Football Daily - World Cup: The Commentators' View Special 2.0

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

John Murray, Ian Dennis & Ali Bruce-Ball catch up ahead of the FIFA World Cup quarter-finals. John reflects on another amazing experience at the Azteca where he witnessed England grind out a 3-2 win over Mexico to reach the quarter-finals. Ian tells us what it was like being at the 'match of the tournament' - Argentina v Cape Verde. And has Ali possibly just eaten the best bowl of pasta in his life? They're also joined by special guest engineer Rob as he lifts the curtain on how things work behind the scenes at stadiums on match day. Messages, questions and voicenotes welcome throughout the tournament on WhatsApp to 08000 289 369 & emails to [e-mail].2’09 - The best bowl of pasta Ali has ever eaten? 3’25 - John being recognised far and wide 5’20 - England media day sausage rolls & interviewing Dan Burn 6’26 - John's reflections on England v Mexico 8’30 - Behind the scenes at the Azteca 10’13 - Seeing Jordan Henderson on a stretcher and interviewing Kane 12’31 - Ian witnessing Argentina v Cape Verde 16’19 - The performance of African teams at the World Cup 20’46 - Listener correspondence 23’41 - Engineer Rob talking microphones and behind the scenes 28'47 - Uncle Ian's advice to beer flying 30’58 - Unintended pub names 37’57 - John’s case of mistaken identity 39’37 - John’s tribute to Malcolm Wright 42’08 - How is Ian getting on with Chris Sutton?

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2.50. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. The Commentator's View at the People World Cup 2026 on the Football Daily podcast. Hello, it's the Football Daily. I'm Alastair Bruce Ball and this is the commentator's view. It's our second World Cup special from this tournament talking about the football, the stadiums, the atmospheres, the cities, the fans and the words we've been using to try and describe it all to you. We are recording this ahead of the quarter finals. So it's a rest day today. The first day in a long time there's been no World Cup football.

First question I'm going to ask John Murray and Ian Dennis is where in the world, or more specifically, where in the United States are you, John? Yes, hello. It's a rest day, but we're recording a podcast. And I'm in Miami. I'm in Miami, baby. The first time in my entire life, I've been in Florida. And I'm sitting here on producer Gary Flynn.

of's balcony and I'm looking out across Biscayne Bay and as I turn to my right there is a little yacht which looks as though it might be quite pricey just gliding by on the waters of Biscayne Bay with the sun shining. I've been in Florida many times and I'll tell you that that yacht will be pricey there's no question of might it will be. Where are you in? I'm disappointed by the way that the first time in Miami he's not wearing like a pastel shade. I have to say, as we were driving into Miami, I did feel quite crockett and tubs. Well, I'm in, I'm in Kansas City, not Kansas, Kansas City.

There's a difference. Where are you? Yeah. Where am I? Boston. Boston. Yeah, have had a lovely walk around Boston today, had got her yesterday, drove here from New York in horrendous weather, grey skies. That's a long drive as well, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, Pat Nevin did all the driving. Pat really enjoys the driving. He prefers to drive rather than be a passenger. So Pat sets up the playlist, does all the driving,

and I just sort of sat in the back and wild the time away. But the sunshine's come out today, and as I texted you earlier, I have eaten today a bowl of pasta that would be up there with the top three bowls of pasta I've ever eaten in my entire life. I would just enjoy it so much. I can't remember the other two. But I was enjoying it so much.

Well, I'll put it at the top then, John. I'll put it at the top, right at the top. I was enjoying it so much that normally I'm quite gluttonous with pasta and I'd sort of, you know, it was rigatoni, so it's the big old fat tubes and I put about three or four on a fork at a time and shovel it in as quickly.

I was enjoying this so much. I was eating like you, John. I was just one at a time. I only ever eat one tube of rigatoni at a time. I'm here ahead of France, Morocco. We're kicking off the court final tomorrow. I have to say, actually, it's a great shame that Vicky Sparks isn't on the podcast today because Vicky has been on the West Coast and in Canada,

and we're going to tell all our tales, aren't we, of where we've been and what we've seen. And, John, you've been in Mexico and Deno, you've been all over the place. But unfortunately, we haven't got Vicky's traveling. Well, it's either she's traveling or she's still getting over the excitement of Switzerland, Colombia. We'll take some getting over that excitement. Now then, John, the fame of the commentators' view podcast.

I heard you say in a commentary, it's spread to it. Were you recognised in Atlanta? Is that right? Yeah. Yeah, well, I mean, it's spreading far and wide, because when I walked into the hotel here just a moment or two ago, a Fox TV reporter called Rodolfo walked up to me and said, hello and I was asking how the things had gone in Mexico, never met him before in my life.

