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Speaker 1: This is straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up,

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Speaker 1: straight Fire fan, It's mean Jason McIntyre Straight Fire for Wednesday,

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Speaker 1: November nine. I think you guys will be very, very

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Speaker 1: proud of me for two things. Number One, our guest

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Speaker 1: today is as good as it gets on soccer. World

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Speaker 1: Cup is about two weeks away, so I leaned on

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Speaker 1: a colleague guy I see around Fox, a legend from

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Speaker 1: the U S national team. You remember him at the

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Speaker 1: World Cup? Is big, bushy red hair. Alexei Lalas stops

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Speaker 1: by Straight Fire. Great chat about the upcoming World Cup.

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Speaker 1: It's a very exciting time to be a live folks.

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Speaker 1: This month is going to be one of the greatest

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Speaker 1: months in the history of sports. We've never had a

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Speaker 1: World Cup since I've been alive in November. It's always

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Speaker 1: in the summer. College football, NFL, college basketball, NBA World Cup. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: this is I'm super geeked for the next couple of weeks.

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Speaker 1: It's going to be chaotic fun, and the beauty of

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Speaker 1: it all is it's right around Thanksgiving, like that's when

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Speaker 1: it really pops off. College football has a monster weekend

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Speaker 1: USA England. You're gonna get excited listening to Alexi Lawless

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Speaker 1: some actionable gambling information if you so designed to gamble

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Speaker 1: on the World Cup, which will be a massive gambling opportunity.

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Speaker 1: All that being said, the other thing you'll be proud

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Speaker 1: of me for is Election night was last night. Did

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Speaker 1: not watch one second of it on the television, avoided

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Speaker 1: social media. I got the kids, I said, guys, we're

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Speaker 1: playing some Dominoes tonight. Um So, dominoes game. I grew

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Speaker 1: up playing play with the fam holidays, family gatherings. I

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Speaker 1: like dominos. Ended up playing dominoes online some during the

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Speaker 1: pandemic with t J houshman Zada, who fashions himself as

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Speaker 1: the greatest dominoes player ever. He's good, but he's not

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Speaker 1: the greatest player ever. And um so, anyways, played some

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Speaker 1: dominoes with the kids, went to bed early, broke up

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Speaker 1: this morning. Avoided election stuff and it's NBA slates full tonight.

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Speaker 1: Looked at some college basketball lines and I'm excited. I'm

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Speaker 1: excited for the rest of this month. The only thing

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Speaker 1: in sports I think, really this morning it's mildly interesting

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Speaker 1: to talk about, is what's going to happen with the

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Speaker 1: college football playoff I know they released the rankings last night.

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Speaker 1: TCU at four drew some ire of some fans. Um, Listen,

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Speaker 1: I don't really have an issue with TCU. I don't

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Speaker 1: know how easy it's going to be for them to

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Speaker 1: get to the playoffs. Like, are they gonna win against

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Speaker 1: Texas this weekend Big Twelve showdown? Texas is up and down.

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Speaker 1: I think they show I would not be surprised if

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Speaker 1: Texas won the game. Then TCUs has Baylor, the second

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Speaker 1: best team in the Big Twelve. So like TCU, as listen,

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Speaker 1: if they were on the table, they win their next three,

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Speaker 1: they close out against Iowa State, which is dreadful. That's

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Speaker 1: a w UM. But if they beat Texas and Baila,

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Speaker 1: they'll get in. If they don't, the Big Twelve will

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Speaker 1: get shut out, and then it's Michigan Ohio State winner.

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Speaker 1: Obviously Georgia lock even if Georgia finds a way to

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Speaker 1: lose the SEC title game two. Increasingly it's looking like

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Speaker 1: l s U. I think George's fine. Um, And then

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Speaker 1: the question becomes kin Tennessee, which didn't get to the

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Speaker 1: SEC title game, get in. Maybe they do have a

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Speaker 1: win over Alabama, And then you look at the Big twelve.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, not the Big twelve, the Pac twelve. And

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Speaker 1: that's where there is so many issues. People do not

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Speaker 1: like when I say USC is better than Oregon, and

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Speaker 1: again you look at the resumes. Oregon got absolutely humiliated

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Speaker 1: in their one loss to Georgia. Right, understandable loss. Georgia

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Speaker 1: is great. USC lad against Utah for I think fifty

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Speaker 1: nine minutes and thirty seconds, only trailing on the two

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Speaker 1: point conversion. Maybe it was like fifty eight minutes in

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Speaker 1: fifty nine seconds, whatever the number was. Basically, USC never

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Speaker 1: trailed in losing that team except for one minute on

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Speaker 1: the road. Hostile territory has underdogs. I understand USC does

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Speaker 1: not have a good defense. I get that. I totally

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Speaker 1: understand that. That's fine if USC beats U C l A.

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Speaker 1: I think we're going to have a really really, really

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Speaker 1: really interesting discussion about the Pack twelve getting in um

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Speaker 1: the College football Playoff. I'm looking forward to it. I'm

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Speaker 1: team USC here, but that's still a couple of weeks away.

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Speaker 1: So without further ado, let's get to our guest. Former

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Speaker 1: US national team player and Fox Sports soccer analyst Alexei Lallas.

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Speaker 1: Jason likes to think he knows everything when it comes

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Speaker 1: to sports. I know what sports dance want, but for

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Speaker 1: everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does. Let's

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Speaker 1: just say I know a guy who knows a guy

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Speaker 1: who knows another guy. All right, ladies and gentlemen, let's

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Speaker 1: welcome in to straight fire. What the biggest names in

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Speaker 1: US soccer? I mean, goodness, gracious, he was an icon

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Speaker 1: back a couple of decades ago, playing for the U.

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Speaker 1: S national team started a World Cup. It was it

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Speaker 1: was probably the hair, obviously, the stout defensiveness. Now he's

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Speaker 1: an analyst for Fox Sports. He will be in Cutter, Qatar,

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Speaker 1: however you want to say it for the World Cup

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Speaker 1: doing you know, basically everything. Alexei Lawless joins the podcast Alexei,

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Speaker 1: how you doing? Man? Hey, Jason good Uh yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: back in the n before you were born, back in

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Speaker 1: the previous century, I was running around with a lot

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Speaker 1: of hair, with a lot of hair ago. Whish I

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Speaker 1: could still grow it. But yeah, I've moved on and

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Speaker 1: cleaned up, cleaned up on the outside. Still a mess

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Speaker 1: on the inside and a soccer perspective obviously where you're

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Speaker 1: living in uh, interesting and heavy times now, especially heading

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Speaker 1: into Uh the Qatar we decided on from a Fox perspective,

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Speaker 1: we're calling it Qatar. The word has come down from above. Yes,

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Speaker 1: I love it. Thank you Qatar easy. The que comes

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Speaker 1: out easily. But listen, I was I was definitely a

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Speaker 1: soccer fan. I think I was still playing club soccer

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Speaker 1: at the time when you were rising with the U

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Speaker 1: S national team. Uh, the flag draped by this by

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Speaker 1: the time you would the flag was Yeah, when your

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Speaker 1: shoulders epic. Was it July fourth game? Yeah, up and

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Speaker 1: up at Stanford. Up there we lost to the eventual winners, Brazil.

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, I'm talking to you today because of

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Speaker 1: that summer of ninety four. I mean, I live the

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Speaker 1: power of what a World Cup can do to an

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Speaker 1: individual that changed my life forever in terms of opportunities

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Speaker 1: on and off the field. I'm incredibly grateful. And it

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Speaker 1: also why it gets me so excited when another World

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Speaker 1: Cup is upon us, because I know there are some

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Speaker 1: players that you know, maybe we're talking about me, we're

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Speaker 1: not even talking about that. They're gonna get that platform

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Speaker 1: and get that you know that power behind them and

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Speaker 1: their lives will change forever. And I'm also excited obviously

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Speaker 1: what is coming here, being able to host it again,

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Speaker 1: coming back, because I still walk around and people will

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Speaker 1: come up and me and say that ninety four World

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Speaker 1: Cup changed not just your life, but um, you know,

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Speaker 1: the way that we thought about soccer to be fair,

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Speaker 1: the Women's World Cup to both of those were kind

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Speaker 1: of seminal moments and really changed the trajectory, and I

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Speaker 1: guess you know, changed the perspective not just around the world.

