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WCAD 4-14: An After Dark Start
1.5k Plays8 days ago
Isaac Bushnell joins Austin to recap day one of the World Cup: Mexico's big 2-0 win over an overmatched South Africa and an After Dark delight between South Korea & Czechia.
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Transcript
World Cup Opening Matches Analysis
00:00:01
Speaker
So, I tell you that there's more red cards than goals in the opening match of the World Cup. And in the second match of the World Cup, one team's only attacking chances comes from direct headers off of long throws. You, my fair listener, are probably thinking to yourself, there's only one place I can go for analysis of this. And no, it's not FIFA World Cup on Fox After Hours with James
Introduction to World Cup After Dark Podcast
00:00:26
Speaker
Corden. It's the World Cup After Dark podcast, We are back better than ever daily shows throughout the World Cup.
00:00:32
Speaker
My name, of course, as always, is Austin Miller. My usual partner in crime of it, Malik, is putting the finishing touches on a very enthralling Asian vacation. He will be back on Monday. There'll be a full travelogue.
Guest Isaac Bushnell Joins the Discussion
00:00:44
Speaker
Don't worry.
00:00:44
Speaker
So joining me to kick off the World Cup, there was only one call I wanted to make when I found out that we had not only South Africa in the opening game of the World Cup, but an afterdark special between South Korea and Czechia. It is longtime fan of the show but first time guest of the show you may know him as brother of another former guest of the show it's Isaac Bushnell Isaac I'm very pleased to have you on how you doing I'm doing fantastic this is like uh well once you know you know sometimes when they do those make-a-wish things or a kid gets to warm up with his favorite team that's kind of what this feels like I I also feel a little bit like the
00:01:23
Speaker
have you seen that video of where the bbc interviews the wrong guy and it's like a congolese taxi driver and he's supposed to be a i feel like that's kind of the me and henry in this situation i assume henry was the first call but obviously he's with the u.s um but i am the flip side of the coin the as much as henry loves to tackle the issues that everyone cares about like ticket prices and the united states national team i love me some south africa i love me some mammality some
00:01:57
Speaker
it's ah It's a true thrill to have you. ah Look, you were actually the first call here because of the games that we had. What about the U.S. game? might have called Henry first. Because the games were bad, yeah. Yeah, and look they were this is the World Cup after dark. Those were the vibes we were looking for. So let's just dive right into We've got two games to break down on
Mexico vs South Africa Review
00:02:17
Speaker
today's show. I get daily content back here on the World Cup after dark. Mexico 2-0 winners over South Africa in the World Cup openers. Isaac, did you have more red cards than goals in your World Cup opener bingo sheet?
00:02:31
Speaker
I definitely didn't. I had weird stuff happening for sure. We know South Africa. we love them from you know CAF qualifiers, AFCON, they're a team that loves to play expansively when they don't really have any reason to. And we, that can be really fun for them. And it can also be really fun for the opponent. We saw that today.
00:02:51
Speaker
i didn't think just the the pure level of going to the well time and time again with spreading your wingbacks high and wide and playing from the back was going to, was going to the recipe, but, it gave us some absolute chaos and tournament?
00:03:10
Speaker
I think the place to start here is it felt like this was a at first order success for Mexico, right? Opening the World Cup on home soil, tu i win. Those are all the boxes checked. But I think we should put a pin in some of the second order boxes and we can come back to the the discussion at the end of this game on some things that Mexico maybe could have done to make this an even more perfect start, if you will. But look, pop, circumstances, it was all there. We got a Shakira moment. We got Andrea Bocelli, but not like opera voice Andrea Bocelli, just like pop star Andrea Bocelli, which is apparently a thing we're doing now. It was if you merged Andrea Bocelli in that Jelly Roll song that FIFA first came out with. for the world cup interesting interesting decision
00:03:57
Speaker
Look, it was everything that we love about a World Cup opener. that There were lots of flags. ah Selma
World Cup Celebratory Atmosphere and Crowd Dynamics
00:04:03
Speaker
Hayek and probably got paid a ridiculous amount of money to hand the trophy to Gianni Infantino. I think so often we can kind of get caught up and in all of the the ceremony that comes with the first game and the pop and everything. But there's always this feeling and this kind of relief that the ball actually starts rolling at some point in all of, not maybe all of the pre-tournament storylines, but all of the ticket prices and the politics and all that can kind of take a back seat for a little bit.
00:04:33
Speaker
And that's kind of what today felt like. I think there was a big kind of sigh of relief that, all right, we made it to the actual World Cup and we can not have to focus frontline stories because look,
00:04:45
Speaker
Every soccer journalist in the world is at the World Cup with a week before despair. They don't have anything else to do, right? And so it just it just just snowballs. But now we've got football. We have actual games to talk about. And I, for one, am enthralled by that.
