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WCAD 4-35: It's the Margins Y'all
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Amit and Austin start with a recap of Portugal's crazy matchup with Croatia which featured stoppage time drama for both sides. The guys then go over Spain and Switzerland's impressive wins over Austria and Algeria respectively.
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Transcript
Portugal vs. Croatia: Tactical Drama Unfolds
00:00:00
Speaker
You don't have to listen to this show for very long for everything to somehow, some way circle back to margins and how slim the margins are, particularly in World Cup knockout round football. And so with that, Amit, we bring on a ball sensor, touch, no touch situation, deciding whether Portugal, Croatia goes to extra time.
00:00:30
Speaker
i don't know if you can find a slimmer margin than that. This is a new one even for us. I haven't seen that this ball sensor. I mean, they keep inventing new ways to keep us entertained, don't they? um Yeah, look, this this podcast is all about the margins. It's all about the little things. And sometimes we say you've got to squeeze the margins. And sometimes we accept that the football gods lay out the margins in the cruelest ways ah or the most entertaining ways for us. And Look, was it three incredible, incredible games yesterday? No. But was one of these games enough drama to like destroy two fan bases forever? Yeah, for sure. So we'll take it
00:01:10
Speaker
this is the World Cup After Dark podcast. I'm Austin Miller. He is Amit Malik. As he alluded to, we're going to spend a lot of time on Portugal, Croatia here. It was far and away the game of the day. Gave us plenty of drama, gave us plenty of talking points. And we'll finish up with a quick look at both Spain, Austria and Algeria, Switzerland.
00:01:27
Speaker
But am admit, this Portugal-Croatia game felt like a game that was never going to end. And I think from my perspective, I didn't want it to end. I was thoroughly entertained.
00:01:39
Speaker
i mean, 110... What's the... 107 minutes? It felt like we played extra time, even though we didn't play extra time. um Yeah, it kind of reached this liminal zone where they could have just kept going without extra time, and we would have enjoyed it. Yeah.
00:01:56
Speaker
This was a pretty high level game because Croatia kind of do that, right? And i think the story of this game is Croatia forcing Bobby Martinez's hand. And we finally, finally get to see what that looks like.
00:02:09
Speaker
And the results were explosive. And Croatia, we kind of said, just have that Jedi mind trick in them. This was, i think, evidence of what they they do at these kinds of tournaments. Yeah.
00:02:22
Speaker
We've said for so long that that there might be one more Croatia throwback performance here. And I think this was it, right? They're margins away from getting this done. And on the other side, I think this is Roberto Martinez being pretty good tactically, right? He showed his tactical chops here. And I think this is a couple of managers now in this round of 32 where...
00:02:42
Speaker
You can kind of write them off as, oh, they're just vibes guys. I don't think you can really trust them on tactics who have come up and when they've been pressured, when they've been forced into a situation, have said, yeah, I've got the tactical chops to get out of this, to get my team through. and I think Martinez in particular deserves a lot of credit for that, for what he did yesterday.
00:03:01
Speaker
It's both because, you know, you can't ignore like the three and a half games that put him in this point. But to your point, right, he he presses all the right buttons here.
00:03:13
Speaker
And I think, honestly, the crazy we're going to talk about this game. The craziest part of this game is Portugal make the adjustments more offensive to to come back, right?
00:03:26
Speaker
And then they're left with the team that made those adjustments that is ill-suited to then play a neutral game state. And for five minutes, Croatia punk Portugal. They take over the game. They're the team with the legs in the incendency. This is, what, like 75 to 81 or somewhere right in that little pocket?
00:03:48
Speaker
Yeah. And yes, like... Bobby Martinez fixes it again. Like he's not stupid. I think he a hundred percent, he gets credit for that. But there's five minutes there where you just, it was on the table for his, um unbalanced side because of one man and his managing approach to get got.
00:04:09
Speaker
But at the end of the day, you don't take it. The smart manager always makes one more subs. And I think that's maybe one thing you could criticize Lotko Dalic for was his timing of subs in the second half, which again, tough game. We'll talk about it too.
00:04:23
Speaker
Those were the margins. And so I'm with you. like I think Portugal answered a lot of questions. I think it was a big, big test for them. But at the same time, it's like... When they roll it again against Spain in a couple of days, like, is he just going to have to do the high wire act again? Can we just do it right the first time?
00:04:43
Speaker
Well, and I think it it also speaks a bit to Portugal probably had more cards to play, right? like Like, I think there's just a bit more that Portugal can bring off their bench to change a game or to rescue a game or whatever you want to do. And Dolich is maybe, I think, a bit hampered by that. But let's get into this game. the The first half I thought was very interesting. It's hot. It's muggy in Toronto. And I think Croatia are set up here to say, we want our legs for the second half.
00:05:10
Speaker
We will play you to a perfectly content first half stalemate. And that's going to fit right into our game plan. And I think there wasn't much that was going to budge them off of that approach. yeah It was a pretty defensive line um from Vlade Kodalic's side. As you said, the the block wasn't quite on the box, but it was like 10 yards in front. And as you said, it was just kind of sitting and making Portugal commit their overloads. And I thought what you can see...
00:05:35
Speaker
the The evidence of their approach was how deep the wide midfielders were, how deep the wingers were, and they were ready to double on both Pedronetto and both Rafael Leal. And Rafael Leal gets a start and he's electric today. This is definitely the dangerous spot. You can see why he should be starting. I mean, I don't know if there was an ease into it, but most dangerous guy on the ball, every time he touches it, it's that triple threat thing.
00:05:59
Speaker
and then Pedro Neto, basically Portugal's trying to get him on the right. Cancelo overlaps. Now he's got space on his left. He crosses to Ronaldo. And that's kind of the pattern of the first half.
00:06:09
Speaker
Pedro Neto, not Portugal's best right midfielder. and That's the the play they subbed in the second half, Conceição. But Neto was fine here. It's just... Yeah, it's working for Portugal, but there's too many bodies in the box for Croatia. So they're saying you're going have to do a little bit more to unlock us. And Portugal don't necessarily want to push that button all the way.
00:06:29
Speaker
And Croatia spend the first half just whacking long balls over the head of fullbacks and trying to chase onto it and then cut back. But they're not really able to have much success with that strategy.
00:06:40
Speaker
Yeah, Budimir was maybe the player we wanted to start for Croatia, and he's not quite getting any traction over the top. And you can tell when Modric or Kovacic have the ball, they're just trying to spray it wide over the fullbacks, get something, but there's not a lot here for Croatia. And you're kind of like, okay, they're just kind of saving the legs. The the first 10 minutes of the game is a bit up and down. It's not necessarily...
