Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #270: Call-in show with Jon Arnold and Watke

Episode Date: April 13, 2022

We talk Concacaf more broadly, Jon's journalism origin story, the U20 Concacaf Championship, Costa Rica's surge, Jon's favorite cereal and a lot more. Recorded live on the Scuffed Discord.Subscribe to Jon's newsletter: https://getconcacafed.substack.com/support Scuffed on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedjoin the Discord: https://discord.gg/X6tfzkM8XU buy our merch: https://my-store-11446477.creator-spring.com/drop us a question at this link and we’ll try to answer it: https://forms.gle/rfzSEZJwsvnWSCxW7 Skip the ads! Subscribe to Scuffed on Patreon and get all episodes ad-free, plus any bonus episodes. Patrons at $5 a month or more also get access to Clip Notes, a video of key moments on the field we discuss on the show, plus all patrons get access to our private Discord server, live call-in shows, and the full catalog of historic recaps we've made: https://www.patreon.com/scuffedAlso, check out Boots on the Ground, our USWNT-focused spinoff podcast headed up by Tara and Vince. They are cooking over there, you can listen here: https://boots-on-the-ground.simplecast.comAnd check out our MERCH, baby. We have better stuff than you might think: https://www.scuffedhq.com/store Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the scuffed podcast. I'm Adam Bells in Georgia. With me is Greg Velasquez in Iowa. We talk about U.S. men's soccer. We've got John Arnold here, and this is a live show on the Discord to wrap up Kanka Calfe World Cup qualifying. Raise your hand if you'd like to ask a question, and then please state your name and location before you ask your question. Waki is running the switchboard, and he's going to try to keep things brisk. So, John, you were in San Jose on the last night of qualifying.

I guess your readers chose that location? for you, right? Yeah, yeah, I did a poll for the premium subscribers to newsletter. I said, I'm going to go to Mexico City. I've never done a Mexico-U-S-Qaeda at the S-TECA, so I'm doing that game. And then you guys decide, like, where do you think will be the most interesting place to read about scene for the final day? And luckily, the readers pick San Jose, because the other, like, choice that I was kind of inclined towards was Panama, which then turned it to be a game. So, yeah, great job readers. Shout out getting concap premium subscribers a smarter group of people than myself.

What was the highlight of the night for you? Oh, man. You know, I think the, maybe it's kind of silly, but I think the bus arrival, I kind of like happened upon it. I didn't really know the teams were going to be pulling in kind of when and where they were. I just knew I was going to be by the stadium doing some, you know, I try and do like ambiance videos on social media and get some of the color. I didn't put a ton of stuff on camera this time around,

but I met a dude who was born in Milwaukee and moved to Costa Rica when he was seven and is a diehard Tico fan, but speaks perfect English and loves the U.S., there's second team. So just around the stadium, you find people like that, you find stories like that.

So I was just kind of doing my typical pregame thing, and then I started to hear the rumors, like the buses are about to come through. And, you know, Costa Rica is a pretty laid-back country. I think they have this reputation, rightly earned for being kind of like a, you know, there's no army. They're very chill. Pura Vida is like the national motto.

Just like everything sort of seems like this kind of almost surfer bro culture. And I definitely get some of that, but that was not the bus. And the bus throwing of toilet paper at the United States bus, or at least what we presumed to be the United States bus after it was like pretty electric. And I think from that moment, even though I was seeing, you know, I knew the stadium was sold out. I knew that fans were excited from people like. talked to in the days before that was when i sort of i think that was my favorite moment just because that was when i realized like you know this is going to be this is going to be fun this is going to be

great it was uh i mean must have been a fun night for costa rican fans um is caler navas okay i'm sorry is caler novice okay yeah i think so i think so um or will be by by the times he needs to be. Yeah, no, I think he's good. Honestly, I haven't checked in on what exactly is happening with PSG because I usually try and unplug a little bit after, after qualification windows and as hard as it is to believe, that was not that long ago. But, no, I think he's good to go, I think, for when they need him. But yeah, we'll keep an eye on what's going on with PSV, PSG, and PSV, why not. I know he missed that game, but then hopefully I think we'll be back soon.

Costa Rica is going to beat New Zealand, right? It should. You know, I sicko watched the OFC tournament as much as I could, which sometimes was sort of like having it on the iPad while I was writing more seriously a newsletter or something like that. But honestly, New Zealand, it was kind of weird because their team was broken up into chunks, basically, by the international break. They got kind of reinforcements.

If I get that the New Zealand team wasn't the best team in the OFC qualification, or maybe they're going to blend those players that they had at the start and that they had in the finish. But I just didn't really, maybe it's an unfair standard, but I was kind of thinking they'd just wipe the floor with some of these other OFC teams who, like, are super fun to watch, have great stories, but quality and sustained sort of success just isn't there. So I didn't really see that from New Zealand. I think that they, you know, look, it's not all about clubs either, but some of the clubs that some of the players comes from,

when you compare it to the clubs that Costa Rica players come from, you think Costa Rica should have the edge here. And I just think that they have the more talented team. I think they have a team that also has the benefit of having played this World Cup qualification cycle, whereas New Zealand, you know, because of the pandemic, because of the nature of the Hoshiana region, they basically couldn't play until this March window. And, you know, they had some friendlies.

I remember they played Carasau in November or something. So they haven't been totally out of rhythm, but when you look at the pressure and intensity and what Costa Rica did in the last half of Concca Capital Cup qualification, and then you look at how New Zealand will come into the playoff, I definitely think that Costa Rica has to be the favorite. They should win. Aside from novice being otherworldly, how do you sum up the Costa Rican surge over the second half of qualifying? I think it's an interesting mix of two big factors that you could see as almost paradoxical because I think that in one way they weaned off some of their older players, their veteran players, guys like Brian Ruiz, you know, I think that moment where he gets chased down on the breakaway in the game against the U.S. in Ohio is the moment where it's like, hey, it doesn't matter who you are anymore.

Ruiz himself. If you're Luis Fernando Suarez as a Costa Rica manager, if you're, you know, a long-time fan of Brian Ruiz, I might even put myself in that category. Like, there's no way you can deny that this guy just doesn't have what he had anymore. Like, I don't want to say this guy's washed, but yikes. I mean, that breakaway was terrible. I mean, he just like, he should have been in on goal scoring. And instead, he's getting chased down before he even gets in the area. It's just like, hey, you have to do something different here. And I think Swade is, saw that play and saw kind of the balance of the other evidence and said, I have to sort of stop relying on some of these guys and turned to the domestic league where he was doing mini-camps with some of these

unknown players, guys who really came up big in the last couple, the last couple games, and kind of over the course of that surge that Costa Rica had, you know, I think you saw some really, really important performances for some of those domestic-based guys. But you also had some of the veterans who are playing maybe not at the highest level like they used to. Guys like Kendall lost in the centerback who plays back in Supriza now after a long career in MLS, I think really raises level during the last, you know, six, seven, eight games of qualification. Selsa Wornhus, another like longtime leader, a member of that 2014 generation, raises his

level, provides an extra option in central midfield, got forward and had some of the more dangerous chances for Costa Rican some of the games. Noel Campbell has been good the entire time. So, you know, I said it's a bit of a contrasting sentiment because I think in some ways you kicked out some of the old guys that had just been hanging on too long or relegated them to different roles. But in another way, some of them also performed stepped up

and were really important. So I think it's sort of a mix. You know, Costa Rica's been talking about generational change, and I think it's a mix of understanding where the generational change needs to come and some of the fresh faces that have to come in. and where some of that veteran leadership and talent still can be relevant, important. I think you saw that against the game in the game against the U.S., right?