And the other one we enjoyed, this was the night before the England-D-R Congo match. We were recording a football daily in a hotel. And we, this, this woman came up to us and said how much she enjoys listening to the commentator's view and she lives in San Francisco. But she is, she was from England. She's called Jenny. Her partner, John, was on crutches. he just had, I think it was an Achilles operation,

so we had a nice chat with them. And Paul Robinson sitting next to me, she just ignored him. It was very funny. But they were lovely, and they said they are very committed listeners. So I'm sure they'll be listening now. So it was very nice to meet you, Jenny and John.

Ian, how have your travels been? Have you found, I think like all of us have found, that some days you just don't know whether you're coming or going. And actually, if the name of the city wasn't written up on the big screens in the stadium, you'd probably forget where you were. Yeah, and also I don't know what day of the week it is.

Every day feels the same. And so much so I called home thinking that everybody was at work, and it was actually turned out to be a Saturday morning. So that went down well. And also, like John had said, today is a rest day despite doing the podcast. I was roped into going to the England Media Day today, which I've got to say was the first time in Kansas City,

and they had laid out a little bit of food. and there was a company, a local company called Brit Boy Street Food, and I've got to say they had some sausage rolls, traditional and spicy. I had the traditional, and I've got to say, if Brit boy street food ever makes it to the UK, then the guy Chris who runs it with his wife will go down a storm because the sausage roll was quite simply divine, and I'd probably ate it quicker than your rigatoni.

when in Kansas City eat sausage rolls listen it's I'm supporting a local business I'm doing my bit for the local community I also spoke to work to Big Dan Byrne as well who I've got to say that was a really enjoyable interview reflecting on what was a memorable game for England and obviously the memorable commentary that John did with Paul as well

so it was it was good to chat back with him and then chew the could and then look forward to Norway Yeah, that takes us on brilliantly because that is where I want to go next. But just a little footnote here, just a little asterisk, to remember, John, there's another story that needs to be told about people you've bumped into and you being mistaken for so. I'm going to come back to that because I really like the sound of that. But as Ian's been chatting to Big Dan Byrne, as, I mean, it's funny you say that, Ian, that just rolls off the tongue that, doesn't it? We were watching the game in a bar in New York, in your bar in New York that he'd recommended to us. I mean, that is one of the most dramatic England games I think I've ever watched.

John, you were there, you were lucky enough to be there and witness that. And I know before the tournament months ago, you were talking about how excited you were about the prospect of that game. I mean, it delivered and then some. Looking back on it now and not necessarily the specifics of the match, what stayed with you most of all about that experience? Well, I've been very fortunate here, and I know this, because I've had two visits to Mexico City, one for the opening match, and one for Mexico, England.

and they are right up there in my experiences of doing this job, both matches and the whole Mexico thing. And I think also having gone then after the opening match into America and experienced some of the stadiums and the cities there and the matches as well, which I've really enjoyed. But going back to Mexico, as I said, first time round, it just felt like, you know, here we are. We've got, we're back now where this World Cup actually lives.

where the real life is and where the spirit and the heart of this tournament is. And it was everything that I hoped it would be that match in the Aztec Stadium. And actually the hour that we had, the delay for an hour, I think heightened the anticipation and made it even better. And I think as well, just being conscious, because I can't remember doing too many commentaries, certainly not in England match, where you are aware that it's the middle of the night back home. And I was constantly aware of where are people listening to this? The chances are many of them, because it's the radio, we're actually listening in bed. And whether people had intended maybe thinking, well, I'll go and I'll drop up.

And I kept saying, I cannot believe that anyone's dropping off to this, because the noise and the drama was just so great. What was the biggest difference going back to the Azteca for the second time? Because the first opportunity we saw, you were quite giddy when you first saw it. And you could see that childhood sort of like excitement. But obviously now with England a second time, and there was a lot of talk about how the altitude, but going back to the actual stadium itself as a commentator, what was the biggest difference the second time around?

You know, the biggest difference was when we were there for the first match, the opening match, we were only in the upper part of the stadium. So we were near our commentary box and the upper concourse. So we were on the ground level outside the stadium. But because it was England, we were in a position where we were able to go in at ground level. So we were able to walk inside the ground next to the England dugouts. I was in the tunnel there. Some of the corridors and higgledy-piggledy, you know, and there was another route,

which I think I put on social media. One route out of the stadium was like a cobbled street. It's like a winding-cobbled street within the stadium that led up and outside of the ground. And just all of the unusual nature of the inside of the Aztec stadium, which has been renovated, obviously, for this World Cup, but still has a little bit like the stadium in Napoli, you'll have both been to. There's a lot of it that is still the same as it was,

probably not too different from when Telly was winning the World Cup there in 1970. And it's great when you see that. And some of the pictures along the tunnel, Diego Maradono is there, Hugo Sanchez, some of the great moments. obviously from Central American football that I didn't particularly recognize, but they're big pictures on the sides of the walls of the stadium.