00:07:04
Speaker
like full of chances but there is something to both teams kind of managing the heat in Toronto and the humidity and do we have legs in the first 10 minutes of a half can we use them there at some point are one of us going to feel like we have more legs than the other team and so you could kind of feel it brewing in the first half And then we go to halftime. There are a couple saves from Lovacic the first half, but not a ton really really to write about. But at halftime, Croatia make a change. They bring Matinovic on for Budimir. And I think Croatia kind of says, all right, this is as fresh as we're going to be in this game.
00:07:36
Speaker
We've kind of maybe lulled Portugal into a sense of security that this is how this game is going to go. It's time for us to unleash this thing for 10-ish minutes and see if we can get our rewards. And it works, right? And Matinovic is actually a pretty good player, 23-year-old at Freiburg.
00:07:54
Speaker
and I shouldn't have been sleeping on him, but like you know I think just a different mix-up, good physical mix-up. They can get the ball to him. And when you you talk about the way we previewed this game, we said, yeah, we know Portugal has the ball.
00:08:05
Speaker
Can you pick on Joao Cancelo? Can you use that side of Batrina and Parasic? And also, can the Croatian, I think the outside of Modric and Kovacic, the next best quality on the ball might be your right back Stanisic, who's at Bayern and had a great moment in the group stage for Croatia. That's kind of where this goal comes. And the one thing Portugal does, and I'm not sure you can blame them for this, is they leave their their front three high, specifically Liao, um because he he wants the ball to be dangerous transition. And if they don't track back, you've got two on ones on the outside backs. And particularly Cancelo is...
00:08:41
Speaker
you know, more of an offensive specialist. And so for for five minutes, they said, look, we're going to get more numbers back and we'll run hard the other way to make up for it when we don't have the ball.
00:08:52
Speaker
But that overload works. And they actually put a lot of pressure on the Portugal back line. So the first chance they get is a shot from Kovacic that is saved really well from Diego Costa. And then writers are thinking, ah they might not have a ton more here. They might need to back it in.
00:09:07
Speaker
They pay it off and they get it. They overload on the right. Leao doesn't track back. It's a free cross for Stanisic. And as you said, of it he's one of the guys who has quality on the ball. He crosses it and it ends up with Perisic. And Perisic is wide open here because Neto is also not tracking back. and it's a really calm finish, takes its time, goes back across goal. And it's this old veteran, wily Croatia team on top with a really well-worked play and a really well-worked moment.
00:09:35
Speaker
It's just really, really nice. We love a fullback to fullback type thing. And this is an underratedly hard goal for Perisic because how many times does the ball get to the guy in the box this tournament and he just just stabs at it, just smacks it over, or he goes first touch? And i think you have to be a player as
Portugal's Tactical Brilliance and Comeback
00:09:55
Speaker
experienced as Perisic to take the touch in this moment and realize the space you have and then see Kosta charging out at you and finish. And...
00:10:05
Speaker
and this is one thing we said is Croatia is like one X factor is it's, is that they pick their moments and it's like a weird thing to describe. Like, are we just quantifying like something stupid that doesn't exist, but like,
00:10:20
Speaker
it's kind of they just know when the space might be there is how you say it And then they have a guy that you're not expecting to have that quality in the moment. How many left backs are getting into this moment having the quality to finish it? Like Spain, we talk about later that they're outside backs. But like, you know, Perisic is a former like...
00:10:38
Speaker
super marauding technical winger and like he's been at at all these high profile clubs like you've been watching Paris Hitchford you like everyone's watching him do this kind of thing for 20 years so like I would have marked that guy at the box maybe
00:11:02
Speaker
Honestly, you're right. He is. It's so funny that he does that. But like KYP, that's a basketball phrase. Know your personal close out. Shooters going to shoot. um So then this Croatia goal just sends this game into a whole other moment. And it just opens up because it's time for Portugal to start committing. It's time for them to start sending numbers forward. And that's going to open up a lot of space for Croatia. And this game just goes on to another level. The kind of slow first half is put to the side. And this game from here on out is pretty much full accelerator.
00:11:36
Speaker
Layal clanks the bar on a cut in. It's a 99% perfect strike. And it kind of feels like he might be the X factor in this board school setup. Yeah, Stanisic is tasked with guarding him. And Stanisic has a great game, but I'm not sure when Leal is on this like feeling himself level that anyone can guard him one-on-one.
00:11:56
Speaker
He's just that, we say triple threat. He can cut in right, and he can cross, he can shoot. And here on this shot, you see like that man can strike a ball. You saw on his goal, what was it, the fifth goal, randomly, in the group stage, that he can really hit a ball. and Yeah, yeah.
00:12:11
Speaker
When he's crackling, yeah, they can kind of funnel the whole attack through him. And as you said, now there's back and forth here because Croatia picking their moments, there's just a little bit of joy and...
00:12:24
Speaker
Now we get to some of the buttons pressed by Bobby Martinez. It's all of the buttons actually, because it's a quadruple sub from Roberto Martinez. And he basically leaves layout who's been his most dangerous winger on. And he of course leaves Cristiano Ronaldo on because he's your talismanic striker that you're counting on, but he makes four changes here. Bernardo Silva in at the base, Kansai Sam comes on as a right winger. Nelson Semedo comes in at right back. And Gonzalo Ramos comes on as a second striker in a 4-4-2. And this is kind of 4-4-2 mixer ball. Every attacking player I've got is now on the pitch. And we're counting on them to to bail this out for us.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, a few of these changes were overdue. A few of them were just smart changes. Like, Consasso, I think, is just straight up a more useful player than Pedro Neto. At this point, overall, within context, without context, that helps.
00:13:14
Speaker
And Consalo is good, but yeah, they were picking on him. So, Semedo is good. Obviously, the biggest thing Gonzalo Ramos, right? he He's now the second striker you can play off of.
00:13:25
Speaker
What's interesting is he takes off Bruno Fernandes and you're like, that guy is who you want at the 10 to unlock this defense. And so like, if you're taking off an attacker to get on another attacker, like shouldn't you take off Ronaldo?
00:13:41
Speaker
But credit to Martinez, right? It's something we see is that second striker just makes the math harder to account for them at all times. And it does end up freeing both of them here, right?
