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Speaker 1: We got together in the center of the field and

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Speaker 1: we did a single picture. Instead of having our own

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Speaker 1: team picture, we did a single picture in which both

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Speaker 1: teams were together, one American one Irani, one American one Irani.

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Speaker 1: And I think it was a great moment. I think

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Speaker 1: not just for our federation and for around but I

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Speaker 1: think for the world to see that. You know, we're

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Speaker 1: just athletes trying to bring people together.

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Speaker 2: Greetings, folks, and welcome to Inside American Soccer. I'm Matt Doyle,

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Speaker 2: the armchair analyst, filling in for Tom Bogert for a

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Speaker 2: couple more weeks than I am, joined as always by

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Speaker 2: my friend and yours, tab Ramos, one of the greatest

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Speaker 2: players in US men's national team history, veteran of three

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Speaker 2: World Cups, and ready to chop it up on a

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Speaker 2: Tuesday morning, talking about what's happening in the world of

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Speaker 2: the US men's national team tap with one hundred days

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Speaker 2: left until the World Cup begins.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it's getting exciting, right. MLS is rolling full time now.

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Speaker 1: We have the Champions League getting to its final stages,

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Speaker 1: which is the most exciting time for that, and we

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Speaker 1: have American players playing everywhere and some of them surprising

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Speaker 1: us and some of some of them falling behind. So

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Speaker 1: we'll have a little bit of a discussion about both

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Speaker 1: of those scenarios.

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Speaker 2: Who are you rooting for in the Champions League? Like,

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Speaker 2: do you have a team that because obviously we're all Betty's.

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Speaker 2: If they ever got to the round of sixteen, you

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Speaker 2: would be over the moon and that would be your club.

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Speaker 2: But like, is there, you know, barring that, is there

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Speaker 2: a team that you're kind of supporting these days or

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Speaker 2: long term?

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Speaker 1: Well, I mean, yeah, Betty's, I think is a good

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Speaker 1: is a good call. They actually disappointed me this weekend

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Speaker 1: because they were winning the derby two zero at halftime

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Speaker 1: and I actually turned the game and they ended up

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Speaker 1: tying to to at home to Sevilla, which is not

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Speaker 1: good in terms of Champions League. So my mom's family

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Speaker 1: is from Napoli, so Napoli is always my my sort

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Speaker 1: of my second team. But from when I was little,

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Speaker 1: my dad made me a sort of a Real Madrid fan,

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Speaker 1: from the time of when Juan Intel played for Real Madrid,

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Speaker 1: so that's a long time that most people won't remember.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, I would say Real Madrid is probably the

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Speaker 1: team that I support the most, although obviously not a

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Speaker 1: good year for them, and I think they only they

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Speaker 1: likely only have a couple of weeks left. But I'll

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Speaker 1: I'm traveling actually to Madrid next week to the Madrid

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Speaker 1: Man City game, so I'm gonna be there at that game.

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Speaker 1: It should be fun.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a huge one. It's become look man anytime

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Speaker 2: it's pet versus Real Madrid. It is a matchup laden

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Speaker 2: with subtext and text. That's one of the ones that

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Speaker 2: I will be watching as well. But of course we

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Speaker 2: are here to talk about US men's national team. Unfortunately

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Speaker 2: that does not apply to Manchester City or Real Madrid

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Speaker 2: these days. Not yet. Anyway, we do have some very

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Speaker 2: talented teenagers coming through this syst who made one day

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Speaker 2: move to one of those two teams, and one of

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Speaker 2: them that will be talking about so is Noahkai Banks,

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Speaker 2: the German American playing big minutes, nineteen year old center

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Speaker 2: back for Augsburg playing big minutes in the Bundesliga. A

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Speaker 2: little bit of a dual national panic happening with him.

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Speaker 2: And then Wes McKenny finally gets a new contract for

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Speaker 2: Juventus after proving again and again and again that he's

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Speaker 2: irreplaceable for that team. We'll also talk the most underrated

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Speaker 2: US men's national team players of the past forty years,

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Speaker 2: a lot of guys that Tab played with back in

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Speaker 2: the day who maybe newer fans don't quite remember that well,

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Speaker 2: but also some of the newer guys more recent vintage.

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Speaker 2: And will also go inside the locker room with Tab

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Speaker 2: and discuss one of the most tension filled matches he

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Speaker 2: ever took part in with the US against Iran in

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Speaker 2: the nineteen ninety eight World Cup. But first let's get

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Speaker 2: into that US news and we'll start with Noah Kai Banks.

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Speaker 2: He had insists and then after the game he mentions

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Speaker 2: that national status, which honestly I had not heard him

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Speaker 2: talk about. Let me give you the quote, even though

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Speaker 2: playing out a World Cup is a dream, I don't

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Speaker 2: want to make my decision dependent on a World Cup,

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Speaker 2: is what he told Sky Sports Germany. I feel connected

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Speaker 2: to both nations, meaning the US and Germany. And the

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Speaker 2: context of that question was basically, if you're promised a

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Speaker 2: World Cup spot with the US, will you commit to

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Speaker 2: the US? And I think Toddy he gave him ature answer,

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Speaker 2: but I'm hoping that he'll commit to the US because

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Speaker 2: he's really good.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I think he went into depth, likely a little

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Speaker 1: bit more than he wanted to on that answer. He

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Speaker 1: probably should have said, I'm leaving old doors open, you know,

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Speaker 1: which is what every player says all the time. In

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Speaker 1: that that means that you're not leaning either way. I

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Speaker 1: think with the way he phrased that, it's sort of

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Speaker 1: if I had to translate that, I would say he

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Speaker 1: just said, even if I get called for the US

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Speaker 1: to play in the World Cup, if I have a

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Speaker 1: chance to play for Germany, I will play for Germany instead.

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Speaker 1: That's how I That's how I read that, and so

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Speaker 1: that's the feel I got from that. And that's a

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Speaker 1: little bit scary, because you know, I was in the

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Speaker 1: middle of that fight in the in the mid tens.

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Speaker 1: Let's say, when we were fighting, you get players from

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Speaker 1: you know that wanted to go play for Mexico, you know,

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Speaker 1: the the Ledesmas of the world back then, and the

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Speaker 1: you know, Alex Mendez and these guys, and it was

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Speaker 1: a tough battle when Mexico was a little bit ahead

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Speaker 1: of us, and we felt like, you know, we really

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Speaker 1: had a Peppi being another one. We felt like we

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Speaker 1: really had to convince them. And I feel like Noah

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Speaker 1: kai bank Is by what he said, I feel like

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Speaker 1: now we need to convince him it's not a great

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Speaker 1: place to be. But there's just all it means is

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Speaker 1: that we have a little bit more homework to do,

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Speaker 1: that's all.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Thirty five years ago, Thomas Dooley kind of open

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Speaker 2: the door for German Americans to play a significant role

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Speaker 2: with the US national team. What was it like into

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Speaker 2: and to be clear, very different situation. Thomas Dooley was

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Speaker 2: a veteran I think it was what twenty nine years

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Speaker 2: old when he first got capped for the US, and

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Speaker 2: he was good enough to have been in a couple

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Speaker 2: Germany camps, but he's not going to play over low Darmataeus.

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Speaker 2: What was it like integrating him into that group that

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Speaker 2: had been so tight knit and so I don't want

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Speaker 2: to say closed off, but like it was basically a

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Speaker 2: bunch of American college kids together for nineteen ninety and

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Speaker 2: then by nineteen ninety four came around guys like Thomas

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Speaker 2: Dooley and Ernie Stewart had suddenly become part of the team.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I think it was an easy transition actually,

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Speaker 1: because it was we were a little bit in awe

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Speaker 1: in all of having guys coming from overseas who had

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Speaker 1: had a lot of experience. So Thomas Dooley had played

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Speaker 1: for kaisers Loud and already I think Leverkusen as well.

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Speaker 2: In high Seed. Yeah, right, so he.

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Speaker 1: Had succeeded at the highest level and for US to

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Speaker 1: have a player like that, we never really thought of

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Speaker 1: Thomas being a foreigner when.

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Speaker 2: He was with us.