Like Borges Calvo, some of these dudes, you know, Campbell was on the bench as one of like the biggest cheerleaders, and they're just rooting on these dudes like Daniel Chacon, who, you know, comes out of nowhere, has a fantastic game, really kind of a bit of a jerk, just fouling people and being that kind of concave hard man that I think everyone's been missing, especially Costa Rica. You know, Anthony Contrera scored an amazing goal against El Salvador, then scores against the U.S. Some of these guys are essentially coming out of nowhere. Some of them are still teenagers in the case of like Juas and Benet,

but they showed what they need to show. And now I think Costa Rica goes back to this mode of like having a bright future after it looked like this cycle is done. Like we don't have anything. Yeah, what a turnaround. Benet was especially... Saying who was the, who was number 20 again, the left footer who took all the set pieces? I don't know.

He's another teenager. Yeah, he was, I was impressed with him. Yeah, him and Contreras are from this team, Juanacasteca, which is kind of like a provincial team. I believe it's named after a tree that's like very beloved in Costa Rica that the logo is a tree. And also, like, if you look at the full logo, it says, es my people. Like, it's like, hey, this is my team kind of explaining itself. This is one of the only logos I've ever seen that sort of like provides an explanation of what it is while it's existing as a logo. So it's just like it's a weird kind of like mockable is harsh, but like a Concaf team that, you know, like obviously I like in respect and like think they're doing good things.

But like also you kind of laugh at them. But then it's like, oh no, there's clearly doing something right here where they're getting these some players on loan, some players that are just coming up from Costa Rica. they're clearly spotting the talent and kind of maximizing, maximizing that talent. And you see it now reflecting the national team in Costa Rica, I think, is an entire country benefiting from it, right? Because, I mean, these guys really had no business after the start they had being at the doorstep of the World Cup. And yet here they are.

They should make Qatar. And it's a lot thanks to some of these dudes on these provincial teams that I think people overlook and say, why would we give A.D. San Carlos a Conc Cap Champions League bid. who cares about these teams? And then it's like, well, they got the job done against the United States against El Salvador against Honduras, good result against Canada. You got to put some respect on their name, I guess, is what I'm saying.

Yeah, well, go ahead, Waki. You can respond, but we do have a couple of questions from the chat, whatever you're ready for them. Okay, let's take a couple questions, please. Okay, one's, first is from Vince, from Kentucky, and he wants to know, this is for John. He wants to know if Mexico is in the mud. Is Mexico in the mud?

Are they in the mud? If they're in the mud, I think the tires are spinning enough to where they're going to get some traction and get out. I just was at an event yesterday that Tata Martino joined via Zoom in sort of a weird Wizard of Oz-esque setting because he was like raining high above us on the Zoom. But the technology worked perfectly, so no complaints. He can't fly right now because he had a very serious retina surgery that involved putting a bubble of air behind his eye. And if he flies, it could pop and destroy his eye. Is my understanding, I might not be totally right on that. That's also why he didn't go to Honduras in this last cycle.

So best wish is to Tata, like in all seriousness with his health. I hope it gets cleared quickly because he can't go to these games. And Mexico's playing and they kind of need him to. But he was smiling and someone asked him like, hey, it's been a long time since we saw you smile. And he was like, well, we're qualified. Like, kind of like, hey, we did a job done. So I think that the mood around Mexico,

is going to shift. I think Tata Martino's mood is going to shift. And I do think that with a full roster, they're going to be fine. They're going to be fine. I think they're going to be fine. I think the goal for Martino and his coaching staff has always been to get to the World Cup. They've done that, and now it's about getting to that fifth game, winning a knockout game. The draw is difficult, I would say, but not prohibitively difficult. So the thing is, the one thing that is kind of prohibitively difficult. And I realize I'm going pretty deep on is Mexico in the mud. But, um, go deep. If they get, if they get out as the second team in the group, they probably play friends,

which, uh, Vegas favorite is not going to be L3 in that one. So that, that, that I think is maybe crashing the party a little bit, but I also think that Martino being Argentine and now playing three South American teams in the buildup to this, uh, to this tournament, I think he, I think he, I I think he'll have an ace up his sleeve of some sort. I don't know what it is, but I think that Mexico, the qualifying campaign, wasn't necessarily what they wanted. There is frustration. But at the same time, there was frustration when Juan Carlos Osorio was leading the team into Russia.

And they put together a pretty darn good World Cup. Should have been better. Could have been better. But I think Mexico is fine. Poland and Saudi Arabia both seem like winnable games. No, I mean. No, I think so. I'm excited for that Poland game.

There's like a lot of strong cultural ties between Mexico and Poland for some reason. Somebody mentioned to me last night, like, what is the city of Chicago going to look like that day? With Poland playing Mexico, I think that would be pretty fun. You know, do like a U.S. World Cup road trip. Maybe that's the place to be. But no, I think they are games that Mexico should aspire to win. And like I said, I think Argentina is a game where, like, Martino, he doesn't modify heavily tactically, generally. but I think that Argentina, look, like, just like Hugo Perez, I think probably watches the U.S. more than any team after El Salvador.

I'm guessing here, but I'm just saying, you know, when you are of that nationality, I think you watch the team closely like we do. You know, you are, I think, in a lot of ways, a soccer fan of SICO looking at this team. And I think Martino knows Argentina as well as maybe, you know, any other coach in the world. So I think Mexico at this World Cup, look, the standard is always the same, and they never reach it. So you wouldn't pick them necessarily, like I said, to be France if they come out second. But I think the goal has to be to win the group, avoid France, and try and try and get that knockout win. Okay. Hey, I saw that Taylor, Taylor Bouvet was in the green room there.

Now he's out. Let's get some questions from the, like, some calling questions. Okay. I didn't see any, but I'm ready for them. Yeah, now he's back. Let's get him in here. I'm so glad to hear from Taylor because I thought you were naming a player or a coach, and I was like, I do not know who that. So I'm glad to see he's in the chat with us. Taylor is here.

Hey, guys, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, cool. So I'm from Switzerland by way of New York. My question for you, John, is with the 2026 World Cup common end, and Canada and Mexico and the U.S. all getting automatic acceptance in. What other Concordcaf nations can we be looking forward to actually getting into this for the first time in quite a while? Yeah, definitely. It's a good question. I think that a lot of sort of the savvier Concaf nations have been looking at 2026 and knowing that while they wanted to qualify for 2022, that maybe 2026 is more realistic, both with the experience. Sanded field in general and the fact that we think, and it's all but confirmed, I think, you know, these three host teams are going to be in.

