worth remembering for Haiti and Scotland. Also, Switzerland learn a valuable lesson about finishing chances.
Recommended
Transcript
Mystery Guest Tease
00:00:01
Speaker
So I've been trying to keep the good people in suspense, right? Doing a whole mystery guest who's replacing a mid on the next show while he's still finishing his Asian vacation. But look, if you've spent enough time around the World Cup after dark podcast, there's no surprises who's coming on this show, right? We got a Bushnell brother.
00:00:17
Speaker
We checked the John Arnold box. So who was my next call to it it was naturally Jack Collins, who's back on the World Cup after dark, a three time appearance. You got three caps on the show now, my friends. Yeah.
00:00:28
Speaker
Just to start giving me these, right? Like I assume they're all just building up on Buenos Aires, but you know, when, when I'm over next, I'm expecting to be handed them and, and given the full shebang. I'm delighted to be back mate, as ever. It's great to
Introducing Jack Collins
00:00:40
Speaker
have you, Jack. My name is Austin Miller. He is Jack Collins. You might know him from Sirius XMFC, Ranks FC podcast, a whole host of places. He's replacing my good friend, Amit Malik. I promise it's going to be back Monday night. I know I've been building up the Amit return. It's going to be a great return. We're all looking forward to it. This is the World Cup After Dark podcast. We're going to break down day three, our first four games
World Cup Entertainment Value
00:01:01
Speaker
slate. Jack, what's your overall feeling of this World Cup so far? I've been perfectly entertained.
00:01:06
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's exactly it, right? the The first game that really felt like it was a dud was that Qatar-Switzerland game that we watched yesterday. And even that got the dramatic finish. So even that had a moment of magic and a moment of drama. And look, it'll probably be the last thing we talk about because it was, you know, not exactly smooth sailing from a watching perspective. But that's what i mean. Even the games that aren't particularly lively have narratives around them, have excitement, have drama around them as well. And and that's, I think, where I'm at.
00:01:32
Speaker
and with the World Cup so far. By the way, I'm incredibly jealous of your timings in Buenos Aires. I've been thinking about this today. like And I know there's a lot of chat going on on the internet right now about time zones and there's a lot of British people and European people having a go here, which is ridiculous, frankly, considering that this is a World Cup and it is not just based on where you are in Europe as opposed to watch it. But I did think earlier, the last game being at 1am sounds like the most perfect time zone to be in to watch a World Cup. So I am slightly jealous, mate.
00:02:03
Speaker
No game started until four o'clock. You have the perfect amount of time. You can record a podcast, go for a big walk, enjoy the nice crisp winter weather, and then settle in for for a day of football. It's good. And also to to all the Europeans complaining about the time zones, I merely point to the 100 years of footballing history when every single event happened for a good time zone.
00:02:22
Speaker
Time to learn how the rest of the world lives. Yeah. Yeah. A hundred percent. Right. And look, I was seeing, I was seeing the scenes in, in Sydney yesterday, the scenes in Melbourne with the Australia win and it was 2 PM in the afternoon. You're thinking perfect. This is exactly what it was. and And look, this conversation happens with the Qatar world cup in 2022, right? Because we were also sat there talking about that and looking at the idea. People were like, but it's in the winter. And I was like, yeah, but in South America and Australia, they're experiencing their first world cup summers. These are the most amazing things of all time. So I think that there is an element, right, of snobbery around all of it. And look, it's frustrating. There are elements of this that aren't great. I didn't stay up till 5am. I watched the Haiti Scotland game. And then I went to bed, stuck Turkey, Australia on record, woke up this morning, kept my phone off and watched that game back and was like, okay, we're we're back in business. We can kind of see what's going on now at and this point. So look, there are ways around it. if you want to If you want to make those ways work, I know it doesn't work for everyone. Some people have normal jobs and things like that. But for me, I'm i'm enjoying the fact that I can go into the night, stop and then pick it up again the next morning and kind of run into that time as well. So I'm having a lot of fun.
00:03:28
Speaker
normal job. i I just, I just shudder in fear. shut off of it Could you imagine an entire month of world cup football and you're like having to plan real life things around it and your whole schedule just doesn't revolve around when the
Brazil vs Morocco: Strengths and Weaknesses
00:03:40
Speaker
games happen. Ah, scary stuff. All right let's get into it, Jack. Let's recap what we saw yesterday. I think the main storyline, the main game going in was this Brazil Morocco game. It finished as a one, one draw. That scoreline might be a bit Flattering to Brazil. This was a good game.
00:03:55
Speaker
I feel like we learned a bit about both of these teams. And I also don't feel like this is going to be a determining factor in either side's World Cup. Yeah, I mean, look, they they would have looked at this game, I think both sides and thought, and i think we saw this play out in the second half in particular, and thought, you know what, gal of that opener without losing, and it's probably okay. They will both fancy themselves to beat both Scotland and Haiti. Now, obviously it's the World Cup, weird stuff happens. That isn't any guarantee by this kind of, any um ah and stretch of the imagination. But I do think that when you're looking at it from the perspective ah of these two teams who would have come in as favourites,
00:04:28
Speaker
they won't mind this, right? Like they will not mind that currently Scotland top that group. They will not mind that the the next two fixtures stretch out in front of them. I think they will both be relatively happy.
00:04:39
Speaker
Morocco in terms of the performance, Brazil in terms of the scoreline and actually getting out of that one unscathed when for long periods of this game, it looked like they were very much the inferior
Concerns Over Brazil's Performance
00:04:49
Speaker
team. But I don't think there's going to be any kind of pulled up trees or anyone super stressed about the actual result of this game in either nation. What did you make of it?
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, I thought Morocco were really good for the first kind of half hour, 40 minutes of this game. I thought the opening 20 to 25 minutes from Morocco was a statement on how good they can be. And I think that was good to see because we came in with some questions about Morocco. They had a really ill-timed AFCON, right? An AFCON on home soil where they had they played this weird final that they lost and then they actually won in the Esqueritonio, as we would say in Spanish, but they didn't actually win. So you were just kind of concerned about how that may affect them going in.
00:05:26
Speaker
Those concerns are gone. I'm not worried about them. I thought they played really well and looked really good. i am still a bit concerned about Brazil. I thought they got overrun in the midfield at the start of this match, as we'll get on to in a minute.
00:05:38
Speaker
My concerns about the fullbacks were very much valid. And I think that kind of has me a bit concerned, but they have Vinicius Jr. He's incredible. And as he showed in this game, sometimes give the ball to Vinny and trust that good things will happen is all this Brazil team needs.