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Speaker 1: It was actually much more the way it affected us

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Speaker 1: in the United States and the way that we looked

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Speaker 1: at soccer, because that soccer was the point that was

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Speaker 1: always coming. It's coming, We're here, it's it's eventually gonna

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Speaker 1: be here, and then hits and no listen, I'm sure

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Speaker 1: you don't want to look back on it all the time,

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Speaker 1: but you get asked about it. I mean, anytime Alexei

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Speaker 1: Lawless's name comes up, like you are the guy from

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Speaker 1: the nine four team that everybody knows, you know, people

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Speaker 1: ask me, oh, dude, what's Lawless like? And I'm like, man,

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Speaker 1: one day, I'm walking around Fox I just see this guy.

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Speaker 1: He's huge, he's hulking, and I'm like, oh, ship, it's

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Speaker 1: Alexei Lawless. And you know he's friendly as ever. Everybody

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Speaker 1: knows you man, and and congrats on all your success.

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Speaker 1: I want to start talking about soccer. Um. The MLS

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Speaker 1: Cup final from last weekend with l A f C

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Speaker 1: was absolutely bonkers. I know, college football was happening at

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Speaker 1: the same time, and I was getting more texts about

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Speaker 1: the MLS Cup then the college football games game was phenomenal.

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Speaker 1: First of all, Um, you know, I'm curious your thoughts

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Speaker 1: on it. A guy had a massive goal there at

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Speaker 1: the end in Mr Bailee, We're gonna be rooting against

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Speaker 1: him here in short order. Crazy, Um, just your thoughts

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Speaker 1: on that game and what it did for soccer because

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Speaker 1: it was a man, I did a huge number on TV.

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Speaker 1: It was it was huge. Yeah, we just got the

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Speaker 1: numbers and it was incredible. It was on Big Fox,

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Speaker 1: and you know, I can't think of a better way

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Speaker 1: to kind of finish out an incredible season when it

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Speaker 1: comes to Major League Soccer, and we were lucky to

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Speaker 1: be able to you know, to broadcast it. But to

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Speaker 1: your point, I mean, this is gonna go down as

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Speaker 1: arguably the best MLS game and certainly in my in

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Speaker 1: my estimation, and I've been there since the beginning back

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Speaker 1: in ninety six, UM when the first one happened. Of

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Speaker 1: the twenty seven different MLS Cups, this for for my money,

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Speaker 1: is the best MLS Cup I have ever seen. And

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Speaker 1: you know the privilege of actually being there downtown at

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Speaker 1: the Bank of California Stadium, seeing l a f C.

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Speaker 1: Playing against Philadelphia, and all the narratives that were going

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Speaker 1: on with Philadelphia, the big bold coastal elites if you will,

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Speaker 1: against the UH you know, the Philadelphia Union just punching

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Speaker 1: above their way and the little engine that could in

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Speaker 1: the blue collar type of mentality, money ball in the

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Speaker 1: way that they go about it, and then obviously l

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Speaker 1: a f C coming and there was everything. You know

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Speaker 1: that it was back and forth, and that if you

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Speaker 1: haven't been down to that stadium, by the way, if

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Speaker 1: you're in Los Angeles, or even if you're just coming

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Speaker 1: in and there is a game, you know, treat yourself

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Speaker 1: because it is an experience unlike anything that you will

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Speaker 1: have in a sporting event. They bring it every single

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Speaker 1: time to hear the people go crazy and back and forth.

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Speaker 1: And there was a time when Philadelphia had the game won,

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Speaker 1: they went up a man, they were up a goal,

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Speaker 1: and then, as you mentioned, Gareth Bailee, the player for

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Speaker 1: l A f C who really has not played a

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Speaker 1: whole lot this year. He is the captain for Wales.

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Speaker 1: I know we're gonna talk about the World Cup here

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Speaker 1: in a second, so we will be facing him and

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Speaker 1: his team later on. He comes on as a substitute

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Speaker 1: late in the game and plays hero gets the tying goal.

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Speaker 1: It goes into penalties. At that point, the l A

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Speaker 1: f C goalkeeper goes off with a broken leg, and

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Speaker 1: this young kid who actually had played for Philadelphia comes

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Speaker 1: in stones his former team and goes into history because

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Speaker 1: this is the first MLS Cup for l A f C.

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Speaker 1: Like I said, a super club if you will, in

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Speaker 1: Major League Soccer with what they spend in the sexiness

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Speaker 1: and the Hollywood ownership and all of that kind of

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Speaker 1: stuff that they had. So this game had something for everyone.

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Speaker 1: And then it was on national television. I think the

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Speaker 1: ratings reflected, but I also think that people will look

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Speaker 1: back many many years from now and say that was

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Speaker 1: something special. Yeah that I thought the Philadelphia goal in

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Speaker 1: the eighty like eighty third minute, I was like, oh,

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Speaker 1: to bummer for l A f C. They answered, and

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Speaker 1: then the one in extra time and at bail it

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Speaker 1: was just incredible. Small story. We were vacationing in Cabo

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Speaker 1: and we see these two huge bodyguards come into the

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Speaker 1: room next to us. We're like, oh, there must be

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Speaker 1: a celebrity here. Turns out it was Gareth Bale and

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Speaker 1: his wife, vacation with their kids, and our kids were

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Speaker 1: hanging out with his kids at the kids club. And listen,

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Speaker 1: this guy is not very big, Alexi. I mean, I'm

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Speaker 1: not a big dude. He's like barely my size, but

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Speaker 1: he has the long hair. And listen, we're gonna be

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Speaker 1: rooting against him pretty heavily. Uh as the US opens

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Speaker 1: the World Cup with him. I don't want to get

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Speaker 1: to that yet. I want to talk about the process.

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Speaker 1: You know, you spend time at the camp in ninety

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Speaker 1: four before the Cup again, and I asked to hold

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Speaker 1: in about this too. I'm just curious, what is happening

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Speaker 1: now We're about two weeks out. What is going on

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Speaker 1: at the camp. Is it a jovial atmosphere or is

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Speaker 1: it like, hey, we're kind of competing for positions and

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Speaker 1: it's a little awkward there. What's happening at camp? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: So I mean, look, look you have dealt with athletes,

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Speaker 1: and you understand athletes, and and I can confirm that

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Speaker 1: athletes can be you know, assholes, right, I mean they can,

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Speaker 1: they can, but they can be incredibly ruthless in what

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Speaker 1: they do, and they can compartmentalize really really well. The

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Speaker 1: good ones out out there. And there is a competition

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Speaker 1: within a competition, especially in a in a scenario like

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Speaker 1: this where you only have twenty six spots. One of

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Speaker 1: the things that we're talking about with this US men's

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Speaker 1: national team that's going back to the World Cup is

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Speaker 1: the level of talent but also the depth, which means

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Speaker 1: that there's much more competition. But even back in my day,

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Speaker 1: all I wanted to do was make that team because

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Speaker 1: once you made the team, then at least you had

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Speaker 1: the opportunity to be on that deal. And I knew

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Speaker 1: the platform that ninety four was going to be. And

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Speaker 1: it doesn't change if it's in guitar or any place else.

