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USMNT return to Seattle for Biggest World Cup Match EVER
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Lobbing Scorchers, Ari Liljenwall and Noah Riffe get ready for the biggest match Seattle has hosted at this World Cup so far: the USMNT returning to Lumen Field for a Round of 16 rematch with Belgium and a place in the quarterfinals on the line. But how much does losing Folarin Balogun to a non-appealable red card suspension actually hurt the American attack? And is Belgium the beatable opponent everyone is making them out to be after nearly dropping their group stage match to Senegal? Lobbing Scorchers digs into the state of the USMNT attack heading into Belgium. Can Malik Tillman, Christian Pulisic and company carry the load without Balogun leading the line? Should the US roll with Ricardo Pepi or Haji Wright as the replacement striker? And are fans and pundits fairly reassessing Belgium, or are we overcorrecting because the USMNT finally showed it could handle some adversity against Bosnia? Ari and Noah round out the show with a Yellow Card or Red Card game reviewing the tournament's most questionable moments so far, including Iran's ongoing World Cup issues, cooling breaks, New York hosting the final, the USA Country Roads goal celebration, pitch invaders holding crypto gambling ads, and the new automated offsides system. Plus Canada grinding out a late winner over South Africa, Messi chasing records that could make this the greatest individual World Cup run ever, Paraguay stunning Germany on penalties in maybe the funniest result of the tournament, and predictions on the favorites and dark horses left in the field.
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Lobbing Scorchers is a production of Just Once Media.
Lobbing Scorchers is a Seattle Sounders and MLS focused show brought to you by Sounder at Heart. Hosted by Major League Soccer's Ari Liljenwall and Producer Noah Riffe. Join us as we lob our scorching takes on the American soccer landscape, Seattle Sounders, Major League Soccer, USMNT and more.
Contact: lobbingscorchers@justoncemedia.com
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Transcript
Opening Remarks and Weather
00:00:00
Speaker
Well sir, we got a scorcher today. Gonna be a real scorcher today. Quite the scorcher today. Well it's gonna be scorcher.
USMNT vs Belgium: Key Match Discussion
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome back to the studio in the ID. We are laying this one down on Thursday, July 2nd. And folks, the World Cup knockout rounds are in full swing. In the United States, the USMNT, the Yanks are headed back to Seattle.
00:00:36
Speaker
for their biggest match yet, a round of 16 showdown with mighty Belgium in a place, the quarterfinals on the line. We're gonna break down what Fuller and Balogun suspension means for the USMNT chances, what this moment will be like for the team in the city. And then we're gonna zoom out a little bit, discuss some of the biggest tournament wide storylines from the World Cup. And we got a little red card, yellow card segment to get to. So Noah, a lot to talk about with the World Cup, getting into full gear.
00:01:04
Speaker
What's up, man? Excited to lay this one down. How you feeling? I feel like a thousand years and a thousand days and a thousand nights have taken place since we last recorded, even though it was just a week. We got to see the U.S. here once already in between that show and now.
Seattle's World Cup Atmosphere
00:01:20
Speaker
How excited are you? Because you've been at most of these games. What has the energy been like? i've I've been feeling it inside the city. I did get to go to the Iran versus Egypt game, and it was incredible. Sold out. sold out show at Lumenfield. And it feels like that's just continuously been the vibe. Yeah, it's been crazy. Every game that I've been at, I come out of it thinking, man, that was the craziest environment I've ever been in.
00:01:47
Speaker
But in different ways, it's been interesting to see how the different fan bases and different countries take over the surrounding area of Seattle Stadium. But but then the stadium itself, like the you know, the Bosnian fans obviously took over and that was incredible. And they had their own vibe. But the way that the Egyptian fans and the Iranian fans also made their presence felt, it just it creates such a unique environment for every game. But the energy is you can't really match it. You know, someone was asking me which one was the craziest or what I could compare to, say, an MLS Cup or a CONCACAF Champions Cup final at ah at the stadium.
00:02:24
Speaker
And it's really a World Cup crowd and a World Cup atmosphere. It's a different level. And I would definitely say as much for the crowd for the USMNT versus Australia. So the fact that we get another US game here, which I think was the most likely outcome just based on the odds and you know the team being favored in these games. But you never know until it happens. So now that the fact that we get another one, feeling blessed, man, feeling blessed. It's going to be crazy. And ah this one is I mean, we keep calling each successive game the biggest game in USMNT US mnt u s soccer history.
00:02:58
Speaker
This is the biggest game in US soccer history. And we get to it right here in Seattle. It's funny because it's still the round of 16. Like, they have not advanced past this round in a long time. and Ever.
Impact of World Cup on Seattle's Community
00:03:11
Speaker
This is the furthest we've ever made. Yeah, this is the... kid Like, yes, they won a knockout stage game. Congratulations. But, like... expanded tournament round of 32 didn't exist before now we're in the round of 16 can they actually get over the hump hosting a world cup with a team that looks really damn good i thought that win against bosnia was a little bit of a statement but i also think it was a little bit of a concern and i'm sure we'll talk about that here but circling back to the seattle relevance of all of this
00:03:43
Speaker
literally records broken on lime scooters road transit road the entire city is just been outside enjoying the weather living it up for the world cup the watch parties are packed pioneer square is packed i saw yesterday when the usmnt were playing pioneers grow was packed for sure but also the waterfront like the entire waterfront up down around the sides anywhere you could see a screen it was filled when the usmnt were here against australia They were turning people away from bars literally everywhere around here. So I don't know. I think we talked a lot about how this World Cup could potentially be a failure, how these ticket prices are impacting a lot of people, and they still are. I mean, I'm not going to games. I can't afford them. But...
00:04:31
Speaker
That's still that like cultural moment that soccer actually brings and the way that the World Cup does really like make cities lively. i have just I have just been incredibly impressed. And I feel like this is the first time since 2020 happened that the city's like back outside again. It's alive again. And I think we're all like feeling that community.
00:04:56
Speaker
And that's thanks to soccer. How many people could say that an American city is legitimately getting revitalized because of soccer? Yeah, yeah no that I think that kind of revitalization feeling you're describing, it's interesting how kind of universal that is. I think anyone who's been following this tournament and watching these games and going to these games and being in the cities where it's hosted, you can you can really feel that energy, and it's kind of hard to explain, but I think when we talk about it, like everyone kind of knows what ah what we're talking about when when you say that. so
00:05:31
Speaker
ah Hopefully it continues. And I'm excited to have the U.S. back here. It's going to be sick. um let's talk about Let's talk about that right now. yeah Let's get into it. Without further ado, let's get our plugs out of the way real quick first. ah QED Coffee, get your subscription if you have not. Lobbing Scorchers kickoff title sponsor. But we are having a follow-up panini sticker trading event at the qed coffee location in west seattle uh the first one was such a smashing success that we're going to have another one so if you missed the last one have no fear definitely come stop by this one and it's going to be it's going be fun the last one was uh i did not realize how hard people go for these panini stickers but they go really hard and i'm expecting an even bigger and better turnout this time That's in QED in West Seattle the 11th. That's a Saturday, July 11th at noon ah until we're done.
00:06:27
Speaker
At noon until we're done. We said noon to two last time and people were there until like five. Yeah, so which was is fine. yeah Yeah, so come by, come hang out. Even if you don't have stickers to trade, you want to just grab a coffee with us, chat, meet some people. I think that was my my favorite part of it.
00:06:42
Speaker
Probably 90% of the people who came to that event had no idea what Lobbing Scorchers was. They were just like, i legitimately want to trade stickers. And I walked away with new friends and new people listen to the show and all of that. So it was a really cool event. And also I had legitimately the best breakfast burrito I've ever had in my entire life at QED Coffee. I'm telling you. i i I don't say that lightly. No, I don't say that lightly. They are our sponsor. I had not had that yet. I go there. I eat it. And I'm like, I have been back since I have been back since simply for that breakfast burrito. And I live in Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill to West Seattle, just for a breakfast burrito. Come for the trading. Come for the breakfast burrito.
00:07:22
Speaker
Come for the vibes. The 20th. Sorry, not the 20th. That was the last one. Saturday, July 11th, noon. QED Coffee West Seattle. Please RSVP so we know how many people are going to be there.
00:07:35
Speaker
Lobbingscourchers.com slash RSVP. I'm an elitist on the topic of breakfast burritos as a New Mexico native. yeah ah I love being the guy who's like, this breakfast burrito that I got in Seattle does not hold a candle to what I got my whole town hometown. This is the first place i'mm I'm not even just saying this because they're our sponsor. It's the first place I've been to in Seattle where I've had the breakfast burrito and I've been like, this actually reminds me and stacks up with what I can get at ah at home.
00:08:03
Speaker
And speaking of breakfast burritos... We have a brand new very special, very limited edition... Hakeson Ferment Sauce. That's right. We made 200 bottles of Seattle Screamer, which is a ode to the soccer tournament because we're not allowed to say the actual name of it, but beautiful. ah i Me, um along with my wonderful girlfriend Drew, the label, we spent a long time designing it, and Jessica Hakeson created- Shout out.
00:08:37
Speaker
an incredibly, incredibly, incredibly spicy, very rich sauce. um It's really, it's a good, interesting sauce. I'm not really like a crazy heat person. So this is like, it's a lot, but people have been asking for something super spicy. So go check it out um at haxinfermets.com, lobbingscorchers.com slash Seattle Screamer for that one, lobbingscorchers.com slash sauce just for our regular mild sauce.