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Speaker 1: He was always put in. He always had a smile

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Speaker 1: in his face. He wanted to you know, he worked

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Speaker 1: hard every day. He didn't. He made it known that

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Speaker 1: this is what he really wanted. So he never really

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Speaker 1: he was never really walking a line. And I think

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Speaker 1: it might be because of what you just said. It

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Speaker 1: might be because of the age. Right at that age,

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Speaker 1: he knew that it was this or nothing. Maybe, but

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Speaker 1: we never felt like, oh, we have to impress Thomas

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Speaker 1: because he's either going to play for US or he's

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Speaker 1: going to play for Germany. I think he always made

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Speaker 1: it known that this is what he always wanted, and

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Speaker 1: he had a lot of respect for the US and

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Speaker 1: US flag and we always felt like he was part

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Speaker 1: and that it was really easy to have him on board.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. No, Kai Banks obviously at different stage in his career,

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Speaker 2: just nineteen years old. He talked about being in US camp.

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Speaker 2: He was back, he was in camp back in September,

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Speaker 2: didn't play, and then wasn't in the subsequent camps and

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Speaker 2: in October and November. But he talked about adjusting and

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Speaker 2: he specifically said the guys helped me to get into

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Speaker 2: the team and into the training. It was incredible, to

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Speaker 2: be honest, the big guys like Christian koulisk or Tim Waya,

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Speaker 2: we maybe don't expect it, but it's been great saying

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Speaker 2: that the leadership from the veterans in this US squad

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Speaker 2: actually data make him feel welcome. So look, man, I

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Speaker 2: have my fingers crossed. It's weird to have to recruit,

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Speaker 2: right you. Ideally it's everybody who is in the roster

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Speaker 2: on the team are guys who dreamed of wearing those

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Speaker 2: colors and those colors alone. But that's not reality. Reality

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Speaker 2: is that dual nationals everywhere from Argentina to Italy, to

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Speaker 2: England to Turkey to the US in Mexico. You have

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Speaker 2: to recruit and you have to kind of make it

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Speaker 2: the culture of the team to blend all of these

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Speaker 2: guys with different backs grounds together, So for me to like,

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Speaker 2: I really want Punch to call him for the camp

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Speaker 2: coming this month. I will be disappointed if he doesn't.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, well, here's the other point that I think he's

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Speaker 1: deserving of a call at this point, you know. So,

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Speaker 1: I mean, regardless of what he said, I thought he

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Speaker 1: had a real good chance of getting called this camp anyway,

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Speaker 1: and so I'm hoping that that Poschettino in this case

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Speaker 1: follows through and regardless of what, you know, what he mentioned,

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Speaker 1: what Noa Kaite mentioned to the to the press, I

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Speaker 1: think he should be in anyway. And I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: and and maybe if you're a Puschettino, you're giving yourself

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Speaker 1: a better chance by having him in camp and by

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Speaker 1: being able to discuss with him in the future a

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Speaker 1: little bit as a young player. And that's something that

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Speaker 1: likely no Kaite Banks would like to hear. So I

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Speaker 1: think it would benefit everyone if if he gets to

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Speaker 1: call anyway, because you know, he deserves it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Another guy who is earned himself a call. I

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Speaker 2: think it is Johnny Cardoso, who struggled the first half

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Speaker 2: of the year with Atletico Madrid obviously had some injuries

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Speaker 2: as well, but has played well recently Athletier into the

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Speaker 2: Champions League Round of sixteen. They also have the second

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Speaker 2: leg of Copa del Rey against Barcelona coming up, and

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Speaker 2: they thrashed Barcelona four nil in that first leg. He

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Speaker 2: has played much better for club than he has for country.

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Speaker 2: I mean, he's got about twenty caps with the US,

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Speaker 2: and I can't think of one in which he was

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Speaker 2: particularly compelling. Is this window we expect him to be

201
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Speaker 2: on the roster even though he has kind of lost

202
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Speaker 2: the backup job defensive midfield, like other guys have clearly

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Speaker 2: passed him in Pochettino's eyes, But like A, does he

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Speaker 2: need to be there regardless? And B should he start?

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Speaker 2: Should he start in these games so that Pachkin get

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Speaker 2: a sense for Okay, can he translate what he does

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Speaker 2: with Atluti to the US national team because he hasn't

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Speaker 2: so far.

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Speaker 1: And those are all good points. So I'll start with

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Speaker 1: the beginning, and which you said, you know, if he's

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Speaker 1: played twenty games, and that actually shocks me because I

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Speaker 1: can't even think of the like twenty games, because you're right,

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Speaker 1: I mean, we all remember one play that he made

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Speaker 1: and it wasn't a good one, right, And that's the

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Speaker 1: play against Turkey. That's what we're thinking about when we

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Speaker 1: think of him playing for the national team, which is

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Speaker 1: really unfortunate, only not because a player couldn't make that mistake,

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Speaker 1: but only because he hasn't had a bunch of other

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Speaker 1: moments that where we could say, well, he did that,

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Speaker 1: but look at all of these things, so you're absolutely right.

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Speaker 1: For the national team, he has not been at that level.

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Speaker 1: I think the important part at this point is that

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Speaker 1: he's playing for one of the top teams in the

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Speaker 1: Champions League. I mean, there's no way to hide that.

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Speaker 1: If you had to pick the top fifteen teams in

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Speaker 1: the world, Athletico Madrid would be up there likely, and

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Speaker 1: he started for them, and he started for them in

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Speaker 1: a big game in the Champions League, and he scored

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Speaker 1: the winning goal, by the way, So we can't brush

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Speaker 1: that aside and think that because he didn't do well

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Speaker 1: for the national team in the past, that this doesn't

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Speaker 1: have the value. I think this has incredible value. I think,

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Speaker 1: as I mentioned to you to everyone here a couple

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Speaker 1: of shows ago, when we were talking about Balligan and

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Speaker 1: the importance of just being a starter in those teams, right,

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Speaker 1: he's starting for one of the top teams in the

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Speaker 1: world and playing a significant role in a significant game

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Speaker 1: that has a lot of money at stake for the club,

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Speaker 1: and he did well in it. By the way, he

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Speaker 1: didn't play great at that in that game. He was okay,

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Speaker 1: but he scored a great goal, which obviously helps him

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Speaker 1: a lot. But I think we have to value that,

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Speaker 1: and because of that, I think he's deserving of a

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Speaker 1: call and given other chances to succeed, likely the national.

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Speaker 2: Team, he gets the call. What happens if he's not

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Speaker 2: starting in the first game, the first friendly, the US

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Speaker 2: player in this window, Does that tell you something?

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Speaker 1: No, not really, because you know Maurico Pozettino may, of course,

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Speaker 1: as a coach, he's already thinking of the starting eleven,

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Speaker 1: right and the starting eleven may not include him anyway,

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Speaker 1: I think you want to have, though, on the bench,

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Speaker 1: someone that you think is not going to be scared

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Speaker 1: to play in a big game. And by the way,

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Speaker 1: no player is scared. But I think you know what

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Speaker 1: I'm saying by that, someone that's not going to have

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Speaker 1: the nerves because we're playing you know, Portugal and Belgium,

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Speaker 1: like you're starting to play big teams now, and I

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Speaker 1: think when you look at us playing big teams where

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Speaker 1: and by big teams, I mean teams that have an

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Speaker 1: excellent player in every position, an excellent, skillful, mature player

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Speaker 1: in every single position. And I think Johnny Cardoso fits

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Speaker 1: into that role because he's doing that in the Champions

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Speaker 1: League he's playing, and by the way, he's doing that

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Speaker 1: in practice every day. Because Athletical Madrid's roster can match

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Speaker 1: up with a lot of rosters from around the world

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Speaker 1: from the top team, so I think it would be

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Speaker 1: a good call to have him in and regardless of

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Speaker 1: whether he starts or not, I think it would be

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Speaker 1: good to give him some minutes to allow him to

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Speaker 1: gain some confidence with the US uniform.

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Speaker 2: On an excellent skillful player in every position for Juventus,

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Speaker 2: that's just cloning Weston McKenny. Eleven times. He has played

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Speaker 2: just about every position for You've a over the years,

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Speaker 2: and it seems like every year we have talked about

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Speaker 2: him needing to prove himself in a new spot for

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Speaker 2: a new coach, and finally this week it happened. Westin

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Speaker 2: McKenny got a four year contract from Juventus. I think

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Speaker 2: it's four point seven million a year net. Nice money

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Speaker 2: if you can get it, So congratulations to him. He's

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Speaker 2: been playing mostly as a number ten lately and kind

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Speaker 2: of like a bots arriving number ten, but he does

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Speaker 2: have that ability to sort of unlock the defense with

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Speaker 2: a one touch pass. Has shown that, you know, put

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Speaker 2: that to good use recently. Happy for him as a

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Speaker 2: player and a person. What's your take on this situation, tab,

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Speaker 2: Is this the ideal outcome for him?