00:05:54
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, I have quite a lot of faith in Ancelotti, but starting Igor Tiago was certainly a choice is is probably what I would say. And it did feel there's quite a lot of excellent memes going around on the internet this morning, including one of an Easter Island statue being walked along very slowly and with the caption, Igor Tiago in the Brazil counter-attack. And I thought that it really was one of those. There was a lot conversation around this. Tim Vickery was here in in the UK kind of talking about it before the game. And he was saying there's a fair bit of anger around the inclusion of Igor Thiago in Brazil, not because he's not particularly good player, but maybe there's a little bit of snobbery around, you know, the club he plays for or what he's been able to do. That will have only got louder, I think, over the course of this. and And look, you and i and a lot of other people who have watched this Brazil team a fair bit, all thought, well, were we worried about this? Well, there's no fullbacks. And now that Wesley Franca is out as well, there's fundamentally no fullbacks that I trust in this squad. And is there going to be enough midfield cover to allow Ancianotti to play the, you know kind of vaunted four up front that he was talking about v philosophy? Now, he didn't quite do that. We saw Paquete kind of playing nominally in the 10.
00:07:02
Speaker
he didn't really do very much. it wasn't a particularly impressive performance. It was a slight worry that Casemiro and Bruno didn't particularly click, I didn't think. Casemiro looked a little bit legs gone Man United a season ago, which is a slight worry.
00:07:15
Speaker
They do have cover in those areas, but it's not cover that you'd necessarily want to be leaning on. And I think that where we're seeing Brazil fall apart, the brazil them the midfield got pulled apart, left, right and center, especially in that first half.
00:07:28
Speaker
And that doesn't look to me like a team that's going to go particularly far in the knockouts. And I think they were pretty lucky to get away with a point in this game at the end of it. And one of the things that we said was their strength, right? Where there two center backs, Marquinhos and Gabriel Magalhães. And on the Moroccan goal, they got kind of left behind on the goal. It's a really great play. Masraoui, who I thought had a really good game, finds Brahim Diaz. And there's just this long ball from Brahim Diaz. The Brazil center backs are caught leaving way too much space. It's a great run from Saibari.
00:07:57
Speaker
And he gets one-on-one with Alisson and he doesn't miss. I I thought Casabiro and Bruno Gamer-Rice on this play in particular were too far off Brahim Diaz. You can't give him that much time and space. And it was kind of ah a microcosm of all of the issues that we saw in this Brazil game.
Key Performances in Brazil vs Morocco
00:08:11
Speaker
And Morocco took advantage of it. And Saibari, I thought, also had a really good game. The whole spine of this Morocco team was so, so good. Yeah, I mean, I completely agree. And I think when you're kind of looking at it from the perspective of, well, look, yes, that centre-back partnership and Alisson in goal is a strength, right? That triangle as a whole is is a pretty solid triangle. But also, there are also players who, for their club sides, Alisson may be accepted, who Liverpool have obviously had ah a difficult campaign. But both Gabriel and Marquinhos are surrounded by quality both in front of them and on either side. And suddenly they both looked quite exposed in this moment. It's a brilliant pass, right And we shouldn't take away from the fact that Raheem finds the eye of a needle to a degree to actually slip it through for Saibari, who I'm really glad he's getting his big move, by the way. I'm not confirmed yet that he's going to Bayern, but been banging that drum for a long, long time. Saibari is a wonderful player. And I think his versatility now... You know, he came through as that attacking midfielder at PSV. I think he had this kind of breakout tie against Rangers a couple of years back in the Europa League. And you were thinking, wow, this kid's got something pretty special about him. He's been absolutely banging them in. He's filled out a little bit more. And now he's playing everywhere. The top scoring season in the Eredivisie, I think he got 19 for PSV across the course of this season. And you're looking at it and thinking, well, there's a player now who not only can play a center forward. And I did think in the early exchanges, when there's that Hakimi cross that comes across and there's no one in the box, you think, well, that is the danger of playing an attacking midfielder as your number nine. But I mean, the benefits in terms of that running through is off the ball movement. And the way he drifts into those areas to pull defenses apart gives Morocco something very, very different in that final third. I did think that I wondered if Abdez Azouli was fit.
00:09:52
Speaker
they win this game because Bill Alcanuz, as fine as he played, and I thought he did do fine, especially in those early exchanges against Roger Banez, you're just thinking, Azab, they won about 10 more fouls at this point than Alcanuz did. And that, I suppose, is the only kind of sad element of this. Obviously, a player I love as ah as a better girl, but, you know, he is such an exciting talent. I thought that he had this potential to explode in this tournament. And I do wonder if with him in this team, they actually go and win this game.
00:10:18
Speaker
It also felt like there was a moment maybe where Marquinhos is looking across and he sees Zatraf Hakimi in the other jersey and he's like, you're supposed to be on my side here. You're supposed to be helping me out in this, the the two club teammates. So Morocco make that early advantage count. I thought Brazil struggled to advance possession. You mentioned Lucas Pagata. I didn't think he was very good. He kept dropping very deep to receive the ball. and when he got it, he really didn't do that much with it. But when in doubt for this Brazil team, maybe when in doubt for a Carlo Ancelotti team, what do you do? You give the best player the ball and say, go do something. And that's what they did. It's a give and go with Vinicius Jr. with Bruno Game Out Ice. He cuts inside. He shoots. It's an oversimplification.
00:10:55
Speaker
But what an individual effort this is for Vinicius Jr. Look, Jack, it's not a stretch. Brazil going far in this tournament is going to depend on how far Vinicius Jr. and the rest of their high level attacking players can take them. And he's the highest level attacking player they have.
00:11:09
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. I mean, I think it's it's kind of all on him and Rafinha, right, at this moment. And maybe that changes. I thought Cunha did well when he came on to stymie the tide a little bit and to create a little bit more link-up play. But when you actually look at this, what i thought was interesting about it was that give and go from Bruno Guimarães.
00:11:27
Speaker
There was about three times that Brazil did this across the course of the entire game. One of them leads to the goal. One of them leads to Bono making an absolutely outrageous save down to his right. And the other one, ah you know, creates a chance as well. And you're thinking if those combinations there are starting to bear fruit, then obviously use them a little bit more. And it felt like they just didn't lean into that. And especially with the second half changes, i thought that there was less kind of ability to actually get those midfield players in to play those wall passes and and get the wingers in behind.
