SoccerWise - USMNT v Paraguay World Cup Postgame Show Presented By Soccer.com

Episode Date: June 13, 2026

The United States opened its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in style, defeating Paraguay 4-1 in one of the most impressive performances in modern USMNT history.David Gass and Michele Giannone break down Christian Pulisic's starring role, standout performances from Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun, Mauricio Pochettino's impact, and what the statement victory means for the Americans' chances of making a deep run on home soil.Plus, was this the best World Cup performance the U.S. has produced in the modern era?

What planet am I living on right now? This is David Goss with the Soccerwise USMNT postgame show presented by Soccer.com. What a special, I don't even know what to call this, night, day, week, year. One of the greatest moments in USMNT World Cup history has just occurred. It is a 4-1 win against Paraguay and who else to be here. But McKellie Jean Anone and my best friend to talk soccer, you have to give me. a couple seconds where you talk about what just happened while I figure out how to turn the speaker off.

What just happened, it was the best game of any team in this World Cup. It's just being four games, but the USMNT has played the best 45 minutes, the best 90 minutes of any team in this young World Cup. We just saw the most dominant half. Are they ghosts here?

I don't know what's happening right now. We just saw the best, certainly the best half of soccer that this World Cup has had to offer. And at the end, the USMNT wins four goals to one. Their 10th win of the USA in a World Cup, 10th win. And I have some crazy stats here that I want to share. But I think we have to start with the overall. And I was talking to you before the game.

that I was kind of nervous. Yes. That I really like this Paraguay side. The midfield came out and you said Kubas and Diego Gomez. And CISO that he was out of the World Cup 24 hours ago. And now he's starting. Paraguay is a team that just allowed 10 goals in 18 games in Commonwealth Qualifiers. Beat Argentina and Brazil 1-0 each to close out and win.

Today, they allowed four goals and it was all USMNT credit. Yeah. This Paraguay that looks so bad today is the USM&T that make them look bad. So I think that's incredible. It is. This is, I said to you multiple times what the hell's going on. I put on blue sky as well as we watched it. And this is going to be a vibe show because that's like what you just said.

All of this stuff is stuff we've never seen. And we just literally reacting to what just happened. The game just ended. We're on a high. Stuff we've never seen before. So first, I want to say, shout out to soccer.com, score official U.S. national team in player jerseys to help support the U.S. this summer. You get a free goal club membership with the purchase of any U.S.

national team jersey with the code kickback. Our code. Gold Club is the longest, wrong, the largest soccer loyalty program. So, soccer.com for their promotion for the World Cup, they put together a little bit of a shoot. And they picked this man, Florian Bolligan, to be the man on the promotion. The current golden boot. The current golden boot leader. So if you need a New Jersey and you want to put a name on it, you've got a lot of options after tonight. But this might be an obvious one. I think soccer.com might have a little bit of an idea. Their other one, which I have down behind you, is Tyler Adams.

So if you're looking for a, I don't know, cheeky golden boot, other pick or something like that, look at Tyler Adams. And first eight minutes, Paraguay, we're good. Yeah. And then after that, the U.S. exploded. And there's a lot of people to talk about from this game. there's a lot of moments to talk about. I think for me, and what I said to you at halftime

was like, is that the best half this U.S. team has played since? And then you start racking through the games. Yeah. And not just World Cup. Like any game against a competitive team at this level. You can say, you know, Paraguay are not Argentina. So we're still at that level.

But Paraguay are better than, I don't know, Honduras. Yeah. Where U.S. has been good. And they were great. Yeah, it has to be Confederation's Cup against Brazil, right? Or someone mentioned the second half against Portugal in 2014 at the World Cup with Jermaine Jones goal, but they end up conceding late.

So there's like 35, 40 minutes in that where they're incredible. And then Spain or Brazil in the Confed Cup in 2009. And then you're back to the O2 World Cup. Portugal? Portugal, yeah. You could say some Mexico games maybe in their Gold Cup, 07, maybe not as dominant. But like at the level of what they are and at that performance,

this is a night that U.S. fans will never remember. And one of the things we talked about coming into this World Cup and the excitement, which I feel vilified for it, I feel like I was right on some of this. But one of the excitement is this is going to be a core memory experience for a lot of fans. Yeah. Like, this is where they start their fandom.

