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Happy hosts as Canada claim first win and Mexico seal knockout spot – World Cup Daily
00:39:27
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Ben Fisher as Canada thrash Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver
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- [00:00]
A
This is the Guardian.
- [00:11]
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast. And today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health and get you set up on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No, no price increases. Just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile, unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
- [00:47]
A
Hi Pod fans. Max here. Barry's here too.
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C
Hello.
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A
Football Weekly is supported by Hotels.com Now, Barry, question. When you're booking a hotel, do you use hotels.com? actually you're probably just going to say I don't know. Producer Joel does it.
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C
I don't know. Producer Joel does it.
- [01:00]
A
Well, I think you should give it a try for yourself. Obviously it's a massive summer of soccer and loads of our listeners will be traveling to watch the tournament and needing to book somewhere great to stay. So it's good to know that when you're a Hotels.com member, you can save up to 20% on hundreds of thousands of hotels. Plus you earn rewards on every stay. So each trip you take helps pay for your future trips. Just use those rewards like cash. And importantly, there are never any blackout dates.
- [01:23]
C
What's a blackout date?
- [01:24]
A
Well, it's a date where you can't use travel rewards, frustratingly, usually on or around major holidays or other peak travel periods. But there are no blackout dates with hotels.com rewards.
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C
Superb.
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A
Yes. So next time you're booking somewhere to stay, just book it at hotels.com hotels.com it's all in the name. Hello and welcome to the Guardian Football Weekly. Canada bat a nine man Qatar six nil. A hat trick for Jonathan. Jonathan David, the first for a CONCACAF player in almost a century. A massive result for the dancing Jesse Marsch and a brilliant chance to top the group and stay in Canada for the start of the knockouts. Before that, the Swiss must have thought they were in pole position to win the group after putting four past the Bosnians in a game that didn't happen until the last quarter. In Group A Mexico, South Korea looked the best game on paper. A big mistake by the Korean keeper gave Mexico the points. It got pretty tense in the end. The Koreans really going for it but couldn't find a way through. And hosts doing well and staying home makes for a good tournament. So perhaps a good day for the neutrals. Also in this group, South Africa equalize late on against Czechia with one of those handballs. There's Colombia's win over Uzbekistan from last night. We'll look ahead to tomorrow. Scotland, Morocco and the bizarre needle match between the US and the Socceroos, two cool, moving cameramen. I'll try and tell everyone the correct date for the London live show. And we've had more correspondence on one subject than anything else so far. Stop laughing, Barry. We'll save that for part three. As always, we'll answer your questions. And that's today's Guardian Football Weekly. On the panel today with me in la, Barry Glendenning.
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C
Welcome. Do you want to skip straight to part three?
- [03:01]
A
I think most listeners do, but no, I don't. Also here with us, Ben Fisher. Hello.
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D
Hey, Max.
- [03:06]
A
And through the night she's been awake watching all these games. Thank you for that, Nikki Bandini. Hello.
- [03:11]
E
Hey, Max.
- [03:12]
A
Let's start then in group B with Canada's six nil win over Qatar in Vancouver. First time Canada scored more than once in a game at the World Cup. Equal biggest margin of victory by a host in a World cup ever. And it was as comprehensive as it gets.
- [03:28]
C
Baz. Yep, it was a brilliant performance by Canada. Obviously you can only beat what's in front of you. And what was in front of them was a team of 11 players who were playing really badly. That was then reduced to 10 players and then reduced to nine and they got progressively worse. The win for Canada featuring hat trick by Jonathan David and hats off to him, will obviously be overshadowed by the broken leg suffered by Ismael Kone. Quite gruesome looking tackle by Asim Madibo, who he was genuinely contrite afterwards and I believe he went into the dressing room after the game and apologized profusely. But that's Ismail Kone's World cup over. Obviously he's a key player for Canada. A really, really emphatic win by them. Hat trick goal scores by Nathan Saliba. Kyle Laren scored one as well. And then a comedy on goal to just add to Qatar's wall. But a dismal performance by Qatar. But Canada were super impressive.
- [04:35]
A
Yeah, it makes you wonder how Qatar drew with Switzerland in their opening game, as we mentioned, Ben, like in the intro, like it. It's good for a tournament if the hosts do well. Right. And so if Canada, you know, they could well win this group. It's not done yet, but if they do that, then they stay at home and these things are great for the momentum of the tournament.
