Scuffed | USMNT, World Cup, Yanks Abroad, futbol in America - #646: USA v Paraguay recap

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Charlie Boehm and Belz celebrate a credible victory in greater Philadelphia on Saturday night! Gio is back in the national team mix, emphatically. Arfsten keeps on performing. Our defense has to answer some questions about that equalizer. A fracas in stoppage time. What more could we want.Clip Notes on the Patreon, for $5 subscribers, coming Monday morning. 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 Scuff podcast where we talk about U.S. soccer. Hey, everybody, we got a 2-1 win over World Cup-bound Paraguay in Philadelphia last night with a far-from-full-strength U.S. squad, joining me to discuss it as a man who was at the game in the mixed zone and is now home in Washington, D.C. Charlie Bolham, Charlie, how are you? I'm well. I got a little whiplash driving to Chester and Back and now flying to gorgeous Florida. later tonight to catch Uruguay match. But I'm feeling great, and it's always a pleasure to chop it up with you. Thank you.

Thank you. So what was the, yeah, what was the scene like? Was it, I saw somebody say it was fun to finally stick it to a bunch of away fans who were expecting a victory. Yes. I would say, you know, it's so amazing that in this country, this incredible country of ours, flaws in all. You know, you can play almost any nation in the world,

and the diaspora and the expats are going to turn out. Almost anywhere. And you might think that Paraguay being pretty far away, not that big to start with, I looked it up yesterday, 6.4 million Paraguayans in the homeland. And I don't know how many more are living abroad, but it's substantial. And there was lots of red and white stripes.

And the red, white and blue colors of Paraguay were well represented in Chester, PA last night. And I'm going to guess it came down to somewhere around 50-50. Okay. And so it made for a nice experience, though, because it didn't affect the vibe. But it wasn't really much of a negative undercurrent, but they were belting out the Paraguayan anthem, well-representing. And you saw, I think, on the pitch. what they've done is very impressive in probably the most cutthroat federation and qualifying scenario in the world, I would say.

Pound-for-vound-kone-Me ball is just a bear pit. And they got through it yet again, despite having a lot of disadvantages compared to their neighbors. And I think you can see it with what they produced last night. I think they're going to be a tough out for anybody next summer. And the right kind of test, I think the right kind of setting and tenor to the match. the atmosphere itself. It was cool but not too cold and a little disappointed, I guess, that it wasn't a full-on sellout.

But that's a whole other discussion unto itself, right? Yeah. We got work to do. We got work to do on that front as a federation and all that. I just want to say, I totally agree. I think it is so cool that basically anywhere we play against any nation, it's not just any nation, but it's like it doesn't matter where we play that the diaspora is going to show. up.

And then 6.4 million, just for context, there are more people in the Atlanta metro area than there are in Paraguay. And Atlanta is what, like the 10th largest metro area in the country? I mean, we're a massive country. Paraguay is not that. Let's do the lineups and then we'll get into the timeline. I think a lot of what we want to talk about is going to come up in the action. but Matt Freeze started in goal and then we had basically I mean we'll get into the shape question a little bit but basically I think Scali was playing right back and it was Miles Ream and Arfston across the back line.

Dest was kind of playing winger in the attack and really in against the ball too. So I guess you'd call it against the ball like a four two three one or maybe a four four two. Who really knows? The game was pretty choppy throughout. Kind of hard to, like, see the clean lines of the, of the manager's instructions in our shape. But anyway, Dest was playing winger, and then Testman enrolled on in the midfield, and then Aronson, I guess Raina also in the midfield, and then Aronson and Baligan rounded out that front line. Do you have any corrections for me there or additional kind of?

Not a correction so much as I think, and to my surprise, I thought he'd be coy about it, but Potch delved in response to a question from Ron Blum, who's from the AP, who asks good, straightforward dogged questions and has driven more than a few coaches, I think a little bit baddie. But I mean that as a compliment because he asks the right questions and sticks with it. And he asked about the formation, and we got a surprisingly detailed and open response and explanation from Pottch's point of view, considering, you know, the general reflexive paranoia that I think we see from most coaches and managers at the top echelons of the game. So I would say yes. And then what Potch basically said, what you just said in terms of with the ball, or sorry, without the ball, 4231 or even a 442, depending on how you look at it.

And then with it, they're building out of a essentially like a 3-2-3-2 or or approximation there of shape where it becomes more obviously three centerbacks and two wide players. And I asked Max Arston in the mix zone, were you a wingback tonight or or a fullback? And he said a little bit of both, a little both. So I think there's some there's some fuzziness there on purpose. And I think that's that works well. And I expect that it will stay with some version of that from here on out. Well, Matt, so that's an interesting part of it. Max had a, I would say, maybe the most demanding assignment on the field because he was a fullback against the ball. And then in the attack, he was a winger. And, you know, Desd didn't have to run the touchline the way he did. And neither did Scali. But Arstyn did have to go basically end line to end line and didn't seem to get tired. Man, he's everywhere. So much industry. And I mean, how many ballers?

recoveries did he have. It seemed like every time there was a there was a problem he was the one recovering the ball and bringing it out. And at the biggest play of the night he made on the wrong side, he found himself along the right channel. And he's shown that he can hit that step over he likes. That Paraguay just can't seem, couldn't seem to catch up to. He hits that to go to the right and get to the end line and plants a decent cross on Giorina's head. We'll get to that in a moment. We will. And then I guess a big surprise. I think to almost everybody that Geo gets the start in this game. Everybody was hedging their bets in the pregame.

Even big Geo ran up believers like me were saying, well, probably he's not going to start. He'll come off the bench. But he started, went 75 minutes. I mean, obviously had a good game. Awesome. Potch wanted to see him and he's the big storyline, I think, from the game. game. But, yeah, okay. Paraguay's lineup was Orlando Hill and goal Juan Caseras, who put in a dirty shot on Flo Balligan in the first half. Gustavo Gomez, Blas Rivera, and Junior Alonza,

who played that ball to Miguel Almorone across the back line. And then Diego Gomez and Damien Bobadilla in the midfield with, I mean, Almeron was basically playing. left wing, wasn't he? But Luis Enzizo on the right wing, Miguel Arce as the striker, and I guess Diego Gonzalez was another midfielder. He must have been. So that's the, that's the Paraguay lineup. And let's get into the timeline, unless you have any other thoughts on that. Okay. Onward. Okay. So, I mean, the only thing, the first few minutes were very choppy. Like I said, I think a lot of the game was choppy and lots of duels and recoveries and then duels and recoveries like over and over all over the field.

