SoccerWise - USMNT Post-Game Edition

Episode Date: June 28, 2024

David gets together with the Soccerwise community to digest the US Men's National Team loss to Panama in the Copa America. What happened? How does the team move forward? How big a moment was this for the history of the sport going forward? Soccerwise Live 2pm ET Every Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday on Youtube/Twitch/Twitter

all righty well we are live we are doing this this is soccer wise this is your usmnt post game edition here at Copa America. We said we would do it for every single show, so we are doing it for every single game, excuse me, which is not as fun right now as it was after the first game. The US losing to Panama 2-1 off the back of the Timothy Weah red card. The late goal for Jose Fajardo, I believe, for the winner in the end. And the U.S. now in a ton of danger at the potential of getting out of the group. If you are not watching live and listening to this later on a podcast, welcome. If you're watching live, feel free to comment,

jump into the comment section on YouTube and Twitch. Let me know your thoughts, questions, anything you want to talk about. I will get into them as we go along. Of course, I am David Goss. Tom Bogert is actually at the Uruguay-Bolivia game. So if you're watching this live, but also going to that, make sure to troll him if you see him. It's probably going to be a weird one at that game. It has been a weird day here, especially this game, watchingS. and Panama go at things in Copa America so of course now Panama moves into a tie with the U.S. for as of right now first place most likely after Uruguay beats Bolivia for second place the assumption being that Panama now knocks off Bolivia and the U.S. would need to defeat uruguay in the next game

to get through to the next round and then they would need goal differential to go their way which is something in theory they would control at that point but it feels hard to believe that it would go the u.s's way if everything falls the way we believe and then you go back to that bolivia game and you say 2-0 probably wasn't enough and may end up not being enough and might be the reason that this team is going down so we're already getting the questions in we're already getting the the Bolivia hope from a few different fans and hoping for a few different things as we get into it and we'll talk about that probably coming out at the end.

Let's start with the big conversation. Timothy Weah picks up the red card in the 18th minute of this match. It's an off the ball interaction. And it's not seen live. And then immediately upon being recommended the review. The referee, Yvonne Bartone, goes over. Doesn't even take a second sees it walks away gives the red card very obvious call and a huge moment a moment that changes the game a moment that changes the group changes the setup and honestly I don't think it's too big of an

exaggeration to say changes the course potentially of the sport in this country especially right now and especially on the men's side this is the u.s's big chance to grow the game was to host a tournament like this put together a performance where they beat teams that people recognize as world powerhouses in competitive competition and then buoy that with the support into the world cup and going forward. This red card probably leads to them losing this game. Losing this game probably leads to them being eliminated or potentially leads to them being eliminated in the group stage. Like, this is as big as it gets,

and it's hard to put that in perspective in the moment. It's hard to put that in perspective with still a game to go. The U.S. could beat Uruguay, but they have to do it again at probably the right clip if you take a look at things and say all teams finish on six points. And it's just one of those wild moments where it's a game with a lot of young people who play it and are out there and something happens and I can't really explain it. Now my first thought was like what was said. Timothy Weah is one of the most level-headed calm players in this group. He elevates his game in big moments. I have said it over and over. I think he is the most reliable

piece of this national team pool. I have belief anytime in whatever position he plays in that he's going to step up and at a minimum perform at a level to keep his team in it. There are many times over the course of his international career where he's been the reason the U.S. has won. Whether it's creating chances, whether it's his defensive play, of course you go back to the World Cup and the game against Wales. He has done so many big things for this team. He has been Mr. Rel mr reliable when you talk about

i talked in the last review show about how good pulisic was pulisic's been up and down over the last few years waya has not been peppy struggling to finish whoever else has played center forward struggling to be healthy bolligan who i'll talk about in a little bit struggling with his play at times weston mckinney pulled out of the team for off-field issues. Up and down. Tyler Adams, struggling with injuries for his entire career, especially his national team career. Eunice Moussa, struggling with his performances.

