WEBVTT - Episode 21: World Cup Brackets, Predictions, and an Enigmatic, Beautiful Man 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:10.240 Hello, and welcome to the Away and I'm Nielle Alercone. 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:15.320 I'm John Green. Today, friends, we're making predictions. It's happening. 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:16.840 It's actually happening. 0:00:16.880 --> 0:00:17.119 Wow. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:19.919 How do you feel, John, You're confident in your picks. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.600 I feel like you're going to have to write another 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.160 novel so that you will have a place to put 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:26.880 my name. 0:00:27.480 --> 0:00:33.960 Wow, Juan beb here we come all right? Okay. We 0:00:34.000 --> 0:00:35.880 also wanted to lay out the terms of our bet 0:00:35.960 --> 0:00:41.080 and also reiterate our invitation to all the listeners to 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:44.800 join our bracket because we're gonna ount surprise. This is. Yeah, 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:47.839 we've come out kind of strongly against against betting, but 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.800 I think this is kind of a betting thing we 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.280 can all get get behind, right. Yeah. 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.640 So we're gonna give the winner of awayendbracket dot Com 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.720 some signed books, So nothing to get too excited about. 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.280 It is just an obligation to read, which in twenty 0:01:01.280 --> 0:01:04.000 twenty six probably feels more annoying to you than anything. 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:06.679 But yeah, it's an opportunity to have some signed books. 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.280 You can also use those books if you park on 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:11.600 a hill and you want to put them under your tire, 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:14.800 you know, I mean, you know, whatever you want. No 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:16.360 one's saying you have to read them. Yeah, it's up 0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.039 to you, Daniel. 0:01:18.040 --> 0:01:19.480 I don't know if you saw the news story, but 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:24.479 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, someone went into a local library and 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:28.279 burned a copy of my book Paper Towns on the 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:34.200 floor of the lobby. What what Yeah, no, I missed that. 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:36.800 I don't have I don't have a Googler for your name. 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:39.440 But how Yeah, that's so, why do I forgive you? 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.400 How do you feel complicated? 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:46.240 I mean, I'm glad, you know, glad to always bring 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:49.480 about big feelings and readers. But maybe that wasn't necessarily 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:50.560 the one I was going for. 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.960 Yeah, just give it one star on Amazon, like you know, 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.080 just why do you gotta go burn it? 0:01:57.040 --> 0:02:00.200 Exactly if you don't like it? There's always good reading. 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:02.480 Yeah, there's always good reason. We can just vent to 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:04.600 your heart's content. I would burn this book in a 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:11.200 public library. But that's that's illegal. Wow, that's that's crazy. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.800 I had a friend one time who moved and in 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.959 the course of his move, basically all of his belongings 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:21.639 were stolen, except like a bag of books that included 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:25.880 the novel that I've given him. That because the thieves 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:30.040 were like, no, this is just too heavy to carry 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:34.680 and there's no TV red pile right now. Yeah, exactly, 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:36.720 all right, So we got. 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.240 To make our predictions, but first you wanted to have 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.360 a quick conversation about de b Martinez. 0:02:44.600 --> 0:02:46.880 Yes, because the reason we're going to do this is 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:51.640 because there we're giving out some predictions for you know, 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.440 for for things like Golden Glove, golden boot, et cetera, 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:58.000 in addition to our semi finalists. But what was funny 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:00.240 was that John and I and we were texting, we 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:05.359 had starkly different interpretations of an iconic moment from the 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:09.080 last World Cup, which is when Debu Emiliano Martinez, the 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:13.080 goalkeeper of Argentina, was given his award for the Golden 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:17.280 Glove and made what can only be called an obscene 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:19.840 gesture basically to the world. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.760 Yeah, the most obscene gesture you can imagine. He took 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.440 the trophy and put it on his crotch to imply 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:28.880 that he had the trophy. 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:33.799 A five fingered penis. Yes, yes, his penis has five fingers. Yes, 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.520 that was the implication For our listeners who don't know 0:03:37.600 --> 0:03:42.040 much about Emiliano Martinez and his personality. Could you describe him. Granted, 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:44.440 neither you nor I know him as a human being. 