SoccerWise - First Touch '26 World Cup Daily Show: USMNT Eliminated, Messi vs. Salah Headlines Final Round of 16

Episode Date: July 7, 2026

The USMNT's World Cup run is over after a tough loss to Belgium. David Gass, Matt Doyle and Eric Krakauer break down what went wrong, what comes next for the U.S. plus they look at Spain’s win over Portugal. Then they preview Argentina vs. Egypt and Colombia vs. Switzerland as the final quarterfinal spots are decided.

Welcome everybody to First Touch Daily 26, our daily World Cup live show, where we talk about all things World Cup, everything that is going on around the biggest tournament as we hurdle through the round of 16. And we head towards the quarter final. I am David Goss, and I am lucky enough today to be joined by Eric Crackauer and Mr. Matt Doyle. Matt both stayed up late and woke up early. So this is a big day for Doyle. We're very proud of him. We're very excited for him to be here.

This is Eric's last day in the studio with us after a nice week of hanging out and talking soccer, which I could do all the time. So we're shooting for roughly a two hour and 15 minutes show. Yes. We know Eric's got the juice before he heads out of here and moves on it. It was a good day for Eric because he's a Portugal fan. You root for the U.S., I assume, slightly as well?

I did in this World Cup. Yeah, so it was a big day for him yesterday. So he's got a lot to talk about. And obviously we have a lot to talk about. We did a live postgame show. after the USA game on our Soccerwise channel. So you can watch it on the Soccerwise YouTube feed or page or you can listen to it on the podcast feed.

It was myself, Doyle and McKellie Giannone. So we talked for about an hour there. We will talk about the U.S. more because it's a big story, of course, in our soccer world, and it's a pretty big story in the World Cup. The final host country has now left the building. They have left the tournament. And now we move on to a lot of the powers

who are trying to find their way to another World Cup victory or maybe a first for some. of these countries. But we will talk, of course, about Spain's victory over Portugal. We will talk about Spain versus Belgium and what it means for Belgium with Onana tearing his ACL early in this game, as well as the performance without Kevin DeBrena and where that team goes going forward. And then, of course, we'll preview the rest of the games today.

I think at this point, I am Colombian. I feel Colombian today. I feel Colombian every day. They are my great hope. The kit behind me is gorgeous. I've got the blue one, which is my favorite kit that I've gotten so far. at this World Cup, they will face off against my hated rival, Switzerland, later today in Vancouver. And of course, Argentina will take the field.

It will be Mohammed Sala and Lionel Messi. If you watch the Fox broadcast, if you watch any other broadcast, it'll be Argentina against Egypt in this game. Although it really might be messy against Egypt in the end of this game. Egypt, the first time ever winning a knockout game at the World Cup. So they are in unprecedented territory. It feels like maybe this one might be a step too far. But we're going to dig in a little bit on Canada as well. We have a tactical piece that's what I put together for us,

sort of putting a bow on what their World Cup looked like. And we're going to talk some kits because soccer.com is we are lucky enough to have them as our sponsor. And we are looking at some of the best kits at the World Cup, as we have been, but also getting ready to transition towards the club game. As these players, many of them leave their teams. So we always start every show with three big things. It can be anything, positive, negative, on-field, off-field, anything. around the world. I've got, I know you two are ready to go. I'm going to start with mine.

And mine is that yesterday was a really frustrating game for the U.S. men's national team. I've been a fan of the U.S. I'd say committed since 2004. I have a land in Donovan number 21 jersey in the corner covered in stains to show how long I have been around at a lot of the pain and excitement that I've gotten from rooting for that team. It was not a banner night for them and we will talk about the game, we will talk about everything else. But I will say this. To have this show

where I could talk with you guys about this in however way we wanted is my one big thing for today. I went to sleep last night, feeling very fortunate that we do what we do in the way we do it. I woke up this morning feeling the same. You know, I left some of the post game shows and played Freebird and walked around the river in New Jersey

at 1 a.m. trying to calm down and go to sleep after we had done hour, hour and a half post game. shows. But I know as a fan the way I enjoy the experience of being a fan and I felt, I hope, that we provided some of that for fans. And I know for myself, there was nowhere else I'd rather be than in this corporate kitchen watching this game miserable and sad with you, with McKelle, with Anders, who came by and everyone else. So that's my big thing for today. And I think we are, hopefully, a sign of at least some of the progress that's happened in American soccer.

I think that's useful framing. And I think that's a useful framing. And I think that Throughout all of this run that the U.S. has been on, that is now over, and I guess this will be my big thing, the progress was evident, both in terms of how they played and the reach that they had as a team that sort of united the country. Record crowds, record TV audiences every time they played. And that's what made last night so painful. Wasn't the loss, it was how they lost. Canada went out on their shield. Mexico went out on their shield. Both of them played a little bit stupidly, in my opinion, but there was no lack of effort.

There was no confusion about who they were as a team. And the U.S. had this confusion as a team that cast a pall over everything that they had accomplished in the previous four games. Belgium, on the other hand, played like their hair was on fire. And we talked around it because we didn't have the postgame quotes last night when we went live. but we've gotten the postgame quotes now from the Belgian side and almost to amend. Thimo Corto gave a very diplomatic answer, but the rest of them talked about how there was a sense of injustice within the squad at FIFA's decision to reinstate Flo Balligan, and we were determined to respond on the field. And what, the Belgian national team tweeted overturn this after the

win. I didn't catch this on the broadcast, but I think after Lukaku's goal, after the fourth goal, they did the Trump dance. Everything that guy touches turns to trash. It just felt it as soon as he got involved. I tweeted it on, or posted it on Blue Sky. Like everything he touches turns to garbage. And I just cannot believe for a second that all of the upset. because of that decision didn't reach the U.S. team. This is not to excuse how they played. They played like that last night. They would have lost against anyone in this field,

including Qatar, who are terrible. That is how badly they played last night. And outside forces, getting involved in the game, sucks. It should not rattle a team that is as expected. experienced as this team was. They have no excuses for it. I still, however, believe that the impact it had on Belgium and giving this fractured and uninspiring team through four games, something to rally around and something to focus on, I think that was a catalyst that the U.S. probably were, even if they played their best game, probably weren't going to have an answer for. And so just

like sitting with that over the past 12 hours, thinking about that over the past 12, well, it's not even quite 12 hours, it's, man, not like this. I can deal with a loss. This is the worst game the US have played at the World Cup since that 5-1 loss to Czechoslovakia in 1990. It is by far the worst loss that we have had in the knockout rounds, period. And it feels like all the good vibes of the previous three weeks just up in smoke, just like that. We've made jokes that all the good comps were always at World Cups where you had to take a boat there. It's never good when the bad comps are against countries that no longer exist in their current format anymore. Here comes Eric. Eric, are you ready to roll? Yeah, I am. Look, there's a lot to say. I'll follow that up by saying

nothing galvanizes a group like siege mentality. Jose Mourino, one of the great coaches of the last few decades, capitalized on it on every team that he coached. I think what happened yesterday is lamentable because of everything you said, because of the opportunity that was there for the taking in terms of really hooking an American zeitgeist, if that makes sense.

An opportunity to make soccer much more of a household sport, you know, to take hold in homes that are dedicated to what are traditionally the American sports. And I said yesterday, sitting where you are, and I thought that when you guys posted the clip that maybe I was a little harsh, but I was actually on the money. I said, if the U.S. don't compete against Belgium or beat them, it will have been a failure. Because I understand how we, not necessarily as a sporting nation, but just sports fans, think about tournaments, think about moments.