00:12:00
Speaker
What's interesting, I think, about this is that Vinny Jr. and this goal is absolutely wonderful. Take nothing away from him. But it felt like to me there was a pressure point there for Brazil that they didn't really push on all that much. And the fact that Akraf Hakimi was bombing forward the other way and Morocco having a fair bit of possession, I think, especially in that first half meant that Hakimi felt like he had the freedom to do that.
00:12:20
Speaker
And it did leave this kind of weird moment. And as you look at the two players actually trying to tackle Vinicius Júnior when he scores the goal, one is Neil El-Ainoui in the midfield and the other is Issa Diop, who for all of his incredible traits, and I do love him, um is not going to be able to kind of stand to Vinny in those kinds of situations. He just does not have that. And so if you're allowing Vinny to run at those kind of players, you're potentially putting yourself in for trouble. And I thought that a couple of times during the game, there was that sense that Hakimi was maybe a little bit switched off towards that defensive aspect of the game. And it did offer up a couple of opportunities for Brazil.
00:12:55
Speaker
i don't think that Scotland and Haiti, and and in terms of the defending quality there, okay, it's not obviously going to be the same as what Morocco have been able to bring to pass here. but they probably will not leave him have that kind of space or be running as centre-backs or centre-midfielders in the same way that Morocco did. And that's brave, but also bravery does tinge on stupidity at times as well.
00:13:17
Speaker
So then Brazil make halftime changes. One note on the fullbacks, and it was very indicative. They both picked up a foul in the first 90 seconds of this game, right? So you've got Roger Abanez, who is basically a converted center back in Saudi Arabia at right back. And you've got Zenit St. Petersburg's left back in Douglas Santos.
00:13:33
Speaker
Those are your fullbacks. Cafu and whatever other Brazilian fullback historical name you want to throw in there, they are not. So a couple of halftime changes for Mancelotti. He brings on Fabinho. He brings on Danilo for Casemiro and Abanez. Both of those players were on yellows.
00:13:47
Speaker
I didn't think Fabinho was great, but I think he gave them solidity in the midfield. I think he kind of helped muck things up a little bit, take away space. There was less space for Morocco to operate. i think it was a necessary change. It was a reactionary change, but it was a, it was a necessary change.
00:14:01
Speaker
And the second half of this game, Jack, as you said at the start, it kind of started to, to peter out into both teams were content with the draw. They didn't want to open up too much to to give anything back the other way to potentially lose this game.
00:14:13
Speaker
I think Morocco deserve a lot of credit for how they handled Brazilian set pieces. We said that that was going to be perhaps ah a pinch point for Brazil in this tournament. They were going to look to take advantage of that. Didn't have a ton of success in this game. I think that's credit to Morocco.
00:14:26
Speaker
and And look, we know that these Moroccan young midfield players are are all good and all young. But Boadi, Talbi, El Mourabet, you mentioned El Canoos, all of those guys getting on the pitch. The future is so bright for this team.
00:14:40
Speaker
Yeah, hundred percent. And I think that, you Boadi in particular, right I mean, we we have to mention him absolute Rolls Royce of a performance in that midfield. It it was really quite special. And yeah there are still some tweaks in his game that needs be found. He likes to kind of spring, but you know, to try and win the ball. And when he does so, he sometimes leaves a couple of gaps behind him, but just generally you're watching him and the tenacity in there, the intensity of his play, but he never looks like he's playing in a particularly intense manner. He glides across the pitch. He's so, so secure in possession and he drives forward and makes things happen.
00:15:13
Speaker
I think we're looking at a superstar having his kind of breakout game here and there's going to be a lot of serious interest. There was a, I'm in a Fulham group chat here and someone was like, Fabinho is available on a free transfer. And another person responded to that saying, I'd rather have Pouadi. And I said, yeah, I'm sure you would. and I don't think that that's a particularly reasonable place for us to be to be looking right now.
00:15:33
Speaker
That feels like a Real Madrid in circa 12 months kind of piece of work that's happening there. But he was absolutely sensational. The best player on the pitch. Just in terms of, you know, the others. And look, I i wasn't digging out El Canoche earlier. I thought he did well, but I was just excited to see Abdeh. And the other thing with El Mourabek coming on for Unahi, I thought, was that whilst he was good and he picked up a lot of second balls and kind of glided about, we've seen him do a lot that for Strasbourg. He is slightly more defensively minded than Unahi. And it meant that Morocco stopped winning that second ball off the striker. And it meant that the game really, really st slowed down in terms of those turnovers and transitions. And the other bit of this, Austin, and I'd love going to hear your thoughts on this. is the heat.
00:16:14
Speaker
This 3pm New Jersey kickoff. It was muggy. It was hot. It was, you know, a little bit stymie in some regards. And it felt like this was the first game I watched where the heat looked like it really had an effect on the players in the second half.
00:16:29
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. one hundred percent agree. It felt like the level of the energy and the legs just kind of gradually went downward. We're at the end of a European season. There's a lot of gate, like Gabriel in particular for Brazil looked like a player who had played a lot of games. I will say, speaking of the heat credit to both of these managers who who came into this game, wearing full jacket, Carl Ancelotti was rocking a three piece suit, a much braver man than I, I think I would have lasted approximately five and a half minutes with that outfit in that weather on that day. Naturally a sweater of anyway, but oh man, credit to both those guys. And one final thought here on this one, Jack, Neymar does not look like a guy who's particularly close to coming back to playing, does he? No, not at all. And also ah didn't love the ah like the kind of the weird interactions between him Vinny and Bruno. He's like pulling their shirts to try and get their attention. And it looked to me like, you know, there was lot of talk about Neymar being in and everyone respecting him and him being this kind of key figure in uniting the camp.
00:17:25
Speaker
He didn't look like it to me, if I'm honest. He didn't also, like, he's not walking normally. Like, you got to walk normally before you can run. yeah I don't. i i wonder if we actually see Neymar at all in this tournament, if I'm being really honest.
00:17:40
Speaker
Could there be 10 minutes against Haiti in a game where like he can find that in him? Maybe. In in a role where he's doing things and actually contributing, yeah, it it feels long. All let's go to the late night game. Jack, Australia, 2-0 winners over
Australia's Tactical Success Against Turkey
00:17:53
Speaker
Thurkie. There are smash and grabs, and then there are smash and grabs. And I think...