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.280 I'm you know, I'm sure he's a nice guy, but 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:49.600 just who is he on the pitch and off the pitch? 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.240 The kind of personality he exudes, well. 0:03:52.960 --> 0:03:56.520 I would say that in third and fourth tier English football, 0:03:56.720 --> 0:03:59.320 there's a saying that sometimes you need someone who's a 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.880 little bit crazy and understands the dark arts of football, 0:04:03.400 --> 0:04:07.280 and Emiliano Martinez understands the dark arts of football. And 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.480 also he is he's an unpredictable character, Daniel. I mean, 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.080 you never know when he's going to take a trophy 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.880 and just just do that, because that wasn't the first 0:04:15.880 --> 0:04:17.760 time he's done that. To be fair, he also did 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:19.480 it with the Copa America trophy. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.280 Wow. Yeah. I would say that there was a question 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:28.159 that we had in our Mailbag episode about goalkeepers, and 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:33.200 I would say that Debu exemplifies the like there may 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:36.479 be a screw loose with this, you know, world class 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.520 athlete that allows him to be who he is and 0:04:40.560 --> 0:04:43.359 be as successful as he is because he's he's a 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:47.760 he's a wild one. I was a fan of his 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.679 until he left Arsenal, and then he made a point 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.000 of like dabbing a finger in our eye collective by 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.520 every time he played us. And my favorite Deebu Martinez 0:04:57.520 --> 0:05:01.880 moment was when he he scored an own goal because 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:04.360 a shot ricocheted off the back of the post, hit 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:05.839 him in the head and went in as like a 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:10.080 late late, you know, ninetieth minute winter That was just 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:13.240 a lovely, hilarious moment. So we had different interpretations of this. 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:14.640 You said that you thought this was like one of 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:16.560 the greatest moments in World Cup history. 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:18.160 I was kidding when I said it was one of 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:19.720 the greatest moments of World Cup history. 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:20.640 But I did think it was. 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.120 I thought it was very in line with who he is, 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:27.960 and I wasn't offended by it. You you, with all 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:36.120 of your taciturn value driven family system, apparently, yeah, your 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:38.760 finger wagon, you apparently found this deeply offensive. 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.640 Well, okay, now it seems a little bit pearl clutching, 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:47.440 but you're right. I just it seems and I don't 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.599 think there's much argument here. It just seem pretty undignified, 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:55.000 and I was undignified, and I just want my winners 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:58.400 to be dignified. I don't know, maybe that's too much top. Also, 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.280 when we were thinking, we were talking about it. I 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:04.680 was thinking that for every other person on the on 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:09.600 that Argentina squad walking pass and receiving their winner's medal 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:14.680 was the fulfillment of a childhood dream, and for Diebou Martinez, 0:06:14.720 --> 0:06:17.000 it was slightly different. It was not the fulfillment of 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:19.840 a childhood dream. It was like the could the fulfillment 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:22.919 of a childhood promise that he'd made, like on like 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:27.440 some scrabvelly gravelly playground in Argentina somewhere with like his 0:06:27.560 --> 0:06:30.600 two derelic friends who's like are named like a loco 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:35.359 or something, and he'd promise them at age eleven that 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:37.840 one day he would win the Golden Glove and then 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:42.640 he would pretend that it was his dick basically and 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:44.839 just like attach it to his crotch in front of 0:06:45.520 --> 0:06:49.400 you know, gazillion people watching, and everyone laughed. His two 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:51.599 friends laughed, and he's like, I'm going to do that. 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:55.120 This was a solemn promise that he'd made. And I 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:58.920 just felt to me, I guess if you want to 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:00.719 put a positive spin on it, and I think you do. 