And there is a collective amnesia that when something bad happens, it immediately wipes out all the good that's happened before that. And I think based on the reaction that I've seen over the last few hours, that is exactly what is happening. I saw that happen a little bit here at this test. I watched you, you two and McKelley, three people whose footballing brains I have a lot of respect for and always had. And I found myself wanting to yell at you through my phone screen, you know, it would pause and buffer all the time because I was on the subway, because I thought there was this, this deflation that was exaggerated. But I understood that it was raw as well because it was right after that defeat. And given the highs of highs that you

guys and we all went through in the first performances, it is understandable that you take a nose dive after what we saw against Belgium. We'll talk about the little details in the game, things that happened and things that you and I already have disagreed about out there. He almost attacked me. Well, no, let's just say. You came in and you said that you think the reaction from the larger amount of American punistry, us being included, is overreactionary to this.

That if we're going to come high and come this low, it's too big of a ban. Yes. that there should be somewhere in the middle. And I can understand that to an effect. What I said to you was, the U.S. men's national team doesn't get a Euros. Depending on what happens, they don't get a Copa America. And their clubs don't play in UEFA Champions League.

You, and I'm just going to take Portugal, for example, Portugal had a bad World Cup. Over the next four years, you basically get four shots to overcome the perception of the game in your country, externally and internally. Right. Portuguese people will walk a little bit taller. Not all of them. If Porto wins the Champions League, they'll walk a little bit taller if Portugal wins the European championships.

And they'll walk a little bit taller if they win a World Cup in four years. The U.S. doesn't get that shot. People don't watch the Gold Cup that way. People don't watch Concaf Champions League that way. This is their shot. You amplify that by the fact that it's a hosted one, and you're never going to get a better condition than playing in Seattle. Right? playing at that stadium in front of those fans.

That's our Azteca. That was it. So you built an entire 35-year cycle around growing the game and growing the moment and you had your shot right there. And even if you take away the home side of things, you get it once every four years. Once every four years, the U.S. gets a competitive game

that can't be denied the competitive nature of it against a team that's considered better than them in a group that they want to be a part of. And you get to prove to the world and your own fans that you belong in there. So when you lose that game, and they've lost it now for 20 straight years, which that's not exactly what we're talking about here. When you lose that game, it's pretty disappointing.

When you do it without even showing up, it is devastating. And I'm with you on that. Let me just say when you do it without even showing up after having played so well the previous four games and you do it with a group who had suffered in the previous World Cup and supposedly had all of this experience now and are all in their athletic primes, everything was lined up for the U.S.

And everything went wrong. If they played the way they played against England at the last World Cup yesterday, it'd be fine. Yes. I get that. And I think when you mentioned all that, I was in complete agreement with you. That's why I said it's lamentable

what happened last night. Because what I also said yesterday is that because of the viewership, there are so many people, not even casual soccer fans. People have never watched that. soccer who were on board. And what that performance did is it underscored or justified a lot of the perceptions that people

who didn't know anything about soccer had not only about soccer, but our place within the soccer sphere. So I get that. My reaction is more about the people who are within soccer and can try to eliminate, which is very difficult, understandably. eliminate that side of things, the perception for the rest of the country, and look at this as a team or look at this as a development or progress in the right direction for soccer in this country. As you said, just a few minutes ago, there are a lot of external factors that have

impacted this team. There is what the Trump administration did, which I knew was going to filter in. I actually, as soon as that news broke, I wrote online, this is the thing that is going to derail this team. Because you cannot be complete, no matter how insulated you are, you cannot be impervious to all the noise. We see it in club soccer, okay? I will add to, as much as it is this. Yeah. I will add to, I just think the ruling at all, the fact that Florian Boligan went up to Rudy Garcia on the field after the game and apologized. Apologized? I didn't know that.

He says that he apologized to Rudy Garcia, and Rudy Garcia says, it's not your fault. And then the quote that Bolligan ended up giving in the postgame, which I wrote down, was basically Rudy Garcia telling him, he said he hopes that this situation won't overshadow. The fantastic World Cup I've had, Bolligan said. He just wanted to encourage me to be positive and to be proud of what I've been able to accomplish in this tournament.

He went on to say it maybe once I think about it a little bit later. You can't tell me it's not in his mind. And that is past the Trump stuff to. the fact that I think Flo Boligan doesn't feel he should have played in the game. And that doesn't mean he didn't play to his hardest. It just throws off the fact that you're preparing for the biggest game of the moment of your life. A whole country is talking about you. People have never been interested in the game.

In fact, this is what I wrote days ago, that the World Cup is now being dragged into a culture war by poorly informed blowhard simpletons is tragic. And that also has an impact. You have senators who have no interest in soccer, basically said that soccer is basically the gateway to communism in this country, and they're saying Balaghan should be starting? Of course this is going to impact the player. Of course it is. And he didn't even he didn't even play that badly, okay, in what was a collective disaster. But I kind of lost my train of thought here. Oh, so there's that. I also said the United States is going into the game for the

very first time in a major competition, and I don't mean the Gold Cup, with the burden of expectation. That's never happened before. And by the way, that puts a lot of pressure on teams. It changes the psychological state of how a team goes into the game. How do I know that, not having played professionally? I've spoken to a lot of players and coaches in the past. Like the two of you, I've been around this game, not only in the United States, but in Europe for three decades. Okay? And I understand then when a team goes into a locker room and about to start a game,

and they realize that their country or their fan base, and even more than that, a fan base of other countries, expects you to be the dominant force, especially when you've been the underdog your entire life, that is going to impact how you feel going on to the field. And I honestly think that was the biggest factor for the U.S. going into that game. Miquely said pecho frio, which is a term that is often used. That was, that impacted it 100%. And then you have the Belgians who were totally galvanized by everything that's happening. I mean, I was reading the comments and you mentioned this.

The comments on the show yesterday, all these Belgians who have found the show, who have found my private Instagram accounts, okay? And they were galvanized, and now even worse, and that's my last point, because I know that I'm going on to rant. What really hurts about this is not that the fact, is not the fact that there isn't going to be this competition that the U.S. international team can measure itself where they can measure themselves against top competition. It is the stain, the irrevocable blemish that has been put on this team by what happened. United States will, maybe not forever, but for the foreseeable future, everybody will look at this team, even though it's not the fault of Poitino, it's not the fault of the players, but they will

look at them as cheaters. That's just a reality. Is it unfair? Absolutely. That's the reality. So there's a lot to talk about from this game. We did a bunch of it last night. This is obviously a huge part of it and obviously a huge talking point, which it could be a chicken and egg thing, right? If every U.S. player says it wasn't a factor and keeps getting asked about it, then at some point it becomes a factor because you keep getting asked about it. And as you said, it's surprising to believe that it wasn't a factor. And my point with Bolligan is clearly it was on his mind and this is the multiple stages of this. You know, FIFA is saying, oh, it had nothing to do with it.

And, you know, we were already doing our investigation, whatever. I think if that had happened alone, it still would have been an issue that the U.S. would have had to deal with. because you're the home country. It's the second time it's happened since Garincia, who ended up dying within four years of that because of alcoholism. And this is a thousand years ago. And that's your one comparison point. Again, if you had to take a boat to the tournament,

and that's your comparison point, then not great things are happening or unprecedented things are happening. I think it would have been a factor no matter what. I don't believe it is the total factor. I think the lack of this team showing up for this game, has other pieces going into it? They celebrated after the Bosnia win in a way that you don't celebrate

in the middle of a World Cup. Pochitino throwing out that first pitch at the Mariners game. I get it, right? Because you want to build fan enthusiasm. You want to build recognition. But it felt too celebratory. The sparklers going off.

This did not seem like a team that was in the right place. mentally to treat this game like it was do or die. And I do think that they did a really good job treating the previous four games like they were do and die and being super professional. And we said this on the show last night. One of my biggest disappointments in all of this is we never got to see if the way the U.S. played against Paraguay in Australia and Bosnia, if that could scale and be effective

against a team like Belgium because that's not the U.S. team that showed up. The U.S. team that showed up did not solve problems off the ball. They defended passively. They lost every duel. A Dutch buddy of mine who has not watched a game since the Dutch lost in the previous round

because he's so mad at Ronald Kuhmann. I was like, please put on the game and just tell me what you saw matched what I saw. and within three minutes, he texts me, you guys are losing every duel. You're not even in the duels. I was like, yeah, okay. So we all saw the same thing.