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Speaker 1: It is a World Cup. And for these players, some

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Speaker 1: of them that are playing in some really big clubs

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Speaker 1: making a lot of money, really famous, this is still

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Speaker 1: a World Cup. This is something especially I didn't grow

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Speaker 1: up watching the World Cup at from a young age,

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Speaker 1: they will have all grown up watching the Landon Donovans

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Speaker 1: and and these types of players, uh score goals and

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Speaker 1: star at the World Cup. So this is the realization

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Speaker 1: of a dream for them, and so that competition is

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Speaker 1: happening day in and day out. The interesting thing about

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Speaker 1: this World Cup is because it's happening in November December,

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Speaker 1: there's a very short period of time in that. While

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Speaker 1: there are some players that are not playing with them

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Speaker 1: less right now because the season is over there in camp,

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Speaker 1: a lot of them are still with their club teams

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Speaker 1: in you know, Christian Polistic playing for Chelsea and Queston

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Speaker 1: McKinney playing for Juventus, and they will train this this week,

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Speaker 1: play their games this weekend, then get on a plane

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Speaker 1: and all meet in Qatar. So it's a really strange

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Speaker 1: World Cup, not just for the Americans, for all the

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Speaker 1: teams involved in. The players and teams that are able

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Speaker 1: to adjust the most, those are the ones that are

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Speaker 1: gonna be successful. Yeah. I'm just trying to it in

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Speaker 1: my head of like how the breakdown of the roster

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Speaker 1: is gonna go, and I can only imagine what's happening there.

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Speaker 1: So you have you do the podcast for Fox Obviously

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Speaker 1: it's great. I've listened to it. I love your breakdowns.

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Speaker 1: You are a lot of guys, you know, Alexei. A

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Speaker 1: lot of the analysts kind of come from the support

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Speaker 1: and they might want to get back in so they're

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Speaker 1: pulling punches. There's none of that with you. You are

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Speaker 1: pretty blunt and and I love it. Obviously. The most

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Speaker 1: important I think position is striker. It has been the

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Speaker 1: bane of the US soccer existence. We've had so many guys.

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Speaker 1: I don't want to call him out here because some

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Speaker 1: of them have come through Fox. Um, it's just been

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Speaker 1: an issue. Scoring has been a problem on the big stage,

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Speaker 1: and I'm just curious your thoughts as we head into

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Speaker 1: who the hell are gonna score goals for the US

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Speaker 1: in Qatar? Alright, So just some little context here because

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Speaker 1: we are recording this on Tuesday, November eight. Wednesday is

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Speaker 1: when man roster is going to be dropped, and so

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Speaker 1: after that happens, people's minds are gonna be blown. People

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Speaker 1: are gonna scream and yell. And this is actually a

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Speaker 1: good development that we are having debate, that we are

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Speaker 1: disagreeing about who should ultimately be not just on the

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Speaker 1: twenty six then when Greg Burr halt to the head

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Speaker 1: coach puts eleven on the field, there's a whole another

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Speaker 1: level of consternation and ankst ankst out there. But to

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Speaker 1: your point, and I think this will be at a

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Speaker 1: big talking point as we get into covering this team

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Speaker 1: in the World Cup, is who is going to be

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Speaker 1: that player up top Because we have, even in this

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Speaker 1: moment where we're all so bullish about the future and

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Speaker 1: these great young talent, that we have that number nine

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Speaker 1: striker position, and that is the position that everybody looks

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Speaker 1: to to kind of score goals and put the fear

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Speaker 1: of God into the opposition. Nobody has really emerged since

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Speaker 1: even you know, a Josie alta door and that was

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Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, and even before that a

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Speaker 1: Brian McBride. You know, my kingdom for a Brian McBride

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Speaker 1: or a Josie Altador at this point. And so now

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be much more by committee. You're gonna see

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Speaker 1: a guy named Hey SU's Ferrera who plays for FC Dallas.

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Speaker 1: I think he's the incumbent right now, and not a

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Speaker 1: lot of people have a lot of faith that he

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Speaker 1: is going to put the fear of God into the

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Speaker 1: into the opposition. But I have seen the World Cup

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Speaker 1: and the soccer gods. They work in mysterious ways and

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Speaker 1: things can do. Things can be very very strange, and

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Speaker 1: it can be opposite day when it comes comes to

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Speaker 1: the World Cup. But I do think that it is

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Speaker 1: a legitimate concern right now as to who is going

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Speaker 1: to lead that line, be that number nine striker for

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Speaker 1: Greg burr Halter. And I even asked Greg burr Halter

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Speaker 1: on my State of the Union podcast. I said, you know,

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Speaker 1: earlier this year, said why have we not developed a striker?

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Speaker 1: And he looked at me and said, I don't know,

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Speaker 1: because we have all of these other players that have developed,

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Speaker 1: but this one position, and let's be honest, it is

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Speaker 1: the most difficult thing to do in our game, and

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Speaker 1: therefore it is, for my for my money, the most

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Speaker 1: valuable position, which obviously makes it so unique. So they

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Speaker 1: don't just grow on trees, but at some point, you know,

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Speaker 1: so something on a bush could have grown for us,

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Speaker 1: or something that we can approximate. Fox Sports Radio has

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Speaker 1: the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all

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Speaker 1: of our shows at Fox sports radio dot com and

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Speaker 1: within the I Heart Radio app. Search F s R

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Speaker 1: to listen live. I play a lot of FIFA I confess, um,

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Speaker 1: and Ferrera has become a guy I pick up all

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Speaker 1: the time. He's a he's a machine. I just I

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Speaker 1: think there's a lot of people who doubt him because

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Speaker 1: he hasn't been you know, he's not playing in Europe

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Speaker 1: or any other you know, mls IS is a great

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Speaker 1: league obviously, but you know, I think there's some people

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Speaker 1: who still doubt Ferverra. I'm kind of a peppy guy,

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Speaker 1: although I could, I could be honest with you. I

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Speaker 1: didn't know who he was two years ago. I've never

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Speaker 1: heard of this guy. He has really been a Johnny

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Speaker 1: Come lately. Um, do you think he is a lock

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Speaker 1: to make the team? So you know, Ricardo Peppi also

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Speaker 1: from the FC Dallas machine that they have down there

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Speaker 1: churning out talent. But he, unlike Haysus, Ferrera got bought

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Speaker 1: and went overseas. It did not go well for him initially,

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Speaker 1: and now he's playing in Holland, which is absolutely, admittedly

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Speaker 1: for everybody, a step down from the Bundesliga in Germany.

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Speaker 1: But sometimes you need to go to a place where

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Speaker 1: you're more comfortable, where you're more in your comfort zone.

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Speaker 1: And this has worked wonders for him from a scoring perspective,

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Speaker 1: because as you know that position, ultimately you can play

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Speaker 1: well and do all these different things, but you gotta

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Speaker 1: put the ball on the back of the net, and

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Speaker 1: he is doing that right now. So I think he's

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Speaker 1: come back into fashion, if you will right now. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if it's enough to have him start over hey,

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Speaker 1: sus Ferira. And that's gonna be the interesting thing when

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Speaker 1: this roster drops, And by the way, we'll have an

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Speaker 1: instant reaction to that myself. And you mentioned ste Holden.

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Speaker 1: Of course, the great David massy are our Fox soccer

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Speaker 1: researcher extraordinary, is going to be part of that. And

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Speaker 1: who Greg Burrholter ultimately picks and how many because you

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Speaker 1: got twenty six spots and conventional wisdom says you're probably

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Speaker 1: gonna take three to play that one spot, that striker position.