00:13:55
Speaker
It does. and and And then it just opens everything up. And I think it it kind of opens everything up for both teams, right? So you have a corner kick after the sub. There's a pretty clear pull down in the box with two hands. And actually, I've missed a Ronaldo chance. I'm sorry. I mean, I got ahead of myself. I knew that there was a Ronaldo chance here somewhere. Before the quadruple sub, we have to talk about Cristiano Ronaldo's having a sue that's interrupted here. it was the suiest sue that's ever going to sue. So what what happens right before the the quadruple sub is Ronaldo is in his position where he's been all turning, right? Camped on to the last defender, the center back, and he's making his run. And this time he finally gets his run right, technically you'd think, gets space on the ball over the back shoulder and delivers an absolutely delicious chip
00:14:45
Speaker
But Amit, because it's Cristiano Ronaldo at this tournament, he's offside when he's camped on the back shoulder of the defender. This was really, really good goal. This was an annoyingly good goal for Ronaldo. This was like, oh, right. he's the He's actually very good at the nine thing when he can do it. And yeah, the level maybe was right here, but he also was off. So i don't know. it It was kind of annoying. Yeah.
00:15:08
Speaker
you could feel the stadium like kind of waiting for Ronaldo to take this game by the scruff and it was like as the neutral fan or the the not so neutral fan the fan rooting against Ronaldo you're like he can't take this game like this is above his level and he he kind of sends this warning shot and It's just, you could feel it loading, right?
00:15:33
Speaker
So that happens right before the quadruple change. Now you just insert the part of the quadruple change. You, the listener, are doing all the math in your head. You're keeping track of this. I trust you. And then this quadruple change pays off because there's a corner kick right after the sub and there's a clear pull down in the box from Croatian defender. We go to the VAR monitor for the first time this afternoon and there's a penalty and admit that there's only one man to be taking this for Portugal.
00:15:58
Speaker
It's the guy. Everyone's waiting for him. And he does the whole, you know, he's cutting a figure of concentration. He's blocked the whole world out. He's lowered his heart rate by 10 heartbeats. The pressure won't get to him. And he kicks it down the middle. He scores. And he gets his suit. The whole stadium does it with him.
00:16:15
Speaker
You know, this is first knockout goal for Portugal. i don't do. um Yeah. What does that say? But, ah you know, I'll give him something like ice cold. Got it. Got to have it. Right. Got to have it. And he has it.
00:16:29
Speaker
So then we we get to to the hydration break. And I think what's really interesting about this this penalty and this goal, it comes pretty much immediately after Roberto Martinez puts all his chips in and goes super attacking. So now you've got the goal.
00:16:41
Speaker
You're at 1-1. And I think you'd still like to be attacking. But I don't think you necessarily want to be this attacking. And this is what sets up that moment that that you were talking about earlier, where Croatia kind of realized, hey, there's not any midfielders here.
00:16:55
Speaker
that All their attacking players are not really going to provide defensive work rate. We can find space and kind of take this game over. and I think coming out of the the hydration break, that's exactly what they do.
00:17:06
Speaker
Yeah, this is very, very Danish or Portugal because you're thinking Ramos, Ronaldo, Leal, Conceição. That's four guys that just want to chill without the ball. And yeah, Conceição will track back. But there's two midfielders, right? They pull off, ah I think, Vitinha. And so it's...
00:17:25
Speaker
I think the two Deveses are here and the four defenders and that's it. And so Croatia's counting like we've got a striker, we've got two wide midfielders, we've got a 10, we've got two defense midfielders and we'll push our fullbacks up. So it's kind of like it's getting to be a really bad numbers mismatch. And you know who takes over this game is like...
00:17:47
Speaker
mid-30s Mateo Kovacic, who's like, guys, I'm more fit than everyone. can dribble through everyone. I'm just gliding through the Portuguese midfield. And Croatia looks so, so dangerous in this stretch.
00:17:59
Speaker
And so it's interesting that the midfield here for Portugal, as you said, it's João Neves, and then it's Bernardo Silva who had come on from Virginia. Oh, right. And he's also not a defensive guy. Yeah. Yeah. And so you're just kind of like, all right, Joel Nevis, you can take care of all of this because we have five luxury attacking players on the pitch here right now that aren't providing defensive work rate and that allows Kovacic to just take this over. And so he gets two really good strikes.
00:18:23
Speaker
One gets tipped onto the post and then it's recycled it and it's a volley that's just palmed over. and he's just driving into space. Matarovic gets on a loose ball. He forces another save from an angle.
00:18:34
Speaker
Suchitz gets loose. He tucks inside the post, but he's a foot offside and denied. And Caraccio are just running this game. They're controlling the midfield. They're getting chances. Their skilled players are doing skilled things. And I think Roberto Martinez looks at his team and says, I have to change this. We can't go down this way because we don't have the bodies here to to take care of this. And his hand at this point is forced because he needs to take off an attacking player to bring on a midfield.
00:19:02
Speaker
But oh, look, his other four attacking players just came on. And you can't really justify hauling off one of those guys and keeping Ronaldo on. And so Bobby Martinez makes the call.
00:19:13
Speaker
On comes Ruben Neves to try and take care of the midfield. And Cristiano Ronaldo is the man off. And boy, does he cut a forlorn figure making his way to the sidelines. He always does this when he comes off. He's like, ah, he hits his hands at his hands. He's looking around. He's like, did everyone see that? They took me. They took me off. And it's like, yes, we all we all saw who they took off. um And then he gets on the touchline. He's still wearing his kid. He doesn't put on his his practice bib. And he's just directing the whole show. Real ones will remember that Euro 2016 final where he gets hurt and he's just conducting the whole thing like he gets that managerial title. But
00:19:51
Speaker
It's the right move, right? like Martinez has to do something. He has to do something. And as we think of Portugal in the whole, like is it only because of the game state that he needed to pull Ronaldo? Would he really left Ronaldo in for the 90? Or is the evidence of what happens after this change enough to be like, I could use more minutes of the game without the guy dragging down my defensive work rate?
00:20:18
Speaker
It's super interesting. And I think that's what's going to be fascinating about seeing how Portugal approached the Spain game is what lesson did they learn from this? Did they yeah did they learn the right lessons? Yeah. And because when you have your three, two best wide midfielders, Conceição and Liao, you've got a decent, you know, you don't have Bruno Fernandes, but you've got Neves, Neves and Silva.
00:20:39
Speaker
And then you have a mobile number nine, Lovato. look what you could do. Croatia are trying to stop you. It's an up and down game state. And I think Gonzalo Ramos puts out like, I don't know, about 90 minutes of tape. It could be nine seconds of tape.