It doesn't matter what the tactics were at that point. And by the way, the tactics did really suck, and I will talk more about that later. But like, if you're going to lose every duel, you have to have such a pronounced talent advantage that it's almost impossible to have at the round of 16 in the world. Cup. And guess what? We don't have that talent advantage against Belgium or anyone like them.

Oh, you know, but hold on a second. To that last point about the talent comparison, don't tell me that we look, that our, I'm going to adopt the U.S. right now, that our starting 11 does not have comparable talent to the starting 11 for Belgium. No, that's not the problem. That's not the problem. The problem is when France plays like crap, they win. Yes. France is too good. The U.S. played like crap and lost because they're comparable. But you don't get plays off if you're comparable. Fair enough.

And this is the debate. And Cotter asked me, 2014 to today. The U.S. lost the Belgium in 2014. They lost the Belgium today. I mean, Tim Howard didn't have a stroke on the field. So that's, you know. Has there been gains? And you can debate it, yes or no.

And Cotter was talking to me about the space the U.S. has the ball yesterday. and their ability to be in possession, which just wasn't there in 2014, right? Those are the gains, and where these guys, a lot of them play in the stage they are in their career, those are the gains. Now, there's some movement of, well, they were a home team, so you're already 5% better, like you have to be.

And so I don't know where those gains sit. But it doesn't matter if their talents the same because they didn't show up and compete. No, I agree with that. But I'm just saying because what I've heard from other people, not you guys, and what I've seen, you know, doom scrolling last night till all hours of the morning, is this narrative that talents wide, there's a gulf in the disparity between the two teams. And that's just not true.

Maybe once you start looking beyond 13, 14, and 15, fair enough. Depth is an issue. We'll continue to be an issue in this country for a while longer, but I think we'll cover it at some point. But that had nothing to do with it. Because if I'm looking at pound for pound, if out of all the centerbacks I played yesterday, if I have my pick of all the centerbacks, I pick Chris Richards.

How did he play? You know, he needed a diaper out there. Okay, and this is a player that I totally respect and would have told you two months ago is the most important player to this national team setup. So look, this is a team that lost its nerve didn't meet the moment for a variety of reasons, but I think most of it had to.

do with pressure, but everything played into it. But on the side of Belgium, galvanized, absolutely. And Rudy Garcia, listen, I've spent the last few days destroying this guy. We thought he quit in the middle of the second half against Senegal. It looked like he was quitting the job. He made the right to, I didn't think he made all the right decisions, but he made a few right decisions. DeBreina, bench.

What can we do now? We can push our line of confrontation and press a little bit more. Luca Bakio, you get the start. Why? Because he can stretch the field, but he can also cut inside, links up play, awesome player. I was surprised, I was going to say, that Trossard started just because Morrero was very good off the bench. But Trossard had one of the best games that he's had in a Belgian jersey. I mean, the way he shaked and baked Dest out of the way before crossing that ball into the box, I haven't seen that Trossard in a very long time.

I'm not saying that he hasn't played well for Arsenal, but that's not necessarily the kind of skill that I think about. So listen, Rudy Garcia, credit to you, man, you made good decisions. Everybody played well, and the U.S. didn't show up. You mentioned on the other side, tactical. By the way, soccer.com is our sponsor for this segment where we yell about the U.S. and Belgium. You can go there to get your Trianda Pro. You saw that ball in action. It has fared very well for Malik Tillman and his ability to hit free kicks, the movement, the speed that it gets. So you can get the official ball at soccer.com, including match-specific ones, if you want to commemorate some of the games coming up,

maybe some of the great Columbia wins that are coming in a little bit. Because today I am. I feel Colombian, as I always do, every single day. You mentioned Rudy Garcia. Maricio Pocetino was brought in two years ago for a big role. I texted you during the game about this. Yeah. So I'm not.

Sorry. I don't think you even complete the question. I'm not even on the text group. So, well, let's everybody. I knew you'd be focused on the game. You tell me what you saw because I'm not sure we saw the same thing. So the U.S. in the first what? I don't remember exactly the time that it shifted.

The U.S. has played primarily with a back three in possession. Richards in the middle, Ream on the left, and Freeman on the right would desk bombing in front of him and Robinson on the left-hand side. They had trouble connecting with Tyler Adams during the game. that there was a lot of pressure. At one point, he shifted. He went a back four buildup

where he pushed Robinson and Freeman as more traditional fullbacks. And he had Tyler Adams pinch in, sometimes in between the two centerbacks, sometimes on the right-hand side. He changed his build. Now, I understand why he did that because at times Belgium was defending her in a 4-33,

so they were going man-to-man. not necessarily man-to-man marking, but they were covering the passing lanes for those three. I understand the change. But I don't think that change should have been maintained for the remainder of the game, and that's what happened. Because when you have been regimented to play in a particular way, you begin to have a certain,

a feel. You talk about the, you mentioned the geometry. You made a, the way you articulated it, was great the other day. The geometry of triangulation or whatever. Right? Yeah. And I was like, when you said, I was like, I really liked that.

I'm going to steal it. And then I forgot about it. You just don't have that same almost innate connection and movement and positioning. And that affected the team a little bit. Having said that, that's how he comes out in the second half. And for about 10 minutes, I thought the U.S. is going to get back into this. Because for all the Belgian domination and the chances that they had, they go into the break. down just one goal and games are about moments and until Matt freeze freezes in that moment

I actually think the U.S. is going to turn this around Belgium is struggling to the point where they bombard that ball forward to who beat who beat Chris Richards who completely out of talk to it was the Kedalera it was the Kedalera who beat him in that one-on-one so that wasn't only on freeze Richards I don't know what he was doing there but they went long because they had no outlet. Right? So credit to the U.S. Anyway, my piece. Floor is yours. So the buildout,

so the way you put it in the text, I didn't quite understand. You call it the difference between a three versus a four. I was like, no, they're still building in a four when they're deep. But what we saw was Tyler dropping between the centerbacks, which is weird because he doesn't usually do that. And the

only time in recent memory we've had one of our defensive midfielder's doing that in our buildout shape, was in March against Belgium and Portugal in our worst performances of the past year. And what it does is it leaves central midfield open and gives the opponent room to hunt for second balls and to use pressure in central midfield rather than directly on the back line. Testman and Johnny, right? I think, and Aidan Morris.

And I think the performances were so bad. I think that's what cost Testman and Aidan Morris their spot on this season. team. It was a weird decision. I still do not understand why he didn't just stick with the normal build-out. You don't think it was because they couldn't get out? Like, it felt like there's a 15-minute segment of this game where the back three get deeper and deeper every time they try and build. So it's a four when they're building in their own half, right? And what I saw was that Malik Tillman was not dropping to help form a dump. him and Weston were at midfield, and as the backline got further deeper, they never moved and they couldn't get to their feet. So I think my point is before I would have started dropping Tyler a level into the middle of the back line to change it to a five or a three, however you want to put it, I would have had Malik Tillman drop a little bit and to create another outlet, maybe even released Tyler every now and then to put a little fear into the Belgian and a little bit of misdirection that the Belgians have to track. that never happened.

And that was so tactically basic. It kind of broke my brain that we never gave that a whirl. And then the other thing is, okay, they're coming up and pressing. Their centerbacks are not particularly good. Flo Baligan is really good. Two or three times, we played over the top and he had the beating of them. Like he... Down that right channel.

Oh, my God. Every time he was in space and he was dangerous. Just do it. Like, do that until they break. And we never did. And it drove me a month. And we haven't. even got into the defensive tactical shortcomings that I'm going to be thinking about for years.

