Football Daily - World Cup: Kasper Schmeichel On Scotland's Chances

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Scotland's World Cup hopes are looking more unlikely after defeat to Brazil, but is there still a way through?Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith are joined by Kasper Schmeichel to assess Scotland's position and discuss the mindset needed when a tournament doesn't go according to plan.The former Denmark goalkeeper explains how players recover from mistakes on the biggest stage, why the World Cup ball has become such a talking point among goalkeepers and what makes every goalkeeper different.Lloyd also reveals to Kasper that he collects goalkeeper gloves, including several worn by Kasper's father, Peter Schmeichel.Plus, Rick and Lloyd answer your questions on everything from Lloyd's singing and their gym sessions to their favourite game of the World Cup so far.

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Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. At the People World Cup 2026 with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith. Hello and welcome to the Football Daily with me, Rick Edwards, and this gentleman, Lloyd Griffith. The headlines from... Hello. Oh yeah, sorry. I'll do that again? Are you happy with that? No, happy, yeah. Didn't think the hello was a little bit late? No. Okay. The headlines from today, Scotland, beaten three-nees.

by Brazil. That means they finish third in their group. Still have got a chance to qualify. Brazil top that group. Morocco finished second. Switzerland beat Canada 2-1's top group B. Bosnia and Herzegovina beat Qatar 3-1 to secure third place in that group. South Africa beat South Korea 1-0 to finish second in that group. It's not a great result for Scotland actually because it means that South Korea finished third with a better goal difference than Scotland.

Mexico have topped the group winning all three of their games. So the only team to do that so far, they beat Chechia 3-0. Now, we have actually just finished a lovely chat with Casper Schmeichael. Oh, a lovely man. Really nice man. Came up to our house. When he arrives, see, handshakes. Truthfully, the firmest handshake I've ever experienced.

And everyone has agreed with that. Oh, have they? Absolute. Oh, you've had harder, have you? Like advice. It was just a normal handshake. It was just two goalkeepers shaking hands. but I guess for you...

Don't think he realised that. Essentially, you know, at the hand of a granite. A civilian. A civilian. A civilian grandpa. A hand of a grandpa. Yeah, it just felt like a normal handshake to me. It did feel like my hand was sort of turning to dust in his grip.

Yeah, it's painful. Bless you. Thank you. The other thing was, the only brief, I think, I gave you before the interview. Because I knew you'd be excited because you love goalkeepers. Love them. And I just said, whatever you do, don't start showing him all your photos of goalkeeper clubs. Yes.

and at the end of the interview what did you do well we were just chatted about gloves and he was you know I don't think he bought the gloves up no he did he did actually did he yeah because we all here later but he talked about getting gloves

sent over from Germany and he seemed to know quite a lot so I was oh you into your gloves yeah I am actually is he into his gloves yeah I think he might be well you never know some I know goalkeepers that don't care they just I don't care as long as they're white I wear gardening gloves we've seen it

I mean not for a few hundred years but we've seen it And then I was like, look, I'm a bit of a goalkeeping glove nerd as well, and I showed him the photos of a lot of gloves. I've got a lot of his dad's old gloves, which I've spent far too much of my future children's inheritance on eBay, just trying to get them. So, oh, honestly, you couldn't stop us. We were just like comparing gloves.

Couldn't stop you. Well, we were just comparing. He was looking over at Lizzie. No, no. He was like, wow, look at this legend. That's what he said. He'd go, wow, look at this guy. Have you seen his gloves?

Yeah. And actually, we've got quite. a few, I said, I've got quite a few of your dad's gloves. Anyway, yeah. Yeah, so have I? Yeah, it was good. I was like, oh, okay. Well, I mean, yeah. What a, what a creepy thing to say to a man though. I've got quite a few of your dad's gloves. Yeah, obviously. Just take that in isolation. That is an insane thing to say to someone. If his dad was a surgeon, very weird. I've got some of your dad's gloves. Yeah, but that's fine. He's a go-go- I didn't say it like that. You just did a bit. You tapped it on the knee. I didn't tap it. I would not have done. I've got a lady of

Dad's clothes. That's what you did. And then you showed him photos of them. Yeah, I did. And then also I realized that there's a few photos. And then there were just pictures of his dad, who is Peter Schmichael, obviously. And I was like, he's like, oh, I was, I just, I wasn't, I'm just a picture your dad there. I was like, oh, God.