- [04:53]
D
Yeah, this was massive for them. Obviously they got underway in Toronto, a bit of lingering frustration. You know, only a draw in that game, but lots of positive signs. And this for Jesse Marsh in Canada just feels. Yeah, just huge. I mean, as you say, now that the team camp is in Vancouver, this game, obviously in Vancouver, the next game is there and like, there's a lot of home comforts to be had. And for Marsch, in terms of the selection, it feels like he just got that so right. He put Larryn this time up front with Jonathan David. Larryn didn't start the Bosnia game, was not happy about it, but obviously came on and got the goal. And in that game, Jonathan David was brought off on the hour and people were like, oh, what's he doing? Kind of thing. But, you know, this was quite the riposte. So, yeah, just perfect day and result
- [05:39]
A
for Canada and Jonathan David, interesting figure. Niki, you know, currently at U of A. Didn't have a brilliant season, I guess, but you know that there was a time at Lille when he was linked to every club everywhere, basically.
- [05:50]
E
Yeah, he's clearly in the absence of Alphonso Davies, who has been missing for them a lot in the last couple of years. He's kind of the next star up if there's going to be a star in this team. Although I saw that in the build up to this game there was even. I don't know, it felt like maybe this was deliberately provocative headlines. But there was, I think, was one Soccer in Canada was pushing this suggestion of, oh, should Jonathan David even be starting after that first game? Is he. Is he still the guy who should be starting up front? And I don't think it was ever a really very realistic suggestion that he wouldn't. But. But certainly good for him to get his tournament up and running. And. And yeah, he's. He was certainly hot and cold. Juventus more cold than hot. There was a moment after Spalletti came in where he had this absolutely horrendous penalty that he got roasted for in the press, but I think a little bit excessively, even though it wasn't a good penalty. And then after that, Spalletti stuck by him and he got on a bit of a run for a while and is this going to be the moment when we see the best of him? And. And then he faded out again. So we haven't seen the best of him this year initially. And I do think he's. He's got his flaws and perhaps not always finishing as well. As he can do is one of them. But this was a, this is a great game for him, even if he even got his hat trick at the end of it as well. So, yeah, very, very good for him and very good for, for Canada to have him up and running.
- [07:12]
A
And that's too bad. He took his goals. They were all like brilliant center forward finishes, I thought.
- [07:16]
C
Yeah, the first was nice volley when the ball sat up for him. Well, the second was just, just a tapping really after Kyle Larin had a header, parried his way by the keeper. And the third, I think was the most impressive. I think Nathan Saliba was shooting.
- [07:34]
A
Oh, definitely, yeah.
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C
All fizzing towards him. His first touch was brilliant. Took him away from the defender and then turned and shot home. So brilliant first touch, brilliant finish. Three, well, two really good goals. The second I could have scored, I think.
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A
Would you have been in a position is the question.
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C
Well, we've established I do have the fitness now, Max or I had until a couple of months ago.
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A
That's true.
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D
Lieb obviously holds up the number 8 share of Kone as well. You know, when they celebrated, which was nice and it will be interesting what they do on that going forward because spending a bit of time with Canada before that first game, they definitely felt Kone was the one who could kind of elevate them, push them through. So that will be one to address.
- [08:16]
E
He's coming off, he's come off a great season as I saw. He scored six goals from, from midfield for them and I think there's been a feeling in Italy that this was kind of his moment to launch to a big move this World Cup. There in talk about some of the big clubs in Italy coming in for him and not, not insignificant amounts of money being thrown around. 30 million euro type fees for him, which I don't know if some of those again is paper talk, but listen, it's never. Doesn't matter what stage of the career you're in, it's never going to be a nice moment to suffer a horrendous leg break like that. And it was really encouraging to see him sitting up and giving the thumbs up to the crowd as he went off. But it does feel like it's a especially awful moment for a young footballer who was on the verge of, I suppose, having that, I don't know, explosion
- [08:59]
A
in his career perhaps by the end. Baz, that game is faintly ridiculous, isn't it? I mean, there was one point where the Canada keeper was sort of advancing into the opposition half and the fans were Singing shoot and you just think, you know, even if it's a World Cup, Qatar just wanted to get off that pitch.