00:04:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, no, you perfectly said. that the I think the absurdity of these, is especially a FIFA opening ceremony, just kind of heightens the anticipation. because you're you're laughing and you're it's kind of a parody of itself, but at the same time, every second that something happens, everyone's watching it and talking about it. And so everyone's talking about Andrea Buscelli going pop. Everyone's talking about, ah you know, why is why is Infantino putting himself front and center with Salma Hayek? But every moment you talk about that, it gets closer to the football being real, which is incredible. and it also just reminds you that like the world cup is this great time where like
00:05:42
Speaker
especially as people like people who listen to this podcast are like incredibly hardcore followers of international soccer, all corners of the globe. And so like to see you know the players from these players from Mexico who mostly play in Liga and Mackeys and getting booed by their own fans and these sort of like nagging day-to-day storylines over the past four years, and then like this South Africa team who's this like quirky, whiny, and calf um get to like be on this stage where like the whole world's watching something just gives me goosebumps about that no matter how absurd situation is and it made the build up it made the anticipation for this to start rolling all the better
00:06:26
Speaker
And it felt like Isaac the moment. I don't want to say it was too big for South Africa,
Tactical Struggles and Red Cards Impact
00:06:31
Speaker
but it didn't feel like South Africa handled it as well as they could have. I don't know that Hugo Bros approached this game correctly. and look, South Africa in theory is I know one thing that you are a big fan of and South Africa, maybe even calf qualifying is one thing that you are a big fan of. But the level here just so different.
00:06:52
Speaker
The vibes of this team going in like right before they start to actually play is unbelievable. Like they're coming in, they're doing the the little dance, getting off the bus, the white guys getting into it on their team. Like Hugo Bruce singing the national anthem with his hand over his heart. They got Tyler singing the South African national anthem. Like they come out, they're splitting, splitting the wide center backs wide. They're pushing the wing backs high. They're playing out of the back.
00:07:16
Speaker
Like also like all their team is bald and plays in the south african league which is awesome like in the in the era of like neutrophil and hymns and turkey you don't see bald guys anymore and in the era of like the globalization of scouting you don't see like teams that come from a domestic league that you don't watch anymore so i just like love this team and i love that they try to play but like there is a reason there's a reason that teams play differently in their confederation and when they play in the world post-nation, but like a good solid team like Mexico. um the the set There was just zero adjustment to the expectation for how dangerous the opponent would be without the ball. And there was some adjustment with the ball. They they wanted to sit in a little more than usual, but like there was no respect for the ability of mexico to press and be tfully disciplined and athletic and win the ball and
00:08:21
Speaker
you know stripe and capitalize on mistakes and i think that's we saw that from the very first second of the game Yeah, and look, it it takes 10 minutes for this to all really unravel for South Africa. and Their start wasn't very good. They didn't seem to be doing anything. The first like three minutes of this game was just Mexico fans all laying center back passes back and forth, right? And then finally, it gets it doesn't even really get into a little bit of rhythm, but there's a goal kick for South Africa, and they come up with a genius idea to play out the back, which is just not something that they have in their bag generally. And it's definitely not something they should have in their bag at the World Cup. And so Rodman Williams makes a pass that is not very good into the midfield. And Yaya Sintole has a bad touch that is heavy that is partially his fault for being a heavy touch. It is partially on Rodman Williams for making a pass that was just way too strong. And Mexico immediately pounce. And Julian Quinones, who's a player we're to about a lot in this game, says, thank you very much, picks it off, puts it through Williams like for one oh
00:09:18
Speaker
And that was a pretty good kind of encapsulation of what this game ended up being. Yeah, and like the the goal, the giveaway was very much a symptom of sort of the bad tactical foundation of their build-up play with the ball because they're playing like a 5-3-2.
00:09:38
Speaker
They're trying to get their wingbacks high and get them the ball, get Lyle Foster, who's horrible involved for some reason. there They have this mix. all wants to drop deep beneath Mexico's midfield to receive the ball and play. So when that ball comes out from Ronald Williams or comes out from a center back who can't, who don't necessarily have the the skills to ping a direct ball to a striker that's going to be dangerous, the midfield has nowhere to turn and play to. It's just one level. And then the next level is so far disconnected among the mexican presses on their back that's what happened to sutola here yes he took
00:10:17
Speaker
a pretty casual touch um and like blind turning into pressure it's a really good step from lira um to like time it at the moment that that ball gets rolled out to sitole but that was bound to happen just the way that they were trying to play out of the back with no second level even remotely connected to their midfield um and their center backs so yeah it's pretty pretty good encapsulation of the problems with south africa's first half approach and also what Mexico did so well. that
00:10:49
Speaker
Yeah. And I think there were times, look, this cycle was really weird for Mexico, right? They didn't have world cup qualifying. They qualified
Mexico's Performance and Tactical Questions
00:10:57
Speaker
as hosts. They played in a Copa America where they were fine. They played some gold cups where they were good. co Like they played a lot of Concordia Capp nations league style games. And so I think there was definitely a point here where we didn't,
00:11:10
Speaker
I didn't come into this World Cup feeling super highly about Mexico, but I was really impressed by what they were able to do today, particularly right from the start in this game. I thought they approached this really well, and they have kind of the solidity to force opposing teams into mistakes and then pounce on them, and they have just enough high-ish level talent to make those mistakes matter. And Quinones is the type of player who can really change things for Mexico, and I thought he was great today.
00:11:37
Speaker
Yeah, he's... he's a little bit of stardust i think that this this is a really workman like mexico team which is something that something that we're used to but maybe the proportion of workman like players to players that are well do a moment on the ball is a desire with this team. Quinones has that like cut and thrust and that like inventiveness in the final third athletically, technically. That is really key for them. I think he flies under the radar probably in like the general...