That does feel a bit creepy, actually. I actually, I couldn't have to leave you to it. I used to send Peter Schmichael Christmas cards every year up in, well, it happened two years ago. Well, let's get Casper back and tell him that. I thought that was, the gloves fine, but I've got loads of Percy of Dad's gloves. I used to send them Christmas cards. He used to send, not one, but he didn't send any back. But I mean, he's busy.

I mean, busy keeping clean sheets and, you know, winning trophies. So you keep going, Peter. But Casper, lovely man, really, lovely, lovely man. Really nice man. Immediately after we finished, I don't know if it was Casper saw the table tennis table. No, he was producer Lizzie that said, do you want to play table tennis? With a little fat bloke. You obliged.

And you went and played table tennis. I was the referee. he was I'll be honest he was not I thought he was going to be brilliant because sports people tend to be brilliant and everything he wasn't brilliant you add him on the ropes you were 10-8 up

two match points I did say something about your mental weakness and then you crumbled and you lost two words Bruce Grubberler I let him win it what he he well you had a brown paper bag from him I let him win it

I let him win it you've been saying that you've been saying that for the last hour And there was nothing about your game that looked like you were throwing it. Everyone is, everyone is shaking out. We've also, yes, we have got video evidence and you didn't throw it. Look at them.

We've seen it in every table tennis game you've played. The same thing happens. You get a bit ahead and then you crumble. And you did it against Casimir Schmichael. He has a shoulder injury. And I thought, do you know what I really cheer him up beating me at table tennis? And I made that lad's dream come true. So, lovely man.

I don't think he's going to be telling that anecdote. I don't think you should be telling anyone that he came around here, to be fair. Well, he might say something about the dad's gloves beer. Yeah. What else are we doing later on in the podcast? We're going to answer some of your questions. Not my questions. Not my questions.

Listener questions. Listener questions. You've been very kind and sent a load in, so we'll rattle through some of those. But now, let's dive in to Casper Schmichael. Not literally. Well, the first person we've invited over to our shared house is Premier League winner, two-time Scottish Premiership winner, Casper Schmichael. Thanks for coming over. Thank you. Thanks for the invite.

It's a nice place, isn't it? It's a lovely little place you got here. We've lucked out. Right in the sun. Just obviously ignore all the socks drying over there, please. That's just admin. That's life admin. It's going on the house. We're actually, we actually live it. Producer-Ear-Betka, are you going to move them socks?

And it was like, no, I think I'll just keep them in the corner. Well, yeah, I popped. And you can bear it. You barely notice them. Had you not mention them, we wouldn't have noticed them. That's a good point, actually. Pretend I didn't mention them, please. That's true. Let's talk about the Scotland-Brazil game that we just watched. Two colossal mistakes in the first half.

I mean, one which eventually was chalked off. But I mean, what a horrible, horrible way to start. And poor old McKenna as well coming in and that in your first 10 minutes. That's tough. It's tough. It was tough to watch. It was always going to be tough against Brazil. Let's be honest. They are one of the favourites to win the tournament. you've got the added heat and humidity of Miami.

There's so many things that I felt were stacked against Scotland for this game that they were going to need like a monumental performance to get something from the game. But I think any team will always think, like, just don't give them anything. Like make them earn it. I was always of the opinion. I hated losing. But as long as they give everything and you're not handing them anything, then you could accept it better than if it happened like there.

You mentioned the conditions. I mean, we noticed that even the British people, Brazilians were drenched through. Like, everyone looked absolutely ghost. And I don't know, like, and that's obviously going to affect the way the game goes. Well, it is. I mean, I remember playing in, both in Qatar and in, like in the, even in Russia, the World Cup in Russia, we played in, where was it, Samara and Saransk.

And that was like, and I was the keeper. So I was absolutely drenched. I mean, I do remember times when I've played in, even when I, when I, I played like in South of France, you know, having 38, 40 degree heat there thinking, how are these outfielders doing it? Like, because I'm absolutely wet through here just standing here. But there's no question that the conditions, they play a massive part. And particularly when you play a tournament like this that is across so many vast areas and you've got places like Mexico, you know, six or I think seven and a half thousand feet above sea level, you know, the air is thinner there. And then you go to Miami and you have the humidity and the heat that there's so many things.