On all of this, Onana eliminated half the midfield for the opening 15, 20 minutes. He was outstanding. I thought they would drop. He tears his ACL and it doesn't get better. Is that been confirmed? Yes. Okay. I knew it. Yeah, so he's out for seven to eight months. And obviously, won't be available for the rest of the tournament, which is a huge loss for them. And then you talk about responding and understanding and everything. Belgium responds to that. And they continue to push and the U.S. in a moment in which, okay, now the game states are going to shift. Where do we take advantage there? They just never found themselves.

And the Belgium's rotations in the middle were very good. We're really good. To the point where I was Raskin, okay, to the point where I was like, where is Raskin actually playing? Because he's playing everywhere right now. Okay. So he really made a name for himself in that game. Come on. He is the Ranger.

But you know something? You mentioned the stretching, both of you, and you're right. And I turned to one of my friends and I said, this game is primed for Hajjah Wright. And while Raina comes in and has a little bit of an impact, I don't understand that, I do understand the substitution because of everything that you're saying. We needed to buttress the midfield. And that's the way Pochitino thought you'd achieve some success, maybe dropping Tillman a little bit more, and then having Raina occupy pockets, okay?

Which he did, which you did. But to your point, I think you're dead right, there were issues with speed in the back line. Don't over, don't overcrowd your midfield, force them to run towards their own goal. But here's my issue with this game, and I say this as we do this. My issue is what you're talking about is tactical.

And still, you can't overcome where you're lacking the rules. Everyone was scared. Yes. And Raina doesn't give a shit. Yeah. And no one wanted to be on the ball. And no one wanted bodies around them. And no one was playing on instinct.

And to your, what I would say, flow state, no one was playing the next pass that should be there. And so everything was slow. And Jera is going to do that because he doesn't care. And not that in a bad way. That's how he's built. That's how these guys should be built. That's part of why he's in this team. And he's technically clean enough to do it so that when he's slow or late to the game or whatever.

And those 10 minutes were U.S. dominant in this day after second. Because he was finding, he was finding those. pockets to actually allow the U.S. centerbacks to hit line breaking passes. That's true, too. You know, and I think it was maybe switching a little bit more to like a 4-2-3-1 at that point rather than the 4-33. But to David's point, there was none of the movement off the ball in like stacked runs layered to create misdirection and to create options.

Every time they got into the pinch space on the right and left side, not a single run into the channel. Yeah. Not a single one between the fullback of the same. It would have been the defining feature of this team through four games. And it's the space all these guys want to be against Paraguay. My goodness, against Paraguay, Paraguay, that was their demise. And yet, so the play where Policic gets hurt, I guess, is when Jedi slips him the ball inside

and he turns and he goes into the shot and the foot and the foot, that play, Raina is in a position to be like a dropback help pass for Jedi. and then he actually pulls even further up the sideline, and Telemans takes two steps towards Raina, and Pulisic's open inside, and he slips him to pass. It's genius. To move, to move around the game was the genius moment that occurred. Do you want to talk about Polisic, by the way?

I heard what you were saying. Is there anything that you want to say that you said yesterday about Polisic? He just came off of Soft, you know, and I don't mean the injury. injuries happen and I feel bad for him that he went through that twice now in this tournament. But if you're the number 10 and you're the leader of the team, you have to be the one to set the tone, whether you're wearing the armband or not. And it has just happened repeatedly.

Now he's, the interview he gave after the game was like, well, now I can rest. Oh, you're going to get another summer of rest. Really happy for you, man. And I just never want to hear his name mentioned in the who's the U.S. Men's National Team goat covers. Can I say something real quick? One of the things I feel like we have been unshackled from over the last 24 hours is the reality of, and I harp on this a lot, the failures of the U.S. Soccer Federation,

and as well as some bigger picture around the game, was similar to Mexico, the U.S. had reached a, don't embarrass yourself stage over the last two plus years. years going into this World Cup because it was already set and there's nothing you can do about and you couldn't push it back. And I think even with Pocitino coming in and challenging guys and changing things, there were still some guarantees. There was no world which the U.S. was going to have their best performance of this World Cup that Pulisic wasn't a part of, that Weston wasn't a part of, that flow wasn't a part of. It doesn't matter anymore. And I think over the next four years, Polisic might be the best player on this team. And he might be the captain in four years. And he might

dominate over the next four years. But I think it's going to be something he has to earn, and I don't think they had to earn it over the last four years. And I feel unshackled to an extent of like, I think everyone's been on tiptoes, hence asking if they want Greg Burrhalter back or not, being like, we need you all to get us to the next stage. And now it's like, oh, okay, really? Then we're going to call in Julian Hall.

Yeah. That's fine. We're going to call in the next guy. And I feel like that can shift coming out of this because the players fell flat. So they don't have standing to say, well, you were the one in the trenches against Iran. in 2022 so we owe you for that and I think the pipeline is strong enough and this is a big part of what we'll talk about over the next few days to say okay fine you don't want to come to gold cup that's fine or you haven't scored in six months and you fall flat and you can't lead this team

then you're not going to be a part of it that we owe you mentality doesn't belong in professional sports look at what happened to the Portuguese national team we will get there I did and I enjoyed it while eating Bacolao and fresh sardines It was really nice On pool is sick I have been driven mad Over the last few years

About the conversation surrounding this guy Let me just say Very talented A really good footballer Maybe the most talented U.S. player right now But to even suggest

At any point And they were anointing him long before he did anything, as already on talent alone, the best U.S. men's national team player of all time, comparing him with the likes of Landon Donovan and the guy that I think is the best. Clint Dempsey? Are you kidding me? Do you know every time I heard that conversation? You don't know where I'm from, dog.

And I said this to people. I said, either, oh my God, I'm becoming somebody I've been criticizing lately, I'm not going to name. Either you don't know what you're talking about. you don't really know this sport so well or let's leave it at that or maybe you don't know the sport so well because hold on

because I never saw anything he could be the best player in the game but I never saw enough of his impact on the rest of the group in order for me to say that do you mean an on-field impact in terms of the actual geometry of the game or an emotional impact

both because sometimes I thought he was outstead standing against Paraguay. I thought against Portugal in the friendly in March, where he played as a false nine, I thought he may have been the U.S.'s best player. It didn't quite materialize in the attacking third because he wasn't used to playing in that position, and that last decision failed him. He is an exceptional footballer. I don't, there's no doubt about that. But we can't have these conversations about who's the goat in the United States if you don't deliver on the biggest stage. And I'm not just talking about delivering with the U.S. men's national team. I'm also talking about delivering

with Milan or delivering with Chelsea. Yeah, I mean, he was a legitimate piece of a championship winning team with Chelsea, and he was Milan's leading goal score last year. For a while. Those are things he accomplished. Yes, and he started this season. He played okay at Tottenham. Again, he's an exception, exceptional footballer.

I'm not saying that he's not that. He is an example. Just stop putting this kind of, stop placing, projecting these expectations onto this guy, which clearly cripple him as well. well. He gets elevated in a global soccer conversation from American non-socker people because they don't know how else to talk about it. And I think American soccer people, and I say that loosely, like executives at Fox and people who work at U.S. soccer have done him no favors to your point by promoting that because they want a face for all of this. And the fact that he's the commercial for

everything, it's him and Diego Luna, which is like its own story, it makes life hard for him. He is also an example of the like small road we've climbed. What Christian Polisic has been brought into and accomplished is partially because of what Clint and Brian McBride and to Marcus Beasley did. I don't know that Christian Polisic gets signed by a Champions League team 20 years ago, 15 years ago. And I do think part of what he's accomplished has helped the next player. I think now teams are more open and looking at Caleb Wiley and Gaga Solini and all this stuff. How's that working out?