- [09:12]
C
Yeah, they wanted to get off the pitch and Canada wanted to score as many goals as possible. There was no let up so I'd imagine Qatar were slightly fed up about that. Interestingly actually Nathan Saliba scored from a free kick and the guitar wall was a man short so he was able to bend the ball around the outside. But that was the first free kick that's been scored in this World cup and what was about 20 games in. I think that's, that's the first one. So. And after the game Julian Lopategui and Jesse Marsh were having a conversation. Lopatega was speaking very earnestly into Marsh's ear and it looked like they were having a very amicable discussion. And then Marsh just turned away from the potagian, flung his hands up in the air and sort of stormed off. So I'd be interested to know what was said there.
- [10:08]
A
And also the Jesse Marsh sort of, I think it was when they got the free kick, they got the penalty that then became a free kick. He did a sort of odd. And I'm in danger of recreating things after I recreated what the, what the VAR did by mistake the other day. But yes, I don't know what dance it was but you know I look like an even more middle aged man than Jesse Marsh when I'm trying to recreate it.
- [10:30]
D
Yes, but no. Well, Jesse Marsh I just find kind of semi fascinating. Obviously we know he's American, he's in charge of Canada. There's a sense that he feels pretty hacked off that he didn't get considered or was overlooked for the USA gig and it just feels like he has got the Canadians in the palm of his hand really. I mean before this World cup they'd lost all six previous World cup games. Obviously they got four points from two. Even his comments on eve of that first and waste, you know, sort of made a dig saying that the Canadians sing the anthem with real gusto. When he was with the US set up, you know it wasn't always that way. We had to beg them to sing it. He, he's scoring lots of points for the Canadians and you know they're, they're going pretty swimmingly twisted for Bosnia and
- [11:08]
A
Herzegovina Won all goals scored by substitutes. And Nikki, you said, you know this is a real game of 1/4 and I'll go to bed first because you were. What did you make of this?
- [11:19]
D
Yeah, it was slow burner Max as you say, Johan Manzambi, the 20 year old, I was going to say the 20 year old midfielder, but afterwards Mirat Yakin, the head coach, was saying, you know, he can play striker, he can play wing centre mid. He actually even said defence. He was the player who changed the game. Scored with under three minutes of coming on and, well, scored twice. Then it was his pass to release Brillianbolo which triggered the red card for, for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Yeah, Manzambi was the match winner, really. Obviously finished 4:1. Granit Jacker took the penalty, wouldn't let Manzambi take it. You kind of were thinking, he's going to let Manzambi take it, get his hat trick, potentially. Afterwards, talking to Jack, he said, no, these are the rules. And like any good captain would, I suppose, but Switzerland needed that and big win for them.
- [12:09]
A
I'm never sure, Ben, how much listeners care about the travails of a journalist, but in terms of late rewrites, that was an ass of a game.
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D
Well, it was a pain because it, you know, it's a midday kickoff locally, but because of the time difference, it does mean deadlines back home in the uk. So, yeah, a bit of a pain, but it was good to see the game come alive and Manzambi was kind of just sort of freestyling over the pitch, kind of. Yeah, very much the architect of everything that was good for Switzerland.
- [12:37]
C
Wasn't Xhaka quite critical of him after the first game?
- [12:41]
D
Yeah, it's interesting. Yeah. And afterwards, Barry talking to Granit Xhaka, he. We were sort of saying how good was Manzambi? And he said, yeah, he's good when he's got a clear head. And he, he kind of resisted the, I suppose the obvious tapping of saying, yeah, he was brilliant, you know, what a player. He was keen to kind of balance out and say, yeah, he's good when he's on it, but in the first game he wasn't. And the other key thing to say with Jacko is he was critical of that first performance against Qatar, obviously a dreadful result by their standards of the draw. 26 shots, their only goal, the imbolo penalty. And in the Swiss media, they were saying that that created kind of negativity, even suggestions of sort of toxicity. And Jack has said, no, if I'm critical, you know, it's me. I'm the first person to criticize. So he was very keen to talk after the game today. Spoke to almost a dozen outlets, I would say. I think he had a message to get off his Chest, Nicky.