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Speaker 1: Well, the last game, I think the last Champions League

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Speaker 1: game they played, he started a left back and then

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Speaker 1: did the game at right back. So but yeah, you're right,

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Speaker 1: he plays number ten most of the time. So I

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Speaker 1: just don't think there's many players in the world who

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Speaker 1: can do all of that and do it well right. So,

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Speaker 1: and by well, I mean he doesn't look out of position, right,

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Speaker 1: because he does make, you know, some mistakes playing in

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Speaker 1: particularly left back. He didn't look comfortable there to me.

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Speaker 1: But anyway, Yeah, this surprises me, to be honest, because

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Speaker 1: I really thought that with what he had done at

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Speaker 1: Juventus that the door was completely open for him to

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Speaker 1: return to the EPL and be in in a top

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Speaker 1: let's say, mid table and higher team in the EPL.

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Speaker 1: And I'm a little bit surprised that that didn't happen.

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Speaker 1: I think the important party is he's at a great

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Speaker 1: club that finally loves him. You know, it took so

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Speaker 1: long for the club to fall in love with him,

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Speaker 1: but they have and I'm happy to see that and

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Speaker 1: I'm happy for him. And by the way, four point

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Speaker 1: seven million a year, I think you can live on that.

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Speaker 1: So I think he's gonna be okay.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it probably goes pretty far in Turin. I

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Speaker 2: like this more. I like him being a centerpiece on

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Speaker 2: this team and at that salary. He is going to

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Speaker 2: be a centerpiece for this team. He's gonna be one

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Speaker 2: of the leaders for a team that is going to

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Speaker 2: be competing at the top of Syria, trying to win

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Speaker 2: trophies every single year, rather than going to the primary

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Speaker 2: league and being a team that's just trying to break

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Speaker 2: into the top six. I think it's better for him

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Speaker 2: for his like for leadership reasons with the team, because

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Speaker 2: Western as a leader for the US has been gregarious

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Speaker 2: and he's you know, body language monster, but he's never

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Speaker 2: been the guy who's like, Okay, this team is going

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Speaker 2: to revolve around me. And I think for the US

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Speaker 2: to hit its peak this group, they kind of need

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Speaker 2: him to be that. They need him to be running

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Speaker 2: the show in midfield emotionally and tactically, and I think

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Speaker 2: this puts him in a good spot to actually learn

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Speaker 2: those skills.

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Speaker 1: You could be right about that. I'll give you the

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Speaker 1: other side of that. The other side of that is that,

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Speaker 1: you know, Juventus signs a couple other skillful midfielders and

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Speaker 1: now he's stuck playing wide somewhere. Although you know, although

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Speaker 1: they're obviously you know, paying them enough money to have

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Speaker 1: him on the field every day, and they're going to

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Speaker 1: need to do that because it's not like Juventus, you know,

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Speaker 1: financially it can be so competitive that they can afford

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Speaker 1: to have a player making this kind of money sitting

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Speaker 1: on the bench. Let's just say that. Yeah, you know,

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Speaker 1: the part that scares me about his situation at Juventus

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Speaker 1: is that he still doesn't really have a position. And

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Speaker 1: so this this makes me recall, you know, back when

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Speaker 1: I was playing in Spain, Jorgey Dallas Sandro is, you know,

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Speaker 1: one of my coaches who's you know, one of my

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Speaker 1: great coaches who played you know, he coached Athletico Madrid

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Speaker 1: and a lot of big clubs. After he left Betty's.

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Speaker 1: He said to me that he didn't like players that

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Speaker 1: were a little bit good at everything, you know, he

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Speaker 1: liked players who were really good in one position because

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Speaker 1: he knew that if he bought an expert at right wing,

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Speaker 1: that that right winger was going to be a right

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Speaker 1: winger and was going to deliver. And so I'm not

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Speaker 1: sure if that's getting my point across, but that's where

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Speaker 1: I am with with Weston right because even when we

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Speaker 1: think about Weston playing for our national team, were thinking, okay,

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Speaker 1: well he played a little deeper in midfield, will he

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Speaker 1: be the ten? Will Mariso Pochetino put him wide? Because

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Speaker 1: he wants to have him on the field, And I'd

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Speaker 1: rather see someone who's really good at one role. And

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Speaker 1: that could be an issue at Juventus down the road

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Speaker 1: in particular, because as we know, coaches don't last very long,

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Speaker 1: and as a new coach comes in, they'll have their

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Speaker 1: own players and where do you fall after that? So

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Speaker 1: a little bit by the way, great move, great contract,

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Speaker 1: but a little bit of a scary situation because I'm

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Speaker 1: just not seeing the exact position for him.

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Speaker 2: Let's keep our fingers crossed that it all works out

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Speaker 2: that he does get all those minutes in central midfield,

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Speaker 2: whether it's as an eight or a ten. I think

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Speaker 2: those are probably his two best spots. But for us,

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Speaker 2: it's time for a break. We'll be right back with

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Speaker 2: our rankings the top five most underrated US men's national

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Speaker 2: team players of the past forty years, and we're gonna

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Speaker 2: ad you to rate, review, and subscribe to Inside American

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Speaker 2: Soccer with Tom Boger at tab Ramos wherever you get

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Speaker 2: your podcasts. All right, folks, welcome back to Inside American Soccer.

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Speaker 2: I'm Matt Doyle here with Tabramos and we're doing our

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Speaker 2: inside rankings. It's a pretty new segment that we have

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Speaker 2: decided to weave into the show, where Tab and I

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Speaker 2: get to go through our top fives of various things

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Speaker 2: in and around US soccer. And we're going back at

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Speaker 2: the time machine a little bit for this one. Tab

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Speaker 2: We're going to take a look at our most underrated

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Speaker 2: US men's national team players of the past forty years.

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Speaker 2: And I am going to start out my number five

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Speaker 2: is a dual national, a playmaker who has South American roots,

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Speaker 2: really good on the ball, not necessarily a goal scorer,

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Speaker 2: and not tab Ramos. I'm talking about Benny Feilhaber, who

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Speaker 2: came out of nowhere in the actually was caught caught

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Speaker 2: the eye of Ziggi Schmid. Back when Benny was walking

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Speaker 2: on to U c l A, Ziggy put him in

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Speaker 2: the U twenty national team. Nobody had any idea who

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Speaker 2: this kid was. Man marked Messi at the U twenty

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Speaker 2: World Cup in a game that the US won. That

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Speaker 2: was the only loss that Argentina suffered even that U

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Speaker 2: twenty World Cup. Messi of course went on to win

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Speaker 2: the Golden Boot and Golden Ball and all that, and

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Speaker 2: then went on to have a really kind of weird

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Speaker 2: club career. But for the national team to have whenever

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Speaker 2: he played, he was so good, and I remembered running

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00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:57,120
Speaker 2: the numbers on it, and the US's plus minus when

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00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,760
Speaker 2: he was on the field was absurd. It was because

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00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:04,880
Speaker 2: he unlocked so much for Landon and Clint and Josie,

402
00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:07,760
Speaker 2: and he also allowed, like Michael Bradley to be more

403
00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 2: of a sort of a cover the entire field, while

404
00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:13,440
Speaker 2: Benny would sort of just run the show and organize.

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Speaker 2: I loved watching him play, but he only ended up

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Speaker 2: with about forty caps, and that always disappointed me.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, it's a good call. Definitely, a great

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Speaker 1: player in midfield made everybody else around them better, And

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Speaker 1: I think that's that's what you're saying. And I think

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Speaker 1: in the spirit of what we're putting together here, we're

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Speaker 1: talking about guys that maybe deserved a little bit more. Yet,

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Speaker 1: I do feel like, you know, forty caps for the

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Speaker 1: national team is significant. You know, it's it's not a

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Speaker 1: couple of caps. He did play a significant role on

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Speaker 1: the team, and I think because of his position, he

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Speaker 1: was likely always going to be a little bit of

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Speaker 1: a secondary type of supportive player. So I do agree

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Speaker 1: with you Benny was a great player and one that

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Speaker 1: I think, you know, in particular, I think he ended

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Speaker 1: in Kansas City Rights, so he ended with a good

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Speaker 1: career there, and I think a lot of people following

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Speaker 1: him there, and I think he in general had a

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Speaker 1: good career, and overall, I think forty caps is it's

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Speaker 1: a significant role in a player that certainly, you know,

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Speaker 1: when they put together a Hall of Fame type list,

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Speaker 1: you know, the name is one that comes up.