So I think a lot of teams have sort of circled that as their goal and rightly so. I know that Panama is in the mud right now. I know that Panama's town bad, whatever we want to say. I actually think that they might be kind of the most promising team in the future. I think there's good young talent there. I think they're exporting players in a way they never have before. I know it's not like fun and exciting because they're at the time. 2018 tournament, but I think Panama's project is one to keep an eye on. I'm also really looking, I've got a newsletter coming this week about a guy who works in administration in the Caribbean. And I think that there's a chance that some of these countries could be back in 2026. I'm looking at kind of the usual suspects of Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, but I'm also looking

at some of the smaller ones. Countries like Curacao, apparently Goose Hiddink is going to return in a kind of technical director or sporting director role. I think that fits in much better than manager. I think if you could get someone that actually wants to be involved in the day-to-day, a guy like Remko B. Sintini, who they fired without telling him to bring in goose hitting the first time. I really don't think that the World Cup is a bridge too far for Carosau, even though they only have a population of around 200,000. I know that sounds bonkers, but with the links they have to the Netherlands,

the eligible players who could choose to represent Corosal if your product is convincing. I think they could be there, and Suriname is kind of in the same boat. So those are some kind of Caribbean outsiders that I think would be fun to keep an eye on. I'm not saying go to Vegas and plop down 500 on Corosauer-Soranom. I'm just saying, you know, keep an eye there. I hope that's in the spirit of your question, Taylor. I think Panama, Costa Rica, the usual suspects in Central America. And I am intrigued kind of by Guatemala's project.

Luis Fernando Tena is an experienced manager. He looks to be building toward 2026. He's heavily involved with recruitment of dual nationals, guys like Rubio Rubin, hasn't made his decision yet, but there's other guys in MLS as well who could help bolster that project. There's not like a big sexy name that I know of like, oh, if they get this guy from. Like the Dominican Republic has Mariano Diaz and like all these guys who are like in La Liga or in Liga who could potentially switch. these guys are like less aspirational than that but i think guatemala could put together a decent project and at least make a run into the final round which would be big progress as well so um at the risk of just naming a bunch of countries that's kind of like that's what i have my

eye on for 2026 if that that tracks john can you do give us the one-on-one on how many spots are going to be available from congeap do we know i know as far as i know we don't know everything that's come out has been kind of, you know, rumors and this person told me, this director said this. So I think, like, that's why I'm saying, like, from what I've seen, I could be wrong. There is stuff I miss all the time, even though I try and stand top of it. From what I know, the auto host were just kind of assuming and like everyone seems to be saying, yes, that's going to happen. But I haven't seen, hey, this is what's the format for 2026.

But even then I know that Victor Montagliani, the Concah, president is pushing for more spots. I mean, you're pretty bad Conccaf president or president of any confederation if you're not pushing for more spots because that's what you want to do. But I think four or five would be reasonable. Maybe it sounds like a lot. Maybe it is a lot. But no, I think that's like a reasonable expectation is that maybe you see the three North American teams plus Costa Rica, Panama, maybe a Jamaica and maybe one more team through the playoffs or maybe two teams through the playoffs. But I have not seen any confirmation as to what it actually looks like going forward. An off-topic question from the chat.

Just a real quick one for John Wall. Other people come in. Liz from Dallas, Texas wants to know what your favorite cereal is. Just to kind of get the new you question. Yeah, I'm a big fruity pebbles fan. I think sort of embarrassingly, like anything that's a sugar bomb generally plays well for me. I'm trying to cut back, but it doesn't always go well. and my better half, she like simultaneously enables and sort of rains me in.

So I do have some fruity pebbles right now. I like Lucky Charms as well. Again, if it has a heavy sugar component, I probably like it. The exception to that is the chocolate cereals. I've never been a big fan. It's kind of fun that you get chocolate milk at the end, but I feel like it's a little, it's kind of like a slow-paced novel where it's just like a lot to work through and maybe it's good,

but it feels like too much by page 100 or something. I think that's exactly right. I'm just imagining eating a bowl of cocoa pebbles, and it's pretty intense. What's your favorite cereal, Waki? I don't eat, I don't, I'm not a breakfast person. Not me either. I go like a, a cereal is like a snack to late night for me.

Oh, well, I haven't even introduced. I'm so much not a breakfast person. I didn't even consider trying that. And then I had, I had one. One other question, which you may not have an answer to. Do you have any sense of a walk? Why Costa Rica doesn't have an army? It was actually pretty funny.

I went on a walking tour of San Jose, something I like to do when I travel, the free walking tour where you tip the guide at the end. And there was a gentleman who was on the tour. And as the guide was mentioning, she's like, yeah, we don't have an army. He was like, oh, but you have like an Air Force. And she was like, well, no, we have like traffic police. Those are not the same things, but I appreciate trying to find the common ground here. But it turns out that, and correct me, Ticos, because it turns out that the guy, there was a guy who just ran for president and lost, his dad was previously a Costa Rican president. But to clear the move for his power grab, he said like, hey, we should stop having an army sort of like in an altruistic way.

but it was to convince, basically, to remove the potential of a coup when he pulled his own poo. So it sounds like cool and, like I said, like, hey, Puraida, like great vibes, but it sounds like the actual removal of the army in Costa Rica was basically to pave a way for Bigeres, this guy who is kind of, I guess, a founding father in a way of Costa Rica, maybe, to be able to take power from the guys he wanted to take power from. So, yeah, I think that the reason they haven't reestablished one is like sort of this, hey, who would attack us? We've got, they've got, you know, partnership agreements with like the U.S.

And I think several big South American countries where if they did get attacked, we would help him, which is probably good policy. But yeah, as far as like the actual removal, I think it was like a little shady. But the sort of sustained not having an army is because of this sort of like, hey, we wouldn't fight with anybody anyway vibe. I'm kind of blown away at how detailed of an answer you were able to give to that question. I mean, it's not a surprise, it's not a surprise, but still. Hopefully it's, hopefully it's to at least 95% accurate. Well, thank you for that. All right, we got, we got a request.

D law is coming in. No, this guy. What's up, Dave? Greetings from South Florida. Question, John, and I apologize because I joined about 20 minutes ago. So if you covered this, no worries. But we've got the U-20 tournament coming up in June. Can you just give us an overview on perspectives?

You know, what's the U.S.'s chance? And also, what other countries in the U-20 in the region should we be keeping an eye on? Thanks. Yeah, definitely. The U-20 coming up in June in Honduras, I think they've had so much success there. And Concorda-Caf gave him the hosting rights, which I support. I think that's cool. I think the U.S., you know, they are the reigning champion, and I think that the generation

looks good. Mexico also looks good. Mexico does a really good job, and I think the U.S. is kind of catching up to this. Mexico does a really good job of convening camps, kind of keeping the group together from the youth age groups, and I think that's part of the reason you see them win Olympic gold medals and win World Cups at youth ages is because they have these groups together for so long. it's easier when you have sort of a dominant city. I think we talk a lot about the Uruguay model

where everyone can just drive to Montereo or already lives there. In Mexico, it's a much bigger country, but Mexico City is still so dominant on the soccer level and cultural level in general that you see the training center is there, everything is there, they just kind of keep the groups together. A roundabout way of saying, I think Mexico will still be a big competitor and a tough team.

I'm also keeping an eye on some of the teams that are coached by their senior national team coaches. I just think that's like kind of an interesting wrinkle or by assistance. Like El Salvador right now is up here at the Dallas Cup. They've done a lot of recruitment. I've written about that on the male and female levels in the newsletter. I think that they could be a team that surprises. I don't think they're going to win.