00:09:07
Speaker
Hot sauce. All right. I think that's enough plug in. Let's talk some World Cup, Noah, and let's start with the U.S. men's national
Balogun's Red Card Controversy
00:09:15
Speaker
team. The first thing I had written down was, you know, about the atmosphere and the vibes in the city. But I think we covered that pretty well. So ah let's let's talk about this Belgium game coming up. But I do want to spend a little bit of time ah talking about this last Bosnia game and specifically...
00:09:32
Speaker
Let's do some Fuller and Balogun red card discourse. I don't want to spend too much time on this because we litigated it pretty thoroughly on the post game live. And it's been getting litigated online ever since. So I don't really have all that much more to add on this. But I do want to talk about it a little more because it is the hot button issue of the moment. Obviously, the US takes a big historic 2-0 win over Bosnia, which was the result we were hoping for, but it did feel like ah there was not a cloud over it. It didn't detract from it, but I think there's this sense coming out of that game of like, yeah, we won, but...
00:10:14
Speaker
the guy who's kind of been carrying the offense and scoring all the goals and just generally looking like one of the best attacking players on any team in the entire tournament. We're not going to have him now for this Belgium game. And it's under circumstances that I would describe as quite frustrating because the call itself, it's generated some polarizing reactions. ah So let's just ah let's talk about the call itself a little bit. and we can We can keep this brief, but I've seen a lot of very bad takes about this, unfortunately, I'm sad to say. And they're not only been bad takes, but it's been a lot of like condescending takes, I would say, of ah you know people talking down to us s USA fans and saying, like, actually, that is very clearly a red card. And the only reason that US fans are saying that is because they don't know about the game.
00:11:04
Speaker
yeah There's a lot of you don't know ball yeah coming out of um England, and I say you don't know toothpaste. You don't know brushing teeth. You don't know dental hygienics.
00:11:17
Speaker
You don't know how to... You know tea. You know tea. You don't know how to ah keep... the United States as a colony like I don't know like there's there's just some other things that it's like all right like maybe some people don't know ball but it's like if we're gonna start saying these to be fair it's not even just England that's been I feel like we've been kind of taking heat from the whole world for yeah reaction to that call and I'm just gonna I'm gonna continue to say it I think it's unwarranted and yeah You guys are actually the ones who don't know ball in this situation, or it's not even knowing ball. it's It's common sense. And I think that's... yeah let's Let's start there because I think that's at the root of of this. Before we hit the common sense, we would know ball. We know the worst referees in the world. We have some of the worst soccer officiating in the whole world and in our leagues here. So... I don't want to say i don't want to hear it. We talk about refereeing all the time. You guys are blessed with good officials, so you inherently trust them.
00:12:20
Speaker
Us, on the other hand, we do know ball. You don't know ball. Continue. All right. let's just I'm going to lay down the the arguments for it being a red card and then the arguments against it being a red card, which are the ones I happen to agree with. But you know we we always try and be charitable to the opposing viewpoints here. so We're not the anti-ref show. Yeah, exactly. And like the first thing I will say in the in the spirit of diplomacy on this topic is that I do understand the law based argument for why VAR intervened and why it was arguably a red card and why he ended up getting sent off. And I think it's a pretty simple case. Balogun does plant his foot on the guy's ankle. The ankle does bend awkwardly and under the letter of the law, which is a phrase that a lot of people have been using ah lately, the challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent can be deemed serious foul play regardless of intent. That is the letter of the law. So that is clearly the ref.
00:13:22
Speaker
saw that, and or the VAR saw that, and they chose to have it go to review and end up giving the red card. ah But going back to what I was saying about the common sense perspective on this, on ah I think you have to think of it with the question of what should merit an ejection and a suspension for the next game? And I think that this the decision to turn that into a red card does not fall under just that common sense statute of what should merit getting thrown out of the game and then suspended for the next game.
00:13:54
Speaker
Balogun was not lunging. He was not out of control. He was not flying in there with his studs exposed. He was clearly not trying to hurt anybody. And you can say, intent doesn't matter. Intent doesn't matter. Well, it should.
00:14:07
Speaker
It should matter. If we're talking about an ejection and getting suspended for the next game, whether or not there was malintent and whether or not you did it on purpose should factor into the evaluation there. That play is a play where both players are challenging for the ball in a 50-50 situation, which the attacker has a right to do in that situation, and then their legs get tangled up, and the only reason that Balogun's leg is going that direction is because he's running.
00:14:36
Speaker
because he's running towards the ball, his foot is out, and the guy's the guy's ankle unluckily gets placed under where his foot ended up. But it was not a situation where he saw it, lined it up, and stomped on it at all. Those are the types of challenges that should be foul play, a serious foul, quote-unquote, or a red card. This one, it doesn't, it again, if you're just thinking of it from a common sense perspective, I don't think there's any way you can tell me that Balogun deserved to get thrown out on that play. And it's just deeply unfortunate because I feel like it's not very hard to just what's wrong with just using discretion in that situation to make that call on your own and not have to ah follow the letter of the law like that to a T every single time, because ah that's the other thing about this letter of the law argument.
00:15:27
Speaker
I don't really care about the letter of the law. no one No one is arguing the letter of the law is the point that I want to make about that. That's not what anyone is saying. What I'm saying is that the letter of the law is stupid and that they should change the letter of said law. And if that is the letter of the law, I don't respect the letter. I don't respect the law. And they got to look at that, man, because the fact that he got ah that he got thrown out on that play, it's whack. It's bogus.
00:15:55
Speaker
I think the biggest issue with the argument that the letter of the law is the law is that it's not. the The application of the law, much like in the United States, comes down to the person making the judgment. the the The court of opinion that is making the judgment, which is the center official, And unfortunately, the whispers in his ear from Gianni Infantino's iPhone, a.k.a.
00:16:26
Speaker
VAR. If you want to watch that play, play out in real time, give it a red card on the field and then uphold that with VAR. I am OK with that. I don't agree with it.
00:16:39
Speaker
But I am okay with that. Where I have a problem is where you continuously go to VAR to change a call where the VAR themselves are intervening in a situation that is for, like, I'm not saying it's a 50-50 play. I think that's a yellow card.
00:17:02
Speaker
But recommending card... It should have been a yellow. It should have been yellow. Recommending a red card, like, I just... The whole situation was lead. It was lead.
00:17:13
Speaker
And you watch the slow motion. i have to take my glasses off for this because, like, I want to be just as blind as the referee when I'm talking about this. Like, you... Watch the slow motion. Absolutely. It looks like there is intent there. It looks like this was malicious. It looks like he's lining his foot up to perfectly place it right on the ankle of the guy who kind of kicks the ball away.
00:17:43
Speaker
But you watch it in full speed. They're both clearly going for the ball in a highly contested knockout stage game. where the United States are playing for their lives and Bosnia is playing for their lives. It's 1-0 at this point. It's anyone's game. You don't think that there is going to be a little bit of aggression in these matches. You don't think that there's going to be some 50-50 tackles that are a little bit dangerous here and there. There were more bad tackles that I saw not even called as fouls than that specific foul. That specific foul looks worse because of where his foot landed, because of the ankle being rolled in the process. Now, I get it.
00:18:24
Speaker
I get it. I get it. I get it. Intent doesn't matter. It's a red card. You move on and do whatever. But I think it's a bigger problem to be talked about because there's a billion examples of similar fouls happening. That's what I was going to get next. That have not even been called as fouls at all. I don't think it's worth comparing every single one because i think most of them are fouls or yellow cards or not or whatever.
00:18:55
Speaker
But people who are taking a hardline stance on this, it's not as black and white as that. Officiating has never been as black and white as that. It is up to the official, and more increasingly than the center official, it is up to the VAR to make a decision on how they want to officiate the game.
00:19:14
Speaker
Yeah, I think your last point there is the one that I was going to get to next, which is the the the last thing I'll say on this. Last couple of things. I got i could i could do a whole show about this one call. but ah Literally. I think the biggest issue I have, ah other than the call itself, is the consistency. Like you mentioned, we have seen these step-on-ankle-type incidents throughout the tournament ah that never...
00:19:36
Speaker
rise to a red red card level. I saw a video montage that someone made on Twitter of all the other times that this has happened in this tournament, and the literal the literal only one that ended up as a red card was Balogans. We saw one in the ah in the U.S. Turkey game where Sebastian Berhalter, remember, we were joking about that during the watch-along, like, Oh, man, he was teetering on that. that could That should have been a yellow. Maybe they could VAR'd a red that. He did not get a red card. ah There was multiple other instances of this, but most notably, one Lionel Messi did exactly what Balogun did. Exactly. Except it was worse because that one looked like he was trying to do it. It looked like it was out of frustration. But, like, there is I'm sorry, like, you can argue with a wall. There is absolutely no difference between what Messi did and what Balogun did. Except if you want to argue anything, it's that Messi, what he did was worse. They never in a million, trillion, billion years would even consider...
00:20:34
Speaker
giving a red card to Messi on that play because of the letter of the law, nor should they. But if you're arguing that they need to follow the letter of the law in all of these instances, the exact same way to a T, you should ask yourself why they didn't do that for literally any other one of these instances that we're talking about yeah other than the one against Balogun. If you are going to send Balogun off there because you need to follow that letter of the law, then Lionel Messi needs to be sent off for that challenge. Berhalter needs to be sent off for that challenge. One of the Australian guys did it to Malik Tillman in that game. There was a Bosnian, ah was it Dzeko who hit?