- [13:36]
E
It's an interesting dynamic, isn't it? Because what he actually said after that, that first game was he said, if the coach brings players in and you don't have the discipline for certain positions, then it becomes difficult. It was basically having a go at Manzambi for, in his not quite so many words, for freelancing, for not doing what the team required. So that dynamic at the end then of, well, no, the team rules say that I take this penalty and you don't get your hat trick. It does feel like a tension there, almost a little power struggle happening, which perhaps you can leverage that and make it a good thing. But I do fear with that sort of dynamic at a World cup, these are the things that you all have to live together. You all have to get on together in a training camp for this period of time. And it does feel like that's maybe not been resolved or maybe been brought to the fore some more.
- [14:22]
A
Yes, we all have to live together, Barry.
- [14:24]
C
I bet Granit Jacka screws the lid onto the Diet Coke bottle properly.
- [14:29]
A
I bet Manzanvi doesn't just burp in his face and not apologize. You know, we'll get to that. Look, I mean, I guess Switzerland must have thought, oh, we've won the group now, they've won four one. And so the way this is set up now, you know, Canada and Switzerland both on four points. Switzerland playing Canada, of course. So that is a big game.
- [14:45]
C
Yeah, it is a big game and Canada will desperately want to win it to stay in Canada. More interestingly now, Bosnia have to play against and beat Qatar. They probably have enough about them to beat them, but they may need to beat them by a lot.
- [14:59]
A
I mean, they will have a few suspensions. Qatar, have they got enough players? I don't know.
- [15:03]
C
Well, we've now had six red cards in this tournament already, which is one more than the entire last World Cup.
- [15:11]
A
That is interesting, isn't it? What happened in the last World Cup? Just everyone was fine, everyone just got along. Everyone was nicely behaved. They went meanies like Granit Xhaka. Anyway, that'll do for part one. We have live shows in September, the 1st of September. We're at Vicar street in Dublin the 9th of September. Is that correct? I'm just confirming it is correct. Not the 8th, 9th September. We are at the Soho Theatre in Walthamstow. We have been saying the eighth for a number of days. So I don't know. Look, we win as a team and we lose as a team, but, you
- [15:40]
C
know, I haven't a clue.
- [15:41]
A
What? It definitely isn't my fault. It's not your fault, it's not Nicky's fault, it's not Ben's fault. It may be mine, but yeah. 9th September at the Soho Theatre in Walthamstow. Go to theguardian.co.ukfootballweeklylive and come along and have a nice time. And in Part two we'll do Group A featuring Mexico, South Korea, Czechia and South Africa.
- [16:05]
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health and get you set up on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile, unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
- [16:38]
F
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- [17:23]
A
Welcome to Part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So huge win for Mexico then in Guadalajara. Just the one goal in it. What did you, what did you make of this one, Nikki?
- [17:33]
E
It was a slow watch, I would say at whatever it was by full time, 4am local time. It certainly took a took its time to come alive, didn't it? Which is a shame because it was the one of the four games today that I was most looking forward to. I think it was something like 0.1 XG for each team at halftime and even that felt like it might have been being generous. And I think the first corner of the game was in second half injury time actually. So yeah, it was, it was a slow burner and I think that perhaps is, is somewhat what we're going to get out of Mexico at this tournament. I Think they are not in a mood to give their opponents anything easily. They're not in a mood to push the boat out and. And be lavish in the way they played. It's interesting actually, Luis Roma, who ends up scoring the. He did an interview last week which some people weren't very impressed about, where one of the questions that came up was, do you feel a responsibility and obligation to win this game against career? And he said, well, no, actually we don't have an obligation to win it. And actually what he was trying to say was we just have to go and play our game. But I think that was read by some people as look at the lack of ambition in this team, look at the lack of courage to go out and say, no, we're going to go and win at home. And then of course, he becomes the hero, scoring at the ground where he plays his home games for Cheever. So funny how that goes around. But it was. It was a very stodgy game at the beginning. The inclusion of Roma was in itself a bit of a message because he is a bit more of a combative, less. Less creative player. Was a bit of a surprise inclusion, but again, took his moment brilliantly. And I also think part of it was the way career approached it. Career, I think clearly had seen in that first game that Eric Galida was really able to do a lot of the. Pulling the strings from Mexico from the base of midfield. They had a clear plan to get on top of him and not give him the freedom to do that early in the game, which was effective. I thought Korea were crowding the midfield, but it just led to a. Yeah, a very. A very uneventful first half. And even after the goal. Didn't get that exciting, did it?