00:12:08
Speaker
soccer watching public just because he's never he's been a talented enough player to take that step to go to europe but just was playing at a massive club in america and now is in Saudi. So kind of flies under the radar and I think he's a great foil for Raul Jimenez who's more of a fulcrum play the ball to and through in the center of the pitch kind of guy. um And Quinonez can really float and be dangerous in a lot of different areas around the attacking third. And I thought we saw that today really incisive finisher if you hit the ball hard and low
00:12:40
Speaker
um good things are going to happen most of the time um goes through ron williams legs but yeah i thought i thought his real his relationship with jimenez throughout the game was something that looked like it could be replicable against better teams in moments where they have space on the counter maybe we'll we'll get to jimenez in a bit when we get to the second goal but the first half here really to me Look, we watch a lot of international soccer on this podcast, and a lot of it is generally not good, right? Like I watched the majority of South Africa's calf qualifying campaign. We watch qualifiers from all around the world. And you kind of sometimes forget how much of high level international football comes down to, can your center backs do things with the ball?
00:13:25
Speaker
right like So much of international football comes down to there's no space on the rest of the pitch but for you to your two center backs. And if those guys can pick a pass or can key a play or can put a good long ball up to a big hunk that can then knock it down and create something – That's a lot of how chance creation starts in the World Cup. And like this South Africa game just kind of flipped that switch for me where I just watched the two South African center backs be forced to be their ball plays. Like those are not the guys South Africa wants to be playing the ball. That was their only option to play the ball in this game. And it just repeatedly failed pretty much.
00:14:04
Speaker
And beyond that, they also, the game model seemed to be explicit. players like South Africa would sometimes win the ball in midfield um and looked like there seemed to be an impulse to like rather than counterattacking rather than like when the when the group is compact we want to get it up and play a quick combo with our strikers and go it seemed to be like all right we have the ball let's let's set up our shape let's get the wing backs wide let's spread out and let's like build from the back
00:14:36
Speaker
And they just did not have the tactical structure to do that in this game. They didn't have the technical ability from center back. And they certainly did not have the ability from the two strikers I thought were pretty awful today, yeah particularly Lyle Foster, who I'm just like not a fan of. ah The idea of Lyle Foster is fantastic. I've never seen him play well. um He just, it like the the few moments they had to make something stick in the first half, which like, you know, could have, you know,
00:15:06
Speaker
put a little spoke in the wheel of the mexican machine that was seemed pretty well- oililed um strikers were't able to do anything remotely dangerous um So yeah, it seemed like other than just like the vibes of hoping things got weird, South Africa didn't really offer anything to suggest that once that kingye goal went in that they would you know be able to work their way back into the game.
00:15:29
Speaker
So then the second half starts, and within the first 30 seconds, South Africa's backline gives away another golden chance that this time they actually save. And there was actually like a 10 to 15-minute-ish stretch here at the start of the second half. It's 1-0 Mexico. They have dominated completely the game. They obviously got the goal through Canunas. They had a couple other good chances, maybe not great chances, where I start thinking to myself,
00:15:52
Speaker
I've watched a lot of calf qualifying. What is the number one rule of calf qualifying? Is when you're up 1-0... Is that the early ones music I hear? Yeah, yeah. When you're up one mill it's so much better to be up 2-0 because weird things can happen at 1-0. And I thought for half a second that Mexico might just mess around here and learn a calf qualifying moment. It felt like that could happen.
00:16:15
Speaker
But then this came... kind of turns off the rails, but in a bad way for South Africa. And then we get three red card decisions to talk about in the first game of the World Cup. So let's start with the first one. It's poor Yaya Sincere who was not good on the first goal and then gets himself sent off. He tugs Gutierrez who had gotten in behind. South Africa are playing three center backs, but none of them are around to challenge this run. Sure.
00:16:41
Speaker
um i personally thought that this was fairly soft. I think Gutierrez knows exactly what he's doing here. But I also think that in this day and age, that's always going to be a red card. And from that point on, it's really hard for South Africa to try to get back in this game.
00:16:56
Speaker
Yeah, i think with with I think it's definitely a red card for me just because like it's not as if Gutierrez is creating the contact intentionally. He has taken a touch that takes some
00:17:12
Speaker
that causes his legs to churn into Sitole and deny him that one-on-one yeah the i mean the the situation for that leads to the record card is just another example of like they're just spread so high and wide trying to build up out of the back when it breaks down like obviously they can do a better job of getting compact and recovering um but Sitole is left in a horrible position because you have two runners two potential runners from midfield that he's next to 20-yard gap
00:17:43
Speaker
in the centerbacks gutierrez makes that run Satole's behind him, and the rest is history. By the way, Yaya Satole, match rating on Fatma, 3.5 for this.
00:17:53
Speaker
That's how you want to make your World Cup debut. That might be about as low we're going to get this tournament. Yeah. I mean, from that point, where you didn't really... From the red card, you didn't really know, especially just with how they were set up to start the game. i mean, there was a brief moment where I thought maybe this forces them to change and play a more, you know, effective...
00:18:15
Speaker
direct compact way that could have better results but that that's did not materialize. No, they had to go down to nine before they did that, before they finally tried to shut it. So I think Mexico doesn deserve a lot of credit for how they pounced once they got to 11 on 10, and Raul Jimenez, who we mentioned earlier, has his moment here, and and what a moment it is for a guy who has obviously been through so much, had the traumatic head injury, that like questions about whether he would ever be able to play again, let alone play at a high level, let alone play at a World Cup, and he's instrumental in the second goal. He starts the play and the ball eventually gets wide out from for Alvarado. It's a perfect cross.