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:06.080 We have someone who is can only be himself and yeah, 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.000 and there's no you know, you can put a tuxedo 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.280 on him. He's still going to be that kid on 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:15.080 the playground who's like me against the world. Baby, let 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:17.560 me you know, I'm going to show them and uh 0:07:18.880 --> 0:07:21.840 and I guess that's admirable. But just a little bit 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:24.960 of we talked about media training last week, John, I'm 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:29.760 pretty sure no media trainer would have been like, you know, Emiliano, 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:33.160 make sure you're when you're standing in from the shake 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:38.640 of you know, Qatar, you do this at the stadium. 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:40.240 I don't know, I don't know. 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.080 Maybe I'm just he kept his promise, Daniel, and I 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:48.360 kept on him in favor of people keeping their promises. Good, good, good, Okay, 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:50.880 all right, all right, fair enough, Daniel, let's move on. 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.400 Who is going to win the World Cup. 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:01.240 Spain? That's my pick, and that's my pick. Who are 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.440 going to be the four semi finalists. Well, I've been 0:08:04.480 --> 0:08:07.280 changing this up until the very last moment. And there 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:10.840 may or may not be glitches in our bracket at 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.559 Racket at Away and bracket dot com. Yeah, exactly. Please 0:08:14.640 --> 0:08:18.040 to all our listeners, we are working on the glitches. 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.600 So we'll be we'll be working on this up up 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.200 until you know, the kickoff of the first game. But 0:08:23.360 --> 0:08:28.040 what basically I have France, Spain, Morocco, Argentina and the 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:32.520 final is Spain Argentina. But in previous iterations I had 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.240 South Korea for some reason going all the way to 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:39.240 the Semis. I also had Brazil sort of like pulling 0:08:39.280 --> 0:08:41.800 up together and getting into the Semis. I had Belgium 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:45.960 beating Spain. You know, like, I really could go any 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:48.880 any which way, and I think I'm gonna change it 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:54.120 in the course of of uh, you know, of the tournament, 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:56.120 you know, before we get to the knockouts. But anyway, 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:58.920 this is my sense right now at this moment, I 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:02.240 think Spain has like there's not there's there's not a 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.040 dud on that team, you know. And even though you 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:13.640 could argue that France has a better attacking, better attacking players, 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:17.520 I feel like, having watched the performance last night against 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.120 Ivory Coast, I was not super impressed with their defense, 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:24.199 and I feel like Spain now they just controlled the midfield. 0:09:24.200 --> 0:09:28.040 You can't you can't score if you never get the ball, right, Yeah, 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:28.959 that's what I think. 0:09:29.080 --> 0:09:34.120 All right, Well, I have current I mean, I I'm 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:40.840 struggling here, so I have in the quarters I have Brazil, England, Argentina, Columbia, Spain, Turkey, France, Morocco. 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:44.760 After that, I don't feel confident at all going into 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:46.880 the Semis because I think any of those eight teams 0:09:46.920 --> 0:09:49.600 could win any of those four games. And I'm going 0:09:49.640 --> 0:09:55.360 to say England. Hm, I'm gonna say Brazil. I just 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:59.480 changed my mind. I'm gonna say Brazil Argentina. I just 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:01.120 don't think it one can do it in the heat. 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:02.719 I think the heat is going to be. 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:03.360 Too much for them. 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:08.520 Brazil, Argentina, France, and Spain are my quarter finalists and 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:12.040 my champion. Since you picked Spain, I will pick France. 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:16.240 Hmmm, France is definitely not gonna win it. You can 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:22.920 you could, okay, sign Spain. I will pick England. Okay, okay, 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.760 all right, great, great, these are these are deeply held convictions. 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.640 I have my final France versus England, and since you're 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.439 convinced that France is not going to win it, I'll 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:36.120 pick England. Wow, that's all it takes. That's convinced that. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:43.920 Then Debu's friend in local you know, let's get Sean here, 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:47.080 because Sean also has some picks. Yeah, I have some 0:10:47.200 --> 0:10:47.880 picks here. 0:10:48.120 --> 0:10:52.920 Guys, and I I'm aligned with a lot of your picks, 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.640 but I gotta say, like they it just they feel 0:10:55.679 --> 0:10:58.400 a little basic and a little a little boring to 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:01.600 me because it's like so obvious or something like that. 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:06.640 Like I have France, Spain, England, and Argentina and my 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:12.520 semi final bracket and identical to mine Spain and Argentina, 0:11:12.520 --> 0:11:14.319 and the final was Spain winning. 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:16.439 Wow. 