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Speaker 1: Welcome to the way in. I'm Danielle aller Con. I'm

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Speaker 1: John Green. We've had a lot to talk about today, John. Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So it was the World Cup qualifying playoffs and I

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Speaker 1: thought we would start with that. We're also going to

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Speaker 1: do a deep dive into one of the newly qualified

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Speaker 1: nations and a story from you. I have no idea

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Speaker 1: what it is, and maybe we have time, maybe a

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Speaker 1: little bit of the mailbag. Right, we still start with

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Speaker 1: the results.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, let's start with the results, But shouldn't we

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Speaker 2: be not eurocentric, Daniel and start with the intercontinental playoffs?

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Speaker 2: That's so uh great, Ger, Yeah, you're so woke. All right,

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Speaker 2: sure we can do that.

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Speaker 1: I will say, in the spirit of fairness that I

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Speaker 1: watched Bolivia surname Yep, to my great dismay, not a

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Speaker 1: great game of football, a miserable game of football. The

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Speaker 1: same goalkeeper was wasting time, like in the fifty fifth minute,

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Speaker 1: a lot of like going down and thinking it. Bolivia

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Speaker 1: came back, they were down one nothing, they came back

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Speaker 1: and scored and won. But yeah, it was not a classic,

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Speaker 1: nor will it live long in memory. I did not

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Speaker 1: watch Bolivia Rock because it was started at midnight in

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Speaker 1: Buenos Aires, where I was. So I didn't get to

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Speaker 1: watch it, did you?

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Speaker 2: So I did. I did get to watch it because

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Speaker 2: the Iraqi national team has a former AFC Wimbledon player,

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Speaker 2: Ali al Hamdy, and I have met Ali al Hamedy

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Speaker 2: on a few occasions and I'm a huge fan of him,

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Speaker 2: both as a person and as a player. And the

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Speaker 2: thought that he could qualify for the World Cup and

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Speaker 2: I would sleep through it was not bearable to me.

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Speaker 2: So I stayed up and watched the game. And it

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Speaker 2: was a significantly better game than Bolivia Surnamal though that's

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Speaker 2: a low bar to jump over, and Ali al Hamdi

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Speaker 2: scored an AFC Wimbledon player scored in a playoff final

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Speaker 2: to send his nation to the World Cup.

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Speaker 1: Pretty victual for me.

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Speaker 2: And it was very very It was Bolivia is not

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Speaker 2: going to beat the allegations that they just can't play

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Speaker 2: at sea level. I mean, they're a different team at

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Speaker 2: twelve thousand feet than they are at sea level, and

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Speaker 2: they will wait.

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Speaker 1: They ran the first game in Mexico City, which is

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Speaker 1: famously not at sea level.

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Speaker 2: Not at sea level, but also not at Bolivia level.

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Speaker 1: Not at Bolivia level. For sure, for sure, which is

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Speaker 1: why I don't know where they played the second game,

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Speaker 1: but if it was at sea level, then you know,

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Speaker 1: then for sure Iraq had an advantage.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, at any rate, I don't know either, but Iraq

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Speaker 2: looked the better team throughout the game. Bolivia had a

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Speaker 2: good equalizer. For a minute, I thought that the game

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Speaker 2: was going to go to extra time, and then I

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Speaker 2: believe it was a kid who grew up in the

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Speaker 2: United States who scored for Iraq to send them to

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Speaker 2: the World Cup and the celebrations. I mean, one of

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Speaker 2: my favorite things that emerge from this round of the

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Speaker 2: World Cup playoffs was the Mexican fans and the Iraqi

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Speaker 2: fans singing together Mexican Iraqi. I'm gonna I'm gonna miss

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Speaker 2: the translation, Daniel, it's going to surprise you, but something

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Speaker 2: like together together, we are brothers.

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Speaker 1: Oh that's great, that's great. Yeah, that's the next great

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Speaker 1: fusion cuisine will be Iraqi Mexican I predict.

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Speaker 2: Oh, the world's crying out for it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and certainly I will say that this I was

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Speaker 1: I was asking our producer Kurt if we could have

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Speaker 1: a sound effect, like some kind of like horn for

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Speaker 1: a group of death, because I feel like, yeah, this

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Speaker 1: really rounded out. A group which I think is a

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Speaker 1: veritable group of death is France, Norway, Senegal in Iraq.

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Speaker 1: I think that's that's actually a very tough group.

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Speaker 2: That's a proper group of death. I mean, you've got

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Speaker 2: the best striker in the world playing for Norway. You've

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Speaker 2: got France probably the best team in the world. You've

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Speaker 2: got Senegal champions, one of the champions of Africa, arguably

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Speaker 2: champions of Africa. And you've got a rock whomedy and

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Speaker 2: so they always have a chance.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're brothers of Mexico, so great. Okay, that

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Speaker 1: that settles that. There's a few games that I don't

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Speaker 1: think we need to say much about, although I do

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Speaker 1: want to mention that we had both been pining for

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Speaker 1: the presence of Jamaican fans at this coming World Cup,

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Speaker 1: and we're both disappointed that we're happy for the Democratic

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Speaker 1: Republic of Congo. Sad we won't have the reggae boys

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Speaker 1: lighting up every stadium in the United States where they play.

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Speaker 2: Or Yeah, it's a bummer, but I'm excited for Dr

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Speaker 2: Congo and they've also I mean you could see in

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Speaker 2: the celebrations in conchasa. How much that meant to the DRC,

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Speaker 2: and I'm really excited for them. And of course they've

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Speaker 2: got that great single fan who stands throughout the entire game, Daniel,

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Speaker 2: and has his arm up. Oh, stands very still for

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Speaker 2: an for the full ninety minutes.

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Speaker 1: Like our most famous fan the Statue of Liberty.

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Speaker 2: Yes, it's very very similar Statue of Liberty. And hopefully

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Speaker 2: he'll get a visa and be able to come. He

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Speaker 2: was not able to be there in real life for

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Speaker 2: the playoff games in Mexico, but hopefully he'll get a

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Speaker 2: visa and be able to see his team play. Does

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Speaker 2: switch arms Nope, doesn't switch arms, doesn't move a muscle.

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Speaker 1: Wow, it's very oppressive. I don't think I can do it.

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Speaker 1: You know how tennis players have like one arm that's

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Speaker 1: like noticeably stronger than the other one. I wonder if

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Speaker 1: that happens to the r Congo's loan fan has to be.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to mention because I think this affects our

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Speaker 1: American listeners and parenthetically, I've been so happy to see

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Speaker 1: so many emails we get from all over the world,

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Speaker 1: not just US fans, but it's kind of inspiring that

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Speaker 1: Turkey defeated Kosovo and now enters another group of death

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Speaker 1: with the United States, and I think significantly complicates Marzio

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Speaker 1: Pochettino's job of getting the US out of the group.

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Speaker 1: It's it's it's not going to be easy. That Turkey

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Speaker 1: is a tough, tough team.

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Speaker 2: If you can't beat Paraguay and Australia, you don't deserve

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Speaker 2: to make it to the last thirty two of the

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Speaker 2: World Cup, is my position.

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Speaker 1: I think that's true. But I think Paraguay is a

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Speaker 1: tough team to agree. I think we're in trouble as

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Speaker 1: a country. Yeah, I mean, well that is outside the

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Speaker 1: scope of the away and but yes, you're in trouble

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Speaker 1: in many ways. Yeah, I think it's gonna be it's

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Speaker 1: gonna be a challenge. I think Australia is better than

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Speaker 1: Americans think. I think Turkey is a is a superior

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Speaker 1: team technically. Then you yeah, Now I'm I I think

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Speaker 1: Turkey is the favorite in that group. Now, yeah, I

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Speaker 1: have nothing to say about Checchia and s Denmark.