But I noticed immediately that Brenda was going to be everywhere and he was, he was everywhere throughout the game, but he was in on all the action in the first three minutes pretty much. And then we get our goal. Three minute 15 mark Gio Raina scored, as you all know. So we went a corner out of the aforementioned choppiness down on sort of the right in the right corner, Paraguay's left corner. Arfson takes it, hits it well, which he did with almost all the set pieces he took tonight. I thought he was a clear upgrade on Christian Pulisic from set pieces. Takes it well.

It spills, it gets cut out, but spills to desk at the top of the box. He tries to take it first time, slips as he strikes it, and just kind of hits a chopper into the crowd. It gets recovered by Testman coming away from the goal, and he plays a clever little pass over to Roldon, who is free on the right side of the box. Roldon has a good hit, I think, in this case. Might have been headed for that side netting over in the left side. It gets blocked by a Paraguay defender.

Roldon smartly immediately retreats to sort of hem in any clearance. And sure enough, it's cleared right to him, right to his chest. a couple yards outside the box. He taps it over to Arfston and he does that step over that you talked about blows by his guy, pushes it to the line and clips a ball into the box. Rana, it's right on Rana's head. He rises kind of leaning away from the goal and heads it basically straight ahead into the goal off the keeper's finger tips, then the underside of the crossbar and down and in. And that's the scene. I mean, a good goal from Gio here, but wonderful work. from Arfston and Roldon deserves the tip of the cap here too.

Remarkably, and I can still barely believe this, as I say it, that is apparently the first-headed goal with Giorina's professional career. Huh. I mean, I know he hasn't scored any for the U.S. Yeah. I mean, he's... Yeah, the notes, that struck me in the, I believe the Federation's match notes had that in it, and I was, granted, I didn't dig through.

I didn't go match by match goal by goal to triple check it. But I have no reason to doubt the veracity of that tidbit. But I found that fascinating. Well, he's usually not even in there on a set piece, you know? Yeah. And he's not the guy, especially lately in his career, not the guy, you know, fiercely crashing the box when there's an attack on. So sniffed out the space, though, which is, that's why you keep faith with him, right? It's not it's the the technique, the quick feed, the mentality, all that stuff.

But fundamentally, it's the understanding of space is part of what makes him a lead. And as Potch praised him for that, said that later postgame, Potsch said that his movement, ability to find the pockets was a nightmare for Paraguay. Yeah, I actually cut that clip from the audio Sanjay sent me. So let's just listen to what Pach says. And then we got to listen to Henry Bushnell asking Gio what he said into the camera, which is kind of a funny moment. He showed why he started and has confirmed that he's a player that need improve

because he needs to play more in his club, but we can see today that he was great, scored and assists. The way that always the capacity to read the game and find the free space in between the line, I think there was a nightmare for Paraguay and I think he did a very much of. So there's a little medicine in there with the spoonful of sugar. He needs to improve. He needs to play more with his club. But Potch understands what Geo brings to the team.

I think it's pretty clear. He runs to the corner flag after he scores, pointing at the number seven. And he says something, maybe it was I told you or I told you or something like that. But Henry Bushnell asked him what he said into the camera. I'll just play the clip. What did you say to the camera? I don't know. Was there also a crest pointing?

Yeah, there was after. I do know, but I don't know. Yeah, so he knows, but he's not, he's not going to say. Maybe he's learning a few lessons about when the mics and cameras are on. Maybe. Yeah. But Brendan was asked about this as well by Henry and was, he comes off as less coy to me than Gio did. But basically, his recollection was, you know,

Gio saying something, the effect of I'm here. It's me. Yeah. I think you get that. That was the look on his face. I'm the guy. I'm the guy. Credit for pointing to the front of the shirt, not the back, right?

You love to see that. He was pointing at his own number, not the crest. But we didn't get the two thumbs. We didn't get the who has two thumbs in an ego celebration. So kudos for that. Yeah. That's what Kevin Sullivan did after he scored a penalty. And the penalty in the penalty kick shootout with Morocco.

And that's why the fans were all giving him grief after the game when Morocco won. That was pretty fun too. You know, show some swagger, but find up, you know, I just, I urge you guys, find your own way to do it, man. Find something new. Yeah. You get out of the box. So that's it, 1-0. What a great way to start the game.

What a great way for Gio to start his first. I mean, this was his first start since September, since mid-September for, for any soccer team. Club or country. Yeah. And only his third, I think, start, or maybe it was his fourth in the entire calendar year. And then it's the longest he's played. The 75 minutes was the longest he's played since last year.

So, I mean, on one hand, great news. On the other hand, you know, as Posh says, he does need to play more for his club. Yeah. The numbers underlined the drought or the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, appearance, whatever you want to call it, is first USM&T starts since July 1st, 2024, which I believe was the Copa-America swan song, and first goal in, I believe, it was over 600 days for the U.S. Wow.

Yeah. Okay. So there's more to say about Gio, and we'll get into it. The seventh minute desk dribbles his guy from wide and tries to slip Ballo into the box. Ballo just gets bodied off the ball there. This is at this 630 mark. Dest was lively early. So two things here.

Desk was lively early and had some good moments. He sets up a great chance for Rodon as well. But he, I think, had one of his worst nights in the shirt. That's my opinion. Just so many one-v-one opportunities out wide where he didn't beat his guy or didn't or lost the ball for some other reason. And Ballo, who obviously scores the game winner later, was just totally invisible in the first half. And really, I mean, really invisible outside of the goal. He was manhandled by Paraguay, I think.