Serginio Dest, up and down performances. You go down the line, and except except for I think you could say Matt Turner there has been unreliable performances and inconsistencies or unavailability for almost every player in the conversation except for Timothy Weah it is why it's so shocking to see this happen with him and why my first reaction was what was set because it doesn't feel like something that happens to Timothyothy way of very often and what could have set him off clint dempsey at halftime sort of talked about it and i see his angle and especially from different views of it's almost like way is going um sort of in this pull

and pull push and pull with the defender and he thinks he's gonna have another push to try and push the defender off and his arm goes up over it and hits the face because the first angle you see the one Yvonne Barton saw looked like he punched the defender in the face so Clint Dempsey had that little bit of a different reading and I can understand that when you see the angle from behind the player's backs of there's already contact and there's already sort of that like we come together and we push off and then it felt like it was happening again and we anticipated the contact and his arm goes up and it hits the defender in the head and it's an obvious red card at that point and just the biggest moment you could possibly see i think the stat i saw was no team

giving up or getting a red card that early had won a game at Copa America. Here I can see it since 1989 when Argentina knocked off Uruguay. So the expectation at that point is you lose that game. And that is what happened to the U.S. in the end. But there was ups and downs from that moment on going forward. So we have some questions and comments that simothy way deserve to be in the team anymore um what happens going forward i don't have an exact answer for that and that's something that the team's obviously gonna have to talk about it and

look at i'd be shocked if he wasn't um this does mean so for him a one game minimum suspension now it can be assessed by conmable to be upgraded for additional suspension if you believe it's violent conduct on the first view as i said i thought it would have been upgraded then from there i don't know that it goes that far based off what happened. So we'll have to see what happens going forward. I think it's obviously a huge thing for the U.S. We'll talk about lineup changes as well for the next game. It's a huge thing for him.

Like this is a great young player. This was a big moment. And he probably won't get the chance to redeem himself in this tournament. He may never get the chance to redeem himself, and he might have to wait all the way until 2026 to work his way back in and redeem himself there. So it is as big a thing that happened as can possibly happen in U.S. soccer and for U.S. soccer, and it sets the tone for the entire game. I do want to go back and touch on two things that happened before that. One is Matt Turner getting taken out very early on in this game. The high ball that he comes out and gets down on the ground for six or seven minutes,

ends up finishing the half, and then Ethan Horvath has to come on for him. It's a brutal play. It's a brutal moment for Turner. I think you see in his reaction sort of how frustrated he was. There's no yellow card assessed. And that was the one. I'll say two things about the referee. I'm not a big referee person.

The game is played. Everyone sort of plays the same, whatever. I thought Yvonne Bartone was very hesitant to give yellow cards throughout the first half after the Timothy Weah play, including this. And I thought there's moments where now you've put it in a situation where the Panama players can hack Jedi down as he's trying to counterattack in the second half because they're not sitting on yellow cards that were deserved bolligan pulled down twice uh in back-to-back plays by the other center back as well in miller no yellow card given and so then you're allowed to do it again and then it becomes a yellow card

it felt like there was not that recognition of things building you don't want it to become what happened in the turkey check your game but at the same time if you've set the tone then you have to continue at some point through and then a stoppage time i thought was ridiculous the review alone for the potential penalty on cameron carter vickers felt like four minutes and that doesn't include this fight after coco cariski as red cart and everything else going on and all of that as well those Those are going to be my two referee things. The opening goal given for offside or was given and then taken back for offside for the U S that looked like the huge moment. It was fantastic service from Pulisic. He had a couple of really good set piece services in this game off the back

of last game. It tailed off as the game went along. And you had a good challenge from Chris Richards. And then obviously Tim Rehm in the offside position, laying it off for a really good finish from weston mckinney like you have to give him credit he doesn't know it's in an offside position he stays super calm there's a lot of traffic in front of him and he still puts it in the top corner but it's in an offside position so that resets things by the time timothy wea has has gotten the red card and been sent off the field, post the review, and all the other things happen, it was the 19th minute into the game. I think it