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:19.080 And again it's like, is that like the equivalent of like, 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:20.920 and it's like the equivalent of just picking all the 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.680 number one seeds going against each other if there was 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:28.559 a seeding like that. Yeah, but they usually do end 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:29.719 up that way. 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:32.480 True. So I think it's I think you're making reasonable 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:34.600 picks if you're trying to get your name into one 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.280 of our books, and you are, so I think you're 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:41.479 making the right call. I think there will be some surprises. 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.280 I think France. I mean, I love France, I love 0:11:45.320 --> 0:11:49.360 the French, I love French literature, French food and Paris 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:51.520 and blah blah blah. But I kind of would love 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.199 it if France didn't do well this time. I think 0:11:54.200 --> 0:11:55.199 it'd be pretty interesting. 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:57.840 Well, I think they've got a really tough potential game 0:11:57.880 --> 0:11:59.800 in the round of sixteen if they end up playing 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:02.960 some one like Ecuador. Yeah, and then they could play 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.240 someone like Morocco and that could be a hard game 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:05.640 as well. 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.199 Yeah, they didn't look great last night. Their finishing was terrible. 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:11.760 I got to say, the Ivorian goalkeeper for the final 0:12:11.920 --> 0:12:15.640 was played an incredible match. But again it goes back 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.000 to those things like do you how much do you 0:12:18.040 --> 0:12:21.360 read into the into these friendlies. You know, you have 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:23.800 to assume that when it comes down to it, they'll 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:26.000 have them Beleles starting and he'll put the ball in 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:26.840 the back of the net. 0:12:27.160 --> 0:12:29.839 So, guys, I just realized that I said Brazil was 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.720 going to make the semifinals and then England was going 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:34.360 to win the tournament. After taking England out of the semifinals, 0:12:34.440 --> 0:12:36.640 I just want to state my picks for the record. 0:12:36.840 --> 0:12:40.080 My picks are England, Argentina, France, Spain and the Semis 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:45.080 England to win the tournament. Sorry, Brazil, love much love 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:45.560 to Brazil. 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.280 Great. Okay, that's exciting. I was actually talking to a 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:55.480 friend of mine, Brazilian friend Daigo, and he said that 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.520 he'd be happy with the quarterfinals, that there's just not 0:12:57.640 --> 0:13:01.439 a lot of the enthusiast or confidence right now in 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:04.400 the Brazilian squad. So we'll see. Okay, so we've got 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:08.120 our winners, which we'll admit our little basic and the 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.160 caveat being that we can all go in and change 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.400 our picks on away in bracket dot Com up until 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:20.079 pickoff of the Mexico game tomorrow. Let's do Golden Boot, Sean, Yeah, 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:24.160 I'll start. This is actually the only other award that 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.920 I had made a pick for, so but yeah, for 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:31.760 Golden Boot, I have Arling Holland from Norway. Holland topped 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.960 the Premier League scoring charts for the third time this season. 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:39.679 He scored twenty seven goals and thirty five appearances in 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.960 the regular season for Manchester City. But the reason I'm 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.360 going with Erling is not so much due to his 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:50.640 scoring prowess. I'm going with Arling because I don't know 0:13:50.679 --> 0:13:54.319 if you guys have seen the official Norway team photo 0:13:54.400 --> 0:14:01.920 that was just released. It's unbelievable. King Theme. This is like, 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:03.880 this is the coolest photo. 0:14:03.559 --> 0:14:06.720 I've ever seen in my life. And because of that, 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:10.280 I'm like a huge Arling fan. Now, I think that's great. 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:11.000 I don't think it's. 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:15.080 Great that you call him Earling like like, no, no, 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.360 you're like you're his friend. Yet you were saying I 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:22.200 was mispronouncing. No, you're doing a great Job's perfectly pronounced you. 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:24.320 Since you guys are homies in text all the time. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:28.440 Obviously then because everyone everyone else who we call him 0:14:28.440 --> 0:14:31.240 Holland because that's his on the back of his jersey. 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.360 But I think it's great that you guys have that 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:34.720 level of intimacy, you know. 