00:17:59
Speaker
That is sometimes a derogatory term. People don't like the smash and grab they don't think is necessarily deserve. I thought Australia were fully deserving of their three points in this game. They knew exactly how they could get to Turkey. They knew exactly which weaknesses they could exploit. And they knew which types of spaces they could and couldn't give to the Turkish attackers. And they executed everything to a T and walked away with three points and three surprising points.
00:18:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. I was about to say, smash and grab sometimes has connotations. I thought they firmly, firmly deserved these three. I thought they were really, really, really well drilled. It was a game plan executed to nigh on perfectionist, right? Like, because they effectively held Takiya at arm's length for the entirety of this game. There are brief kind of snapshot moments where it looks like there might be a breakthrough, but generally...
00:18:49
Speaker
It just didn't feel to me like there was any real sense that Turkey were going to find any sustained way of breaking through this line. There were no patterns that were working over and over again. And they effectively reduced them to pot shots. I tweeted about this this morning but when I was kind of watching it back. And one of the things that really struck me was, yeah, Turkey had 30 shots, but 20 of them were from outside the box. And it felt like when, you know, when we watched Turkey at the Euros in 2024,
00:19:16
Speaker
One of the things I loved was this like super fluid rotational front line that had Yilmaz in the middle and drifting out wide and Yildiz coming in and Goulet kind of drifting into space behind them.
00:19:27
Speaker
There was none of that. It looked like a training exercise and Akta Koglu, who played nominally as the number nine, stayed as the number nine, effectively didn't really get...
00:19:37
Speaker
to touch the ball very much because the entire play was going on behind him. He gets one opportunity relatively late on just before he suffered Dennis Gould and he fires a point blank volley straight into the arms of Patrick Beach, who, you know, had a day, shall we say, for Patrick Beach. Just in terms of looking at it, a lot of people like, where the is Matty Ryan? And he comes in and he puts that kind of performance together. Yes, they were long ranges, but you still got to save them. and there was a couple of really good saves in there. I was just really disappointed with the lack of movement in this Turkey front line. And it did feel like it was like, oh okay, we'll play it around. We'll look for a gap. And if there's no gap, we'll just give it to Chao Noglu. And he'll just like thunder one from 30 yards. And most of them ended up in the upper stand. It just really felt to me like Turkey either came in with the attitude of we have so much talent that we will be fine. Or...
00:20:25
Speaker
And I think this is arguably more likely. They came in with a little bit of kind of deer in the headlights energy. First World Cup for 24 years, expected to win this opener, like have had a good qualification campaign without it being absolutely lights out. But... They were very much heavy favorites, not to win this game just, but to win this whole group. And ultimately what's happened here is you look at it and thinking, have they just frozen? Because there was none of those elements that we've come to expect from Montella's Turkey. They haven't had, you know, these games where they've not been that fun to watch. And to be honest here, I thought they were really, really, really blunt.
00:21:03
Speaker
And it felt like everything that they did in this game, for better or for worse, and largely for worse, was through Barış Yılmaz. It felt like everything, every attack that Turkey and were doing was down that left side, and they were really trying to get the Australian left back turned around and and to get him in bad spaces, and it just kind of didn't happen. And you just wanted a bit more flexibility. When it wasn't working with Yilmaz, it felt like Goulair should have been more involved in this game than he was. As you mentioned, kind of low glue, just just rocket shots from distance, which is fine. Sometimes that can work. And yeah, the the decision to to go with Akhtar Koulu as the nine, he was never going to win a single aerial battle in this game. And he didn't win a single aerial battle in this game.
00:21:45
Speaker
No, this is it. And and look, I'm a big fan of Dennis Gould, right? So so i've I've been talking about him quite a lot. But and he he's not quite the battering ram that he might be expected to be at six foot four. He's not someone who's like a huge kind of aerial presence, but at least he gives you something in the middle to kind of aim at. And I think that the way that Tarquil went about it, where it was either pot shots or swinging the ball into the box against three gigantic Australian defenders, like it didn't feel like that was thought through at all. Now, I cannot imagine having had the pleasure of spending some time with Vincenzo Mantella in the past, that that was his game plan. He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. tell you what we should do here. We just spam them with crosses and see if ah see if our very small striker can actually win battles against Harry Sutar. But, you know, it did did feel, and that's why I wonder if it is an element of them effectively freezing and and not executing their game plan. And Australia executing theirs to perfection and and two wonderful goals in in very different ways. They looked really dangerous in transition throughout the entire game. Nestor and Kounda with the first one. What a touch around Demiral, by the way. absolutely gorgeous and a brilliant finish. And then the second one from Craig Metcalf, you're looking at it and thinking, okay, you know, they'd say he's win he's won the ball back. No challenge comes in for about 15 yards, which is weird, but everyone seemed to have converged around the ball in the first place. And I get that maybe 15 minutes to Terquia's starting to panic about trying to force those turnovers, but he's not challenged and strokes into the bottom corner. yeah i thought they were very, very good value for these three points, if i'm honest. And it really does throw this group into a bit of chaos.
00:23:19
Speaker
It does. i particularly was was happy to see it on Kuna. He was a player that I kind of thought could be a game breaker like piece for Australia. And I thought he was. He fit what they were trying to do in this game perfectly.
00:23:30
Speaker
But they knew that this Turkish backline wasn't that great. And they knew that they could probably be beaten for pace and beaten for skill. And that's exactly what they did. And once they did that, they were super organized. They were super content. And it felt like...
00:23:42
Speaker
Even on the rare occasions that ah a Turkish attacking player was able to beat a defender or even two, there was still another defender or two that had to be beaten before it turned into anything resembling a chance. That's credit to Australia. I thought ah Tony Popovic got this right.
00:23:58
Speaker
I was texting with with a mitt during this game and he said, I should have been woke on on the Tony Popovic suit. He brought out the suit. You knew he was for real. You knew he was taking this seriously. You knew he'd have the guys drilled up and he absolutely did. So credit to Australia. This group is now really, really interesting. I think it represents a massive opportunity, obviously, for the U.S., given what they did against Paraguay. This performance from Australia Jack was kind of what I thought Paraguay might be able to do in
Upcoming Tactical Challenges
00:24:22
Speaker
that first game. Obviously, they weren't, but this kind of be super solid in the back, be really hard to beat, and then be very vicious and dangerous on the counter, it's good work for Australia. And I think it sets up a really interesting matchup on Friday in Seattle against the U.S.
00:24:36
Speaker
Yeah, I was just about to say, because I think that both teams are going to be faced with something that they didn't get in their openers, right? Because Paraguay posed next to no attacking threat, you know, bar the goal, which comes about with some miscommunication, a bit of bobbling, that there's not really much that troubles the US in in that game.