- [19:36]
A
No, I mean, it was. It was good from about the 86th minute on, I think, Barry, when South Korea were like, oh, actually we should go for this. And then they really went for it. It was quite compelling for that. That last few minutes in injury time.
- [19:47]
C
Yeah, I. I would take exception, Max, with your. What you said in the intro, and you're not the only person who said it, that Mexico scored on the back of a terrible mistake by the South Korean goalkeeper Kim Sung Yoo. Because I don't think he made a mistake. He came for the ball, he caught it and he just. One of his own defenders was in front of him and he had no. He couldn't not drop the ball. Because you think I. I don't think. I just think he was unlucky. I don't see how he could have possibly held on to it in the circumstances he found himself in. But anyway, that's by the by, I think South Korea went into this game playing for a draw and then they went to goal behind and they. Yeah, they didn't start throwing the kitchen sink at Mexico till the last 10 minutes or so. And they had three, I would say, presentable chances, one massive chance, all from crosses in the last few minutes, but they couldn't put any of them away.
- [20:49]
A
Yeah, a great say from Raoul Rangel, who also, you know, is from. From there as well. And you know, that was. That was the key moment. Right, because they win the group now, Mexico, which means they. They are at home for the last 32 and last 16.
- [21:02]
E
If.
- [21:02]
A
If I think I'm right.
- [21:03]
D
Yeah.
- [21:03]
A
Which could mean England going there in the last 16. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.
- [21:07]
D
Yeah. Obviously they've got a cult hero, haven't they, in Guillermo Achoa, the Mexico goalkeeper who's part of this squad. We've seen him a few times. A nice sort of camera angles and stuff of him. But, yeah, this was hell of a save. And, well, double save. And then his own defender, Johan Vasquez, ends up kind of falling over him. It was kind of like a mini ruck on the goal line. But, yeah, quite the crescendo to the game after quite a sluggish start. But yeah, and then it was the chance right at the end as well. 94th minute, you know, career still could have scored.
- [21:36]
E
So it was a great overhead kick off the line by Alvarez as well. Right early in the game, which was offside anyway, but was brilliant overhead kick off the line still.
- [21:43]
A
Yeah. And that was son, wasn't it? And Nikki, you sort of think, you know, there was a time when taking Hyun Min Son off for South Korea when you need a goal would be completely unheard of. I'm not sure if the point I'm making, but people get older, I suppose, and Sunny gets older.
- [21:55]
E
They do. And it would surprise me. I mean, you're chasing a goal, you. You need that goal and you take off the guy who's still, I think, at least symbolically, the talisman up front, isn't he? And. And. And perhaps it was in some sense vindicated by the fact they do get that great chance at the end. I don't know what you think on that. That chance, the end. The commentators on the BBC were being quite harsh on Church, saying that they thought he should have done better. But I think he heads it down across goal. It gets the Awkward bounce up. I'm not saying it. It couldn't be better, but I didn't think it was. Didn't think it was a shameful attempt on that header. It just didn't quite work out that keep. Make a good save.
- [22:29]
A
Yeah. I mean the noise was great when Mexico scored despite a few empty seats. Tariq Panja writing should not be empty seats at Mexico home game in the World Cup. This country has gone bananas for its team's games. There has to be a way to fill every seat. I think we all agree with that.
- [22:43]
D
I was just going to say we might come to it, but sort of related to that, I was talking earlier to somebody and the tickets for the USA Australia game, some tickets selling for around $8,000, which is insane. So yeah, I totally agree with. With the sort of sentiment. But what also what are the ticket prices here?
- [23:03]
A
100.
- [23:04]
C
Imagine paying eight grand to watch that the first 85 minutes of that game.
- [23:13]
E
Yeah.
- [23:13]
A
Can you dynamically price it down as the game's going on is the question. Exactly. But South Korea, look, they should beat South Africa, who did get a draw against Czechia, which isn't really great for either of them. For those watching on YouTube, the. The scarf has fallen off the table. Hopefully people carry on watching. Hopefully that's not the thing that keeps us with this podcast and not a rival. You could try. We can try and put it back on. Barry. That's nice, isn't it? Yeah, it's upside down. Come on, let's do it properly. Yeah, come on. Okay. God, we are.
- [23:42]
C
He makes the dream work.