00:18:51
Speaker
Jimenez is making the second run for post and he's wide open and he hits the header. and just like It's so hard for us mere mortals who have never had anything remotely resembling high-level success to like try and contextualize what that moment must have meant. but Here he is, ah a Mexican scoring a World Cup goal at the Estadio Azteca, sorry, Mexico City Stadium.
00:19:15
Speaker
uh for his home country at a home world cup after everything he's been through there were tears in his eyes at a celebration and you can understand why what a moment this was yeah he seems he just seems like a like a fantastic person just like ah like a guy guy who deserves good things to happen to him um and also going through like you can see how much it means to these mexicans
00:19:42
Speaker
and like back and forth with the with mexican fans comes from is how much it means to everyone. And so to have just a moment of like release and like incredible success right off the bat, and what I'm sure is like something that has been like a pressure on these players' shoulders for a really long time, thinking about this home World Cup and this game in particular was great. i also just thought the goal, this goal, and like i I feel like we've been doing a lot of ragging on South Africa and not as much like... Sure.
00:20:15
Speaker
mexico praise this goal i don't think there's a lot this this is just brilliant quick transition quick passing good movement from attacking players um you know the ball is one it's two or three passes interconnected in around the center circle and he met us sprays it out wide and there's a numbers up situation in the box he makes that run to the back post it's an incredible cross from an alvarado And it's just really hard to you know get organized as defense and find your mark when a team can transition and get numbers in the box that fast. So I thought thought this was like, I know it's against 10 men in South Africa.
00:20:56
Speaker
This goal was like an example of how Mexico has the solidity and the talent and the foundation to put bad teams to the sword.
00:21:08
Speaker
And in a World Cup, that's 48 teams. In a World Cup where you're going into round of 32 matchup, potentially with the third place team, that can go a long way to winning the quinto, maybe sexto partito, you know? Yeah.
00:21:22
Speaker
So I thought this was – that goal sort of encapsulated just like – some of the efficiency and the solidity that mexico had on both sides of the ball so that was all the positive for mexico i think after this game gets to 11 on nine things kind of turn a bit for mexico and we'll get into some of that second order stuff that i mentioned at the start so so south africa double their red cards uh wilson sampayo is looking right at the plate doesn't call it live gets brought over for bar uh then mazwan got blocked off initially by alvarado
00:21:58
Speaker
In hockey, this is the type of thing where it's two for interference and then two for elbowing, and they both go off. That's not how it works in soccer, and Zouane is the one who goes off, and so it's 11 on nine. Again, this is just like an awkward red card that is, again, always a red card, but like isn't a blatant red card situation. I don't know. It felt like both of the red cards were somewhat harsh on South Africa in this game. So I think shouldn't Mexico have maybe rev things up a little bit more once they're playing nine man South Africa for the last 10 minutes of
World Cup Format and Implications
00:22:26
Speaker
this game.
00:22:26
Speaker
Should the crowd have maybe egg them on a bit more in this situation to go for more goals to kind of finish off qualification right then and there. i mean, the way I look at the, like, i see like basically zero downside to like going for it Yeah. Like you win it, you win your opening game for nil.
00:22:42
Speaker
You're qualified. Um, I think Aguirre throwing on Mora, I think it was maybe right before the second goal and right before that they went down to nine. like That felt like a like a a moment where it could have been like, okay, we we go for it we get the the young kid in some spots let him cook let him create some goals let the hype build, let the energy build. We basically secure passage to the next round and we play free and we play fun and we got momentum behind us. and Instead it was really just kind of like, I don't remember them creating good chances at 11 v 9.
00:23:20
Speaker
um And they weren't really throwing numbers forward in any type of way. um i think in a, that you you made the point about the crowd. I was thinking during this game that so very different mexico home crowd than we're used to and i think john arnold made this point when you guys had it previewing group a um was that the crowd for the World Cup in Mexico is going to be a more sort of you know patriotic, passionate, but not as diehard, not as negative, more more supportive of the team in general.
00:23:55
Speaker
And I think that maybe just like the good time, passive atmosphere of this crowd allowed Mexico to kind of just settle into that to ni At the end of the game, I think you would might have heard a few more like whistles, a few more cries of like, let's get at them, and a bit more agitation in the crowd if it's a typical Azteca qualifier or something like that.
00:24:21
Speaker
But, I mean, at the end of the day, it doesn't really hurt them that much. But I don't know. What do you think? Do you think that if there was harm? I just don't see the harm throwing them.
00:24:32
Speaker
forward I think it's so interesting because it's something that we're going to a lot about this podcast. Something we talked a lot, we alluded to a lot on the previous shows. The World Cup is fundamentally different in this format because it's not just about finishing first or second, right? You always have this kind of third place calculus in the back of your mind where goal differential could possibly play a role. And so, yeah, winning a game 4-0, as you said, that basically plunges your ticket to the next round at this stage. So, I think it's interesting and then to kind of add insult to injury here for Mexico, they then almost get caught out 2-on-0 on like South Africa's one counter chance this game and Cesar Montes who captained them in this game who's probably their best defender lunges in and gets sent off and is probably going to miss the rest of the group stage. That's a play going to want against South Korea and Czechia.