00:24:53
Speaker
This is going to be a threat. And I think Iren Kunder in particular, as you say, not only is he absolutely rapid, the low center of gravity gives him something completely different. And there is this kind of, wow, okay, breakout moment. We talked about Wadi earlier. This very much won for him as well. thought Motore did really well leading the line as well and stretching his team. But Iren Kunder gave Celik and Demarell fits right in in transition he was just like yeah let me run at these guys and I do think that there's probably a side concern in the US can be like do we want that and now it will be Alex Freeman on that side who's not going to get run right in the same kind of way from a from a physical perspective but you do wonder a little bit if they might switch him over to the other side and be like how about you have a little go against Tim Ream on the flip side you know of that I think what's interesting from the US perspective is that
00:25:39
Speaker
Australia weren't really challenged with those central rotations. It's part of the the reason I'm so frustrated with with Turkey is in some regards, not because I particularly want them to win or anything like that, but because we know that they have those rotations in there in their arsenal. And one of the things was really interesting about the US, and I saw it described as the Pochettino Pentagon in a couple of different places, which I enjoyed, but those you know players all in there making those runs that allow players on the outside to to double up, those overloads. I didn't really think that Australia faced anything really like that in the course of this game. It felt like individual moments of players rather than players kind of working in tandem. So I think that will be tested. the the Australia defense, as much as this game will look like a stress test, I think will be stress tested more if the US play similarly to how they did against Paraguay. Equally, I think this US defense is going to get its first stress test in trying to deal with this transitional Australia attack.
00:26:31
Speaker
And the speed that the U.S. played against Paraguay was significantly more than what Turkey had brought to this game. The ball felt like it was sticking in places. They weren't moving it. The the second pass wasn't coming as quick as it needed to be. And now from a Turkish perspective, it's a super fascinating second match because...
00:26:47
Speaker
If Paraguay are smart, you think they're going to probably see more of the same, right? The approach shouldn't be different from Paraguay than what Australia did. They have 90 minutes of tape of what worked, right? They should be trying to do that as well. And not the entirety of the World Cup campaign, but you're going to need to get something out of that match. It's going to be a fascinating game for both of those sides.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And this is it. Montella's going have to switch something up here, right? there You can't do that again. Now, Yildiz will probably start in the next game. If it's fit enough for 45 here, you'd imagine that by the time the next one comes around. But I think I would like to see more variation in this attacking line. I don't think Akta Koglu can start again. i'm not a hundred percent sure that Erkan Kirkchuk, who is a player I love, was particularly effective at all in this one. And and maybe you are just a little bit concerned about the speed of that right-hand side, you know, and and how they deal with these different elements because, you know, whilst Paraguay are probably not going to have the same kind of speed in the counter that Australia had, if you're looking at Demerell and Celec and, you know, throwing further forwards, I bet you Pulisic and Robinson looking at that and going, oh, get me a go at that. they Let me have a run at those boys. So yeah, a lot of questions of Vincenzo Montella and we'll see how he responds.
00:28:02
Speaker
Jack, there's been a lot of talk about the expanded World Cup. Ah, there's too many teams. It's 48 teams. That's obviously not talk you've ever heard from the World Cup After Dark podcast. The more we love it.
00:28:12
Speaker
And Scotland, Haiti is kind of an example of a game that I think from a neutral perspective, you think, ah, what are these two teams doing in the World Cup? They haven't been there so long. Simply flip on the television and just bask in the scene that was Foxborough last night. I don't believe there's a single alcoholic beverage left in the entire state of Massachusetts and probably Rhode Island for that matter. At this point, this was just fun. Yes, Scotland and Haiti, neither of them is going to win the World Cup. That much is clear.
00:28:39
Speaker
But this was what the World Cup is all about. It's it's flower of Scotland. It's bagpipes. It's Haiti bringing ah a war-torn nation together and and on the world stage for the first time forever. This was a fun World Cup game and in everything the World Cup should be about. I just loved it.
00:28:57
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, look, it it wasn't a particularly intriguing game on pitch for much of it, but that doesn't matter sometimes. And I think that this is it. We talk about narrative so much. This was huge. and And Flower of Scotland, I imagine you could hear back in Scotland, given how loud it was in the stadium. It it was spine-tinglingly loud. And you're kind of feeling that and being like, wow, that's what this period away for a World Cup for a football mad nation will do. Right. And then, you know, I was watching the the kind of parade, the Haiti kind of fans, you know, all it all colored and and having that kind of party in the streets. It was just incredible seeing all of this come together in one place. And, you know, hearing from people who were over there, hearing from friends who have made that journey.
00:29:37
Speaker
It's intriguing to see that you know these two fan bases talking to each other before the game and you know everyone's invited to this party, come and get involved. I think it's it's really funny. I was i was talking to Tommy Smith on the radio yesterday and obviously I'm going to take any opportunity to shoehorn Ireland into a World Cup conversation given that we're not actually there. and But he said back in 94, a lot of the the Irish were kind of misinformed early doors that they were going to be playing in Boston. So a lot of them just booked...
00:30:00
Speaker
you know, travel to Boston at that point. and we're like, right, we'll go to Boston. We've all got cousins there. That's how it works. We're going to go stay in Boston for a reason. They will book the hotels and all of this. And it turns out the games are in New York. So they'd all come to Boston and we're like, I suppose it's not too bad. Apparently 600 buses or so left Boston the morning of the game and all of these different elements. But I was talking to someone yesterday and they said, yeah, Boston hasn't seen something like this since 1994 in terms of people just coming in and being like the most positive takeover of all time, a friendly invasion, I think the Scots were calling it. um And also to add to that, the idea of a cradle of independence being given to the Scots. This is where we fought the British. You're like, what? Okay, we're on. We're on. This is happening. So um yeah, not plenty to plenty you enjoy. But it does just feel like such a magical moment, as you say. And seeing the joy on people's faces of being at the World Cup, it's not all about... And we're going to get to the point where there are the teams who people are you know interested in seeing from an elite footballing perspective, playing against each other in the latter stages. That's what it's for. That's what the Champions League is for in the latter stages, etc. Fine.