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Speaker 2: The goal he scored against Mexico in the two thousand

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Speaker 2: and seven Gold Cup Final, one of the all time

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00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,360
Speaker 2: great goals. The US has ever scored, period, but especially

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Speaker 2: coming against that team in a final. And then, of

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Speaker 2: course the play he makes against Spain in the Confederation's

432
00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 2: Cup semi final to set up Clint Dempsey's shocking goal

433
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 2: in that one that was you know, those are the

434
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,000
Speaker 2: two career highlights for Benny feil Hobber with the national team.

435
00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,359
Speaker 2: His ability to get out of that Spanish press in

436
00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 2: central midfield and then make a positive play and lead

437
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,359
Speaker 2: to one of the most famous wins in US national

438
00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:07,919
Speaker 2: team history. And a player I just really liked watching.

439
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,000
Speaker 2: I also really liked watching the two guys that you

440
00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:16,280
Speaker 2: have listed at number five, because your top five is

441
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:17,360
Speaker 2: actually a top six.

442
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:20,360
Speaker 1: It is a top six. But I will I'll have

443
00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,800
Speaker 1: the two at number five tide, just as I did

444
00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,160
Speaker 1: last week on our other list. I had a little

445
00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 1: bit of a category here. You know. John O'Brien is

446
00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:34,639
Speaker 1: a player that you know, you've heard people like Brian

447
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:38,320
Speaker 1: dun Seth who we've had on the show, uh and

448
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,880
Speaker 1: and Clint Mathews who we've had on the show talk

449
00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:46,159
Speaker 1: a little bit about the quality that he had. You know,

450
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,159
Speaker 1: unfortunately he had a lot of injuries, but he was

451
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:49,879
Speaker 1: a player one of the first ones to go to

452
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:51,720
Speaker 1: i AX and actually make a difference.

453
00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:53,440
Speaker 2: He was a.

454
00:24:53,359 --> 00:24:57,840
Speaker 1: Great midfield sort of leader, even as at at a

455
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 1: young age. I think I recalled telling the Historian, which

456
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 1: you know I played right towards the end of my career.

457
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 1: You know, he came on on the team and I

458
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 1: remember I lost the ball in midfield and he said

459
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:12,840
Speaker 1: something to me, and I was, you know, I was.

460
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,760
Speaker 1: I was impressed by the fact that such a young

461
00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,360
Speaker 1: player could kind of correct me, and he had that

462
00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:24,639
Speaker 1: type of leadership personality on the field, and so yeah,

463
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,600
Speaker 1: you know, John O'Brien was a great player. I will

464
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 1: also add the next one, which is Rick Davis. You know,

465
00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,720
Speaker 1: Rick Davis is a great connector I think from the

466
00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: past to the present. Rick was one that played, you know,

467
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: in the old days in the NASL for the Cosmos

468
00:25:40,440 --> 00:25:43,720
Speaker 1: at first one was one one of the few Americans

469
00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:47,280
Speaker 1: who actually excelled in the NASL, which was very difficult

470
00:25:47,600 --> 00:25:51,199
Speaker 1: because the NASL was basically mostly foreigners. And he was

471
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,720
Speaker 1: one of the ones that played a significant role and

472
00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: then connected us sort of to the future.

473
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:56,760
Speaker 2: You know.

474
00:25:56,840 --> 00:26:01,080
Speaker 1: He was on the nineteen eighty eight Olympic team, but

475
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,159
Speaker 1: he was a very good player, great skill in the

476
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 1: center of the field, rarely made a mistake, could see

477
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: the field really well, and I had all the skills

478
00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,119
Speaker 1: of a great player. Unfortunately, the reason I'm thinking he's

479
00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,119
Speaker 1: underrated is because he played at a time but we

480
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:21,800
Speaker 1: really ended up having the bulk of his let's say,

481
00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: the best part of his career was at a time

482
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,280
Speaker 1: when we didn't really have a league, and because of that,

483
00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:27,679
Speaker 1: I think most people won't know him.

484
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 2: Yeah. The same thing applies to the guy who I

485
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 2: have number four on my list, teammate of yours in

486
00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:39,880
Speaker 2: nineteen ninety Mike Wendishman, classy left footed defender. I think

487
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:44,360
Speaker 2: he'd be a sort of a Tim Reen comparison if

488
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,080
Speaker 2: you had to, you know, plug and play him today.

489
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,679
Speaker 2: He was he the captain in nineteen ninety. Yeah, he

490
00:26:51,720 --> 00:26:54,000
Speaker 2: was a captain for you guys in nineteen ninety and

491
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,160
Speaker 2: then he retired right after that. He could have could

492
00:26:57,200 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 2: have kept going like he would have been good for

493
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,359
Speaker 2: it least a couple of years in MLS, but he

494
00:27:04,680 --> 00:27:06,760
Speaker 2: called it quits. I think he played in footsal as

495
00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 2: well until about ninety two. I just remember watching that

496
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 2: team and the way he had a knack for calming

497
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 2: the game down from the back, which was a developing

498
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:24,960
Speaker 2: trait among American defenders at that time. Tip.

499
00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:28,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm really gonna add only one thing. I

500
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:32,200
Speaker 1: think he had the personality. You know, at times we

501
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,919
Speaker 1: mentioned on this show how I feel like I was

502
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:39,280
Speaker 1: fortunate because I was surrounded at that time with although

503
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,879
Speaker 1: not the best players we've ever had, I think the

504
00:27:41,920 --> 00:27:44,919
Speaker 1: players that had the strongest personality because we needed it.

505
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,359
Speaker 1: We really were nobodies at the time, and we had

506
00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:50,080
Speaker 1: to play against the best teams in the world. And

507
00:27:50,160 --> 00:27:52,560
Speaker 1: yet I think no one was scared, and I think

508
00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:55,679
Speaker 1: no one represented that better than Mike Wendishman. And I

509
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,800
Speaker 1: think that's why he was the captain of the team.

510
00:27:58,119 --> 00:28:00,760
Speaker 1: He was a guy that was never scared, had always

511
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:04,520
Speaker 1: you know, pushed the team and and because of that,

512
00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:06,880
Speaker 1: I think it was, you know, one of the one

513
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:09,760
Speaker 1: of the key figures for the sort of the turn

514
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,679
Speaker 1: of soccer in the country. So I think this is

515
00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:13,520
Speaker 1: a great call.

516
00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:16,840
Speaker 2: Is it? Team tim reim comparison? The right one in

517
00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:19,639
Speaker 2: your mind? Is that the player, that modern player that

518
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:23,080
Speaker 2: Mike reminds you of the most, or someone else come

519
00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:23,480
Speaker 2: to mind.

520
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,959
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I can't, I can't think of anyone

521
00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:27,960
Speaker 1: else I would come to mind, but I would see

522
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:34,280
Speaker 1: Mike Wendishman as likely not quite Let's let's just say

523
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 1: Tim's Ream's best moments, and I think Mike Wendishman didn't

524
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,800
Speaker 1: quite have the skill set that Tim Reim had, you know,

525
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: in terms of playing out of the back, let's say.

526
00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 1: But I also think that Mike Wendishman was a little

527
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,240
Speaker 1: bit tougher when it came to like tackles and and

528
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: just having the personality to push guys around. I think

529
00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:56,960
Speaker 1: he was a little bit more of that.

530
00:28:58,240 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 2: Take us to your number four on the list.

531
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:01,920
Speaker 1: So my number four, I'm going to make it really

532
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 1: short because this was a guest on our show a

533
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:07,360
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago, and that's Clint Mathis to me,

534
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:09,680
Speaker 1: one of the best players to have ever played the game,

535
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:12,600
Speaker 1: one of the best players to have ever put on

536
00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 1: a national team uniform. Yet if you were to do

537
00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:21,160
Speaker 1: a poll of you know, one hundred top journalists likely

538
00:29:21,240 --> 00:29:24,320
Speaker 1: or fans who have watched the national team over years,

539
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:29,240
Speaker 1: likely none of them will put Clint Mathis on the

540
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:31,400
Speaker 1: list of top players. And I think because of that,

541
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:34,400
Speaker 1: I say he's one of the most underrated players.