that can affect that. And then you go and play in, like, for example, you play in Dallas. And, you know, I was in Dallas last for the England game. And inside, it was lovely and cool. We actually had wearing jackets because it was not, it was a bit chilly. And you go outside and it's like,

there's no way you could play a football game in, in that heat. So there are teams that are more suited players that are used to playing in that kind of heat. I mean, it's not exactly Scottish weather in Miami, is it? So, so it is definitely more difficult, I think. It's a cliche, isn't it as well, to say,

oh, you know, become the Scots deal with the heat, it's not exactly Paisley or, you know, Fife. But there was a few of the Scottish lads and their faces were just red. They were bright red from the off. They looked like cartoons. And you just think, well, how are you dealing with? Obviously, the Brazilians, you know, expect that they've grown up with it. But you could just see the Scottish lads be like, this is a bit much.

You said quite a lot in it. I'm just in awe a lot of the time of the level of fitness that players have these days and how they can keep going at the intensity that they do is really, really impressive. And then on top of that, you add altitude, you add heat, you add humidity, all those things. It just becomes even more impressive, I think. Just going back to the mistakes, psychologically, particularly when you make a mistake early in the game, how do you get your head right? How do you not let that affect you for the rest of the game?

It is really difficult. It is a skill, and it is something that you need to learn, which is why all the way through your youth years, if you've had a good upbringing through academies, you'll have been subjected to failure and you'll have been subjected to having to deal with things that are out of your control sometimes and you have to accept them. And those learnings from an early age,

as long as you keep having them and you're exposed to the fact that you can fail and failure isn't the end of the world, through your career you'll learn that you're never going to play perfect game and mistakes will happen if you're a goalkeeper and a defender if you make mistakes more than likely it's going to lead to a chance or a goal you just got to put that to one side but you can only do that having experienced it before so I think someone as as as mechanic don't get me wrong it the first two or three minutes after it will be it'll be in your

hell but yeah it will but you don't want to follow up with another one you know what I mean so I always find in in any sport or in any elite profession it's not about making a mistake. It's about how do you react after the mistake? And I think the ones that react the best, they're the ones who actually have the ability to not care in the moment. Don't get me wrong. After the game, you'll have

all those feelings, but in the moment, just got to move on. Psychologically, I was just thinking, it's got them 3-0 down, chasing the game really, although knackered so not able to chase it that hard. And then Namar comes on. You must just think, oh, come on, give it a rest,

lad. Well, I mean, This is the thing sometimes with these massive nations that just have huge strength and depth. I remember we played a game in Moscow against France where we needed a draw and they were already through. And they'd rested quite a few players. And then 15 minutes ago, you see Mbapé warming up. You think, come on. Oh, come on. Sit down, mate.

Sit down. But that's the thing about these nations. And you know, you have nations like Scotland, like Denmark or 5 million people coming up against nations. 300 million people, but that's international football. And the challenge with any sport is that can you rise above those things? So you see different ways of approaching the game. We saw England yesterday come up against Ghana, you know, was it pretty? No.

But what do you expect them to do? You know, do you want them to come and be expansive and just be open to England's attacks? Of course not. So you've got to find other ways. So the smaller teams or the smaller countries can compete against the bigger countries. We're not always going to be able to do it. But you've got to find different ways. We were saying, like, weirdly, for a game that you've lost 3-0,

Angus Gunn, I had a really good game. It did. Sometimes they are the games, for keepers. You have good games, even though you lose. And it means nothing at the end of the day to you. When you come off the pitch, you'd rather have never touched the ball at all, and I nick the 1-0 win. But sometimes that's the life of a goalie.

I mean, and even having said all that, you know, Allison makes two really good saves. I like the fact they kept going because that makes a difference in the standing for the best threes. It's not great to lose 3-0 in that sense, but I like the fact that they kept going, and you're up against a very good goalkeeper though. It's worth knowing Angus Gunn hadn't played a game all season. We played one game, I think, for Nottingham Forest. And I was looking at the stats of the other goalkeepers in the Scottish national team,

and all three goalkeepers, I think they've got a handful of games between them this whole season. So, I mean, fair play to Angus Gunn for coming in, having not really played. The next thing you have to do is playing a World Cup when you're against, you know, Namar. Is it worrying, though, for the Scottish national team that actually they haven't really got depth in the goalkeeping department? The thing about goalkeeping sometimes is that as long as you've played a lot of games in your younger years, that experience, that can get you through certain situations. Don't get me wrong, it's not ideal going into a World Cup, but you can get through it. I mean, we had examples of Craig Gordon, for example. Craig Gordon, he came in for hearts a couple of times.