And another experience I had there was, when the match finished, I was off quick, down to do the interviews. And I was down one of the winding corridors that took me down to ground level. And suddenly I reached the point where there were quite a number of stewards

who were saying, stop, stop, you cannot go any further. And I was saying, well, I have to go further. I've got to do the interviews. And they said, no, no, stop, stop. and wouldn't let me go any further. Next thing, this stretcher whizzes by, and I'm looking at it and thinking, that's an England player.

I saw his short, I saw his shorts, and it's an England player, and he clearly had, he was having oxygen administered to him, but they were all gathered as the stretcher whizzed by, they were all gathered around him, and I was thinking, who's that? I was totally,

and what on earth has happened? And so eventually, once it were all cleared and all the medical people have passed by, I went straight to George Cummins, who was producing, he was already in position because he left early to go down there. I got to George and I said,

and he said, yeah, it's Jordan Henderson. And of course, everybody knew about. I was the only one you knew about this. But everyone had seen the incident that had happened out on the side of the page. Your voice survived, John. You didn't go all Harry Kane by the end of that game. That's right.

The funny thing about that was that I did interview Harry Kane and we had to wait a few moments before we could do the interview and he came out and honestly I don't think I've ever seen him as high as that he was he was absolutely buzzing bubbly

buoyant right up there and he came over he said I've just done the worst interview I've ever done in my life he said I've done the interview the BBC and it was the previous interview he came across to us his voice was completely normal by the time he came across to us but the previous interview he said

he said I sounded like Mickey Mouse talking about those corridors and rooms and everything you sort of explored inside that stadium I'm sure it's Terry Butcher tells us a story of obviously after that game in 1986 I think Terry went down for the post-match drug testing he was one of the players chosen and he's in a room down there with Maradonna and Terry being Terry obviously quite bluntly I think said to him you know what about the goal and Maradona gave it the old hand of Godline and I think I think Terry did quite well to restrain himself I'm sure I'm sure sure that's right. I'm sure I've heard him tell that tale.

Ian, just talking about joy and incredible football, I think you've seen the goal of the tournament. I think a lot of people might agree that the, you know, and I know your commentary of that, the Comcam has gone viral. That Cape Verde's second goal against Argentina, is that your highlight of the tournament so far? Absolutely, yeah. It was for my game of the tournament as well.

And as Jimmy Arnfield, or the great Jimmy Arnfield, would say we were right behind that. and myself and James McFadden in Miami where John is. Because the stadium was strange because I thought I've been here before, 2014 with England, before the World Cup in Brazil, but it's had renovations since then. It's had a roof put on it.

It was an open bowl back then when I think it was the Sun Life Stadium. And so that took a little bit of getting used to. But the way that Cape Verde played, and the Comcam, I was genuinely gobsmacked because twice they came from behind and I thought, this is going in. And there was a couple of occasions during the commentary that myself and James

McFadden were just giggling to each other like schoolboys. And it was, it had that sort of like infectious enthusiasm during the game that we were both just sort of like laughing because the way that the audacity almost of Cape Verde to, you know, the smallest nation in the knockout stages of a World Cup to take the game to the defending champions in the manner that they did. it really was a thoroughly entertaining game and like you I think we'll be talking about that goal for many years yeah well just in case and I think I think

probably everyone will have heard it but it's so good to listen to just in case you haven't heard it this is how that goal sounded on Five Live Montiel back it goes out to this near side of the left Sidney Cabral comes on the inside oh my word oh my word Sidney Cabral with one of the great goals

at this World Cup right-footed curling, top right-hand corner he's mobbed by his teammates it's astonishing and can hardly it missing because

Cape Birdie of Stend, Argentina for a second time with one of the great goals of the World Cup what a goal. It's a jaw dropper I mean

I'm in disbelief I mean again we were in a bar watching that and the reaction that got in the bar we were in in Philadelphia is the sort of biggest explosion of of joy noise of of any interaction I've seen at this World Cup

in bars or restaurant you know we've been talking all this tournament about how engaged people are that goal apart from the Argentina fans where we were in the bar in Philadelphia it just went berserk. It was brilliant and it showed you that the World Cup was

was grabbing people over here with and it has, it's been a great, football wise it's been a really good tournament hasn't it? Yeah, I would do. I think yeah, most of the matches I think have been pretty good and some of them have been excellent

and I think there have been very few Switzerland-Colombias. I was fortunate that due to travel I managed to miss most of Switzerland-Columbia and I need to go back and watch it because I'm actually doing Switzerland against Argentina. And I've had a rerun of the second half of that game that you did, John, which, by the way, that wasn't too shabby either in Atlanta.