And couldn't really figure that out. Ninth minute, Paraguay equalizes. So Scali, we'll Zepruder this very thoroughly, but just high level here. Scali gets beaten it behind on the right on a ball from Junior Alonso. Almaron runs onto it and then just whips a first time sort of half volleyball across the six. And Arce has a free header from point blank 1-1. So three touches to cover a total of probably 100 yards in about five seconds. It's a really, really lethal sequence from Paraguay.

but you know there's some people who have to sort of answer for this i think but i mean what's your thought who who do you i mean we've got we've got geo uh maybe not pressing with as much energy as he could scally gets absolutely skint um miles is kind of in no man's land uh as the ball comes across ream is six yards behind the play when the when Arce heads the ball in and freeze doesn't come out and claim it. So we have 100% blame. We have to assign a percentage to each of those five players. Go.

Yeah, I was just as curious about this. I actually dropped it into the editorial Slack chat, MLS Soccer's editorial chat because I was curious did a snap poll. And it's almost equal. I think it, you know, unfortunately, part of life as a defender is that you give the last word and so stuff may get dropped in your lap. You have at the start, and this starts from what some would call an innocent looking moment with the opposition's centerback in his own half with possession. Now, surely that shouldn't lead to you getting cut open collectively in a matter of seconds. But there's a little bit of a failure cascade happening, I think, very quickly in the sense that Paraguay,

gets a step ahead and they do not they do not give the time back and i think this is yeah you see this maybe uh us m and t observers will see this in the opposite sense desk maybe a culprit in the sense of someone who creates a step creates a uh a numerical or spatial advantage or an opening and doesn't hammer at home right the right ball at the right time yeah keep the opponent in a reactive the phase, but Paraguay just keeps playing. And they are quick and they are just precise enough that nobody can get back into it. And I was just, I had been marveling at Miles Robinson's recovery speed for both club and country over the past month or so here because I've covered a couple of his playoff games

with FC Cincinnati. Anybody who was worried that he had lost a step with the major injuries he's had over the past few years, I think we're seeing signs that the guy can, the guys got a quickness. and an athleticism back, maybe that is what made him elite. I think ultimately what's going to keep him on the World Cup squad. But even he can't just athlete his way back into things because you have the combination of a high line with just geo being a second or too late on pressure to the centerback. And the centerback cleverly sees that, plays into space behind Scali.

Now, Scali's flat-footed. He's all alone out there in an island. He's a little slow in reading it, but so are Miles. So is Ream. Everybody's a step behind. And then that leaves, you know, Fries, who I think is an excellent shot stopper, but the ball is hit too well and just doesn't give him time. He can't cut it out.

He can't cut out the cross. He can't react with any amount of footwork and athleticism to get things because it's essentially a diving header. So really impressive play, and I think a really, the right kind of sobering reminder of how even a team like Paraguay, who you might not say is in the very, very top echelon, they can change things for you. They can cut you apart so, so quickly and you don't even, you're wondering what happened. Yeah. Yeah, my initial, my initial reaction was that is just such a beautiful soccer sequence from them. you know the ball from alonzo is perfect for uh for miggy and like the communication between

them you know he they they see it they both see it simultaneously that this is on miggy raises his hand to him and wheels and goes down the line scali like you said i mean he's leaning a little bit he's a little caught a little bit front foot and um and then the i think my thought is is Miles is retreating. He's probably thinking Al Maron might eliminate Scali here. So I have to be, I have to shade towards him so that he doesn't, he can't just have like a walk in the park into the box towards the goalkeeper. So I, so I feel like Miles should be, Miles is a little bit acquitted on that basis,

like for not being touched tight with Arsa, Arseh. and Ream, I think, as I went back and watched the replay over and over again, he's not fast enough probably to catch up when things happen this quickly. But also, I can just, I've been in that situation on the soccer field. I think he was probably deep down in his subconscious maybe just hoping that the ball from Miguel Alamara Cross wasn't going to be perfect and that Miles could cut it out. And then unfortunately it was perfect. I would say even it's not so much that it's perfect.

It's early. And you've heard me say this before. An early ball does not have to be as perfect, right? Yeah. Because, you know, the defense is scrambling. Both centerbacks are running towards their own goal. Even if Miles and Orim can get to the spot, they've still got to make the perfect play facing their own goal to put it somewhere that's not on frame.

So, rest assured, though, this piece of film will be analyzed by the group stage opponents. Yeah. This coming. It's now, I'm now calling it this coming summer. It's not next summer anymore. It's this summer. Yeah, it's coming right up. So, yeah, I guess, I guess that's it.

We can't assign. I probably give, I don't know, maybe the most blame to Ream, just for being. being like behind the play and not and not uh and not getting to our not even getting near arse but uh i don't have to be right about that it's a tough spot i mean it's and i i'm inclined to to put about equal blame on robinson and uh and scally and maybe a the rest on on the others but it's it's true it's um yeah who'd be a defender huh who'd be a centerback in particular It's what a terrible job. But also, anybody who thinks that, you know, I mean, it's tough luck for Scali.

But Scali plays an extremely high level on a week-to-week basis. And he's, he's still got done in by this one. Yeah. So individuals can only do so much. Yeah. Okay. So it's 1-1. And I was kind of like back to back to zero-zero a little bit.

And we're only 13 minutes in. 14th minute, Ballo gets tomahawked in the back by Caseras after a little scuffle on the edge of the box. They were going at each other. This was pretty unkind. This was pretty unkind. My question is, if he had done this and Var was involved, this would be a penalty, right? I thought it was a nasty bit of business. One of those plays that in a friendly, much like how the referees I thought handled the late fracas, the bench clearing brawl.

where they all kind of go, hey, quit it, you idiots. Here's one red and a few yellows and let's get on with this and go home, right? That ain't how it's going to go in a tournament. They're going to stop everything and Zapruder this thing. And I do have a feeling that it's not going to go quite as well for Paraguay as it in terms of getting away with things. The dark arts, they're very good at it, and Podge complimented them on it. And even compared it to himself, his own playing career, he pointed out,

I, too, was a nasty South American centerback in my time. But VAR has not been a blessing for that genre of defender. So I do think you're right on that. Okay. Yeah, so, I mean, Ballo made a lot out of it. He laid down in the penalty area for a long time. And, I mean, I don't know if he was hoping that there would be some, like a side ref had seen it or something. But got to practice.