I mean, Craig Gordon made save of the season. I mean, it's the most ridiculous against Dundee. But again, he hasn't played all season, but he's still able to do that. You know, and you see Angus today, still able to do those things. But I think that maybe goalkeeper is the one department where you can get away with it. So match fitness is not such an issue for goalkeepers? I think with goalkeepers, I wouldn't call it match fitness. I'd call it match sharpness, yeah.

It's match sharpness. There's no question that there are elements of games if you aren't playing regularly that will need tuning up and fine tuning because you can train all. all day long and training is great, but it's nowhere near match tempo. It's nowhere near match situation. And the thing about goalkeeping is it's about decisions and it's mental.

It's not physical in the same way. So all those little decisions you have to make constantly. You can make them in training because there's no consequence. But once there's a consequence on, do you freeze or are you able to do that? And that's where the experience then kicks in. There's quite a few goalkeepers in this World Cup that are world-class that we're just not going to see David Reyer,

lemons, or I called lemons earlier by mistake, yeah. Edison, you know, three incredible goalkeepers all at the top of their game that we're just not going to see. How do they keep themselves sharp? And also, how do you not get annoyed, especially in Raya's situation? If I'm Raya, I'm absolutely fuming. You say Raya? Yeah. I say Raya.

That's just good. You say lemons and he's called lemons. Yeah, probably go with me. But he's had an unbelievable season, isn't he? Like, with what he's done at Arsdale. And then, Unai, Simons, I mean, just had an average season. but again are you looking for constiscency with the Spanish team? I think if I'm the Spanish coach, you know,

he's probably thinking he's got a lot of headaches. Does he need the headache of swapping goalkeepers now? You know, if it's not broke, don't fix it. Let me don't forget when I see him won the Euros with Spain. You know, so it's not like you've got, you know, a complete novice in there. You've got a European champion in your goal. And also they have a history.

He was his coach from a young age. And I think particularly the manager-goalkeeper relationship, in my experience, managers, they don't want to think about the goal. They just want to know he'll do his job. I've got 10 players and plus the bet I've got a lot to think about. I just need you to do your job. Is that why so many goalkeepers are nuts because you just left to your own devices?

They're just like you over there on your own. Well, no, because that's not how we train. People say goalkeepers are crazy and I'll agree with that because you are crazy if you accept that level of responsibility. Right. Then you're crazy. If you thrive on knowing any, mistake can cost your entire country,

then yes. It's a living night. Then you're crazy. But that is why there's only one of us on the pitch. But then surely you flip it, the buzz, when you're the last line of defense. And you just saved it.

You thrive on it. That pressure, that is the best pressure I've ever known. There's no better feeling in the world than standing in the goal in a World Cup, wherever you are in the world, and knowing

that everyone at home in your country is watching this game. Everyone's up at whatever time is. Everyone is sat there every person you know, everyone you've gone to school with, every teacher you've ever had, they're all watching. They're all watching that game and everyone is together wanting us to win.

That feeling is the absolute pinnacle of football for me. One of the things that we know about goalkeepers and you've just mentioned is so much of it is mental and Alison, I think, was a really good example of that today because basically he had nothing to do until then suddenly he had something to do. And to keep that sharp for 90 minutes in a game that it's relatively easy for you,

it's tough, right? No easy games. There are no easy games. No. Do you know what? They're actually the hardest ones. You mentioned Angus Gunn there. The ones where you have a lot to do, you're just in it.

And it's a bit like a training session in the sense it's constant, constant work. The ones where you have, you'll say nothing to do. For me, that's the ones where the top keepers, they separate themselves from the elite. That's kind of what I mean, because he's got nothing to do, and yet somehow he still maintains that level. But that's what he's conditioned and coached to do. And again, I'll go back to what I said before about the mistake for McKenna. Can you get to a point where you don't feel consequence anymore?