I don't think they're going to make a run to the final or anything. But they're a team that I think definitely has some recognizable faces that you'll kind of, you'll notes and that maybe you've seen play whether it's an MLS or some of the youth teams here in the U.S. And then the four teams, one of them fits that category, that made it through qualification, I think in a weird way, have a bit of an advantage. They're already through to the next round in the format. So they're already being in the knockout stages. And they've already played together. So Puerto Rico, coached by our old friend Dave Sarachan, you know, I think that they'll be a surprise team. I think that that's a surprise team. I think that

They also have done an amazing job recruiting, finding kids who are eligible to represent, guys who are already in MLS Academies, guys who are getting top minutes in USL Pro. USL Championship. Geez, that's how old I am, USL Pro. So then Corosau, Dominican Republic, and I think Nicaragua is the fourth team, are already through to the next round, have already shown quality. Corosau with a lot of players in the Netherlands youth systems. So I would kind of highlight those teams as ones to watch because I just think that especially at that level, especially with the pandemic, it's been difficult for some countries to convene camps to get these kids all in the same place to get the group going. So I think honestly it's a lot of the usual suspects with maybe a special spotlight on Gerson Perez is El Salvador, Dave Serra, Chans, Puerto Rico, the Kurosau team that's already been together, some in qualification. and then maybe some of the guys who, you know, like Costa Rica,

who we've already seen this next rising generation, I think probably are the ones to watch. But it should be a fun tournament. I think it'll be nice to have it back after the pandemic and everything. And like I said, I think a really interesting kind of wrinkle is those teams that clearly treat it as more of a pipeline that have the national team manager or the national team manager's assistant running the team. I just think there's some synergy there that makes it.

makes sense and I think those teams will probably do well. Synergy. Go ahead, walking. No, you go ahead. I was going to say synergy that we, I don't feel like we've quite seen from the U.S. yet. Yeah, no, I think it's tough. You know, I saw the word yesterday about maybe doing a national training center. And like I said, like I just think that can be an enormous advantage because, you know, some countries are small enough to just have, even like Costa Rica.

It's like, well, the Federation is based in San Jose. they've got their training center there. A lot of the players are in the Supriza Academy and the Ariano Academy in the League Academy. So they can just pop over. In the U.S., it's hard and there's not like a place. I guess Bradenton has sort of become that place. But even that, it's not necessarily kind of home away from home, at least from what I see. So I think that that really does give other countries a leg up.

And if the U.S. were to say, hey, this is our training center. This is where we want these 18 and 19-year-old prospects coming. once every two months for two years, I think it would lead to that synergy, that connection that I do feel like is missing a little bit. I'll also say just my Dallas bias, I guess. You know, Lucie Gonzalez's assistant on Greg Burrhalter's staff, now Mike Yvada, his former assistant,

the head coach of the U-20s. So hopefully there's more, even if it's informal, hopefully there's more of a relationship between the senior team and the youth teams. So you give a couple of facts. before we move on on the U-20 tournament. There are four groups in the U.S.'s group. There are Cuba, Canada, and St. Kitts, and Nevis.

The top three teams in each group, four. So the top three teams move on to the knockout stage. And matches start June 1819. And I think the final is on July 3rd. Yeah. In San Pedro Sula. I'm not going to be watching that. I'm done.

I will. I'm getting married the debut. I'm getting married. the day before. Oh, congratulations. Thank you. Just don't expect. Maybe I can have you write the guest news.

The 20 gym. We'll talk. Okay. Let's talk. Do you think there's going to be a North American Super League? I think there's going to be a Caribbean Super League. I know that's not what you asked. I'd like to hear about the Caribbean Super League now.

I think that they've been trying that for a long time. And I think that when you look at the professionalization of the game in the Caribbean. It's something that continues to be explored that kind of continues to make sense like the cricket, the CPL. I think it makes sense for a couple different reasons. But as far as North America, it's clear that MLS and Liga-Mekis both understand the benefit they can reap from each other. And I think it's sometimes a little cynical just to say, ah, the Mexican teams just want MLS for their money because I think when you talk about things like best practice, marketing, the attendance in a lot of MLS stadiums is really impressive to to certain teams in League

at Mackeys. Certain teams, no, they're always full or they don't need help selling tickets, but a lot of them do. And so I think that that's kind of the benefit. The benefit for MLS is clear, you know, footballing pedigree and excitement about playing the teams that a lot of your fans actually root for in your markets and maybe being able to win and kind of get credibility. I think we would If it is headed that direction of a full merger or a Super League I think we're still a fair ways off

because League's Cup I've said multiple times and I keep saying like to me Leagues Cup is the quote unquote merger as much as there is a merger I think that Leagues Cup is it where you're saying hey there are competitive games that means something that give you a ticket

to a bigger international competition I know we kind of like laugh and joke about Leagues Cup right now and I think rightfully so but as the tournament gets more and more serious, as things get more and more professional is the wrong word because it's already professional, but just more and more relevant,

people take it more seriously. I do think we see this tournament become, quote unquote, the merger, the Super League, if you want to say that. And I think more and more people will care with each passing addition. So I guess I'm a Leagues Cup truth through in that way and that to me it's just already the merger and any sort of expansion that we see between these two, leagues, the partnership, I think it occurs through that tournament. But I also think Conccaf is

in a decent job with a new Conccaf Championship Champions League format, kind of making it so the best Central American teams actually get through, the best teams from the Caribbean actually get through. And hopefully we see, look, like upsets like we saw in 2020 when Olympia made it to the semifinals and, you know, that we've seen in other tournaments this year, kind of a good year for MLS teams, a good year for some of the Mexican legacy. legacy powers. But ultimately, I think that Leagues Cup is what this kind of future partnership will look like. They clearly want to keep flirting with each other. They clearly want to have some sort of relationship. But I think actually smashing it together is still a long way off,

at least in the current ecosystem. I have noticed there's a growing contingent of Leagues Cup truthers. So I'm starting to feel optimistic about it. It would be really cool if that was the tournament that a bunch of people cared about. What's the overall state of the league? The leagues in Central America. How are they? Which ones are? I mean, Costa Rica is, I put it by far as the next power.

You have a lot of competition there. The pandemic was really weird for the Costa Rican League because they were one of the first leagues to get rolling back with health and safety protocols. as they developed, you know, return to play policies, keeping everyone safe, testing. They had extremely low numbers in Costa Rica for a long time. And then, of course, as we know, like, unfortunate the story of this pandemic was just that it got out of control everywhere and it got out of control there. And it was only this year, if I'm not mistaken, that fans have been back in league games,

which I think does dampen the sort of vibrancy and maybe viability of the league. So Costa Rica is a strong league that I think is growing. I mentioned with the Costa Rica national team, you see some of these provincial teams providing players, punching above their weights and kind of giving a challenge to the traditional three grandes. It is difficult to sort of minimize how dominant those three teams have been historically. Saprisa Erdoganio and Liga de Portia deluxe. But when you see some of these other teams, the projects that they're embarking on, the way that they're sort of sticking with coaches, developing talent, I do think the future is bright there. I think the future is bright in Panama as well. I mentioned the exportation that we're starting to see.