Argentina. Argentina. Egypt. Yeah. I'm not sure they necessarily needed that two days after Mexico, England, in all honesty. I suspect you didn't. Do you know what? I mean, this is a slightly different point going off on a tangent. I was just thinking, you know, Cape Verdi had been a brilliant story at this World Cup

and they pushed Argentina really close and so did Egypt. We're about to do France, Morocco in Boston. And actually, I was just doing the stats on it, in knockout games at the World Cup, if you look at African nations against European nations, there have been 18 games and the European nations, as you'd expect, you know, because the African nations have obviously got stronger and stronger, but the European nations dominated. it. But Morocco have three of the four African wins. They're the one African team that's been

able to get to a position like Egypt did against Argentina or but actually see it through and go a little bit further. And I think France will probably be possibly be beyond them. I think it's really encouraging, isn't it, to see how well the African nations, particularly at this World Cup, have performed. I mean, nine out of ten of them made it through, didn't they, into that last 32? And some of the performances have been superb. Yeah, but then fell out of pretty quickly. And I think that Morocco

are quite an inspiration. You know, they're setting the standard because as we were saying yesterday during the commentary, really Egypt's World Cup record is terrible. It should be much, much better than that than it is. And, you know, they almost produced the greatest result

that they've ever had at the World Cup. But, you know, I think it's a bit like, you know, Ali, the golf that we watch when you get like the Masters, you know, when the European players broke through at the Masters, you know, others follow.

And I suspect, you know, Morocco are capable of winning this World Cup. And if that happens, then I'm sure that you would then see an improvement in the record of many of the African teams. Yeah. And also in that, that's a really good... I mean, France are obviously the strong favourites, but were Morocco to knock them out,

this competition is wide open, isn't it? In terms of all the other... I think anyone else in there could be anyone. I still think France are a strong favourites, but were Morocco to beat them, wow. Well, I started the tournament thinking France were the favourites, but then I've seen Spain, and I think Spain play with a greater control

and restrict their opposition to fewer opportunities. And I think you can get at the French defence. I know the front four are frightening, but I think that opening game against Senegal, Senegal should have been won, 2-0 up at half-time, Jackson hits the post, Sarsquand, a great opportunity, close range. The Norwegian second team,

In Boston, had opportunities in the first half against France. So I think once you get past that front four, and you can get to the French defence, and I think Sabari's missing, isn't he, for Morocco? Likely to be, very likely to be, yeah. Which is a shame, because I think he's one of their better players, and that's a blow. But I still think that they've got the potential to hurt France.

But then coming it to the semi-final, if Spain obviously do get through to the last four, Spain are formidable because they do restrict the opportunities. I mean, Austria didn't have a shot on target, despite with their approach, play playing OK. And then they kept Portugal, who were very, very tame at an arm's length as well. So I think that, and it would be a repeat of the semi-final, too, wouldn't it, of the Euros in Germany in Munich when Laminia Malz scored that terrific curling effort

and where they won by two goals to one. So if it was to be Spain, France, I'd be backing the Spanish. The United States is about to mark its 250th anniversary. And so on the Global Story podcast from the BBC, we're telling surprising tales of American influence on the world stage and in ordinary people's lives all across the globe. We have this ability to export our story,

and a lot of people have bought it. I feel like the American dream is alive, but not well. From the BBC, it's the United States at 250. Listen on BBC.com or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Steve Bratnell. Host of Games Gone, the Steve Bratnell podcast. What's my favourite World Cup moment as a fan? I have to say Michael Owen skinning the whole of the Argentina defence

and cracking it in top corner. For the very short space of time, I believe. My favourite World Cup player in history, it won't be popular, but I'm going to say Diego Maradonna. All right, I'm bald it. but the guy was a complete genius. The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds.

The commentators view at the People World Cup 2026 on the Football Daily podcast. Listen on BBC sounds. TCV at BBC.com.com. The number's 08,289-369. Just to rattle through some of the correspondence. Actually, I also forgot, we had some lovely ones off the back of the England-Mexico game.

Peter from Dublin's got in touch and said, Hi, all. Hats off to John for his outstanding commentary on that Mexico game. Absolutely brilliant. Joseph says, take a bow, John Murray and Paul Robinson. Watch the game on IPlayer with five live commentary as the skies began to brighten. Get yourselves in a hyperbaric chamber after that. Rob from Linfield says, as someone old enough to have watched every World Cup since 1966,

this performance more than any other sums up what it means to be an England football fan, magnificent, a masterclass in tactics, preparation and match management. Thomas Tuchel will take a bow. This is the way we want to win or lose it. So thank you very much for all of those. Moving on, Louis in Whitney, Oxfordshire, has a question for us here. Dear TCV, hoping there's another World Cup pod. Yes, this is it.

Really enjoying the radio commentary, especially with the synced up pictures. I know you've covered commentary microphones in a previous edition of TCV, but I noticed in a BBC social media post that the Paraguayan commentators use a microphone more commonly used or seen in interviews. I've also seen this a lot from Spanish radio commentary teams. Is that just a preference? Is there a reason why they do it that way?

