Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. Hey, what's up, everyone, I'm
Speaker 1: George Guntas. You love The Daily Show for its incisive
Speaker 1: political commentary, but did you know that the Daily Show
Speaker 1: offices are filled with super soccer fans. I'm the lighting
Speaker 1: designer here at the Daily Show, and the only thing
Speaker 1: that I love more than the beautiful game is my
Speaker 1: wife and kids. Um. I'm joined here today by Daily
Speaker 1: Show writer and super soccer fan Joe Opio Pleasure. Already good.
Speaker 1: It's been a few weeks since we last spoke, Joe.
Speaker 1: There's so much going on in the world of football.
Speaker 1: How are you doing, my friend? I'm doing great, you know. Um, Mom, Mom,
Speaker 1: I'm well risted the batteries that we are back is
Speaker 1: already a great new year for soccer fans over the world.
Speaker 1: We had a great past, so I'm feeling good. I'm
Speaker 1: feeling good. Nice. I personally having World Cup withdrawal. You know,
Speaker 1: after the whole tournament was just fantastic. The final was
Speaker 1: just box office what a game. I mean. You know,
Speaker 1: after Argentina goes up to zero in the first half,
Speaker 1: you think it's gonna be a comfortable when after seventy
Speaker 1: five minutes France decide to start playing killing Embaby scores
Speaker 1: a brace in two minutes to force extra time. Argentina
Speaker 1: strike first an extra time but then in Bobby late
Speaker 1: in Bobby penalty forces penalties, drama and the penalties uh
Speaker 1: Martinez was fantastic and Argentina prevail, putting a cap on
Speaker 1: a wonderful career for Leonel Messi. There's just so much
Speaker 1: to unpack here. Let's dive straight in. What are your
Speaker 1: thoughts in the game? Wow? Boy, First of all, our
Speaker 1: grew with you everyone. I think every soccer fan is
Speaker 1: having it's very, very terrible World Cup withdrawal because the
Speaker 1: season restarted. But people are not yet as willing to
Speaker 1: get back into club football having witnessed how magical the
Speaker 1: World Cup can be. But yeah, we are started getting
Speaker 1: back in. My thoughts about the World Cup final. Greatest
Speaker 1: World Cup Final in the history of the game, without
Speaker 1: a doubt. So battle and as you say, you expected
Speaker 1: it to be extroll in the park for Mescy and company.
Speaker 1: But wow, what a pro twist at the end. I
Speaker 1: don't think any writer in Hollywood would have scripted this
Speaker 1: any better. It was full of you know, dramatic process
Speaker 1: pro twists, It was a full of drama, it was
Speaker 1: full of intrigue, it was full of a tension. It
Speaker 1: was sortains that at some point it stopped being enjoyable
Speaker 1: and almost stand into a soccer version of torture. Because
Speaker 1: for I think from the seventy eighth because I was,
Speaker 1: of course I was rooting for Macy um of the
Speaker 1: view that football old messy World Cup. So from the
Speaker 1: seventh eighth minute up to the end of the game,
Speaker 1: I wasn't having fun it. I think it might have
Speaker 1: shaved ten years of my life expectancy. That's how bad
Speaker 1: and how it tends that game was like towards the end.
Speaker 1: But you know, in hindsight, one of the greatest, greatest games,
Speaker 1: without a doubt I've ever had the yea of watching,
Speaker 1: of course, and what ALTI also made it fantastic was
Speaker 1: it was huge performances from the biggest players, Messy with
Speaker 1: a brace and Bobby with a hat trick. Die Maria
Speaker 1: put in a man of the match performance. Uh then
Speaker 1: also Martinez the goalkeeper for Argentina. What what what? Yeah?
Speaker 1: For sure, so you know it leaves you wanting more
Speaker 1: international football, Like I said, we'll get some more of
Speaker 1: the of the of the club football. Uh later, but you, Joe, Uh,
Speaker 1: we're living your best life in Qatar, rubbing elbows with
Speaker 1: the likes of David Beckham and Didi a Drogba. What
Speaker 1: was it like to be there? Oh? Boy? I And
Speaker 1: I think I've talked to friends about this, like I'm
Speaker 1: I'm a guy who cares? Who thought I think I
Speaker 1: still do? Who cares about human rights? So when I
Speaker 1: went to I didn't spect I should have enjoyed it
Speaker 1: the way I did. It basically left me going like,
Speaker 1: why maybe not care aboutman rights? Away? I should be?
Speaker 1: Should I be more work? But that's how enjoyable this
Speaker 1: World Cup was. And I wasn't the only one having
Speaker 1: the conflicted view of the World Cup. There were many
Speaker 1: soccer fans, There were many soccer legends. Did they drop
Speaker 1: by the breakup? Would hold it? I run into all
Speaker 1: these players and they were all so having the same feeling.
Speaker 1: They're going like, is it supposed to still be this
Speaker 1: enjoyable despite everything surrounding it? But it was a great
Speaker 1: World Cup. You can't deny that it was probably the
Speaker 1: best World Cup in living memory, at least the one
Speaker 1: of wand and these collegiens have watched like World Cups before.
Speaker 1: And they also testified the fact that this was so
Speaker 1: many surprises. From the moment that Argentina lost to South Arabia,
Speaker 1: we were off and running and it didn't stop. It
Speaker 1: didn't later. You know, all the games Brazil, Croatia, dramatic, England, France,
Speaker 1: can missing a penalty at the date, dramatic, Argentina, Netherlands,
Speaker 1: that freaking creative freaking by the Netherlands for extra time, dramatic.
Speaker 1: The games were Japan beat both Spain and Germany. It
Speaker 1: was like drama drama. It felt like there was a
Speaker 1: Catari script writer just going okay, now we need another twist.
Speaker 1: Now the audience is getting a bit, we need another twist.
Speaker 1: And it was. And as you said, you know, I
Speaker 1: rab Bill was with all the legends, it was. I
Speaker 1: think for me, the experience was if you're a soccer fan,
Speaker 1: this was like a once in the electron opportunity and
Speaker 1: once in the electrom experience. I enjoyed every bit of it,
Speaker 1: and I'm also happy for one thing, at least I
Speaker 1: showed more restraint, more restraint than Yeah, I mean, look,
Speaker 1: I embarrassed myself, but I did go by so so
Speaker 1: at least at least because there's only one rule. When
Speaker 1: you go to these UH matches and you happened to
Speaker 1: run into these regions. You can't go through today, but
Speaker 1: you can never full sort of bay. And so at
Speaker 1: least you know that I have that going for me.
Speaker 1: I think the other thing the World Cup taught me
Speaker 1: is the other reason is that life comes at you first, right,
Speaker 1: because life can hamble you. Because I spent two weeks
Speaker 1: hanging with football Royalty and royalty royalty, because I was
Speaker 1: also hanging with I was watching from the sky boxes
Speaker 1: with the princess and the mayors like brothers and all that.