542
00:29:34,880 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, his prime was very short for the national team,

543
00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:43,680
Speaker 2: but it was spectacular the original Dosa Sero. Like Gerafria

544
00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 2: against Mexico in Ohio. Clint comes on for an injured

545
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:52,080
Speaker 2: Brian McBride about twenty twenty five minutes into that game,

546
00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 2: or actually Clint came on for Claudio. Claudio and Brian

547
00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 2: both got injured and Clint and Josh Wolf both came

548
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 2: on changed the game. Clint played it incredible, like forty

549
00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,600
Speaker 2: yard outside of the boot Travella through ball to Josh

550
00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:12,200
Speaker 2: that led to the first goal, and then, of course,

551
00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 2: two years later he scores one of the great goals

552
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,920
Speaker 2: that the US has ever scored in the World Cup.

553
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 2: He had it all to time, He really did. He

554
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,920
Speaker 2: was my favorite player to watch for a couple of years.

555
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 2: There injuries and maybe a little bit off field stuff

556
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:30,280
Speaker 2: cut his career short, which was a shamee, But man,

557
00:30:30,680 --> 00:30:33,840
Speaker 2: he left an impression. The guy who I have number

558
00:30:33,840 --> 00:30:37,360
Speaker 2: three on my list did not really leave an impression

559
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,920
Speaker 2: for anybody, and that's kind of a compliment. For center back,

560
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:44,040
Speaker 2: I have Matt Beesler, who was rock solid during that

561
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:49,640
Speaker 2: twenty fourteen World Cup qualifying cycle. He was actually ahead

562
00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:53,040
Speaker 2: of Tim Ring in the center back depth chart. Their

563
00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 2: same age played the same position. Matt Beeesler and Tim

564
00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,280
Speaker 2: Rim played it similarly. I think that Beaesler was tougher

565
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:03,120
Speaker 2: in the tackle at that point in time and an organizer,

566
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:05,720
Speaker 2: a guy who just like kept his head down, did

567
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,080
Speaker 2: not make mistakes. Unfortunately for him, the one thing we

568
00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 2: all remember is him getting absolutely trucked by Romelo Vukaku

569
00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:16,680
Speaker 2: against Belchium in that round of sixteen game. But he

570
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:20,560
Speaker 2: met He was just like the quintessential keep the floor

571
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 2: high and keep the ball moving center back.

572
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:28,240
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, there's there's no better compliment for a defender.

573
00:31:28,480 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 1: And this is a great point that you start with

574
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:34,520
Speaker 1: with with Matt Beezler because obviously I was Urgen Klinsman's

575
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:36,960
Speaker 1: assistant coach in that twenty fourteen World Cups. I know

576
00:31:37,120 --> 00:31:40,520
Speaker 1: Matt really well first as a person, which is, you know,

577
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 1: great person, great guy, makes the whole team better, liked

578
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 1: by everyone. And I know that a lot of fans

579
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,960
Speaker 1: are like, oh, yeah, well because he liked him doesn't

580
00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 1: mean he's good, no, But on top of it, he's good.

581
00:31:51,040 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 1: And I think there's no better compliment for a defender

582
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,400
Speaker 1: who had such a long career than to say, you

583
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 1: don't remember a lot of what he did. And and

584
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,440
Speaker 1: that's why this is a great call, because that was

585
00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:06,200
Speaker 1: Matt Beesler, you know. And and by the way, it

586
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,960
Speaker 1: is he still playing in Kansas City. It seemed like

587
00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:12,320
Speaker 1: he just went on and on, right, it never ended

588
00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,080
Speaker 1: because it was the same in his professional career. You don't,

589
00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:19,480
Speaker 1: you don't, actually, and I know you you think about

590
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 1: that play with Lukaku, But Lukaku did that to everyone, really,

591
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:25,560
Speaker 1: I mean the best Lukaku did that, you know, to

592
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:28,600
Speaker 1: the best player, best defenders in the world. So I

593
00:32:28,680 --> 00:32:30,760
Speaker 1: agree with you. Matt was one of those guys. But

594
00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,240
Speaker 1: that was that was his role. And I think if Matt,

595
00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 1: you know, was still playing, he would still be the

596
00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:37,760
Speaker 1: same guy, the guy that didn't make the mistakes and

597
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 1: the guy that that uh but but but the guy

598
00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 1: that you had on your starting team always right. And

599
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:47,160
Speaker 1: so because of that, I think, you know, Matt is

600
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:48,360
Speaker 1: certainly deserving of that.

601
00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 2: Another guy from that era is your number three.

602
00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:56,440
Speaker 1: Well my number, my number three I can't talk enough

603
00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,720
Speaker 1: about because Jermaine Jones has been one of my favorite

604
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:04,440
Speaker 1: players of all time. Matter of fact, if I had

605
00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:06,760
Speaker 1: if I had to say, you know, name me a

606
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,520
Speaker 1: top ten US players of all time, It'd be hard

607
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:14,400
Speaker 1: for me not to put them there because I knew personally,

608
00:33:14,440 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 1: I saw every day what he could do. He was

609
00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 1: one of the first US players to be not only

610
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,520
Speaker 1: hard on the tackle, extremely hard on the tackle, extremely

611
00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:32,120
Speaker 1: intense mentally on the field, but could also deliver a

612
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: ball with the right foot or left foot over sixty

613
00:33:35,520 --> 00:33:40,240
Speaker 1: yards to somebody's chest or on somebody's run. And I

614
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 1: think that's a quality that we didn't have Americans. We

615
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:46,320
Speaker 1: didn't have other Americans that could do that. You know.

616
00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:50,080
Speaker 1: Sometimes when I talked about Clint Mathis, I talked about

617
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 1: the fact that he could take a free kick with

618
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 1: the right foot or the left foot, which is something

619
00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 1: that most people can't do, But then he had a

620
00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,440
Speaker 1: thousand other qualities. Jermaine Jones was another one of those

621
00:33:58,480 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: players that I think most people will remember Jermaine for

622
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:06,240
Speaker 1: just being a hard player, but Jermaine was tremendously skillful,

623
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,960
Speaker 1: and he had all of the qualities of a top

624
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:13,719
Speaker 1: notch either eight or six. He could do both, but

625
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,880
Speaker 1: he was a heavyweight on the field playing against lightweights,

626
00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:19,440
Speaker 1: and I loved everything about him.

627
00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:21,759
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's the opposite of Matt Beaesler. Right, you don't

628
00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,960
Speaker 2: remember the players from Matt Beeesler. You remember a lot

629
00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:27,720
Speaker 2: of what Jermaine did. Nothing more than that that goal

630
00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:32,200
Speaker 2: against Portugal. He absolutely laced that one. I'm going to

631
00:34:32,239 --> 00:34:35,760
Speaker 2: go back about ten years before that for my number

632
00:34:35,760 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 2: two pick, Chris Armis. And the reason people don't really

633
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:43,120
Speaker 2: remember Chris Armis as a national team players because he

634
00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 2: the poor guy, had the worst luck. He got injured

635
00:34:47,080 --> 00:34:49,520
Speaker 2: right towards acl right before the two thousand and two

636
00:34:49,520 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 2: World Cup. Now that opened the door for Pablo Mastroeni,

637
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:55,239
Speaker 2: who went on to have a fantastic World Cup and

638
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:58,799
Speaker 2: a fantastic career, but he was behind Chris Armis in

639
00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:00,960
Speaker 2: the depth chart, and then he was Chris Armis again

640
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 2: in two thousand and six, and Chris Armas got injured

641
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,319
Speaker 2: again in two thousand and six. But in between all

642
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,960
Speaker 2: of those tough qualifiers, you go down to Guatemala, you

643
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,600
Speaker 2: go down to San Pedro Sula, you go to Mexico City.

644
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 2: It was Chris Armis was basically the first name on

645
00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:22,680
Speaker 2: Bruce Arena's team sheet, and he was nasty to play against.

646
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,839
Speaker 2: I remember in nineteen ninety nine it was one of

647
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,439
Speaker 2: his first caps. They were playing the US for playing

648
00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:35,880
Speaker 2: in the Confederations Cup against Germany, and Andreas Mueller afterwards said,

649
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:39,000
Speaker 2: no man with children should have to play against that guy.

650
00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:42,200
Speaker 2: About Chris Armis and that is about that is about

651
00:35:42,239 --> 00:35:45,520
Speaker 2: the best compliment you could ever give a defensive midfielder.