00:21:10
Speaker
ah he didn't He didn't rake across the legs, but he did absolutely bulldoze Tyler Adams. yeah like that could have that That wasn't even a foul. Yeah. So like the the problem with the letter of the law argument is that the letter of the law was not is literally not followed one time the entire tournament for anybody.
00:21:29
Speaker
No, except in this case when they just randomly and arbitrarily decided to apply it to Balogun. So if you're arguing letter of the law, you should you you should be able to at least explain to me why that is like I'm five years old. Otherwise, I'm not going to take you that seriously. ah Also, like if you want to look at it to intention matters, how you've been playing matters.
00:21:50
Speaker
Referees all the time. Oh, this is your first one. This is your second one. This is your third one. Last chance. And then they give you a yellow like. Balogun had not played physical like that the whole game. He was not, like, on a warning. He was not on any of these things. Sebastian Berhalter was doing everything he could to get sent off in that game, and even he didn't get sent off for that challenge, which I would argue was way more out of frustration than anything Flo did. Like...
00:22:18
Speaker
it it it doesn't It doesn't track one single bit with any sort of continuing to make the game safe to play, which is what the referee is there for, and to adjudicate whether or not someone is having an advantage by you know causing an injury or doing this, that, or the other thing. Like, i how in the world does that play right there raise to the level of knockout round suspension of the single best attacker on their team?
00:22:55
Speaker
it's It is mind-blowing to me.
USMNT's Resilience and Strategy
00:22:59
Speaker
it's ah It's unfortunate. It's tilting. I know we sound salty about it. That's because we are salty. I am mad about it I'm salty.
00:23:06
Speaker
i um i Yeah, I freely admit that ah that I'm salty about it. But i will say this, and then I think this will segue us into our next topic. But, ah you know, from a U.S. s perspective, I do think there is a silver lining with this, even with the knowledge that we're going to have to play this Belgium game without Balogun. But I was – I don't know about you, but I was very impressed with how the team responded yeah to that. And I honestly think the response – After in the aftermath of that ah red card when the team could have crumbled and they didn't that's the most impressive thing that this team has done Yeah, certainly in this tournament But like honestly for a team that we have both at different times derided for there a lot of things but their lack of mental toughness and
00:23:46
Speaker
being one of them, you know, being adversity getting thrown at them and them crumbling under it. The fact that they not only didn't do that, but they saw out the clean sheet and held the Bosnians to like 0.2 whatever XG, shout out XG. But like the fact that they kept the clean sheet and not only kept the clean sheet, but actually added a second goal. And worked their ass off for that clean sheet, the way. worked their ass off. A good save and multiple. Defended for their lives. Also, listen.
00:24:14
Speaker
I have to say it. I have to give my apology. Tim Ream. My bad, bro. The man is playing well. My bad. The man is playing well. That's on me.
00:24:26
Speaker
That's on me. Tim Ream and Chris Richards has been a dynamite partnership. I really like to meet for me. This tournament is my kind of Chris Richards education. i knew he was good. I knew he was one of our starting center backs. You know, I know that he's been balling in Europe for the last five plus whatever years. But like this, I want to do a show at some point on just the this FC, these FC Dallas guys, because. this Like, honestly, Chris Richards. not Pepe, though.
00:24:50
Speaker
But Chris Richards and Weston McKinney, bro, like, yeah where would our country be without those two guys? FC Dallas is, it's ah it's a load-bearing. They're load-bearing. FC Dallas Academy is load-bearing for the U.S. Munns National Team, like For real, man. Honestly, and like looking at the U.S. men's national team, and I think we rightfully praise Seattle's youth development a lot, and Seattle's youth development has become top three or four in MLS, I would say. But if you look at, fc i mean, FC Dallas, the guys on the national team right now are kind of just like the tip of the iceberg. like you know You even got a guy like Tanner Tessman who was on the fringes of this team. yeah They just kind of churn them out. So anyway, that's sort of ah a tangent. But ah I do think that... Say thank you, MLS, is what we're saying. Thank you, MLS. Thank you, FC Dallas.
00:25:32
Speaker
But the the response to the red card was very good and very impressive. And, you know, defending like our lives depended on it. Malik Tillman slamming the door shut with a world-class free kick. I saw someone online trying to, like, say that that free kick was actually not... That that is one of the highest degree of difficulty...
00:25:49
Speaker
free kicks that you can possibly hit because if i don't know i i don't know if people realize this but the closer that you are to the penalty box actually the harder of a shot it is you act you want that an ideal distance to be a little outside of it because it gives you that more when you're in that tight for him to knuckle that for him to knuckle that over the wall hit it with enough power to beat the keeper when he's yeah diving because he gets a hand to it Yeah, no, it was that is a the degree of difficulty on that is insanely high. And then to do that in that moment, especially when the team was down a man and really like needed that goal to salt that game off. That was big time stuff. And I can think I think it strengthened what's been an emerging narrative with this team, which is that, you know, they they got punched in the mouth by the red card. The adversity hit. Red card in the 64th minute had to survive the entire game, rest of the game. And they saw out the clean sheet and added a goal.
00:26:43
Speaker
That's test passed, man. That is an incredible effort. So I just I wanted to note that as well. Anything else on on that or the Balogun thing? And then we can talk about Belgium a little more. No, I think you're exactly right. Like the way that they were able to show during that period that there was no drop off to see you have players like Sebastian Berhalter. You have you have a player in Gio Reyna who came on that field ready like he came like he was ready to kill like he was ready to fight.
00:27:13
Speaker
And. I love that. I love that. You know, I think there's still some concern over who's going to take that spot at the number nine. I sure don't really believe in Pepe. That's just me personally, but it doesn't matter. Like, it doesn't matter.
00:27:31
Speaker
You have, it doesn't feel like those Greg Berhalter era teams where it was Pulisic hero ball. If Pulisic was not on, we're were cooked. Yeah. It feels like this is a solid team where you can get goal production out of just about anyone. And even more importantly, they're taking their chances when they get them and they're converting them, taking a very difficult free kick, scoring it, scoring off of corners, having trick plays, set pieces that are developing in unique ways.
00:28:02
Speaker
I mean, you know, you got to hand it to, to Mauricio, like, There is a lot on his shoulders for this World Cup and a lot that was talked about him and a lot of shit that was talked even from us.
00:28:17
Speaker
He has this team playing better than any other men's national team has ever played ever and with the same talent that Greg Berhalter had. This team has been proving me wrong all tournament, but I think out of all of the wrong provenness, ah Mauricio Postitino is probably top of the list. I'm i'm completely pilled on him at this point. like The fact that there was that report that they're offering him an extension, I saw that and i was like, I mean, hell yeah, brother. like If you want to stay coaching this team, like i I think like having now watched a team that's coached by him very closely for a while now, He's very obviously one of the best coaches in the world ah for me from a tactical X's and O's perspective. His personality and temperament, the way he deals with the media, I'm not sure about like how he deals with the with the players from a man management perspective. I can't speak to that as much. But purely tactics and game planning, I don't know if there it's possible to like find an upgrade on on him. I think he is really that good. Yeah. Big ups to him. And let's see let's see what happens in this Belgium game without Balogun, and let's talk about that because obviously having your best attacking player for the tournament and leading goal scorer, a guy who just looks so automatic right now. He has three goals in the tournament, but he also forced the own goal in the Australia game pretty much. like That was a stellar individual effort on that play. He's had two also get waved off on borderline offside calls. So this is a guy that...
00:29:48
Speaker
He could be up there with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have six goals apiece tied atop the leaderboard. Mbappe is leading the golden boot on on the assist tiebreaker. But Balogun could very feasibly have a golden boot contending amount of goals in this tournament. And more than that, like he's playing like a player on that level. so Needless to say, ah it's not ideal to be going into the biggest game in the history of your national team without a player of that caliber. So let's talk about how the U.S. is going to handle that. And I think what that debate comes down to, let's talk about it right now. I think I know where you're going to stand now. on this, but your options for sliding into the lineup in this situation are Ricardo Pepe and Haji Wright. So I'll toss it to you first. Well, actually, let me, I'll lay down the case for both. I like that. Yeah. I'll lay down the case for both. ah
00:30:41
Speaker
I think the case for Pepe starting this game is that I think he's probably the most like-for-like replacement for Balogun in terms of skill set compared to Haji Wright. And also when you're you're talking about the Belgium matchup in particular, ah it's a game where...
00:31:00
Speaker
the U S is going to have stretches of possession, but also a lot of it's going to be about striking in transition. And Pepe maybe lends himself a little better to that in terms of just how he can combine with Malik Tillman and Weston McKinney and keep attacks alive. And, uh,
00:31:17
Speaker
I think when you're talking about which one of the two would make the most sense stylistically to slide in for Balogun and bring that similar skill set, Pepe would probably be the pick. The case for Haji Wright is that ah he's got a lot of pace,
00:31:34
Speaker
And he's got that ability to run in those channels and put backline back lines under pressure. And especially if Belgium is like tossing numbers forward, which I expect them to do in this game, you could definitely argue that Haji Wright, at least from a skill set perspective, lends himself well to that type of matchup and that type of game state. So if it's going to be like a really open game, which I think it's not like this Belgium team is going to sit back. So I think you have to think about that. like If you're playing a team that's going to to sit back, maybe you think of it one way and that's like maybe more of a peppy situation. But if it's going to actually be open and you're going to be really, really trying to spam those those counters as opposed to like balance play more, you could argue that ah Haji Wright is the call.