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Speaker 1: Who knows, maybe he'll take four, And there's other people

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Speaker 1: waiting in the wings. I don't have I have no

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Speaker 1: idea what he is going to do. But if it's

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Speaker 1: Peppy or if it's Haysu's Ferrara, that person up there

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Speaker 1: come that first game against Whales, they have to find

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Speaker 1: a way to put the ball on the back back

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Speaker 1: of the net. And by the way, in particularly against Wales,

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Speaker 1: which is an inferior team than the Yeah, we should

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Speaker 1: win that game. So you you bet to It's the

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Speaker 1: most important position, it gets paid the most. And we're

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Speaker 1: only gonna take three? Now? Is that because you think

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Speaker 1: we can kind of move guys around and in a

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Speaker 1: pinch push somebody up, or why not take four? I

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Speaker 1: mean again, you're the expert. I gotta leave well, no,

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Speaker 1: I I actually I you know, I have actually argued

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Speaker 1: that you should take four or which would get one

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Speaker 1: of these not just different players, but different style of players.

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Speaker 1: And so you have like a Jordan p Fock or

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Speaker 1: even I know it's not gonna happen, but a Brandon

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Speaker 1: Bascots who really lit it up in MLS this year

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Speaker 1: but has never been in with the team. The only

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Speaker 1: reason that I'm I mentioned those two is that they

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Speaker 1: bring something completely different in terms of physical presence. A

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Speaker 1: guy that can hold the ball up obviously, the guy

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Speaker 1: that's good in the box, and that's something that whether

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Speaker 1: it's Peppy or whether it's hay SU's Ferrera or even

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Speaker 1: a Josh Sergeant, that's not really what they do on

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Speaker 1: a consistent level. Now you do lose some other things.

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Speaker 1: But that's why I would argue to possibly take four

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Speaker 1: And again, this is the first time that teams are

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Speaker 1: allowed to take twenty six players to the World Cup.

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Speaker 1: In the past, it's been twenty three, even back to

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Speaker 1: twenty two players there, so those extra three three you

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Speaker 1: can kind of do some interesting things. And I don't

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Speaker 1: know ultimately what the strategy is going to be for

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Speaker 1: Greg burr Halter or any of the coaches when they

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Speaker 1: look at that twenty six man roster. Do you think

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Speaker 1: burr Halter will tweak the uh you know, whether it's

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Speaker 1: a four four two or do you think I mean,

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Speaker 1: do you see any like maybe curveballs coming that could

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Speaker 1: impact the number of strikers he takes. I don't think yeah,

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Speaker 1: And I don't think from a tactical perspective he is

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Speaker 1: going to change. And and for those that are going

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Speaker 1: to kind of be introduced to Greg Berhalter here coming

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Speaker 1: up this next month in the World Cup. This this

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Speaker 1: is a guy got a lot of time for him,

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Speaker 1: incredibly smart um, but still young and relatively inexperienced and

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Speaker 1: he's been given this plum job of the national team

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Speaker 1: in the in a moment with all of this talent

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Speaker 1: that we're talking about, he is a romantic. He came

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Speaker 1: in with a mandate that either was self imposed or

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Speaker 1: imposed on him to fundamentally change the way that we

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Speaker 1: play and in doing so make us kind of progress,

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Speaker 1: evolve and look at ourselves in a different way. As

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Speaker 1: you know, in a lot of sports, there are these romantics, right,

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Speaker 1: But the real test is when it gets down to

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Speaker 1: brass tacks, because he's gonna be judged on the World

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Speaker 1: Cup and he's gonna care what happened in the last

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Speaker 1: couple of years. Do you betray your ethos, do you

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Speaker 1: betray your philosophy in the most important, important moment, or

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Speaker 1: do you die on that hill? Because what he wants

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Speaker 1: to do with the team, I'm not sure. Well, I

428
00:19:58,240 --> 00:19:59,760
Speaker 1: think what he has found out over the last couple

429
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:01,679
Speaker 1: of year is that he can't do it, and he

430
00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:04,200
Speaker 1: has become a little bit more pragmatic. But a World

431
00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,520
Speaker 1: Cup does strange things and it'll be interesting to see

432
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,359
Speaker 1: ultimately where he falls on that hill. So so, on

433
00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,280
Speaker 1: a much smaller scale, like we're we're doing local soccer,

434
00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:14,600
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm in with our coach and we've

435
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:17,320
Speaker 1: been doing a certain lineup with only two defenders all season.

436
00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:19,800
Speaker 1: So eventually, Alexi, I say, why don't we try three?

437
00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:21,520
Speaker 1: So we try three defenders. We play the best team,

438
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,919
Speaker 1: we play our best game, and now we're gonna surprise

439
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,800
Speaker 1: everybody in the postseason with three defenders in a tweak lineup.

440
00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,440
Speaker 1: And I'm just wondering, is there anything that you think

441
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,600
Speaker 1: Berhalter might do it? Does it sound like it based

442
00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,119
Speaker 1: on your answer, No, I mean I think it'll Well,

443
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:37,760
Speaker 1: first off, it's gonna be a four three three. I

444
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,199
Speaker 1: don't think that that is going to change. From a

445
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,320
Speaker 1: tactical perspective, I think it's pretty much set. You know,

446
00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:44,399
Speaker 1: you have a Christian politic on the left hand side.

447
00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:46,840
Speaker 1: There's some questions on the right, you know, either Awaya

448
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,000
Speaker 1: or if Geo Raina, who's a real young talent, but

449
00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:50,760
Speaker 1: he's kind of fragile and has been in and out

450
00:20:50,760 --> 00:20:52,680
Speaker 1: and hurt. But he's playing now and where is he

451
00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,920
Speaker 1: show it? We talked about the guy up top that three.

452
00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:56,919
Speaker 1: I don't think it's gonna change unless there's an injury.

453
00:20:56,920 --> 00:20:59,600
Speaker 1: In terms of that midfield three with Tyler Adams who's

454
00:20:59,600 --> 00:21:02,720
Speaker 1: playing over it leads um Western, McKinney was playing at

455
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,080
Speaker 1: Juventus and UNI Units mostly plays over in Spain. That's

456
00:21:06,080 --> 00:21:09,320
Speaker 1: pretty much set, but there's plenty of help that comes

457
00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:12,200
Speaker 1: off the bench, including Brendan Aronson the back four. I

458
00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:14,000
Speaker 1: think that's where there is a question as to who

459
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:16,360
Speaker 1: who is going to play uh not. On the left

460
00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:18,200
Speaker 1: hand side, it's gonna be Robinson. On the right hand side,

461
00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,520
Speaker 1: it's gonna be Sergino Desk who was at Barcelona now

462
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,399
Speaker 1: he is at at A C. Milan. And then Walker

463
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,280
Speaker 1: Zimman who plays in Nashville. Who is next to Walker Zimmerman.

464
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:27,240
Speaker 1: That's going to be a question mark right now, and

465
00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:29,240
Speaker 1: I don't I have no idea who ultimately he is

466
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,000
Speaker 1: going to decide. And then in goal, now this is

467
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting because he has a soft spot for

468
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,760
Speaker 1: Zack Stephen who was with Man City although he wasn't

469
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,960
Speaker 1: playing and now he's been loaned out. Um. But Matt

470
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:44,200
Speaker 1: Turner who was within New England Revolution and now he's

471
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,240
Speaker 1: with Arsenal, even though he's the second goalkeeper, I just

472
00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 1: think he's a better goalkeeper and I think ultimately I

473
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:50,800
Speaker 1: think he's gonna go with the better goalkeeper, even though

474
00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: maybe he's not as good with his feet, and Greg

475
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,199
Speaker 1: Holter wants to play out of the back. Are you

476
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,160
Speaker 1: taking the most heat you're taking for any of your

477
00:21:57,200 --> 00:21:59,240
Speaker 1: takes on the lineup? Is it? It? Does it have

478
00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:02,440
Speaker 1: to do with goalie? No? I think it's much more

479
00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,639
Speaker 1: who who pairs Walker Zimmerman right now? Because, for example,

480
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,120
Speaker 1: there's a guy named Aaron Long who plays for Red

481
00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: Bull in Major League Soccer, and he did not have

482
00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,080
Speaker 1: a good game or a pair of games in this

483
00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:15,760
Speaker 1: last window, the ultimate window right before the World Cup,

484
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:17,760
Speaker 1: and so I think people have some real trepidation. And

485
00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:20,240
Speaker 1: I think it's justified to be to be worried because

486
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,159
Speaker 1: he is prone to making mistakes. But a lot of

487
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 1: people want to put a player named Tim Reem who

488
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,440
Speaker 1: has actually been around. He's in his thirties. He's actually

489
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:31,600
Speaker 1: starting game in and game out over for Fulham in

490
00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,080
Speaker 1: the p L against some very very good competition. But

491
00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:36,440
Speaker 1: there's always a trade off, right, So he's what, he's

492
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,720
Speaker 1: good with his feet, and he's a smart player. Uh.