Yeah. Well, at some point, you just need enough. rolls of the dice. You know, it's on the players to experience it correctly. It's on the players to find their best spot. But it worked out okay in the end for Tanner Testament. And I think he's going to have a nice career. And I think he's going to be a part of the US men's national team. And I think it could work out for Caleb Whitey. It might work out for a Paxton Aronson. You never know. But like getting the shot that players before you probably weren't going to get is better off than not. Can I move us for a little? Trailblazing is important. You know,

and that's what you're referring to. Yeah. I just want to. make one more point. It's a big one that will probably have to dig into on another show. I think this is the ceiling for the U.S. as a program right now and probably into the future. And maybe we get lucky, get the right draw and get to the quarterfinals. But we're not cracking that top 10 legitimate threat to win a world hip tier until and unless MLS improves. Yes. Ultimately, this is on MLS. This is on the player. This is on making sure that we have eight Benficas in this country in terms of their idea and maybe a couple of sporting As far sporting in terms of

Our developmental pathways not just in terms of getting 12-year-old into them But getting them on the field the way that we're seeing across the river with Julian Hall and Adjima met Yes and Matt dos Santos and there's one other thing Pocetino talked about this culture Okay it has and this is why I lament what happened yesterday because I understand this is what it affects this is it impacts that culture because I know that there are a lot of people who have that collective amnesia that I talked about had were there not or were it not for that collective amnesia

the excitement leading into that game against Belgium would still be there and people all of a sudden are playing soccer on the street you know I when I watched um and I'm I know you want to move when I watched USA Bosnia I watched it in the lower east side I was watching it with a bunch of my former teammates, shout out Manhattan Kickers, and a lot of them have families. And they brought their kids to this restaurant. Do you know what they were doing

at halftime and after the game? They were playing soccer in the middle of the street in the Lower East Side. And I remember looking at them and going, that's how I grew up in Portugal. That's how other kids grow up and that's what you don't see

in the United States in most places. And hopefully that's what we're going to see because it's about, you know, that Thierre-R-E segment feature where it's like I grew up in the In Parisian Ban Liu, by the way, Ban Liu and suburbs isn't exactly the same thing. On those concrete fields where I learned how to play, those need to be all around. Street FC has tried to do that, and I think more programs like that will help.

But that has got to happen. So you can have, MLS can grow, and that will come a long way. But if you don't have that cultural piece, you're right, it's never going to be top ten. And the culture, by the way, it's not any organization. It's just playing. Yes. It's unstructured play. It's open play.

It's juggling a ball by yourself. It's kicking against the wall, but it's also just playing pickup with people. And the only way you do that is by inspiring people. And that was the opportunity that was on the stage for the guys yesterday. And they didn't get there. I was going to ask about Pucatino. I just don't see a world, which he comes back on either side. He finishes, by the way, this is from Tudel Raman on Blue Sky.

He finishes the U.S. currently is number 31 in Elo rating. they were 23 when he took over. Sorry, they were 23 when they finished the 2022 World Cup. And this is the worst finish for a men's national team coach coming out of a cycle since 1998 with Steve Samson, who got fired and had his captain sleep with one of his star player's wives. So had some other stuff going on as well that he had to deal with. So not an ideal finish, a lot of pomp, a lot of money around him. And in the end, I think to your point, there's a ceiling to what could be a compliment. I think similar to Javier Garay, he pulled up the floor and put together a performance that was respectable

that saved the billions of dollars that have been invested in this tournament from an infrastructure point of view overall, but also from U.S. soccer and everything they've tried to build. I will leave us on this. I'm lucky enough to cover the youth ranks in Major League Soccer as well as across the country. We all watch MLS as tightly as anyone. We watch U.S.L. We watch MLS and X pro sometimes when we have to. Alex Freeman was one of the two or three best players at this World Cup for the U.S.

Alex Freeman's an incredible talent. Alex Freeman is not a standout, the best player I have seen at the youth ranks. I don't say that in knocking Alex Freeman. I say that in saying there is more. This isn't, there's one piece in the U.S. is going to build it all around them. It is, there is a pipeline of players that are pushing to come through. They need to be cultured the right way, aka they need to be pushed. they need to be challenged.

They need to learn how to deal with adversity and fight. They still need to be trained technically. There are moments where you see some of the U.S. players struggle in tight technical moments where, okay, if your feet were a little bit cleaner, you could have dealt with that or there would have been less pressure. But I promise you that there is more talent coming through. I promise you that this group will continue to get better. And that's the hopeful part of all of this.

And as much as it needs to get even better, there is still jumps coming and there is still special players coming through. And I think there is more opportunity for those players to find their spot now than there's ever been in American soccer history. And that's what keeps to be hopeful that this team will progress. And they'll win the 2028 Copa America in Fort Lauderdale or in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. And they'll fly forward to go win euros in 2032. Why not? And I'll play AFCON in December of 2032 after playing in euros. And you know what? Asian Cup we're coming for you next. Vanuatu, watch out. Because there's an Oceana competition. as well. Belgium, the best game they've played at the World Cup, they will now move on to face

Spain in the quarterfinals after Spain gets a late 1-0 victory over Portugal in the battle of the Iberia. That game will be Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern time in L.A. Spain is the first team in World Cup history to keep a clean sheet in six consecutive matches. They now have gone 10 hours and nine minutes without conceding in the competition. I believe this goes back to the last World Cup for them. So the continuous streak crosses over multiple World Cups. Farron Torres with the assist from Mikhail Marino, who came off the bench for the goal. And Portugal have now lost or been eliminated from six of their last eight World Cup knockout stage matches. Not a lot of history winning games in the moment. We'll get to Eric in a second. What do you make of Spain's

ability to just do enough to get out of this. I don't think it was just do enough. I thought they were in complete control of the game for the entirety of it. I didn't exactly feel like the goal was coming, but it didn't surprise me either. And the nature of the goal with Marino, you know, the center forward clears a little runway and Marino is so good at making that run. The only surprising part is Ferrantors being the one to lay in that pass with perfect wait, because that's not really his game.

But they look like Spain. You know, they never feel like they're getting out of fourth gear, I will say. They've upped it a little bit over the past couple of games. And that is, that is to their credit. They exert control over the game in a way like no one else in the world. And eventually you make a mistake. And eventually they find the back of the net. And it's a shame because.

I think this version of Portugal with this midfield has the talent to do something similar and has arguably more talent along the back line as well. And they could have, I think, with a different coach and a different centerpiece of the program could have played this in a different way to make it feel more even. Because this one didn't feel particularly even. And I got to tell you, it wasn't as bad as the U.S. that Portugal didn't seem afraid of the moment. No. But they didn't ever feel like they didn't comport themselves,

themselves like a team that felt like they were going to win. I'm just telling this because I need to lean back for this conversation. You're right. From the point where you started about Spain controlling the game, they control the game from start to finish. of course, even the best of teams, when they dominate proceedings, they have lapses, and Portugal could have capitalized on those. I think they could have capitalized on more lapses, had there been a coherent game plan, but I already spoke about Roberto Martinez's ineptitude.

The other day, I started off by saying that he was a great ambassador for Portugal, forget all that. I mean, he is, but forget all that because I'm just so angry. You know, I was watching that game with one of our very close friends, one of my best friends, Eric Consolvis, who worked from MLS for years, knows a lot about soccer. Figo himself. Who likes to call himself Figo, but we all know that I'm the Figo in the conversation. I thought you were the Rurikosta. But he was agitated throughout and pacing. And I did at the end when we started getting to stop each time because I saw the writing on the wall. But I had resigned myself to this fate, and it made it much easier to digest what ultimately

came to pass because of everything that I had said and believed about this team. That said, you're also right that this is a Portuguese national team that had the players to do a hell of a lot better. To be contenders to win this World Cup, I'm not so sure. Not there yet. Are you really the best midfield? yes, but you cannot be the best midfield in the competition when the collective doesn't work. I don't care how good you are.

You look at Vitina and Jo Nevesh and Joannevch, possibly the best midfielder that Portugal had in this tournament because he was able to, what's the word that I'm looking for? He wasn't as burdened by the total disarray around him. You know, he's the kind of guy who can assert himself into the game by other means. but guys like Bruno Fernand and Vitina were clearly impacted by the blueprint or the lack thereof. You look at PSG, Nevgen Vitina. Look at what they have around them. Look at what Luis Enrique has built.