You don't feel the consequences of mistakes anymore. You just go and make decisions and do what you do, and you're not scared of what's going to happen. The second you become scared as a goalkeeper of the consequences, then you become tentative. and when you become sensitive and uptight, then you cause yourself problems. And the other side of it is,

can you accept that you don't have anything to do? Because you'll have goalkeepers that will go looking for work. They'll go, they need to get involved in the game. They need to feel involved in the game. So you've got to devise strategies in your own head, whatever you need to do to feel like you're involved in the game. Now, people probably won't realize how much running some keepers actually do, but they do it to stay involved,

to feel like they're in the game. You might, we might have the ball up the other end. Obviously, nobody's watching the keeper there, but he'll be moving with the team, and he'll be doing that, one to potentially be in the right position if they needed, but also he'll be doing it to stay involved in the game. Because if you just stood there, you know, then, yeah,

then that's when the mind can wonder. And again, you're alone with your thoughts. If you've made a mistake after 10 minutes as a keeper, and you're alone with your thoughts there, that's a dangerous place to be, because what will then happen is you'll want to rectify the mistake But as a keeper you can't do that. You can't rectify a mistake.

Now, an outfielder, if he's having a bad game, he can run around or he can tackle or he can try and make something happen. As a keeper, you have to wait for something and you have to accept. You might not be able to do anything about what's coming to you. And that's a skill to accept in your own mind. I've heard a few goalkeepers that I've interviewed in the past. Talk about the line where they basically just follow the ball, like the whole way, wherever it goes,

just to keep them in the game. I need to be connected to. that ball the whole time, so I'll just move. So I just know that wherever that ball goes, I'm going, and I'm just ready for it. Because, I mean, I'll be thinking about dinner. What, you know, what I'm having tonight? But again, like I say, everyone finds their own way. I mean, if you take the example, for example, my dad, like, my dad used to shout a lot.

If you asked Gary Pallister or Steve Bruce, what are you shouting? I don't think I'll know what you're shouting. But he's at it again. No, but what I mean, that was for him to stay involved in the game. That was his way of staying involved in the game. I played with David Seaman. David Seaman was the complete opposite. it. He would just stand and he had

a completely different Zen about it. He was just cool, calm and collected and you know you have keepers doing all sorts of things but it's to stay involved and to stay focused to stay sharp and particularly the other thing about that is if you are playing in different climates when you're playing in the cold for example

it can be cold being a keeper so you also got to keep moving. You've got his gloves on, that helps. They're wet, so they're freezing. David Seaman told me a lovely story. He said the only distraction he used to get was because he's a keen fisherman Like sometimes if the turf was torn up it'd see worms are like Oh that's a good bit of bait

What's the sameon doing down there? Just put him in his glove bag A glove bag of worms Love that How did a boycott Jimmy become a billionaire From posting videos On good bad billionaire We're going to find out how the world's most popular

YouTuber Mr Beast made his fortune He's buried himself in a coffin for days Counted to 100,000 on camera and even recreated squid games all in an attempt to go viral on the internet. But it all started when he gave a homeless man $10,000. So is he a philanthropist reshaping capitalism? Or is he just the king of the attention economy? Find out on Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service.

Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. How did a boycott Jimmy become a billionaire from posting videos? On Good Bad Billionaire, we're going to find out how the world's most popular YouTuber, Mr Beast, made his fortune. He's buried himself in a coffin for days. Counted to 100,000 on camera. And even recreated squid games, all in an attempt to go viral on the internet. But it all started when he gave a homeless man $10,000. So is he a philanthropist re-shaping capitalism?

Or is he just the king of the attention economy? Find out on good bad billionaire. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Five Lights for... Hello, I'm Alastair Bruce Ball and I'll be commentating on the World Cup for the BBC this summer. It's a commentator, favourite World Cup moment. France 4, Argentina 3 in Russia, 2018. Amazing goal from Benjamin Pavard in that game on the half volley.

What makes the World Cup such a special tournament? It's its exotic nature. I think particularly as a kid, it just seemed to happen in far off lands that you'd only ever dreamt about or heard about. The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds. at the People World Cup 2026 with Rick Edwards and Lloyd Griffith live from L.A. You will have spent time at Celtic, just thinking back to Scotland, with Kieran Tierney and Rauston.

They told you stuff about the Scotland group, the Scotland team and how confident they were going into this tournament. No, because they'd be us. They refused to tell me anything. They refused to tell me I was trying to probe and everything, but they weren't laying anything out. No, I mean, I know a lot of the players in the Scotland squad, I think that their biggest strength is their collective. They're just good, honest professionals. And what they have is they have a togetherness and they have that with the fans. And once all that is combined, that's a really difficult thing to come up against.