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Speaker 2: I have one thing to say go for it, which

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Speaker 2: is that that's a pretty significant upset and that group Mexico,

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Speaker 2: South Africa, South Korea, Chechia. That's a pretty interesting group.

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Speaker 2: Like I'm going to struggle to pick a clear favorite

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Speaker 2: in that group.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm excited for the Mexico South Africa rematch. Do

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Speaker 1: you remember that game the beginning the first game of

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Speaker 1: the of the twenty ten Yeah, yeah, and it was

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Speaker 1: a one wonder goal for South Africa, goal for all

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Speaker 1: of Africa, a goal for all of that believe. It

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Speaker 1: was a wonderful goal. Actually a beautiful goal, really beautiful.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm excited for that game just because it'll

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Speaker 1: give me sort of nostalgic vibes which brings us my

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Speaker 1: friend to Sweden. Poland, Sweden. That was a great game.

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Speaker 2: Well you've got a lot to say about that, because

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Speaker 2: your your beloved Victor Jokearez scored a hat trick in

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Speaker 2: the first match of the playoffs and then scored the

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Speaker 2: winner against Poland.

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Speaker 1: Yes, he scores when he wants, as the song goes,

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Speaker 1: I predicted. Slash manifested this. It is possibly the only

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Speaker 1: good news for Arsenal in the last couple of weeks

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Speaker 1: that we have our Swedish oakfish player finally scoring goals

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Speaker 1: with some regularity. It was the eighteen he scored the

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Speaker 1: eighty ninth minute winner and he was very happy. He

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Speaker 1: has kind of this Adam and Tyne expression. You can't

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Speaker 1: really read what he's saying, but I think that was

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Speaker 1: Swedish for happiness and eliminating Poland and legendary striker Robert

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Speaker 1: Lewandowski from the World Cup. At his he's also a

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Speaker 1: forty seven years old, so he'll be all right.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and I believe that means that he only made

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Speaker 2: one World Cup appearance in his long and storied career.

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Speaker 2: But that's still a good outcome. I would say for

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Speaker 2: a Polish striker, it's so hard to qualify out of Europe.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think that the Europe I was thinking

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Speaker 2: this as I watched the Intercontinental playoffs where Jamaica did

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Speaker 2: not look very good and Bolivia did not look very good.

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Speaker 2: I was thinking that it is a lot easier, especially

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Speaker 2: this round, because of the US, Canada and Mexico all

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Speaker 2: qualifying automatically. It's a lot easier to get to the

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Speaker 2: World Cup if you're in Conca, calf or even if

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Speaker 2: you're in South America than it is if you're in Europe. Yes,

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Speaker 2: you're going to push back on this, No, I mean yeah.

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Speaker 1: No, I think you're right. I think you're right. I

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Speaker 1: think you used to be much harder class to qualify.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I think you see much harder to qualify

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Speaker 1: from Latin, from South America. Yeah, but yeah, I mean

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Speaker 1: it's you know, now, it's like six teams, six and

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Speaker 1: a half spots out of ten. You know, it's pretty easy,

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Speaker 1: where whereas you know, Europe there's just so many more

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Speaker 1: countries now, I mean, since the Yugoslavia broke up and

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Speaker 1: since the Soviet Union broke up. You know, we're talking

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Speaker 1: about like an extra ten countries who all have legitimate

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Speaker 1: footballing pedigree, which is what which brings us actually quite

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Speaker 1: nicely to the operatic Italian tragedy of Bosnia's qualification. Since

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Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about Bosnia, I want to in

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Speaker 1: my deep dive in the part two of the Today's show,

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Speaker 1: we should focus on this through the eyes of the

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Speaker 1: Italian drama. And I just want to set it up

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Speaker 1: for listeners because I'm not sure everyone is aware. Italy

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Speaker 1: is four time World Cup winning side nineteen thirty four,

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Speaker 1: thirty eight eighty two in two thousand and six that

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Speaker 1: has now missed out on three straight tournaments. John, can

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Speaker 1: you tell me who was the last Italian to score

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Speaker 1: at a World Cup?

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Speaker 2: No, I can tell you that Roberto Baggio missed penalty

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Speaker 2: and they otherwise they would have been a five time

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Speaker 2: World Cup winner.

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Speaker 1: Who was that? That's actually not true. That's actually not true.

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Speaker 1: That was the final Italian kick, but there was still

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Speaker 1: a Brazilian kick that would have won it. So that's true.

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Speaker 1: That's true. Okay, right, but anyway, yes, but.

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Speaker 2: If they'd won that penalty shootout, they would have been

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Speaker 2: a five time World Cup winning for sure, for sure.

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Speaker 2: And yet still they've missed out on three consecutive World Cups.

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Speaker 1: Was it, Toti? No, I'll give you another hint and

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Speaker 1: then we'll move on. It was He played briefly for Liverpool,

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Speaker 1: although that's not the English side he's most associated with. Kieza. No, No,

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Speaker 1: he hasn't been around long enough. Who Mario Balotelli?

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Speaker 2: Oh, Mario Balatelli was the last person to score for Italy?

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Speaker 1: Wow? So is this some context? This is not a

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Speaker 1: sudden collapse. This is a kind of a long decline.

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Speaker 1: So after two thousand and six World champions they sort

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Speaker 1: of embody that curse of champions because twenty ten, they

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Speaker 1: failed to get out of the group stage then, I mean,

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Speaker 1: and it was like it was two draws against global

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Speaker 1: powerhouses New Zealand and Paraguay, uh, and then they lost

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Speaker 1: to Slovenia and that was that same story. In twenty fourteen,

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Speaker 1: the Italians beat England to one and then lost to

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Speaker 1: Costa Rica and Uruguay and they and England did not

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Speaker 1: get out of the group that year. So that was

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Speaker 1: when they made it, and then since then it's just

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Speaker 1: been you know, near miss, near miss, and then and

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Speaker 1: another one today.

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Speaker 2: Although it should be noted that in between missing these

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Speaker 2: World Cups, they won the Euros, like they so when

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Speaker 2: they qualify for tournaments they tend to do very well.

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Speaker 2: It's just that they they've managed to not qualify for

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Speaker 2: three consecutive World Cups, and that is I know that

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Speaker 2: you're going to say this is a long fall from grace,

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Speaker 2: and it's true on some levels, right, like the Italian

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Speaker 2: league is not what it used to be, et cetera,

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Speaker 2: et cetera, But like they are absolutely talented enough to

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Speaker 2: qualify for the World Cup hard stop. Yes, are they.

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Speaker 1: Better than Corusau, for sure.

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Speaker 2: They're better than Bosnia. They lost on the day because

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Speaker 2: they had a because their greatest enemy is within their

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Speaker 2: own minds Oh.

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Speaker 1: Kind, guess keep that put that on a T shirt. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: And I love this moment because it was it was

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Speaker 1: kind of sad, and I thought that adn Jeco had

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Speaker 1: a really good response to it. But so when Bosnia

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Speaker 1: beat Wales on penalty kicks, there was a viral A

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Speaker 1: video went out or was someone caught a video of

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Speaker 1: two Italian players celebrating as if Bosnia was the gimme

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Speaker 1: and Wales was the tough team. Yeah, and it was,

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Speaker 1: you know, slightly embarrassing. One of the players who who

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Speaker 1: celebrated was Francisco Piosposito, who then went on to miss

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Speaker 1: his penalty in the boss shootout. Oh, very sad, very sad.