00:32:22
Speaker
ah what do you What do you think? Or or do you want to just make your case for Haji Wright? Yeah. I mean, i i don't love what I've seen from Pepe. I just don't think that he has been effective in being visible in the same way that Flo has been. Flo is kind of an all over the field kind of guy fighting and winning the ball. He's also there on transitions. He's, I mean, the thing is, there is no replacement for him. Like, you can have a like-for-like guy on paper, but I just don't think the the ability and the effort is there in either of those two players to be able to actually produce in the same way. So that's challenging.
00:33:02
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, i I feel like it's pretty clear as to what's going to happen is that Pepe will start Haji Wright may play depending on what it looks like.
00:33:13
Speaker
It's very clear that Bocchettino rates Pepe higher. going to be Pepe. It's going to be Pepe. So like I don't even think that it's worth arguing. And granted, I don't even know if Haji Wright is better than Pepe. We haven't seen him really play any meaningful minutes. And I'm not going to say that I trust him more than I trust Pepe either. Like, I just think that it's such a significant downgrade at that position, no matter who you pick.
00:33:38
Speaker
It's going to be rough. It's going to be rough going. And you're going to have to tactically change the way that you play. Because of that. And so I think we're going to see that. um Are we going to see Pulisic playing some some more of an attacking role and more of a striking role? Who knows? think he kind of does that anyway. I consider him sort of like a second striker. Yeah, he is kind of like a second striker that kind of... Attacks from out wide. Yeah, like the wide... Yeah, like the Pedro de la Vega out wide kind of situation. But I i think it's going to be...
00:34:14
Speaker
I don't know. I'm not excited. That's that's where I'm going to That is, you lose your best attacker. And the drop-off and what we've been saying is like, this bench doesn't have the star-studded talent that a lot of rosters do. You look at Portugal. When they take off their aging number nine, they actually play better. So it's, I mean, it's ah it's a tough situation, but I guess my question to you is, regardless of who they pick, regardless of the drop-off, do you still think they can get that match done?
00:34:48
Speaker
This Belgium match? I do, because i think everything that we said about Balogun and how he's elevated this team and the form he's in and the numbers he's putting up, all that stuff is true. But also, I do think that the beauty of this team right now is that it's not all
Teamwork and Preparation for Belgium
00:35:05
Speaker
about one guy. It's not... carried by just Fuller and Balogun.
00:35:09
Speaker
One of the reasons that Balogun has been thriving so much is because of how well we are playing as a team. yes And I think that when you actually have a team that knows how to play as a team and knows how to generate chances as well as this team has generated chances right now, then you're much more likely to be able to swap your striker out. And even if there is a downgrade on talent or how clinical they are, or what kind of form they're in,
00:35:33
Speaker
you can still you can still compete and you can still take results because ah the reality is as good as Balogun has been, his success has been a product of the of the team. And with this team starting 11 has been nails all tournament. They've been lights out.
00:35:50
Speaker
I think as long as there's that level of support and talent around Ricardo Pepe, then he can still thrive. And we have recent evidence of this because he had to play in the Australia game when Christian Pulisic was out. Remember the discourse before that game? There was a lot of, oh boy, how is the U.S. going to function without Christian Pulisic? Ricardo Pepe is coming in. Is there going to be too much of a drop-off? ah Is this going to be bad? Those were all valid questions. But once the game kicked off, the the team looked excellent. And I would be...
00:36:19
Speaker
I would be cautious about predicting that to just happen again because I think part of why Pepe... pepe The one game where Pepe actually looked good was in that Australia game. And I think a lot of that was to do, though, with the fact that Pochettino set that up exactly how he needed to.
00:36:36
Speaker
And he made a tactical adjustment that we talked about with Balogun's role in that game. And the kind of dual striker with Balogun and more of that Pulisic wide roll thing, it really cooked. And Pepe looked a lot better. He was a lot more comfortable. And like Pepe, like, I think you're correct that he has not been dangerous enough in front of goal in his minutes in this tournament. But yeah he played an integral role in that first own goal in the Australia game. Like, I want to give him credit for that. Sure. That own goal, if if ah if he's not pulling the defender with that run towards goal and making the correct run, ah it doesn't deflect in for the own goal, but also if ah he would have been there to finish it. So he contributed to that goal. And if he can just run hard, make those hard-charging runs like that and get in those spots, ah you know do I trust him with an open look on goal from inside the box like I do Balogun? No, I would probably bet money that Pepe misses those shots in this situation. Maybe not. Maybe that's unfair. It's just like it's hard not to feel like that with Balogun looking so good and Pepe not really getting all that close to scoring his own goals other than the ah ah the own goal that he forced. But like I do think that this team, this is not fatal.
00:37:48
Speaker
This is not fatal, especially against this Belgium team, which we're going to talk about next. But like no if if you're asking, like is this chalked? like are we like Without Balogun, is this impossible? I don't believe so at all.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah, I do feel like Pepe benefited from playing next to Flo in that match. He will have Pulisic with him in this game, though. Yeah, and I and i do think that that is going to be the test, right? Like, to see how they can kind of pull defenders off of Pepe to give him an easier time to see the net, to see strikes on goal. I mean, he's had, like, i from what I looked, he had, like, one shot on goal so far.
00:38:27
Speaker
or like something like that in the whole tournament. So granted, he hasn't played a lot of minutes. Granted, it's, you know, a lot of um garbage time play for him. But yeah, I mean, it's going to be the biggest test for him. Like it's probably going to be the biggest test of his entire career for him. And What's great about that is that if he can succeed, he can elevate his own status. And I think that players know that. Players wear that as, like, a badge of honor to be able to prove yourself on the world stage. So it's exciting. Like, I want Pepe to prove me wrong and be like, come up to the camera and be like, yeah, I hate the haters when he scores a hat trick. Yeah, like...
00:39:07
Speaker
Literally rooting for that. That said, like that is my point of concern. But I do think you can be buoyed. I do think you can be kind of held together by drawing set pieces, playing for set pieces, converting your set pieces, looking for those corners, continuing to just...
00:39:26
Speaker
Absolutely operate at the highest level when you get your opportunities. So we will see. And I agree with you. i think they can get it done against this Belgium team who I don't see as as crazy of a threat as many people are saying. Let's talk about them right now because that was the that was the ah that was the next thing I wanted to get into because we've we've talked about Belgium ah not just with regards to this matchup but throughout the tournament. They've played here in Seattle twice. They're posting up at Long Acres. So I feel like I've gotten a very good... They're Christian Roldan's house. I feel like that's against FIFA rules. Yeah, yeah. Like you can't go to the opposing play player's house. like that's
00:40:06
Speaker
I didn't even know that. But look, this Belgium team... They played here twice. I followed them very closely. I've watched i watched both of their games here. R is a facto Belgium guy. I'm a de facto Belgium guy. And a lot of kind of the discourse that's been centered around Belgium, not just from us, but I think in general, they are considered ah one of the...
00:40:29
Speaker
the teams that's kind of disappointed at this tournament, they they definitely have not been like a super flop or abject failure. They're still in the tournament. They're about to be favorites in this round of 16 matchup against the US, s even with everything that we've been that we're about to talk about.
00:40:43
Speaker
ah But the reason that they're considered disappointing is because they it feels like they've been taking these results in spite of how they've played. particularly in attack you know i feel like they've defended all right but in terms of their attack it just does not look like the uh belgium superpower that we've come to know over the years uh kdb is not looking like prime kdb lukaku is the one guy on their team that is performing at a high level he could score 45 goals in mls Yeah. Like, put him on the Chicago Fire right now. But he also... DC United. yeah Yes. But he also can't start or play a full 90, so what they have to do is bring him on in the 60th, 70th, whatever minute. it's see At least that's what it seems like they've been doing. like And every time he comes on, he gets a goal. So that is honestly my biggest concern is
00:41:38
Speaker
them bringing on Lukaku in the second half, and no one's really been able to reliably stop him from getting these super sub goals in this tournament so far. So they do have that going from them.
00:41:50
Speaker
ah But to me, it seems pretty clear that they are weakened and diminished compared to what they have been and what they usually are and what we expect them to be.
Analyzing Belgium's Form
00:42:01
Speaker
So the the question I wanted to pose is...
00:42:04
Speaker
Is that assessment of them? Is that an accurate assessment of where things actually stand with this Belgium team? Or let's so are we are we coping? Are we overcorrecting because the USMNT finally showed it can handle adversity? And are we feeling cocky? Are we feeling confident in looking at a Belgium team that's still significantly better than the USMNT and saying, no, our guys can do this, but are are we diluting ourselves by talking about Belgium as this sort of diminished team that we that I fully believe, man,
00:42:34
Speaker
Could be wrong, but I fully believe the USMNT will at the very least give these guys a heavy run for their money. But I don't know. i would I think that they should not have won their game against Senegal. They were not the better team in that game by any means. i think It was 2-0 in the 86th minute. i think I think that they got bailed out by a penalty. They got bailed out by a water break. They were...
00:43:00
Speaker
they All of their goals came after that water break, that final fourth quarter, third quarter into the fourth quarter break there. So you're going to have to, like, to your point, thinking about the way that they play, they have been so dangerous in those final 25 minutes. You have to hold on. You have to play very smart and, like, contain that possession and be smart and be up before the end of that match. Like, that is what I've seen Belgium do well. You bring in Lukaku. You're able, like, their coach and their team have been able to tactically adjust to just about anybody later in that game. So...