You know, we were on the receiving end of it. And I think what I have enjoyed now that Denmark couldn't be. I've enjoyed seeing how everyone has interacted in the US. you know there's there's a lot of media talk you know everywhere in the world about the u.s about this and that and then and politics but i'm really glad it's just been football yeah everyone everyone's just enjoy you know you've got the norwegians rowing through time square you got uh you know the tartan army drinking boston dry and you know all these great stories you got the the uh rania fans uh for netherland you see japan fans cleaning the you know this so so what i've just

enjoyed is seeing that tartan army being being recognized on the world stage. You know, for being, having lived up there, Scottish people are great people, you know, and they enjoy themselves, they have fun, they have a really good sense of humour,

and that, the kind of world has seen that this time. And then on the pitch, they've just really struggled, I mean, it's an obvious point, but just to score goals. And I think they've had two shots on target across their three games,

and in the end, that just isn't going to quite cut it, is it? Now, we'll see, won't we? I mean, what... Actually, I mean, Denmark, in, in the 2020 euros. You lost two games in the groups. Yeah, we lost Finland and Belgium at home, yeah.

We had to beat Russia in the last game, yeah. And still went through and got to the, what, semis? Yeah, again, anything's possible. It's a horrible wait for them now. You know, having to weigh around and see what's going to happen and you haven't really got any control over it. But we'll see, won't we? We'll see.

Well, you do say it's all about positivity and just seeing what happens. Steve Clark has just come out and said, for sure, we're going home. So, yeah, he said, let's be honest, the best team won. It was unbelievable the shift the players put in, the ones who played 90 minutes in that heat and humidity were outstanding. But we have to be better if we want to compete at this level.

For sure, I think we're going home. A lot of pundits at this tournament have said that keepers are struggling with the flight of the ball. Joe Hart's talked about it a bit. Have you noticed that? Absolutely, I've trained with this ball. As soon as this ball was released, we bought, I think, 10 of them. and we started training with them just in case. Yeah.

I did the same with the Euro's balls. So, you know, it's one of these things that people, they dismiss it as an excuse, but the reality is, you know, there's serious difference between the balls. You know, even when you play in the Premier League, you have one ball, you'll go to the FA Cup, you have another, you'll go to the Carabar Cup, you'll have a third ball, and then you'll play international football, you'll have a fourth ball, and they're all vastly different. The thing about this one is, the construction of it is four panels this time,

instead of the usual 30. Yeah. Two is it and all, and there's no stitching in it. It's all bonded together. And when you mix that in with the different, the different weather's, the different, the air density, there's less drag on the ball, which means it doesn't spin as much, but it also means it's, I find it a split second faster. Right.

And I think we're seeing that a little bit. There's a couple of goals where you've seen, you're seeing keepers getting close to it. Pickford, the first, yeah, the first goal at Croatia's scores. And you got Lucas Didan against Messi. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Even, Juan Mendi against Mbapé, the distance. And the thing about this ball is that we want to see goals, so they build balls to score goals. It's not it for you.

No, it's just a different challenge. It's just a different challenge. The thing about it is you've got to do your homework as a keeper. So like I say, we just bought them and then started training with them because they will make a different. And the other massive major aspect of the ball is the texture of it. They change the balls. They shouldn't really, but they do. you have the multiple system

so you have different balls all the time in play so the grip changes on every ball you have different varieties of grips you have all sorts of different permutations with that when the pitch is dry the ball will go a certain way when the pitch is wet it'll go a certain way they'll change the ball for the round of 16 they'll change the ball for the quarters

and the semis and then they'll have a different ball in the final which means all balls they say they're the same but they're not I remember we played England in the semi-final in the Euros they changed to a silver ball And this silver ball was so different to the one we played in the round before. And we had no grip on it.

We were three keepers and we couldn't get any grip. We tried to get gloves sent from Germany and Brexit held them up in the... Good old Brexit. Brilliant. So actually going into that game, I remember that wasn't a good feeling going into that game because I thought this ball

is really, really slippy. So all these different permutations are there. But the speed of it is the thing with this one. It's actually quite true. It doesn't wobble as much. But the speed of how they strike it is slightly different. It's marginal, but it's enough. Goalkeeping is a game of margins.

Those five margins to make all the difference. Absolutely, absolutely. And did you not get to train with that silver ball in advance of the game? They gave us it the day before? Oh, crack. Yeah, great. Thanks, last. It's because it's a marketing thing.