00:20:52
Speaker
That was pretty cool. and And I think it's interesting because then I think Croatia react to the Portugal reaction, right? so this game really opens up. Posilic at the back post just nods wide after a well-shaped cross gets to him. But Dalic, I think, kind of realizes, I don't, know that I want to play 40 more minutes like this, right? He's thinking about the possibility of extra time because at this point, this game is tied 1-1. And so he goes a touch conservative and he he pulls Vlasic, the right midfielder, and puts on Josko Gavardio, who's in the left back.
00:21:23
Speaker
And that pushes Parasic to the left wing and and it pushes Pasilis to the right wing. And that makes Croatia a bit more defensive because... But it doesn't handle the Gonzalo Ramos question. And he, admit, comes up with the best moment of nine play we've seen from a Portuguese nine at this tournament.
00:21:40
Speaker
It's a cross from Leão. And the most dangerous guy all day here is Gonzalo Ramos. And he just, in the 90 plus four, wins a one-on-two header and puts it in the back of the net This is insane.
00:21:53
Speaker
He's being held by Vardigo and the other center back, and he holds them both off to to get this header in the corner. And it was a really, really physical piece of play from a bruising number nine. And
Technology's Role in Match Decisions
00:22:06
Speaker
Ronaldo, they crossed him a lot, but he doesn't have that like grown man strength. He has the Instagram strength and not to pick on it too much. Like he's got the jump high strength.
00:22:17
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And so this is a big, big time header from Gonzalo Ramos. And so there's something about Guardiola that's weird, right? He's clearly not like at 100%. He's not coming in like from heavy minutes here. He's coming in as little bit cold.
00:22:36
Speaker
I'm going to slide in an anecdote here from my brother, longtime listener of the show from from way, way back. He was at the game yesterday. um so and he he met i asked him, he had any notes to mail in. He says, Gavardio looked cold when he came in.
00:22:51
Speaker
He didn't have time to settle to the pace. And sometimes the way that manifests itself is... the physicality of you've got to get into that guy. And look, it's a perfect ball from layout, right? Maybe there's nothing he can do, but Gavardio just kind of looks off of it at touch. And it's so hard to deal with a striker like that bruising at right when you come in and you're, and you're the left back and you have to remember to track the run. And so,
00:23:20
Speaker
I don't even know if this is like what what you could do about this from Croatia. You got to stop the ball. You you got to move him off a spot, but this is excellent. Excellent. Number nine play. It's two minutes after he comes into the game, right? I think it's a really interesting point. He comes in at 90 plus two and at 90 plus four, Gonzalo Ramos is scoring his goal.
00:23:37
Speaker
But this game is far from over, folks. Even at 90 plus four, even only having given additional time of 10 minutes, Dalic makes another change. It's Andre Kromeric who comes on for Kovacic who says, all right, I got to throw my all my attacking players forward. And Croatia just have a gear. emit They have this mixer ball, plan B. We got to throw everything at this for five minutes. And they can get to this gear and they kind of pin Portugal in here. And I don't want to say that they're but like their, their theoretical equalizer here is inevitable, but they come up with a lot of good in the time that that they're pushing here.
00:24:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, when you have to turn into mixer ball, you need to progress with like one guy at the base of midfield. And it's good when that one guy is Luka Modric. And then you need a bunch of crossers. And they have a bunch of crossers. And then you need a bunch of bodies in the box. They have a bunch of bodies in the box. And so you could just feel the sweat from everyone in the stadium that Croatia have one last gasp in them because of what they've done historically and because of the way it looks. And they lump that ball in the box.
00:24:41
Speaker
And then we get to the fun. And then we get to the fun. Just when you think it's dead, it's chucked into the box. It's a deflected cross. It it hits Madinovic. We'll come back to that in a second. Falls to Pasalic. He touches it across to Gavardial, and Gavardial scores.
00:24:57
Speaker
But Pasalic is off, and we get to the dramatic VAR moment where we're looking at whether Madinovic touched this before it was deflected by a Portuguese defender and falls to Pasalic. And I think the most telling thing about this play to me, um having watched it,
00:25:14
Speaker
is Paslec, the second the goal comes from Gervardial, gives a very guilty turn to the assistant, right? He knows he's in an offside position. He's just hoping that maybe this was was deflected first from from Portugal or maybe nobody got a touch to it. But I think he knows that he's in an offside position here. And I think it's telling that the first thing that he does is he gives this look to the assistant like, we're fine, right? Like, like we're fine. like Like, that works out, okay? No problems, right?
00:25:42
Speaker
and we go do a whole VAR for this and it's super, super dramatic. And there's a few things here to to unpack. Like, There's a touch, right, from Modanovic that is the ghost touch, the sensor touch that we're going to talk about. But it does feel like there's also a touch after that from Vega, right?
00:26:02
Speaker
Can you explain that part or that the the whole thing about this for for for me and for everyone? Yeah. So so let's start with the sensor touch. So starting with the the World Cup in Qatar four years back, FIFA and Adidas, who was their ball provider, and install the sensor in the ball that doesn't affect how the ball plays. Players can't tell that it's there. But what it does is it's constantly sending signals that are linked to what is their kind of Hawkeye VAR system. The main use of this is to determine when the ball is played for offside, right? So when we are snapping the snapshot to determine whether plays offside or not.
00:26:38
Speaker
But it can also be used in potential penalty or offside situations to determine whether there was a touch. right So if there's an outstretched arm, did the ball actually touch the arm? And so FIFA uses it and Adidas use it to say that in this situation, when the ball is is gliding past Matarovic,
00:26:56
Speaker
that the ball from Matinovich is touched. And they say that it it glances the side of his head and there's a spike graph, right? So you've got the plane state. It looks like a heartbeat graph. Like a seismograph. Yeah, you've got the plane state and then you've got a peak that they're saying is the touch here from Matinovich that says that he touched it. What's interesting about this is is we've seen this technology used at other points in this tournament.
00:27:21
Speaker
And they generally show the entire pattern, right? So they show the first touch, they show the second touch, they show the last touch. But that's not here. The only thing you're getting is a flat line with a slight peak for when the ball is touched. And it's interesting that we don't get the then subsequent deflection shown. We don't get the initial touch shown. And so that kind of sits...
00:27:42
Speaker
oddly in this whole thing. Does the Vega touch matter for the the legislation? I mean, am I missing something? Would that have changed it even if he was offsides on the Matinovich touch?
00:27:54
Speaker
Yeah. So then the Vega touch comes into it in terms of is the ball deliberately played by a defender? So like the defender playing the ball negates offside, right? Right, right. Then generally used in a situation where a defender is making a back pass, right? That's not it. That's not it. Does a defensive deflection negate offside? And I think in this case, like, yes, Vega, I think, is trying to get something on it, but I don't think he's deliberately playing the ball backwards towards his own goal. I think he's deflecting it.