What a night if you're someone who's like, maybe curious and you tuned in because it's a big game on a Friday night and you were told to watch it. That's the first thing you saw. your experience of the U.S. men's national team is going to be completely different than what ours was

as we learned about this team. Yeah, absolutely. And you talk about the first eight minutes and something that you guys mentioned this morning that I really took for, I think that was going to be

really important in this game is I think Dale, Doyle, or you said it or whoever said it, is that you've got to take the fight to Paraguay. Paraguay is going to be cagey. Paraguay is going to try

to muddy the game. to play, to not conceive, because we just said it. They just concede 10, 10 goals in 18 games. This is Paraguay. Paraguay is going to win this game, 1-0. That's it. Or 0-0, good night.

This is 1-1. That's Paraguay's game. And the USMNT did what they did. They took the fight to them. And they score early. Obviously, that help, right? So I've never seen Paraguay, this Paraguay.

And I go back to what my Thai said one time, right? Everybody has a plan until you get punch in the face. Paraguay had a plan. Right. Of course, because we know this Paraguay. We know what this team under Alfaro is. And they took a big punch at the 7th minute and they never recovered.

Ever. Paraguay could, I couldn't count three passes in a row from Paraguay on the first half. Yeah. And it's, I think for U.S. soccer, it's going to be a justification for Mariso Pochitino. The money they spent the time they put into getting him there, the decision to let Greg Burralter go when they did. because this is a performance that wasn't put on at Copa America two years ago. And their opponents there, I mean, Panama is a worst team.

Bolivia is a worst team. This wasn't there for the U.S. And so this is the justification for what you went out and did in that. And I think the biggest feeling I got from this game was they played free, they played fun, they played aggressive in the highest pressure moment these players have been in for this team in now two years. And maybe ever, but in two years. and that's something that it felt like was lacking coming out of the 2022 World Cup

and that's the justification is Christian Pulisic and running at guys, Flicks, Malik Tillman, Dest, all of these guys, the way they played didn't seem like something that they were capable of a year ago, let alone too. One of my fears coming into a World Cup and the months prior,

especially after the March window, it was the how was this team going to respond? and how did fans were going to respond because the vibes it has been a roller coaster right in March we were the worst team

in the planet then before the World Cup we play against Senegal we play really well against Germany and then the vibes are up right and then you have this first half the best first half

that the USMNT has ever played at a World Cup again you can make a debate yeah yeah Portugal in 2002 so I think it was very important especially for the players because and I had the

to cover not this team, but this group. This group and where these core of players were even younger. So, shutting down the noise was really hard for that group. They hear everything, and they keep hearing everything. But they're more mature. Comparing to Qatar, we're talking about Christian Pulisic in Qatar, 22 years old, 23, Tyler Adams, 23, Western McKinney. Now they're 27, 28th, right?

They're more mature. And I think this last two years since Cop America, that roller coaster, they've been able to manage it because after every game, after the march window where things went really bad or before this World Cup, you keep hearing the leaders of this team, Tyler Adams, Christian Pullisic saying, we know what's happening, it's going to be okay. You know? So I think this team has also mature, not just on the field, but off the field. And this was not to pat myself on the bat, but this was, and we had this conversation a lot in

22. This was the whole argument of they were the youngest team at the last World Cup. And there wasn't, the conversation around a golden generation, which I still will say over and over is broken, because I don't think it is, it's a pipeline. Yeah. But it is for the next group, for let's just say, I'm just going to mem it for Adjri Mametti and for Malikyakovich. And Gozo and Dave and Soliman, et cetera, et cetera. They're always going to have veterans above them, who are the veterans when they come into the team. The same as Landon and Beasley had veterans above them, the same as Clint did. And these guys, and these guys, guys didn't. And that's not like a, you know, Walker and Tim Riem were there, but they hadn't been

there themselves. And so that was the issue with the reset was there was always going to be this one generation that had to trailblaze as leaders for themselves. And then once they become veterans, which they're all entering, 25 to 28 now, Western McKinney, Christian Polisick, these guys, now for future generations, they will be that for them. But this was always the bridge you had to get to. And I think 2022 was the job that had to be done. And as you said, Now you see the growth in a moment like this. And I think you see the relationship that's clearly been built with Pochitino and the environment he's built. And I think we have to get into Christian Pulisic because this is the greatest night in his national team history.