00:43:38
Speaker
Absolutely, it's gonna be a challenge. Do I think it's delusional from two fans of the US men's national team to say, well, this isn't as scary of a Belgium team as previous meetings? Well, this isn't as scary of a Belgium team as they once were. This isn't the Belgium team that everyone thought coming into this tournament.
00:43:59
Speaker
I think that's just the truth. And I don't think that that... I think their fans would probably admit that. Yeah, and I don't think that's taking anything away from the challenge that it's going to be for the U.S. to be able to do it. But I also don't think it's delusional to say the U.S. has incredible momentum behind them. They are playing at home, which is a huge advantage. And they are playing with the most juice I have ever seen in my entire life. They look...
00:44:28
Speaker
And are being considered a favorite in almost every match that they're playing. This will be the first time where they will no longer be the favorite. They will be probably slightly edged out by Belgium. And let it be.
00:44:42
Speaker
I think that this game is going to be... very fun and very interesting but I think it's a lot more even than anyone wants to say because yes you do have Kevin De Bruyne one of the greats of all time you have Doku who I think is an incredible player but beyond that he has not been very effective in this tournament and I think that what part of what they're dealing with is he's kind of all they got right now Yeah, KDB still has his moments where you're like damn that is KDB. Yeah, but I don't know watch I'm the biggest KDB had there is man and I when I watch him play like Doku looks like the the source of dynamism. He is there. He is their core and I think that is part of the problem is like can hone in on it. Yeah, you can you can play that you know that like in a tactical manager like shadow tactical manager um A tactical manager like Mauricio Pochettino can target that. You can disable that threat. You already teams that have been doing that. Yes. you You take pieces of what Senegal was able to do on the counter-attack against core. You take pieces of what Iran was able to do when i thought they held a clean sheet. played well Egypt defended Doku very well. Yeah. like There is a lot of opportunity to watch this film and play against this team. I am not scared of them like I am scared of Spain.
00:46:03
Speaker
I am not scared of them like I'm scared of a lot of other teams in this tournament. Frankly, like this is a winnable game. And I'm not saying that as some unrealistic expectation. I'm also not going to give it to the U.S. men's national team. But I think it's fair to say that Belgium, they're not the Belgium of old.
00:46:24
Speaker
You have basically two players, maybe three if Lukaku can play more than 25 minutes, that are going to be dangerous throughout 75% of the game, and that's KDB, Doku.
00:46:35
Speaker
And KDB, like you said, he's not the man he once was. He still has his shine. He still knows how to play the ball. And Doku has been quite ineffective.
Seattle as a World Cup Venue
00:46:45
Speaker
And when you have one player to focus on, just like we saw when Christian Pulisic was the guy, it's pretty easy to shut those teams down.
00:46:53
Speaker
real quick and then we'll take an ad break but I mean how sick is it that this game is in Seattle? like That's okay. First of all, US Men's National Team have never lost a game at Seattle Stadium Lumen Field.
00:47:09
Speaker
So I mean, I don't know like that's I just love that ah that it ended up that we get another game here and that the eyes of not only the country but the world are going to be on the city once again and everyone's going to get to see how we do it up here. And the crowd is going to be absolutely insane. And, you know, I've been saying it all tournament, but...
00:47:37
Speaker
I would not underestimate how much of an equalizer and a scale tilter this home field advantage is turning out to be. yeah And i think I think you are definitely absolutely seeing that in these games. And argue with the wall. This is the best stadium in the entire country to maximize that.
00:47:54
Speaker
So ah I just can't wait to see what the atmosphere and the environment is going to be like. But I already know that it's going to be insane, especially because... ah The Belgium fans are one of the fan bases that have not really been like out in full, full force compared to other fan bases. like I say that not as shade, but like purely just numerically and stadium presence that I've witnessed.
00:48:15
Speaker
ah like The Australia fans, they were vastly, vastly outnumbered, but their presence was still felt. When when it was Egypt versus Belgium at that stadium, it felt like the Belgium fans got kind of overwhelmed, overrun. And with it being a U.S. M&T crowd now, there's going to be there's goingnna be no so counter push to just how partisan and rabid the this crowd is going to be. It's about to be crazy. It's about to be insane. And frankly, to make U.S. men's national team history here in Seattle is perfect. And it is also the crowning achievement because this is Soccer City, USA. This is where the heart of soccer in North America lives. It's the best stadium to play soccer in. It's a stadium that wouldn't exist without this specific tournament right here. we
00:49:11
Speaker
are owed this moment. And I've got to be honest with you, Ari, there's no better place in the entire world for history to happen for the U.S. Men's National Team than right here in Seattle.
00:49:22
Speaker
Let's hope they can get it done. We're going to take a quick ad break. We'll be right back with some ah yellow card, red card. Some people think California has a monopoly on wine, but it turns out the Pacific Northwest produces plenty of it too.
00:49:34
Speaker
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00:49:46
Speaker
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00:50:04
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:50:38
Speaker
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00:50:51
Speaker
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00:51:05
Speaker
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Speaker
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00:52:05
Speaker
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00:52:42
Speaker
Welcome back from an ad great ad break that you definitely did not skip. ah Noah, You had a segment idea for this show called a Yellow Card or Red Card Game. So you explained the rules to me quickly before we started recording, but I've never played this before. So why don't you set us up with what we're about to do here, and then we can get into
World Cup Controversies
00:53:03
Speaker
it.
00:53:03
Speaker
You know, I have been thinking a lot about yellow cards, red cards, famously, ah because I'm a USMNT fan, but I wanted to give us a little challenge here because there have been quite a few questionable moments here during the World Cup, just some interesting and fun ones.
00:53:22
Speaker
I want us to sit in the VAR seat where we are going to determine Are these things a yellow? Are they cautionary? Are they a warning? Are they like, man you know, on the edge?
00:53:34
Speaker
Or are they send-off worthy? Are they banishment worthy? Are they so bad that we should no longer see them? Let's go to the monitor right now.
00:53:45
Speaker
Let's get it started. Our first issue on the ballot. I'm going to give you. I got a yellow and a red card right here. Give you a yellow and a red card. Okay. Yeah, yeah.
00:53:57
Speaker
Iran has had a lot of issues in this World Cup. Famously, they are no longer participating in the World Cup, but they did not lose a match. Three draws were kicked out of the tournament based on a VAR review.
00:54:14
Speaker
But the bigger story has been the fact that they were really not able to train in the U.S. at all. They were constantly having travel issues, had to stay in Mexico, and they argue were at an incredible competitive disadvantage because of that.
00:54:30
Speaker
I want to know, Ari, was the treatment of the Iranian national team a yellow card or a red card? I got a straight red on this. I got a straight red on this. I think the way that... ah I think though the way that they were treated this whole tournament, it's like, you know, regardless of what you think of the politics of it, if we're talking about ah competitive equity and teams having a level playing field and everyone having the same chance, theoretically, going into the tournament, this just blatantly flies in the face of all of that, like, clearly. I don't see how you could even argue it. I don't think... I don't think anyone even is arguing that. I think to whatever extent there's even a counterpoint to that. It's people who think that like they deserve it or whatever based on the political components of it. So ah I got a red card on that because I also don't i don't think that there's any way that that was... You didn't have to make them stay in Mexico and hop across. You can have them stay in the U.S. The soccer team has nothing to do with what's going on between the governments. So why is that even...
00:55:36
Speaker
taken into account when assessing how their team should be treated and accommodated during the tournament doesn't make any sense logically either. So that's a straight red. I think that whole thing was such bullshit. And I think the way that they competed in spite of that was quite ah admirable. I have a lot of respect for how their team carried themselves through that because, and you know, they did talk about it a lot by the end. They were like, I mean, we blatantly had this rigged against us essentially. And, but they were right.
00:56:02
Speaker
They were right. So that's what I think about that. I completely agree with you. I think Iran got the short end of the stick to be completely honest with you. Like it was disrespectful by the government and very clearly punitive because of the government relations and because of the war that was happening that the United States lost. Like, I think it was very clear. And started. Started and lost. It was very clear that this was a way to politically get back at their opponent. And I just think that that's bullshit. I agree with you. What the hell does Medi Tariemi have to do with a war that Donald Trump started? I just, I don't understand. Let him come to Seattle. Let him, like... Why did it matter? They and they got a very warm greeting at their training session, so that was nice to see, at least. It has continuously diluted the idea of the World Cup being a safe place for all the teams and the fans. And granted, Iranian fans were not the only one who experienced not being able to come to these matches. So red card to all those people involved in making the decisions to not allow fans, teams, players to come into the United States. So I completely agree with that call. VAR decision, straight red, sent off Gianni Infantino. You will not be flying by private jet tomorrow.
00:57:27
Speaker
Our second review. After further review, we have to review cooling breaks, water breaks, hydration breaks. breaks we see We see them happening in 60 degree weather.
00:57:43
Speaker
We see them happening in 105 degree weather. But what most people have seemingly noticed is that they are happening to run advertisements on Fox. They have become the quarters. They have become American football first, second, third, and fourth quarter where you can tactically adjust, you can change what you're doing. I have been informed as well.
00:58:08
Speaker
This is a side note. The VAR is not telling you this. There is some statistical analysis being done on how people are able to use these breaks to completely change results in games. So Ari, I want to know how you feel.