restarts around the 20th. And there had only been 92 passes completed between the two teams. Basically, they hadn't played soccer. Like nothing had occurred 20 minutes into this game you had the offside goal you had the review then that ends then matt turner gets decked he's down then he gets up then you get the red card then you get the review there just wasn't soccer played in that entire sequence there wasn't really a ton played throughout the entire game obviously the u.s struggles to get the ball and get in the game panama wasn't really in ton played throughout the entire game. Obviously, the U.S. struggles to get the ball and get in the game. Panama wasn't really in it much either. So you take a look out wide to try and fill in for Weah's width.

And they continue, I think, to play at a decent level. I think for the U.S., what they did was try and kill the play. But it starts with the Boligan goal. Florian Boligan has struggled in his performances with the U.S. He has struggled all year. That goal is one of the great goals in U.S. men's national team history. The way he strikes it, the moment, the pressure. Now again, Copa America, you're down a man.

What's the possibilities for this team? He takes a left-footed strike from the left side of the box. It loops over the goalkeeper's head to a point where the goalie basically pulls his hands away, thinking it's either out or he's not going to touch it. It kisses off the inside of the post and comes in. It is one of the all-time great goals in U.S. history. It's one of the best goals we're going to see this summer,

both in the Euros and in Copa America. And it is a huge moment now for a player who scores in back-to-back games and from there he only elevated he was phenomenal in the first half turning defenders holding up the ball drawing fouls resetting where the game is played getting it higher up the field doing all of that in a time when they completely the U.S., dropped their line of confrontation, and Balogun is within 15 yards for large stretches of his center backs, just trying to cut off center backs for Panama that are stepping in in possession, and try and force the ball from side to side, or try and force the ball back to the outside. He was incredible in that first half. His touch was on point,

his vision was on point, The ideas he had were at a really, really high level. And he was carrying the U.S. back into this game, keeping them alive, keeping them afloat, and especially with the goal. But I just think throughout, you take a look at the way he plays, and that's what you want to see from him going forward. The goal's a huge moment. And then three minutes and 36 seconds later, Panama equalizes on the strike from Blackman. When you take a look at the replay, the initial strike, Jedi blocks. It comes back into the Panamanian attacker. Blackman shifts it to his left foot.

He takes the shot with Ream and Richards closing on him, and I think it bounces off the bottom of Richards down into the low corner and Turner not able to save it even if it doesn't take a touch you're talking about a shot that's coming out from under two defenders that I don't know that Turner ever really sees and it sneaks into that bottom corner and Panama equalizes and that really is the heartbreaking moment now for the U.S. they see out the rest of the half pretty fine. Panama struggles to create chances. They start to get frustrated.

The U.S. has their half chances. They start to take throw-ins long. Weston McKinney every single time getting up there. And the U.S. seems to be settled in, at least, heading into the halftime whistle. And then coming out, you get the substitutions the one change for panama fajardo comes in up top um that seemed like an obvious one in place of guerrero guerrero hasn't really scored goals the problem was fajardo hadn't either and i think the idea for thomas christiansen was to put guerrero in there to just work a little bit make life hard

for the u.s and then bring fajardo on late now you're up a man so you bring fajardo on much earlier for the u.s i think the idea made sense from from greg berhalter which was the only dangerous chance of the first half is a wingback to wingback ball where mario hits it over the full field eric davis the left wingback for panama is able to get behind reina and scally because they have that extra player out there. So Reyna is basically marking the winger. I believe Barsanos in that moment. Scali is pulled into one of the center forwards. And then Davis is able to get outside and he tries to play a first time ball.