Judging from the Paraguayan commentary, there didn't seem to be any noticeable difference in quality keep up the great work. So here's how it sounded on Five Live, when Ian pointed his microphone in the direction of the Paraguayan commentary team. What we're going to do on the halftime whistle, we're going to try and give you a little flavor

and you can listen to La Tribune, the National Radio of Paraguay, as Kimick with a cross, cleared well by Gustavo Gomez. So here is halftime whistle, and this is La Tribune. He won't win the first time in Boston, and he's winning,

Alvin Roja is going Paraguay with the Golden Ciso the Selection Nacional is going

to Descanso he's giving us the thumbs up either that who was

telling us to get out and that's what he's been like consistently since he scored the goal

and when he scored the goal was that it was a different scale altogether

that was great wasn't I had not heard that it sounded like he said

in the midst of that golden Cisel could that be an unintended

pub name the golden Cecil well Yeah, I sent you a picture. I walked past the last hurrah today, which I thought that's that, you know, you must have used that in a commentary somewhere before the last hurrah.

It's a good name. But haven't, John, we've got an expert who can actually answer this question, haven't we? Absolutely. Sitting right beside you, yeah. We absolutely have. And by the way, I must say thank you very much to Peter from Dublin and Joseph for their comments. But we have sitting here special guest appearance from Rob Diball, who is, what do we call you, Rob,

senior outside broadcast engineer. Yeah, that I do. Yeah, and just to explain to that, listeners, it's Rob who engineers, certainly the England matches and the other ones that we've done as well. So, you know, we've been asked on this podcast, Rob, a lot about lip mics that we're using now,

as opposed to open mics, which we've been used by the Paraguayan. So explain it all. So we use these lip mics, which are called Coles, were made by a company called Coles. And they're designed to keep the effects away from it. So we've got more control.

So they used design for use in noisy environments. And that's why you speak so closely when it's touching your lip, hence the name lip mics. And that enables us to be able to add in effects that we'd like to put in. As opposed to the open mics, which we just heard from the Paraguayans, they don't obviously add effects, I wouldn't have thought because you can pick it up

on their mics because they're more open. So we'll also have a microphone set out which, or microphones, you tell me, for the sound of the stadium. Here, um, we, we put out an effects mic just for us, but we also have a, um, a feed of the rifle mics that are down on pits side. And they are those long, those long, yeah, that footballers keep kicking out of the way. That's the ones. And yeah, if you, if you look at the next time you watch, there's normally one pointed towards the corner flag. Yeah, they look like sausages. Yes, sir. Yeah. Furry sausages. Furry sausages.

Rob, who else across the world uses lit mics? Are the BBC the only people? I think it is. I've never ever seen anyone else apart from British people. And other broadcasters are fascinated by the market. Yeah, absolutely. They look at us like, yeah.

I mean, and what we do, as the engineers, we normally, I mean, I'm doing it wrong. I'm doing it correctly now, and it feels really bad because we're talking to the back of them because we don't need to talk, because you're going to talk in the front, so we talk in the back. So this is quite alien to me, actually. Holding it in the correct way.

But it does mean, I mean, also going back to the Mexico match, we have four, three, you know, about four people, didn't we? Yes. In the buildup. And that is a struggle in itself, because it doesn't cut out all the ambient noise, obviously, because it comes in the back as well. So that is a bit of a struggle when you're trying to balance the amount of effects in the ground.

That's another one, isn't it? it that our listeners might not know, but quite often, so let's say a game is being presented from not inside the stadium, a producer will often say to us, Mike's live. So we're not talking, but our mics are up because they want that stadium absolutely. But it's also a warning to us, is that we can't, you know, you're, well, whenever you're near a microphone, we know that rule, as in you've got to think that you're on air, but we're not meant to speak, but we're just being told that our mics are live. Yeah, yeah. I mean, when we have the effects and during the tournament, you've had the effects as well.

I think the mics live means the line is up, not necessarily the mics are up, because we could fade your mics down, obviously, and we've got effects that we put in. But obviously, they are being used to mask if a presenter is not in the stadium. There are several things about using the lip mics that I love, the fact that they look so old-fashioned, the fact that probably this is how they've always been used. You know, probably Raymond Glendening was commentating with a lip mic. And also, I like the sound quality, I think you can really tell the difference. And also, from a broadcaster's point of view, I like the idea that you have to pick up the microphone

and put it next to your mouth to broadcast. And it feels like when you do that, it feels like, right, I'm on now. I've got a question for Rob as well, which I think people will be interested in, which reflects the perils of being an outside broadcast engineer at this world. and that is the fact that we've got soaked in Boston and New Jersey and in the Azteca. Yeah, for different reasons. So it's a bit annoying really, but the commentary points in Boston and New York, that's two that we've been to, which are outside, there's no roof at all, so we have no cover.