00:25:21
Speaker
Yeah, especially against Czechia. That's a tall guy. You need tall guys against Czechia. ah It's just like there's something incongruous about like playing conservatively 11 v. 9 and also allowing he yourself to get counterattacked on to the point where your guy, your defender needs to make an arguably last ditch tackle. um So, yeah, that that could be, don't think it's going to, like, again, three teams advance.
00:25:48
Speaker
I don't think it's going to be a moment that we look back on. Maybe it even saves his legs for the knockout round. But it's just moment. it was a weird moment in the game and in a game where it's 11 v 9 and the result is settled this is something that people who want to talk about the game on podcasts know this exactly right it's people who are looking for content um final thoughts on mexico in this game ah did you come away as impressed with mexico as i did here i'd like this felt like a pretty good sign for their tournament as a whole yeah i was impressed with um
00:26:22
Speaker
with a gear a honestly i i'm i'm impressed with like the lack of competitive games that they played and the tactical solidity and cohesiveness that they play with. Like they, they were playing a pretty low, their press was pretty low risk, but created a ton of chances and won the ball up the field a ton of times. Like they weren't committing, they weren't leaving that many gaps to go press and they won the ball a ton of times. I think that is a really good sign for the understanding of the group um and, and how they work off the ball.
00:26:58
Speaker
the beyond Quinones and Jimenez is there a lot of stardust are they gonna um are they gonna do enough to teams with similar talent levels if they play a similar rhythm of game is Mexico going to be able to create chances is Mexico going to be able to consistently win the ball or are they going to get pushed further and further back um I think that's still a question um and I think But and I think they're all, they're like, it's, it there's no, nothing negative came out of this start for Mexico. There were no red flags in this game for them all.
00:27:37
Speaker
Sure, and look, that's a good start to a home World Cup for a team that obviously, as as you said, has a lot of expectation on them. Quickly about South Africa, look, um they were not good in this game. We've gone on for half an hour on this show. You've probably gathered that by now.
00:27:50
Speaker
But one loss does not a World Cup make. Let's see what they can do against Czechia and against South Korea. I think those are going to be different tasks in different ways. They, on the positive side, didn't punt their entire goal differential in game one. That's probably, considering they finished this game with nine players, is at least one thing they can take out of it. They win a game and they've probably rescued their goal differential and they're right in the middle of what could be a theoretical third place battle if they have the points to do it.
00:28:14
Speaker
So let's move on to our nightcap. I like to think of the World Cup starting with the first non-post
Czechia vs South Korea Match Analysis
00:28:21
Speaker
game, right? You get all the pomp and circumstance. Shakira is there. Infantino's got a trophy. There's celebrities. They cut to Canelo Alvarez in the crowd three or four times. That's all well and good. That has its part in the World Cup. But then it's 11 p.m. local here in Argentina.
00:28:37
Speaker
It's dark, pitch dark outside. and You cut to Guadalajara and it's Czechia in South Korea in a game that really just should not be happening in the general ecosystem of soccer, but is because it's the World Cup. That to me is when the World Cup actually starts. And what a start this game gave us, to Isaac. It took a bit to to boil. in The first half wasn't great, but the second half gave us so much to talk about.
00:29:02
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's just like the epitome of... like it's um You know when I'm in like a movie that's just a really ham-fisted plot where they're clearly trying... like The villain is so obviously hateable and the good guy is so obviously good and there's no moral moral dilemma here. That's kind of what this game set up felt like. It was just like Czechia going out there with a bunch of Sasquatches
00:29:33
Speaker
going attempt to like like when we win the ball we are attempting to win set pieces we're not even attempting to counter um and then korea are playing this like really intricate like um you know aggressive overlapping wingbacks getting the ball to their good creative players in the half space sun dropping deep trying to create these like amazing little combos in between the lines um and are just getting like physically dominant Czechia.
00:30:04
Speaker
Pretty, like, exactly what you would want from a World Cup game that on the face is just like, these are two math teams. So, yeah, the like you said, like, the perfect, like, oh we're in the World Cup now game.
00:30:17
Speaker
Yeah, and it's funny that this game happened in Mexico. There's almost a Lucha Libre aspect to it, right, where it's very clear who who the crowd is rooting for, like, who the good guy is and and who the bad guy is here.
00:30:27
Speaker
um So, the first half, like I said, there wasn't a ton that happened here. Like, you South Korea were looking to play things and do things. Sun dropping into space, getting the ball, made a couple of runs, took a couple long shots. Techie just kind of looked at all of that and said, all right, that's cute.
00:30:42
Speaker
Keep doing it for as long as you want. We don't really care. Like you're not super threatening to what we're going to do. And then this game really, gets weird and takes off in the second half uh south korea forced it early save but then as you kind of and as i at least personally entirely expected completely against the run of play um the czechs go for their most on-brand goal possible they would not even a quarter not even a set piece it's a long throw that gets thrown in the box and uh winged back wearing number seven lotto slab creche which is just another insult to
00:31:17
Speaker
Diabolical, diabolical. Left center back is, your left center back is number seven. Your coach looks like he rolled out of a grave like five minutes ago.