00:28:28
Speaker
i think you can make a case there, but I think if we are accepting the fact that Madinovich did touch this ball, and I don't think there's any reason for us not to accept that, right? I think we've seen enough evidence to kind of buy FIFA's story on this. Although the back angle shot, it's really hard to tell if Matinovic touches this or not. And from the naked eye, you don't see any spin change on the ball. The ball continues to spin as it was from the initial touch.
00:28:58
Speaker
I think this is the correct call, but it just feels so, so slight and very technology-aided, obviously. Yeah,
Emotional Conclusion and Reactions
00:29:08
Speaker
I think it's dangerous when we don't have faith in the technology. like That just leads to bad things in soccer. But it's tough. It's tough to see. And the way they presented it, like you said, I would have liked to seen in the full chart. That would make me feel a little bit better. would have liked to have seen that reverse angle in the determination when they were doing the determination. And so...
00:29:32
Speaker
you know At the end of the day, like I don't think it's unfair to Croatia. like he's offside he's in He's in the offsides position. It's a question of this ghost touch, but he put he puts himself in that position. There's a reason why he looks, to your point from the start of this. um Yes, the drama of it all is crazy. Truly crazy.
00:29:51
Speaker
And i FIFA aren't particularly clear about the margin of error with this technology. They don't give straight, up like tennis Hawkeye is very clear about what the margin of error on in and out is. FIFA don't necessarily give that information. And so I don't have the knowledge to sit here and tell you that,
00:30:11
Speaker
Hey, this could have actually, like, it can be effect. There could not be a touch, but the sensor could still ping that there was a touch because it passed so close and there's air movement that's like simulating it. I don't know if that's something that can happen with this technology. I don't know if anybody knows if that's something that can happen with this technology. But I think there's just enough questions here to feel like, huh.
00:30:33
Speaker
But again, I think we have to buy it. And look, you and I are not generally tinfoil hat guys. You're Brahim Diaz AFCON penalty take notwithstanding, right? We're not tinfoil hat people. And so I'm okay with just buying this at face value.
00:30:49
Speaker
But I think there's enough here to ask some some warranted questions. Yeah, we like transparency. Let's see it all. Yeah. man, what a what a bonkers ending. And then we get to, that's where we get to 107, 108, right? And...
00:31:07
Speaker
Croatia just feel like very, very, very very hard done by it. That's the thing you could see on all their faces, the emotion and the fans were throwing water bottles onto the field in rage. The very strong Croatian contingent that heard the atmosphere at this game was really, really excellent. And you could feel like this was a heavy, heavyweight fight, but like a Euro heavyweight fight that transported into Toronto.
00:31:31
Speaker
and I think Portugal like it might have helped them to just get pushed to the this this sensor margin limit in this game. So they they survive. I think that's the best way to so describe it. And look, the final XG ends up looking fine for them, but it's crazy game.
00:31:53
Speaker
This was the performance that I think you and I expected Croatia had in them. Extra time would have been fascinating because of all the changes and all the switching. like Extra
Spain's Tactical Dominance Over Austria
00:32:02
Speaker
time could have been very crazy. And I think you're probably favoring Portugal in extra time.
00:32:06
Speaker
But yeah, man, this game felt worthy of extra time. Although, like you said, we kind of just got extra time because I don't know when this game was... like we We've seen this a couple times at this World Cup.
00:32:18
Speaker
Goals in stoppage time are somehow like multiplying stoppage time down the stretch. And so we get 10 minutes here. The goal comes at 90 plus four and we end up playing until 90 plus 18. And I know that there's a whole bar thing. It just feels like stoppage time can kind of become endless if you have something that interrupts it. And and that led to a lot of drama here.
00:32:40
Speaker
100%. it's like they can't once there's a goal, they're like, oh, we got to make sure we get it right. And then after the goal, they're also counting stoppages. But if there's no goal, they just let it go if you time waste. So a little bit inconsistent there.
00:32:52
Speaker
So we'll put that one in the back pocket. It's a win for Portugal. It's a great performance from Croatia. It's it's true World Cup drama. but the other two games, Amit, I think followed a pretty standard script. so So let's start in the afternoon with Spain and Austria in Los Angeles.
00:33:07
Speaker
ah Spain start Daniomo at the 10. They put Bayern at the wing. Austria's rotating group of nines that are somehow effective but not all that effective starts with Gregorich.
00:33:18
Speaker
we We see Arnautovic and we see Sasha Kolodzic at points in this game. And Spain just kind of take the ball in this game. They don't really let Austria have it. Austria can't really play out of the back. They create turnovers when they do that. And it just kind of everything felt inevitable here for Spain against Wreck-It-Ralph.
00:33:38
Speaker
Yeah, we had kind of said on the preview, Austria should not try to go toe-to-toe with Spain. They should try to block it up. They shouldn't try to press. And... It went about how you'd expect when they played relatively open. I thought Austria generally on the day was not trying to go full destructive block. They were trying to like try to be opportunistic at getting turnovers and running at the back line. There are a few moments, not even a few. There are a lot of moments where they get what they want and have enough quality on the front line. For sure. Gregorich, for sure. Anyone else.
00:34:10
Speaker
to trouble the Spain back line, but in general, they couldn't build up. And this is one of their issues in their shape. Just Spain's press was excellent on the day. Spain's defensive work rate was really good on the day. And that's on Ogarthabal, Laminya Mall, Olmo, Rodri, Padre, and Baena. Just really good at controlling the game.
00:34:31
Speaker
and I mean, you know, the the game ends up 3-0. And the question for me is, should we change our opinion? or maybe should I change? How much should we change our opinion of Spain based on this performance?
00:34:43
Speaker
And it's an interesting question here because things we see here that I wanted to see. Padre was really good, right? Really, I think that the ticker in the midfield, Rodri looks really good, right?
00:34:55
Speaker
Laminia Mall... He's getting that dynamic ability on the ball. You see the take-ons here, like Conrad Limers trying to stop him, can't stop him. But the end product isn't 100% there.
00:35:07
Speaker
So is that enough? But they're getting more than enough here. And the player, you know, I know he's a good player, but who's really thriving right now is Mark Cucurea. player on this podcast who you know I've made fun of, and not necessarily because he's bad, I just don't like him. I think he's very annoying. He just kind of rubs me the wrong way.