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Speaker 1: I hate to see somebody miss a penalty. Yeah, I know,

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Speaker 1: I know, because it's it's so unfair because it's like

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Speaker 1: you know, it is it's it's a lot of pressure

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Speaker 1: to put on a young man's shoulders.

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Speaker 2: As we were watching that penalty shootout, actually I was

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Speaker 2: watching it with Sarah and I said to Sarah, I

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Speaker 2: don't think I could score if there was no goalie

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Speaker 2: with that level of pressure.

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Speaker 1: On me. I think that's probably true. Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: I would miss the goal. I don't think I don't

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Speaker 1: think I could get the ball to the goal. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean I missed a penalty kick in a like

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Speaker 1: Sunday League shootout, you know here in New York, and

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Speaker 1: I was I was like very distraught for about yeah,

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Speaker 1: forty five minutes after. Yeah, quite quite sad for the Italians.

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Speaker 1: And you know, of course everyone's resigned. I got to Sol,

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Speaker 1: the manager resigned and now you know it's not you know,

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Speaker 1: they they have a lot of work to do if

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Speaker 1: they're going to not make this kind of permanent position

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Speaker 1: of being, you know, a mid level European team as

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Speaker 1: opposed to where they believe in by rights, have a

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Speaker 1: have a earned you know, at the very top of

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Speaker 1: the European game. So it's tough. It's tough. My heart

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Speaker 1: goes out to them.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, as you as you wrote in the notes, trombone

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Speaker 2: a tri stay sad trombone an Italian.

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Speaker 1: Yes, that's what Google tells me. It is how you

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Speaker 1: say it. I have not checked that with any Italian speakers.

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Speaker 1: That's a lot to chew on, and I think it

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Speaker 1: sets now all the groups and and now so we

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Speaker 1: can sort of like we're legitimately now in the preparation

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Speaker 1: phase for this World Cup about two months out. It's

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Speaker 1: the teams are set, the matchups are set, the stadiums

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Speaker 1: are set, the groups of death have been uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: set up and uh and now we can get legitimately

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Speaker 1: excited for the tournament to come.

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Speaker 2: And I have to say this round of playoffs was

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Speaker 2: very exciting for me, even Sean was watching. Sean, we

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Speaker 2: really appreciate you tuning in for some high quality intercontinental

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Speaker 2: playoff action and was It just reminded me of the

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Speaker 2: unbelievable levels of joy and heartbreak that are involved. And

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Speaker 2: we should mention some of the teams that didn't make

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Speaker 2: it. It was a bad World Cup playoff for all the

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Speaker 2: English speaking nations. For Northern Ireland, Ireland and Wales, they

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Speaker 2: were all knocked out in the semi finals. And you know,

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Speaker 2: the heartbreak, the joy, the purity of emotion. It's so

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Speaker 2: hard to get any kind of pure emotion for me,

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Speaker 2: Like usually how many time I feel joy, it's a

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Speaker 2: little bit mixed with anxiety. Like I just announced this

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Speaker 2: new book which is very joyful and exciting and etc.

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Speaker 2: But like at the same time, it's mixed with a

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Speaker 2: feeling of dread. You know that people are going to

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Speaker 2: read this book and judge me and judge the book,

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Speaker 2: and that's so scary. But football, the emotions are so pure,

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Speaker 2: they're so simple.

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Speaker 1: About your new book, I did think it was early

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Speaker 1: to write a memoir about our time as host of

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Speaker 1: the Wighend, But you know, I don't pretend to understand

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Speaker 1: your creative mind. But you know, hey, it's well, I did.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's about it's about two young people, which

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Speaker 2: describes Daniel and I perfectly, who are experiencing sudden and

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Speaker 2: unexpected fame and wild celebrity levels, which again describes Daniel

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Speaker 2: and I perfectly.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, no, it's great. But I'm really excited about it.

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Speaker 2: And I think, Daniel, if I'm very if I'm very careful,

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Speaker 2: and I let my editor know that there's just one

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Speaker 2: name that needs to be added. At the very end,

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Speaker 2: I can squeeze your name or Seawan's name into the

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Speaker 2: book if you win the World Cup bet that we have. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: that's true, that's true. Well, I feel confident that I

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Speaker 2: will not win because I'm terrible. I think our prognostications

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Speaker 2: of this of these playoffs really based on the literature

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Speaker 2: that we most like from each country turned out to

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Speaker 2: be a terrible way to predict, a catastrophic way of

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Speaker 2: trying to analyze. Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna go

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Speaker 2: with a different strategy for my World Cup.

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Speaker 1: Bracket maker.

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna I'm gonna go with which teams I think

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Speaker 2: are better, very.

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Speaker 1: Very innovative, very innovative. Let's take a quick break because

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Speaker 1: I want to talk about that joy and when we

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Speaker 1: do a deep dive on Bosnia in just a moment,

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Speaker 1: we'll be right back. Great, all right, So we're back

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Speaker 1: on the away and John, how much do you know

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Speaker 1: about the Bosnian national team? Not much.

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Speaker 2: I know how happy I was for our acquaintance and

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Speaker 2: the great writer Alexander Human when they qualified, and that's

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Speaker 2: about all I know.

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Speaker 1: That's about all you know. Okay. So the first thing

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Speaker 1: that you need to know is that until nineteen ninety

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Speaker 1: two Bosnian players played for Yugoslavia and there and you know,

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Speaker 1: I didn't. I I know enough to know that Yugoslavia

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Speaker 1: was like a very good European side that, like Latin

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Speaker 1: American teams, were always respected a lot and I didn't

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Speaker 1: know the names of some of these players, and I

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Speaker 1: want to mention a few striker Bahid hal Hodozik, defender

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Speaker 1: Frouk Haasibjik, playmaker Ivika Ossim and I just wanted to

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Speaker 1: say those because they're fun to say. Very impressive. Daniel, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but Safid Sushik is the one that I was like, WHOA,

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Speaker 1: I wish i'd seen him play. So he played at

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Speaker 1: Sarajevo and PSG PSG. He was voted in twenty ten

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Speaker 1: the best player ever to play for PSG. Someone called

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Speaker 1: him one of the best player that no one ever saw.

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Speaker 1: I looked up his highlights on YouTube and I highly

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Speaker 1: recommend them. He reminds me kind of like a Santi

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Speaker 1: Cazola or Chavirnandez type, like you could not take the

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Speaker 1: ball off him, you know, this close close control. That

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Speaker 1: was just absurd. So that I mentioned only to say

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Speaker 1: that Bosnia has real footballing pedigree. They the players that

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Speaker 1: they brought to the Yugoslav national team throughout the eighties

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Speaker 1: and nineties were top, top top players, I should say

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Speaker 1: eighties and early nineties. So when Yugoslavia descends into war,

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Speaker 1: it breaks up obviously into several nations Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia,

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Speaker 1: and I have to say not Albania. And I want

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Speaker 1: to thank one of our listeners, Andrew, who pointed out

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Speaker 1: very elegantly that I misspoke a couple of episodes ago

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Speaker 1: when we were talking about Albania's chances in the Intracontinental playoff,

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Speaker 1: and I incorrectly and quite ignorantly stated that Albinia has

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Speaker 1: been part of Yugoslavian part of Yugoslavia, and that was

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Speaker 1: not true. So my apologies, okay, and my apologies for

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Speaker 1: not correcting you. Well, you said never bet against Albania,

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Speaker 1: I remember, and then you didn't catch this error, so

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Speaker 1: I think, really you're the most I'm really at fault. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: as usual, Okay. So since ninety two, Bosnia plays an

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Speaker 1: independent nation in football in terms, it honestly hasn't gone great.