It goes across the six. That is the real danger. The only real issues for the U.S. in that first half after the red card was that width so for Greg Berhalter he brings another center back on he takes off Gio Reyna he is able to push his fullbacks out to be wingbacks and now you're able to mirror that shape for Panama you also have to bring in Ethan Horvath in place of Matt Turner because of the injury and then as we've learned from the Bolivia game Tyler Adams on on a minute's limit. So now you have to use Johnny as a substitution for Tyler Adams. I think on the face of it, all of the changes make sense. The Horvath one probably

forced. Not really anything else you're going to do. You're not going to bring on Sean Johnson at that point. I thought the Johnny one was a mistake in that I would have brought on Yunus Musa because Yunus Musa is, I think, the cleanest possession player for the US. And in a game where you're not really gonna have a ton of the ball, you want that outlet. You want a guy who can either beat someone

or at least play in and out of spaces to try and take it, or to try and create moments where you can find attack without having that additional player he's also a foul magnet when you play into his feet he's not going to lose it and if the other team is being aggressive they are going to foul him a lot of the time he is not as defensively sound as Johnny but in this setting you're creating a setup where everyone's sitting in

and defending so he doesn't actually have to do as much individually it's a risk if you play him Greg Berhalter chose not to do it. I thought Johnny was fine. This was not a knock on him. I thought he had a fine performance in this game. I thought Moussa could have given you a little bit more, and maybe there's a chance that you're able to get a goal before Panama scores again and go up 2-1

and have that to defend. And Cameron Carter-Vickers had a terrible performance here. He almost gives up the penalty. It's not a penalty. It's the right call. and have that to defend. And Cameron Carter Vickers had a terrible performance here. He almost gives up the penalty. It's not a penalty. It's the right call. I don't know what he's doing off of his feet in that moment there. And I thought he struggled throughout.

He struggled with his spacing of where to be connected. He was the middle of the back three of the center backs. He struggled, I think, to figure out how to organize and move players off. And I thought Tim Rehm ends up doing a lot of that work and Jedi ends up coming inside and defending over and over and over again to support his team. And he does so on a yellow card, which ends up being an issue as you go forward. And I think that a lot of that ends up being a lot of what the U.S. struggled with as they went along. So I agree with the idea of spreading your back line and having the ability to defend that width for Panama. I don't know that the individuals were the right pieces to do it.

You could have brought Miles Robinson in in this one. You could have left Reem at the middle of the back three so that he could be the one organizing. Either way, the U.S. was up against it with the red card, and they're not able to get that over that. And that's really the end of the game. The goal comes through just a chaotic sequence of play, chance after chance after chance in that moment.

And then in the end, Panama's able to get the ball. It's a really well-hit ball through the box into Fajardo's feet. Fajardo hits it off of Horvath. Goalkeepers that I know and trust say that he should have saved it. I'm not an expert there. I don't really go there. I understand the idea, which is if the keeper gets their hands to it, you believe they should save it.

It's really close to Horvath. It's hit really, Horvath it's hit really really hard because it's clean off that volley with pace it's one of those moments where if he saves it he saves his team and he keeps them alive and he changes everything he doesn't I'm not going to say that they lost this game because Ethan Horvath doesn't make that save it is a shot from eight yards away in a sequence of play that is chaos anyway and that the U.S. probably should have conceded a goal in that whole thing it follows up the best U.S. chance of the second half in which Jedi plays that long ball into Pepe Pepe really intelligently flicks

it off into space for Weston McKinney I'm thinking Weston McKinney is going to pull it back try and play a first ball back to whoever's charging on and attack from for Weston McKinney. I'm thinking Weston McKinney is going to pull it back, try and play a first ball back to whoever's charging on and attack from there. Weston McKinney makes special things happen. He gets his shoulder down. He's able to ride the defender. He clips the ball to the far post. Pepe's backtracking at the far post, and it's just a little bit too far for him to get over it,

and he heads it down into the ground. The best chance the U.S. created. It shows you the quality in all those players. It shows you some of the work rate in all those players. Just not able to get over the line. And then, similar to the first half where you get the goal and you give up the goal, another heartbreak there where you give up the goal once again. Late on, Coco Carrasquilla, the red card for hacking down Pulisic.