00:35:25
Speaker
You said his tactical intelligence of how high he gets up the field and he knows where to play the balls. I think he's really, really excelling for De La Fuente, especially with Baena in front of him instead of something else. And so he is basically their like left winger on the ball, and it's it's working for them. like It's really working. Another player you have to say is Pedro Porro, is really good too.
00:35:48
Speaker
At the highest level, can Spain get away with Pedro Porro at right back physically, defensively? Can this work? I don't know the answer to that question. But on the ball, what I what i learned is if you do not if you don't pressure them, if you don't put anything in their way, it's a training ground for them. And perhaps that's what it should be for Spain. That's what you expect from Spain.
00:36:08
Speaker
I don't think they're going to see a a defense this bad again the rest of the way. So like i'm I'm still reserving some caution. But in general, like this is more of the Euro 2024 ruthless movement directness, not just side to side you know boring from Spain.
00:36:24
Speaker
So a good performance today against Austria. their first goal was just kind of quintessential this Spain right so so there's no pressure on Padre he's able to find Cucurea and as you said Cucurea just basically becomes an extra winger when you're playing a team like this that can't really threaten you or isn't threatening you the other way and Cucurea picks out Ouerthabo with the perfect pass and Ouerthabo is just in the perfectly perfect position and he just kind of passes it into the net there's no chance to for Schlager. And Schlager knows that there's no chance he doesn't even move. He looks like he's a FIFA goalkeeper. gets frozen in the play. This was so, so good.
00:37:01
Speaker
really, really smart finish from O'Grethal Ball. He kind of makes us look like a striker finish. Like he's not a striker build, but like you said, to to pass it from where he is, he's like what, 14 yards out. And at the end of the day, like I'm a big Kevin Donso fan. Cause I, I like Tottenham and he just, I think is not quite of the level of where he needs to be. And neither is all of a, and Oyer Thalball, I think, had a really good day kind of giving center backs a lot of problems. And, you know, maybe they weren't even that... Were they, what, a half step out of position on Oyer Thalball? The danger is before the ball gets to him.
00:37:38
Speaker
But... He's really, really good at imitating a striker and doing striker things. like And that is such a difference for Spain. is Before we've kind of said, and before before this tournament, like they always have a nine problem. like Remember Alvaro Morata? How many times I used to roll him out and be like, he looks like a striker.
00:37:57
Speaker
i promise he's a striker. And then he was just like wouldn't score his big chances. And now, Oger Thawball, in the last two years pluses, It's been really, really good for them. And this is really, really good piece of striking.
00:38:11
Speaker
Osher got a couple of chances after that, but there's just no final product here. They get some three on threes. They get some four on fours, but you just never trust them to to be able to finish that off. Spain get a couple more great chances right before halftime. Baena puts a free kick ah off the bar. Some head tennis falls to Lamin-Yamal wide open, but Schlager does really well to cut off the angle. This was probably the best chance Lamin-Yamal got in this game. Yeah.
00:38:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's just a point blank. like He puts it on frame too. like and when it when the When it's going that fast, I'm not sure he can really do anything else. This is just an excellent, excellent save from Schlager who in another universe, like Oscar's down one in this game. It's because he's kept them in this game and then there's joy to make their second half response.
00:38:53
Speaker
But even when they do make their response in the second half, As you nailed, there's just no final third quality, even when they do break through the Spain press and get runners.
00:39:05
Speaker
And it's kind of the story of of Austria's whole tournament. So they bring on two Kukwana and Grylich at halftime. On the hour mark, we get the the vaunted double pivot. Marko Arnavich, Sasha Klogic. And this creates their best moment of danger. They're down a goal in this game.
00:39:22
Speaker
And their one player of quality who we've kind of picked out alternative Sabitzer. And he puts a really good cross in. Klogic gets ahead to it. He just puts it over the bar. And I think it's a lot to ask for Austria to take this chance. But if this is the only chance you're going to really create in the game, you got to take it Yeah, you do. You could see the the math here, right? At this point, it's only one zero and he's gone to 4-4-2 and he's like, we have two strikers at two center backs at all times. And one of them, theoretically, we can hit it to him at all times.
00:39:53
Speaker
And so you get your collage shits look, right? How far is this? 10 yards-ish? It's a tough half chance, but you could do something with that. And When this happens, you're like, oh, I see a path here for Austria. They've just got to hit it at the big guy over and over again. The issue is 4-4-2, having chased Spain all game.
00:40:15
Speaker
Now you're down one and you need the ball. And you said to me before this podcast, the story of this game is good team has ball. Spain just turn up the the the passing and basically Austria are chasing shadows and they just get so tired. And then there's a zero ball pressure for the rest of the way. And so after that half chance,
00:40:35
Speaker
there's not a lot for Austria. It does not turn into 30 minutes of Austria chasing the game. It turns into 30 minutes of Austria chasing Spain. And this just looks, they look off of it. spain And this is where I was impressed by Spain's ball passing and just technical quality everywhere. And again,
00:40:55
Speaker
what we expect from Spain, but proof of concept against Austria past, past that test with a, a, a, a plus. And the the second for Spain comes pretty quickly after the sequence. And that kind of limits the ability for Austria to really get stuck in. Cause you're down two goals. And the passing here is just so good. And I think it's quintessential Spain. Like the first goal was in that this is a late run diving header from the right back Pedro Poro. And it's just amazing.
00:41:22
Speaker
We've gotten everybody involved. We're pinging it around. We're passing. And oh, look, here comes our right back to add another number to the box. This was also really good. Biana gets the assist. The issue with the 4-4-2 that Austria will play when they're most adventurous is they're six guys back, right? Their wingers are high. It's almost a 4-2-4, and they're just defending with six. And if you freeze frame the ball when it gets to Baena, the four guys are there, and the two midfielders are over on the right, over on the ball. And there's just acres of space in that like wide right area. And Pedro Porro, a smart player, he's like, oh there's no one to track me. There's too many. like You count the numbers. I'm the open one.
00:42:01
Speaker
and so many times when you're the open guy you're just camped out on the edge of the box and when you're a smart player you you go find it and as you said like how many teams allow their outside back to get this high this like direct in the box it's a very german spanish like super high uh aggressive style and pedro poro is Smart attacking player. This is just really, really nice. This is this is like the textbook. When you're when you're you're learning the Spain patterns, you're like, guys, in our system, we can do this. It's super fun, isn't it?
00:42:35
Speaker
It is super fun. Well, and you can do it because what are Austria going to do back the other way? Like you're just not really concerned about Austria breaking at you with any sort of of pace or or clinicalness. And Cucurea gets a hockey assist on this as well. He's the one who plays the ball to Baiana for the cross. That's 2-0. And then guess who's involved with the third right at the death? It's Cucurea again who finds Oyer Thawel.