You got to, the system incentivizes that highly, right? Hit the deck, take a minute, make sure that they get eyeballs on it. So maybe you're just practicing that. I mean, the booth, the VAR booth, see that immediately. I mean, everybody at home saw it. And like, it even was visible in real time during the broadcast. I just didn't notice it until later. Okay, 18 minute mark.

But as it was, nothing was called. Nothing came of it at all. 18 minute mark, big chance for the U.S. Really nice combo up the right side from us. Scali plays Raina in the pocket. So Scali's on the sideline, plays Raina in the pocket, a little diagonal pass. And then Raina just takes a touch, turns,

passes it to Dest down the line. Desd drives at his guy. Kind of has a little edge on him going to the end line, but then cuts in and plays Rodon with his left foot to the top of the box. Roldon is arriving, has a free strike right from the edge of the end line, the 18 hits it pretty well but right at the keeper and it spills a little bit but um ball is not close enough to pounce on it but i mean this was a high quality chance textbook pattern yeah uh 21 20 i'm gonna try to move fast through the rest of the first half because it's the game

did would would you agree the game kind of lost some of its uh it was like some beautiful moments in the first 15 20 minutes and then Not a lot happens, basically until the goal, you know. But we're going to talk about all this stuff that doesn't happen. 21-20 mark, lovely ball from Testman out to Dest, who slips Raina into the cupback zone, and he just swivels and pumps it right at the goalkeeper, which is another kind of textbook move. Lovely sweeping ball from Testman out wide to Dest. I thought Tesman had a pretty good game.

What did you think of Tesman? I liked it. What I appreciated was little and something that maybe it's nice to be there in person. He has been, and maybe it's just a natural byproduct of the environment he's in, the intensity, the rarefied air. He's picking up little subtleties to his game that weren't there a couple years ago. Yeah. So the way, just the way he strikes that ball to sweep, you know, just just the perfect way, right? It's on a rope, but settles it death's feet to be relatively easy to.

to collect a switch of play that's that's not a boomer right that gets gets it over there with speed but also with with class and just the right weight and there were those little moments I saw he had a really I think a few minutes after that the back heel that he pulled off in the left channel he's just he's just figuring out those little and it's maybe a lot of those same spaces that we were we were harsh on him in the in the rap the other day in terms of that that tough tough day he had against PSG for his club, he's adding little facets and little wrinkles that are, that I think are going to stand him and the team in very good stead. Yeah.

You know, I got to go back to that because I feel like we were a little easy on the keep for that paragraph that Paul Kennedy translated for us. Because one of the things they got him for, well, if you may remember, they said he's been a catastrophe for weeks, which is not really true. But they also dinged him for conceding the corner that led to the game-winning goal for PSG, which was it was a set piece, and he was right in front of his goal, and he headed it away out of bounds. It was like exactly the correct play to concede that corner.

It's just, I just have to say. He was framed. Yeah, come on. He had some nice, in addition to that little back hill you're talking about, he had some nice work on the half turn in the channel to spring surge again around the 25 minute mark. This is when Serge starts to get a little bit messy, 27 minute mark. He gets it taken from him. He dribbled into double teams a lot in this game. Gets it taken from him and then wins it back and then passes it right to Paraguay.

And then we are second to every loose ball for the next 15 seconds and all the way into our box before Arfston finally claims it. I will say it was rare that Paraguay was in our defensive third throughout the game. And so I know people are kind of critical of the defenders. But to your point about Miles having his step back, they couldn't really play anything long because Miles would just clean it up. And we had so, we had, they couldn't really possess through us either. So I felt like outside of the goal and some late theatrics, there really wasn't much. much for Paraguay to hang their hat on attacking-wise. I agree.

Nasty from Gio at the 29-10 mark reverse pass out to search. So the ball gets played into his feet, and he just kind of like a no-look pass through like three or four defenders. I know Henry Bushnell mentioned this in his story for the athletic. And then has the GIF in there. That's kind of cool that they're putting real clips in their articles now. Yeah. I mean, nobody's going to have to listen to our podcast anymore. Oh, no, no, no, no, wait a minute.

What are we done? Serge fizzes the ball across in Ballot's direction. It gets cut out. Geo reclaims it at the top of the box. He tries to shift it over to Arfston, and then Arfston gets dispossessed. This isn't Arfston, a great moment from Arston, but, man, I'm really happy with him. He's growing on me a lot. When I look at the strides, his year, his 2025 with the national team has been just an absolute leap.

I posted on Blue Sky during the match. This is a guy that three years ago, this time three years ago, this is an MLS Next Pro player with the San Jose Earthquakes, who was going to get dropped into the MLS Superdraft. The Columbus crew steal a march from the quakes and use a super draft pick on him. And he's still a project. This is a, I think he was being in the process of being converted from Stryker at this point. Nobody had heard of him. It's a kid from Fresno. And now he's, I think he was, he slipped a little in the final minutes of the match and Potch dinged him for it.

But first half, probably the best, best player, maybe on the pitch. Right up there. Yeah. Side. Confidence, man. The confidence is just, the confidence is just flushing. through his veins. Yeah.

And I love how he makes a mistake, and he just kind of shakes it off. Keeps going. We have them pretty well pinned down towards, like, the back half of the first half. I mean, we're not creating a ton of danger, but we are in their attacking their defensive third a lot. And I'm just happy with the intensity of the game. That's all I got for the first half. Let's take a break and come back and do the second half, including the game winning goal and maybe a few sort of big picture takeaways.

If you want to skip the ads, support our work, join the Patreon. The link is in the show notes. Okay, we're back. Second half starts with a lovely combination from us to get out of our half. It's like, I think, freeze to Scali, Scali to Tessman, over to Aronson, and then, or no, Testman to Dest, who plays a little one touch outside of the boot pass to Gio, and then Gio just kind of Croyfe leaves it for Dest, and he's off to the races. The attack dies between Brendo and Desk just outside the box,

but again, you see, like, little things that Gio does that, you know, there were so many times in this game where there was a, where we were trying to ping the ball through him, and then it would just, and it would just fall apart. and it would turn into a scrum. And it just doesn't seem to happen as much when the ball is at Gio's feet. He sort of fashions order out of the chaos. And this is one example. So much dog from us, too.