652
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,759
Speaker 1: Tap Yeah, no question. You know, Chris was as tough

653
00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:51,560
Speaker 1: as they came, but the opposite of Jermaine Jones, right

654
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,880
Speaker 1: because although he was really tough and he can get

655
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,520
Speaker 1: into tackles, and obviously there was you know, think about

656
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:01,320
Speaker 1: how long he was on the national team and obviously

657
00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:04,719
Speaker 1: unfortunately he didn't play in the two World Cubs, which

658
00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:08,800
Speaker 1: you're right, that's what most people will remember. He still

659
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,040
Speaker 1: had a long national team career and he's also one

660
00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:14,680
Speaker 1: of those guys that you can't think about mistakes that

661
00:36:14,719 --> 00:36:17,200
Speaker 1: he made when he played. But here's the difference with

662
00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:21,359
Speaker 1: Chris Armis is that he would be as tough as

663
00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,920
Speaker 1: they come, but yet you wanted to be his friend,

664
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,560
Speaker 1: right because you know Chris Armis as like if you know,

665
00:36:28,600 --> 00:36:31,560
Speaker 1: for the people who are fortunate enough like myself to

666
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,640
Speaker 1: know him as a person, he's one of the nicest

667
00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:37,480
Speaker 1: guys you'll ever meet, right, And although he was one

668
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,839
Speaker 1: of the toughest players, he was a super nice guy.

669
00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:44,040
Speaker 1: And again another guy that was great to the locker room.

670
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,520
Speaker 1: Now and I'm seeing a little bit of your list,

671
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:49,480
Speaker 1: you know, with a bunch of guys who who were,

672
00:36:49,800 --> 00:36:51,400
Speaker 1: you know, the end of the day, hard guys on

673
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,400
Speaker 1: the field and nice guys off the field, and I

674
00:36:53,400 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 1: think certainly Chris Armis was one of those. And by

675
00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: the way, I think it's important to mention that, you know,

676
00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:01,720
Speaker 1: it's so hard to play in a World Cup because

677
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:04,200
Speaker 1: so many things have to go right. You have to

678
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:07,200
Speaker 1: not only be a consistent player for the national team,

679
00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:11,120
Speaker 1: but come into June of that every four years playing

680
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 1: well enough to go to it and not get injured

681
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:16,360
Speaker 1: at the same time, so so many things have to

682
00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,320
Speaker 1: go right that you can never take it for granted.

683
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,759
Speaker 1: And unfortunately for Chris Armis, those things didn't go right

684
00:37:21,800 --> 00:37:22,760
Speaker 1: for him.

685
00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 2: Take us to your number two on your list.

686
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,960
Speaker 1: So my number two, Wow, what a fun player to watch.

687
00:37:29,040 --> 00:37:32,319
Speaker 1: My number two is precky and precky.

688
00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,520
Speaker 2: The job the job, you know.

689
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:38,160
Speaker 1: And and here's one thing that every player that you know,

690
00:37:38,320 --> 00:37:43,839
Speaker 1: every every person listening who's watched Preky would say, you know,

691
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:46,719
Speaker 1: every player as we played against him, even in practice,

692
00:37:46,920 --> 00:37:49,480
Speaker 1: we knew that the chop was coming, and he was

693
00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,799
Speaker 1: still doing it and getting it around you, right, So

694
00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,080
Speaker 1: of course it was easy to go around me because

695
00:37:54,080 --> 00:37:57,160
Speaker 1: I couldn't defend anyway. But it happened to our best defenders.

696
00:37:57,239 --> 00:37:59,759
Speaker 1: And by the way, it happened in MLS every year

697
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:03,719
Speaker 1: against every team in every game. And you know, if

698
00:38:03,880 --> 00:38:06,040
Speaker 1: this he was one of those players like when you're

699
00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:09,000
Speaker 1: a fan in the stands, you almost if you're a

700
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:11,279
Speaker 1: fan of the opposing team, you want you almost want

701
00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,960
Speaker 1: to be yelling at your defender here comes the shop,

702
00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:17,879
Speaker 1: because it's so obvious that it's coming. But he had

703
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,560
Speaker 1: such deception, He had such great skill. He was an

704
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:25,560
Speaker 1: excellent finisher, he was a good passer, He had all

705
00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:29,440
Speaker 1: of the qualities of having been a US great. But

706
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:32,799
Speaker 1: yet because he got to the national team later in

707
00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:36,080
Speaker 1: his career when he was older, he really didn't have,

708
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,840
Speaker 1: let's say, a real impact for the national team where

709
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,040
Speaker 1: you know, years down the road you're going to remember him.

710
00:38:43,239 --> 00:38:46,960
Speaker 1: And that's unfortunate because he really was that once in

711
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:48,000
Speaker 1: a lifetime talent.

712
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:50,480
Speaker 2: It would have been nice to see him on that

713
00:38:50,600 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 2: ninety team if he had been able to get his

714
00:38:53,080 --> 00:38:56,160
Speaker 2: citizens citizenship ten years earlier. He of course had that

715
00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:01,520
Speaker 2: amazing game against against Brazil in the one zero win,

716
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 2: the Casey Keller game, really because that was Casey's magnum opus,

717
00:39:06,120 --> 00:39:11,359
Speaker 2: my number one guy. Had a fantastic career. He was

718
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:13,400
Speaker 2: one of the best players at the two thousand and

719
00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:17,240
Speaker 2: two World Cup. He had a long career in the Bundesliga,

720
00:39:17,280 --> 00:39:20,799
Speaker 2: playing mostly defensive midfield but also some right midfield for

721
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:24,560
Speaker 2: DC United in the early nineties or the mid nineties,

722
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:28,759
Speaker 2: that great DC dynasty. He was a key player. I'm

723
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:32,680
Speaker 2: talking about Tony Sene. Tony SENNI. Anybody who watched him

724
00:39:33,800 --> 00:39:38,680
Speaker 2: play saw that incredible athleticism, fluid grace. They called him

725
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:40,680
Speaker 2: the big Cat because of the way he moved. But

726
00:39:40,760 --> 00:39:43,440
Speaker 2: he was also so skillful on the ball. I mean,

727
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:45,640
Speaker 2: that's why he was able to play in midfield and

728
00:39:45,719 --> 00:39:47,720
Speaker 2: in the Bundesliga at a high level for a while.

729
00:39:48,040 --> 00:39:52,439
Speaker 2: If Tony Sanni was coming around now, tab I think

730
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 2: he would be a fifty sixty million dollar center back.

731
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,480
Speaker 2: Like any team in the world would see him and say, oh,

732
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 2: six foot three can jump out of the gym, comfortable,

733
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:05,120
Speaker 2: comfortable on the ball, like an attacker can dribble through

734
00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,880
Speaker 2: that back line and carry the ball and compromise every

735
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:12,880
Speaker 2: other team's defensive shape. We just didn't think about center

736
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:16,759
Speaker 2: backs having that skill set thirty years ago. So like

737
00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:18,919
Speaker 2: when I think back, like if you could take one

738
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,319
Speaker 2: player from you know, two thousand and two team and

739
00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,560
Speaker 2: drop him into this current team, for me, it would

740
00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,200
Speaker 2: be Tony sin Up. But not to play as an

741
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:29,080
Speaker 2: overlapping fullback, which is what he was twenty five thirty

742
00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:31,319
Speaker 2: years ago, but to play as a center back in

743
00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:32,120
Speaker 2: the modern game.

744
00:40:33,040 --> 00:40:35,799
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean he was almost almost too skillful at

745
00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,520
Speaker 1: the time to be playing that position. You know, Tony had.

746
00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:42,680
Speaker 1: First of all, he had an amazing career in MLS,

747
00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:46,200
Speaker 1: but he also had a great career overseas you know,

748
00:40:47,800 --> 00:40:50,359
Speaker 1: by the way, an another great guy, right that made

749
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,880
Speaker 1: the team better, That was likable, but yet it was hard.

750
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:58,200
Speaker 1: He made every team he was on better and and

751
00:40:58,239 --> 00:41:01,239
Speaker 1: certainly a great pick I think for your number one,

752
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,480
Speaker 1: because although you could say, well, you know it is

753
00:41:05,520 --> 00:41:09,120
Speaker 1: he really underrated because he did play for the national team.

754
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,040
Speaker 1: He was great for the national team, and people knew

755
00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 1: him and people know Tony sane and by the way,

756
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,440
Speaker 1: he's doing great work now in his right in his

757
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:21,879
Speaker 1: post career, which you know I would hate not to mention,

758
00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,879
Speaker 1: but he does great work with that too. But yeah,

759
00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:28,919
Speaker 1: I love this call because Tony is a guy that

760
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:31,880
Speaker 1: I don't think you'd have many people disagreeing that you

761
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:34,280
Speaker 1: wish that he would be a little bit more recognized

762
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:34,640
Speaker 1: than he is.