And, Ali, you're saying earlier, about wandering around Boston in the lovely weather. Well, it was lovely when we left New York and then it started raining and then it rained until we got back in the car and back. So we saw Boston, it was torrential rain all the time. Myself and Paul Robinson, we got out the car and thought, we've underclubbed on our clothes here. We're sitting here in shorts and t-shirts. But the problem there was, we had literally no cover at all. So I did pair it back a lot for the two matches. The host broadcasters supplied heavy-duty plastic covers, really, but we managed to get for it. And in the Azteca, when Mexico scored their goals, it rained tequila and beer on us, which I know Ian.

is something that I know some people who would actually have just opened their mouth but that was also an issue with the equipment wasn't it? In fact, Declan from Talk Sport

a glass of I guess beer landed on his on his Macbook on his Macbook which apparently completely ruined it ruined it. Yeah, when we picked up

the passes from a broadcast office the day before they said oh we've moved you down a bit because of Beer Alley and we had been warned about this but when the first goal when Mexico scored the first goal we were just show. It was a shower. Yeah

and I think it was tequila I think it was yeah and Paul's book Beer Allie has got nothing to do with Ali Bruce Paul No no no And secondly John I know I know that you've got many things I would never ever

And I would never advocate anybody To open the mouth In the hope of trying to get some Beer or tequila that is thrown Because I know what football fans also do If they're caught short with their glasses. Well, there's very good advice for our younger listeners on this podcast,

and I know we have many, so listen to Uncle Ian. Should we say thank you very much to Rob for his contribution? Which we've been meaning to do that, haven't we, to get one of our excellent engineers on for quite a long time. So we've done that, and we might do that again. Thank you very much. Thank you. Let's move it on to unintended pub names.

This is where you can get in touch with us, TCV at BBC.com.com. UK if you hear an unintended pub name in any of our sports commentary. So I've mentioned the last hurrah, which is a genuine pub here in Boston. I've walked past. I've also been in the dig-in, which I really liked in Philadelphia, which is a good, good pub name. Samuel's got in touch. There's high TCV. I've got an unintended pub name.

This is from the early stages of Norway against Ivory Coast. And it was said by Chris Sutton, who was on commentary with Ali. Pepe on the ball again, down by the dead ball line, onto his left foot. Low cross comes in and a stretching leg from Hegham blocks that Ivory Coast with themselves a corner, nil-0. We have that long left leg of Hegham and the near post space gets down and pops it behind. So the long left leg says Samuel would be a curious establishment on a Caribbean island, a supposed former Pirates bolthole. It would be wooden by the beach and shaded by very old palm trees.

The interior would be old drywood and on display in a. case on the wall would be the preserved leg of a pirate dug up from the foundations of the building and in the evening the porch will be full of tourists watching the sunset. That has immediately made me think of when we were in Fort Worth we went to a place called The Stockyards which is like a sort of where they run the cattle where you can go and see the the longhorns, the Texas Longhorns they run them in the street during the course of the day and there's also some there's some very odd shops there and one of the other. them sells bison's heads bison's heads which which retail at nine thousand

dollars so in so if anyone's listening to the commentators view and you're thinking where can I get a bison's head that's where stockyards Fort Worth but you'll need nine thousand dollars and also you can actually get the rear end of a bison as well if you prefer that this is to put on the wall nine thousand pounds and then fifty dollars for excess baggage yeah and the rest Anything to declare, sir? Yes, a Dyson's head. The number to get in touch as well is 08,289-369.

You can leave voice notes via that number like Lara. Hiya, gents. It's Laura from Merseysidea. Hope you're all well and enjoying your World Cup experiences. I've really been enjoying the option to have your commentary playing alongside the TV coverage on the eye player. And I did this for the Germany versus Paraguay game. Rudiger delivers the cross. Good header out, though.

That was from Bakubas, who climbed high. The Little Warrior in the midfield there for Paraguay. Surely the Little Warrior is an old-fashioned Stonewall pub. It had very low-beamed ceilings and an open fire. Comfy seating and some random bits of armour and weaponry scattered around the place. At the end of the bar in Pryder Place, they'd have a full suit of armour designed for a somewhat vertically challenged night. Anyway, I'm loving the pod and looking forward to Clash of the commentators returning for a bit more controversy. Justice for John!

Oh, Laura, you were going so well. You've just got to let yourself down. Well done, Lara. Well done, Lara. And also, I think the little warrior, little warrior could be a nice red wine, couldn't it? Like a glass of the little warrior.

Jed in Geelong, I think we've heard from Jed before, haven't we? I think, possibly. Anyway, if not, welcome Jed. He says, perhaps the most ubiquitous, unintended pub name in the FIFA World Cup to date has been the hydration break.

I see it, says Jed, as an American brand, and apart from a few forays into Canada and Mexico, has been largely ignored in the rest of the world. Controversially, they don't serve pints or halves, only quarters. And despite being advertised as a sports-themed bar, their wall-mounted TVs don't actually show any sport whatsoever, only adverts for beers, sodas, fast food brands, snacks, and B.P.H.