Speaker 1: And now look what I'm doing here, I am being
Speaker 1: a podcast with George? What down grade? What? Now? This
Speaker 1: is the I feel like this is the biggest fall
Speaker 1: from grace, going from hanging with a football Royalty and
Speaker 1: reality Royalty to hanging with you know, with all due
Speaker 1: respect to hanging with George, this is like the biggest
Speaker 1: It's the biggest part from grace since since since Andrew
Speaker 1: Ted decided to tweet, to tweet at a greater tum back,
Speaker 1: like life comes at you first. At one point I
Speaker 1: was living my life and now a crushed. Don't go
Speaker 1: very very humbly. That's the big mortism from Oh my God.
Speaker 1: And well and Joe's living his best life and guitar
Speaker 1: with Royalty. My World Cup final was definitely not as glamorous.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna share a quick personal story. Uh so, my
Speaker 1: kids have had their Greek school winter pageant where they
Speaker 1: sing their Greek songs at the at the church at
Speaker 1: eleven am on Sunday of the game. The legends, that's
Speaker 1: that's that's that's like scheduling the kids recital, right, Oh
Speaker 1: my God. And the person who's the legend is my
Speaker 1: father because he had the goal to ask both my
Speaker 1: mother and my wife, is it cool if George and
Speaker 1: I stay and watched the game? And you know, so
Speaker 1: we have with the agreement was basically, we're gonna watch
Speaker 1: the first half, So the first forty five we're gonna
Speaker 1: shoot in. I guess, yeah exactly, and and so and
Speaker 1: so we we shoot into the city. We're watching the
Speaker 1: start of the second half on the game. At the
Speaker 1: sixty minute, I go in the church. This church service
Speaker 1: is running along, and uh and my Dad's like, I'm
Speaker 1: going to stay out in the car and watch on
Speaker 1: the phone until you you chext me. When it so,
Speaker 1: my dad's watching the game. I go in. Yeah, my
Speaker 1: dad's like I text HI, would come in. He walks
Speaker 1: on like. I'm like, Argentina, lock it up, and he's like,
Speaker 1: em bought. They scored twice in two minutes, end of
Speaker 1: its end of full time. I'm like, you pose it.
Speaker 1: He's like, yeah, so they do they do? They do
Speaker 1: the recital, We take some photos, we shoot out. We
Speaker 1: don't see anybody because the game was still going on.
Speaker 1: There were like flags in the street yet. So we
Speaker 1: sprinted home and watched the last we were winded the game,
Speaker 1: like the sixty minute where I stopped and then turn
Speaker 1: on notification and watched the rest of the game. But
Speaker 1: it was a tense, a tense couple of hours in
Speaker 1: the church. I'm sure it's some sort of sin, but
Speaker 1: but we got we got through it. Yeah, I was rubbing.
Speaker 1: It was royal rubbing, I think. But on the bright
Speaker 1: side at least was how much that's right, that's how
Speaker 1: much how granddad loves me. I can't imagine your dad.
Speaker 1: I can imagine your dad walking in. I'm going like
Speaker 1: squad twice and I mean no, like uh, we've a
Speaker 1: scheduled that an enemy of the Betel game. It was.
Speaker 1: It was insane and like I said, it took every
Speaker 1: ounce of restraints to not turn it on during the
Speaker 1: church service. But that that was that. Glad to hear
Speaker 1: you had a wonderful time in the guitar and it's
Speaker 1: great to have you back. Joe is always um. But
Speaker 1: there is some sad news that unfolded over the break
Speaker 1: while we While we were gone, Brazilian legend Pale, winner
Speaker 1: of three World Cups and arguably the greatest player to
Speaker 1: ever played the game, passed away at the age of
Speaker 1: eighty two after a long battle with colon cancer. He
Speaker 1: played nineteen season with Santos in Brazil and three seasons
Speaker 1: with the New York Cosmos UH, including friendlies. He scored
Speaker 1: one thousand, two hundred seventy nine goals in one thousand,
Speaker 1: three hundred and sixty three appearances if you include friendlies,
Speaker 1: what alleged incredible numbers and believable numbers potentially and repeatable numbers.
Speaker 1: And you know, I love Messine and we grew up
Speaker 1: you know, Washping the grades two that's Pelley and Maradonna.
Speaker 1: We didn't have I did have I can't speak to
Speaker 1: how all you have, but I didn't have the pleasure
Speaker 1: or owner of watching Pelley. I watched Maradonna in n
Speaker 1: when he came to uh the US for the World Cup,
Speaker 1: but that of course ended in disgrace with you know,
Speaker 1: with the doping scanderd all that. But I had stories
Speaker 1: about a Pelley. I had the incredible, magical stories about Pelley,
Speaker 1: fantastic stories. I watched clips of Pelley, and it's almost
Speaker 1: hard to put into words what Pall accomplished as a player.
Speaker 1: Because Pelly won Brazil It's first World Cup. Everyone thinks
Speaker 1: of Brazil now as this soccer giants, this soccer pall house.
Speaker 1: But before Pelley came into the scene, Brazil had never
Speaker 1: won the World Cup, which is unfaculable now because they
Speaker 1: have the most at five, but you want them. The
Speaker 1: first World Cup in nineteen fifty eight in Sweden, and
Speaker 1: the craziest detail form that World Cup is Peller was seventeen.
Speaker 1: Peller was seventeen and he led Brasil. He wasn't carried.
Speaker 1: He carried Brazil to the World Cup in eight and
Speaker 1: he did this at seventeen as a teenager. Scored six
Speaker 1: goals in four games. That's unthinkable in this day and age.
Speaker 1: If a player did that, if a teenager did that,
Speaker 1: just think how much there was would be. And so
Speaker 1: Pelly was a big deal. And that's the other thing
Speaker 1: that people don't get. Pelley was a big deal. I'm
Speaker 1: a funk of Messy, but I'm in all when it
Speaker 1: comes to how big play was. Petley was a big
Speaker 1: deal pre Curact TV. She was a big deal pre computers.
Speaker 1: He was a big pre social media. So Messy and
Speaker 1: Ronald are big, but they've been fueled by the information age.
Speaker 1: Pelle was a huge deal back then when information wasn't
Speaker 1: as global and the world wasn't as small a village
Speaker 1: as it is now. And it's almost hard to put
Speaker 1: into wards how big Pelly was. But I'll just use
Speaker 1: an anecdote to tell some of our maybe younger, younger
Speaker 1: listeners or younger viewers, how big Pelly was. Pelley once
Speaker 1: avoided getting groped at gunpoint in Brazil because the thieves
Speaker 1: noticed who he was and they respected how big he was. Like,
Speaker 1: just imagine how crazy and how big that is. Because
Speaker 1: pet he was in the shower driven Mercedes in Brazil
Speaker 1: into a polo and then he stops at the red
Speaker 1: light and these people jump out, two thieves, and they
Speaker 1: tried to mag him. And of course because Pelly used
Speaker 1: to wear a cap in baseball baseball care so that
Speaker 1: he could't get recognized because he was big. He was
Speaker 1: like a god in Brazil. And so the thieves when
Speaker 1: they put the driver gunpoint and they said, hey, occupants
Speaker 1: in the Capello was in with his wife at the time,
Speaker 1: Please give us your valuables, give us your money, and
Speaker 1: then you will leave. No one needs to get hat
Speaker 1: and the pellet put off the baseball up and they
Speaker 1: recognized him him and they immediately gave him a thumbs up,
Speaker 1: apologized and turned and walked away without taking a thing.