00:58:24
Speaker
Yellow card caution or red card sending off of the advertising TV breaks. I mean, hydration breaks. Definitely straight red again for the hydration breaks. But what I think is funny is how universal a red card this is. Every single game that I've been at, and I know you can hear it on the broadcast too, they get vigorously booed every yeah hydration break. Because it's just, it's like, it's such a buzzkill, man. Like the game, there's been, there's been a lot of times where the game is at like a really intense, really high energy, high entertainment value moment. And then they blow the whistle for the hydration station and the entire stadiums. It's like, it's a very natural reaction. Like, oh, like why are we stopping the game? And also one of the things that I love about soccer and that drew me to it in the first place was like the continuous action process.
00:59:14
Speaker
of it, the flow of it, like how how there isn't these stoppages every five seconds where they can throw commercials in there. And this like totally undermines that. So like, I don't think there's a single soccer fan who's like, yeah, hydration breaks or have been awesome for the game. Like, I think this is just like a societally accepted consensus red card.
00:59:33
Speaker
I am going to completely agree with you. I hate the way that it has changed the flow of the game. I hate the way that it has allowed teams to tactically adjust and change. It is a completely new wrinkle to the game. And I call me traditional, but the game is gone.
00:59:52
Speaker
If it's 105 degrees outside and you truly believe that these players need some water, as they did in Qatar, where, yes, if you play a World Cup in Qatar,
01:00:05
Speaker
Fair enough, but there should be limits to these hydration breaks. And listen, there was a delay in Mexico where they didn't have hydration breaks. So why do we need a hydration break when it's 65 degrees in Seattle and overcast? So VAR has reviewed this red card cooling breaks. You're sent off. Real quick. I did think it was funny that Infantino came out and said, No, this is like this is all about player safety. This isn't about ads or advertising revenue like we're just trying to keep the boys hydrated. And then you actually look up how much revenue Fox Sports or whatever generated generates off the hydration breaks. And it's like like three hundred and fifty eighty million billion dollars or whatever. And you're like, OK, I mean, let's say or have your stupid break. Whatever, man. Yeah, whatever. Enjoy it. Whatever. The game is already so gone.
01:00:58
Speaker
Our third Call up for review. Something that I just put in here. it You know, I just I thought of it and I thought this needs talking about Ari New York, New Jersey Stadium, a.k.a. MetLife Field in the middle of nowhere where you are required to take a highway or walk 17 miles from New York City to get to will be hosting the FIFA World Cup final. We have seen rankings across the board naming this the worst stadium to watch and experience a soccer game at from all of the categories. It is not accessible. It is expensive and it's expensive.
01:01:39
Speaker
Ugly. And the weather also sucks really bad in New York, New Jersey at this time of the year. So Ari, we're taking it to the booth. You're looking at the monitor.
01:01:50
Speaker
How do you feel about New York hosting the final? I feel like this segment is just becoming us red carding all the things that we want to complain about. but um...
01:02:00
Speaker
No, we got a couple on here that I think maybe won't be reds. But I mean, that this is another red just because of the, ah I think the location of it, you know, obviously I'm biased, but a stadium like Seattle that has way more accessibility to the general public.
01:02:17
Speaker
ah would be just so much better for a final. I mean, Seattle in general would have been a better choice for the final. But even outside of that, I've never been to that stadium, but everything I've heard is that it's just like a nightmare to get to, like you said. And ah it's just it doesn't have like the showcase vibes that you would want for hosting a World Cup final. ah But I guess, you know, at the end of the day, actually, maybe I actually am not like as passionate about that as ah as others might be. Like, I think it's whack and it would be way better here and it would be way better pretty much anywhere else.
01:02:53
Speaker
But if that's where they're going to do it, I guess it looks OK on TV and the surface will play fine. So. I actually I'm going to yellow for this, but like with the knowledge that like I do think it's probably the worst one they could have picked out of all the options. So listen, the VAR was recommending a red card. You rescinded that red card. You gave it the yellow. So give them the yellow and I think it's a terrible stadium. I don't think that it should be hosting the final. I think that there's honestly, it should have either been a studio Azteca in Mexico. That would have been way better. yeah Or in Seattle or Monterey. in Monterey. Mexican stadiums are awesome. People really like Boston. I don't know. I think there was so many better options. It's the worst one. It's the worst one. Although Santa Clara is pretty bad. but they That's also so bad, but the Seahawks own that stadium, so we really don't need to worry about that. They did it up for the Bosnia game. I'll give them that. sure
01:03:55
Speaker
Sure, I agree. Moving on to our fourth review here. I feel like we're on instant replay. ah This question comes from Twitter. I've seen some people saying...
01:04:08
Speaker
Referee, we need to get this reviewed. The U.S.'s Country Roads game-winning celebration. I heard I'm over it. This is not good anymore. Has it been overplayed, Ari? We're at the monitor.
01:04:21
Speaker
How you feeling? Yellow card or red card for Country Roads? Take me home. Yeah, no no citation at all for me on this one. i think the the people who are actually complaining about this are probably, i would imagine, like the contrarian, like, you're oh, you must be fun at parties type of guy because... I can't imagine like hating on this, honestly. like I think it's great. like the ah the When they serenaded the team after the game in Seattle, which is what started this whole thing, ah that was one of the best, most viral, most memorable moments of the entire tournament. Seattle was front and center for that. And then, you know, I think anytime you have just in a stadium of 70, 80K people all singing the same song, I think that's just inherently cool. And then that song itself is so, like, that all it all it needs to be for me is a song that's singable and catchy and that everyone knows the lyrics to. And that song fits the bill. And it also, it's like a classic American song. So I think it fits from that perspective as well. So I'm all for the Country Roads tradition. I think the USMNT could use, like, a thing
01:05:32
Speaker
like that and ah that many people singing it, singing I thought it sounded great. So I think the people who are mad about this are just kind of probably fun haters. I would imagine that's the only reason I could think of for why you would be against it.
01:05:45
Speaker
After a vu, we've rescinded all challenges and FIFA themselves will be fined for issuing a card. Do referees ever get fined? Because, you know, like after the fact, you can get fined as a player. Do referees ever get fined?
01:06:00
Speaker
feel like they should get fined. For like missing a call. Yeah. Yeah. The, uh, the red, the guy who gave Balogun a red card should get fine. That's what I'm saying. Moving on here. We have one that's very much on the nose that thank you to Ari. We were able to post about, we have three different angles of this to review.
01:06:16
Speaker
You can check it out on our Instagram to review it for yourself. Pitch invaders. They crashed the field during the Belgium match. Four or five of them. There was about five of them from what I hear. And some of them, most of them were wearing T-shirts promoting a crypto gambling site. So Ari, I want you to give me your review of Pitch Invaders and with the new knowledge that this is an unregulated crypto gambling site that worked in the past with Andrew Tate.
01:06:53
Speaker
Okay. Well, first of all, I mean, they got ah they got all red carded from the stadium, as you might expect for a a pitch invader. So if we're talking from a literal perspective, it was a red card for them. And I would imagine they're banned for life. ah My first reaction when I saw that there was a pitch invader was i wasn't shocked like that happens a lot at large scale exporting events like this. It happened in the at the end of the Iran game. They got it quick, though. They got him quick, and then he also posted himself he was swinging one-on-five against SPD and then got a selfie with them. These guys, it was a coordinated... it was they There was four or five of them, and they all busted onto the field at the same time.
01:07:34
Speaker
And i will give them this. It was very funny because you had these, like... I'm going to try and be nice here. These very unathletic mall cop guys chasing after them. And then you can see in the videos that we got of it, like they're like slipping and sliding all over the field. like Two of the mall cops fell, and everyone in the press box started laughing at them. And so that was pretty funny because these dudes were...
01:07:58
Speaker
at least this one guy that I was tracking, he was juking the hell out of the mall cops. And then he the only reason that he got caught was because he he messed up. He was bad pitch invading. He ran up against where the ad board was yeah and they he allowed them to surround him and get cornered. If he hadn't done that, he might still be running. So as far as the execution of the pitch invasion, I'll give him credit for swarming it with four or five of them. That made him a lot harder to catch. ah But then the fact that they were what So what I thought happened was you, we were on you on the group chat, you were like, this is a gambling thing. And I assumed that it must have been a situation where they placed a bet that's also possible on the over for a member of Pitch Invaders. They must have bet something. My my thought was like, oh, okay. It's probably like one to two is the most like...
01:08:45
Speaker
common thing that you can bet on with the Pitch Invader number. So they bet the four plus. They bet the four plus and then all did it at the same time to hit the over. I bet that's why they did it. If I was betting on their on their app, yeah that's what I would bet on. but We don't condone it.
01:09:03
Speaker
and We do not condone it. we It also, ah you know, it could have just been them trying to promote their weird Andrew Tate crypto business or whatever, in which case... Could have been both the situation. Probably a both situation, but either way, ah I mean...
01:09:22
Speaker
it was It was well executed, I guess, but I do wish people just wouldn't do that because, like, you know, I want to watch the game. So I don't want to watch crypto guys running around the the field. So honestly, I'll so i'll stick with the ah the card that they got from the police and give them a red for that.
01:09:39
Speaker
i am am I feel like there can be yellows for Pitch Invaders, but I think with all of the context around this, VAR is going to agree with Ari's on-field call of a red card, send them off, and send them to permanent jail. Our final one here, Ari. It has to do with how me, the VAR official, adjudicates these matches. I scanned your body with a laser just now to put you into our system to calculate automated offsides. Now here's the problem.