Like this in his career, this is the best night ever. And this is his Algeria goal game. Now, the U.S. has to go further and they have to continue. I haven't looked. My guess is right now it's a 99.9% chance they get out of the group. The job is to win the group. and they need to change perceptions and all of that. And I think we'll talk about the fans a little more, as you were alluding to.

But this is Pulisik's night. This is the night he's been waiting for. We saw the Bones of it against Senegal in Germany where he found the space where he's at his best in that left channel. And he started to realize the amount he can pressure to be good in this team. And I mean, he just looked. This is the most free I've seen him play with the U.S. And most comfortable I've seen him play. And this is the moment that everyone's been asking for.

That goal against Senegal, I think it helped a lot. And we saw it on the celebration. I think if that goal doesn't happen, tonight might go different. But I go back to Qatar. When after he scores the goal with his private parts against Iran, to the USMNT gets that important win. And the day after at the press conference, I ask him, London had his moment against Algeria.

Yeah. Now you just had your moment at a World Cup against Iran, and he said, yes, but I hope it's not my last. Right. Today he didn't have a moment, a goal, but he had his best presentation. At least for the first 45 minutes, he got so up at halftime. We don't know exactly how my, what I've been reading and texting with people

is that it was precautionary. Yeah. Like there was something wrong physically, but it's not something to be concerned. Pocetino is going to address it on the... Which, and we'll know, we'll be live again tomorrow morning at 9.30m. Eastern Time if you're watching live, if you're listening via podcast, we will be back at 9.30. So we will have more coverage of this as we learn news.

This is why we created a daily show, but we are doing these USM&T post game shows as well, so that we can hit everything. The worry on the precautionary side real quick, we don't have to go on into it long because we don't know, is if we're doing precautionary subs at halftime of a 3-0 win or leave, Is Chris Richard's not on that list? Is Tyler Adams not on that list? That's the part that's like a little bit worrying. Fine to elevate Pulisic in that way

if that's how Potch is doing it. But if you're worried about something like that, maybe there's other guys on that list, which I think is where it finds us a little bit harder to believe. But fine. But in these cases, it's that the player felt something. Okay. Which is worried.

Like you felt a little bit hamstring thing and then that's where you call precautionary. Yeah, yeah. Like clearly Tyler had 90 minutes. Chris Richards had 90 minutes. and Team Ream again. Potch said he got kicked in the calf at the end of the first half is what the...

There's come out. Yeah. And Jenny Taft had reported that when Pulisic was coming out of the locker room, he said, like, say hi to his family and friend. He said, I'm good. Yeah, yeah. So clearly something, he wasn't 100% to keep going. And we got to talk about the next game

it's in six days. So it's more recovered. For sure. So I was surprised that Tyler played the whole game, especially with the yellow. I'm at 68th minutes or something. that he got the yellow. I'm going to say something,

and this is where I get going to get greedy, but I was going to get kind of annoying if the game ended up 3-1. They should have scored a lot more goals. A lot more goals. And I'm really happy that Giorina had the fourth goal because it encapsulates more what the game was. And shout out some stage goal

that he was watching the game with us, and he's not a fan of Giorina. This is why you have a Giori. Yeah, yeah. Like with the soccer, ball at his feet. He's the most talented player that this team has. And the argument as well is, you're not going to start him. He's a super soft. You have 26 players. I mean, this was the example is the US is up 3-1 because they concede the goal against Paraguay. Yeah. And there wasn't a lot of

calm in the team. And it had gotten discombobulated. Part of that was the holistic sub. It seemed like things got messy at the back. The shape of the midfield all of a sudden disappears. All of a sudden, spacing is odd and people can't hit blind balls because they don't know where anyone is. Paraguay starts to put a little bit of pressure on. Geo comes in and you play into his feet and everyone comes down a little bit. He holds it for a little bit. Then he could distribute a pass and then he has a special moment. Listen, if the U.S. is this good, aka blowing people out and we did our football manager,

Sim on the show early today in the U.S. won the World Cup, then he might win the golden boot off the bench, just literally scoring like these late goals because if the game's going to open up and it's like who's getting easy points, It's going to be GioRana taking shots. Yeah. And I want to go back to what you said. Like, we can now sleep well thinking that this team is going to be in the next round. Yeah.

Three points, it's probably going to get you. Three points in a plus three goal differential. It's going to get you on the next round. Now, we want this team to win the group. The same thing as Mexico, for example. If they win the group, they stay in Mexico. They keep playing Mexico. It's the same thing with the USM&T.