00:31:08
Speaker
But getting there is such an achievement within itself to so many different nations. And the opening rounds of the World Cup, there's kind of this talk of elitism. It's like, this isn't the 32 or 48 best nations on earth. Otherwise we just take the FIFA rankings, right? Like they are a much better equivalent of where you stand within the rankings than a tournament, which ultimately ends up in knockout football. It's the same with the Champions League. It's not as good a a kind of harbinger as a 38-game league a game leagueak season as determining who the best team is over the course of a single season. But it's also about the idea that you are bringing the worlds together. And I think that for for me, seeing this yesterday, seeing that camaraderie in the stands, seeing the support, hearing the anthems, knowing what it meant to both of these fan bases in such different ways is exactly what the World Cup is all about.
00:31:57
Speaker
And I love that camaraderie in the stands. You saw it after the game, right? There were handshakes all around. There was ah kind of this, this mutual respect between both sides of, ah, that was a really fun game. There was the exact amount of midfield that I expected in this game, Jack, which is to say there was absolutely none. it was so much fun. Um, Haiti,
00:32:16
Speaker
For everything that they are, they are never they are never fearful of what the opposition can do. They never play scared. They have their style. I don't really know how to describe it. It's kind of just we're going to trust on chaos and vibes and bits, and and sometimes it'll work.
Scotland vs Haiti and Qatar's Last-Minute Draw
00:32:32
Speaker
It didn't turn into a goal in this game, but they were not played off the pitch either. They stuck to their system, and I thought Scotland were put under pressure for a lot of this game.
00:32:41
Speaker
Haiti could have really used a finisher. right? It really could have used someone to get on the end of those chances for all of the ball that they had, for all of the possession, for all of the fun, all of the joy. They lack that finishing touch. their Their best chance in this game was ah a second half header from Prensi Pedro, which flashes wide and Scotland get a goal. kind of early in this game. Che Adams denied by Johnny Placide, but then the rebound spits out to McGinn and he gets a deflective shot. And once Scotland are a goal up, it's pretty clear how this game is going to go. They're going to play for set pieces. They're not going to risk too much. And they're going to force Haiti to try and make plays. And the Haitians just couldn't quite get that final play to work.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And actually what i think is interesting about this is that whilst this is nominally the easiest game for both sides, right? Like against each other, it also is a bit of a weird one in that for Scotland in particular, I think they will be much more comfortable with 30% possession against the Moroccans than they will having to go out and actually kind of try and drive a game in the same kind of way. And I think that that made this quite an uncomfortable watch. I know the two warmup games, they they played kind of maybe inferior opposition in order to try and kind of build themselves up from a goal scoring perspective.
00:33:54
Speaker
There was a real lack of quality, I thought, in in the final third from both sides. It was a lot of fun. And look, the two right wingers for both teams in Ben Canandoke and Aloysius Deidson, both were the you know the two most exciting players on the park by a country mile, right? they were They were loads of fun. They made things happen from an individual perspective, but it didn't feel like there was loads of backup. and either way, and and both really kind of lacked a a final ball.
00:34:17
Speaker
I've got to say, from a Scotland perspective, I thought Lawrence Shankland was absolutely dreadful. And, you know, there was a lot of talk about the Igor Tiago disaster class for Brazil. Lawrence Shankland and i looked like he was doing his best to make people forget about it. Completely and utterly nowhere to be found in this game. i thought the Che Adams worked quite hard and made a couple of things happen. Obviously it's quite integral to the goal. And there was a couple of decent performances from, from a couple of Scotland players without anyone hugely standing out. I thought that Ganondot was good. I thought the Lewis Ferguson was good.
00:34:46
Speaker
And that's kind of about it in terms of who you're looking at. And I thought the deed sim was excellent. I thought John Rex de Bellegarde did well and Jean-Jacques in the Haiti midfield. But it was just a bit of an attritional slog, which is weird because as you said, it didn't feel like there was loads of midfield presence. And yet the midfielders felt like they were doing things in the game. They were just all in their own thirds. So like the the midfielders will be doing like defenders jobs and doing them well.
00:35:12
Speaker
And then he would get to the midfielder, but there's no one here. This space has been completely vacated. So when you're looking at it from from that perspective, it was 4-4-2 against 4-4-2, which is not often we get to talk about that and see things like that. that is That's quite joyful in its own right. But I did think that, you know, it was a game that lacked quality. It was quite end-to-end without anyone really feeling that they were going to bother the score sheet again.
00:35:34
Speaker
i think probably just about the better side won, but I don't think i either could have had many complaints with the draw. No, but it's a huge three points for Scotland, right? A draw in this game would have really made getting out of the group a lot more complicated. It makes it getting out of the group a lot more complicated now for Haiti. Obviously, it's a three points that Scotland had to have. And I thought the goal conditioned the game, right? Once Scotland had a goal to kind of sit on, they weren't going to be overly adventurous. I think they understood the danger that giving space to run into for these Haitian players would present for them. Did you, did you enjoy the ah Lawrence Shanklin, Lyndon Dykes double holdup pivot of doom that we got for about 10 minutes in this game?
00:36:14
Speaker
i don't enjoy anything to do with Lawrence Shanklin, Dustin. It's just ah one of those ones where I could not believe that at that moment he decided to change Adams rather than Shanklin. I was like, I don't mind. I've been saying get Lyndon Dykes on for about 20 minutes and you're looking at it going, get him on, please. And then he switched in for Adams like, oh no, no, not that.
00:36:33
Speaker
Not that. Please not that. And it was like, okay, here we go. And then obviously Kenny McLean replaced him and you know, that's it, right? The Scots go to a a four or five one for the last sort of 10, 15 minutes of this game. I think that's indicative of of how they felt about it was sharp shop. Make sure that the opportunities don't come after that header for Piero, as you say, didn't really feel like there was another clean cut opportunity for a Haiti to score. Yeah.
00:36:58
Speaker
I do wonder if, you know, if if Scotland lose the next two games, which is eminently plausible, if they will regret not potentially kind of pushing this game a little bit more when when it opened up. Because, and that's not to say that they were on top. It's not like, you know, we we've talked about in the Mexico game recently and be like...
00:37:15
Speaker
I think Mexico maybe should have gone for the jugular a little bit more and in that game against South Africa, given the way that they were playing. But this one wasn't the same in that it wasn't Scotland had Haiti pinned by any stretch of the imagination. But I do wonder in those kind of last minutes, if they just wondered about whilst they were playing, could you get an extra one on the counter? Could that second goal be really important if three points is going to be enough, which it well might be, to qualify as ah a best third place team? Have you just given yourself a severe disadvantage? But look, the three points, as you say, the biggest thing of all.