01:10:13
Speaker
It's all just math. It's all just lasers. And unfortunately, there is a percentage of error because, uh, can't be perfect. So I wanna know how Ari feels as the on-field official about automated offsides, yellow card warning or red card send it off.
01:10:33
Speaker
I'm gonna give it i'm goingnna give it a yellow because ah i actually I actually can appreciate the fact that the automated offside can at least theoretically take some of the ambiguity out of the situation, whereas when you're going to the monitor and you're trying to eyeball it,
01:10:54
Speaker
it's there there's a lot there's still a lot of subjectivity to it. So I can understand and appreciate the sentiment behind trying to put something in that just like eliminates any kind of debate about it. You just look at where the automated thing has it, and you go off that, and it it has...
01:11:12
Speaker
ah taken away some of the controversy from it from one perspective. My issue with ah with these offside calls is not the automation factor.
01:11:23
Speaker
I think this is going to be an unpopular take that the purists and the people in Europe hate, but I think there should be a discussion in this sport about how tight the rule just needs to be called to begin with. I think that is the real issue. You can show me an automated offside of a guy off by.00002 millimeters and say, well, the automated has him offside and that's the letter of the law, so it has to be called off, to which I would respond, okay, but if he's offside by that fractional an amount, what advantage, what competitive advantage does he actually gain by that positioning? Literally none. if the And everyone knows that. Everyone knows the answer to that question is literally none. So if the answer to that question is literally none, then we don't have to be disallowing goals even if he was technically 000.2000002 inches offside. You can just leave the goal even if technically, yes, he was fractionally marginally offside. I would like to see us get to it I was even just thinking about this watching that Croatia game where the Cristiano one and then one of the Croatia goals where his feet are onside but his shoulder is slightly offside.
01:12:33
Speaker
Why does that... He doesn't gain an advantage from that. He really doesn't. Like, I don't think Ronaldo gained an advantage from that on that play. I don't think the Croatian guy gained an advantage on that on honestly, like two of the ones that they saw get disallowed in this game. So I just think there's a broader discussion about how that rule is called fundamentally to be had because the fact that it gets called that tight, that's the bigger issue I have with the call in the Iran game more than anything, more than the fact that they applied the letter of the law based on the automation. It's the fact that the guy the attacker does not get any competitive advantage whatsoever from his positioning on that play. So with that in mind, you don't need to disallow that goal. You can just leave it. We have that power within us as a society. And so that's my that's my issue with it more than the fact that they're trying to automate it.
01:13:20
Speaker
Well, you heard it here, folks. Thank you for joining us for the first and maybe the last edition of Red Card, Yellow Card. We've adjudicated, we've taken it to the monitor, and we hope you agree with all of our takes. And if you don't, comment down below and let us know what you think. Let's take another quick ad break, and then we'll be we'll be right back with some World Cup storylines to ah close it out.
01:13:43
Speaker
Welcome back from another ad break that you definitely did not skip. Noah, let's hit some World Cup storylines from around the tournament to ah close it out here because, you know, we're obviously on the USMNT beat, but there's been a lot going on. We were just watching Portugal and Pinaldo get by ah Croatia, but I have a few written down here that I wanted to ah talk about and then we can get out of here.
01:14:06
Speaker
First one, I was saying before the tournament at the beginning of the tournament that Morocco was kind of one of the teams I was locked in on as not a dark horse. I think they're past that. But as a team that was really going to make their statement as part of the global elite. So they had an opportunity to do that in this game against the Netherlands. And they did it. They eliminated the Dutch. It was one to one, but they win the penalty shootout. And God, that game was just so good, man.
Other World Cup Highlights
01:14:36
Speaker
I think that was some of the best footy I've seen played in the tournament so far. Just one of those games where it's two great teams going at it. That's one of the best soccer games I've ever watched in life, actually. I seriously think so. I was like, if you put a casual...
01:14:50
Speaker
someone who's interested in watching soccer down in front of this one one draw, they'll be like, oh, I get it Exactly. get why you tie in soccer. I get it It was so good, man. Just like the the going back and forth. And like, I almost wish that the Dutch didn't have to go home. Like having that matchup in the round of 32, two teams that good was kind of crazy. Like usually you're going to not see a matchup like that until later in the tournament.
01:15:13
Speaker
ah But just watching how those two teams were getting after it was it was a it was a pleasure to watch. But then I think the way that ah Morocco was able to get the equalizer in the 90 whatever minute or whatever it was like.
01:15:30
Speaker
That was big time. Yeah. And then their performance in the shootout was big time. But the fact that they played the Dutch straight up really honestly, I think we're the better team in that in that game. Oh, definitely. And then they end up getting rewarded for it by winning the shootout. To me, that was sort of that was the statement moment where Morocco said, we are not trying to get into the global elite anymore. We are the global elite like we have a seat at the proverbial table with these teams like Spain and Argentina and France. I don't know if their their seat is at that that table yet, but like I think they're right there, man. I would say yeah their attack has not been as pretty well they are literally sat next to Spain geographically, so I mean... True.
01:16:14
Speaker
You can at least say that. They are at that table, in yeah at the geographic table, but... like I think when I watch Morocco, their their goal their goal production hasn't been what I thought it would be, but I just think the footy that they play is just fantastic, man. I love watching them play, like the way just the way they move the ball and how athletic their midfield and their back line is and ah the the the team ball that they play. They're just a phenomenal team, so fully deserve to get by the Dutch, and I i rate them up there with the best of them at this point. No, i love watching Morocco. It's a shame that ah we couldn't see Senegal advance because I really was like, I would have loved to somehow see a rematch of that Senegal versus Morocco AFCON game, which Morocco lost, by the way. I don't want to hear anything different. um That's long story short. But man, what a match. Genuinely, as I was saying,
01:17:09
Speaker
I would sit someone down who doesn't like soccer or who is like just getting into soccer. Watch that game it is fast. It's physical. It's technical. It's intense. It was played like a final from the start till the end. The crowd was in it.
01:17:26
Speaker
Amazing match. I had a great time just watching it. I just watched that one on TV alone by myself and it was exhilarating. I can imagine being at that stadium. I can't imagine watching it at a watch party.
01:17:37
Speaker
Yeah, no, that was one where, like, you know, you saw the Dutch fans on TV, like, crying after. And I was like, man, like, you guys have literally no one can tell you guys anything. Like, no really, like, people want to clown on them. That's fine. But, like, the way their team played, like, yeah their country should be proud of that. Yeah, no, they should be proud. It did make me happy that Liverpool player was sad, though. So that that I will say, you know.
01:17:58
Speaker
Little anti-Virgil sentiment there. Yeah. no No hate to Virgil. I think he's a good person, but. like Sorry, it's Liverpool. It's a rivalry. Canada.
01:18:10
Speaker
Canada also threw to the round of 16, but in not as dominant a fashion as Mexico or the US, s the other host nations. They played a game that I thought people...
01:18:25
Speaker
I thought people were overly crash out about the quality of the Canada-South Africa game. Was it a slog at times? Was it aesthetically pleasing? No.
01:18:35
Speaker
ah Was it a good game? no No, but that's knockout footy sometimes, man. like that's like Not every game is going to be Morocco-Netherlands. It was two teams that knew that they were not really that good and up for the task. Okay, see, that's I wasn't going to say it, but like that's kind of what I was getting to is like...
01:18:53
Speaker
Canada, we've been, ah I think we've been not ah that high on Canada so far in this tournament. They got the big win over Qatar, but Qatar made absolute fools of themselves in that game. So not that it doesn't count. It's just like, I don't think 6-0 is reflective of Canada being like a juggernaut or anything like that. And they get, they get...
01:19:15
Speaker
they survived this South Africa game. You stock. You, uh, scores a really good goal at the end to win it for them. Uh, you know, shout out MLS, but I i feel like, and now Canada has to play Morocco. Like, do you think they have any chance? No, that'll be like three nil done.
01:19:33
Speaker
That's kind of how I feel too. Prove us wrong, Jesse. but like ah I will be watching that post-match press conference if they get booted by Morocco. Yeah, I'm sure that's going to that's going to go off. but like ah you know Credit to them. they' they've made it They have a harder game by far than the U.S. Oh, it's not like not even close. like Morocco are contenders to win the whole tournament. Yes. Belgium is definitely just not. No. so no that's Yeah, i yeah i mean, that's...
01:20:03
Speaker
woof that's what it could be folks. That's what I'm trying to say. That's what it could be. Uh, Leonel Messi, six goals set in record after record basically looks unstoppable right now. He's genuinely off to the best start of a world cup that he's ever had in his career.
01:20:20
Speaker
At age 39. He's literally 75. And it's getting to the point where like you know I think people are waiting for him to decline. But the way I've been describing it is like I feel like he's reached that Tom Brady flow state yeah where age just has like kind of stopped mattering. He's just kind of solved...
01:20:38
Speaker
the sport and also how to train his body in a way that like you could kind of, you could throw him out in these world cup games at pretty much any age until he's in his like sixties or seventies and he'll probably do well. So it's like, you know, everyone is assuming that this is his last world cup. I don't even know if I put it past this guy to go out there at age 43 in the next one and kind of just do the same stuff. So he doesn't play in a way that he needs to be like, no, he walks around the entire game. Yeah. That's his whole thing. Like he has trained his body and his teammates for him to be able to be literally a Sunday league, like 65 year old chain smoker because he's just that technically good. I was, i was trying to say this, like,
01:21:22
Speaker
I was concerned about Messi. His club life is not so good right now. His club team looks trash. I'm not going to say he looks bad. He looks fine. He looks like he's having fun again playing with Argentina. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
01:21:39
Speaker
He's in the flow state. He is in flow state. I think you're right about that. like i and I don't know how you stop that. I don't know if you can stop that. I mean, man. I think France has the has the squad to to beat them if it comes down to it, but that's pretty much, I mean, Spain too. Yeah. But maybe Morocco.