00:31:28
Speaker
You're bringing on like eight foot tall guys. that it Insane, insane behavior for a a professional international soccer team. And so it's Cranky who just comes flying into the picture and literally on the end of a long throw, powerful header into the back of the net. It is as ugly of a World Cup goal as you can score. And it and again, it is exactly what you would expect from this check sign in this moment. They had their one advantage of this game was the physicality that they could bring against the Korean back line. And they took advantage to the fullest for the first goal.
00:32:01
Speaker
It's honestly like a huge feather in the cap for you Amit. Like you guys had this Czech team fricking nailed so perfectly in like the preview and just like all the vibes that you were talking. Like this is, it was exactly how you guys said it would be.
00:32:18
Speaker
yeah, the, I mean the goal itself is like in the vacuum, very aesthetically beautiful. That is Vladimir Soufal is into the box.
00:32:32
Speaker
But yeah, it's just like the moment it happened, you're like, of course, of course, script writers are cooking with this one. ah But yeah, it was, it's just one of the, it was one of those games where like, you know, when you see a lazy pregame narrative of people, like people on Fox who haven't watched these teams before, it's like one team tall, one team's short, one team going to be a threat on set pieces and do that. And you're like, oh, that's probably lazy narrative. it's probably a bit more nuance than that it wasn't and its like right after the goal, Korea just immediately back on the ball, back interchanging. They become even more threatening, even more fluid, and they're and they're coming right back at the chest
00:33:15
Speaker
Yeah, and I think so. Korea was a team that I wasn't super big coming into the World Cup. I didn't like a lot of what they did in Asian qualifying. I think their main players are a step older. I thought like Tottenham Hotspur, Sun, would have probably opened this game up in the first half.
00:33:30
Speaker
LAFC Sun is like just a step slower. And instead of beating two guys is settling for 30 yard bombs that look, it's thinner air and bottle heart. I get it. And so I wasn't huge on South Creek, but I thought their mentality here was really good. I thought their bounce back was really good. And I thought Chekye maybe overreacted to the goal by taking off anything resembling open play threats, which again, they hadn't really done a lot of in this game, but they really just leaned into it. They obviously brought on Chori, who we talked about in the preview part. He's this 6'7 brute who nobody likes, but is good at what he does. They brought him on. They took off Patrick Schick.
00:34:09
Speaker
They brought on Adam Lozek, and they just kind of leaned into it, and they probably did that a bit too soon because South Korea kind of played them off the pitch in the next stretch of this game, and they were rewarded for it because Hwang-in Bo, who was probably the best player in this game, gets into space on a long ball and just stops on a dime, cooks two players at once, right? He beats the the crashing defender and also the goalkeeper, and then puts the ball in the back of the net on the same play. This was a great goal.
00:34:36
Speaker
Yeah, and it was really indicative of, and like you said, like what the substitutions emphasized what Korea was able to have success with throughout the game in the first place, even more because they the Czechs lost mobility, they lost technical ability up front, they lost a counterattacking threat. So I really think Korea just kind of, you're down a goal.
00:34:58
Speaker
through caution to the wind with like, maybe they were being a little concerned. Like i I did think they were doing a good job of sort of getting runners in behind and trying to play cutting balls, but they threw caution the wind with like, sure, our two holding midfielders, if you see a space in the half space to go exploit, make a run. um Wingbacks stay as high and wide as possible. We can be as fluid as possible with our striker you know pulling defenders out of the way and we're not really worried about the gaps that we're leaving when we lose the ball and this goal is a perfect example of it you know Kwong Bung fantastic run fantastic skill at the end of it he's the man of the match here by far and I want to take a moment to highlight the coolest career path of anything at the World Cup so he starts in Korea obviously plays first like three seasons four seasons of his career in Korea we got Vancouver Whitecaps two seasons after that, of course, natural step, natural talent pipeline. Then we go Vancouver Whitecaps to Ruben Kazan during the pandemic.
00:35:58
Speaker
Good transfer. good Good transfer for all involved. Moved to Russia during the pandemic. Placed couple years Ruben Kazan. Loaned back to Korea. Then we go Olympiacos wins the Conference League.
00:36:09
Speaker
Krivena Svesda in Serbia. And then now he's at Feyenoord, just like a normal... Korean center midfielder playing in the Dutch league. it's ah It's quite the route. It's quite the route.
00:36:21
Speaker
it's great that he had It's great that he had this game in this moment because I did think him and Pake, the other center midfielder from Brighton, were really good. And like a key reason why South Korea was able... to dominate the ball and and sort of keep getting more and more chances as the game went on.
00:36:37
Speaker
So this game could have kind of fizzled out at one one and it just did not because ah here come the checks again from a set piece opportunity. They get a well-placed set piece. The ball in is perfect. And who did we say was the danger man on set piece for them? It's Thomas Suchek gets on the end of it, heads it, hits the spinning celly, but the flag goes up.
00:36:57
Speaker
The worst celebration in all of it. It makes you want to punch a wall when happens against your team. flip an exhaust it it was canceled record so Just off. And then, as you said, South Korea kind of figured out, hey, we can leave a ton of space going back the other way because there are absolutely no legs to make us pay for that. And it's Hwang Inbong who's key again. He gets on the end of a great long ball.