A dangerous moment, a clear red card. The fight all comes out after it. And the U.S. doesn't really do anything with that free kick Weston McKinney gets fouled and then you get the second best chance of that second half in which Pulisic floats the ball to the far post Chris Richards not able to get over that one as well it ends up being a soft header over the crossbar and that's really it for the U.S. in this game so heartbreaking stuff for the U.S. in this game. So heartbreaking stuff for the U.S. The group was set up very oddly because you have a Bolivia where you want to say, oh, it's easy.

You get to beat Bolivia. It also means the margins are thinner because if everyone's going to beat the same team, those are the next two games. I said it coming out of the last game. Me and Tom talked about it today. This was the biggest game the U.S. was going to play in this Copa America because this was going to be the game that decided whether or not they got out. And they ended up not getting the performance that they needed in that game. So a heartbreaking one for the U.S., a heartbreaking one for Timothy Weah.

And at this point, this team has to try and rebound in the next game against Uruguay. I don't, honestly, I wouldn't even be shocked if the U.S. won that game. I guess from there you talk about that goal differential where Panama's in a spot where they kind of know they can beat Bolivia by enough goals. They protect themselves and they're going to go out and try and do it. They are not a high-scoring team. They are not a super dangerous team. Let me take a look at Panama's last few performances. And I think some of these are a bit more clean to Bolivia because you're talking about teams that are a bit more similar. They beat Montserrat 3-1 in World Cup qualifying. They beat Guyana 2-0

in World Cup qualifying. They lost to Jamaica 1-0. This is going to be a game in which they play without Coco Carrasquilla, who is the best player on this team. Fajardo got the goal. It was Blackman's first career international goal. It just feels hard to think that if a Bolivia team that loses tonight has nothing to play for, that Panama's not going to be able to get enough.

But it will be something to watch for as you go forward and as you take a look at that game game let me skim through the comments here uh ky717 says way as lucky that our other wingers are bad uh jay blaze says look way is my favorite player i can't defend it but at one point it's the ref's job to control the game with the ref gives the yellow on that turner foul none of this happens i think that's interesting Obviously the way a moment is so out of control that it is different than everything else that's happening. Um, but it is, it, I think the referee has lost control at moments in this game. Uh, Timothy Anderson says, why is CCV brought in ahead of miles Robinson? Yeah. I think that's a question that's been asked a lot.

I want to say CCV has played in a back five for Greg Berhalter before. I want to say Greg Berhalter has talked about CCV's passing, especially against low block teams, which is why we saw him start against Iran in the World Cup and maybe thinks that some moments like that are coming as he goes along. KY says every time we got the ball, we hooked it down the field, still play soccer. Yeah, I think that's an interesting point in moments in this game where could Baligan not? You see early on, I think Baligan draws a foul in the corner. The free kick gets played. It goes out for a goal kick. Panama goes to take the goal kick and Baligan sort of looks back at the bench and says,

what's my line of confrontation? Like, where am I starting our pressure? And he then realizes and runs back 30, 40 yards. You only have 10 players. You're going to play that for 60-plus minutes. Like, yeah, that makes sense. Were there moments where you could have tried to push Baligan or Pulisic a little bit higher

and maybe drawn a panamanian defender or two a little bit higher up the field to have that outlet because you talk about hoof it forward why not play it's tough to play through those numbers when you're so deep and panama has the extra player so they can send someone in pressure and be able to do it without really worrying about being broken down because of it. And the U S never really was able to find an outlet consistently. Pulisic had a couple dangerous runs. I thought Jedi was really good on both sides of the ball in this game, even though his silly yellow card maybe leads to the goal.