Speaker 1: That's how big this guy was. Think of how many
Speaker 1: players wouldn't do that kind of respect from people who
Speaker 1: have come to my god guandpoint in this stand age.
Speaker 1: But that just gives you almost a view or a
Speaker 1: perception of how larger than life Pelly was. And I
Speaker 1: think even if like we celebrated him, I don't think
Speaker 1: he got are the kind of respect he deserved from
Speaker 1: like the younger fans, because our grand probably like your dad,
Speaker 1: our elder, our eldest respect him way more than and
Speaker 1: I think, fun enough, the circle will come around, because
Speaker 1: probably in twift there's going to be a younger kid
Speaker 1: who would be like killing it, and then we'll be
Speaker 1: trying to tell our kids, under grand our grandkids how
Speaker 1: big Messy was, how good Messy was, and they won't
Speaker 1: get the same kind of respect. But Messi and Ronaldo
Speaker 1: have they have They they what you'd called the gift
Speaker 1: of having played at a time when almost all their
Speaker 1: games what an advice. So we will be able to
Speaker 1: show evidence. But I don't think because we didn't see
Speaker 1: all place games, all place games device only, so they highlights.
Speaker 1: I don't think we've got to appreciate just how good
Speaker 1: Pelley was absolutely, um you know, and one of his
Speaker 1: bigger contributions outside of Brazil, uh, I think in ninety five,
Speaker 1: after nineteen years at Santos, he came to the New
Speaker 1: York Causmos in the North American Soccer League and really, um,
Speaker 1: he's he's kind of credited for sparking kind of the
Speaker 1: growth of interest and Americans fall in love with the
Speaker 1: beautiful game, and uh, you know, we're you know, still
Speaker 1: seeing the the effects of that of such a global
Speaker 1: star like imagine, you know, Michael Jordan's went to a
Speaker 1: different country where basketball wasn't popular and just made it
Speaker 1: h and brought exposure to the sport. It was, but
Speaker 1: even bigger glow belief Probably why the biggest contributions absolutely
Speaker 1: off the peach was making the Americans, because you can
Speaker 1: actually draw a line between arriving at New York Customos
Speaker 1: and the US hosting the World Cup because most of
Speaker 1: the kids who ended up feeling the stadium in what
Speaker 1: kids who grew up and started laughing the game because
Speaker 1: their parents so pay they played for the New York custmos. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's wonderful, absolutely wonderful. We gotta take a quick break.
Speaker 1: We'll be right back after this. Unfortunately, this growing exposure
Speaker 1: of football in America has led to kind of some
Speaker 1: bad headlines for the US men's national team, involving a
Speaker 1: black mail scandal. Uh and for those you don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you a quick recap of what's what's
Speaker 1: going on in the headlines. This all started at the
Speaker 1: World Cup when arguably one of the US men's national
Speaker 1: teams best most skilled players, grena Um, was kind of
Speaker 1: surprisingly left out of line up in the total in
Speaker 1: the total four three group stage games and one knockout
Speaker 1: game by the yea yeah, yeah, he played a total
Speaker 1: of only fifty three minutes in four games. And it was,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of leaked. Everyone knew that he was
Speaker 1: he was fit, and he was uh you know, and
Speaker 1: he was one of the best players. It was clearly
Speaker 1: there was something up with the manager or something something
Speaker 1: was up. But you know, so since then, um uh
Speaker 1: coach Greg burr Halter was at like a leadership conference
Speaker 1: where he made I think what he thought were off
Speaker 1: the record comments that then became public where he described
Speaker 1: the situation in Qatar without naming Geo by name, but
Speaker 1: this information league, uh, this is what was said in
Speaker 1: the last World Cup. We had a player that was
Speaker 1: clearly not meeting expectations on and off the field, burr
Speaker 1: Halter said, one of twenty six players, so it stood
Speaker 1: out as a staff. We sat together for hours deliberating
Speaker 1: what were we going to do with this player. We
Speaker 1: were ready to book a plane ticket home for him.
Speaker 1: That's how extreme it was. And what it came down
Speaker 1: to was We're going to have one more conversation with
Speaker 1: and part of that conversation was how We're going to
Speaker 1: behave from here on out. There aren't going to be
Speaker 1: any more infractions. Okay, so that's a snippet from the
Speaker 1: statement and then yamping in. But it was a bit
Speaker 1: native in this and age for Great to think it
Speaker 1: won't leak. I know he made at a conference, and
Speaker 1: I think he was talking about modal leadership, and he
Speaker 1: didn't think it was a private conference. But in this
Speaker 1: the age called social media and people recoding and phones,
Speaker 1: I don't think you can't say anything to a crowd
Speaker 1: of more than ten people and you think it's going
Speaker 1: to stay private. So Great even just a bit native
Speaker 1: of him to think it won't creak. Agreed, Agreed, And
Speaker 1: then obviously everyone knew who he was talking about, and
Speaker 1: gi Rainia himself acknowledge this, and he thought he had
Speaker 1: to make a statement and he did on Instagram, and
Speaker 1: a snippet from that is just before the World Cup,
Speaker 1: coach Burr Halter told me that my role at the
Speaker 1: tournament would be very limited. I was devastated. I am
Speaker 1: someone who plays with pride and past. Soccer is my
Speaker 1: life and I believe in my abilities. I fully expect
Speaker 1: and desperately want to continue to the play of a
Speaker 1: talented group as we tried to make a statement of
Speaker 1: the World Cup. I am a very emotional person and
Speaker 1: I fully acknowledge that I let my emotions get the
Speaker 1: best of me and affect my training and behavior for
Speaker 1: a few days. After learning about my limited role, I
Speaker 1: apologize to my teammates and the coach for this, and
Speaker 1: I was told I was forgiven. Thereafter, I shook off
Speaker 1: my disappointment and gave everything I had on and off
Speaker 1: the field. Then it starts to get a little crazy, Joe.
Speaker 1: It was just had to jump in. Disappointing from Geo.