00:42:57
Speaker
he's way out left again, basically in that left wing spot. And then he sees that you have to say a really, really smart pass that he curves it around to Austria defenders into the wide open space for your thought ball.
00:43:10
Speaker
And On this one, David Oliva, he turns around and he realizes there's he realizes that it's Ogre Thalba behind him and that no one from Austria has tracked the run.
00:43:22
Speaker
These guys are tired, right? After the two center backs, if they're not tracking run, who is? It's a fullback or it's a center mid. And the center mids are not tracking all the way back. And again, it's just a lack of numbers. It's a lack of awareness. It's a lack of movement. It's the mental thing of having to chase Spain all the time. and Oh, your Thabo and Cucure have a link. There's something there where like a movement. And that's what I like from Spain is when it's not just so Lamin-Yemal carry us like physically, like literally like carry the ball to create all of our chances.
00:43:55
Speaker
And that speaks to Austria's level that they couldn't like the force Spain off of their easy stuff. I mean, on this goal and the second goal, there is no ball resistance.
00:44:06
Speaker
You have to get a foot into Spain. You have to deny them space. And I think to do that, you've got to be more blocked. That's what we said. And this is a pale imitation of a defensive shape. And it's just the last team you can do that against.
00:44:24
Speaker
It's so, so good from Spain. And it looks as you say it looks amazing. They're probably not going to see this again for the rest of the tournament, but they saw it and they solved it. And now
Switzerland's Tactical Execution Against Algeria
00:44:34
Speaker
things get really tasty and we'll preview the whole Spain-Portugal matchup on a round of 16 preview, which will be out this weekend. But if that's not a blockbuster marquee matinee round of 16 tie on on Monday afternoon, man, I'm so excited for it.
00:44:50
Speaker
It's an all-time World Cup game. Even their group stage game back in 2018 ended in the Ronaldo free kick ah back in the first season of World Cup after dark. If it gives us even a ah shade of that, and I think it should give us more than that, I mean, we're in for a treat.
00:45:06
Speaker
The nightcap amid a 2-0 win for for Switzerland over Algeria. If Spain-Austria was good team, has ball. Switzerland-Algeria was wrong team, has ball. Because Algeria had a lot of the ball here.
00:45:19
Speaker
They come up with some pretty nice passing patterns and movements, but they completely lack anything in the final third. And every time it felt like, particularly in the first half, Switzerland touched the ball, it was clinical and dangerous back the other way. And that was just not the recipe Algeria needed.
00:45:36
Speaker
It's kind of went the way we we thought it would go. Algeria, the worst team on the ball, Switzerland waiting to bunker and counter using the athleticism of its front three. And at this point, you just have to say it's the Munzambi show, right?
00:45:50
Speaker
Kind of talking about how we preview the s suitde the Switzerland team. Maybe they're a bit old and slow in the back, but... the zombie is electric in space and there's now an impending sense of danger that allows Switzerland counterattack to be really good.
00:46:03
Speaker
And I just, I don't think Algeria, we said it was a lose-lose for them. And this is the way it went. They had the ball. They did a bunch of stuff. they're clear There's a clear nine issue for Algier. They don't have a physical number nine to be the end on the outlet. they Also, Rion Mahrez is a good chance.
00:46:20
Speaker
He's their best outlet, and he's not like physical enough, strong enough to to to be a guy you can cross to. So it looked like Turkey, like just a bunch of really clever, dribbling guys around the box. But if you just put everyone back, they just kept running into a wall.
00:46:36
Speaker
And then as soon as it's time for Switzerland to counter, These guys are running with a head of steam and, and Monzambi at this point made Algeria look like ants, like trying to cling to him. Like he just shrugged them off at every turn.
00:46:50
Speaker
His combination of speed and strength and, I want to say what I'm most surprised about him is his tactical knowledge. He plays at right wing his first breakout game. He's played at center mid for Freiburg. He's played a striker here. He's like a second striker alongside Mbolo. He's the left wing, but basically they're, they're almost doing four, four, two, so they can leave him super high and he's coming deep to receive the ball.
00:47:17
Speaker
And then he's just shredding guys. And so ah the combination of all of that right now at this age for, listen, I know he was a breakout for some players. Isaac Bushnell, friend of the show, really was on this guy at Freiburg. He was not even doing this at Freiburg. Like this level up is part of the system, part of the moment. He's putting it all together at a really high level.
00:47:44
Speaker
I mean, he's kind of single-handedly completely, completely changed the tenor of this team. He's changed the equation for, for Switzerland and that it allows them in this game to just kind of watch all the pretty passing from Algeria in the first 10 minutes. And then the second they get the ball, they outlet it to him and he just says, Hey, I've got it. And he just makes it a big boy run. It's Vargas who sets it up. He plays Manzambi in, but then Manzambi just mauls Mondi to get to his spot. And this is just a, it's a,
00:48:12
Speaker
big boy run there there's no other way to put it it's just a strong grown man taking his spot and taking it away from the defender and I think Mbola deserves some credit here he makes a nice work nice work between the two defenders to to make this run and to get into the spot for for the strike if this is what Switzerland can do they're going to be very dangerous at this tournament That counter is going problem. You're going to feel like you you can't commit numbers forward. You have to account for these guys. The best thing for Mbolo has been this Manzambi turn. His chemistry is a lot better. He knows how to read it, how to get in those spots. And Mondi's a decent center back, right? We've said Algeria's center backs can, you know, they're not ah the best, but they can kind of hang. Mondi's their strongest guy. And
00:48:55
Speaker
a he he has no chance here. And that's what it is. And it's also, he gets to that end line spot before he knows where he's going to have, have time to to play this ball. And he uses what every inch of the end line to do it too. That was also just very satisfying.
00:49:13
Speaker
It's so, so good. And then Algeria, again, have a lot of the ball. They have really nothing in the final third. And Switzerland know that every time they get it, they can come at them. The best chance for Algeria in the first half is, I think, comes right in stoppage time when Mazza snaps at a chance at after hour, really deftly holds it up for him. Algeria needed a lot from Mazza. And I think Mazza is a player that impressed us at points in this tournament. But as you said, the lack of a more... additional nine option that's leaving Mazda kind of playing in this role when maybe he's best suited a bit further back, just kind of handcuffs him here.