If you win your group, your next two games are going to be easier. Right. Now, I want to be a little bit, I want to throw a little bit of cold water into it. Paraguay was terrible. Yeah. Like, and again, all the credit and all the merit to the USMNT

because they strike first and they kept pressing. And they never let the food out of the gas. But Paraguay was clearly in shock, in shock. They were slow in transition. Anytime their fullbacks try to do. something the centerbacks couldn't recover ever the USMNT could have had five goals easy in on the first half um the the right back who was in charge of of marking police had a yellow card on the eighth minutes so then you're playing basically you you can't even chase him but then the help comes so

late on that first goal exactly and so i don't know again i'm going to be that guy yeah and i don't know how great is a USMNT based on this result or how terrible Paraguay was. Something in the middle. So obviously with Australia, that it's a more organized team, a more compact team that Paragu is going to give us a little bit of more sense because historically, we haven't seen this with Pudge, but at least with these players under Berhalter, we know how difficult they had to break down teams that sit on a low-blower. right?

Yeah. So that's why it was so important to get the goal early. I was on a group chat with friends, and they were asking me because they're like, they're not American. So they're like asking, he's like, hey, how do you see the game? It's like, the USMNT has to score first and early. That needs to happen. Like with Mexico yesterday, all the pressure now.

And the opposite on Canada. Exactly. And because you're playing against teams that are going to be cagey. Yeah. They're going to try to play in the mud. Yeah. South Africa and now Paraguay and again

credit to the USM&T but I want to be cautious because I think you play the weakest of your rivals but but this night it's it's a celebration that I'm not taking anything I don't want to take anything I want to take anything

I want to take anything I would the US played a better team by the way than Mexico played Marrago has a better team yes and you put together a better performance you put together a more free performance and the thing that I was trying to put myself mentally in all day was after watching Mexico and Canada, you saw how slow it starts and the pressure that's on and how uncomfortable some of that can be. And so the fact that the U.S. had six or seven minutes of that, right, the early sort of save that freeze makes and the early chance they have give away.

And then if you look at like all these momentum charts and all this stuff, it's like Paraguay color and then it's the U.S. It's incredible for the next 40 minutes in a row. So you have to do the job and you have to take advantage. but like this is for some of these guys this is six years this is eight years that they've waited for this exact moment there is so much pressure behind that and so even if you even if it's easy for you even if the chances are there Jonathan David didn't put it away this morning Malikilman didn't put some of them away this evening but like the fact that Balagan was able to do what he did and have the chances he had and there's like a joke in the documentary where Weston McKinney

at the Coble America asked like hey man we did all this work to recruit you I took you out to dinner. You got to score goals. He scores a great goal against Panama. You know, it hasn't been easy for him with the U.S. And one of the questions we asked on this show was like, can he convert the club form to national team and the way him and Pulisic sort of are in the same space,

it was better against Germany and it was great today. And now Boligan reading Pulisicicic and knows when to pull off when Pulitzer's going to take his to go 1 v. 1. That understanding hadn't been there. These guys hadn't really played that much together. And this was the best we saw today. and I think Weston McKinney really understood and found his gap, the gaps within all of that.

Maybe some of the final touch stuff could have been better, but the own goal comes for a lot of reasons. I mean, the first goal is unbelievable. Alex Freeman's pass out of back. I thought Weston McKinney missed Desd's run. He comes inside. He creates the chance. Polistic wins 1 v.1.

But Weston's choosing to slide that one across the six to Boligan, which leads to the own goal, rather than shoot from an area that's acceptable to shoot. It's that soccer vision. Those are the things that make. him special where it's his understanding and decision making an unconventional play that breaks games open and it's there for him a lot of players maybe maybe other players would have thought about it a lot take that shot and weston didn't and that's where weston is special yeah and that's part

of the growth no yeah and be more mature and making better decisions and again i don't want to take anything away i think this this night it's probably the best if you're a fan this probably was your best 90 minutes that you've ever watched as a USM&T fan at a World Cup. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Because, yeah, you had maybe better results in the past, like being Mexico in the round of 16. That's a better result.