Treatments. Opinion is divided as to whether the hydration break is worth frequenting. that would be many in the USA, brackets, or if it should be consigned to the bottle bin of history, given it's just an excuse for a cash grab by FIFA, says Jed, brackets. That would be the rest of the world, brackets. However, FIFA will no doubt lord the hydration break as an unqualified success, given the large amount of booze,

sorry, I mean booze, it generates every game. Cheers, Jed in Geelong. That's very well. written, Jed. Very good. And I have to say, Jed, I will never, ever be seen in the hydration break. The one thing I would say to that, Paraguay France in Philadelphia on Independence Day, it was over 100 degrees, and it must have been even hotter down by the pitch.

So there I forgave it. Well, that's when you should have them. But this argument, well, it has to be consistent across all the matches. No, it doesn't. It just has to be consistent within a match. so that both coaches get the same opportunity. And proof of that, it wasn't consistent in the second half of France, Iraq and Philadelphia, because of the rain delay.

They wanted to get the game finished. They actually said when the second half eventually started after a two-hour delay, there will be no drinks break in the second half. So where was the consistency there? Portsmouth fan Bruce in Sunny South Sea has written in. This is about syncing up the live radio commentary with the television pictures, which you've been able to do for BBC games via the eye player. I think lots of people have enjoyed this feature during the tournament.

So Bruce says, good name, Bruce. There are two types of tournament viewers. The few enthusiasts of the beautiful game who prefer to enjoy the poetic, descriptive pros of Five Lives commentators and those who will blissfully sit through other broadcast offerings. If there's been one beneficial new addition to this World Cup, it is that the multi-screen kickoff countdown has made it perfectly straightforward to sink the Five Live commentary

over a muted broadcast. I've got friends stateside who switched to watching Spanish streams in order to avoid the US commentary and the hydration break commercials. They've now adopted this same approach and they are five live disciples. Nothing comes close. Thank you, Bruce. Oh no, thank you. Bruce, but I'm going to say thank you, Bruce. And also James and Fran the dog in West Bridgeford.

Lovely, lovely West Bridgeford says a particular hack that I like for international matches only is to use a specific sound or word in the anthem as a hook to sink it all up. He says, I usually do this for my beloved whales. Sad to have missed out on a trip to Seattle, brackets. But using England as an example, I would pause the earlier feed on the word God or king and then repeat on the other device, and that syncs it up. The logic here, says James, is that the anthems are the only consistent sound on both feeds. and he says love the podcast

so thank you James and I think that will help people before we go John two things both coming from you one is this case of mistaken identity and it also says here we need to mention Malcolm Wright yes I will do that to finish on but

on one of our days travelling I was wearing a blue polo shirt plain blue polo shirt which is exactly the same colour as the people who work for United Airlines. And in the airport,

because it was a really busy day that day, there was this big set of doors that you had to go through, I think, to connect to other flights. But it's set on the door, it said on the door, do not go through these doors unless you are connecting to another flight.

So I was standing on my own thing and one person comes up and says, can you tell me how to get to the connecting flights? And I said, I think it's just through the door. Two minutes later, somebody, excuse me, can you tell me how to get to the connecting flight?

So I go through these doors? And I said, yeah, you just go through these doors. It's the following thing. And two minutes later, somebody, excuse me, can you tell me how to connective flights? I say, I'll go through these doors. And by this stage, I've already done it twice. And there's someone there.

And I said, well, you can go through, but I'll keep the door open while you go and ask them if you can go through. And then somebody else comes over. And asks me the same question. There must have been 10 people asked me. how to get to connecting flight, because I'm wearing this shirt. Did you ask for a tip?

I should have done. I should have done. And I also met a very nice couple from York there as well, who had a chat with. But anyway, I just want to mention Malcolm Wright, who is a really inspirational figure for me in my career. And, you know, I might not have actually ended up doing this job had it not been for Malcolm.

And very sadly, I found out on the very eve of coming here to this World Cup that he had sadly died, in the in the in the in the in the in the in the weeks before the world cup and um he had a memorial service uh in darlington that i would have loved to have gone to because as i say it was such an important figure in my career because when i when i finished university and then did a postgraduate degree in radio journalism uh as you two i'm sure i remember at the time there were only probably i don't know six or eight colleges that did that in the country and i got turned down flat by five of them or six of them, however many it was.

And Darlington College of Technology was my final chance. And many of these courses had done long, drawn-out processes, full days interviews. You had to get through this. Then there was another interview and I failed them all. I went to Darlington and with Malcolm, it was like a sit-down chat. And after about three minutes, Malcolm said, yep, you're on the course. And, you know, from that, my career developed. And, you know, stayed in touch with Malcolm.

He was a great guy and a real old-fashioned, proper investigative journalist as well. And he went on to work for ITV as well. I know he has so many friends back in the UK. And all of us who are on our course will miss him terribly. So I just want to mention him here. And, you know, pass on my thoughts to his friends and family and say, sorry, I wasn't able to get to what sounded like an amazing memorial event as well. So there we are, Malcolm Wright.