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.080 Yeah, yeah, yeah, And I'll continue that tradition by going 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:43.720 with Harry Harry Kane. Since England are going to win 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:46.160 the tournament, it follows logically that Harry Kane is going 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:49.400 to score a lot of goals, and Harold Kane is 0:14:49.400 --> 0:14:51.640 my pick for the Golden boot hmm. 0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:55.800 Okay, I'm going with this mondn Bell for France. I 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:59.000 thought France are going out in the quarters, but he's 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.360 gonna score sixteen goals before that. Okay, I don't know. 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.680 I'm not sure there's no logic to this. This is 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.520 I'm just going on on vibes and you know my gut, John, 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.920 Let's just just yeah, BELLI is a great player. Yeah, 0:15:14.000 --> 0:15:17.640 it's a great pick. Okay, all right, Golden Glove, Golden Glove. 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.920 I am going to go with the one, the only, 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:28.000 deb Martinez, just in case don't win the World Cup. 0:15:28.200 --> 0:15:31.480 I think Debo Martinez might win the Golden Glove. 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:34.880 Yes, and he will certainly do the gesture once more 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.080 if he does. I'm gonna go with whoever is Spain's goalkeeper? Uh, No, 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:41.640 you've got to pick. Is it going to be Unici Mohler. 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:46.680 Is it going to be David Rayah or Joan Garcia? Right? Yeah? 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:49.880 They got three great goalkeepers, they got three extraordinary goalkeepers. 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:52.560 I'm going no, I don't have to pick the name. 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:58.920 I'm saying, whoever Spain ends up putting in goal will 0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:02.520 win the Golden Glove. That's what I'm saying. Whether it's 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:09.160 right Garcia or or Simon. Yeah, I'm going to allow it, 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:12.680 but reluctantly. Reluctantly Okay, and what was our last thing 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.240 we're picking? No, we gotta have Sean pick a Golden 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:15.840 Glove winner. 0:16:16.240 --> 0:16:19.400 Oh, Sean, I didn't do my I didn't do my 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.080 full research here, so I don't have I don't have 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:24.120 a Golden Glove pick. 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:27.400 Just pick an keeper. Yeah, yeah, it'll be fine. 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.400 Okay, Yeah, I'm going to go with the American keeper. 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:34.200 I'll tell you what, if the American keeper wins the 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:35.800 Golden Glove, We're going to have a hell of a 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:36.520 fun tournament. 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.080 I mean that that will be that will be awesome. 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:41.960 It'll be a bunch of nil nil draws. He'll win 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:47.240 the Golden Glove without getting out of the group three 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:52.680 nil nil draws now with fifteen saves apiece. Yeah, exactly 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.480 is it gonna be? What's his name? The god? Who 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.480 is it going to be? Matt Turner? Mattie Turner, Oh god, 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.920 Matt Turner. Remember him. He's a good shot stopper. I 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:04.520 do remember him? Yeah, No, I do. He's a good 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.280 shot stopper. He's not a great distributor of the ball. No, 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.680 he's not. He's not super nice guy from all appearances. Yeah, 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:14.840 seems lovely. Seems lovely. Okay, so great. I think we're set. 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.480 Oh we had one more that was like they give 0:17:17.520 --> 0:17:22.359 out a Golden Boy award, right, Yeah, which is an 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:26.240 odd name, but Golden Boys like best young player. And 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.800 I think I'm going to go with the only candidate 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:33.719 that is gonna really be in the in contention for this, 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:35.240 and that's La Mina Mal. 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.760 I'm also going to go with Gloomina Mal and Sean 0:17:38.000 --> 0:17:39.639 even though you didn't do your research, you're going to 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:40.680 go with Gloomina Mal. 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.720 Actually I have a pick. Okay, I have a pick 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:47.480 in keeping with the US men's national team for my pick. 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.000 So I'm going with Tim Weya. 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:49.920 Wow. 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:53.359 And that is because of his again, this is my 0:17:53.520 --> 0:17:57.320 unorthodox picks, but his incredible piano playing skills. I don't 0:17:57.320 --> 0:17:59.800 know if you guys have seen Tim Weya tickle the 0:17:59.840 --> 0:18:03.560 eye is, but he's a He's a fantastic piano player. 0:18:03.720 --> 0:18:06.439 That's incredible. I did not know that. 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:09.000 I knew that he was the former the son of 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.159 former Liberian President George Way, but I did not know 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:16.720 that he was also a piano player. That man contains multitudes. Yeah, 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.800 Golden Boy and love it all right? Great, So those 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:21.600 are picks. 