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Speaker 1: Croatcha obviously is the most successful of the former Yugoslavian nations.

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Speaker 1: They made the twenty eighteen final. They have kind of

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Speaker 1: the most famous players. Sloveni has qualified for two World Cups,

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Speaker 1: Serbia for three. Bosnia nearly qualified for two thousand and

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Speaker 1: four euros, they missed out by a single goal to Denmark,

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Speaker 1: and then in terms of the World Cup, they didn't

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Speaker 1: make twenty ten they lost to Portugal and then didn't

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Speaker 1: make the twenty twelve Euros. They qualified for twenty fourteen,

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Speaker 1: but they were placed in a group with Argentina and

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Speaker 1: they finished third, and they should have qualified actually for

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Speaker 1: the knockout rounds that in that tournament, but edin Jeco

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Speaker 1: scored a goal that was incorrectly called off side, and

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Speaker 1: you can look up there's a lot of videos posted

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Speaker 1: by Bosnians on YouTube of the goal, with you very

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Speaker 1: colorful commentary about what happened and how they were robbed.

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Speaker 1: They missed the twenty eighteen World Cup, the twenty twenty Euros,

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Speaker 1: which were played in twenty twenty one, but confusingly are

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Speaker 1: still known as the euros from twenty twenty, and the

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty two World Cup. So when it came to

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Speaker 1: qualifying for this tournament, Bosnia and herzegovi and I should say,

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Speaker 1: were drawn in Group H Austria, Cyprus, Romanian San Marino.

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Speaker 1: They finished second. They drew drawing away to Vienna but

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Speaker 1: losing it home to the Group winners Austria. This was

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Speaker 1: enough for the playoff where they beat Wales on penalties

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Speaker 1: and then they beat Italy on penalties as well, and

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Speaker 1: they thoroughly deserved it. I mean they did. They they

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Speaker 1: were bossing Italy kind of. Even when Italy was playing

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Speaker 1: with eleven men, Italy had a player sent off for

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Speaker 1: a very dumb foul that was a straight red, and

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Speaker 1: Bosnia from that point on really dombinate. They peppered the goal.

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Speaker 1: Don A Ruma played a great game to keep Italy ahead,

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Speaker 1: but you kind of saw that it was how it

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Speaker 1: was going to end, and eventually there was a goal

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Speaker 1: bundled in. It was not a beauty, but they all

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Speaker 1: count and now they're through because they won in penalty

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Speaker 1: kicks and they're in a group with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.

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Speaker 1: I want to give a special shout out to edin Jecko,

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Speaker 1: who's forty years old. He is the striker kind of

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Speaker 1: the most famous Bosnian player. He's a national hero, all

408
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Speaker 1: time leading goal scorer for the national team with seventy

409
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Speaker 1: goals and just for people who want to compare that,

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Speaker 1: Harry Kane, you know who are many of ourlisers will

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Speaker 1: have heard of He has seventy eight for England, so

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Speaker 1: he's like edin Jeco in terms of the national team,

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Speaker 1: is like up there with the Harry Kanes. He's also

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Speaker 1: as old as time itself and is one of those

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Speaker 1: player makes me think, John, if we've just taken better

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Speaker 1: care of ourselves, we too could still be playing. He's

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Speaker 1: twice as old, more than twice as old as La Mignamol,

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Speaker 1: the Spanish superstar. So I'm happy for Bosnia and I

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Speaker 1: think they're going to be a tough team. I think

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Speaker 1: that they will beat Qatar. I think they will draw Canada. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: maybe maybe lose to Switzerland. I think Switzerland's is a

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Speaker 1: pretty pretty strong team, but that could be enough for

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Speaker 1: a third place berth and I think they'll be They'll

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Speaker 1: be into the round of sixty four or whatever it

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Speaker 1: is there, it's called now round of thirty two. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think it. I think that could happen. I think

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Speaker 1: that could happen.

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Speaker 2: You have you have covered the Bosnian national team brilliantly,

429
00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:49,240
Speaker 2: but you have left one important detail on the on

430
00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,280
Speaker 2: on the floor, I think, Daniel, which is that there

431
00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:57,399
Speaker 2: is a song widely sung in English by a Bosnian.

432
00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,120
Speaker 1: Band that.

433
00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:05,960
Speaker 2: Has become the song to sing around this World Cup,

434
00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,399
Speaker 2: and the chorus is I am from Bosnia. Take me

435
00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:11,080
Speaker 2: to America. I really want to see Statue of Liberty.

436
00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 2: I can no longer wait. Take me to United States,

437
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,200
Speaker 2: Take me to Golden Gate, I will assimilate.

438
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:17,359
Speaker 1: Wow.

439
00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 2: And so like, people were singing that song all over

440
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 2: to celebrate the fact that they get to go to

441
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:29,280
Speaker 2: the United States for the twenty twenty six World Cup.

442
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,760
Speaker 1: I like that. I think that's really cute. I was

443
00:25:34,800 --> 00:25:37,920
Speaker 1: in the stadium when Peru qualified for the World Cup

444
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,199
Speaker 1: in twenty eighteen. And after you know, we qualified, the

445
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:46,280
Speaker 1: celebrations began. The players came out carrying suitcases and they

446
00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 1: put on these Russian hats. Oh that's awesome. I love that.

447
00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 1: And so you had the national team that had just won.

448
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:55,679
Speaker 1: They were probably already half drunk. The stadium didn't empty

449
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 1: for like an hour. They came back out literally with

450
00:25:58,080 --> 00:26:02,080
Speaker 1: suitcases and these like, you know, Babushka hats, like the

451
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:07,400
Speaker 1: big furry ones. It was so funny and uh and

452
00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,080
Speaker 1: and just so you know, hey, you know, it is

453
00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 1: all about the trip. You know, who's on the plane.

454
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,000
Speaker 1: Who's on the plane is what we will say. And

455
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,399
Speaker 1: I couldn't be happier for my friend Alexander Himuon and

456
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,240
Speaker 1: also for the nation of Bosnia. We hope they do well.

457
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: We do all right, So we're gonna come back with

458
00:26:25,240 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 1: a story and some mail and uh, let's take a

459
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:44,679
Speaker 1: quick break. All right, all right, are you ready for

460
00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:47,359
Speaker 1: my story? Daniel? I'm so ready. Hit me.

461
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:52,800
Speaker 2: My story is the life story of my aforementioned hero,

462
00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:56,439
Speaker 2: Ali al Hamadi, the greatest player ever to play for

463
00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:00,000
Speaker 2: the football club I sponsor a FC Wimbledon and certainly

464
00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 2: the greatest striker ever to play for them, and now

465
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:06,000
Speaker 2: in a Raqi national hero. And I wanted to tell

466
00:27:06,040 --> 00:27:09,240
Speaker 2: this story because you know, a lot of times people

467
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:16,040
Speaker 2: national identity is really complicated, and that's something we see

468
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 2: during the World Cup when, for instance, if you look

469
00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:22,320
Speaker 2: at the Kurasou national team, it's a lot of Dutch

470
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:24,719
Speaker 2: players who were born in the Netherlands, have lived their

471
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:27,520
Speaker 2: whole life in the Netherlands, but have a Kurrosoo parent.