Yeah. Well said, John. It's true as well, isn't it? I think back to those days of doing the post-grad, you know, broadcast journalism degree and then starting in local radio, never ever imagining that you'd end up commentating at a World Cup in Russia or the USA or, you know, we are, you do pinch yourself, don't you? We are incredibly lucky to do it. And the other thing as well, Mark,

and it is relevant as well because Malcolm was you know he was a very loyal listener to what we do our football coverage our sports coverage so he was a big fan of Five Live and Five Live sport as well

Right I think that I think that's it for For this episode The thing I meant to ask actually in Because I've handed Chris Sutton on to you So I spent about two and a half weeks Is he behaving himself? Is he okay? No, it's not behaving And when you said earlier

That you sat in the back Whereever it was Well he's told tales about you and your producer, John Southall, about driving him down the wrong side of the road. Yeah, we both did actually do that, accidentally, obviously. Whenever I have anyone in the car,

if I'm driving, who comes out with that sort of thing, I always say, do you want me to stop and let you have a go? Yeah, well, I mean, there is a tale to tell, isn't there about that from Qatar in 2022, but maybe now it's not the time. But he hasn't changed his backseat driving manner. Thank you, Paul. Yeah.

Is he still wearing the Stetson? him. Yes, he is. And he also, he's very critical of you though, Ali, because he said that you didn't pay for that. He said he, he said that he forked out a lot of money and he said that Bruce wasn't forthcoming with, with any cash towards it. I love my one, although Chappas said my one is more man from Del Monte than a natural Stetson. And I did offer Chris money for it. No, don't worry, Bruce, it'll be fine. So that's what he does. He says, no, it's a gift. You have it lovely. And then on air, he says, Bruce has never. has never, you know, has never offered me a thing for that. So you know the game he's playing there. Yeah. Well, I know that you two spent a lot of time,

listen, I'm not telling tales out of school. I wouldn't do that. But you spent a lot of time creating films for social media. And the word is, is that you are not happy with the two of us because we didn't partake. Now, I had an excuse. I had a genuine excuse because I was in the middle of doing two games in two days. But word has reached me that John did everything. to sort of like maneuver out of not doing it.

That's not true. That's not true. But you didn't do it, did you? But we didn't. No, I know. But I had a great idea to do it as well. But then we just didn't have time. John, but I've said to Alie, the one I want to see you do, Ali, is I want to see you do the Starsky and Hutch one.

I think that would be brilliant. That would be really funny. Have you got time to do that? Well, the only problem with that is I think, because I'm now with Pat, you can't have two Starskies. You need, we need a, I think. Chris is hutch and I'm Starsky. Also, John, you were going to be R.J.R. That's why we were, that's why we were so disappointed there,

because we'd specifically save that role for you. He's a storer. Honestly, he's a sturer. Chris is terrible. He is naughty. Very naughty. I did come up with an idea when we were in Kansas that he should don't a pair of red stilettos like Dorothy and click his heels together.

And I did, I did say that I'd be the lion. I said, if you get me like a lion's out, cowardly lion. I'd go, put a mob, put a mar. Anyway, to why I did it? I'd be the tin man, of course. Heartless. That leaves you as the straw man.

Well, that's you. That's you. Unless you want to play the role of Dorothy, Ali. No, no. But what was the scarecrow? Oh, well, actually, on current form, if it's true what Chris is saying about you, you'd actually be the wicked witch of the West.

Yeah. Hang on, but what was, sorry, I've completely forgot my wizard was, what was the scarecrow lacking, was it? So the Tim Man didn't have a heart, the lion didn't have courage, was it, what was the scarecrow? Was it, was it, was it brains? No. Yeah, I think it was brains. Yes, it was. Yeah, so, no effect, no offense. Exactly. Yeah, lovely. Nice to see you, chaps.

Good luck, good luck with the rest of your travels. Good luck with your quarterfinals. That's, that is, I think that's, yes, thank you very much. Yes. That is it for this episode of the commentators view. Questions and correspondence. Always welcome to TCV at BBC.com. And you can send us a message or a voice note on WhatsApp to 08,289-389-36. The next episode of The Football Daily will be Rick and Lloyd's World Cup Diary from Santa Monica as we take you closer to all the big talking points at World Cup 2026.

A couple have just started playing tennis on the top of the building opposite me. I fancy that. Is there a net there? Is there a court? were they just playing tennis? Yeah, well, there's a court in the net, yes. You do tend to need that for tennis, and they've got it. So much sport today for all the goals as they go in, up and down the league.

This is five-life sports. It's all eight of the lights and fit in the floor. To bowl him. It's not to stop out. Everyone standing around the 18th green. Overhead, get on. He shows to the centre. Do it.

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