But still in a soccer level, we don't see that league being as strong as other leagues. I think it might be in five or ten years. I think the way that they're running it is solid. But local fans don't seem to be connecting yet. And that doesn't give you the revenue that you need to sort of take that next step, conquer baseball, I guess. And then after that, it gets a little murky because in some of the future. In El Salvador, you have a couple powers and then pretty rough, Guatemala, the same way. Two enormous teams, one team or two teams maybe that kind of are strivers and do really well,

and then a big drop-off. And leagues like Nicaragua, some of the smaller leagues, quite frankly, the quality isn't there. You see some things you don't want to see like match manipulation, accusations, or even being proved. So I think that places like that have a long way to go, and I'm not necessarily sure that the right people are in position to get things moving in the right direction there. So that's a little bit of a rundown of kind of the health of Central American leagues, I guess. One thing to keep an eye on is betting sponsorships. You know, I just mentioned match manipulation, but Bet Gris is like a Costa Rican-owned sports book that's sponsoring every single Honduran team except for one. They already sponsor the league.

They're sponsoring more teams in other Central American countries. on a way it's bad right we've talked about what betting sponsorship look like in places like England and and these other places but in a way some of these teams also just need revenue streams especially after the pandemic and so I think you know some of these new sponsorship avenues may lead to teams punching well of their weight in concaf champions league or in other tournaments because you do see them maybe being able to sign a South American import that they wouldn't have been able to sign before or a player who maybe would have otherwise gone to a place like MLS stays another year or something like that.

So I say keep an eye on that. There's reason for optimism there. But I think when you look at Central America as a whole of the leaks kind of span, you know, from very good to very rough. And we'll see kind of how they grow. Don, let me jump in here real quick with a couple more questions from this mysterious Vince in Kentucky on the wedding. you're going to have a DJ or a live band. A DJ with mariachi for an hour.

We're going to incorporate a lot of Mexican elements, which we're excited about. And who's catering? It's a taco truck. Pull up the taco truck and let her rip, man. We want it to be, it's going to be a fun wedding. I wish I could invite the whole scuffed community, but unfortunately the list is already looking pretty full. How big of a wedding are we talking here?

We're at 200. We're at 200. It's pretty big. Yeah. So please don't. Please don't crash scuffed community. I love you guys, but the best way to support is subscribing to the newsletter and then not join. Support John's wedding by subscribing to the newsletter.

How does speaking the newsletter, how did, was there a point where you decided to become a I'll say extremely focused person? Or is it something that just kind of happens? Great question. Yeah. Is there a point in time? Is there a phase in your life? What what what what went on? Yeah. So I graduated from Texas Tech University in 2011. I'd always be a journalist. You know, you hear a lot of people tell stories about, you know, being a failed athlete and converting to journalism or something. I was like five or six when I started reading Sports Illustrated, like not. the one for kids, I'll read that too, but I was like, man, I want to do this. I want to tell these stories. That's what I went to school for, and that's what I got my degree in and I graduated.

Yeah, there's not really any jobs doing this. So I ended up doing something else, but writing on the side for a site that still exists called American Soccer now that I know a lot of people are familiar with. That was before Brian kind of took it over and a guy named John Godfrey was running it and he kind of said, hey, like let's get some of the, some of you younger writers, like, let's give you a beat where like, you know, I'll pay you to write about this certain topic. And I said, all right, cool, I'm going to do MLS. And he was like, don't you speak Spanish? And I was like, yeah, I speak Spanish.

He's like, why don't you just get obsessive about telling me and the American fan what's going on with the teams we're going to play in the hex? That was the 2014 World Cup cycle. And I was like, all right, man, yeah, that sounds good. And I had already had this sort of idea of a need in the market for knowing more. because, you know, you would pull up the TV coverage. I think it's gotten better now. You know, there's a lot of really good broadcasters. And some of the guys at that time were really good as well, really prepared.

You know, obviously like JP, Hall of Famer, well prepared, reads his stuff. But there were times where you would pull up a game or something or, you know, read an article and it would be, you know, hey, US plays Costa Rica. Got to watch out for Alvaros Abarillo because he plays an MLS and we know him. And it was like, yeah, but they also have Brian Ruiz and Brian Ruiz and Brian Oviedo and Junior Diaz and Kailornav and like, why are we not talking about these guys? Why are these guys mysteries to us? It would really, it kind of frustrated me and I realized, you know, that I could kind of provide a little bit of a link there. So I ended up working at Goal Full Time after Godfrey

kind of set me on that path. I pushed for Mexico coverage in English and then more, more Concorda stuff just because I do think there's value. But the Mexico and English, there's so many fans of of three that speak English that want to consume their content in English that grew up in American schools that prefer to read in English and like that perspective, that kind of US style rather than the more Latin American style, which can be, you guys know, more confrontational, more angry a lot of times. My style is different than that. I don't write like that. I rarely get angry at a manager or at a player or demand change. So yeah, no, I guess like that's kind of the origin story is that American soccer now pushed me in that direction, and I just took off running.

And then at goal, I kind of realized that, you know, it's still a great site. I still have friends that work there. I still enjoy reading it. I've got the push notifications on my phone, but it's very European focused. And I want to tell stories like I tell in the newsletter. And when I pitch stories about, you know, for instance, a Jamaican coach who lives in the Middle East and writes poetry, they're like, man, no one cares about this. You know, the El Salvador women's national team recruiting girls for their U-17 team in Dallas and Houston. Nah, no one cares, man. The Mexico fan national team playing Haiti during the pandemic before the vaccines

to get ready for the U-23 tournament. And we're not interested. I mean, these are stories I've written for the newsletter that weren't turned down by gold, but I'm just saying that that was the vibe was that if it wasn't Chicharito, if it wasn't some big, sexy name, or if it wasn't Europe, then who cares? And my belief was that people did care. and I wanted to tell those stories. So I quit my job, launched the newsletter and did a bunch of other freelance things.

I wasn't expecting a global pandemic to begin, but it did, as you guys may have heard. And yeah, the newsletter just became this outlet for telling stories that I wanted to tell. And people have responded to it. And it's been extremely fulfilling and extremely gratifying when I can buy a flight to Mexico City and Costa Rica and pay my trip based on subscription revenue. and, you know, look, I want to grow it more. I don't know that there's enough people out there who are in that mode that would make it so I can do it full time. But the focus on Conccaf kind of started there, and I believe in it more now than I did then,

because I have seen people vibe with it and get into it. And it's been extremely cool. Sorry, kind of long-winded walkie, but. No, and it's a fantastic newsletter, and it's the type of thing you read, like, I feel, lucky that this exists, you know. So thank you for doing that. That's nice to say. There's no one else doing that type of stuff. So yeah. There is an element of that right, where it's just like, hey, like no one else is doing this. And at some point, doesn't some major media conglomerate have to be like, hey, maybe we need this. But if they don't, hey, we'll keep up the independent

hustle. And I appreciate the kind of words, man. That's very nice. Can we get Joey in here? It does seem like this, the independent thing. is probably the best avenue to go. That's the answer. But yeah, I agree with what Waki said, John. Cheers to you. What's up, Joey? Hey, how's it going, guys?

I am trying to find a quiet spot right now to talk because, you know, school and lunch periods and stuff. Hey, John, nice to talk to you. Thanks so much for your content. I do appreciate it. It's like Wauke is saying, it's something that's not being done, and so to have it being done in such a quality manner,

I'm just very appreciative of it. We already compliment him. Now I'm worried it's going to go to John's head. Yeah, yeah, too many compliments. I appreciate it, Joey. I appreciate it. Throw me for a tough question. Ask me a tough question and bring me down.