Obviously, they launch it and all that kind of thing, so they don't want anyone seeing it. And we didn't know this. The same thing happened in the World Cup in Russia, but it makes a huge difference for goalkeepers. We were listening to you talking about England the other day and making a comparison with Dallas Cowboys, massive team, loads of talent,

but they've won it once and have never stopped talking about it. Lock the doors. And the thing is, I was like, oh, that hurts. He's right, though. He is right. No, the thing about it is, I mean, honestly, I'm on with Alex Scott and with Peter Crouch, so it's a bit of banter in between.

I mean, we didn't even qualify. So I'm just talking rubbish to them, but I mean, it's the thing about England, isn't it? When you look at the England teams down the years, the amount of talent England has always had and still has is incredible. And they've been so, so close, so close twice, you know. It's just about getting over the line. Getting over that line once, you know, that will make all the difference. And England fans, they'll love talking about that for the next 60 years. Casper, thanks for coming to our house.

Oh, thank you. Help yourself to anything on your way out. Absolutely. Within reason. Yeah, don't say that twice. Do you want to see my glove collection? Your glove collection, yeah. He's a goalkeeper.

He does talk about it quite. Absolutely. Brilliant. Absolutely. Are you going to say you've got a load of his dad's gloves? You are, aren't you? I've got so many of your dad's gloves. It's all right.

No. I'm going to leave you to this, I think. You know, you said you're selling up? Are there any in that house? I can save you some shipping. What I've got to say, Casaswish, Michael, very, very nice man, would have him over again if he wanted to come over.

I mean, the ball's in his court. It really is, so to speak. Steve Clark, after the Scotland game, was pretty gloomy. I mean, I know Steve Clark can be gloomy. As that game finished, you've got all of the nerds doing the kind of number crunching. There's a list of the things that need to happen

for Scotland to go through, and it's quite a bit of using. It's quite extensive. Yes, it is quite extensive. I could be a professional footballer if I was six foot two. I wasn't 17 stone. Both my parents were footballers. You know, I live next door to Casper Schemichael.

So there's a number of things. There's lots of if, there's lots of books. I don't think you living next door to Casper Schmichael would have had much of an impact. All right, fine. So we put a post up on social media asking for any questions you wanted to ask us? Are you ready? I think we had quite a lot, actually. So we're just going to rattle through them.

I'm kind of curious as to what the theme would be. Is it going to be World Cup, L.A. There's a bit of that. England, your pants. Just a little bit of that. Okay, lovely. Here we go. Let's get into it.

So, thoughts on ranch dressing? Fine. Oh, I don't mind it, yeah. Yeah, it is on a lot of things. Yeah. Have Scotland underperformed, or did they pretty much do as expected? Oh. What's the next question?

I think. It pains me to say it, but probably as expected. As expected. We knew it was going to be a, it's such a hard group. But if they had played like they did today in the previous two games, I think they've got more than three points. I think if they played like they did in the second half against Morocco. Oh, and also the same half.

Then they would have got, but I don't think they've got six halves. So as is really. I think so. And then this question, is Lloyd OK? That, I think, is a reference. The fact I mainly post up pictures of us after we've done a workout. I mean, there is a fair bit of bullying, I'd say. Just you posting photos of me, not in great.

And myself, we both look terrible. Yeah, but I mean, Rick Hed was looking terrible against Lloyd Griffin looking terrible. Two very different things, aren't they? Oh, and he's nodding as well. Well, I'm just listening. He's just nodding. I'm just saying. Unbelievable.

Listen, answer the question, are you okay? At the moment, yes. Great. Lads love the show. Got me through some stuff recently. You're very welcome. Pretty simple one. Fave game so far.

Ooh, I still, this is an early one, but that Netherlands, Japan, two all draw, was a cracker. Yeah, that's a real. You can't have the same one as me, though. I think for me, Belgium, Iran. The nil-nil. The nil-nil.

Because we were there. And we were there, but also, it wasn't a nil-nil. Like, it was quite end-to-end. It was a nil-nil-nil. Oh, no, sorry. Okay, no, it was splitting hairs now. It didn't feel like a nil-nil-nil. It was a nil-nil.

I thought it was quite... The atmosphere as well, maybe because we were. we were there but I thought that was a really good game. If you're picking a nil-0, how are you not going Spain, Cape Verde? Okay, fine. Spain, Cape Verde. Thank you. Have you had a proper session out there yet?