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.240 Of course, we're all going to be wrong about most 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.800 of these, but yep, that's what's fun about it. Okay, 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.919 Away and bracket dot Com. Let's take a quick break 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:46.439 and we'll be right back. Okay, we're back on the 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.879 away and we are going to talk about it. Some 0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.840 of the games, the kind of for interesting games in 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:54.560 the first few days of the World Cup that you 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:59.000 will all be enjoying. I we're going to talk about 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:03.840 Mexico South Africa against Paraguay, Brazil, Morocco, Netherlands, and Japan, 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:07.359 four games that I picked at random, very interesting games, 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:10.760 plus the Mexico and US games, John, which you want 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:11.160 to talk about. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.920 First, Let's start by talking about the epicenter of global 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.400 culture and well being, the United States of America. 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.159 Huh yes, sure, Okay, what are your thoughts on the 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:25.880 United States of America these days? Things are going great? Right, 0:19:26.960 --> 0:19:30.080 going great? Yeah, they're good, They're good. Things are great. 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.080 I just read your New Yorker article about the political 0:19:33.080 --> 0:19:35.760 situation in Peru, which. 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.960 Made me feel less alone. At least. A friend of 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.600 mine wrote me and she was like, great, piece, let's 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:47.640 all go jump off a cliff. Yeah, it's a little 0:19:47.640 --> 0:19:53.040 stark the situation there. Yeah, okay, So US Paraguay. I 0:19:53.080 --> 0:19:56.040 think Paraguay is a very tough opponent for the US. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:19:58.560 I think this is far from a given. 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:01.920 I don't know, oh where Paraguay's goals are going to 0:20:02.000 --> 0:20:04.480 come from, but I also don't know necessarily where the 0:20:04.560 --> 0:20:06.520 US's goals are going to come from. I agree with 0:20:06.560 --> 0:20:08.600 you that it's far from a given. If the US 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:13.000 doesn't win this game, I think the rest of the 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:15.880 tournament starts to look very stark because of the pressure, 0:20:16.520 --> 0:20:19.600 and so I think that they're going to find a 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:23.400 way to win. They looked pretty dark. Admittedly they weren't, 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:26.240 you know, playing against Senegal's best eleven, but they looked 0:20:26.280 --> 0:20:29.440 pretty good against Senegal. They were playing pretty entertaining football, 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:33.879 and they were attacking, and they looked fairly good. I 0:20:33.960 --> 0:20:36.439 think that they're going to beat Paraguay, but I agree 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:39.479 with you, it is not a given and it is 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:40.800 not going to be an easy game. 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:45.600 Anyone who's watched South American qualifying matches or Copamaica matches 0:20:45.720 --> 0:20:50.800 knows that Paraguay what they're known for is their really 0:20:50.880 --> 0:20:56.320 tough defense. Yeah, they're like the Italians of South America. 0:20:56.640 --> 0:21:00.840 And if they had use of this very famous goalkeeper 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:04.640 Chi la Vet, who was extraordinary, but they're just tough 0:21:04.640 --> 0:21:06.840 to break down. They don't score a ton of goals. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.000 You're right, but I could easily see this being a 0:21:09.200 --> 0:21:12.560 one to one or a nil nil even because they're 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:14.240 not gonna and they also they're not gonna wilt in 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:16.560 the heat. They're not going to be like, oh, it's 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:20.000 too hot for play here, you know, so I don't know. 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.120 I think I would go for a draw on this one. 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:25.840 And I think that puts you in a difficult position 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:27.679 for sure. And I mean it means they have to 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:29.879 beat Australia because I don't think they're going to beat Turkey. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:34.040 A Yeah, for sure. I was happy to see the 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.640 goals coming for Christian Pulicic. I think it. I mean, 0:21:38.640 --> 0:21:41.840 this is not like top shelf analysis here, this is 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:44.399 pretty basic. But it's like if he's not playing well, 0:21:45.160 --> 0:21:48.000 the US doesn't have a shot. You know, he's he's 0:21:48.280 --> 0:21:51.840 been He's been generally pretty great in a in a 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:55.320 US Jersey, and I hope he has a good tournament. Yeah, 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:56.240 me too, me too. 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:59.160 And I'm it was encouraging to see him get both 0:21:59.160 --> 0:22:03.600 a goal and in this and hopefully I never know though, 0:22:03.680 --> 0:22:09.320 Like people talk about striker confidence and attacking confidence and everything, 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:12.240 I'd never know if that's really a thing. I assume 0:22:12.280 --> 0:22:14.200 that like once the goals start going in, it's easier 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:15.119 for the goals to get in the. 0:22:15.080 --> 0:22:20.080 Whole absolutely thing. Absolutely, Okay. I remember a game, if 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:22.399 you'll indulge me. I used to play in this indoor 0:22:22.480 --> 0:22:26.120