Speaker 1: The attitude because when a coach makes a decision as
Speaker 1: a player, you supposed I didn't agree, and I think
Speaker 1: I made this very clear in the past podcast. I
Speaker 1: didn't agree with Greg's decision. I think uh G and
Speaker 1: I should have been the corner stone of the U
Speaker 1: S team. I think he want polistic at the most
Speaker 1: time to play as in that team and it was
Speaker 1: a bit um of a laid down to see how
Speaker 1: limited this role was. But as I said, it would
Speaker 1: be disappointing the attitude problems from Urine about up to remember,
Speaker 1: he's a twenty old player and the actor noted that
Speaker 1: is very emotional. And if you're as talented a player
Speaker 1: as he is, and this is your first World Cup,
Speaker 1: you come in thinking you're going to play a major
Speaker 1: role and then you're of course consigned to like a
Speaker 1: bit past role, it can get disappointing. But as he said,
Speaker 1: you know, he pulled the socks up. The senior players
Speaker 1: talk to him. But I can't see how disappointing and
Speaker 1: toxic it can be in the World Cup setting to
Speaker 1: have a team who is not a teammate who's not
Speaker 1: pulling his weight because it's disappointed that he didn't get
Speaker 1: the role he desires, for sure, So obviously it seems
Speaker 1: like a typical thing that would happen on on many
Speaker 1: football teams. Star players are benched for many reasons and
Speaker 1: are unhappy about their lack of playing time. But the
Speaker 1: story takes a twist and starts to get a little
Speaker 1: crazy because on Tuesday it seems to get ahead of
Speaker 1: a potential story. Greg birt Halter posted a long statement
Speaker 1: on an unverified Twitter account uh about a domestic dispute
Speaker 1: claim between himself and his wife Rosalind that took place
Speaker 1: in nine quote during the World Cup and individual contact
Speaker 1: the US Soccer saying that they had information about me
Speaker 1: that would take me down, an apparent effort to to
Speaker 1: leverage something very personal from long ago to bring out
Speaker 1: about the end of my relationship at US Soccer. In
Speaker 1: the fall of I met my soul mate. I had
Speaker 1: just turned eighteen and I was a freshman in college
Speaker 1: when I met Rosalind one night while out drinking at
Speaker 1: a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument
Speaker 1: and continued outside. It became physical, and I kicked her
Speaker 1: in the legs. Rosalind left him after the incident, according
Speaker 1: to burd Halter, and they worked through their issues and
Speaker 1: rekindled the relationships seven months later. Since then, they have
Speaker 1: been married for twenty five years and have four children together.
Speaker 1: USA Soccer has launched a formal investigation into the matter
Speaker 1: and named Anthony Hudson as the head coach for at
Speaker 1: least the January US men's national team camp. Burd Halter's
Speaker 1: contract expired on December thirty one and has yet to
Speaker 1: be renewed. It was a crazy It was a crazy
Speaker 1: post one of course, as you said, it was all
Speaker 1: and and verified account, so great clearly filth. He had
Speaker 1: to get ahead of the news and you know, with
Speaker 1: of course even masks saying people have to pay eight
Speaker 1: dollars to get you know, the missinformation on everything. At first,
Speaker 1: she didn't know how legit at this supposed to stand
Speaker 1: out to be very illegitimate, and yeah, things just snowboard
Speaker 1: from there. I didn't they sure did. So where did
Speaker 1: this come from? Well, I'll tell you where it came from.
Speaker 1: It came from GEO Rayna's mom. In a statement of
Speaker 1: Fox Sports, GEO Rayna's mom, Danielle says she reported domestic
Speaker 1: violence to the US men's national team of of of
Speaker 1: Greg Burhuld to the USSF Sporting Director Ernie Stewart after
Speaker 1: burr Halter's post broke up comments on GEO. She later clarified,
Speaker 1: I want to be very clear that I did not
Speaker 1: ask for Greg to be fired. I did not make
Speaker 1: any threats, and I did not know anything about any
Speaker 1: blackmail attempts. Another relevant thing to this is that h
Speaker 1: during this time, Daniel Raina and Rosalind burr Halter were
Speaker 1: teammates at the University of North Carolina on the same
Speaker 1: maybe before, maybe before you even get into their relationship
Speaker 1: entanglements of the pack is involved. It's what noting that
Speaker 1: the blackmail aspect almost stands this criminal, which is why
Speaker 1: it was so shocking when Greg said this was an
Speaker 1: attempt to take him down, that they had information to
Speaker 1: take him down, and which is why it was so
Speaker 1: critical for jeous mom to say, I did not try
Speaker 1: to threaten, to threaten or have him fired. I just
Speaker 1: expressed disappointment, because that's what she did. So the thing is,
Speaker 1: she knows the head or one of the top guys
Speaker 1: in US soccer, and so she said it's hypocris what
Speaker 1: what she from her statement, because this is a he said,
Speaker 1: she's aid kind of story. From her statement, she makes
Speaker 1: clear that she didn't want Greg fired. What she did
Speaker 1: was she was disappointed that despite Geo asking for forgiveness
Speaker 1: and apologizing, Greg hadn't extended the same grace to him
Speaker 1: that was extended to Greg when he apologized for his
Speaker 1: mistakes in the past. Because Greg made the mistake of
Speaker 1: you know, of course, assaulting his future wife when he
Speaker 1: was eighteen, which is basically around the same age that
Speaker 1: Geo is. Deo is twenty, and so Geo's mom felt
Speaker 1: it was a bit hypocritical that Greg wasn't extending the
Speaker 1: same amount of grace and forgiveness to Geo that he
Speaker 1: was extended when he was also a young man who
Speaker 1: let his emotions get the better of him. And so
Speaker 1: she said she actually contacted because she was saying, I
Speaker 1: hope this is the last statement Gregg makes about the situation,
Speaker 1: because my son is being attacked online. My son is
Speaker 1: being issued with death death threats from like all sorts
Speaker 1: of accounts. So she said he did it to protect
Speaker 1: a son. But as I said, you know, it's a
Speaker 1: bit of he said, she said, And it's it's all
Speaker 1: very much. But then there's of course the relationship perspect
Speaker 1: which even takes it into soap opera editor now, so
Speaker 1: now it gets even more crazy. So the other elbum
Speaker 1: to this is Geo's dad. Cloudy Arena is a US
Speaker 1: soccer team legend. Uh he is the US He was, yeah,
Speaker 1: and he used to play. He was a teammate of
Speaker 1: Gregg Berhalter as well, right exactly, So not only were
Speaker 1: they close teammates, but you know, my understanding is that
Speaker 1: both families were close family friends. Um, and so then
Speaker 1: you know, ESPN has reported that Cloudy Arena threatened to
Speaker 1: share allegations about burr Halter, though Claudia Arena denies these
Speaker 1: claims um but he does admit to voicing his frustration
Speaker 1: with other senior officials at US Soccer, other teammates of his,
Speaker 1: uh you know, from back in his playing days. So
Speaker 1: this is just just insane. It's some next level kind
Speaker 1: of soccer mom ship. Like, what are your thoughts on
Speaker 1: the whole thing? I'll say this, so I've seen most
Speaker 1: of the reactions, especially from the U s you know,
Speaker 1: soak up pandit for us. Who are you know? People
Speaker 1: who I say journalists and also former players who have
Speaker 1: kind of vested interests or a completed interests because they
Speaker 1: know the parties, they're close to the parties involved. And
Speaker 1: most of the reaction has been this is a sad
Speaker 1: indictment on US Soccer. This is a dark chapter, tragic,
Speaker 1: tragic the US Soccer. This moment you to be happening.