493
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,080
Speaker 1: And he's got let let foot, but he's not fleet

494
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 1: of foot. Uh. And if we are pushing up and

495
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:46,399
Speaker 1: pressing a team and all that space behind doesn't matter

496
00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:49,120
Speaker 1: whether it's soccer or any sport, space behind a defender

497
00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:51,439
Speaker 1: or somebody that is, you know, covering on the football

498
00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,000
Speaker 1: field or whatever, that is dangerous because if you don't

499
00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,320
Speaker 1: have the speed to recover, and by the way, you

500
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,800
Speaker 1: are facing the opposite way, then the other person is going.

501
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,719
Speaker 1: So you have to turn, you know, like a defensive

502
00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,199
Speaker 1: back or whatever. You know, you have to turn and

503
00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,400
Speaker 1: run and do all those things that could be real

504
00:23:04,440 --> 00:23:07,119
Speaker 1: problematic for a guy like Tim Rey for for some reason,

505
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: really always gets lit up during national team games on

506
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:13,000
Speaker 1: social media. People just you know, you see his name

507
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,160
Speaker 1: on the lineup, You're just like, oh man, we're in trouble.

508
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 1: But well, you know, American soccer, we're we're you know,

509
00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,080
Speaker 1: we're we're a pain in the ass. I mean, let's

510
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 1: be we're gonna complain about everything. Yes, yes, that's that's

511
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: how they normally act. I'm curious not a lot of

512
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,960
Speaker 1: talk about DeAndre Yedlin. I will confess he's one of

513
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 1: my favorite players on the US national roster. I've been

514
00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:34,159
Speaker 1: in love with his speed at the back. Um. I

515
00:23:34,160 --> 00:23:36,080
Speaker 1: I fashioned myself as like a fast player I just

516
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:38,639
Speaker 1: love his style. Where is where does he fall in this?

517
00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,320
Speaker 1: I think he's the backup for the right back position.

518
00:23:41,359 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 1: And keep in mind now, because the US men's national

519
00:23:44,119 --> 00:23:46,480
Speaker 1: team didn't qualify for the last World Cup, in my estimation,

520
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 1: the biggest failure in US soccer history. It was a

521
00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 1: step back to go a step two steps four basically

522
00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:55,320
Speaker 1: and not necessary to do it, but we used it

523
00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 1: to the advantaged silver lining type of thing and went

524
00:23:57,240 --> 00:24:00,720
Speaker 1: two steps four. Um, if if all go his planned

525
00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:03,520
Speaker 1: with the starting eleven against Wales, there's not gonna be

526
00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:05,399
Speaker 1: a single player on the field that has ever played

527
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,760
Speaker 1: in a World Cup. If DeAndre Yelin starts or it

528
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,119
Speaker 1: gets on the field, he would be the unique individual

529
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,200
Speaker 1: who actually was there eight years ago that actually played

530
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,400
Speaker 1: in a World Cup. But I think right now, Sirgino

531
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:20,200
Speaker 1: dest Is is absolutely the right back and so DeAndre

532
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 1: is a wonderful player to have because of his experience

533
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:24,960
Speaker 1: and because he's very good if if, if need be,

534
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,040
Speaker 1: he can play in that right back position, and DeAndre

535
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,640
Speaker 1: can also go play in that left back position. So um,

536
00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,840
Speaker 1: it wouldn't surprise me at some point in the tournament,

537
00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:34,000
Speaker 1: especially if they get out of group play, that DeAndre

538
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,040
Speaker 1: sees the field. So you just mentioned something. Um, no

539
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,920
Speaker 1: players that could start game one have ever played in

540
00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:41,480
Speaker 1: the World Cup. I saw a stat that we have

541
00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:46,159
Speaker 1: the youngest roster or likely roster by by a considerable amount,

542
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:50,400
Speaker 1: Alexei the one thing by design, right, I haven't seen

543
00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 1: analysis on historically how have the youngest teams in the

544
00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,000
Speaker 1: field done. I don't have it in front of me.

545
00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,359
Speaker 1: I know, I'm sure Mossy would be able to rattle

546
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:04,400
Speaker 1: it off here, but but it's it's not great, uh,

547
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,359
Speaker 1: in terms of how you know, while it is a

548
00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 1: young man's or a young woman's game a World Cup,

549
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:12,399
Speaker 1: and it's been proven time and time again, it's the

550
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,080
Speaker 1: proper balance. And so going with an all young team,

551
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,879
Speaker 1: which is what this is happening, there's that balance, is

552
00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:20,920
Speaker 1: not there. I actually think that this team in particular

553
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:25,240
Speaker 1: has kind of harnessed um and kind of learned to

554
00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,919
Speaker 1: use this young gun type of mentality. Yes, you know,

555
00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,120
Speaker 1: there is a youthful exuberance and a youthful swagger that

556
00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,840
Speaker 1: I think that they recognize not just the responsibility but

557
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:39,480
Speaker 1: the opportunity to kind of on their watch. Not only

558
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,080
Speaker 1: did they get back to the World Cup, but they

559
00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 1: want to do some big things and they don't know what.

560
00:25:42,720 --> 00:25:44,560
Speaker 1: They don't know, right, They're gonna do stupid stuff because

561
00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:46,480
Speaker 1: young people do stupid stuff every once in a while,

562
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:49,000
Speaker 1: but they're also gonna do stuff that's gonna blow your

563
00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,760
Speaker 1: mind because they don't know to have any trepidation or

564
00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:56,720
Speaker 1: any type of fear or or be nervous about anything ultimately,

565
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: because they're just going out there and doing, by the way,

566
00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:01,560
Speaker 1: what they have been taught to do from a very

567
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,880
Speaker 1: very young age and kind of an incubator and really warm,

568
00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 1: nurturing cocoon and pathway that we have developed that previous generations,

569
00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: not just mine, but even after that never had as

570
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,159
Speaker 1: uh in terms of their pathway to get where they are.

571
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 1: So well, while we should recognize that they are young,

572
00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:20,840
Speaker 1: I don't want to dumb it down and I don't

573
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,720
Speaker 1: want to let them off the hook. You should expect

574
00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 1: this US men's national team to make you believe again

575
00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,920
Speaker 1: and in doing so, get out of the group and

576
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,360
Speaker 1: do big things despite their youth, despite their inexperience. That

577
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:35,879
Speaker 1: was my next question, like what is a realistic expectation?

578
00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: And I know that's realism means a lot to different people.

579
00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:40,879
Speaker 1: Out there. But as sports fans, right, I'm a New

580
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 1: York Jets football fan. Realistically, coming in the season, I

581
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,360
Speaker 1: had no expectations they were not going to be good.