00:49:47
Speaker
he He has too many things to do. He needs to go get the ball, but then he needs to beat guys. He needs to shoot. And so you can't do all of it. And I think this Algeria team, we saw them have a lot of success against Austria, right? On the ball, a team that you can make chase, but you have to make them chase. Switzerland never felt like they were out of rotate or scrambling. They never were scrambling. Maybe they beat a defender on the wing, but then there was like two or three guys waiting.
00:50:15
Speaker
And so... to ungum that, like you just need different things. And Mazza, I think in ah in a better situation can be the guy in gumming it to to play the other guys, like you're saying. And he just never has that today.
00:50:30
Speaker
I think there's a few moments where Algeria get these cutbacks too. Right. And just a few moments of transition and it falls to guys who just aren't built to take those kinds of chances. They're,
00:50:43
Speaker
they're not pure nines and they're, they're also not like um in the right shapes, body shapes to to take these chances to on the cutbacks. And Switzerland, again, having taken the early lead, that allows them to not have to chase so much. And they can just pretty much sit back and and wait for the ball to turn over. Or they can go turn the ball over in in spots. And then this game, I think, really just switches off. So so we go to halftime. It's 1-0. You know Vladimir Petkovic is rah-rah in the drafts of your own trying to get this Algeria team up. You know, all right, here's what we got to do. Here's how we're going back at it. Maybe we change some of our patterns. Maybe we look and we try to do this and we try to do that.
00:51:20
Speaker
And then within a minute of the second half, the ball's in the back of the net for 2-0. And Zakiria, who's the the Swiss fullback in this game, the Swiss right back, just make space down the the left and he gets across blocks. There's a poor clearance from an Algerian defender. He gets a second bite of the apple. He sends it into the danger spot.
00:51:38
Speaker
There's another clearance. This one from Belgali that just doesn't get far enough out falls to Indoi and Indoi picks his spot for two nil. It's a nightmare start to the second half for Algeria. And this is pretty much game at this point.
00:51:51
Speaker
Pretty much. And really good finish from Indoi from the spot he is in the box to, to get the corner here. Look, yeah you can't have two bad clearances like this. This is just like defend your box textbook 101. Like you you can't hit it to the other team there. And so I think there's scenarios in this game where it's 1-0 and Algeria hang around just enough to kind of grease up some interesting attacks. We know the Switzerland attack is dangerous, but there's some scenarios this is like the worst thing you can do. You just, you absolutely can't do it to start the half, right? As you're saying, like, you think Petkovic told him to do that? No, he didn't. So,
Looking Ahead: World Cup Matches Preview
00:52:30
Speaker
look, Algeria and Oster were like the two last teams in that settled for a draw, and it turned out in the round of 32, they were 34.
00:52:40
Speaker
Two, plus two. Like, the last two teams, right? That was stupid. But, yeah, like, I thought the levels were exposed here in different ways, right? And credit to Switzerland. i the Like, they...
00:52:52
Speaker
they Basically, whenever they wanted to go forward, just made the Algier defense look really, really uncomfortable. And that's where we said it was a lose-lose situation for Algier. They could have had the ball for so much in this game, and it just would have felt like any time they gave it away, they were in trouble.
00:53:09
Speaker
And then they gave it away in the worst spot, and that's what you just can't do. And it's just switching and getting to an advantage advantageous game state, right? Like yeah they're up a goal within 10 minutes and then they're up two at the start of the second half. That's just never going to, like that's exactly how they wanted to play this game. That's exactly how they got to play this game. And to their credit, they were very ruthless. They could have been even more ruthless. Fabian Raider had maybe the worst miss of this World Cup. How how did he not score?
00:53:34
Speaker
he aimed sideways. It's like he pressed the wrong button. He pressed pass instead of shoot on his controller. Um, the activity on this one is 0.65. Again, we will say how rare it is to have an open play chance over 0.5. And,
00:53:49
Speaker
I don't know how you go sideways on this one. Yeah, the controller was the wrong input. I don't know. Very funny for for for Switzerland. Should have been three. Final XG for Switzerland up at 2.45. And Algira put up 0.73. And so, again, maybe there's a scenario where Algira in this game, but pretty much like just textbook, go up, see the lead, go up to see it out like stuff from Switzerland here.
00:54:15
Speaker
and I think Switzerland are a really interesting team to watch going forward. And whether it's God or Colombia the round of 16, I think particularly if it's Colombia, that's a really tasty, kind of underratedly so game in the round of 16 that Amit and I will preview on our round of 16 preview. All right, so here's what to expect from us. We've got one more day in the round of 32. That's today, this Friday.
00:54:34
Speaker
Australia, Egypt, Argentina, Cape Verde, and then we close out with Colombia and Ghana. Amit and I will recap those Friday games on Saturday morning. Also on Saturday morning, you will get our round of 16 preview.
00:54:49
Speaker
But if you're looking for a preview of the Saturday round of 16 games, which is Canada, Morocco, and France, Canada, Paraguay, you can find that on our Patreon page for our Patreon subscribers. That's patreon.com slash WCAD. So again, that's where you can find our preview of France, Paraguay, and Canada, Morocco. We'll have a Friday recap on Saturday morning, and we also have a preview of the rest of the round of 16 also on Saturday morning, and that starts with the Sunday games, and then we'll recap the entire weekend, Saturday and Sunday on Sunday night. Are you following all that, Amit? i hope you are because I'm counting on you to to join me.
00:55:30
Speaker
Me? What? yeah You. It's you. Oh, man. I just show up and say, just spew off whatever. No, no, no. We've got the schedule, guys. Come on. We've got you covered for the round of 16. We had you covered for the round of 32. I feel like people enjoyed those previews. And the games we got were great.
00:55:47
Speaker
Hey, the chess board just gets even better. The grandmasters are out. It's time for the round of 16. It's a slimy stuff. You got to be with us for for what's going to be. This World Cup just keeps delivering. Yeah.
00:55:58
Speaker
And look, I don't need to to plug our Patreon page much more, but I will say this. If you're looking for what old-timey cosplay jokes we can have about the magician Gustavo Alfart, you're going have to get to the Patreon page to find that out because that's what the France Parwai preview is going to be. You can find all our other episodes, of course, on on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your stuff. There'll be plenty coming out this weekend. There'll be plenty next week as this World Cup builds to a crescendo. It's been a great tournament so far.
00:56:25
Speaker
I think there's so, so much more to come. We will be right here breaking it all down with you. Enjoy the games today. we will see you guys tomorrow morning or we'll see you on our Patreon feed for that first couple of round of 16 previews.
00:56:37
Speaker
Looking forward to it and we'll talk to you guys soon. Take care and thanks for listening.