472
00:27:28,280 --> 00:27:30,760
Speaker 2: And sometimes you even hear people say, well, that's not

473
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,880
Speaker 2: really the Kurasow national team, or it shouldn't be because

474
00:27:34,760 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 2: those people are Dutch or whatever. And you hear that

475
00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:43,160
Speaker 2: with Wales and Ireland and lots of countries where there's

476
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:47,600
Speaker 2: a large diaspora. And I think Ali al Hamedi's life

477
00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 2: story is revealing of the complexity of national identity because

478
00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:55,240
Speaker 2: if you talk to him, he has a deep, deep

479
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,720
Speaker 2: Scouse accent, so he sounds he is from Liverpool. He

480
00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 2: moved to Liverpool when he was one year old, around

481
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:06,920
Speaker 2: the same age that, if I'm not mistaken, you moved

482
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,359
Speaker 2: from Peru to the United States when you were very young, right.

483
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,080
Speaker 1: Three one or two three? Three years old? Yeah?

484
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,199
Speaker 2: Yeah, So you you don't have an accent in English

485
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:19,160
Speaker 2: at all, or or you don't have, well, you do,

486
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 2: but I don't hear the accent because it's the same

487
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:22,639
Speaker 2: accent I have.

488
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:25,960
Speaker 1: There you go, there, you go, just like saying no one,

489
00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:30,160
Speaker 1: no one can smell their own house, you know, exactly exactly.

490
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 2: So Ali al Hamedi sounds very thoroughly Liverpudlian uh, you know,

491
00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:42,800
Speaker 2: in the in the way that that Stephen Gerrard or

492
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 2: Jamie Carricer do.

493
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:45,480
Speaker 1: H.

494
00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:51,680
Speaker 2: But he is also deeply, deeply Iraqi in terms of

495
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,800
Speaker 2: his own sense of self. So he was born in Iraq,

496
00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,520
Speaker 2: he was born in my Son and then in the

497
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:04,480
Speaker 2: very early stages of the Iraq War. He moved to

498
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 2: Liverpool because his father, who was at the time studying

499
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,560
Speaker 2: to become a lawyer, was part of a peaceful protest

500
00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:16,440
Speaker 2: against the regime of Saddam Hussein and was jailed as

501
00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:19,600
Speaker 2: a result of being part of that protest. At the time,

502
00:29:19,720 --> 00:29:23,280
Speaker 2: his wife was pregnant with Ali al Hamedi's younger sibling,

503
00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,239
Speaker 2: and so when his father was released, they made their

504
00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:32,360
Speaker 2: way to the UK. He initially went to Jordan, then

505
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,040
Speaker 2: was finally reunited with his whole family in Britain and

506
00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,520
Speaker 2: has lived in Britain ever since.

507
00:29:40,400 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 1: And so.

508
00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 2: I think this is this is typical of a lot

509
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 2: of stories of you know, multi national identity. You know,

510
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:56,720
Speaker 2: could Ali al Hamedi play for England, absolutely, But for him,

511
00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,600
Speaker 2: I think it's probably more meaningful to play for Iraq

512
00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 2: from what he said publicly. And also you've got to remember,

513
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,400
Speaker 2: like I think, Alielhammadi was twenty or nineteen when he

514
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 2: came to AFC Wimbledon. He was playing for Wickham. He

515
00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,640
Speaker 2: was in League Two, the fourth division of English football.

516
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:16,960
Speaker 1: You know, there's.

517
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 2: What probably twelve hundred, fifteen hundred players above you. If

518
00:30:23,840 --> 00:30:27,840
Speaker 2: you're playing in League Two in England and yet immediately

519
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:33,120
Speaker 2: upon arriving at AFC Wimbledon he became an absolute superstar

520
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:37,400
Speaker 2: for a very very mediocre team. He scored twenty three

521
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:42,320
Speaker 2: goals in forty two appearances. He was overwhelmingly the best player,

522
00:30:42,480 --> 00:30:44,440
Speaker 2: not just on the team, but the best striker in

523
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,480
Speaker 2: League Two. And then he got picked up by Ipswich

524
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 2: Town in the Championship made his way to the Premier

525
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,080
Speaker 2: League because Ipswich Town got promoted to the Premier League

526
00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,280
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty four and by then he was a

527
00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 2: twenty two year old playing in the Premier League. He

528
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:00,240
Speaker 2: didn't play a lot in the Premier League, but he

529
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:03,760
Speaker 2: played sometimes. Then he really really struggled. He had a

530
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,960
Speaker 2: really difficult period. He was training away from the rest

531
00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 2: of the team. He was training with the reserves, with

532
00:31:09,920 --> 00:31:16,000
Speaker 2: the youth side. It was brutal. I suspect I don't

533
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:17,560
Speaker 2: know this for a fact, but I think that would

534
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:19,880
Speaker 2: be a really hard experience to go through, not being

535
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:21,920
Speaker 2: able to train with your teammates and being told that

536
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:24,280
Speaker 2: you weren't part of the first team. He went on

537
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 2: loan first to Stoke City and now is on loan

538
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:31,880
Speaker 2: at Lutontown and the third division of English soccer and

539
00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:35,040
Speaker 2: so to go. You know, Daniel, you said a couple

540
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 2: episodes ago, you made a great point, which is that

541
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,920
Speaker 2: it would be really surreal to go from you know,

542
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 2: playing for nothing, which Wutontown is playing for this season.

543
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:45,240
Speaker 2: They're not going to get promoted, they're not going to

544
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 2: get relegated. They're in the third division. They're going to

545
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:53,280
Speaker 2: stay in the third division, to an unbelievably stressful, high

546
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 2: stakes game playing Bolivia in a one off game for

547
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,000
Speaker 2: a shot to send your nation to the World Cup

548
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,280
Speaker 2: for the first time in forty years. Wow, well that

549
00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:06,120
Speaker 2: is a that is a a that's got to be

550
00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:10,560
Speaker 2: a surreal shift in mindset. And to score in that game,

551
00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 2: it's what you dreamed of your whole life. And maybe

552
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:14,719
Speaker 2: score in that game is what you dreamed of your

553
00:32:14,720 --> 00:32:18,160
Speaker 2: whole life, or maybe even you wouldn't have even been

554
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:20,800
Speaker 2: able to dream of it because it's it felt so

555
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:22,200
Speaker 2: remote as a possibility.

556
00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:25,200
Speaker 1: That's incredible. Yeah what a yeah?

557
00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 2: And so he scores in that game, you know, unbelievable

558
00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:33,640
Speaker 2: high we're talking about. I mean, imagine the getting forty

559
00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:38,200
Speaker 2: six million people, making forty six million people happy. Yeah,

560
00:32:38,200 --> 00:32:41,680
Speaker 2: what an incredible accomplishment. What a gift, what what a thing?

561
00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 2: You know.

562
00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:43,480
Speaker 1: I think he scored.

563
00:32:43,520 --> 00:32:46,680
Speaker 2: I think he scored, you know, one or two goals

564
00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 2: for for Loot and Town this season. Yeah, and he

565
00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:54,320
Speaker 2: goes and he scores for his country in the biggest

566
00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 2: game they've had in his living memory and his in

567
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 2: Crowther's living memory, you know, shaving memory probably, do you know.