00:37:45
Speaker
Yeah. And it's interesting because we've got four groups in the bank now and the third place race is, is interesting, right? I think kind of sitting on those three points might be an okay spot, but yet and the extra goal could absolutely go a long way for them.
00:37:58
Speaker
I thought Wilson, he said, or didn't do a ton here for Haiti. I think he was a player that they were kind of expecting to do a bit more an attack. I fell over a lot. Yeah, I personally selfishly wanted to see Big Duck, Duckins, the zone get a chance in this game. It felt like this game was begging for just kind Duckins, the zone coming out of nowhere. I think back to to the hat trick that he had against Costa Rican qualifying.
00:38:20
Speaker
I think 10 or 15 minutes of Nassone in this game could have made a difference. But I also understand that there are better technical players on this Haitian squad. But it maybe could have been a card that that mean could have thrown out there to try and find something at the end here.
00:38:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. And it did feel a little, I did feel a little bit for him. You know, Wilson Isidore comes in late and yes, he is, you know, a higher quality player. I don't think there's any debate about that conversation, but you know, to, to have basically led the line to get your country there and see you replaced by a late call up who they've drafted out the diaspora feels a little bit more uncomfortable to me than perhaps it does to others. But look, this is it. I thought Isidore was going to give more. I thought he had the deck way too much. You know, so someone who, you know, reported he plays in the most physical league and in the Premier League and has battled all season long in what is an absurdly physical Sunderland team. i just thought he he spent a lot of time looking for fouls were just absolutely never going to be given.
00:39:14
Speaker
And even when they won the fouls, what were Haiti going to do with set-piece opportunities, right? Like they were to beat them over the bar mostly. They were to get beat physically on every set-piece opportunity. I'm excited to see what Haiti do in their final two games. Like it's going to be difficult. You're trying to find points against Brazil and Morocco. It's not a great place to be. i think that the Scotland situation is is very interesting. Obviously, if they can get a point from either of those two games, they'll be feeling good about getting out.
00:39:38
Speaker
They're top the group at the end of the first match day. That's probably reason for the Scottish people to go grab another drink if they can find one. Celebrate away. Celebrate away. ah fourth and final game from our day check. um Look, Qatar, Switzerland was not a looker going in for 94 minutes and 30 seconds. It was not a looker in it, but in the last 30 seconds, we got an absolute bit of drama with a late Qatar equalizer for their first ever world cup point. And I think Switzerland learned a lesson. They learned what it's like in the other confederations around the world, which is when you're one goal up, it's much better to be two goals up because weird things happen at the end of games. And they learn that lesson the hard way. They wasted a bunch of chances in this game. They had the opportunity to be two, three, four goals up perhaps. And they weren't. And they got got in the last minute.
00:40:29
Speaker
Yeah, it's a weird one, isn't it? Because Qatar actually started quite well. They had two quite early chances and you're thinking, okay, this is a side that looks a bit more mature perhaps than when they were hosting the pressure of that off their shoulders. I've been quite low on Qatar coming into this. I'm not a particularly big fan of Lopetiki these days. i just couldn't see the quality in this side being better than where they were four years ago, where it felt like they really did have a kind of like weird outside punches chance. And then they absolutely flopped on their own soil. But they looked a little bit more, maybe not composed here because they gave up an absolute heap of chances, but at least they came out with with a real intensity and a kind of intent to go and play. Now, the problem was that between those first two chances and the two saves from Gregor Kerbel, they don't really do anything until like the ninetieth minute. which is really quite odd. And Switzerland will be absolutely kicking themselves. My neighbor is Swiss. And I went down this morning just for a walk and he was outside playing with his son. And was what did you make of it? And he was like, the most frustrating game I've ever seen in my life. And I was like, yeah, I'd say that probably sums it up. He was like, what were we doing?
00:41:32
Speaker
Like, why why on earth did we not just like push when they were clearly kind of wobbling And we just sort of knocked it around and did nothing with it. I thought the formation was weird. thought that, you know, you're looking at the the different elements of of where people are playing in in this game. And I thought that the fact that, you you're looking at Zachariah playing it right back and kind of sort of swapping with Ibisker at times didn't make loads of sense. It felt like at times they kind of almost fell into a three at the back, which definitely didn't make sense against this Qatar side.
00:42:03
Speaker
I was really confused with what they were trying to do, Switzerland, for much of it. And even when they did get opportunities, they were just deeply, deeply profligate. They were poor and look, zero open play goals against this Qatar side at this world cup is just not going to be where you want to be. The penalty was also controversial, right? It almost looked like there was offside in the buildup. We never got a replay during this game. Then we get the FIFA statement, like in the middle of the Australia Turkey again that, Oh no, no it was actually fine. Look, we drew the lines. It was just 12 hours late.
00:42:35
Speaker
That was just kind of weird. This game just felt off. from a Swiss perspective and they paid for it at the end. All of the Qatar chances falling to, to Adam Wilson jr. Was unfortunate because he missed all three of them. Um, but the Swiss, as you said, Jack may should have been three or four up. Uh, I would not was forced to make some saves, but I didn't think there was anything otherworldly here with the amount of talent that they have on the pitch. You have to be able to convert those chances. And with the way that guitar finished this match,
00:43:03
Speaker
They were walking around the last 10 minutes of this game. They were so gassed. They had nothing left in the tank and the Swiss just kind of matched it and were like, ah, we're fine. We're winning. And they just should not have been. Yeah, no, 100%. There's one really good save, I think, with his heel in the first half from Dan and Doyle. But that was, you know, the extent of making kind of excellent saves. It was worked, but not works to exertion, I think is probably how would describe it. And the way that the penalty goes in and you're thinking, okay, you know, they've seen off the early storm is probably a bit hard, but like, you know, they've seen off the early Qatar forays into the box. They've scored their first one. Now this is Switzerland. We know what what they're about. They're incredibly efficient. They get the job done. They're good in tournaments. They beat teams. Fundamentally, the reason that swiss the Swiss have been... at the last seven, I think, tournaments in a row, major tournaments in a row, is because they beat the teams they're supposed to.
00:43:54
Speaker
they're occasionally, but but you know, ah have the the capacity to give a bloody nose to someone a little bit bigger, as France found out a couple of years ago. You're looking at that and thinking, well, that is not side that puts away teams that they are supposed to. a thought it took way too long to bring on Johan Manzambi. He should have been juiced at halftime. It just didn't really make sense that the formation to me as a whole...