Cause he can't challenge on that second header in the box, but either way you're giving up a PK. If you commit a foul there. So if you believe you have to challenge there, you have to challenge there. And it's just a tough moment. I keep going back to the amount of pressure that's coming in that moment because I think it's relevant in that you're scrambling and you're out of position and it starts to become a putting out fires,

putting out fires, putting out fires. And I think that's where you get lost in hoping to not give up a chance. F.P. Dinh says, here I was hoping to beat South American teams and we lose to Panama. Yeah, fairness, the U.S. beat Bolivia, which is a common ball team. As Midnight Surgery says, I don't know that that's the one people were talking about listen you've got a shot against uruguay either way that is a world-class team that is a champion a copa america winning contender that is a team with a lot of pieces in it that are some of the best in the world that win champions league with real madrid that contend for premier league titles um with liverpool and all these

other pieces go there and win that game like that's kind of the basic point right now for the us and and that's really as far as you can get is like go out there win that game have that moment in your back pocket and like there's no point showing up um if you don't flannery media says really think we saw much of gg's game model revolves around Tyler Adams being able to do Tyler Adams things. I think that's an interesting point. Tyler is so special in what he's capable of that it's hard to not have a lot of it based around him. Even you watch that first half after the U.S. goes down a player, Tyler Adams has one or two mistakes in possession but three or four moments where he wins the ball or intercepts a pass or gets a body on an attacking player where he shouldn't like

you're watching the spacing of the play and you're like oh that's a connected pass and he jumps it and is able to pick it up and go forward so i understand the complaints there and there hasn't really been a contingency plan created for him to be out in games that you are against the ball. With the ball, obviously, it seems pretty comfortable that Greg Warhalter will put Moussa in and play in that spot. So without it is the real question mark. But he's just not replaceable in this team because I think the things he does, he's world class at. And those are not really replaceable as you go along uh egg here glad tom got glad you and tom were back on the mic I appreciate this the game was rough but for many minutes after the red we still felt like

contenders that's the silver lining I'm seeing going to Uruguay I think that's fair like I think I felt the same way as this game runs along which is if the U.S. draws this game, a tie against Uruguay gets them through. And it felt like these young players and a young team in a moment that I can't remember the U.S. really being in, in this generation, they were up for it. And they were really clean in their structure. They won a ton of 50-50s. They were physical.

They were aggressive. They didn't go over the line outside of the CCV slide tackle thing, which was a ridiculous moment. It felt for 30 or 40 minutes like this was going to be a rallying point for this U.S. team. And then you get the loss, and now you might be out, really, with no more control over what happens. And so I think it's fair to take that silver lining.

We are, unfortunately, past silver linings for this group. This is a two-year stretch that is unprecedented in U.S. men's soccer history. This is a two-year stretch, as I said at the beginning, to change the perception of the game, to change the reality of the game, both for yourselves, for these players, right? If the game grows, they grow. If this national team grows, they grow. The opportunities they'll have to win things with this group is what athletes want to do with their entire lives and it feels like they are on the verge of it um all of that goes away and so i think the conversation around copa america was all right enough silver linings and enough trying to create fake connections of like well the u.s beatS. beat Jamaica in a Nations League semifinal.

Jamaica is capable of this. This person plays here, so the U.S. is this good. You were supposed to take all that off the board and straight up be able to say the U.S. is this good in the world because they could beat these teams and they couldn't beat these teams and this is where you sit right in between or go all the way to a final and say that the U.S. is in a conversation at the top of everything.

That doesn't really seem like it's going to be the case right now. The question is any chance that Bolivia beats Panama. I would be shocked by it. It wouldn't be the most absurd thing that ever happened, but it would be close. And I guess at some point everyone's got to go figure out if they can find a Bolivia flag. Obviously, the Bolivian national team going through a lot right now with the attempted coup down in Bolivia. It's just chaotic stuff that they are going to attempt to play through. They will be going into that game if they lose to Uruguay, as expected, already eliminated with all that going on in their home country.