But we're talking with tonight, the way the team played, all the buildup, the pressure. Tonight the pressure, I cannot even imagine the pressure that these players, coaching staff, had. on them. If we are sack of nerves, I mean, all day we're saying, this is what we've been waiting for. And having the game

at 9 p.m. Eastern time, it's like you're all day waiting. As a player, you're in the hotel. You want to climb the walls. You just want to get on the field. And yeah, they play in the late 6 p.m. But still, 6 p.m. start. It's a late start.

Again, I don't want to take anything away. This is a celebration. But I don't want to go, I don't want to go to like the extreme. right? Yeah, I get that.

Now, we're not as bad as we're in March. Yeah. We're not as great as we're tonight. So, but let me say this, for all of what you're saying from a soccer point of view, from a culture point of view, this was what this World Cup needed. Absolutely. We talked about it with our friend Galino who is here. And she was like, I didn't see, you know, maybe saw two USA jersees around New York City.

And I said when we were in Chicago last week, they were everywhere. I think if you're in L.A. right now, they were everywhere. now all week, I think they start to come out. And I think people who are tuning in for the World Cup but aren't huge fans, they start to Google and go to soccer.com and say, where can I find some gear? Who's that guy on the cover? And where can I find some gear?

Right? And this is the things that happen when an Olympics starts and the U.S. figure skater wins a gold medal and all of a sudden people start to tune in. These are not things that the average fan is attuned to all the time. They like winners. That's the thing we say about the U.S. all the time. They like winners.

You need flash points in events like these. For the global soccer world, it was Saudi Arabia beating Argentina in 2022. It popped off the World Cup all of a sudden everyone's in. I think this is that game of this World Cup. Just like explosion, four goals, host country had never been done before. I haven't looked back through it. I don't know that the U.S. has ever been a conmoble team in the modern error of the game, talking post-1950. All this stuff.

And so I think this moment is going to be huge for the game, for the tournament, for this team. As you said, this is the best moment for true fans. So there, you know, we are all there and we're having a great time. But I think for the neutral, for the, I'm open to it, but suck be in fan, I think for the average Green Bay Packer

in Dallas, Cowboy, and Pittsburgh Penguins fan, this is a huge night for what the next few weeks could look like. You see it on social media. Yeah. people all the people I follow for other sports exactly I'm watching golfers I'm watching NASCAR drivers

I'm watching why are you watching golf in NASCAR I'm okay okay I'm I play golf I follow people so you have golfers media that cover golf is like tweeting I have no idea about soccer but this game is incredible yeah yeah yeah you gain a fan exactly you gain a fan and that's what they're getting legitimate

and you gain legitimacy. So now, let's say the Australia game's fine, two one win, one one tie, whatever, right? You have benefit of doubt from a fan like, of quote-unquote fan like that who's like, I know this team's better, I know this team's good. And we were on the opposite side of things coming into this,

which was, if the U.S. tie is a game like this, oh, they're the worst team in the world, they're not good enough, why aren't we good enough? Why don't we have our own messy, all this stuff? Yeah. And that's where all of this is so huge. And I think this now kicks this off. and winning the group is key.

So beating Australia is key. It's also keeping this momentum and keeping the fans behind you and keeping the energy behind you. And, you know, everyone's about to get asked to come on a bigger TV show than what they were getting asked

for from a U.S. side, right? Going across this week and all of a sudden, all these other celebrities are going to reach out and they want to be a part of it. That's all awesome. And that's what U.S. soccer needs.

They need these people, these players, to be celebrities in culture. not in soccer culture, in culture. And I think the performance they put on today and the opportunity they put there, that's what this does. And so for all the like, you're right of Paraguay's not that great

and there's some stuff there, it doesn't matter for the bigger event of like, my father-in-law is texting me about this game and is not watching every USA game. No, and again, I'm getting texts from people in Venezuela, people in Mexico, people that don't follow soccer. Yeah. Or people that are watching with their kids that are not Americans, and they're saying, oh, that guy is pretty good.

Like, I remember when you're a kid, sometimes you become fan of teams because of moments, because of players. Like, for example, as an Italian, I became fan of Lazio because my favorite player happened one during a World Cup. Right. During a Giuseppe Signore, during a World Cup, Italy, 94, I said, oh, I like that guy. Right. And then that's a lifetime.

Where does that guy play? And then my grandfather, that, that, that, he's the one that ingrained soccer in me. Yeah. He said, I don't know, he plays at Lazio. Oh, I'm going to root for that team. That's how you make fans. Yep. On nights like this with individuals as a team and when it's on your, on your soil.