Look at what Roberto Martinez has demolished. It's an antithesis. You look at Bruno Fernandt, even in a disjointed, dysfunctional Manchester United, he had certain pieces that he could benefit. from. He had runners. A lot of his passes are forward thinking. Most of his passes or most of Portugal's line-breaking passes belong to Brunfriento. Even though he was a non-factor, at least at times he tried to make an impact. The whole system was broken. And you can blame Cristiano Ronaldo all you want. And yes, he too is problematic, but it was much bigger than him. And I said since the beginning,

If this team was going to insist on Cristiano Ronaldo being the focal point in the attack, Roberto Martinez had to devise a system that was going to get the most out of him. Stay in the box. Try and cross the ball. Is crossing the ball the most effective way to create danger? No. But at least he is a dangerous presence in the box. And they didn't do that. When they're talking about Cristiano Ronaldo's lack of touches in the penalty box, that isn't all down to him.

It is at times. You saw what happened in this game. He wasn't getting the ball. So what did he do? He dropped left. Holland doesn't do that when he doesn't touch the ball. He stays around dangerous areas. And he often says, I don't care if I impact the game with the ball,

as long as I'm in the right place at the right time. How many times did Portugal get the ball out wide and either didn't cross because he wasn't there or didn't cross because they seem to be afraid to cross the ball? So Cristiano Ronaldo is a problem, doesn't stretch the game, doesn't press, and they needed to press against Spain. but it didn't all come down to him. This is fully on Roberto Martinez.

I won't call him a fraud. A lot of other people call him a fraud. I'll let you guys decide that, but Jesus. And this is partially, by the way, the difference of the conversations we're having between these two national teams, which is Portugal has the pieces. It's about putting the pieces together correctly.

And that's where Roberto Martinez is so frustrating because it's there. It does the opposite. Well, but it's there. There are some national teams where, everyone likes to complain about structures. Oh, the Federation's not good enough. The coach isn't good enough. And a lot of times it's like, it doesn't matter.

This group's not going to win a World Cup. This group could win a World Cup. They absolutely could. And they've gone out of their way to make it harder for themselves by hiring a coach who doesn't really understand how to put the pieces together correctly,

doesn't really have the vision or the strength to sort of fight against some of the aspects that they need to protect the group, to make it better, and then goes out and play. plays fairly passive over the course of the tournament. Passive and scared. And by the way, the Roberto Martinez bullshit.

And I'll say bullshit. Paul Merson years ago said something that I thought was harsh about Roberto Martinez. Again, lovely gentleman, really good pundit. He said, Roberto Martinez's teams can go out there and shit the bed. And then Roberto Martinez does the post game press conference and he makes it sound like they didn't shit the bed. And you start to believe it. You're like, oh, maybe he's all. maybe he's on to something.

And Paul Mersen was definitely on to something. Yes, there's a very, you know, what we do, we're on YouTube. There is a podcast in Portugal that is very popular. And Ricardo Koreshma is one of the analysts. And they had Ruben Diyos sit down and the two got into a heated exchange. Because Ruben Dijs is sitting down and saying, I think we played toe to toe with Spain. And I think we had chances. You need to remember that these are contenders.

But we had our chances. We took the game to them. And finally, Kornashma said, with all due respect, nothing you've said is true. This is a team that showed no desire. Everything was horizontal. There was no verticality. And given the caliber of players available to this national team, all these world beaters, players in various positions who can be considered among the world's best,

you think that those were good performances? Get out of here. And it got contentious between the two. But that just shows how even a coach's BS can infiltrate the brains of players where they feel like they're doing well when they clearly were not. Nuno Mendes has the shot deflected that goes off the crossbar fairly early on. Unae Simone has sort of like a double save moment. Otherwise, it wasn't one way traffic for Spain, but Spain was more dangerous. You talked about fourth gear as a team.

Lemuel still felt like he was in fifth. He never really, he had two or three chances where he picked up the ball in the run in the channel between defenders where he has broken through because he has that extra gear than everyone else and then at composure to finish. He was not able to do that in this game. I think that's part of we're not seeing a Spain that looks like World Cup favorites, even though they continue to progress. That's part of it.

The other part was Oirathabal, his movement was actually really passive and weird in this game, there were a couple moments where I think maybe Biana got to the end line and hit pull back across the six and where was Eury Athabal. And like granted, O'Earthabal, he's not a, he's not a traditional center forward in a lot of ways. He's not going to make the, you know, the hard near post run all the time. He finds clever little pockets to finish from. But if he had been, I think, more fundamentally sound or just locked in, taking a couple chances off the ball, this one could had a different score line. In the end, though, I'm already looking forward to what Portugal become in the next two years under a new manager, because this midfield should be one of the two

best in the world. And this back line, especially with Numa Man, you know, at left back, should be one of the most dynamic in the world. Gass is smiling because now I have figured out how to pronounce Portuguese names as well. And let me also just say, I think with Vegas emergence in this tournament, there is confidence, as there should be, that and Jaunev, where he lives in the world, that there will continue to be players produced. Yes. And so this is not a golden generation for Portugal.

This is what they are now. And now can you put the pieces together to get over the line? It's kind of a golden generation, though, because this team is so talented. The question is, who does Roberto Martinez ruin next? Because he had Belgium, Portugal? Somebody's going to hire this guy. Japan!

Roberto Martinez, is corrosive to golden generations. I wrote this at half time. Without verticality, only limited moments of individual inspiration will threaten Spain. Those are few and far in between. And then I wrote this,

and this is the most important part. Portugal continued to ask too much of Nunuminch. And what happens a few minutes into the second half? He has to go off. Why? Because he's asked to cover Le Miniamal, and for the most part, he did exceptionally well.

Juan Felix, who has been a becho frio for this team forever, won most of his duels. What does Roberto Martinez do? Pulls them off. I don't even want to go into details about the substitutions, but let me focus on Nun Minch. He was expected to do everything on this team. He had the most passes that led into shots. He was one of the best individual defenders. In the game, he was at the back, at center mid, up the flank.

he did absolutely everything. Let me just read you a couple of stats here that really stand out and then maybe I can say something about Spain. Portugal attempted only 11 line breaking passes to split defenses. 11. In how many games?

11. In five games. That's an embarrassment with the team that we're talking about the midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't complete a headed shot. What does that say about the lack of crosses that I was talking about? Wait, wait, there was one more.

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Never mind. Okay. I don't even want to do it. Everybody's laughing out there. I'm angry. Ask for Spain, men. Listen, my prediction is they will run all over this Belgian side.

Yeah, that seems to be a misaligned game. This was Belgium's best performance. If they can play inspired again, they will have to play against the ball pretty much for the first time in this tournament, which may help them. I don't know. It condenses their lines a little. Maybe there's space for Doku to get back into the starting lineup because of what he can give you in transition.

Lukaku continues to be a difference maker, scores off the bench, helped really seal the deal for them. But I do think what Marino brings off the bench for Spain is that like change of pace for them. He's direct. He likes to be going towards goal for a team that likes to go east to west a lot of times. And I think Danny Omo has looked good. We haven't seen the pure production from it for him.

But again, another guy who is at least a little more incisive. And at least you see that the coaching staff trusts him to be in the team. And I think you need that at some point to try and change the pace for this group. One more thing. Sorry, before Spain. Roberto Martinez, before the World Cup. I'm a big believer in numerology. Is it numerology?

Yeah. Big believer in numerology. It's 2026. Portugal finished in third place in 19. 1966. They won the euro in 2016. Oh, you're a big believer in numerology? What day was it yesterday? The sixth. Who scored the goal for Spain? Number six. Shove that one up your numerology. Sorry. And Spain, listen, the fact that you can bring these guys who can be game changers off the bench, Ruiz, a terrific starter for PSG and a complementary piece for Vitina and Neves on that team. Big difference.