763
00:41:35,600 --> 00:41:38,319
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then take us to your number one, a

764
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:42,200
Speaker 2: guy who I will say most modern fans think of

765
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 2: first as coach rather than a player because of the

766
00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 2: great work he's done with us he has national teams,

767
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 2: and then also for a while with L Salvador.

768
00:41:50,760 --> 00:41:53,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, so my first, my number one would be Hugo

769
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:56,840
Speaker 1: pees And that's exactly the reason why I think you

770
00:41:57,280 --> 00:42:00,000
Speaker 1: just said that most people wouldn't remember Hugo. I think

771
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:04,279
Speaker 1: Hugo was not Not only is he now remembered now,

772
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:08,560
Speaker 1: but I think was not respected enough before. But when

773
00:42:08,640 --> 00:42:11,040
Speaker 1: I looked at Hugo, and I've said this to Hugo myself,

774
00:42:11,400 --> 00:42:13,680
Speaker 1: that as I was coming along to the national team

775
00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 1: and he was only a couple of years older than me,

776
00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,279
Speaker 1: that's the guy that I looked up to because he

777
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,160
Speaker 1: had all he was the closest thing to Diego Maradona

778
00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:27,319
Speaker 1: that we've ever had on the national team. He was

779
00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:30,200
Speaker 1: very similar in the way he played. He was very

780
00:42:30,239 --> 00:42:32,319
Speaker 1: similar in the way he moved and the way he

781
00:42:32,440 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 1: caught and the way he got around players. Hugo was definitely,

782
00:42:37,400 --> 00:42:41,000
Speaker 1: I think, unfortunately twenty years ahead of his time, because

783
00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:44,919
Speaker 1: had Hugo come along even ten years later, he would

784
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:50,960
Speaker 1: have been an MLS superstar and would arrival every foreign

785
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,279
Speaker 1: signing that MLS could could have made. And by that

786
00:42:54,480 --> 00:42:57,319
Speaker 1: I mean like serious names, and I'm talking about like

787
00:42:57,520 --> 00:43:01,400
Speaker 1: Marco Etcheveri or Carlos valdor like the top of the

788
00:43:01,440 --> 00:43:04,560
Speaker 1: top MLS guys at the time. Hugo, I think, to

789
00:43:04,640 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 1: me was every bit as good. And unfortunately he's a

790
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:10,520
Speaker 1: name that most people would not recognize.

791
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,839
Speaker 2: Yeah, go into the YouTube archive see if you could

792
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,840
Speaker 2: find some clips of Hugo on the ball. Because he

793
00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:20,120
Speaker 2: had that creative spark that makes the game beautiful and

794
00:43:20,200 --> 00:43:22,799
Speaker 2: makes US teams better that we saw it happen a

795
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:26,160
Speaker 2: lot in the mid late eighties for that US team

796
00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:30,480
Speaker 2: that TAB was just joining up with, and Hugo had

797
00:43:30,560 --> 00:43:33,360
Speaker 2: a big part in getting the US to the nineteen

798
00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:37,000
Speaker 2: ninety World Cup for Us, it's time for one more

799
00:43:37,040 --> 00:43:39,480
Speaker 2: break and we'll be back and Tab will tell us

800
00:43:39,840 --> 00:43:44,080
Speaker 2: bring us inside the locker room back in nineteen ninety

801
00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:47,520
Speaker 2: eight against Iran. Thank you to all for listening to

802
00:43:47,640 --> 00:44:02,040
Speaker 2: Inside American Soccer. Please rate, review and subscribe. All right,

803
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 2: welcome back to Inside American Soccer. And look, it's a

804
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:10,640
Speaker 2: tough time to do this with world events, but we

805
00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:13,920
Speaker 2: should talk about it in Back in nineteen ninety eight,

806
00:44:13,960 --> 00:44:17,200
Speaker 2: the US got drawn into the same group as Iran

807
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:22,200
Speaker 2: for the World Cup, and it was politically fraught at

808
00:44:22,239 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 2: the time. And we're lucky to have someone who was

809
00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:28,759
Speaker 2: there in person to tell us about that game, to

810
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:33,400
Speaker 2: build up and then right beforehand the pictures and you know,

811
00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:36,240
Speaker 2: exchange of gifts and then the game itself.

812
00:44:37,520 --> 00:44:39,920
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It was actually, it was actually a

813
00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:42,759
Speaker 1: little bit of a rough time because in general that

814
00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:46,560
Speaker 1: France nineteen ninety eight World Cup was a little bit

815
00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:49,520
Speaker 1: politically charged. Anyway, there was a lot going on in

816
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:54,200
Speaker 1: the world, you know. I remember when we got to

817
00:44:54,280 --> 00:44:57,560
Speaker 1: Paris to play our first game against Germany. I was

818
00:44:57,600 --> 00:45:01,480
Speaker 1: on the bench the first game to start against against Germany,

819
00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 1: and I remember looking from the bench and seeing all

820
00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,759
Speaker 1: the sharpshooters at the top of the stadium kind of

821
00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:09,480
Speaker 1: pointing down to the people. So just you know, this

822
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,840
Speaker 1: was US against Germany, so it was already there was

823
00:45:14,200 --> 00:45:17,319
Speaker 1: it was already a politically charged World Cup where there

824
00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,160
Speaker 1: was a lot of security. I think we had a

825
00:45:20,239 --> 00:45:24,720
Speaker 1: couple different helicopters following our bus to uh to the stadium,

826
00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:27,319
Speaker 1: where normally normally you have one. I think there was

827
00:45:27,520 --> 00:45:30,799
Speaker 1: multiple at the time. There was you know, all kinds

828
00:45:30,800 --> 00:45:33,759
Speaker 1: of police cars everywhere. It was. It was not the

829
00:45:33,920 --> 00:45:37,000
Speaker 1: norm of a World Cup, although of course there's always

830
00:45:37,239 --> 00:45:41,080
Speaker 1: you know, most fans you know, won't know, but you know,

831
00:45:41,360 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 1: obviously all the World Cup teams are always well protected

832
00:45:44,640 --> 00:45:46,800
Speaker 1: with a lot of security when you travel to games.

833
00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,360
Speaker 1: This is this is the norm, right, you have police

834
00:45:49,360 --> 00:45:51,880
Speaker 1: in front, you have police in the back. Normally you

835
00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:54,600
Speaker 1: may have a helicopter following the team as well. But

836
00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:56,799
Speaker 1: there was this was different. You know, this was my

837
00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:59,640
Speaker 1: third World Cup and I noticed that this was different

838
00:45:59,640 --> 00:46:02,520
Speaker 1: than any other. And here we were, you know, playing

839
00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:05,799
Speaker 1: the Germany game, and and and you're seeing that, you know,

840
00:46:05,920 --> 00:46:08,520
Speaker 1: sort of soldiers all around the stadium, and it was

841
00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:11,879
Speaker 1: a little bit crazy, and so of course, then we're

842
00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:14,600
Speaker 1: drawn in a group with Iran, and you know, because

843
00:46:14,640 --> 00:46:18,560
Speaker 1: of the you know, the the political part of us

844
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 1: and Iran, that was always going to be politically charged,

845
00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,200
Speaker 1: regardless of the time. So I think it got magnified

846
00:46:25,280 --> 00:46:28,560
Speaker 1: because of the time we were living and we were

847
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:31,360
Speaker 1: going into that game, and I remember that all people

848
00:46:31,440 --> 00:46:34,960
Speaker 1: focus on was, you know, the political tension between one

849
00:46:35,000 --> 00:46:38,480
Speaker 1: country and the next. And I think from a playing standpoint,

850
00:46:38,520 --> 00:46:41,040
Speaker 1: and this is more sort of a message for the fans,

851
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:44,080
Speaker 1: but from a playing standpoint, you know, we're just playing

852
00:46:44,080 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 1: a game. You know, we're just playing a game. We're

853
00:46:46,320 --> 00:46:49,400
Speaker 1: just athletes playing a game. Of course, we're defending our country,

854
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:51,399
Speaker 1: they're defending theirs. But at the end of the game,

855
00:46:51,400 --> 00:46:54,520
Speaker 1: it's just a game. If anything. You know, sports are

856
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:57,400
Speaker 1: put together so that people can forget a lot of

857
00:46:57,400 --> 00:46:59,919
Speaker 1: the problems, not so that so that we can bring

858
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:01,520
Speaker 1: more problems.