And again, it's, it's Mexico already played. Canada already played. Everything is building to this. And you respond that way. I think soccer in this country tonight gain a lot of fans. Huge night for Matt Freeze, obviously, gives up the one goal. I think it'll be accepted in the end. Chris Richards, who was the huge injury concern, ends up coming in and plays the 90.

Yeah. Which is wild to me. And obviously looked fairly comfortable. and then, you know, Tim Riem unfortunately had to go into some recovery mode a couple times, but he takes care of business in those moments. And I think for everyone up and down this lineup, you could go through and go through and you could talk about the positives of what they did. Very clear that Mollick Tillman will be that second center mid alongside Tyler Adams going forward.

You saw some of what we had talked about earlier today with Doyle of, you know, his pause, his control, how he sets up Pulisic, but you also saw the spark that he has when he comes out of that midfield position, and that's going to be huge for this team in final third chance. I think he was the best on the field. He missed a couple chances.

Yeah, he scores. But it was a perfect 10. Not my guy behind him? No, my... Flow. If he scores, it's a perfect 10. Yeah. But I think Tillman was everywhere.

But another difference that I see on this team compared to 2022, and I share this stat with you. in 2022, this thing was young. And I think this, obviously, this team has so much depth in midfield, especially, and up top, compared to that team. Yeah. Because I surely started with you in 2022, the USMNT was the team that run the most. The whole workup.

Yeah. More than Argentina, more than anyone. And when we go to a Netherlands game, Tyler, Yunus, and Weston that played every minute at every game, they were dead. Now you have Malik Tillman playing alongside Tyler that means you have Burrhalter coming off the bench

like today. You have Giorreina coming off the bench. You have Pepe coming off the bench. Timuea. Timuea coming off the bench. We're talking about a team that has weapons of the bench and fresh legs of the bench

because honestly Malik Silman in my opinion was best on the field to play alongside Balo but I think I think overall, I think Tillman did a lot. When he gets sob by Gio Reina, there's not a massive drop-off. When he gets, for example, or he gets soft in the next game for Berhalter,

you want to go more defensively, there's not a massive drop-off. On the 22 team after that MMA midfield, it was an abyss. and behind Pulisic and Abyss. Giorreina was mentally out. You don't have that this year. And you have three legitimate strikers on this team that you didn't have on 2022. So this team is better,

it's more mature, has more death, and it has a better manager. Yeah, maybe, maybe. I mean, yeah, fair. Marisha Botchitone has done a lot of things in his career. I think there are different managers for different times, right?

the job that Burrhalter had. Oh, no, no, I'm not taking anything away from Berhalter. He took the program at his lowest, and he did his job. And he did a plus job, in my opinion. But for this team and what this team needed, because I go back when Pocetino came and said, my biggest hurdle and challenge was changing the mentality. Yeah, yeah. And we saw it.

And I do think one of the things I've always said about coaches of a certain stature. I think Carlo Ancelotti's probably the king of this is, if you have a gravitas, you have the ability to sort of translate that. There's some transitive property. I can't remember which math thing I'm supposed to know right now to the player. So when Marisa Poitino walks into a room and says, you guys are better than this team and you're going to beat them. I think you're the guy.

You believe it in a way that's different from someone else because he's been in these spots. And he's coached teams that have played in Champions League finals and won French leagues and all that type of stuff. And that is that confidence. And I do think that's what the national team, the Federation, was looking for when they brought him in was someone who could walk into the room when we did our sim today against Argentina or Brazil or Ecuador and a knockout round or Switzerland and say, I believe we're better. We're going to win on the day. And it's not that it's just believable, but that, you know, okay, yeah, we're fully in and we're there. Because if Greg said it, they'd be like, yeah, great.

But it's just that little bit of difference and that other level. And yeah, I think that's what a lot of what happened. it's obviously a massive credit to the players for being able to handle the moment. And even Alex Freeman. And this is what I'm saying. Alex Freeman is the young guy now. I mean, the pass and the inside channel from him to open up that opening goal, it's a special moment.