Speaker 1: And I get that, totally get it, because any time
Speaker 1: anything involves a cross of all families and kids and
Speaker 1: also involves you know, domestic violence, it's a very serious
Speaker 1: and tragic event. I get that. But the comedian in
Speaker 1: me thinks everyone is missing the big picture. The comedian
Speaker 1: in me as a comedic premise, I think people are
Speaker 1: not thinking outside the box because George, if you think
Speaker 1: about it, if you think about it, this scandal could
Speaker 1: be the best thing, actually not could be his, hands
Speaker 1: down the best thing that has ever happened to you
Speaker 1: a soccer. For Get Pelle coming in the seventies, Forget
Speaker 1: the ninety nine World Cup, forget the LANs of the
Speaker 1: launch of the MLS, forget even the World Cup is
Speaker 1: coming up. This is the best best thing. This scandal
Speaker 1: for me, George marks a turning point in U a
Speaker 1: soccer And yes, I know you think it's crazy, but
Speaker 1: just think about it. The drama, the intrigue, the suspense
Speaker 1: that he said, he said, the insane portraits we've been
Speaker 1: experiencing this past forty eight hours. That's everything you want
Speaker 1: in a soap opera. That's it. This is like a
Speaker 1: soap opera. This is like a telen Noveda American style,
Speaker 1: but on steroids as well. So for me, this is
Speaker 1: good for your soccer because Americans are addicted to drama.
Speaker 1: Americans love reality TV. And this is the first time
Speaker 1: I think that US soccer has trended outside of the
Speaker 1: world for this long like this. US soccer has trended
Speaker 1: for this long. So this for me, the reality TV
Speaker 1: element of it, I think it's a huge, huge bone
Speaker 1: for your soccer. This is like the Kardashians meets just
Speaker 1: S Smalley makes the Real Housewives. It's got everyone grips,
Speaker 1: has everyone cup fitted, everyone online, even accounts who I've
Speaker 1: never shown any interest in soccer are getting involved because
Speaker 1: of the drama in it. This is like this, This
Speaker 1: is like it should be on Brabo. It shouldn't be
Speaker 1: on Twitter, it should be on Bravo. This is the
Speaker 1: first time that a story I think on you a
Speaker 1: soccer is actually making headlines on TMC. And for me,
Speaker 1: this this is like a crossover moment for your soccer.
Speaker 1: Suburban moms now all of a sudden care and where
Speaker 1: do they care? It's because one, this is a relatable
Speaker 1: scandal because of course, the soccer mouth is a world
Speaker 1: known cliche in America, So all the suburban moms go like, yes,
Speaker 1: we would have done the same for our son. If
Speaker 1: a coach was messing with our son, would also leak
Speaker 1: information about him. And then it's also relatable because George,
Speaker 1: as I said, Americans are addicted to drama and the
Speaker 1: relationship aspects of the parties involved in the scandal are
Speaker 1: just off the charts. As you said, the only way
Speaker 1: JeOS Mam knew about this domestic assault domestic bios is
Speaker 1: because she was a roommate to Greg's wife. They're not
Speaker 1: just roommates at the University of North Carolina, they were
Speaker 1: actually teammates on the soccer team, So that's how she
Speaker 1: knows about this. And then of course the relationship between
Speaker 1: the two men is even more intriguing because not only
Speaker 1: what they high school teammates, they actually played in two
Speaker 1: World Cups together. Cloud Youregna was the captain. Greg Greater
Speaker 1: went on to become the coach. And not just that
Speaker 1: he's the kicker, Cloud Your Rainer was the best man
Speaker 1: at Greg Bata's wedding to Los Are. That's how conbrouted,
Speaker 1: and that's that's not like intermixed, and that's how dramatic,
Speaker 1: and that's this it's like something out of like a tableau,
Speaker 1: or something out of like a romantic It's like something
Speaker 1: out of and I think if you're a U S
Speaker 1: sockerman who's not interested in soccer, if you are a
Speaker 1: U S, if you're an American who thinks so as
Speaker 1: boring where you have to think again, because this drama
Speaker 1: just shows that it's not. And for me, it's also
Speaker 1: very relatable because it's very very American. Yeah, this is American,
Speaker 1: uniquely American thing because it almost reminds me of because
Speaker 1: American parents are always willing to do anything to help
Speaker 1: their kids succeed. They're willing to do anything. Most American
Speaker 1: parents are willing to do anything. You know, terms like
Speaker 1: snowplow parent, terms like helicopter parents, those are all American terms.
Speaker 1: We don't have those terms outside in the rest of
Speaker 1: the world. And so this almost reminds me of the
Speaker 1: university and the college admission scandal and yeah, aunt baking
Speaker 1: from full house, like, you know, falsifying the accomplishments of
Speaker 1: our kids so they could get into the universe of
Speaker 1: South car over South can from USC. So for me,
Speaker 1: this this is a uniquely American dramatic scandal. And it's
Speaker 1: also very American in the sense that it's very capitalistic
Speaker 1: because American is like the whole bit of capitalism, and capitalism.
Speaker 1: One thing all about capitalism is it really fuels a
Speaker 1: win at all costs. Mentality doesn't matter how many people
Speaker 1: you take down doesn't matter how many peoples tape over,
Speaker 1: so long as you succeed in the end. And this
Speaker 1: story has that, and so for me, I think, Um,
Speaker 1: it also makes me realize I didn't Americans care about
Speaker 1: the beautiful game this much because there's some pople like
Speaker 1: American doesn't care about so away it cares enough about
Speaker 1: soccer to blackmail the national team coach. Not even in Brazil,
Speaker 1: the national team coaches get blackmails so that the sounds
Speaker 1: of some parents get playing time. And for me, George,
Speaker 1: and that's what I'm saying, this is a turning point.