Oyersabal, you mentioned him. He misses what was the nicest player of the game, that chance. Had they scored that, this would have been a bloodbath. I think you're right. It would have been an absolute bloodbath. This Spanish team, as you mentioned, or one of you guys, only playing in fourth gear, I would say third gear. If these guys lock in against Belgium, watch out. So we have France against Morocco in the quarterfinals.

We already know that game. That will be on Thursday, 4 p.m. Eastern time. That's a delicious matchup. Now we have fully locked in Spain against Belgium, and we have Norway against England. But we need one more quarterfinal to be decided, and we will decide that today. The first game of today, Argentina versus Egypt, Egypt trying to be the second calf team from Africa to make it into the quarterfinals. Argentina and Colombia trying to save conmable in this competition. Otherwise, we're looking at a European championship in the quarter of.

finals. It gets started with Argentina versus Egypt at noon. And of course, Argentina, a star-studded team. We've had fun over the course of this tournament via soccer.com looking at some of the great jerseys that we've seen all time for some of these national teams at the World Cup. And a lot of them are selling out. So if you want to go get some of these jerseys behind us to rep the team that you've fallen in love with, to rep the team you're connected to in any way, go to soccer. But also, you can go and start purchasing your club kits to support some of these players as they move on. So you can get free shipping on all orders over $49 or more. And you can put kickback in when you go and purchase and you can get a goal club membership.

What we wanted to do was look at some of the club jerseys that you could get for some of these players. And I think where we really landed was it's between Boka and River right now. You've got players from both teams that are in this World Cup. Derek, if you bring me up here. But you also have some of the nicest jerseys in the history of the game. You have two of the most iconic looks. Even with red and white, how prevalent it is across the world, you see that sash slash sash.

And you think of River. Then you add in, River's got a special third kit with purple on it coming out of the last season, which you can still go and purchase. You can save some money. if you have that gold club membership, so make sure you put kickback in when you go in order. And that is one of the cleanest kids I've ever seen. And for someone who grew up watching River from afar

and thinking like this is the real majesty, I think to me, River's White and Real Madrid's White, those are the two iconic looks in the world. This is like a clean way to go about it, though. Both, I think both River and Booker Jr.'s kids are gorgeous for their simplicity, for the fact that they maintain that traditional look I get annoyed that teams switch their look so often. There is something about having an iconic and traditional look that I really enjoy.

But just to throw Argentine fans into a tizzy, I'm going to order both jerseys from soccer.com. I'm going to split them in half and stitch them together and walk the streets of Buenos Aires. See how that would go. They're still selling the 120-year anniversary kit, which is the one we're looking at right now. There's obviously a lot of other Book of Junior's gear

that you can go and get, including this third jersey, which, again, you say it's an iconic look. That's what third jerseys are for, right? Like, try new stuff. You iterate on what your look is as a club, what your identity is as a club. I think they hit the mark with that one. I think River did as well, and I think what we'll see coming for this new season will be big. So make sure you go out, you get them, I can promise you, I live in Miami with a number of Argentines or just River Boka fans. These are looks where people will come up and.

I think that would go over well in Orlando, right? Because you have the purple and the everything. If you were to go by some other players on Argentina's for their club side, you mentioned this, but the new Liverpool jersey is gorgeous. So, I'm going to be wearing this incredible Liverpool kit. And I've always been partial to Athletico Madrid as an athletic fan. And if you want to rep Riyadhire as much as possible, you want to wear this Julian Alvarez. For now, Athletico Madrid jersey or Tiago Almada, if you want to be a little bit safer or just the kit on its own.

So make sure to go to soccer.com to get your jerseys. I have a feeling that this won't be the last time that we are talking about Argentina. This is the biggest mismatch of the round. Egypt survived against Australia. They make it through on penalty kicks. They controlled possession throughout that game. That's a lot to Australia's style. What does Egypt do to hang in here?

How do they attempt to pull their own Cape Verde? I think you can counterattack this Argentina team. They don't, their pressing structure is not particularly great. Like, they can get a little bit messed up against the ball. And in part, that's because of Messi, right? They have to account for his lack of defensive contributions. So sometimes if they release Almada or Laotero behind the back, like they couldn't actually get stretched in,

unusual ways for top teams. When you have Omar Marmush and Mosaola together, even though Salad looks like he's carrying an injury, they can hit anybody in transition. But the flip side is Argentina's ruthless, and they do not lose knockout round games. And the Egyptian goalkeeper, Shobair, has real shortcomings in terms of coming off his line

and controlling his box. And Argentina's smart, man, they know how to pick at those scabs. They know how to do what it takes to expose whatever your weakness is. It feels like also this is an Argentina group that kind of gets a second shot at life with the victory over Cape Verde. They made a lot of the mistakes that they would have wanted to avoid coming to this tournament, probably taking their opponents a little bit lightly, individual mistakes. And then obviously you give up one of the great goals of the competition. It's not a ton you can do about that from Cindy Lopes.

Cabral, and yet they survive. And it feels like that's kind of the scare that now wakes them up. I thought that Messi's post-game quotes were really good because he admitted to systemic problems within the Argentine 11 or game plan going into that match against Cab Verde. I think part of that had to do with underestimating their ability on the ball. anyone who had watched Cab Vird in a lead-up would know, watch attentively, would know that this is a team that defends well,

but is not afraid to build out of the back and connect passes. I mean, the passing sequence that leads to Sidney-Lopje Kibral's goal is phenomenal. The triangulation in the defensive third under pressure, I suggest you go and look at that. It really shows that these guys have big ones. but I have a lot of respect for Scoloni as a coach. I'm not sure he gets enough credits. I believe that people think that Scaloni is like,

oh, Messi, I'm just going to sort of populate your team with guys who are going to work hard for you. Like in your Miami does. I'm going to stay out of that one. And you guys just battle hard and Messi will decide the game. I don't think that's the case at all. I actually think that the way that he set up Argentina in this World Cup is really smart. by really condensing the field, pushing everything wide,

and winning every freaking duel in the middle of the field. And Scaloni, who also happens to be a wonderful man, his press conferences, I feel like crying. I want to give the guy a hug. Scoloni will have warned them that they got away with one against... I think you saw it in his face when they scored the third goal. Yes, relief. It was relief, but barely even reactionary.

Yes, because what's going to happen next? There's still time on the clock sort of situation. So they'll be gunning for this game. They'll want to rehabilitate the image that was left. And like you said, I see nothing from Egypt. Again, I'll say the same thing that I said before the game against Australia. I've watched every Egypt game. I still can't tell you what they do well and what they do badly.

I will give some credit to Schaer against Australia. I thought it was his best performance. I agree with that. What's interesting is they actually are top three when it comes to pressing metrics so far in this tournament. And I think the pressing is probably more. that they dominated the game against Australia, and they dominated the game for large stretches against Iran, early on at least, and like the entire game against...

That was Tony Popovich's genius that led to those stats. For sure. And a lot of that, I think, also New Zealand, where pressing becomes, well, we play in the final third, so we're winning it back in the final third. I do think that Iman Ashore, who we saw score the early goal against Belgium and Mustafa Ziko, have both been really bright spots for this Egyptian team,

and that's where you say, in transition, there is some individual talent, if they can get into one v1 situations, they can't beat overwhelming numbers. So if it's 3V5 or 4V5, I think this Egypt team's going to struggle because the backline's going to take a while to get up, to get connected.

We saw Hani flying all over the place in the last game for Egypt. How much confidence do you have to do that when it's La Taro Martinez running into your space behind you instead of Nestor or Accunda or no one for Australia, which is what ended up being the last game? But to Egypt's credit, similar to Argentina, they faced death in the, you know, face-face, and they came through it.

They looked it in the eyes. Yeah, there's a level of confidence there, I think, and this is a group that is also built around their failures, failures at the Afcon, failures at the World Cup. So they have broken through a lot of it. They are playing on house money. Yes. They have nothing to lose.