Me, no. Lloyd Yes, and I picked him up and drove him home. That was not a set. All right. So, how do you explain your behaviour then? What do you mean my behaviour? We were driving along and you were saying, make the car behave like one of those

those cars with the modded suspension in a Dr. Dre video. That's what you were saying. Okay, right. I'd had maybe three or four pints. I'm not good thing. Excuse me. You're telling me you had three or four pints.

Okay, maybe four. I had four, about four pints. Come on. Tell the truth. And a pizza. Tell the truth. I had four points and a pizza. Okay.

And then in the car, on the way back, it was actually Lizzie, they were saying, can you make the quite modern dodge? Yeah. four by four that behave like a car that you'd eat snoovedogging. And it turned out I could. Well, I mean, you essentially just emergency braking down ocean boulevard.

It's a bit of fun. And the car behind you was not that happy about it. No, I was break testing him. What's your favourite cup? Do they actually make tea in the microwave over there? We've been mainly drinking coffee, to be honest, don't know? Apart from your gas tea. Well, look, the gas tea, basically, when you go to shops here in America,

they don't market tea as like, I'd like, I like camomile and mint of an eve to try and get me off to sleep. But they call it basically stop farting tea. It's like, what was he called gas reduction tea? I'm like, stop. And I'm like, well, don't shame me. I just like caramel mire because it gets me off to sleep and mint because I'm bloated. I know you are.

I've smelt the bloat. And this one from Greg James. How long have you been in canvas? Oh, we've been in canvas for what seems an eternity. Dorothy. We're not in canvas now. Thank you, Greg. And thanks for listening, Greg.

Yeah, I appreciate it. Team BBC. Are the hot dogs any good and how much? Not had one. Not had one. Although they were selling quite dubious. When you come out of the stadium in LA, I think they look great.

There's a lot of people on little trolleys selling hot dogs. And they're wrapped in bacon. But I did then just see the other day, because we were doing interviews afterwards, then we were walking out. And obviously, they were packing up. And I just saw this lady just grab a load of sausages and just put me a carrier bag.

And I was like, I think they're coming out in four days time. So I've stayed clear of the hot dogs. We've had a lot of cob salads though. Has Lloyd found a church choir to join over there yet? No, but a lovely question that. But I've been looking at going and listen to a few church choirs. Who's put that in? That's a lovely one.

That is someone called Dave plays drums. What we have done is scouting quite a lot of stairwells for the acoustics for you to sing in. I'm trying to sing more stairwells. They've got fantastic stairwells and the car parks here and I'm going to do some more singing. because I did a little video of meeting in Jerusalem before I came out of here and people like, when you get out to America, get yourself into stairwells.

Get yourself into car parks. Yeah, that's the end of the questions. Okay, commentaries later today for you on Five Lives Sport. Ecuador, Germany from nine. We'll have updates from Curisale Ivory Coast. Japan, Sweden from Midnight. Updates from Tunisia, Netherlands. Paraguay, Australia here from three.

Updates from Turkey, USA. To get more World Cup content and podcasts, including the Football Daily. Just search World Cup on the beach. The 2023 Ballandor, France footballer is Lionel Messi. The winner is Prisena Rwana. This is the story of the greatest rivalry in the history of sport, a rivalry that split football into two fates for a generation.

There could be no, oh, Messi and Rinaldo are both great players. There had to be one that was better. They 100 million percent pushed each other to the next level. You know, we were the lucky ones who got to see it. I'm Steve Crossman. This is Sporting Giants, Messi v. Ronaldo. Listen first on BBC Sounds. How did a boycott Jimmy become a billionaire from posting videos?

On good, bad billionaire, we're going to find out how the world's most popular YouTuber Mr Beast made his fortune. He's buried himself in a coffin for days. Counted to 100,000 on camera. And even recreated squid games all in an attempt to go viral on the internet. But it all started when he gave a homeless man $10,000. So is he a philanthropic? or is he just the king of the attention economy? Find out on Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service.

Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. He's widely recognised as one of the greatest footballers in history. He's won the prestigious Ballandour Award five times. He's the all-time leading goal scorer in professional football. And according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, he's the first active footballer in history to achieve billionaire status. Guess who we're talking about yet? That's right.

Good Bad Billionaire is exploring the life and fortune of football icon Cristiano Ronaldo. That's Good Bad Billionaire from the BBC World Service. Listen now, wherever you get your BBC podcasts.