568
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,160
Speaker 2: And and and for his for his father, for his

569
00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:10,440
Speaker 2: parents to be able to uh have have been on

570
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 2: a on a really difficult journey in their lives, having

571
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 2: been refugees, having been welcomed first in Jordan and then

572
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 2: in the UK, to qualifying a rock for the World

573
00:33:23,000 --> 00:33:25,440
Speaker 2: Cup is really really special. So I just wanted to

574
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 2: highlight his story as as someone I really admire as

575
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,200
Speaker 2: a person and as a player. I just I just

576
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,600
Speaker 2: think so highly of him, and I I you know,

577
00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,480
Speaker 2: every World Cup there are people who are not going

578
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:44,400
Speaker 2: to make a bunch of headlines, who nonetheless have brought

579
00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,120
Speaker 2: joy to their country, and and he is one such person.

580
00:33:48,840 --> 00:33:50,960
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I love it. I love it. I'm happy

581
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: for him for their proof of just how how much

582
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 1: did these tournaments mean to so many people around the world.

583
00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 1: And I couldn't be happier for the Iraqis to have

584
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,520
Speaker 1: made it, even though it came at the expense of

585
00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:06,920
Speaker 1: my Bolivian brothers. Yeah, I'm sorry about that.

586
00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,640
Speaker 2: But I'll tell you what, if you watch the game,

587
00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:12,319
Speaker 2: you would have agreed that they did not deserve to

588
00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 2: win it.

589
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:15,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, from what I saw in the Surnoon game, that

590
00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:17,960
Speaker 1: is certainly true. And you know, Peru, like four time

591
00:34:18,040 --> 00:34:21,160
Speaker 1: champion Italy, is just choosing to boycott this World Cup.

592
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:27,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, just coming up protesting. Yeah, and who can blame you.

593
00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:29,480
Speaker 2: There's a lot to protest at the moment.

594
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:34,600
Speaker 1: It is a significant moral stance that countries like Italy

595
00:34:34,680 --> 00:34:38,600
Speaker 1: and Bolivia and Peru are taking. Great. I love it.

596
00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 1: Let's jump into the mailbag. We have a few more

597
00:34:41,000 --> 00:34:43,200
Speaker 1: minutes before you've got to go to I'm sure another

598
00:34:44,080 --> 00:34:46,120
Speaker 1: you know, taped deposition or something.

599
00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:48,399
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm actually getting on a plane to go home.

600
00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,200
Speaker 2: I'm in my parents. I'm visiting you from my parents'

601
00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:55,279
Speaker 2: home in North Carolina. Then I got to go. I

602
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 2: gotta go home, which I'll miss my parents, but I'm excited.

603
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,719
Speaker 2: I also miss Indi Annapolis in the spring the only time.

604
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:07,080
Speaker 1: It's great to be there. Great I'm actually Don going

605
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:13,360
Speaker 1: from here to London to go see the the Arsenal game. Oh, congratulations,

606
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:17,640
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for you. Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. A

607
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,360
Speaker 1: friend of mine, a Columbian friend, got us some, you know,

608
00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 1: two tickets from another Colombian friend, and uh and apparently

609
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:30,360
Speaker 1: they're good tickets, and so I'm very excited. Yes, So okay,

610
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,120
Speaker 1: let's let me read these Don, Daniel, Shawn, and John.

611
00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,359
Speaker 1: Having watched American sports most of my life, I love

612
00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:39,200
Speaker 1: unconventional tactics, think aggressive fourth down attempts or two point

613
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,440
Speaker 1: conversions in the NFL. What peculiar or non trigional tactics

614
00:35:42,440 --> 00:35:44,560
Speaker 1: should we look for in this World Cup? Are there

615
00:35:44,600 --> 00:35:48,040
Speaker 1: specific formations or set designs, set piece designs we should

616
00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:49,920
Speaker 1: watch for in which teams are most likely to utiless them?

617
00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:58,640
Speaker 2: Sincerely, Jared, hmmm, so it's you know, there isn't quite

618
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:01,320
Speaker 2: as much of going for it on fourth and eleven

619
00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,680
Speaker 2: from your own nine yard line in football as there

620
00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:11,800
Speaker 2: is in football, But right I do think that Arsenal

621
00:36:12,600 --> 00:36:15,680
Speaker 2: loading the back post or the front post is a

622
00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:18,439
Speaker 2: really interesting tactic that has worked really well for them,

623
00:36:18,600 --> 00:36:21,120
Speaker 2: and it'll be interesting to see if that happens, it'll

624
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:25,480
Speaker 2: be interesting to see. My favorite moment of unconventional tactics

625
00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:28,799
Speaker 2: is when the goalie comes up. That's when I experience

626
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,920
Speaker 2: true joy. Yeah, there's a goalie comes up to take

627
00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 2: for a last second corner kick.

628
00:36:34,800 --> 00:36:35,880
Speaker 1: That's that's when.

629
00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 2: I stand up and get ready for the miracle to happen,

630
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:42,200
Speaker 2: which it never knows, but I I just a goalie

631
00:36:42,200 --> 00:36:45,080
Speaker 2: goal is the greatest thing that can happen in football.

632
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,879
Speaker 1: It's it's one of the most unexpected. Also, the long

633
00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:51,920
Speaker 1: shot from inside your own half catching your the goal

634
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,839
Speaker 1: off his line. Yes, that's another source of great joy

635
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: for me. Yeah, well, I wanted to I wanted to

636
00:36:57,760 --> 00:37:00,440
Speaker 1: answer this question. I think, I think, and what I

637
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:03,480
Speaker 1: was really interested in this question is for Jared Is.

638
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 1: I think something worth pointing out to newer fans is

639
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,480
Speaker 1: that the national teams get so little time to train.

640
00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:13,960
Speaker 1: The reason why Arsenal's set pieces are such a weapon

641
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,239
Speaker 1: is because they work at work on it, you know,

642
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,320
Speaker 1: five times a week on the on the training grounds.

643
00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:22,760
Speaker 1: Whereas the national teams, you know, the best players from

644
00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,359
Speaker 1: any given country who might be playing in like you know,

645
00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 1: ten different leagues come together and they have time to

646
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:33,120
Speaker 1: you know, do a little bit of tactics. They probably

647
00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:35,240
Speaker 1: have a style, like the Spanish team has a style,

648
00:37:35,280 --> 00:37:37,560
Speaker 1: so everyone sort of knows what the kind of how

649
00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:41,040
Speaker 1: we play. But then there just isn't as much time

650
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:45,200
Speaker 1: for the kinds of of you know, intricate you know,

651
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,080
Speaker 1: passing formations and movements. You know, when you watch a

652
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: team that's well drilled, like a Barcelona, like a real Madrid,

653
00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:56,600
Speaker 1: well less less so Madrid, but like a man City.

654
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,960
Speaker 1: You know, these these teams, you know, the players know

655
00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:02,440
Speaker 1: intuitively where they're teammates are going to be, because you know,

656
00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:06,040
Speaker 1: the managers have time to sort of inculcate these patterns

657
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:11,040
Speaker 1: of play in there, in there into the squad. You

658
00:38:11,080 --> 00:38:14,040
Speaker 1: don't have that. You just don't have that. And so

659
00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:15,719
Speaker 1: what you're gonna see at the World Cup is a

660
00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:17,680
Speaker 1: lot less about tactics and a lot more sort of

661
00:38:17,719 --> 00:38:20,600
Speaker 1: like this sounds really corny, but it's actually true. I

662
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:24,000
Speaker 1: think who wants it more? Which is like what your

663
00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:27,120
Speaker 1: you know, little league pee wee soccer coach used to

664
00:38:27,160 --> 00:38:29,960
Speaker 1: say to you know, in his halftime talk while you

665
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 1: were like sucking on orange slices and uh, but I

666
00:38:33,840 --> 00:38:35,960
Speaker 1: think it's actually kind of true. Like there's just not

667
00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:38,799
Speaker 1: enough time to have these kind of really intricate things

668
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:41,120
Speaker 1: that Jared's asking for, And I think that's worth mentioning.