A tough question. I guess we've had to see the rise of El Salvador in the last couple years, you know, when you connect a good coach who cares about the fundamentals and players who are, willing to, you know, get behind that. I guess what's the next Concaf team that you see coming up in the next few years from kind of

that pop B, I guess, and, you know, kind of firmly entrenching themselves in the top aid of Conccaf? Yeah, it's a good question. I look at Guatemala as a contender for that. I think that, you know, the domestic league, like I said, maybe is it where it needs to be. But you do have some power teams there that can kind of give you some of what you need. And from what they're saying, you know, Luis Fernando Tenna, he's an experienced Mexican manager, he's coached a ton of teams. You know, he's one of those guys that just continually coaches random Mexican teams.

But it also is notable that like his only international experience came as Mexico assistant, but then also as the coach that won the freaking gold medal. So there is there is something there, right? And so I think that he's the kind of coach who they say, hey, we're going to give him time. We're going to let him do his thing. We're going to give him resources. And I do think that when you look at some of the base they've had and how they've had to recover after being suspended by FIFA for administrative dalliances or whatever, that there is some of the raw material there that's kind of there to be formed. And I think that, you know, I'm not an enormous fan of dinner as a coach, but I think in this. kind of category of a quote-unquote second-tier team with all respect.

He is the kind of guy who I think could maybe molded into a team that is playing in Comcaf Nations League A and regularly frustrating the U.S., regularly frustrating some of these other countries. And I think the vacancy is there in Central America in Panama, but I think Honduras is going to keep falling off. El Salvador is going to have to prove that they can press on from this cycle. I think Hugo Perez is extremely talented. We all have a lot of respect for him.

I think the sporting director, who I featured last week on the newsletter, Diego Enrique, is a really smart guy. But, you know, this U-20 generation kind of has to work for El Salvador to move past what I think is the ceiling that they found in this qualification cycle. So I think there could be some drop-offs in Conccaf. And when I look at the potential next El Salvador, I think Guatemala is the one I circle, most chappiness. We've got Justin from Nashville. Hey, John. Appreciate all your work. Sorry.

I'm glad I get to his head because he deserves it. But I would love to hear what you think, the impact of the MLS on, you know, countries, like, player development in countries besides the U.S. is, like, going forward. You know, the MLS is becoming, like, a big stepping stone for a lot of just American talent in general. And I want to hear if you think, like, that's a good thing. Like, I'm not sure if it's, like, you know, this kind of imperialist or, you know, like just no it's a great question Justin it's a great question because I think that we we sort of highlighted it in the last cycle in 2018 I think it was easy to take credit kind of as MLS for for

Panama right well look Blas Perez and you know Armando Cooper and and and and Jaime Penedo and like all these sort of OG Panama guys who got them to the World Cup for the first time ever had either stops or then we're playing in major league soccer. And so I think, you know, it was easy to kind of be like, hell, yeah, like this is happening because of MLS. But I do think when you look at like Costa Rica this time around, some of the guys who went to MLS like didn't really contribute, didn't come through, you know, like Randalli, I was extremely talented, but wasn't necessarily the difference maker for Costa Rica in the cycle. Some of the guys who were in MLS didn't even get called, you know, because of various reasons. Let me jump in. Can I jump in real quick, John? Why didn't

Randall make the difference? Because he is a good player. And like, what's going on? I think, I think that there, the Swatters didn't necessarily put him in the position to succeed. And then felt like he had to consolidate that group based on the guys who knew him, who understood what he wanted.

And we're taking part in a little bit that, like, in some ways that feeds to kind of what, what the point that Justin's asking about that I'm kind of making it, which is I do think that there is. still strengthen the domestic leagues, but it's easy to overlook that. And it's easy for them to get picked clean because MLS is scouting well. I think a lot of teams are doing a really good job in Latin America. And so as soon as someone is, you know, look, guys who stand out in Honduras at the

U20 tournament that we were talking about earlier are going to get signed by MLS teams to play in MLS Next Pro or to play for the first team. And I think that's often good for personal development, but sometimes can be difficult for the league, and we know that often the league provides the true pool, even if it's a league of local for players to be on the national team, to be contributing regularly. So I think the question that Justin asks, is it a good thing? I think MLS has been important because it provides players a professional atmosphere. They know the checks are going to get their own time. They know the nutrition is going to be there. They know they're going to be able to get in the weight room. They know

the coaching is going to be good enough to get them better. I think individually, It's very good. Systematically, I think it's a bit of a question. I think it becomes undeniably good if those players in kick-on. If MLS reaches this frontier that I think MLS wants to get to, where it is a true selling league and European clubs look at a player that's excelling in MLS and say, that guy's going to work here, I think it would be an undoubtedly good thing for Costa Rica, Panama, and the Caribbean, which, you know, like I said, the league,

the league structure there is very poor right now. and needs to kind of improve. MLS has done these scouting companies in the Caribbean. You see a lot of the guys playing in U.S.L. If they can kind of become a true exporter of talent, I think it could be a very, very good thing. Right now, I think it is a net positive, but I do think it weakens your local league.

It weakens some of the teams. And that could potentially have knock on effects. So I guess, like, I appreciate Justin's question because I think it goes a little deeper than the narrative of MLS is good for other Conccaf countries because a lot of their internationals end up playing in the league because I think it has to go

a little deeper than that. I think it isn't that positive. I think it's good, but I think it could be phenomenal if in five years we're talking about the two dozen Concaf base players or Conccaf national team

players that MLS sent to top European leagues. I've got Tyler with another question. Hey, John. How you doing? So I guess my question is What do you think is the most interesting story in Kakaka-Kaf right now that we might not know about? Yeah, it's a good one, Tyler.

Thanks for getting in touch, man. You know, anything that's interesting, I try and put it. But there are definitely some things I haven't been able to tell. What fascinates me the most personally is themes of migration. You know, I was able to write the story about Brian Moyer in The Athletic, and that's one that I've been wanting to tell for so long and that I'm really proud of. It's a dude who's a Honduras international, really talented player. Can't come into the U.S. for national team games.

I don't think he was too mad about that for the Minnesota game, but, you know, that's another topic. Can't come into the U.S. for Comcah Champions League, for friendly games that Olympia plays, that other teams play. And, you know, migration has been such a key theme to his story. I think it's so easy for us to see guys on TV and, you know, these international soccer players and just kind of be like, yeah, those guys made it. But kind of because of the larger issues in society, those problems still exist. There's guys from El Salvador who fit the bill. I hope to tell some of their stories soon. I think Lysandro Claros is one who people might have heard the name where he's on the El Salvador or Rochester, but he can't.

Like they flyed. Yikes. They flew through Miami to get to Jamaica. He had to take a different route with a couple of their teammates because he can't enter the U.S. because he's been here before without documents and ended up going back. So to me, those are some of the most interesting stories, at least personally, you know, having lived in Tijuana, having spent so much time in Mexico, you meet Central American migrants, and I think it's just easy to kind of put people in those, you know, making those difficult journeys

into one category. And it's like there's professional soccer players in there. And there's professional soccer players, moms. and dads, brothers and sisters who are riding la Vestia, you know, the infamous train and, like, going through all these things. So I don't know if that answers your question well, Tyler, because it's not like, you know, one specific, and it's certainly not like a bright spot. I just, like, I hope to tell more of those stories and I hope people keep kind of giving it attention because I think it's such a, such a critical thing for us to keep an eye on as a

society, as a culture, as people, as people who love soccer, I think, like, are more in tune, maybe internationally than a lot of our friends who just want to watch, you know, baseball every day and call it good. And so anyway, I hope that we keep paying attention to those stories. And while it maybe isn't the most positive story in the region, I think it's the most important. Thanks, Tyler. Got Alu with a question. Yeah. Apologies joined about 10 minutes late. So if you covered this, I apologize.