Speaker 1: This is a good thing from a comedic standpoint. Of course,
Speaker 1: I know it involves like serious issues like domestic violence,
Speaker 1: but from a comedic perspective, this is a great thing
Speaker 1: for US soccer. And I think your soccer should be
Speaker 1: celebrating this moment instead of trying to play down That's
Speaker 1: what I think. I think that should be a big
Speaker 1: promotional push, you know, just you were Soccer using this
Speaker 1: scandal to just promote the game. For Americans, I can
Speaker 1: imagine like taglines like soccer so addictive it will make
Speaker 1: you betray your best friend. Soccer is so addictive. It
Speaker 1: will make you back your best friend just so that
Speaker 1: you can get in some of the action. That's for
Speaker 1: me that I think what we soccer should be. They
Speaker 1: should be capitalizing on this instead of treating it like
Speaker 1: some shameful it. So this is a blessing in disguise. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean that's a very very funny take. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's so insane to me that a woman like that,
Speaker 1: that Jail's mom would use the trauma of I mean, again,
Speaker 1: this is serious stuffs. Yeah, it's very serious because for me,
Speaker 1: part of the and you talked about trauma. Part of
Speaker 1: the thing that makes it very great is she has
Speaker 1: forced and of course she says she didn't mean for
Speaker 1: it to go this far. But again the Greg being
Speaker 1: native thinking the moment was private and this moment his
Speaker 1: comments wouldn't leak. This was very native from Jeers Mam
Speaker 1: to think that it wouldn't escalate like this because the
Speaker 1: moment you a soccer had about this, they had to
Speaker 1: launch an investigation and then you need to leak to
Speaker 1: the press. But as we said, very great situation because
Speaker 1: kids something you know, as I said, Greg, later you
Speaker 1: know made up with the uh then girlfriend they are
Speaker 1: now married Pam five years, they are four kids, and
Speaker 1: they're being forced to relieve this publicly. Back again, George.
Speaker 1: I'll say this from a comedic standpoint, this is a
Speaker 1: lifetime movie. This is a leftime movie. From a comedic standpoint.
Speaker 1: If you get studio with a good enough budget, this
Speaker 1: could actually oscar bait. This could discabined, you know, because
Speaker 1: it could do. It could do for us soccer what
Speaker 1: Tanya Harding for us figure skating. Just think about it,
Speaker 1: Tanya Harding, you know, trying to break Nazykerogan's knees becomes
Speaker 1: this big thing. Later there was even a movie Can
Speaker 1: great movie, great acting got around Margo Roby. I think
Speaker 1: I could actually if this scandal was to be made
Speaker 1: into a movie, I can ready cast the movie. I
Speaker 1: can see how playful in this film. I can see
Speaker 1: you go, Robbie can I'm gonna be playing both women
Speaker 1: because she's very, very fastiled she's extremely but she can
Speaker 1: she can play both women. I can see Paul Bettany,
Speaker 1: who plays Vision in The Avengers, I can see him
Speaker 1: playing Greg ber Alta. And then I think, of course
Speaker 1: you have would play Gurinas box office goal and I
Speaker 1: think I think potty as Durina and I think you
Speaker 1: have an Oscar yes, sorry as crowd yes, as as
Speaker 1: as the father of Geo, and I think you have
Speaker 1: an Oscar winning picture on our hands. This this this
Speaker 1: for me, And again I have to I say this
Speaker 1: because I know it's a serious matter, but I'm saying
Speaker 1: from a comedic standpoint, because I'll lead it to the
Speaker 1: serious pandits at and domestic violence expacts to like pick apart,
Speaker 1: how serious and good this is. But for me, from
Speaker 1: a comedic standpoint, this is an Oscar winning movie waiting
Speaker 1: to happen. Executives at paramount plus time you heard it
Speaker 1: here first, this is a pitch, do not steal. I
Speaker 1: personally thought that the US soccer should not have renewed
Speaker 1: his contract based on his team selection and time. He
Speaker 1: should have been sucked. Yes, yes, yeah, okay, So now
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, even if there were people who
Speaker 1: were in his corner that thought he should continue, Clearly,
Speaker 1: now it's enable, it's it's it's it's it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's only a matter time where he's there. The former
Speaker 1: investigation runs its course and they they're probably gonna search
Speaker 1: for news outside the outside. For me, without even all
Speaker 1: this drama and the cloud hang over this. As a coach,
Speaker 1: the moment you almost admit that you can't integrate your
Speaker 1: most talented playing to your team, that's a sackable offense.
Speaker 1: That's the suckerble offense. As I said in past podcasts,
Speaker 1: this would be like the identine coach admitting that he
Speaker 1: has to put Messy on the bench because for some
Speaker 1: reason he can't build a team orund Missy. You can
Speaker 1: never hear the Brazilian coach saying I can't build the
Speaker 1: team around name. You can never hear the Portuguese coach
Speaker 1: during Ronaldo's prime admitting that you couldn't integrate from Ronaldo
Speaker 1: into the team. So for me, just that admission by
Speaker 1: Greg Beralta was exacable offense. And that's before we get
Speaker 1: into he did a note for your soccer, But I
Speaker 1: think he had run his course and I think at
Speaker 1: some point divorce was imminent. And I think this is
Speaker 1: just this last straw that should push this and holy
Speaker 1: and side marriage between Greg Beralta and US Soccer to
Speaker 1: its inevitable conclusion. For sure, and for sure you did
Speaker 1: mention Ronaldo in that last little tipit and I think
Speaker 1: you'll take us back to the Middle East where Christianity,
Speaker 1: but making before sorry again maybe for getting to that.
Speaker 1: There have been questions, like serious soccer fans I know
Speaker 1: are very very concerned about what this means for your
Speaker 1: now with such parents, can you ana car Can during
Speaker 1: his career with the US men's national team continue. He's
Speaker 1: just twenty. He's the most skilled, hands down, most talented
Speaker 1: your super player ever and so people are wondering how
Speaker 1: this will affect his career with the national team going forward.
Speaker 1: And I think it should. I think Gurin should still
Speaker 1: be an integral part of US soccer. I think he's
Speaker 1: still young, and I think he lant lesson. I think
Speaker 1: the fact that he was willing to step up and
Speaker 1: apologize before his teammates was a good sign of his macurity.
Speaker 1: He's still young. At twenty in soccer, you're still young.
Speaker 1: You know, he's like a start at document, so he
Speaker 1: has a bit of a negle. You also don't get
Speaker 1: good as a player without having an eger. We remember
Speaker 1: your messy. You had a problem with Lewis Enrique at
Speaker 1: the beginning of rich You know, at some time at Barcelona,
Speaker 1: all players for you to become the best player in
Speaker 1: your age, in your generation, you have probab a bit
Speaker 1: of that chip on your shoulder. So I think it
Speaker 1: should affect his career. I think During is, of course,
Speaker 1: as I keep as I keep happening going, he's the
Speaker 1: most talented player in the whole u S history. He
Speaker 1: just happens maybe maybe to have crazy parents, but then
Speaker 1: who of ustas it? I mean, look at you. Your
Speaker 1: dad almost missed his daughter as pageant because he was
Speaker 1: watching in the parking lot. No, I'm so, I'm saying,
Speaker 1: you know, he's the most in the player. He might
Speaker 1: have creasy parents. Hey, no one is perfect, No one
Speaker 1: is perfect, So I think this shouldn't I think the
Speaker 1: scenes of the parents, the scenes of the father and
Speaker 1: mother shouldn't visited onto the sun or shouldn't be like
Speaker 1: passed on to the sun. And I think during now
Speaker 1: this has been an embarrassing episode, the most embarrassing episode
Speaker 1: in his career. And also we've seen him move followed
Speaker 1: during the Adbunman. He has never had this kind of
Speaker 1: problem before, so it's not like he has this is
Speaker 1: a pattern of bed that we've seen happened. This is
Speaker 1: the first time this is happening, and I think, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think we should extend him the same grace that
Speaker 1: society should and mask extend young Greg for what he did.