669
00:38:41,440 --> 00:38:43,400
Speaker 1: It's going to be, like, you know, there will be

670
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:47,240
Speaker 1: kind of more individual moments of brilliance that will define

671
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:51,080
Speaker 1: games as opposed to, you know, a team necessarily overpowering

672
00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:53,920
Speaker 1: another team tactically. What you will see. I think there

673
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:55,719
Speaker 1: are there are There are definitely teams where you can

674
00:38:55,760 --> 00:38:58,919
Speaker 1: tell the basic level of understanding of where we move

675
00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,480
Speaker 1: is higher than others, right, Yeah, and those teams will win, you.

676
00:39:02,440 --> 00:39:07,839
Speaker 2: Know, they'll usually win, usually win, but occasionally something weird

677
00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:08,320
Speaker 2: will happen.

678
00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:11,880
Speaker 1: Yeah, like when Switzerland beat Spain in the first game

679
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,280
Speaker 1: of the twenty ten World Cup and then Spain when.

680
00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:18,520
Speaker 2: New Zealand held Italy to a goal withdraw.

681
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:23,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it happens, exactly, it happens. So John Ryan

682
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,640
Speaker 1: asks the following based on his understanding of the Bosnia

683
00:39:27,719 --> 00:39:32,560
Speaker 1: Italy playoff, where the final kick was converted by Esmir

684
00:39:33,120 --> 00:39:37,760
Speaker 1: Bajrati Veric. I'm sure I pronounced that perfectly. Who actually

685
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:41,080
Speaker 1: is American by birth but Bosnian by heritage plays in Milwaukee,

686
00:39:41,440 --> 00:39:44,680
Speaker 1: he says, Assuming you are both eighteen and have promising

687
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,200
Speaker 1: international careers ahead of you, John, if you could choose

688
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:49,319
Speaker 1: the Netherlands or some other country from your background, would

689
00:39:49,320 --> 00:39:52,640
Speaker 1: anything make you consider choosing them over Team USA? Daniel?

690
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:54,680
Speaker 1: Is there any hypothetical that will lead you to play

691
00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:57,800
Speaker 1: for the US over Peru? More World Cup appearances, raising

692
00:39:57,800 --> 00:40:00,480
Speaker 1: your profile for the MLS or Europe star arding versus

693
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:03,080
Speaker 1: running the bench, more money, et cetera. Thanks for the show.

694
00:40:04,719 --> 00:40:10,719
Speaker 2: So I am by heritage, I believe qualified to play

695
00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:13,560
Speaker 2: for Ireland, and I still could, Daniel, It's not out

696
00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:14,040
Speaker 2: of the question.

697
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:16,840
Speaker 1: I'm only forty eight. No, so it's all ahead of you.

698
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:20,040
Speaker 2: It's all the good stuff and the bad stuff is

699
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 2: all in front of me, buddy. I I would almost

700
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,560
Speaker 2: certainly want to play for the United States because that's

701
00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:32,960
Speaker 2: the team that I grew up rooting for. I of

702
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:35,279
Speaker 2: course have a soft spot for Ireland. My dad is

703
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:39,880
Speaker 2: a fan of the Irish national team, all that stuff,

704
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:45,440
Speaker 2: But I just don't see myself playing for Ireland. I

705
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:47,759
Speaker 2: think the way that you become the way that I

706
00:40:47,760 --> 00:40:49,880
Speaker 2: would maybe play for Ireland if I were eighteen and

707
00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:54,360
Speaker 2: really talented, is if I thought that was the place

708
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 2: where I would end up being able to play, you know,

709
00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:00,759
Speaker 2: like Ali al Hma, but he's not going to be

710
00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 2: able to play for England, but he can play for

711
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:05,759
Speaker 2: a Rock. I think he'd probably rather play for a

712
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:08,760
Speaker 2: Rock as it happens, But like you know that that's

713
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:10,719
Speaker 2: a factor as well, right, So, Like I think that

714
00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:12,600
Speaker 2: in that sense, I might want to play for Ireland

715
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 2: because it might be easier to make the national team,

716
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:17,399
Speaker 2: although I'm not sure that that's true in the case

717
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:17,960
Speaker 2: of Ireland.

718
00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:21,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean there's so many hypotheticals here. Like you,

719
00:41:21,600 --> 00:41:25,000
Speaker 1: I'm beginning to think that I'm never going to make

720
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:29,920
Speaker 1: it as a professional footballer. Yeah, it's a devastating realization. Yeah,

721
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:31,400
Speaker 1: it's sort of sort of dawning on me.

722
00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:34,040
Speaker 2: That it's a slow dawn though, you know, like it's

723
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:36,240
Speaker 2: like it's like Alaska in winter.

724
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,000
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm not giving on Okay for me, No, there's

725
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 1: no chance I would play for Peru a thousand times

726
00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:49,840
Speaker 1: out of a thousand, because it's just the because I

727
00:41:50,000 --> 00:41:51,279
Speaker 1: you know, I go back to that idea of like

728
00:41:51,320 --> 00:41:53,960
Speaker 1: who would It would just mean so much, you know,

729
00:41:54,560 --> 00:41:56,359
Speaker 1: it would mean a lot to me to be able

730
00:41:56,400 --> 00:42:00,440
Speaker 1: to make Peruvians happy, you know. Yeah, and I just

731
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 1: don't think of the Americans would care as much. I

732
00:42:02,640 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 1: won an award once, john, like some international literature award

733
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:08,759
Speaker 1: in Germany, and somehow the news came out in Peru

734
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:11,400
Speaker 1: and there was a photo of me and it said

735
00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:14,480
Speaker 1: the headline was big. I wish I had this. I

736
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:18,960
Speaker 1: was big, it said Gana al alercon wins as if

737
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,120
Speaker 1: it had been like a boxing match or something like that.

738
00:42:21,160 --> 00:42:25,279
Speaker 1: You know, it was a rather obscure award that no

739
00:42:25,320 --> 00:42:26,759
Speaker 1: one cared about. But you know, I guess it was

740
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:29,000
Speaker 1: a slow news day and this was published in like

741
00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:32,839
Speaker 1: one of the local Lima tabloids, And yeah, I just think,

742
00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:35,800
Speaker 1: you know, for selfish reasons. I think the pride it

743
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:40,880
Speaker 1: would give me to make you know, thirty million plus

744
00:42:40,880 --> 00:42:46,640
Speaker 1: Perugans happy, would would just be so satisfying, and it

745
00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:50,360
Speaker 1: would just pale in comparison to making you know, dozens

746
00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:51,200
Speaker 1: of Americans happy.

747
00:42:51,719 --> 00:42:53,840
Speaker 2: Sean, are you playing for the Italian national team or

748
00:42:53,840 --> 00:42:56,960
Speaker 2: the American national team? I would play.

749
00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:02,640
Speaker 3: I would play for the US, I think because I

750
00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:06,120
Speaker 3: would want to give them a chance at success, to

751
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:07,600
Speaker 3: finally bring one home.