And I think really, really rough. For that next game. My expectation would be that Reyna gets put in. In Weya's position. And that you probably bring Musa into the starting lineup. In place of Reyna. And that's your setup in the midfield three. I don't know any yellow card suspensions off the top of my head right now. As trying to deal with all of it.

So my guess would be the back five remains the same. I thoughte scali was pretty good in this game alongside jedi i thought chris richards was fine i thought tim ream was fantastic um throughout matt turner's your starter if he's healthy if he's not it's ethan horvath clearly they are going to start tyler adams if they can and play him for as many minutes as he's available for even if it's just the 45 Weston McKinney as I said I thought the finish was really composed thought the chance he created for Pepe was special that's what he's capable of it was a tough night for Christian Pulisic I think it was mainly a tough night because of the red card and because of the way the game played he could have had a special moment or two. His set piece service, as I said in the first half, was on point, like phenomenal.

The way that first one served in for Chris Richards. The second one he serves in on the top of the six for Weston McKinney, who then nods it along and just misses that far post. Those were really, really good moments. And I thought Pulisic came inside and tried to find the game. So it's a tough one to see. It's a tough one to look through. I think one of the comments here is a good one, which is I wish we could appreciate the first goal more.

It was so good. As I said, one of the greats. Like I talk about U.S. men's national team goals, and I think you talk about the goal against Iran, the way McKinney clips that ball up to the far post. It's brought across. The finish from Pulisic's not as pretty. I always go back to the Benny Failhaber volley against Mexico as like,

to me, that's sort of the peak of U.S. men's national team goals. But Jermaine Jones' goal against Portugal in the 2014 World Cup, that perfection on the curve and the way it hits the inside of the post. Clint Dempsey's had a couple in his career that were pretty special and pretty big moments. Landon Donovan, of course, as well. The goal against Slovenia that he puts in the top corner is one of the great finishes in U.S. history. But I think this ball again one's in a conversation with all of those.

And it's in a big moment. Unfortunately, we can't celebrate it the way we'd like. The reaction to this, the way this all ends for us soccer i don't know any of that yet i think we got to watch the uruguay game i think we got to get through the group stage before you start making assessments like that i think it was talked about on the broadcast a little bit between john and stew about what it could mean for greg if they don't get out of the group stage. He hasn't really been back in the job that long. So it'd be a bizarre circumstance to see him not continue after this one.

But Mexico is about to fire their coach most likely if they lose in the group stage because they are under the gun in terms of timing going into the World Cup. And the U.S. is under the same time frame. Canada just hired a new coach a month and a half ago because. is under the same time frame. Canada just hired a new coach a month and a half ago because they are under the same time frame. The three federations are an absolute mess going into the World Cup right now that they're going to host. And I think that's really stressful for people in this region with the expectation being that home teams are able to have special moments in home World Cups. And I think you're seeing it in the panic from Mexico. I think you see it in the way the payments were put together with the CSA to get Jesse Marsh in at this last

moment to try and make this last push to really solidify the national team. And so, yeah, I think if this World Cup or this Copa America goes poorly, there's going to be reaction from the U.S. and USSF. But I don't know exactly what it looks like going forward. All right, that's all for me here. Thank you to all of you for joining. Thank you for all of you for your comments and being there. Anyone who's a US fan, I know it's a tough one and I get it. So thank you for listening and thank you hopefully feeling some sort of engagement that Discord was awesome, all game just to be watching with people and having people going through similar situations so if you don't subscribe to the patreon go do

that because my next show is going to be the weekend recap and that one is purely out of mailbag decided by the people in the discord so if you want to affect that show if you want me to talk about whatever is going on with your mls nwL national team whatever it is then make sure to subscribe to the patreon at soccer wise and then you can get into that discord um but that's all for me for now enjoy the rest of the cope america over the next uh few days good luck to canada on saturday trying to seal the deal against chile and we'll talk to you all again very, very soon.