No pressure. Same as Cape Verrett had nothing to lose. We saw how it worked out for them. We'll see how it works out for Egypt in this game. Two things very quickly. One, Rami Rabia, I thought, was very good. against Australia, and then he took a penalty and took it with confidence. And the other thing I'll say is,

Egypt, in order to stand a chance, need to match Argentina's dark arts. And I don't mean to say that you should hurt somebody, but they need to hack the Argentine players, and they need to hack Messi. Well, I mean, honestly, after what they went through against the Australians, where they got, like, I was worried like three or four of the Egyptians walked out of that game with concussions, but they, like, they were tough. And so I think they're, you know...

You just need to go into... Against Argentina, and I've said this many times, and I'll say it again, they have the perfect balance of talent and dark arts. Even taking Messi out of the equation, and it's a completely different team without Messi. But the combination of those two is crucial to win tournaments.

Egypt needs to at least match them in the tenacity and in the dark arts. Our second game of the day is going to be Columbia versus Switzerland. That one will kick off at 4 p.m. Eastern time. The winner of these two matches will face off in the quarter finals. It could be an all-comable affair if both Colombia and Argentina win. They would be the last two from the region, so it would be a guarantee of at least one commonable team in the semifinals.

If not, we will see whether it's an African side, whether it is potentially four UAFa sides going into the semifinals of the World Cup. It'll be the fifth meeting ever between these two countries. but obviously not two countries that are super familiar playing against each other. I have knocked Switzerland for everything I can over the course of this tournament. Johan Manzambi came out as right now our young player of the competition when we talked about those awards earlier. And I think Columbia has played arguably the best soccer of any country at this World Cup.

It would be a watershed moment for both of them to get to a quarterfinal. It would be a huge matchup. I think Colombia would go into a quarterfinal, believing they can win. And Switzerland, based off probably most of this tournament and what we think could happen here, would also feel the same, although they would have the long travel to finally leave Vancouver for the first time. Is it Columbia, 55% possession trying to poke in prod and Switzerland on the counter?

It's not really their game, though. Columbia. But it's neither team's game. Yeah, Columbia, they really are a counterattacking, like a flowing counterattacking team, more of a European style, more of a, like that clobacco. classic South American style. I wouldn't be surprised if Switzerland actually come up field a little bit with the ball. Because I think that's been their best moments in this tournament.

Like they have actually looked comfortable at times in a very unswist way, playing through Zaka and creating Manzambi, finding those pockets of space or finding those overloads. And that has been the best version of Switzerland. It is not their culture to do that. It is their culture to play against a ball and to make games ugly. And so maybe that's what they revert to. But I honestly don't know what to expect. You could tell me anything about this game and I would believe it at this point.

They scored early against Algeria, but they started on their heels against Algeria. They never ended up controlling the game. They had 44% possession. But they also led, so Algeria had to throw numbers forward. This game, I think what I've seen from Columbia, it feels like Columbia can't help it because they play with energy. And the crowd's going to be a Colombian, pro-Columbian crowd. I think at some point you're on the ball.

You start pushing numbers forward. And I do think it's been effective for them. I mean, the last round, it was like Columbia didn't realize that 1-0 was a winning score. Yeah, that was bizarre. It was incredible. But I think when you look at the group stage in Munez's goals, it comes from, we have so many bodies around the box that these overloads now, there's real openings for them to take advantage.

Hamas Rodriguez had his worst game of the tournament in the last game, came out early. there will be a huge spotlight on him to step up and perform and Lucas Diaz to score some goals. As we've said all along in this show, all of us, Columbia is a better team in transition than they are with the ball at their feet for long periods of time. They struggled in the beginning against Ghana while they created opportunities because Ghana deferred possession to the Colombians, sat back. And those moments that you're referring to where Colombia wanted to go for the juggler and the second goal, as opposed to just managing that one goal leads. Well, that comes about because Ghana, in a very disjointed way, are pushing up, are sending players forward.

And Colm is like, well, these are the opportunities we've been looking for. I expect Switzerland. I was just trying to confirm with the stats here. Switzerland, in every game, dominated possession, except against Algeria. And in that game, the difference was marginal between the two teams. I think the Swiss want the ball, but they're very aware that Columbia will take advantage of any mishap with the ball in possession.

Sorry, I forgot to double-check this, which was confirmed by Sky Sports in the middle of the night. Johann Manzambi picked up an injury in training. The belief is he will not play. Oh, wow. Columbia 2-0. He picked up a knee injury, and we know Johann Cordoba, Jan Cordoba, is out for the tournament. What was Cordoba's injury?

It was growing, right? Yes. Yeah. So, I mean, that, that. So those are two starters from both teams. Manzambi obviously has been the heartbeat of this team. We mentioned this on the last show. Manzambi is the youngest player with five goal contributions since Thomas Mueller,

and the two of them are the youngest players in the last 60 years of the World Cup to have five goal contributions in a World Cup. It's a shame. It's a real shame not only because he sprinkled his stardust all over this tournament, but because he's the guy who collapses defenses. He's the guy that makes Switzerland actually. interesting. Yes. And, you know, for all the things that Switzerland have done well in this tournament, they are a very predictable team. They're highly regimented. And he was the chaos factor,

the wild card. So that's disappointing. I always expected Columbia to win because I anticipated that Switzerland would play into their hands. But at the end of the day, and one of the things, I don't think Mbolo can compete with those two centerbacks. He held up play so well in other games to allow Man Zombie to sort of buzz around him as well. So it wasn't just Man Zombie. It was that combo and they just won't be able to do that. Devin Sanchez, as I noted, probably the best defender in this tournament is going to, he and Lucumia are going to eat these guys up.

It is going to be two big sets of games. And then we get a day off from games tomorrow, which I think everyone can agree is pretty, upsetting. We love the flow and buffet of World Cup games, but we will still be here with you. So we will be back. We will review everything you saw. We will preview the quarter finals, these four massive matches coming, one on Thursday, one on Friday, and then a double header on Saturday to set us forward to the semifinals next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, a third place match on Saturday in the World Cup final, which will be happening about 10 miles from here on Sunday, July 19th at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.

Champions League starts tomorrow. The earliest rounds of Champions League qualifying start tomorrow. The world's footballing schedule is insane. I'm going to do a personal note here before we go. First of all, Eric's been amazing having you here. Thank you for having me. It's been great. Luckily, since you spent half the time reading your own tweets, we could just read them for you on the show.

And it'll be like you didn't go anywhere. That could be its own segment. Crack Howard tweets. All right. So that will be the opening of the shows going forward. Also, for me, just wanted to throw something out there on a personal side of things. My mom is retiring today. So after working for a long time across multiple careers and multiple places, it is her last day of work.

Anyone who doesn't know Sandy Albert, she is a legend. If you have experienced me, you've experienced about 50% of it. But she is one of the warmest people you'll ever meet. And I have seen her. I was lucky enough to sort of work for her, which is a godsend that she was able to survive that. I have seen the way people react to her and the village temple was lucky to have had her for any amount of time that they did. And I think everyone there knows that as many of her other jobs in the past, working in human resources and now being the executive director of a temple here in New York City. But she is one of one.

And she is a person that people come to and people want to help and people want to be around. And I am lucky to have her in my life. And I know how thankful my wife is of how kind she is and how special she is. and my sister feels the same. So really proud of her. I'm really happy for her. I'm so excited to see what she does in the next few stages. I'm getting book recommendations out the wazoo

now that she has time to read them all. And maybe she'll become the best mahjong player in the world, but most likely she'll enjoy her time. Well, first of all, congratulations. Or there's going to be a vacancy with the Portuguese national team. And you cannot do any worse than Roberto Martinez. Listen, if you want a culture builder, Sandy Alvary is your person. We need that.

Thank you for everything you do for us. Congratulations, and I can't wait to celebrate with you. Thank you to you guys for being here. Big thanks to you all out there for helping us out today. And as I say, every single time, we'll be back again tomorrow. Bye Roberto Martinez. Ciao.