But he can have those special moments on the field because when he has his down moments, he's got a Chris Richards next to him to help manage things. He's got Chardineo Desk. He's got Tim Ream. He's got Tyler Adams. And so his down moments don't crater the team. and you could sort of help him play through it, and then you get those dream moments

where he's flying into the attack, he makes a pass like that. Like, all of that is stuff that we're hoping for from our players. I think Sir Virginia Desd needs to get Freeman something big as a gift after World Cup because I think that's his biggest asset. Thanks to Freeman and the work he does defend...

Desk can play the way he wants. Des it's a winger. Yeah. Now he doesn't have to worry about it. defense. I mean, he obviously has to worry about, but he's not playing as a right back. He's a winger. The right back's right center back of this team is Freeman. And we've known that that he's Achilles'il on Sergenio Dest. Like one B one, I think Sergenio Desk can take any defender in the world, any defender in the world. And we're having this conversation before

because I wasn't a big fan of Serginio Des, especially after that 2022 qualifiers and at the World Cup. And I think when he found that freedom to be more offensive, to worry less about having to defend, again, he still has to worry about defend, but when he can just mentally focus on being a weapon on the right side, watching him life was something that honestly changed my mind forever on him. And I said, this guy is world class.

One B one hit and he can take any defender in the world. And Freeman is a big part of that on this team. And going back to coaching, I think what you were saying, that sometimes the best coaches in the world are not the best tacticians. Zinadine Zidane. he was not a taxician. Carlo Ancelotti, he's not a tactician. But players will die for them.

I was talking to, we didn't see it today, but before the MLS break, I had an Orlando city game against Cincinnati on the last game. And I was talking with Brian O'Heda in Paraguay. He didn't play today, he was on the bench. And I asked him, it's like, I mean, this team went when Alfaro took his team, they were below Venezuela understandings.

Below Venezuela. They were out of the World Cup. And then on the last 12 games, they lost one time in Brazil, 1-0. And I asked Brian O'Hale's like, what's special about Alfaro? Because Alfaro historically has been great,

wherever he goes. He gets results. And he says, I will run through a wall for this guy. And I think Pochettino does that and did that to this group. They didn't have this before. Right.

He got here. I know you had some stats you want to talk about. So 71% possession in the first half. I thought you said you have a train to catch. No, you do have a train to catch. We're going to get you out in one minute. 71% possession in the first half, the highest in the U.S. World Cup game.

They finished the game 65% possession. As of right now, sometimes that changes. I don't even know what planet I'm on. We're talking about the U.S. men's national team in a World Cup match, having 65 freaking percent of possession. That's not how they beat Wales at the last World Cup. That's not how they contended with England in 2010, even Slovenia. Like, this is not the games the U.S. has played.

And this is not purely the expanded World Cup. Oh, they're playing New Zealand or Uzbekistan. No, playing a combo team. Paraguay got in at the end because they were, there was an additional spot. Otherwise, they would have been a playoff team. They would have qualified as a playoff team because that's what happened. the way the format used to be.

And they are a legitimate World Cup team in the U.S. put this on. Flo Bolligan on the cover of Soccer.com. Make sure to go to soccer.com to buy your USM&T gear. I'm kidded up. I got my kits in the corner there. We're going to have our stuff on tomorrow as well. We've got a bunch of gear. Put kickback in so that you can get your goal club membership for free because of us.

And you will get all your gear in the mail ASAP, which you want to be on top of, because this team is rocking and rolling, as we have seen. Flo Boligan is the first American to score two goals in a game for the U.S. men's national team in a World Cup since 1930. The first World Cup. Against two. Paraguay. We come back around, a guy named Bert Partanard, Jeff Crandall, rolling in his grave right now.

The USA go to a semifinal. They did get to a semifinal at that World Cup. They're just like eight teams, but we did it. Exactly. Half them were stuck on a boat and then check is the bottom. hockey has shown up late and decided to play in an empty stadium. I do want to get you out of here. We will be on live at 9.30 a.m. Eastern Time with Susanna Fuller to talk about anything you want us to talk about. I see everyone in the chat. I appreciate you all in the chat. I'm loving,

you know, the input. I'm going to scroll through a bunch of stuff. I'll be on Blue Sky at Empire Gas, GASS. Send me a bunch of stuff. We'll talk about it tomorrow. But final thoughts from you as you get ready to go to sleep for a little bit and do this again. My message to a fan is just celebrate. Like, enjoy it. Today was a sad reminder for me that Italy is not in the World Cup because it was supposed to be Italy against Canada, not Bosnia. And it sucks.