00:44:14
Speaker
I just was really confused with their Swiss performance, you know, on the kind of double in in many ways. I don't really know where they go from here. It really does throw this group into a bit of question. I know that now we've got two draws. It's like, okay, you've got two games, win one of them, you're probably through, win two of them, you probably win the group.
00:44:32
Speaker
But, They've just had the game on paper that was easiest for them to win. They might just have a little bit more against Bosnia, who I think from set plays will have less joy than they did necessarily against Canada. And Switzerland might use this as the kind of wake up call they need, the wake up call that they gave to Spain in 2010, for example. You look back at it and just wonder if this is just throwing this group into too much disarray for the Swiss to qualify automatically out of now.
00:44:59
Speaker
It's going to be intriguing. It doesn't take away from the fact that this was still absolute thievery from Qatar. Like Switzerland wasted everything. They created a bunch of chances into it. This was still an absolute theft from Qatar. The goal comes from just nothing, right? It's just this cross from home and all I'm in and bull I'm kooky. There's a 35 year old center back, 100 plus Qatar caps, 20 goals, just gets on the end of it. I think it was actually given as an own goal, but he wins an aerial battle for the first and only time today. And it's in the back of the net before you can even really figure out what happened. And other than those three edge of Wilson junior chances, which we talked about, it's the only thing Katar did all game.
00:45:34
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, look, I do love a centre-back going up front and scoring a goal at the end of a game. That does make me really happy as a kind of general point, but you're completely right. I mean, look, he's a veteran. He played a little bit further forward, I think, earlier on in his career, which is why he's got a weird amount of goals for ah a veteran centre-back in his Qatari team. But, you know a magic moment for him as well in that kind of situation. And you're right. Like, I i don't think this side is going to go on and cause major problems to...
00:46:01
Speaker
To Canada, to Bosnia, they don't look particularly good, but somehow they've come out of maybe the hardest game in their group with a point. Then we look at that as a massive potential launchpad for the rest of this. and Maybe it does just boost that confidence for them to actually start playing a little bit more football because we didn't see loads of it.
00:46:19
Speaker
There was always going to be pressure on Canada in the game against Qatar. That's coming at the weekend, right? we We knew that that was going to be the case, particularly after their performance. I think it's even more because Qatar have a foothold in this tournament. Let's see if they can free up Akram Afif. Alboz Ali on the bench for all of this game. what do you doing? Lopetegui, play him. Edna Wilson Jr. didn't give you anything.
00:46:37
Speaker
um All right. So that's group B. That's our four games today. Jack, to close out the show, we've got another four game slate today that we're looking at Germany, Curacao, Netherlands, Japan, Ecuador, Cote d'Ivoire, Sweden, Tunisia, which one of these has your fancy? What's maybe one thing you're looking for today?
00:46:52
Speaker
I think these two middle games, right? Netherlands, Japan looks like a shootout for the top of that group. And I'm intrigued because there's a lot of people really hot on the Netherlands and I just don't see it at the moment. So perhaps this is the time that the Dutch kind of step up and and show me why everyone's so hot on them. So I think that's a really, really good first test for them. It's a very settled Japan side who I think are probably being a little bit overlooked at this World Cup because of the absences of Mitoma and Minamino. There's still a lot of quality here and they are very well drilled. I'm intrigued see how the Netherlands get on against Japan. um And then that Ecuador Ivory Coast game, because we're assuming that Germany are going to fill their boots really against Curaçao.
00:47:31
Speaker
know Maybe we've we've should we should be learned to be a little bit careful on these things after Haiti's performance yesterday, but this is a Germany side with just an abundance of attacking talent. That Ecuador-Avary Coast battle there potentially kind of defines who finishes second in this group. And I think that these are two...
00:47:48
Speaker
Very well-matched teams. I can't imagine it's going to be a particularly high scorer given their qualification records defensively, but I think that's a really good indication. I've been super hot on the Ivory Coast. i've I've looked at this team and studied it and thought, you know what? They have a bit of everything in that side that has the capability to maybe be one of these kind of fairytale runs deep, deep in this competition. This is a really good first test for them as well. I can guarantee you that Sweden-Tunesia is going on record for tomorrow morning.
00:48:16
Speaker
I will pop in on the Sweden Tunisia game. I think Ecuador Ivory Coast is the game of the day. It's going to be incredibly physical. The midfield battle in that game. I'm intrigued to see if Ecuador's defensive record holds up getting out of Carnival, right? Like, giving the powerized didn't yeah right like i I think there's, there's a bit of concern perhaps about that. I think it's a super intriguing game. I think Sweden Tunisia could be fun, right? You've got a Sweden attack that's trying to, to unlock a Tunisian defense. Yeah.
00:48:41
Speaker
We kind of saw that in the late night game last night and and how that went. I think there's intrigue there. Look, Sweden's a team that didn't convince me of anything during qualifying. So now that they're actually at the World Cup, see what they can do. It's a crucial, crucial game for both of these sides, given the other two teams the group are Netherlands and Japan. So I think it could be ah a fun late night affair, but I won't blame you for for for putting the record and choosing a few hours of sleep.
00:49:02
Speaker
Yeah, i mean, it's one for the morning, i think. i just I just think the Tunisia are going to muck this up massively, right? They're going to want to spoil. And I don't know if Sweden have, and you know, obviously they have the the firepower up front. Do they have anyone to supply the ammunition? My question mark is still quite heavily out on that one.
00:49:19
Speaker
going be another fun day of World Cup action. We will be back here on the World Cup After Dark to recap it all. We're recording late night tonight. So a double dose of World Cup After Dark for you today. So that will be in your podcast feeds late tonight. You can use it tomorrow before the big Spain Cabo Verde game. Jack, as always, a massive, massive thank you to you for coming on the show. It's been a pleasure. It's been a joy. I always love having you. It's been fun. Thanks for coming.
00:49:44
Speaker
No, always a pleasure, mate. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm sure we'll speak again over the course of this tournament. naturally our paths will surely cross. If you like what we do here on the world cup after dark and want to support us, you can do so obviously by subscribing on Spotify, Apple podcasts, wherever you get your stuff, rate review, thumbs up, vote hearts, all the good stuff. It all goes a long way to us. And if you want to support us a little bit more, you can do so at patreon.com slash WCAD three bucks a month. subscriber-only content, and you help us do what we do. Once again, a big thank you to Jack for coming along for the ride today. Hope that you guys enjoyed the show. Hope that you enjoyed today's action. And we will talk later with a full recap.
00:50:23
Speaker
Cheers.