859
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:03,080
Speaker 2: Two people.

860
00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:06,680
Speaker 1: And so from an athletic standpoint, we just wanted to

861
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:09,000
Speaker 1: play the game. We didn't want to talk about politics.

862
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:13,319
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, although you know, it was

863
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,960
Speaker 1: a difficult time because of it, I think there was

864
00:47:16,000 --> 00:47:19,400
Speaker 1: the norm, there was the norm of team shaking hands

865
00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:22,840
Speaker 1: and depending on how you got drawn up, whether you

866
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:25,520
Speaker 1: were Team A or Team B. I'm sure all the

867
00:47:25,560 --> 00:47:27,640
Speaker 1: fans have seen it. But you know, when the teams

868
00:47:27,719 --> 00:47:31,279
Speaker 1: line up for a game, one team comes across and

869
00:47:31,320 --> 00:47:33,879
Speaker 1: shakes the hands of the other team, and the way

870
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:36,920
Speaker 1: that works is you get drawn just by chance to

871
00:47:36,960 --> 00:47:39,520
Speaker 1: be Team A or Team B. We I think we

872
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:41,719
Speaker 1: were drawn at the time to be Team A. And

873
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:43,920
Speaker 1: because of it, you know, Team B had to come

874
00:47:43,960 --> 00:47:46,520
Speaker 1: across and shake our hands. And I think there was

875
00:47:46,560 --> 00:47:50,520
Speaker 1: some sort of argument over the federations because I think

876
00:47:50,560 --> 00:47:52,800
Speaker 1: no one wanted to come across and shake hands. So

877
00:47:53,120 --> 00:47:55,799
Speaker 1: but I think a great thing happened. And the great

878
00:47:55,800 --> 00:47:58,279
Speaker 1: thing that happened is that for the first time, both

879
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:01,480
Speaker 1: teams decided, hey, you know what, let's leave politics aside

880
00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:04,160
Speaker 1: and let's take the picture together. And I think the

881
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:06,720
Speaker 1: one thing that we did that I think was great

882
00:48:06,760 --> 00:48:08,560
Speaker 1: to show the world at the end of the day,

883
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:11,360
Speaker 1: this is just a game, was that both teams, after

884
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:14,759
Speaker 1: we took we took the field, we got together in

885
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:17,400
Speaker 1: the center of the field and we did a single picture.

886
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:19,239
Speaker 1: Instead of having our own team picture, we did a

887
00:48:19,280 --> 00:48:23,800
Speaker 1: single picture in which both teams were together, one American,

888
00:48:23,920 --> 00:48:26,640
Speaker 1: one Irani, one American one Irani, and I think it

889
00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,399
Speaker 1: was a great moment. I think not just for our

890
00:48:29,440 --> 00:48:32,280
Speaker 1: federation and for around, but I think for the world

891
00:48:32,320 --> 00:48:34,840
Speaker 1: to see that, you know, we're just athletes trying to

892
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:35,760
Speaker 1: bring people together.

893
00:48:36,760 --> 00:48:39,440
Speaker 2: It was a great moment before the game, and then

894
00:48:39,520 --> 00:48:42,640
Speaker 2: the game itself happened and that was less great. It

895
00:48:42,680 --> 00:48:45,440
Speaker 2: was a two to one final, if I recall, and

896
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:49,879
Speaker 2: I think Claudio hit the crossbar once, Brian McBride maybe

897
00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,040
Speaker 2: hit the crossbar or the post twice. It was one

898
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:56,040
Speaker 2: of those where the soccer gods just seemed to be

899
00:48:56,640 --> 00:49:00,000
Speaker 2: against the US on the day. That was pretty dark

900
00:49:00,080 --> 00:49:02,279
Speaker 2: for me as a fan. I can't imagine it was

901
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:05,319
Speaker 2: much more pleasant for you as a player on the day.

902
00:49:06,200 --> 00:49:09,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was difficult because iron we were the better

903
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:11,480
Speaker 1: team on the day. There was no question we dominated

904
00:49:11,480 --> 00:49:14,440
Speaker 1: the game. We should have been up at halftime already.

905
00:49:14,440 --> 00:49:16,600
Speaker 1: And like you said, I think we hit the post

906
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:20,520
Speaker 1: three or four times. Unfortunately, Iran had a couple of

907
00:49:20,520 --> 00:49:24,200
Speaker 1: players up front who had speed and they got us

908
00:49:24,239 --> 00:49:26,160
Speaker 1: on the counter a couple times. And you know, these

909
00:49:26,160 --> 00:49:28,960
Speaker 1: are things that happened, and it happened in soccer, right

910
00:49:29,040 --> 00:49:31,360
Speaker 1: Otherwise you wouldn't have to play the games if the

911
00:49:31,360 --> 00:49:34,120
Speaker 1: better team won every time. That day we were the

912
00:49:34,120 --> 00:49:37,640
Speaker 1: better team. Unfortunately we lost. And because we lost, and

913
00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:41,080
Speaker 1: because the rest of our group was Germany and Yugoslavia,

914
00:49:41,840 --> 00:49:44,239
Speaker 1: you know, we were of course going to lose the

915
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:46,560
Speaker 1: other two games as well, and we did, and we

916
00:49:46,640 --> 00:49:49,120
Speaker 1: ended up last not only in that group, but last

917
00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:51,960
Speaker 1: in the whole World Cup, and that sort of repainted

918
00:49:52,000 --> 00:49:54,839
Speaker 1: the picture of that World Cup having been likely one

919
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:56,640
Speaker 1: of the worst World Cups that we ever had.

920
00:49:57,360 --> 00:49:59,719
Speaker 2: But you ended up actually playing with one of the

921
00:49:59,719 --> 00:50:04,400
Speaker 2: around and players in MLS afterwards, Mohammed Khakpor, who was

922
00:50:04,440 --> 00:50:05,439
Speaker 2: their captain on the day.

923
00:50:06,520 --> 00:50:09,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was, you know, really interesting because you know

924
00:50:10,719 --> 00:50:13,160
Speaker 1: Muhammed who's in the obviously we'rell in the picture together.

925
00:50:13,239 --> 00:50:15,400
Speaker 1: He ended up in Metro Stars later on, and we

926
00:50:15,480 --> 00:50:20,360
Speaker 1: became really good friends, and you know, you become friends

927
00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:22,600
Speaker 1: on the team. Obviously everyone's friends in the locker room,

928
00:50:22,600 --> 00:50:25,120
Speaker 1: but we were friends off the field to the point

929
00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 1: where like he and his wife came over my house

930
00:50:28,280 --> 00:50:31,239
Speaker 1: for dinner, we'd go to his house for dinner, so

931
00:50:31,320 --> 00:50:35,040
Speaker 1: we were we were actually very close. Super guy and

932
00:50:35,280 --> 00:50:37,120
Speaker 1: uh yeah, great person to be around.

933
00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:41,160
Speaker 2: So you got to try some Persian Iranian cuisine. Man,

934
00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:43,800
Speaker 2: you got to try all of the goods, the lamb,

935
00:50:43,840 --> 00:50:45,600
Speaker 2: the rise, the whole.

936
00:50:45,320 --> 00:50:49,120
Speaker 1: Thing right right exactly, you know it was. It was

937
00:50:49,160 --> 00:50:51,799
Speaker 1: actually great because it was I think multiple times that

938
00:50:51,840 --> 00:50:55,040
Speaker 1: we got together with our families and we really we

939
00:50:55,080 --> 00:50:56,040
Speaker 1: really had a great time.

940
00:50:56,320 --> 00:51:00,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, good times back then. Hopefully good time times to

941
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:05,240
Speaker 2: come for everyone involved US Iranian around the world. Fingers

942
00:51:05,239 --> 00:51:08,680
Speaker 2: crossed on that. And thank you Tab for the story,

943
00:51:08,719 --> 00:51:12,480
Speaker 2: and thank you to all for listening to Inside American Soccer.

944
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:17,120
Speaker 2: Please rate, review, and subscribe, Continue to leave your questions

945
00:51:17,239 --> 00:51:21,080
Speaker 2: in comments on all of our platforms, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok,

946
00:51:21,280 --> 00:51:24,160
Speaker 2: and YouTube, and we will see you all next week.