00:37:21
Speaker
And Hwagoi Oh scores the second goal for South Korea. Inbong, as you said, man of the match performance here. The delivery on this second goal was great. And a really nice finish from Oh as well to make it count. Yeah, and I think the o is that always was brought on for Son. It was around like the seventieth minute. and so i think song played well like you said like
00:37:45
Speaker
more to like beat players and get him behind and oh brought that like he didn't drop off and get involved in the build-up as much but um he was making really direct threatening runs and so were the other subs that they brought on at the swansea left back g-sung young he was fantastic uh on the left wing when he came in huang added some threat um so i think when they added that extra element of directness and comlied it with the fluidity you just chances started to flow and this goal is emblematictic of that. You have your one of your holding midfielders is making a run in the channel, delivering a great ball to a striker who has initially peeled out to create that space and then finishes fantastically. And a very, very deserved 2-1 lead for the good guys. Sorry if any check people are listening. It's not it's not about you. as a people it's about your soccer team ah
00:38:35
Speaker
I thought Hong Moon-bo, who's the South Korean manager, had a really good game here, right? Like, it felt like the juxtaposition of the two substitutions from both, like the the substitutions that were made from both teams here really kind of set the course for the last 20 minutes of this match and put Korea on the path that they wanted to be on down the stretch here.
00:38:54
Speaker
Yeah, no, absolutely. Couldn't agree more. Maybe maybe something about, you know, aye still being able to walk around without an accident thing. maybe That was helpful in the in the coaching matchup.
00:39:06
Speaker
I would love to read more. I'm sure Miroslav Kulbeck is a great guy, but I'd love to read more about him.
00:39:17
Speaker
Don't think that this game was done after South Korea took a 2-1 lead because they managed to give the Czechs another look from a long throw. They don't want to defend the big old leads for the Czech. And so Kim Soong-Guy, the South Korean goalkeeper, has a save to make.
00:39:30
Speaker
Scramble chance, Adam Lozek, on the end of a long throw. Probably at some point in this game, you were just begging South Korea, just put it out for a corner. They're more dangerous from the throws than they are from the corners. Yeah, that was there's that famous clip of like when s stoke first came in the premier league and i think it was like a whole goalkeeper or something he gets the backpas and like he's goingnna hit it out for a throw-in and then he just turns around and plays it out for a corner. was begging them to do that. Yeah, it was, I mean, they're still dangerous off of corners, but there was just a certain, like, with these lumps on at the end of the game as Pereira trying to see it out, it's just like, how do they keep engineering free kicks like they can't
00:40:08
Speaker
they can't do anything when the ball is on the floor, when they're just like playing normal soccer. So just like don't foul them. ah And obviously way easier said than done because these guys are massive holding people off. um you know that They will not be moved from their space and sometimes you have to foul them to try to win the ball. But in the end, got it over the line, but there was no way it was gonna be anything other than nervy unless they got that third goal, which never came.
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah, I was a little bit concerned for Korea and I think them seeing out games is something that I kind of want to see for the rest of the group stage. Like this didn't necessarily convince you that they're going to be able to do that.
00:40:49
Speaker
But I also understand that this Czech team in that particular moment is just a really confusing thing to try and play against. Like it's not the type of approach that a lot of teams can do at this high level in air quotes for high level there. Obviously look, it's a big three points for for South Korea here. I, they were the deserved winners of this game, obviously. And as a credit to them for the mentality to get the three points over the line here in a moment where you've like i korea at some point in the past might not have gotten those three points over the line after having gone down a goal completely against the run-up play look i think we got what we expected for the checks and look for the next two group stage games you know exactly what you're going to get from them here yeah i let me tell you i am terrified for south africa like i say republic i am terrified i think we could get like a
00:41:40
Speaker
sixty seven percent possession in south africa for an izech republic with one of those beside games and mine pieces Yeah, I could not think of a worse matchup for the, to like just purely based on the sample size of the two games we watched today. and could not think of a worse matchup than South Africa having to play the Czech Republic. um I did want to say I'm just really impressed by the two, like I mentioned Son earlier, but the two attacking midfielders in that attacking trio, Lee Hwang-in and Lee Jae-sung,
00:42:17
Speaker
really really impressive both with their work rate their um speed and athleticism and their ability to make stuff happen sort of in the half spaces between the lines um and i think that their tactical system has korea set up really well to maximize those guys abilities both on the ball and in trans in like defensive transition they're counter pressing so good i thought that was really key for korea and their ability to control the game um not that the checks were trying to control the game uh but yeah i think those those two players could we could have something where like
00:42:54
Speaker
if Korea somehow finds their way into an easy path in the knockout round. This could be a team that could beat some like decent teams. I don't think they have what it takes to upset teams, um but this could be a team that's good enough to like play some football and beat some good teams.
Anticipation for Upcoming Matches
00:43:11
Speaker
And Korea-Mexico next match day in this group is a very intriguing matchup, right? The two teams that got three points facing off against each other. I think it's a good level check for both of these teams, right? You're obviously moving up another step from the teams that you beat on the first match day, but I think that's a pretty intriguing matchup.
00:43:28
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. i i i We're kind of going to
00:43:37
Speaker
know it was the first game more about 1t being bad or 1t being good um but i think for mexico in particular it's it's really like there wasn't a lot we could learn about their ceiling uh from that game from this first game and i think against a team like korea we're gonna see what is this team's ceiling to go out and control games and create chances and be a team that's gonna you know pose a threat, be compact when needed to be, press them when they want to. And and we're going to see if if Mexico can handle these like different phases and game states that they will need to be in throughout the tournament in order to win the group and order to progress. So I think like Mexico's second game is like the biggest storyline to watch and will be the most, I guess, like impactful for the trajectory of the rest of the tournament.