A lot of dog from Paraguay, but you can tell these guys all know they're playing for a spot at the World Cup at this point. And it's fun to see. That Philly water. They'd been drinking that Philly water for a couple days. It's flown. What does it taste like? What does that Philly water taste like?

It tastes like adversity. That's how they make that good bread for the hoagies. It's in the water. A little sour, just a little sour. Aronson keeps giving the ball away. Serge keeps giving the ball away. Get a flurry of corner kicks from Paraguay in like the 51, 52, 53. vicinity.

I feel like all the giveaways are just like our 1 v1 chops, like 1 v1, and Luna had this problem when he came on too. We try to go by him and just get stoned like over and over again. Ball underfoot. Yeah. You know, a little, a little, but part of it is and at least one player complimented the pitch. So, you know, the surface was good. I think you're just playing a good defensive team.

That's not going to give you anything. Good, strong 1 v. 1 defensively that you don't survive the Conry ball blender without that fundamental base they have. And again, I do think this is the next level. This is the stuff that the best of the best will pick out and punish. And I do still wonder, I'm really curious about where Desk fits in. I think Brenda's dog is just so evident, right, that the work rate is so relentless. He has that same trait.

You mentioned with arson that he just keeps going. You can absolutely body him repeatedly, and he will get up, and he will just keep going until his body betrays him. Dest, you know, he's good, right? It's great, but it's like, it's been a while now. He says he's basically back to feeling at a home. 100% or close to it, it's time for end product, right? There's still a sense of risk when he's on the pitch. And Potch made a point, I think, of saying that he needs to improve defensively

for a nominally defensive player, right? So I do think you're going to have to take him to the World Cup. But is he dependable? Has he really earned this coaching staff's trust? Be watching that closely on Tuesday night. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I wish, so I guess I have a couple thoughts on that.

I wish he would, he would have been more dominant in possession than he was. I think I've made that clear already on this podcast episode. The other thing is I wonder if he isn't, so he was asked, I think on Friday, does he prefer playing wingback or fullback? And he said it depends. And it depends on how the opponent plays. So he's not like, he's not like definitely, I like to play wingback better. And it made me wonder, is he better when he's playing,

is he better in possession when he's playing fullback? Because then he can, he can eliminate a winger and maybe a wide midfielder and then play a pass into the attacking third. Then he is when he's the actual winger and he's got to, like, he's got to beat a fullback who's like paid to stop him. And then provide the end product that you just meant.

Because end product has never been like a major strength of his. It's like he's a he's a guy who gets you through the middle third of the field elegantly, you know, and and helps you help you build out and create like a foundation for attack. Something we really, we really made a lot of good use of as a national team under Burrhalter, I guess, with with Dest. You would think this is tailor made for him. this system that they've settled on. He was strangely lukewarm about it. So some of that was just, he was just a little,

he wasn't super gregarious in that, in that mixed zone environment on Friday. He said a couple things that I noted that caught my attention. What? A little bit, because he's, again, you know, this is the mixtape kid, right? So he said, he said, because he pointed out,

this is his second camp with with poch like so um he's he's not quite comfortable maybe maybe that's what it is but but we asked him what he what he wants or what he needs the team needs to get out of this this window and he said a better chemistry and two wins he said later said i feel yeah like yeah the chemistry needs to be better and as well the way how we play sometimes we can improve on that in the little details but let's see how we play and then we can improve more. And then about Potch, he said, he has his, so, you know, it's my second camp, I guess. Yeah, so not too much time, but, I mean, he has his plans. He has his tactics. Obviously, we change the formation a little bit. I feel like he's trying to see the

characters of the players and try to make the best formation possible for our players. And I asked him if he feels like there's an identity that this team has settled on at this point, maybe it's comparable to where they clearly were at this point last cycle. And he said it's, I feel it's like a little bit too early to say, which was interesting. That is interesting. Hmm. Well, yeah. Let's see what happens with him on Tuesday.

I would imagine we'll see Freeman start that game. Freeman came on and looked pretty good. Got into a, I mean, he was sort of, he and Gustavo Gomez were the catalyst for the gigantic fracas. that happened. We'll get to that. I want to spotlight in the 60th minute, some good hustle from Ballo on a counterattack. He sprinted a full 60, 70 yards back on that right side to,

I don't, he didn't stop anything, but he did make them hurry. And the cross that came over was just right to Tim Reams' chest and he chested it directly to freeze. So, you know, Ballo, little things like that matter. a lot, I think, when you're a striker, and I appreciate it from him. 62-second minute.

Aronson has a few good moments here. Nice work from him to recover the ball in the press and play a clever pass to Ballo. Kind of outside of the boot, just a murder ball kind of moment where we win it and then play it immediately to the striker. He opts to go to ground to try to get the penalty when he gets the shoulder in his back. doesn't get the penalty. The ref was kind of, I thought, I'm not a big ref critic,

but I did think the ref was a little, and I didn't think this should be a penalty either, but it just made me think to bring this up. The ref was kind of all over the place. Like some things you thought should have been a yellow card, weren't even a foul. Some things that were like barely a foul were a yellow card. And he really let both teams play,

particularly in the first half. Yeah. For sure. And then Aronson plays well on the half turn. and slips one out to Arfston for a pretty tame cross. And then at the 6330 mark, he wins it from two guys and slips it to Arfston for another ball across. Arsson then tries to pick out, I think it was Miles at the back post, clips the ball, stands it up for him,

and it's just cut out ahead of Miles. But, you know, three really nice things from Aronson in quick succession here. So got to give him his flowers there. 65th minute, Testman hits a first time looping pass to Ballo. This came to nothing, but it drew a nice response from the crowd.

First time looping pass from the sideline to Ballow, and then he flicks it sort of scorp. It's kind of like a scorpion kick, which is that what you would call that? Yeah, yeah, a little, a heel flick. Yeah, behind the back heel flick. It was saucy. It was, yeah.

And it was just a little too heavy for Surge to get to before the, keep or claimed it, but kind of a bright moment in an overall sort of messy game. Got the crowd back into things, though, for sure. You saw the niceness. Those things count, I think, you know, just in the push and pull and the crowd's participation matters. Yeah, the fight for cultural relevance. Well, there was an interesting, something, a subtlety I noticed, too, in Philly the press box were kind of up above the home team bench and the fans drew right behind and around the U.S. bench down there in the nice and the good 50-yard seats were responding.