582
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,399
Speaker 1: They were terrible last year. They've been great. It's been

583
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:51,600
Speaker 1: a pleasant surprise. Realistically, I believe we could get out

584
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,720
Speaker 1: of this group. Alexe. It really comes out of the

585
00:26:53,760 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: first game, right. We can't lose to Wales because then

586
00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,520
Speaker 1: you got so go ahead. So when we so, when

587
00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:02,680
Speaker 1: we look at this team right now, first off, getting

588
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:05,320
Speaker 1: to a World Cup from the men's perspective, we shouldn't

589
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,159
Speaker 1: break our arm patting ourselves on the back. I know

590
00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,000
Speaker 1: we didn't get there last time, but it's something that

591
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:10,800
Speaker 1: consistently we had done, which is why it was the

592
00:27:10,800 --> 00:27:13,680
Speaker 1: biggest failure not getting there. Also getting out of our group,

593
00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:15,520
Speaker 1: we have done that in many of World Cups, so

594
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:19,120
Speaker 1: that shouldn't necessarily be Hey, we finally made it type

595
00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:21,840
Speaker 1: of moment in this group in particular, which is certainly

596
00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 1: not the dust difficult group that we've had in World Cups.

597
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,159
Speaker 1: If you look at this group, we should beat Whales

598
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:29,119
Speaker 1: and we should beat I run. Okay, you take your

599
00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 1: chances against England. And while it would do that. It

600
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,440
Speaker 1: would warm the cockles on my red headed American heart

601
00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,760
Speaker 1: to beat England. Uh and it it would just it

602
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:37,400
Speaker 1: would be just so nice to be able to shove

603
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,160
Speaker 1: it in their face. It's still an elite team here,

604
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:42,040
Speaker 1: and we are going to have to play really well

605
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,040
Speaker 1: and we're gonna have to have some luck from from

606
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:46,400
Speaker 1: above in that second game. Right there, to your point,

607
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,280
Speaker 1: you're absolutely right. That first game against Wales, if you

608
00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 1: come out of the shoot and you get yourself three points,

609
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:54,520
Speaker 1: you get that win, then your golden because the second game,

610
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,359
Speaker 1: now the pressure is all on England. We are put

611
00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:01,200
Speaker 1: in that nice, familiar and comfortable under dog role and

612
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:03,120
Speaker 1: we can roll the dice there and then the third gain.

613
00:28:03,119 --> 00:28:04,920
Speaker 1: We almost knew we're gonna have to play around in

614
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: the third game. That's another team that we can beat.

615
00:28:07,640 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 1: So I'm looking at it as absolutely there's six points

616
00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,680
Speaker 1: out there and who knows what happens against England, and

617
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,200
Speaker 1: I'd be disappointed if we didn't get those six points.

618
00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: At the very least, I would agree with every second

619
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,600
Speaker 1: every word you said. England has a history of playing

620
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 1: down to the competition. Um. Again, they are loaded there.

621
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 1: I think one of the top favorites to win the

622
00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:28,679
Speaker 1: whole thing. But this Wales team, they I guess they

623
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:32,080
Speaker 1: barely qualified. Other than Bail, I don't know anyone. Do

624
00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:35,240
Speaker 1: they have a lot of talent on that team. I mean, look,

625
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 1: it's been it's it's been since back in the fifties, okay,

626
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,240
Speaker 1: when they last qualified for the World Cups. So for them,

627
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:44,720
Speaker 1: you know, this is this is it? All right? They

628
00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 1: are I'm not just saying that they're going there is

629
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 1: tourists or they're just going there is holiday on a holiday.

630
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,920
Speaker 1: But they've already won, let's be honest, okay, And so

631
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: we kind of have to use that to our advantage.

632
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:57,200
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying they're not going to give us

633
00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 1: a game. And by the way, I'm also not saying

634
00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,320
Speaker 1: they can't beat us. The thing is that both Whales

635
00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:03,160
Speaker 1: in Iran, when I gave you that scenario, how the

636
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:05,080
Speaker 1: US is looking at the other two teams, they're both

637
00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,760
Speaker 1: looking at it in the same way. Okay. England says

638
00:29:07,760 --> 00:29:10,280
Speaker 1: we're gonna beat everybody, Iran says we're gonna beat Whales

639
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: in the U S. And Wale says we're gonna beat

640
00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:14,200
Speaker 1: in the U S and and Iran and so that's

641
00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,800
Speaker 1: kind of how how it's gonna go. Uh you know,

642
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:21,560
Speaker 1: I I'm real excited to see ultimately how how this goes.

643
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 1: That first game. Again, to your point, I just think

644
00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,719
Speaker 1: is is so is so crucial, and I don't want

645
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:29,880
Speaker 1: to put all the eggs in that basket because you know,

646
00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:32,719
Speaker 1: if if they don't win, then the pressure is on

647
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 1: them going into that England game that they have to

648
00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:36,520
Speaker 1: do something. And look that that game is gonna be

649
00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,120
Speaker 1: nuts on Black Friday. It's gonna do a ridiculous rating

650
00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: and everybody's gonna be there and watch it. And while

651
00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,920
Speaker 1: my job and your job obviously is to is to

652
00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,000
Speaker 1: hype up and get people excited. I mean, hell, if

653
00:29:48,040 --> 00:29:49,800
Speaker 1: I'm not excited about the game, then why should a

654
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: viewer or a listener be excited? Right? So that is

655
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:54,960
Speaker 1: my job. But I'm also not here to blow smoke

656
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:56,680
Speaker 1: up your asser, right. I am here to give it

657
00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 1: to you straight, okay. And yes, I am a glass

658
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:03,000
Speaker 1: half full type of person, and I am incredibly bullish

659
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,520
Speaker 1: about this team for a number of different reasons, but

660
00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:08,960
Speaker 1: not the least of what it goes back to. I

661
00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 1: think they want this moment. They want to have you

662
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 1: Jason and everybody out there watching look at that screen,

663
00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 1: whether they know anything about soccer or not, say that

664
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 1: dude is awesome. That Western McKinney. I want him on

665
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,520
Speaker 1: my team. I want him in a bar fight. I

666
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: want to hang out with that dude. You know, that's

667
00:30:27,400 --> 00:30:29,880
Speaker 1: what you want to see from this team. And I

668
00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 1: think that they they're smart enough, even though they're young,

669
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,400
Speaker 1: they're smart enough to recognize the window of opportunity that

670
00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,200
Speaker 1: they had here and it's relative to the performances that

671
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 1: they put in. Yeah, um gosh, I'm excited. Now Fox

672
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,640
Speaker 1: Sports Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

673
00:30:44,960 --> 00:30:47,880
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

674
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,920
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app. Search f

675
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,280
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. Sure. False. When you were

676
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,760
Speaker 1: at camp in ninety four, you guys obviously broke down

677
00:30:56,800 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 1: the group and who you're playing. Was there any talk

678
00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: at all? If we advance out of the group, here's

679
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:06,120
Speaker 1: who we might play. It was for us, the only

680
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:08,800
Speaker 1: goal was let's get out of the group because that

681
00:31:08,880 --> 00:31:12,479
Speaker 1: equated success. Okay. Um, you know, and and look, there

682
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: was pressure on us because we were hosting the World

683
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 1: Cup and we didn't want to bomb out in flames

684
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:21,200
Speaker 1: and not you know, not not not. It wasn't even

685
00:31:21,200 --> 00:31:24,880
Speaker 1: just for us, it was for soccer, right, so the

686
00:31:24,920 --> 00:31:28,120
Speaker 1: pressure of the future of soccer was on us at

687
00:31:28,160 --> 00:31:30,760
Speaker 1: least doing well. And I think everybody agreed if you

688
00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:32,680
Speaker 1: get out of the group then it's success and then

689
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 1: everything else is kind of gravy. And we ended up

690
00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: losing to Brazil, which ended up winning the World Cup.