00:44:32
Speaker
And you know what the best part is, Isaac? We got 11 more groups to get through before we even get to that Mexico-Korea game. And you're already excited for it. It's great. Let's close out the show by looking ahead. What's coming tomorrow? Canada and Bosnia, USA and Paraguay. One thing you're looking for for these games tomorrow, Isaac?
00:44:49
Speaker
I want to see the U.S. ah want to see if the u s can match parawise intensity without being stupid.
00:45:00
Speaker
I think that's what the game is going to come down to. I think this is a really athletic team. It's a feisty young team. I'm talking about the U.S. They're going to be really up for this game and to prove themselves.
00:45:13
Speaker
And we know exactly what Paraguay are going to want to do with that energy. So I think it's important to not back down from that challenge in terms of the physicality, the mind games, the the dark arts, but also important to yeah not punch someone in the face in the 20th minute when you're dominating the game and losing the Copa America group stage. But and you get what I'm saying. I think that would be a fit that's a fascinating opening game matchup just from a mentality standpoint. I think that's that's the main thing I'm looking for. And yeah, exciting to see Canada. I think Bosnia is a good matchup for them i think they can press the crap out of bosnia and it will be some good Jesse March Bowl?
00:45:55
Speaker
I think Paraguay are a much more difficult opening match opponent. right I think they have much more potential to make more of a mess of the opening match festivities than what we saw today. like I've got a lot of Bosnia stock. If you listen to the Group B podcast, I talk myself into this team. I think there's some intriguing players. But yeah, the Canadian legs against the Bosnian legs here is I think a big mismatch and that's something that i'm really looking forward to in that match.
00:46:19
Speaker
quick Quick thing before we go, can you let me rattle off like forty five seconds of world cup prediction since i didn't get to do previews Absolutely. That's absolutely what you should do to close on this show. Isaac, what are your world cup predictions?
00:46:32
Speaker
I'm going to give you just the the nuggets. I think to the high level, England are going to win the world cup. They have a good team. They have, are bringing one of the best teams to the world cup, but to a major tournament for like the fourth major tournament in a row.
00:46:46
Speaker
they're they do They're going to win the world cup, whether we like it or not. um I think that Belgium, are the ultimate post-type sleepers they have the easiest path They are just like a really solid team with a little bit of stardust, good ability to play both on the counter and with the ball.
00:47:04
Speaker
think they're going to make the semifinal. um I got bad World Cup for Columbia. I think there's not a lot of solidity in this Colombian team. They're a bit too up and down for me. I think Congo can grime out a result against them, finish second in the group. Columbia have a hard first round matchup, go home.
00:47:22
Speaker
Congo are my big sleeper team. They're making the round of 16. Ecuador. ecuador I think they're going to win the group against a really good Germany team. I think Germany is going be good. i just think Ecuador is a team that can get a result against them. um That'll shake things up, give Germany maybe an easier path on the second round. um And then also, shout out to Amit, he talked me into drinking the Red Bull. This is my big one.
00:47:44
Speaker
Argentina are finishing second, and they're losing to Spain in the round of 32. I just, I think that this Argentina team, it was, sick people underestimate how much more than the some of their parts they were in twenty twenty two And I think the talent, especially given the fact that Messi is no longer like an otherworldly game unlocker, he is a world class game unlocker, but other teams, other nations have that player as well now. Nobody had that player in 2022. I think those two things combined with like the weird prep, um that's just going to be a tough thing to run into Austria as a buzzsaw in that group, in like the pressing style and that group stage.
00:48:28
Speaker
And I think Austria might, might steal that one. And then, you know, anything can happen in Argentina, Spain game. So those are, those are my, ah those are my big predictions. um And yeah, I appreciate that you're letting me spit these out. Only remember one, remember the ones that are incorrect.
00:48:47
Speaker
Mexico are also making the quarterfinal. There you go. Look, that's that's the thesis of this podcast. We only remember the good takes. we don't remember the bad takes. ah This is obviously an audio-only medium, but for the listeners at home, I just want to let you know, he was chugging Red Bulls the whole recording session. He was you would just putting them down. he He's all in on the energy drink soccer, folks. All right, that's it from us on the World Cup After Dark. I will be back on Saturday morning to recap the Friday games. We're Look, we're going to have a weird recording schedule with this World Cup. Some nights we're going to go after dark. Some nights we're going push until the next morning. We'll try to let you know at the end of each podcast when you can expect the next one. But again, I'll be back Saturday morning. We'll be recapping the Friday games. Special guest. I'll keep you in suspense about who that is until that drops in your inbox on Saturday morning. If you like what we do here at the World Cup After Dark would like more from us, you can find us at patreon.com slash WCAD.
00:49:39
Speaker
You access if you subscribe to our Patreon, which is $3 a month. You get access subscriber-only content, all that good stuff. And you can help us support and do what we do here. Look, we're looking forward to a great World Cup. I think we got this off to a good start. A massive, massive thank you to Isaac for stepping in the gap and filling in for us. Had a lot of fun recording with Isaac today.
00:49:57
Speaker
And we'll see you guys on Saturday. As always, thanks for listening.