But really curious, what is Conca Cap's relationship with Convibol? I think for fans, the kind of combined Copa America makes a lot of sense to us, but it's always a little bit more complicated with the details. I'd just be curious any insights you might have into what that's been like for the past, like, four or five years. Yeah, it's weird because the Santadio, the first time around, was such a smashing success in, like, so many ways. And I kind of thought it would be sort of a disappointment on the field,

and then it wasn't. Like, it was pretty cool. I think everyone had a great time. which at the base of it, isn't that kind of what we're doing? Trying to have fun, trying to enjoy. But then there was this kind of freeze. It just seemed like, you know, there's always these rumors. Hold on.

That's clear my throat. There's always these rumors and palace intrigue and everything, and we obviously don't get like a press conference where, like, Alejandro the bingas or Victor Montagliani is like, I actually don't like that guy. Like, no one ever comes out and says that, but it feels like there was this iciness between the two organizations, between the people that ran it,

even though everyone made a lot of money from this Global America Centenario. So I actually have a little bit of insight on if this is going to happen, this rumored tournament, coming on Monday's newsletter that's only available to bring them subscribers. I'm sorry, I know it's a tease. But basically I spoke to someone with Soccer United Marketing who said, hey, we put it together last time. We don't, we don't, you know, they came to us and we made it happen. We don't necessarily broker this deal. But if they do, we're ready.

So I hope people will still check up a newsletter. But yeah, essentially, I think there are discussions that are being had. And I think it'd be really beneficial for Conccaf and Connoble to kind of, and just like the MLS League of MECC's partnership, like there are weird things and things I hope don't happen. You know, I hope that some of these Concaf nations that are in the kind of, you know, the League C of the Nations League, like don't just get overlooked and screwed over. But at the same time, there's clear benefits for both confederations. if they work more closely together,

beyond just making a lot of money every couple years doing a combined tournament. So, yeah, Lou, I think that's like my answer is my impression, based on nothing I've been able to report, but my impression is that things have been icy and are starting to thaw, and I think it would be great for the region if they do. I'm not a fan of a merger, of a complete merger,

but I am a fan of increased cooperation, And I think especially as UEFA and Connoble start to cozy up and get in bed with each other, Conccaf does need to do what they can to make sure they're not left out. Because look, like, you know, like I said, I'm a sick of who's watching Oceana games. But I think if you had a UEFA Connoble alliance and then you have to make kind of a Concaf, Africa, Asia alliance, the European South America one's a whole lot sexier. And if you can wedge your way in there, then I think there's a lot of operations. opportunities for especially the bigger countries like Mexico, United States, and Costa Rica.

So I think it's wise of Concaf to be trying to mend those fences if they need to be mended, to try and make money with carnival where money is to be made. And from a footballing perspective, to kind of take some of the lessons that we can from South America and potentially kind of deepen the ties on the field as well. I think there's so much that links us that it would be great if the partnerships could kind of come together. Let me, can I jump in here real quick? Jackie, Jackie from the Western North American area, uh, says,

you 20s now are the folks who will be Olympic eligible for 2024, right? How do we think our chances of qualifying for the next Olympics are? She's talking about the U.S. is, um, what do you think, John? Can you, can you take a crack at that? Yeah, and this is now the qualification tournament. So, I mean, uh, you got to do well. I'll leave the deeper analysis to you guys.

I think that you should qualify. I mean, we do better. We do better in U-20 tournaments typically than we do in Olympic qualifying. In the Olympic qualification. Yeah, that's for sure. That's for sure. No, I think, you know, I know Mikey a little bit from working in Dallas.

And I think that, like, the guys from that group clearly know out-to-spot talent, how to bring some of these players along. I do think he has a bit of a challenge. This is the biggest challenge of his career, I would say. And I think there is some pressure because, again, like, you look at this group and it's like, yeah, these guys should qualify. So I think they should get it done. I really do think that they'll be one of the most talented teams on paper. It's just about making it work.

And, you know, that Mexico tournament, I can't remember when it was by now. It was during one of the international breaks. And I tried to watch a bunch of games and a bunch of senior games. So it was October. Like a Revelations cup or whatever Yeah Yeah, geez, it all really blends together at this point But they showed some things in that

And then I think they showed a lot of weakness There's been plenty of time to like Go over the tape for the people We're actually doing it But I think the US expectation should be to qualify For the Olympics to qualify for these tournaments And to me that's also part of becoming Or rediscovering kind of what it means

To be a power in the Conccaf region Because like Mexico doesn't miss these tournaments Right? You got to qualify. I know that sounds sort of like calling cowherd, like, you know, old school sports calling this guy. Like the answer is you must qualify. You must win a championship, whatever. I mean, to me, that's what the bar should be, especially looking at the rest of the concaf teams.

Like I said, I mean, there's some teams that are doing good things that have spent a lot of time together to have good projects, that have good coaches. When you look at the talent on the rosters, you should qualify. We have mayor. Hey, guys. Appreciate you bringing me on here. pretty new to the podcast. I've joined a couple weeks ago, but I've been enjoying it so far and got the chance to get out of work and hop on here for a few minutes.

So sorry if this question has been asked, but first, I wanted to make a comment. I'm new to the New York, like Brooklyn area. I'm a bit disappointed, like the U.S. supporter section, like no AO bars, nothing really that I've seen compared to like I was in Denver and Pittsburgh before. So I don't know if anyone else feels the same or has an organized group, but would be happy to join that for a game set.

can't travel to. And then second, speaking of like US support and the World Cup, knowing our schedule and how we're playing the first day and we don't have these, you know, send off series like we're used to having, do you feel that will have like any major impact, you know, where the team was coming from the off season, coming over to the US, having time back home? And like, how do you think that will happen from like a, you know, player visibility standpoint from going from straight to Europe to Qatar, not really having the chance to come home, maybe see family, friends rejuvenate

before this such a grueling tournament. Yeah, I think, like, an interesting thing to keep in mind is that every country is going to be going through the same thing. Like, I don't think Mexico is going to play a single game in Mexico that's not Nations League before going to Qatar either, which is weird. And I mean, like, from, I think they were going to have the Nation's League. games and that's it. No friendlies in Mexico

at all. Nothing. Sort of like, I don't think they're going to do a camp. I think they're just going to piece out. And it is weird because you usually have you mentioned send off series and these opportunities for the fans. In Mexico 2018, they booed the team off the field after they beat Scotland at the Esteka

and then the players had a big party and it ended up in all the tabloids. So maybe you could argue that it's not good to have Sindoff series, but I do take your point. In a certain point you do want, especially for U.S. where I think the vibes are a little more pure. Whether they should be or not, like, it just seems like the fans like the national team a lot more than Mexico fans like the national team.

I do wonder, like, and Bells and Waki, I'm excited to get y'all's perspective as well, like, kind of, it sucks, but everyone's going to go through. I think it's, in a way, it shouldn't be a factor. But it is a bummer for a team like the U.S. that seems to like each other that seems to like coming into camp and like playing in front of their own fans. I think it is a shame that there won't be more contact with fans. And really, to be fair, the entire Qatar World Cup seems to be predicated on doing things that aren't great for fans to make a lot of money. So maybe we shouldn't be surprised, but it's a bummer. Can I jump in here, Waki, and ask a question for Jesse.