And it was cool to see because they were. And they were some of the, you know, Balo got some of the biggest cheers from that section. You got what I would call a standing O when he came off. I think he came off with Erinson. maybe misremembering that. But he put in the work and he put in, and there was class and there was graft. And the ball knowers along that sideline saw it.

And we're responding to what he was doing in the run of play. And then when he came off as well. And then even after the final whistle, too. Okay. Yeah, he came off when Raina and Rodon came off. There you go. Yeah. Doesn't matter.

Raina. He and Raina, I think, we're getting a lot. And Roaldon, they got a lot of love, understandably. Yeah, what do you, well, what do you think of, what do you think of Roll Don's performance? He didn't hurt himself, did he? He's, it's the, it's the Christian Roldon effect. I've seen this at club level so much. He's, and he's talked about his efforts, he is trying to push from, push past this whole vibes guy.

Some would call slander. Others would call just factual labeling under the last regime and in the last cycle. to be taken seriously as an option, not just to get on the proverbial plane, but to get in the 11. And the teams that he is in tend to get good results. And you don't always see his hand. He's not always obvious,

but they, I just, there's just all these little things that he sees. Like you talked about it earlier on the goal. He's just in the right spot to recover the right ball and move it along to the right. person quickly. Yeah. Again, I'm, I recognize I'm biased here. I am, uh, I am pro rolled on and proled on, but, uh, but he, I don't think anyone should be surprised. Pachismo. Pachismo was a better one than Prold on.

Yeah. A prole, they're both good. The Rolls on tarriot. I don't know. We'll workshop this. But, uh, but yeah, I don't think anybody should be surprised if he's getting significant minutes from here on out. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I wish there was a little more quality, like in that finish. Yeah. You know, that kind of thing.

I don't think he plays super, like when he's receiving the ball in the midfield, I don't, I don't, I didn't clock every single instance, but my sense was like 80, 90% of the time he'd pass it back to the person who pass it to him without even turning around. You know, it's just a little, just a little not quite comfortable. Yeah, not quite comfortable playing on the half turn. But yeah, I mean, when you have him out there, you have somebody who's going to compete hard and do a lot of like little things well. And a small note too, he, he did one of the online availabilities this week. And he, I can't remember if he said 50 or 60 games, but he, the sounders have had.

a marathon season between Club World Cup and Leagues Cup run and all the other stuff they've done. And he's just an ever-present when he's available. And the mileage is really adding up. I think you saw the toll that took on him. And I asked him about his off-season plans because, you know, the Sounders are out. His club season is over. And he's said he's got to focus on rest because he's played an absolute load of games over the past year. So I'm curious to see what the first few months of 12.

26 look like for him. He's earned some rest and very much needs it. And that could make the difference in this conversation we're having about him. He, well, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the MLS calendar flip. I know we talked about this a little bit. Does it, does it go into, it, it doesn't go into effect next year, does it? No. Well, it would be smart, right? The, the, the original, one of the core elements of the idea originally was to do this, to really ride the momentum from the World Cup, imagine flipping this switch immediately after the tournament. But they couldn't get their ducks in a row soon enough. So the earliest this is going to happen is the summer of 27. So they would play an abbreviated sort of sprint season in the first half of 2027 and then switch

into the new format that summer. We're not, I don't think that we are certain that that is how that's going to go, but that I think is the desire. That is as soon as this could happen. So a missed opportunity there, sure, to not do it right after the tournament. But so, yeah, not imminent. Okay. So, but he'll still get plenty of action in March and April.

Yeah, and remember, the part of the reason there's no January camp this winter is the MLS clubs have, have requested that because, The preseason will be starting up nice and early, especially for the Conca Calf Champions Cup participants in early first or second week of January, I believe. All right. So the game's opening up. Back to the game for a minute. 66 minute mark. Games opening up.

Arfston finds Gio in the pocket a turn and a turn in a run into wide open space between the lines. He plays it out wide for Dest, who cuts in and has a left-footed shot that goes well. over reference to your comment about end product. This was like maybe a carbon copy of the goal he scored against Costa Rica back in World Cup qualifying. This one, you just didn't hit it on frame. And then we get some subs. So Luna comes on for Scali and Freeman comes on for Dest. So it seems like, yeah, I mean, basically it's actually the opposite, isn't it? Luna comes on for Dest and Freeman comes on for Scali. And 68 minute mark, Tessman, Tick-Tox is way past a defender in close quarters.

He is pretty smooth, sometimes a little, maybe a little too casual, but he's a smooth player. And I think I really noticed that. And then we get our goal, 71st minute. We get him with the press Luna and Roldon Hassel Caceres, the guy who elbowed Ballow in the back

into a pretty ugly back pass straight to Ballow. Ballo gets it with his back to goal, settles it, lays it off for Rana who's running to his right into the left side of the box. Raina goes to the end line, tries to cut it back with his left foot.

It kind of gets caught under Gustavo Gomez's feet, goes through his feet, and sits up real nice for Balo who sweeps it in with his left foot 2-1. Ballah's not going to miss that opportunity. It's basically like a penalty kick from five yards away.

And Casares gets to look up from the ground and watch Ballo wheel away in celebration. Last laugh. That's right, baby. The striker, the ultimate strikers, revenge, right? You've been hassled and beat up. And some were saying anonymous or invisible

for most of this game, but it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. You're a nine. I'm still saying it. I didn't think you, you know, he barely,

I can't think of any, like, really positive moments for him outside of the goal. I think he's, you know, I don't want to belabor the point of how much

he's distinguished himself from the rest of the nine contenders. But he's, he just does, I think he, he reads the game so well. He understands, What I saw was an awareness of what this game was going to be like of the type of centerbacks he was dealing with and him understanding and adapting in real time.

So, you know, I have no gripes about his performance in the sense that he's still reading the space. He's still. And I think the Raina Bala relationship bears watching, right? If Rana is, if there is staying power to this latest Rana revival, they're going to need to, to hone some of the finer points. But there's a lot of, there's a lot of good stuff here. And I think Balo just reads, like you mentioned the counterattack moment where he, he drops in, he sees it and gets on his horse.