It sucks. It's honestly, like, after they lost against Bosnia, you are grieving and it's okay. But then the World Cup gets here, and it's just a punch in the face. And I was watching Canada, Bosnia, I was just like depressed. And as a fan just cherish these moments because nights like this don't happen often.

No. And especially like, again, I was a functional adult where Italy won the World Cup in 2006, so I can say that I enjoyed a run. I enjoy watching my nation. My team won a World Cup as an adult. But now, not having Italy for a third time in the World Cup, it sucks.

It sucks. I don't know how you guys, I'm guessing it's the same feeling that you guys in Russia in 2018 and having a team that I don't think the USM&T can win the World Cup, but having a team that can have these moments

in the best sported man in the planet and there's nothing even close and for 90 minutes having that patriotic pride, having everything for and again, I go back to you, yesterday to Mexico.

Like, I love Mexico. I love L3. I live and work in Mexico for many years. Speaking with friends and coworkers that were at Stadio Estek yesterday, they were on air crying. It's, it's, I mean, I'm getting goosebumps, and it's just enjoy it. It was a great night, a perfect night, and hopefully the best is yet to come. Yeah, I'm going to echo that because I think that's the right thing to say. I know for me as a fan, I'm going to enjoy this.

I'm going to think about this. I'm going to enjoy it for what it was. And my piece of advice to everyone would be just believe. Yeah. There's no reason not to. And this is coming from someone who's about to now go watch my team playing in NBA finals and potentially clinch that. And so, yes, as everyone has texted me and as everyone has asked me,

I am walking on air right now. But the thing I've learned from this one is you got no advantage of not believing. And I think that's what I hope this team gave people tonight, which is every time, Uruguay, Uruguay, last fall, we're up. Belgium, Portugal, we come back down. Gold cups, good runs, losing a final. Nations League you win, a gold cup you lose.

Or a step forward, then you go into a coaching scandal, then you go into a coached America and a step back. And that's, to everyone's fairness and credit, been the experience with the U.S. men's national team over the last 10 years. They can't get out of their own way. They're going to let me down. What I hope the players proved to fans today

was that they're here for real and that they're not going to fall and beat themselves. And I'm not saying Paraguay would have taken advantage of that, but the way they handled this pressure and all the things we talked about, that's what I'm hoping people take away from it. There's no advantage to not. And the beauty of a run, what you talk about with Italy,

what hopefully happens over the next few weeks, even if it's not the furthest point is now everyone gets to talk about it and prep and where are you watching Australia? Australia 3 p.m. Eastern time on Friday. Where are you going to watch that game? Get together. Get people out into a watch party.

Get people out into a good vibe. Experience that. And then it's turkey for the next time. And that's what's fun about these things. You have to like build your social life around it. You get to be a part of it. And I think for a lot of hard cores, it was, well, am I going to get hurt? Do I really want to get after?

And this is where I think, as I said to start, I think the jersey start coming out. I think people start going out and buying that gear, and maybe in 20 years it's the only one they ever have. But they got it in 2026 when Flew Ball again and Weston McKinney and Christian Pulisic and Malik Tillman put on a show. So this is so fun. I'm glad we get to do this. This is what I've always wanted to do, is to sort of control when we want to talk and what we want to talk about. We wanted to talk about this game. We knew that we were going to be excited about it.

Maybe it was even better than we had ever anticipated. But we have a lot more to come. Thank you to Soccer.com for their sponsorship of this. They are a true American soccer icon. They are one of the staples of the community, and they believe in this sport here. It's a big night for people there. These are Soccer.com original magazines from 1994 World Cup,

from 1999 World Cup. And at the time, the World Cup gear was halfway back in the magazine because people didn't really come for it. They just came for cleats and jerseys. And now you've got them on the cover. You've got all of the kits for all the national teams at the beginning. That's because the sport's growing, and this was a big night in the progression of that. We'll be back at 9.30 a.m. tomorrow. We will be back every single day of the World Cup at 9.30 a.m.

Eastern time. Thank you to you, McKellie. Thank you to Jordan for coming and late and being with us. Thank you, as always, to Connor for being around and hanging out. Thank you to Ben Pagel. Thank you to John Parker. Thank you to Susanna Fuller. Thank you to everyone who's around and involved here at Kickback. We'll talk to you again. Very, very soon.