Jesse Howe's been hanging out here, and he asked a question that we didn't get to on the Monday review that I want to pose here. It is, what do you think? This is Jesse Howe in southern Maryland. What do you think the USM&T schedule will be between now and Qatar, who are the most likely opponents and where? Who would you like to see the team play? I'm not asking you to necessarily answer this, John,

but you can't if you want. I saw some speculation that it would be Ghana, and then everybody's seen the speculation that it'll be Uruguay, and then, of course, Granada and then El Salvador away. So I think Ghana and Uruguay would be great. and that's my view on it. I think, like, one thing that I would say, I think Uruguay is going to happen.

I think, you know, you look at Mexico's opponents, they've got Uruguay, Paraguay, Nigeria, and Ecuador. Ecuador, I think, would actually be a really good one. I don't know if the dates work. It's, like, early June. I probably don't. But I don't know.

I've never tried to make a friendly match happen. I think, like, maybe this is a hot take, and I don't usually have hot takes, so probably isn't. I think, like, the friendly preparation for the World Cup is a little overblown. I think you just need to get your team together, have them play well, have them understand the idea that you're trying to put on the field. And, yeah, play some good competition. And, like, what do I fits the bill?

It fits the bill. Other teams that are going to the World Cup clearly are going to be helpful. But I also think I've written a couple times about the complaints about the Nations League happening, and I think they've tried to do it as well as possible to get out of the way of the team. that are in the World Cup. Concafakav wants the teams that are from its region to win the freaking tournament. So they're not trying to screw anyone.

But if you get eliminated at the group stage, it's not because you played Grenada or in Mexico case Surinam in June. Like, it's because your team wasn't good enough. And I think the preparation, I get that we're excited, I get that we want everything to go well for all these teams. Fans of every team are sort of,

this is it. It's only every four years to get this measuring stick, but I think we maybe put a little too much on the opponents. I'm not sure it's that important, I guess is what I'm saying. I'm going to ask one more question from the chat, and I think we should wrap it up. But this is from Jared. We got one from tempo, too.

Okay. All right, so two more questions. Jared from O'Clair asks, U.S. fans like to talk about not playing in the Gold Cup out of a belief that the level of play won't be up to our standards. Is that fair? How do you see the gold cup changing in the coming years? and how does the rest of the region view the tournament?

Again, I think this sort of like goes to what I'm saying about Nations League, where it's like ultimately, although the Gold's Cup is a lot of more games, like ultimately you don't win it every single time. So I think it's sort of, I don't quite understand the, I get this way more from Mexico fans, like because of the circles I run in, I guess. Like, Mexico fans think they should be incommable and think they should be playing Kobe America and think that that's the proper level. maybe so, but again, they don't win the goal cup every year either.

Sometimes they lose to Jamaica, right? Like, it's not always the U.S. that beats Mexico either. So I think that, you know, in some ways, it's definitely a lack of respect for Concafnations. In others, like, I do get it, right? The group stage is usually not pressing these big teams to the maximum ability. But on the other hand, like, how do you expect these teams to get better if you exist in a vacuum and just have them play each other and then never have to never have to challenge themselves against the top teams

and never see that level of competition and never do anything to raise their level. I think that qualification gave a big leg up to teams like the United States, Mexico, some of them who didn't deserve it, like Honduras, like didn't have to go through this first round, second round qualification project. And that was kind of, to me, was sort of like, hey, we got you in countries because you also have to play the Nations League,

which you don't like. To me, that seemed like sort of the compromise that these nations made. We'll see what it looks like in the future. But it looked like going into 2026, the U.S. is going to need games. And some of them are going to have to come at a continental championship. Maybe some of them come in the Erecoa type thing against Argentina. That'll be great. That'll be a good challenge.

But I don't think the answer is to take U.S. and Mexico out of the region. I don't think that makes concaf stronger. And I don't think that helps really the U.S. and Mexico even get better either. Awesome. And Bo. Hey, thanks guys. I have really enjoyed the show, calling in from southeastern Pennsylvania. And I really appreciated the origin story a little bit of and the background that John shared.

So I had a question if you're interested in pursuing or expanding into other broadcast platforms or just having appreciated the punditry that you've offered on the on the throughout qualifying and and on scuffed as a podcast have you ever done any like color commentary or or anything like that that you would you'd want to do that more in the future you got you got a contract timbo send it over man i appreciate that you know i mean i would love to do more stuff concaf's broadcasting is all kind of based in Miami. I think that's all through Media Pro right now. I'm not linked up with those guys. I'd be happy to chat, but yeah, I don't know. It's weird because I think, like I said, you know, I started the newsletter sort of based on belief, and it's been cool to see the response,

but I think that a lot of the people making the decisions still don't have the belief or don't see the community, or maybe the numbers just aren't good enough, and that's fine. You know, I enjoy the community that I do have on the newsletter. I do stuff like this with bells and the scuff fam, and, you know, chatting and run spaces and doing podcasts and stuff. You know, look, I would love to do more. It would be great to be on broadcast. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a play-by-play announcer. I do think you'd be on broadcast.

So you should. You're very smooth, man. I'd be happy to chat. And if anyone's listening, I can make that happen, that'd be great. But, no, I mean, that's where I'm at. You know, I, like, at some ways, it sounds altruistic, but I do just want to tell these stories. I want these stories to get out there.

I want the coverage to be better. I do want when there's a broadcast for Nations League for U.S. against El Salvador to be telling the stories that are something that you read and you say, man, I didn't know that. I had no clue or I really, you know, even some of the analysis stuff. I really do need to watch out for Brian Tamacas, the fullback, right? I want those things to get out there. I'm certainly not the only person that can do that.

There are other people that know their stuff that take the time. to research that speak with Salvador and journalists that do great work. So I do think we're still in the stage in American soccer where a rising tide lifts all boats. For coverage, we all got to support each other, root for each other. And it's tough because, you know, I'm asking for $5 a month from people to go premium. You know, Bell's is asking you to support scuffed, which you guys clearly do. You're in this chat. You got to pay to watch Paramount Plus games.

You got to pay to watch ESPN Plus games because you want to get M. less. You got to pay, I get it. Like, it definitely stacks up. And I hope that there's an outlet that says now we need to make it so these creators can be full and can create. But look, until then, I keep grinding. But I'm glad you want to see me on TV, Timbo. I appreciate that, man. And I appreciate the scuff community for the support, for hanging, for bells, for the chats, and for Waki, for everything that you've said in the chat. So we press on. And until another opportunity comes, is what we do. We'll put a link to the newsletter, of course, in the show notes and tweet it out.

This episode is going to go on the public feed, so let me just say, if you would like to participate in a future live chat and, you know, support the podcast. Please consider supporting us on Patreon. A link to that is also on the show notes. Anything else from you, Waki? Yeah, I just want to, Mayor, I don't, I just want to confirm that there is, it's really, hard to watch national team games in Brooklyn. It's strangely difficult. I do think it's weird. People don't care about it that much here. That's it though. Maybe your apartment then, Chris. Yeah, everyone has come over. It's a mess. It's more actually, it's a nightmare.

Complete nightmare. Let's on the podcast. All right. Thank you, John. Thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.