Speaker 1: You should condemn him. It wasn't a gain. His forty
Speaker 1: was his parents. Everyone has crazy parents. And I think
Speaker 1: he should be able to continue his career with the
Speaker 1: US because him not continuing would be not just robbing
Speaker 1: him of the pledgure and owner of you know, representing
Speaker 1: your country, but it should be robbing the US soccer fans,
Speaker 1: the long suffering US soccer fans of watching one of
Speaker 1: the most brilliant talents in world for worth. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: it will be interesting to see whoever the new manager,
Speaker 1: maybe how he helps smooth the serve over and keep
Speaker 1: harmony in the locker room moving forward, hopefully with with
Speaker 1: you being a big part of what the future team is. Well.
Speaker 1: I think the first decision that U the new U
Speaker 1: S quote and as if Gregg is nontrenewed, I think
Speaker 1: the first thing, the first act that you, the the
Speaker 1: new potential new U S Court should do is to
Speaker 1: file a restraining order against the rear, Yes, against the
Speaker 1: rein of family. Please keep them as far away because
Speaker 1: you need the parents to stay as far away these
Speaker 1: problems about selection and playing, and they should be sorted
Speaker 1: between the player and the manager. Of course they players
Speaker 1: parents should be no way near that set up because
Speaker 1: there are two emotional and they're two invested. So this
Speaker 1: is like, you know, we see this happening in US
Speaker 1: youth soccer, but the World Cup is just simply too
Speaker 1: high and event, too big an event for you to
Speaker 1: have this kind of amateurish tactics or how much I like,
Speaker 1: you know, behavior clouding what should have been like a
Speaker 1: great cutting raiser for what US is going the US
Speaker 1: is going to do in six absolutely absolutely Well, like
Speaker 1: I said before, we're going to now turn it back
Speaker 1: to the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, where Cristiano Ronaldo
Speaker 1: signs a two and a half year deal worth upwards
Speaker 1: if you include commercial agreements upwards of two hundred million
Speaker 1: a year. First what I were doing amounts yeah, for
Speaker 1: Saudi Arabian club own master. Uh is this a fitting
Speaker 1: final chapter for Christiano Ronaldo's career? Well, I'll say this, Georgia,
Speaker 1: I'm always happy to go back to the Middle East.
Speaker 1: I can see why Christiano Ronaldo decided to go back.
Speaker 1: They were frankly Carta was very was it was an experience.
Speaker 1: And but talking about this move in particular, of course,
Speaker 1: is it No, it's not, no, it's not. I think
Speaker 1: Crissano Ronaldo deserved the better. Um. I've always in the
Speaker 1: Cristiano Ronaldo messy debate. You know, I've always been messy.
Speaker 1: But I think Cristiano Ronaldo was a good rival. I
Speaker 1: think Christian Ronaldo has given sort of fans very very
Speaker 1: very precious memorable moments and I think his his his
Speaker 1: career deserved a better corner than this. I think I
Speaker 1: should have ended on a high. I think I would
Speaker 1: have liked him. I would have like to see him
Speaker 1: at least win another Champions League or maybe another title.
Speaker 1: And when left Real Madrid, I didn't think the slide
Speaker 1: down would be this quick and this stick because he
Speaker 1: went to the Venus and he had a great time,
Speaker 1: but then it didn't end where he went to Manchester United,
Speaker 1: which was amazing, which was like something that every football fan.
Speaker 1: I don't care if your promise of Coronaldo, this is
Speaker 1: something you wanted because it was basically Ronaldo returning home.
Speaker 1: You know, he might not have been returning to spotting,
Speaker 1: but it was with him returning home, and it started
Speaker 1: well enough, and you know, he scored some big goals.
Speaker 1: He was the top score in the first season, but
Speaker 1: then it quickly fell apart when Oregon A Sourcier left
Speaker 1: as coach because the new coach demanded that everyone contributes
Speaker 1: the same, which I think as a coach has its downsides,
Speaker 1: because Ronaldo doesn't have the limbs, you know, to seven
Speaker 1: year old legs won't track back the way eighteen year
Speaker 1: old legs will, and so Ronaldo suffered because because of that,
Speaker 1: and because Ronaldo Ronaldo's game is all about scoring goals.
Speaker 1: When he wasn't scoring, then his weaknesses and his flaws
Speaker 1: were even cast in grimmer lights. So I think I
Speaker 1: would have liked to see him come to the US
Speaker 1: or maybe you know, because I'm ambest here and I
Speaker 1: think he's huge in the US. I think it might
Speaker 1: even be bigger than Messing in the US. And I
Speaker 1: think it would have been a treat for his that
Speaker 1: had funds in the US, or at least I would
Speaker 1: have brave to see him return to Portugal. And maybe
Speaker 1: they're the same way. Some people want Messy to editing
Speaker 1: at your new words, old boys, Sauda Arebbia came out
Speaker 1: of the left field. I was blindsided because I didn't
Speaker 1: see that coming the sat Arebia. Of course, people always
Speaker 1: talk about messy going to miss funds. I've been loving this,
Speaker 1: by the way, because not the Funds for the last
Speaker 1: two years had been working Messy for going to the
Speaker 1: farmer's league. Well, if Francis the farmer's gonna getting what's
Speaker 1: out Arebia is so. But you know, all that aside,
Speaker 1: I think I don't think he's a deserved ending. I
Speaker 1: think Ronaldo deserved better. But of course I also think
Speaker 1: mock him all you want. I think Ronaldo has earned
Speaker 1: the rights to collect this big baddy. I think he's
Speaker 1: given Funds enough joy, He's given it, Funds enough. You
Speaker 1: follow here. Over the course of his career, he's given
Speaker 1: us an incredible moments that will hold and treasure even
Speaker 1: as a massy fan, that will hold. And yes, he
Speaker 1: has given me memorable moments against my own teams, you know,
Speaker 1: women squad and did the calm a celebration. So for me,
Speaker 1: I think he has earned the right to collect big
Speaker 1: at the end of his career. And the you know,
Speaker 1: he has been mocked, but I don't think that matters.
Speaker 1: And of course the earth coal concerns when it comes
Speaker 1: to this here as normally they are with anything in
Speaker 1: the Middle East. You know, sad Arabia is not exactly
Speaker 1: a model country. You know, the whole thing with a castrogy,
Speaker 1: them slaughtering and murdering game in the embassary hasn't exactly
Speaker 1: been buried. Then this feels like them trying to sports wash,
Speaker 1: and they try to do it with the live golf tour.
Speaker 1: They have so much money to spend, and I feel
Speaker 1: like Ronaldo going there almost legitimizes as Sarabia in a way.