691
00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 1: So there's no shame. There's no shame in that. So

692
00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,800
Speaker 1: there is a pathway there. I will say this that

693
00:31:42,960 --> 00:31:44,600
Speaker 1: back then, and I'm not gonna go into you know,

694
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,400
Speaker 1: all the details, but there was a game, the third

695
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:50,800
Speaker 1: game we ended up losing one nothing to Romania. Had

696
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,040
Speaker 1: we found a way to get a point in that game,

697
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,400
Speaker 1: it would have changed the trajectory in terms of who

698
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,320
Speaker 1: we played. And while it was incredible on July four

699
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,480
Speaker 1: at Stanford to play against the future winners Brazil, we

700
00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:05,320
Speaker 1: could have had an easier path. And so every moment

701
00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:07,640
Speaker 1: in those three games in group play, and so whether

702
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,719
Speaker 1: you're watching that first game against Wales, that second game

703
00:32:09,720 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 1: against England, or that third game against Iran, every moment

704
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:17,720
Speaker 1: counts and things can change dramatically by you know, a

705
00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,520
Speaker 1: ball going here, a ball going there, the soccer gods,

706
00:32:20,600 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 1: you know, going off, somebody's ear, somebody tripping, a red card,

707
00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:27,000
Speaker 1: a bad foul, all these different things that happen, and

708
00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:30,719
Speaker 1: that's you know, that's the drama of sports that we love. Okay, Macro.

709
00:32:31,200 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 1: Look at the tournament of the Big Six. I think

710
00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:37,560
Speaker 1: going back fifty years or something like that, only six

711
00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:39,880
Speaker 1: countries have won the World Cup. Most likely one of

712
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:44,680
Speaker 1: those two miss advancing to the knockout stage. That would

713
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:47,360
Speaker 1: be like France, England, Brazil. It'ly you know, not rely,

714
00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:49,480
Speaker 1: but yeah, so look, I mean, it's history is not

715
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,640
Speaker 1: good in terms of a team repeating. All right, you

716
00:32:52,680 --> 00:32:54,920
Speaker 1: have to go back decades, back into the nineteen hundreds

717
00:32:54,960 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 1: to see Brazil, Brazil do it, and so you're you're

718
00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,800
Speaker 1: safe money is that France is not going to repeat,

719
00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:04,000
Speaker 1: even though they are really really good and they've only

720
00:33:04,080 --> 00:33:07,000
Speaker 1: kind of improved and they just have loads and loads

721
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:09,240
Speaker 1: of talent. I think, uh, you know, I haven't looked

722
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 1: at the odds yet, but I would. I would. I

723
00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 1: would assume that Brazil is your your real safe type

724
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:17,440
Speaker 1: of money. You're not gonna win a lot of money,

725
00:33:17,440 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: but it's your safe type of money and they are stacked.

726
00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:22,080
Speaker 1: And if I had to put my money, I would

727
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:23,720
Speaker 1: put it on a Brazil. If I had to put

728
00:33:23,760 --> 00:33:25,920
Speaker 1: your money, Jason, and win some money, you know, and

729
00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:28,160
Speaker 1: risk some stuff, all of your all of your money,

730
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,600
Speaker 1: I would put it on someone like the Netherlands. You

731
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:34,000
Speaker 1: know which is right. It's look, they've always been a bridesmaid.

732
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 1: I think they're coming in. They've got a good path

733
00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 1: that we were talking about to, you know, to get there. Um,

734
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,360
Speaker 1: they they I think they're feeling confident. They do have

735
00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:43,360
Speaker 1: a pedigree. I mean, this is the Netherlands, by the way,

736
00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,880
Speaker 1: so they have been there before. So it's not a

737
00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:49,040
Speaker 1: complete dark horse like say, uh a Denmark, which a

738
00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 1: lot of people are talking about right now. Netherlands. Yeah,

739
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:54,920
Speaker 1: the Argentina, you can't look messy right now, is playing

740
00:33:54,920 --> 00:33:57,160
Speaker 1: as well as we've ever seen him, especially you know,

741
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: the comfort level that he seems to feel right now

742
00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: is he's going into this golden era of his career

743
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,480
Speaker 1: with Argentina. That should scare anybody who's who's playing them.

744
00:34:05,600 --> 00:34:08,080
Speaker 1: It's a balanced team, it's a team that is well coached,

745
00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 1: and it's also a team without drama, and that is

746
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:13,200
Speaker 1: a unique thing to say about Argentina right now. So

747
00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,680
Speaker 1: there's a lot of people, including David Mossy. I got

748
00:34:15,680 --> 00:34:18,840
Speaker 1: result If from the safe money perspective. He's got Argentina

749
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:21,000
Speaker 1: from his safe money perspective. And like I said, a

750
00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:22,759
Speaker 1: Netherlands if you want to win some more money. You know,

751
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 1: we love narratives here in the media, Messy winning at all.

752
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 1: I don't know that there's a better outside of the

753
00:34:28,040 --> 00:34:31,160
Speaker 1: US winning or something. Um, just the messy story. You know,

754
00:34:31,200 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 1: Copa America and now they this would be incredible. Um,

755
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 1: I'm assuming you're a messy guy, messy versus Ronaldo. No,

756
00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:41,200
Speaker 1: I'm Ronaldo. I'm in the Ronaldo camp. However, I will

757
00:34:41,239 --> 00:34:45,800
Speaker 1: say this, uh if if if Messi, if Messi comes

758
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,640
Speaker 1: through and wins this World Cup, I don't think that

759
00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:51,880
Speaker 1: they're even me Okay who I've found different ways to

760
00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,359
Speaker 1: argue for Ronaldo. I don't think there's anybody that can

761
00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:56,560
Speaker 1: argue then that he is the greatest player ever to

762
00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:02,560
Speaker 1: play the game. Look, this is this is a hacking player, diminutive,

763
00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 1: left footed who plays for Argentina. What do you think

764
00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:07,880
Speaker 1: is gonna happen? You're always going to be compared to

765
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,240
Speaker 1: Diego Maradona and until you actually check that that World

766
00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 1: Cup box. It's it's not that you're not a great player,

767
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 1: possibly not the greatest player ever. It's just this is

768
00:35:17,800 --> 00:35:19,680
Speaker 1: where you were born and this is what you are

769
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 1: up against. You mentioned the Copa America which they won

770
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,319
Speaker 1: last year, and they did check that box, and I

771
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,759
Speaker 1: think it did alleviate some pressure and this balance that

772
00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,160
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. While they certainly give the ball to

773
00:35:31,239 --> 00:35:33,399
Speaker 1: him at times and have him do his magic, which

774
00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 1: he can do, they don't defer to him. I'm talking

775
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:38,840
Speaker 1: about his teammates on Argentina. There as plenty of talent

776
00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 1: that is surrounding him, and in that moment when they

777
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,440
Speaker 1: do need a moment of magic, they give it to

778
00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:45,360
Speaker 1: him as opposed to the very beginning say hey, go

779
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,799
Speaker 1: do your stuff and we'll watch you from afar. So

780
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,160
Speaker 1: there's a real there's a real good cohesiveness with this

781
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:51,719
Speaker 1: team right now. And then I also want to get

782
00:35:51,719 --> 00:35:55,080
Speaker 1: into Mexico question. Um, you know, we have some listeners.

783
00:35:55,120 --> 00:35:57,919
Speaker 1: Obviously I'm a minority owner of a soccer teamon Lega

784
00:35:57,920 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 1: am X now, so you know we do want to

785
00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,080
Speaker 1: talk some more soccer on the podcast. But I'm curious

786
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:04,759
Speaker 1: your thoughts on Mexico. They I think believe allouncer roster

787
00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:09,320
Speaker 1: today or yesterday. Um, and there's some I guess everybody

788
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,719
Speaker 1: seems pretty content. Um. Your thoughts on Mexico heading into

789
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,400
Speaker 1: the well. I was just walking just watching Chucky Lozano

790
00:36:15,440 --> 00:36:17,359
Speaker 1: and he's doing well. Uh so that's you know, that's

791
00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 1: a good thing for Mexico. Listen, this is I cannot

792
00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:23,600
Speaker 1: think of a time going into a World Cup when

793
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:27,160
Speaker 1: there have been lower expectations and more pessimism when it

794
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:29,800
Speaker 1: comes to L three uh than right now. And I

795
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,440
Speaker 1: actually think that's a good thing. I actually think that

796
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,279
Speaker 1: Mexico is getting out of the group, and not only

797
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,280
Speaker 1: getting out of the group, but tak to Martino ultimately

798
00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: is going to do what he was hired for, which

799
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 1: just to get them to their fifth game. That the

800
00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,040
Speaker 1: king to Partido right that I think is going to

801
00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,799
Speaker 1: happen here because the expectations are so low. And look,

802
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:48,280
Speaker 1: it's not an easy group. You know, I have groups.