I think there's just a lot of that little stuff where maybe it's not rewarded in the sense of him getting time on the ball or getting a clear look. But I still think he's just. he's that dude. Yeah, I agree. And I also want to point out, too, part of it is seeing this all, this play all starts with Paraguay in possession. I think it was their left back,

uh, or it was over on their left side. And Potch said later that they were trying to play over the press, right? He, the, the, the US wanted to not at all moments, but in the,

in the right moments, press and counter press, Paraguay's, we're seeing it and trying to play long or switch the, switch the attack to get past, the pressing triggers. They play a pretty big ping to out from the left out to the right to try and change the point of attack and get going.

And it's just, it's Luna who, I don't know, this is like his talking point now. He talks about intensity, commitment, you know, dog, all the dog talk, right, the dog language, he seems to drop it every time he answers questions from the media. And sure enough, he's just out there on. the on the left corner and he he gets after it he chases the things down uh rolled on i think again subtlety uh subtle stuff that i like from him steps in they see it take taking shape that they they can spring a trap here and they don't even it's not like someone gets a clean obvious win right the initial round of pressing doesn't doesn't create a turnover but it creates discomfort among

the paraguayan group there that's that's trying to keep possession and build out and it it leads to the poor pass. And then Balo's recognition of that was so quick. And it was like Pocch used the term harmony after the game. There was a harmoniousness to the collective action. Collective shape, understanding of what the moment was how it was shaping up and what they needed to do. So to me, that's, that's huge. Yeah.

Yeah, I like that. Because both Ballow and Raina really spring into action immediately. and got that thing done. You know, I do want to mention, you know, Geo is not going to win any awards for his defensive effort in this game, but in the 73rd minute, after he plays a nice pass to Brenda down the line, he, Brenda kind of beats his guy inside, then loses it trying to shift back to the outside. It's always seemed like there was, like, one, too many... defenders he tries to take on.

He could beat the first one and then he would lose it. But anyway, he loses it and Gio wins it back with like a crunching sliding challenge that plays it over to Ballow, shoots from 20 yards wide of the far post. By the way, Gio jumped into Ballow's arms to celebrate Bala's goal. And there's a nice picture of that going around. Just reference the chemistry between those two. They do seem to have a pretty, like at least a mutually respectful full relationship, probably more than that.

Then we get the subs. 75th minute, Tillman on for Ray, Timothy, Tillman, on for Raina. Aidan Morris comes on for Roldon and Ricardo Pepey comes on for Baligan. Really just two other things we've got to talk about. One is the huge Pepey chance. So, 79th minute, Tillman wins it well at midfield, plays it over to Luna, who goes past his guy on the left and then skids it across the six. goes through another defender's legs, and it falls to Pepe all alone in front of the goal.

He gathers it, tries to shift it onto his right foot, I mean, does shift it onto his right foot, and then has his shot blocked off the line by a defender. I don't really have some big point to make about it other than he would have scored if we needed the goal. Because that's how Pepey works. That's how Destiny works. Listen, I'm not a press box yelper, but I yelped. I yelled when all this unfolded because a bit of a howler by the defender. I can't remember who it was.

It just tired, just didn't read it. The ball squigs through his legs. And the peppy I know just pokes this in with his left foot. Yeah. Instant, you know, alfato per goal, right? The nose for goal that he has, he ends up taking two touches before actually releasing the shot because his first touch was imperfect, trying to get it to his right. the mark of a guy who's reaching a little bit maybe,

just not quite at full, at full flow. I think you're probably right. And it was insane recovery by the defender to literally throw himself in front of the ball. But you've got to get this goal because you get this goal and everybody can, breathe a little bit and the whole tenter of the game changes. So I think that's very unlucky for Peppy, but you just want to see. And there were a couple, there were several moments in the box over the course of 90 minutes. Raina did this as well.

Brendan, as you already mentioned, guys just not wanting to release a left-footed shot or not wanting to get it off their foot quickly, wanting the perfect shot instead of just, you know, this team is too good defensively for you to be taking that extra touch in the box. You just got to get it, get it on frame, even if it's a little sloppy. Yeah, totally agree with that. Okay. And then we get the, you know, Sebastian Burrhalter comes on for,

Brendan Aronson in the 81st minute he he tackles somebody in the box and starts jawing at him I think it was cuckoo yeah I think he cut out across from the N-line and small play and he celebrates like he'd scored a goal again the dog the dog was the dog X dog was

solid all night and it starts a red line at this point the dog was loose yeah it's a fight in stoppage time it's our ball ball goes out of bounds. It's going to be our ball. Paraguay coach

side-foots it back onto the field. And then Freeman and Gustavo Gomez both try to pick it up at the same time. Neither one. I mean, Freeman is in the right here. It's our ball. Like, let him have the ball. But Gustavo Gomez won't let him have the ball. And then eventually puts Freeman in a headlock while they're fighting over the ball.

And Freeman doesn't like this at all. I don't think. I think this is what kind of or kind of accelerated the fire. The FIFA ref, you know, the midfield ref is the first guy to the scene. Then, then Seb Burhalter comes bulldozing in, as he does, like head down, pushing forward. And then a bunch of guys from the Paraguay bench, Potch comes over. He kind of falls down by the camera. He disappears for a little while.