752
00:43:07,800 --> 00:43:13,279
Speaker 2: And it's just based on our high school experience. You

753
00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:17,800
Speaker 2: would be a game changing athletic asset to the United

754
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:20,400
Speaker 2: States of America. You would be you would make Christian

755
00:43:20,440 --> 00:43:24,520
Speaker 2: Polisic look like ordinary.

756
00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:29,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, and that would be coming from my strong

757
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:34,120
Speaker 3: tennis background, not my strong soccer background. But there's a

758
00:43:34,160 --> 00:43:37,440
Speaker 3: lot of parallels there, you know, you're I think there's

759
00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,520
Speaker 3: got to be some stat where like the amount of

760
00:43:41,160 --> 00:43:45,640
Speaker 3: miles you run in a five set tennis match has

761
00:43:45,719 --> 00:43:48,040
Speaker 3: to equal the amount of miles you would run in

762
00:43:48,080 --> 00:43:50,400
Speaker 3: a soccer match. Someone needs to look that up. I

763
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 3: don't know if that's it's got to be pretty similar,

764
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:53,640
Speaker 3: but I think it's pretty similar.

765
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:55,240
Speaker 1: I mean, you were.

766
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:59,319
Speaker 2: Very It's just that also you and I also made

767
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:00,880
Speaker 2: bad choices.

768
00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 3: And just if with any wisdom we can impart on

769
00:44:06,760 --> 00:44:10,800
Speaker 3: the younger generation, as you know, don't make bad choices.

770
00:44:11,080 --> 00:44:13,120
Speaker 3: And then if you're specific upart.

771
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:14,919
Speaker 2: The younger generation, I think it's this, if you want

772
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 2: to be a professional athlete, don't smoke right.

773
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 1: So I'm actually John, we have one last question I

774
00:44:21,040 --> 00:44:24,400
Speaker 1: think is interesting and I'm going to actually sort of

775
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:27,280
Speaker 1: build off this question that Dan k asked about international friendlies.

776
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:31,880
Speaker 1: He mentions that international friendlies have no real bearing on

777
00:44:32,120 --> 00:44:36,440
Speaker 1: anything in terms of standings you know, but it's kind

778
00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:39,359
Speaker 1: of this situation. I'm sorry, I'm paraphrasing and extrapolating from

779
00:44:39,440 --> 00:44:45,359
Speaker 1: Dan's question, but if you win, no one cares, and

780
00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:48,520
Speaker 1: if you lose, there's like this rending of garments and

781
00:44:48,560 --> 00:44:51,720
Speaker 1: it's like this huge problem. And we saw big drama

782
00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:56,320
Speaker 1: around England's loss to Japan and a kind of blackluster

783
00:44:56,480 --> 00:45:01,440
Speaker 1: draw and then you know, panic button among people who

784
00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 1: follow the US men's national team because of the two

785
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:06,520
Speaker 1: losses that we had. It's specifically the Belgium game, which

786
00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:11,120
Speaker 1: was a real pasting that the Gringos got. So what's

787
00:45:11,120 --> 00:45:13,720
Speaker 1: your take on the Do these international friendlies matter?

788
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:16,840
Speaker 2: They matter in two senses. They matter in terms of

789
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:21,600
Speaker 2: building confidence, which I think is surprisingly important in football,

790
00:45:22,080 --> 00:45:25,200
Speaker 2: Like we're currently seeing a player like Mosala, who's one

791
00:45:25,239 --> 00:45:26,840
Speaker 2: of the best players in the world, go through a

792
00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:28,920
Speaker 2: crisis of confidence and we're seeing what it does to

793
00:45:28,960 --> 00:45:31,359
Speaker 2: the player and to the team that he plays for.

794
00:45:32,760 --> 00:45:35,360
Speaker 2: They also matter in the sense that they give you

795
00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:40,200
Speaker 2: a sense of where you're at, and I think that

796
00:45:40,719 --> 00:45:44,080
Speaker 2: losing to Portugal and Belgium, and losing to Belgium by

797
00:45:44,120 --> 00:45:46,759
Speaker 2: a very wide margin in a game where it must

798
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:50,320
Speaker 2: be said the US did not look very good. Gives

799
00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:54,080
Speaker 2: us a sense of where they're at. It's true that

800
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:55,960
Speaker 2: you're also trying to figure out a bunch of things,

801
00:45:56,200 --> 00:45:59,839
Speaker 2: but so is Belgium. Right Belgium isn't necessarily playing their best,

802
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:05,560
Speaker 2: and the United States, as I said in our deep

803
00:46:05,560 --> 00:46:08,680
Speaker 2: dive about the US men's national team, has to acknowledge

804
00:46:09,239 --> 00:46:12,520
Speaker 2: that it is not a footballing power right now. In

805
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:14,879
Speaker 2: many ways, the national team is better than it's ever been,

806
00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:18,279
Speaker 2: and yet it's also true that it's not that good.

807
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 2: It's not as good as Portugal, it's not as good

808
00:46:21,520 --> 00:46:27,279
Speaker 2: as Belgium, and that indicates to me that, you know,

809
00:46:27,320 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 2: making it to the last sixteen of the World Cup

810
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:31,359
Speaker 2: would be a pretty good outcome for the US men's

811
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:35,839
Speaker 2: national team, and having expectations that are higher than that would.

812
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,719
Speaker 2: It'd be great if that happened, and we all hope

813
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:41,000
Speaker 2: it does, or at least I hope it does, But

814
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:44,600
Speaker 2: that's not what's most likely to happen. What's most likely

815
00:46:44,640 --> 00:46:47,799
Speaker 2: to happen is that we're going to struggle in our

816
00:46:47,840 --> 00:46:50,279
Speaker 2: friendly against Senegal, and we're going to struggle in our

817
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:53,880
Speaker 2: friendly against Germany, and then we're going to play some

818
00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:57,160
Speaker 2: teams that hopefully are not quite as good as us

819
00:46:57,200 --> 00:46:59,640
Speaker 2: in the first round of the World Cup, and we're

820
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:01,759
Speaker 2: going to make get to the knockout rounds. But that

821
00:47:01,920 --> 00:47:04,160
Speaker 2: isn't the same thing as being favorites to win the

822
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:07,800
Speaker 2: World Cup, which we just aren't, or even contenders, yeah,

823
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:11,040
Speaker 2: or even contenders in a meaningful way. Yeah, And that's

824
00:47:11,120 --> 00:47:13,759
Speaker 2: that's a difficult thing for Americans to accept, Daniel, because

825
00:47:13,760 --> 00:47:16,480
Speaker 2: we're used to being very very good at almost all sports.

826
00:47:17,680 --> 00:47:21,399
Speaker 1: Yes, especially the ones we invented. We're quite good at those.

827
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:27,279
Speaker 2: Basketball, baseball, yeah, yeah, American football, no one can, no

828
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:28,120
Speaker 2: one can touch.

829
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:32,080
Speaker 1: No one can even come close to us in America football. Yeah.

830
00:47:32,360 --> 00:47:36,000
Speaker 1: All right, let's end there, John, great seeing you, Sean,

831
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,920
Speaker 1: wonderful to see you. Thanks to Kurt and to Baheed.

832
00:47:39,120 --> 00:47:43,360
Speaker 1: Congratulations to Bahed, Yeah but he just got engaged. Congratulations. Yeah.

833
00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:47,000
Speaker 1: Our guest producers today and we will catch up again.

834
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:49,560
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, guys. As always, you can hit us

835
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:55,040
Speaker 1: at Away Endpod at gmail dot com. Thanks