01:21:59
Speaker
See, like, that's where it gets to where I'm, like, as good as Morocco. Definitely not England. The only reason, oh, absolutely not. I would love to talk about that. The only reason that I think France could beat Argentina is because Mbappe is the only player who's in as good a form as Messi is. Mbappe is actually leading the Golden League.
01:22:17
Speaker
boot race. The Colonel Mbappe himself is on... and I'll so talk about flow state as well. Yeah, exactly. They're both in the flow state, and I could... I honestly am torn on who I think the odds-on favorite is between Argentina and France.
01:22:31
Speaker
They have the two best individual players in the tournament, and they have the two best all-around squads in the tournament. I think it's pretty clear, and I think that game would be a toss-up and could go to penalties just like it did the ah did the last time, but i mean...
01:22:45
Speaker
yeah We just talked about Messi. Mbappe is equally in the flow state. Mbappe is 27, and he is one off of Messi's World Cup record goal-scoring pace that Messi's at 39. So Mbappe is really doing the thing as well.
01:23:01
Speaker
Mbappe is incredible, man. Bring him to MLS. Let's end his career. It's a very different type of like Mbappe is so fast and powerful and just the way he runs and then Messi is just so you know, more technical. It's ah it's yeah interesting how they can get to the same result of elite's production and performance, but in such different ways. I agree. We'll see we'll see if Messi can get it done against a real team like Cape Verde. I'm looking forward to watching that. just you know for God, I hope they bunker ball, bro. Oh, you know they are. You have to listen.
01:23:33
Speaker
They're going to do exactly what they did against Spain. They need Ramsey ball like one has ever needed Ramsey ball. They should bring in Ramsey as a consultant. He He is unemployed right now, so it's still not too late. Cape Verde, I will pay him. Hit him know the guy. We know the guy. We know him. will Venmo him couple of dollars if he helps you win. I think everyone will be rooting for Cape Verde in that game. Like, even if you're an Argentina fan, it's like, come on.
01:24:00
Speaker
Yeah, you just won the last one. Like, come on, man. Get Vozinha versus Messi. Oh, my God. Bro. Don't even tell me about how the expanded tournament is bunk, man. you got I get Vozinha versus Messi. That's cinema. That's all I need. ah You said you had an England take. I didn't have that written down. I just don't think they're good. No, they almost lost to Congo. Harry Kane is good.
01:24:18
Speaker
Harry Kane is really good. He bailed them out, but I just think the rest of that team is beyond mid. See, I mean, that's not true. Okay. The players are great. The players are great. players are great. But the resulting performances on the field are mid. And that's the England story. Yes. That's the England story. I'm an England fan, but from a I love to watch car crashes perspective. I just think the whole bit of them always saying it's coming home and then it never comes home. It's not down. Always in the most excruciating fashion possible.
01:24:52
Speaker
and The way their fan base always reacts to They deserve to lose to Congo. I can't get enough of like the England stuff. It's so good. They just did not look Like even in the Congo game, I was like, these guys want to blow this. Yeah, they want it actively want to blow this. It's there. Harry Kane's the only one who he's got to be like, try. go We got to lock in boys.
01:25:13
Speaker
Literally, they would not have won that game without a moment of brilliance from him. I mean, genuinely hit. He scores that goal. And I'm like, oh, that's he's like, this isn't even a chance. Turns that ball, shoots that ball. Absolute. That was glorious. Like, what do you man? What do you do? You can't do anything with that. But like literally Congo.
01:25:31
Speaker
kind of they like were ahead one zero into the uh into the water break into the fourth quarter this is what i'm saying this is what i'm saying i'm anti-water break this is why because i genuinely don't think that they would have had a chance to settle themselves down to be able to score those two goals and end up winning yeah i truly believe that One more thing on kind related Harry Kane. Did you see the clip of Erling Haaland when they asked him if he thought that he was the best number nine in the world? yeah. He said no. Yeah. And I thought that was so funny because we're so used to seeing these like Zlatan, like Cristiano Ronaldo, like egomaniacs. Which I think that when you're a competitor at that level, you're going to get a certain percentage of the guys that act like that. Also, people will be mad if you say no. People be mad if you say yes. But for anyone who didn't see the clip, Erling Haaland was at one of his post-match press conferences, and they said, Erling, with how you've been performing for Manchester City the last couple years and the start to the World Cup, do you feel like you're the best number nine in the world right now? And Haaland thought about it for a second, he said...
01:26:39
Speaker
Well, no, I'm not the best number nine in the world. Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe both scored more goals than me statistically this last year, so I'm not. I'm in the conversation, think. I'm in the mix there, but until I score more goals than them, I can't say that. was like, that's the most rational, measured answer I've ever seen an athlete in that. That's the most Norwegian... That's what love. It wasn't even like, I'm trying to be humble, it was like...
01:27:07
Speaker
I mean, so actually statistically, I didn't score the most goals, so I don't even know why we we would approach that. It was very Norwegian. yeah and mean, i I appreciated that from Holland because from ah from a player of that caliber, you don't usually see level-headedness and humility like that. Like, you know, if you asked Zlatan that question, he would say, it's me 150 times out of 100. Cristiano, the same thing. So I appreciated that from Holland. yeah That was a fun moment. Last one I had written down here. ah No, ah the USMNT still in the World Cup. Canada is still in the in the World Cup.
01:27:40
Speaker
Capo Verde is still in the World Cup. where's ah Where's Germany at? Where's Germany? What happened? Guys, i'm hearing I'm hearing, guys, I'm getting reports that Germany is still alive. Please, God. Germany is going home after losing to ah Paraguay in penalty kicks, which I just thought that was hilarious. That was the most haram game ever played on planet Earth. And God, was I there for every moment it. Paraguay, they scored... ah They scored really early. first Yeah, yeah. But ah now Germany...
01:28:14
Speaker
Germany's donezo, and it's not like so... did i like what i was about ne like I really believe the Netherlands have nothing to hang their heads about about that Morocco game. yeah In fact, they gave us all one of the greatest you know world's cup World Cup matches ever, and just in terms of the quality of the play. Germany, man, the USMNT gave Paraguay the work 4-1, and Germany got eliminated by them...
01:28:38
Speaker
I mean, that's kind of crazy. But like, anyway, if you want one on the day, but but the takeaway is that no matter what happens to the U S against Belgium, not the most embarrassing tournament. Like we, we, that for me with the U S the first bar to clear is don't be the most embarrassing. And also just don't be, don't embarrass the whole nation. There is still the Belgium game to go to for them to do something that embarrasses the whole nation. Sure. But so far, we haven't done anything and ah embarrassing to the whole country for our reputation. And Germany has taken a way more embarrassing exit than we could. but We could lose to Belgium 3-0 when it would not be as embarrassing as ah losing to Paraguayan penalties when you're Germany. I mean, i do think I do think Paraguay is a lot better than a lot of people are giving them credit for. They came out of a very, very tough qualifying
01:29:28
Speaker
competition, playing Argentina, all of these things. The US game was us making them look bad more than them actually being that bad. that's what I was going to say was like, I really do rate that Paraguay win and coming out super strong and like the energy of that stadium and like the energy of the World Cup. That is what I feel like is more of a narrative in that game than Paraguay is just some bum team that you're beating up on. I think Paraguay played that game really well. That is what they have been doing. They get a goal. They get it. They they somehow, so you know, score something, you know, get ah get a gritty, grimy goal, and then they are just so hard to open up and score on. The U.S. did the opposite of that. They were able to score early, which made Paraguay have to open up, and then they were able to, you know, make that happen, make that win happen.
01:30:18
Speaker
But, I mean, Germany, that's that's brutal. It's tough. And I will say, you had every chance to win that penalty shootout. You had every single chance. Paraguay had a chance to win it twice and miss twice. Paraguay had a chance, yes. Paraguay a chance to come big. Neuer comes up huge. You equalize. And then just some of the worst penalties I've ever seen taken in my life by the German national team. The dude who kind of looks like me, ah but is blonde. Yeah.
01:30:45
Speaker
Like, dude, yeah, you're cute, you're hot, whatever, but, like, what was that penalty? that What was that penalty? Like, that was that was very questionable, so I don't know. Like, yeah, that was crazy. You know who that guy looks like?
01:31:00
Speaker
Adam race, you know, Adam who sits in our, in our house. He looks exactly like Adam. So shout out Adam. hang out adam All right. That is all we got for the evening. So we're going to get out of here on
Closing and Gratitude
01:31:12
Speaker
that. Thank you all. As always so much for tuning in. If you're watching on YouTube, like the video and sub to the channel, QED coffee, West Seattle, July 11th, two P or 12 PM panini sticker trading events. Yeah.
01:31:27
Speaker
Get a breakfast burrito. we'll be We'll be back at it with all our World Cup coverage. The grind don't stop. Appreciate all the love and support you guys have given us throughout the tournament. We've had a hell of a time covering it. And we're going to keep going.
01:31:39
Speaker
We will see you next time. Until then, out. Peace.