Speaker 1: And it's not the only one doing this, because even
Speaker 1: Messi has a deal I think with Sardah Rabia to
Speaker 1: be their towaries members. And I think if you're if
Speaker 1: you're a human rights activist, this is a very very
Speaker 1: disappointing move from a human rights standpoint. The same way
Speaker 1: Messy's deal with Stabia is disappointing from a human rights standpoint,
Speaker 1: because if you think Cata was bad, which I feel
Speaker 1: it was a bit unfair because Kata has almost the
Speaker 1: same human rights issues that other you know, countries with
Speaker 1: anti homosexuality laws have my own country and has those
Speaker 1: laws so I think it has the same issues. But
Speaker 1: I think Sardaribia is even worse now because in suther
Speaker 1: Arabia women are really king Katar. Women don't enjoy the
Speaker 1: same rights that women in America enjoy. But Cata, in
Speaker 1: its defense, actually strives. Cata has three women in the cabinet,
Speaker 1: which is just two women fewer than by them in
Speaker 1: Santa Rabia. Women have just and right to drive. And
Speaker 1: so seeing like a global icon, seeing like a great
Speaker 1: ambassador of the game, like Ronaldo going to sauth Araba
Speaker 1: for me as a football fan, extremely disappointing. But as
Speaker 1: I said, but as I said, he has earned the
Speaker 1: right collect big But from my player who was winning
Speaker 1: champions leagues, yes, you know a few years ago, from
Speaker 1: a player who was playing for Matchess United at Ultra
Speaker 1: for the Theater of Dreams to now be playing in
Speaker 1: basically retirement home. That's the Saudi League. That's that's that's
Speaker 1: that's that's such a down grade and they pick got downward.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's it's such a huge fault from words.
Speaker 1: I think it's the most dramatic fall from grace since
Speaker 1: I left Gata to come and do this podcast. Me,
Speaker 1: it's the most such crashing down for a cast exactly.
Speaker 1: So I mean for me, obviously I'm a massive, real
Speaker 1: Madrid fan. For now that I've said this before, it's
Speaker 1: brought me a lot of joy. I wish that he
Speaker 1: was willing to take a little bit less money and
Speaker 1: embrace a smaller role to be at a bigger team
Speaker 1: in Europe because I think he could have been a
Speaker 1: big contributor off the bench for a team if you
Speaker 1: look at guys like it's lots of Ibrahim as you
Speaker 1: look at the accepting if you're willing to accept your role, yes,
Speaker 1: if if you want to accept the role he could have,
Speaker 1: he could have been contributing. And I know, I know
Speaker 1: it's important to Ronaldo to be you know, patting those
Speaker 1: stats that he likes to pad. You know, he could
Speaker 1: have been more relevant staying in Europe with a smaller role.
Speaker 1: But I think that if he one of his you know,
Speaker 1: must have in his new contract was I'm gonna play
Speaker 1: every minute of every game, then it would mean going
Speaker 1: to a league like you know, in you know, the
Speaker 1: Middle East or in MLS or something like that. So
Speaker 1: I'll say this, though we are you and I we
Speaker 1: are mottos, we are no moreman, we are not gods.
Speaker 1: So a playeric Ronaldo, who has been the first name
Speaker 1: of the team ship all his career, for when he
Speaker 1: was a kid, he was always the main man, He
Speaker 1: was the first option, He was the go to guy. Uh,
Speaker 1: it can be a bit of a struggle to transition
Speaker 1: from that to being a bit pat player. If you're
Speaker 1: enjoyed to building in Hollywood, if you're always the first
Speaker 1: name that appears on the screen on a movie, it
Speaker 1: can be hard to become a character actor latter in
Speaker 1: your career. So for Ronaldo to go from first name
Speaker 1: of the teamsheet to now a bit part player, it's
Speaker 1: just it's not good for your ego, and ego won't
Speaker 1: take it. And also so I feel like we as mottors,
Speaker 1: we as Normamin might not understand while Ronaldo is not
Speaker 1: willing to accept his role, a player like le Bron Gyms,
Speaker 1: a player like you know, thank God Michael Jordan's who
Speaker 1: retired the way I think Ronaldo should have retired, the
Speaker 1: way I think uh Messy deserves to retire on a
Speaker 1: high of winning his sixth cheap Those players are not
Speaker 1: used to beat patrols, ever, from when they were kids.
Speaker 1: At the playgrounds, there always the best players, and so
Speaker 1: for them it can be a bit hard to come
Speaker 1: off the bench and play two or three minutes or
Speaker 1: the last ten minutes in the SoCal game as the
Speaker 1: case maybe. And so I think I understand where another
Speaker 1: would struggle with that, And I think like we the
Speaker 1: fans who are normen, tend to struggle to understand where
Speaker 1: these players are coming from. But as you said, yes
Speaker 1: he still has a lot to contribute, but he wasn't
Speaker 1: willing to one take a pack catch, He wasn't willing
Speaker 1: to take a cut en role. And also more importantly,
Speaker 1: how many teams were willing to deal with him? Because
Speaker 1: another comes with a lot more than just the football baggage.
Speaker 1: He's like a whole corporation upon himself. And then of
Speaker 1: course he did that interview with prs Morgan and that
Speaker 1: if you are in a coach willing to take a
Speaker 1: bet on him, to take a gam on him, if
Speaker 1: you saw that, you would have gone a here, this
Speaker 1: is a bit too much drama for for me to
Speaker 1: deal with. And so I think I think that that
Speaker 1: interview with Pr small Gan, I think just complete complicated
Speaker 1: matters for him and again, and I will say, you know,
Speaker 1: for if you're like a walk person, or if you're
Speaker 1: if a person who believes in sports icons being role
Speaker 1: models and all that, and having to use the platforms
Speaker 1: for the fossil good not moving to saud Arabia, it's
Speaker 1: not just disappointing as a human rights movement, it's almost
Speaker 1: disappointing as a trend. I have noticed with Ronaldo recently,
Speaker 1: like he seems to be hanging around or padding around
Speaker 1: with characters of questionable moral value. I'll put it like that.
Speaker 1: So he did the interview with ps Smogan of all people,
Speaker 1: and he Smogan all his crimes are well documented, lengthy
Speaker 1: and well documented. Um, then he was paddling around and
Speaker 1: the thing hanging around that Jordan Peterson, who is another
Speaker 1: character of questionable uh uh, you know reputation if you
Speaker 1: would say that online. And then like so I think,
Speaker 1: I hope, I hope, and I say this is the point,
Speaker 1: but I hope like next time we don't see it
Speaker 1: Ronaldo hanging around and low or even wat for sure.
Speaker 1: Well there you have it, everybody. I think that's gonna
Speaker 1: conclude our our latest episode of our podcast. Thank you
Speaker 1: all for joining us Joe as a pleasure as always
Speaker 1: and look forward to doing it against So until next time,
Speaker 1: my friend. Watch the Daily Show weeknights at eleven tenth
Speaker 1: Central on Comedy Central and stream full episodes anytime on
Speaker 1: Paramount Plus. This has been a Comedy Central podcast