803
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:50,719
Speaker 1: I got people all over the pier, in my in

804
00:36:50,719 --> 00:36:53,080
Speaker 1: my grotto here and stuff like that. So when you're

805
00:36:53,120 --> 00:36:56,080
Speaker 1: talking about Argentina, when you're talking about Saudi Arabia, when

806
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,560
Speaker 1: you're talking about Poland you know this. It's not an

807
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 1: easy group. But this is a group absolutely that you

808
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,359
Speaker 1: should expect Mexico to find a way out, even though

809
00:37:03,640 --> 00:37:05,279
Speaker 1: for a lot of people this is not one of

810
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,320
Speaker 1: the great Mexico teams going to this World Cup. I

811
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,520
Speaker 1: think they've they've lost in the knockout stages, like the

812
00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:13,399
Speaker 1: last six World Cups, five or six, something like that. Yes,

813
00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 1: there is this you know the this smith you know

814
00:37:16,080 --> 00:37:19,200
Speaker 1: this mythology. Now you know this turned into you know

815
00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:23,160
Speaker 1: this this cycle type of moment where they're just trying

816
00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: to get to this fifth game and it's they've been there,

817
00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:28,560
Speaker 1: but it was so far in the past that now

818
00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:32,359
Speaker 1: they just constantly can't get past that round of sixteen game.

819
00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:34,759
Speaker 1: And that's ultimately what to Martino, like I said, was

820
00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,480
Speaker 1: hired for and he's come under a lot of pressure

821
00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:39,439
Speaker 1: like everybody else, but ultimately he qualified the team. He's

822
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,359
Speaker 1: there and now we're gonna see if he can work

823
00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,439
Speaker 1: as magic in the World Cup. All right, we'll wrap

824
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 1: up with a question on the US. Didn't tell you

825
00:37:45,760 --> 00:37:47,920
Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you this, but if you had

826
00:37:47,960 --> 00:37:50,359
Speaker 1: to pick one guy who you think would be the

827
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,120
Speaker 1: most important the biggest key, and I know it's never

828
00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: about one guy. It's a team players. One guy who

829
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,920
Speaker 1: would that be heading into the Cup. I think Western

830
00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:02,840
Speaker 1: McKinney is gonna urge is the star. But one guy

831
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:04,960
Speaker 1: um that you're not gonna see and he's not going

832
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,319
Speaker 1: to get the fanfare as a Tyler Adams okay, And

833
00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,400
Speaker 1: it's not that people don't know who he is, but

834
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:12,600
Speaker 1: he does that dirty work that's not sexy and it's

835
00:38:12,600 --> 00:38:14,920
Speaker 1: not gonna appear on highlight films or anything like that.

836
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,279
Speaker 1: And when I say that, what I'm talking about is

837
00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:20,200
Speaker 1: in a in a soccer game, you need people that

838
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:22,319
Speaker 1: are going to cover for you defensively, you need people

839
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:24,919
Speaker 1: that are going to cut out those passing lanes. And

840
00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:27,959
Speaker 1: not only is he really smart and aware about doing

841
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,040
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, but his physical attributes make him

842
00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:35,239
Speaker 1: and enable him to gobble up space. And he wears

843
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:36,880
Speaker 1: his heart on his sleeve, as do a lot of

844
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:39,560
Speaker 1: these players here, but it's in a much more mature

845
00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:44,040
Speaker 1: and subdued way than you know, say a Weston McKinney.

846
00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 1: I think you know, if if Steu Holden was here,

847
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:48,920
Speaker 1: he would be tapping me saying hey, Eunice Musa Unice Musa,

848
00:38:49,040 --> 00:38:52,040
Speaker 1: who is a really young player, but I think is

849
00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:53,799
Speaker 1: going to have a really, really good tournament and I

850
00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:55,799
Speaker 1: think you'll be able to see more of why he

851
00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,560
Speaker 1: is so important. You know, the Christian polistics of the world,

852
00:38:58,560 --> 00:39:01,239
Speaker 1: they're gonna get plenty of attention. Like we mentioned, uh

853
00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,279
Speaker 1: Timthi wea on that right hand side as a as

854
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: a pure winger. But I would I would focus in

855
00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:08,040
Speaker 1: on on Tyler Adams because I think even if you

856
00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:10,280
Speaker 1: don't know a whole lot about soccer, if you actually

857
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 1: find a way to watch him on the screen, I

858
00:39:12,719 --> 00:39:15,320
Speaker 1: think there will be an appreciation that you will develop

859
00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:19,040
Speaker 1: for the space that he gobbles up, but also the

860
00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 1: space that he sees in the positions that he puts

861
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,440
Speaker 1: himself in where there is there there is no wasted

862
00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:29,320
Speaker 1: movement or energy on his part. Yeah, very exciting and

863
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:31,239
Speaker 1: just listening to you talk about it. We're two weeks

864
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:34,240
Speaker 1: to go. Uh hey wait, I'm leaving Thursday. I'm leaving Thursday.

865
00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,440
Speaker 1: Have you been to Qatar before? I've been twice already now,

866
00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 1: So we're going back and look the country or sometimes

867
00:39:42,120 --> 00:39:44,799
Speaker 1: the countries that host these things always end up being

868
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 1: part of the story. And and even sometimes the Star.

869
00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:50,439
Speaker 1: It's no different here Qatar. We know people are gonna

870
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:52,440
Speaker 1: talk about it. There's gonna be good bad said as

871
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:54,560
Speaker 1: we go along. Ultimately we're there to you know, to

872
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 1: provide uh you know this the pictures and the commentary

873
00:39:58,040 --> 00:39:59,920
Speaker 1: on what is going on from a soccer perspective. But

874
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,759
Speaker 1: we're not immune or we don't ignore everything that is

875
00:40:02,800 --> 00:40:04,839
Speaker 1: going on out there. But it is gonna be this

876
00:40:04,920 --> 00:40:08,400
Speaker 1: brigadoon type of experience where everybody is in one city,

877
00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:11,400
Speaker 1: nobody's going anywhere. It's the ultimate bubble, if you will,

878
00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:14,799
Speaker 1: or you know, and it could be you know, the

879
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,000
Speaker 1: romance of a of a woodstock, or it could be

880
00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:18,759
Speaker 1: you know, a fire fester. We we don't know. We

881
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:21,520
Speaker 1: don't know how it's ultimately gonna play out here, but

882
00:40:21,680 --> 00:40:24,440
Speaker 1: it's gonna be crazy because nobody's you know, satelliting out

883
00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:29,000
Speaker 1: there's no planes anywhere. All the eight uh uh stadiums

884
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,279
Speaker 1: are all within forty five minutes, and so it's gonna

885
00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:33,600
Speaker 1: be really really something to see. I can't believe they

886
00:40:33,640 --> 00:40:36,440
Speaker 1: built eight. I mean that's anyways, all right, have a

887
00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:39,279
Speaker 1: safe time there, Alexi. Thank you very much for taking

888
00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:41,880
Speaker 1: the time, and we're looking forward to all your coverage

889
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,000
Speaker 1: in the Cup. I can't wait. It's so much fun

890
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 1: to talk to you as as always you you do

891
00:40:45,840 --> 00:40:47,279
Speaker 1: great work and I watched you all the time, so

892
00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:48,120
Speaker 1: thank you for having me