It's kind of hard to see who's who because I think some of the U.S. staff had red jackets, but a lot of them had blue jackets and so did the Paraguay coaching staff. So there's just like mostly blue jackets out there. It's looking like the Royal Rumble. I love the views from the sideline cam between the benches were sensational because it was like suddenly a white out or a blue out, I guess. There's bodies everywhere. But Potch, I think many of us were, Potch is too clever for us sometimes.

the press pack we're thinking okay surely poch is going to is going to say something nice about this you know he's got to love seeing everybody you know go zero to 100 instantly to defend a teammate and he he saw that coming i guess because he said no no i don't like this this is dangerous these situations are dangerous and hey maybe he's right you know uh a slightly uh crap ref might roll in and red card somebody maybe maybe freeman winds up with a totally unjust red card from this and the bad decisions are made by referees trying to calm down calm this down because this was again exhibit a of like how a friendly looks so different from even an intense friendly from a tournament match because in a tournament environment the rest are going to go nuts right they're going to yeah there's

going to be yellow cards for everybody yeah yeah and maybe if you there's only one red card in the end from, yeah, who got a red card? The guy who plays for Sunderland, who was an unused substitute on the night. I'm sorry, I'm blanking on his name. I should have that here. But, yeah, so the rest were a little bit, I think, patronizing,

kind of like, hey, let's get this over with and go home. But it's going to be, you could get a, you could get done. And somebody could miss a game they shouldn't in a tournament situation here. So I guess I get to Pach's point. But in the grand scheme, in the moment that this program finds itself overall, you got to give him a nod that the brotherhood. There's some measure of brotherhood of the 2022 concept that we got hit over the head with. There's some measure that has endured and evolved. And these guys are ready to scrap for one another.

Yeah. I mean, it feels like Sebastian Berthelter lives for this kind of moment. Like he really can't wait. He can't wait for this to have. We used to joke about there. there's a certain type of player who gets brought on in a situation like this to help put a, put a match to bed, right? The guy you send in the hospital to finish off,

finish someone off with a pillow over their face, right? You know, just asphyxiate this game. And I think Sebastian Bearhalter will gladly accept that role for this team as needed. Just run around, it's frustrate the opponent and scrap as needed. Yeah. I thought it was kind of funny. I mean, when Pach said he thought it was dangerous, I thought he was talking about the danger of getting trampled, you know.

Someone could get hurt, too. There's suspension and there's injuries. I suppose that's true. Yeah. But Tolkien and Gio, John Tolkien and Gio Raina, we definitely thought it was hilarious. And Scali was pretty bemused, too, as he was discussing it with Miguel Almerone.

So that's the last real action of the game. Let's do a couple quick takeaways and then get out of here. So what do you most, what's the thing you take away most from the game? Well, again, I say this with caution because you got to play Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay in a matter of hours. And if they, I think it's very easily that they're going to, that game could get away from you very easily, right? And then that casts a whole different kind of shadow over everything that's happened up till now. Saying that, Gio, I didn't, I thought that Gio and Scali would get opportunities. And as much as anything for Potch to say, leave me alone, right?

I gave these guys a chance. I gave them enough rope. They didn't do enough with it. But they did. Right. Now, Scali is a different case. But I think Pott has come around to see that Gio might play. he's played what 147 minutes or something along those lines so far little cameos over six matches

for for gladbach he emphasized as much as potch did how how he feels good there he's committed he wants to he feels valued he's determined to get on the field and become a regular starter even if that doesn't happen this spring you've got to take him because that's one of the unicorns in your player pool. And I think he did everything he could be expected to do in this match to drive that point home. Yeah. He's coming to the World Cup. I mean, unless he gets, unless he gets hurt before. Juries aside. Yeah. And he's, this is the main thing for me. He's probably, he's probably going to be a difference maker for us there. I mean, we need him to be. And he was given, he was, I thought even some of the praise was a little over the top.

I mean, I saw him get a nine out of ten and some of the ratings, player ratings. And I thought that was a little. And I say this as a compliment in the grand scheme. He was rusty. I thought there was that imperturbable Royles Royce level smoothness that we've seen from him in his best moments was not quite there. Understandably, right? So I think if this is what he can do well short of, and he said he thought he was asked to give a percentile to his fitness level right now. And he said he thought he's around 80 percent, maybe.

So if this is an 80 percent geo making his, you know, pushing to just make an impression and make the most of his minutes and get back into the mix and strike up a relationship with Potch. Think about, you know, think about what's left on the upside there. Yeah, totally. I mean, I thought in the final third, he also. like I think you said this earlier, he also didn't get the ball out of his feet quickly enough in a few occasions. And it seems like to your Rolls-Royce point,

that's not 100% geo. Like he doesn't just give the ball away in the box or in the final third the way he did a couple of times. And also, he disappeared in the game after the 60th minute. I mean, he did play the pass that Potch called an assist,

but nobody else is calling an assist. to ballo uh but pretty he was pretty quiet after i don't know 55 5th minute or so like in the just the run of play uh that's

so for them for me that's the big one um as well testman I thought testman helped his case I like I like what he he brings out there Roldon Aronson

and even though Scali you know has, there's blame for him on the goal. You know you're going to get somebody who just gets after it out there for as long as he's out there. Not too different from Arfston in that way. I mean, you just get the sense with both sides of our defense last night. These guys are not going to give up. They're not going to give in.

They're going to go hard as long as they're out there. I think Potch really appreciates that. I think we all do. and I think you get that from Scali and Arrington and rolled on. And Scali, Potch talked about how they see him as capable of being a wingback, orthodox fullback, an elbow back, or that even he's a fullback who can invert, who can drift inside and connect and, you know, fulfill that role. So, and I'm starting to wonder if he and Gio are even sort of a package deal because they,

Gio talked about how close they are. They spend like eight hours a day together. You know, they're obviously both at Klodbach. Gio said that he's Scali's Uber driver right now. He drives him to training every day. And he said something about he has a car, but he doesn't have his license. And he didn't want to say more than that. But again, to his credit, Gio knew when to get a little vague.

But I think they have always been homies. They've known each other since they were 10 or 12 or whatever. And now, you know, they're even tighter than ever. So, so maybe that's going to be a little, a little duo, a little duo combo there. I think Sanjay's going to interview Scali tomorrow for scuffed. So one of the questions is how much time do you guys spend together? I guess, I guess we can modify that and ask, how do you spend eight hours together per day? That seems like a lot.

I don't know if there's anybody, including my wife, I want to actually spend eight hours a day with. All right. I think that's it. Charlie, thanks for fitting this in between your travels, safe travels to Florida. Have a great time down there. No worries. No worries. Anybody who's out and about in the Tampa area, hit me up. Maybe we'll see you in the Raymond James parking lots. Yeah, see if you can look up George Qureshi. Yes, let's go, George. You got my number right? Come on, let's go. Okay. All right. Hey, thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you.