- [23:43]
A
A married couple.
- [23:44]
B
Yes.
- [23:45]
A
Barry. To me a bit. To you. To me, to you could be our catchphrase. Anyway, Czechia won. South Africa won. Czechia haven't won either of their two opening games. Is that. Is that a surprise to you, Ben?
- [23:55]
D
A little bit. I mean, I probably thought they might have won this game. I have to say, I thought the penalty for South Africa to equalize was extremely.
- [24:06]
A
Do not start me soft.
- [24:07]
D
I remember a couple of years ago I was at a PGMOL camp, referees training camp in. It's really interesting. Sat with all the referees and they're watching.
- [24:14]
A
Was it really interesting?
- [24:15]
D
No, it was. They're dissecting clips and then basically going around the room saying, and what is that? Is that a fail? Is it not? And the one thing that just sticks in my mind is that if it's soft or if it's perceived to be soft, which it feels like something we say a lot is fans and watches of it, then it's just a non starter and to me, the fact that you can blast the ball at somebody and it's still handball, it feels like one of those handballs that we saw in the Premier League a little bit a couple of years ago when people were crossing it and just. Yeah, I think it's a bit fast.
- [24:46]
A
Mia. Barry were saying, what's he meant to do? Like, there's nothing he can do. It's completely.
- [24:50]
C
And his arms were kind of tucked in as well, weren't they?
- [24:53]
A
Yeah. Furious about it. But I suppose, Nikki, it does set up the group in quite an interesting way because. Because both Czechia and South Africa go into this final game knowing that if they get a big win, which may be unlikely, South Africa play South Korea and Czechia play Mexico, they can still get through.
- [25:10]
E
Yeah, it keeps it alive. I mean, I think even though the Mexico, South Korea game was very, very low on instant. I think this game just felt like it was desperately low on quality to me. It really felt like this was two teams who. You don't. You almost don't want to see them going further in the tournament because they haven't done enough in the tournament to deserve to go further. And there's maybe going to be one or two of those that do get through because of the best third places. But, yeah, it was, it was. It was not. Not a particularly technically brilliant game of football, I thought. And I thought South Africa resorting and not to just having a go from a long way out and one of those eventually gets them a penalty. And Chechiya. Yeah, it was a nice goal from Madilek to get things going and a very quick goal. But it just felt like after that, that was the end of their ambition. They were just going to try to lock that down.
- [25:56]
A
Yeah. Shout to the referee. Even though we didn't agree with the penalty decision. That's more, I would say, the laws of the game and the ref. Tory Penso, the second woman ever to officiate a men's World cup match. So what? On to her last night, Colombia beat Uzbekistan 3 1. And actually, Barry, this is quite a fun game of football, I thought.
- [26:14]
C
Yeah. I watched this in a bar with a load of Colombians who had a very jolly evening.
- [26:20]
A
Did you make any friends?
- [26:21]
C
No, I didn't make any friends, Max, but the Colombians, a great bunch of lads, I'm going to say. And weirdly, as soon as the final whistle left, they all. They all left, just club emptied. But anyway, yeah, they had a good night. It was a hard fought win for Colombia. To be honest, I thought Uzbekistan gave a pretty good account of themselves and Colombia didn't put the game beyond them until very late with an excellent goal. Brilliant Campaz header from a brilliant Juan Hernandez cross. But Luis Diaz scored in this game as well. Bit lucky. The keeper sort of let his weakest shot squirm under his body. And Diaz also provided an assist for Columbia's first lovely pass over the top. And Daniel Munoz of Crystal palace fame helped it along with a good volley past the the Uzbekistan goalkeeper. And Uzbekistan scored their first ever World cup goal. So hats off to them. I believe a pitch side cameraman was also taken out I think by abduct tackled someone and both players went into this pitch side cameraman and he looked like they'd done a number on him.
- [27:46]
A
I did, yeah.
- [27:48]
C
So I hope he's okay. But it was a decent game and Colombia were worthy winners. But Uzbekistan, we're all right.
- [27:56]
A
And a shout for the shot of the tournament in, you know, in the last seconds of this game from Beckra's Karimov. Ben.
- [28:04]
D
Yes. What a hit it was. Hell of a hit. It was kind of like a sort of FIFA street game breaker, wasn't it? It just cracked it 35 yards maybe. Yeah. An amazing effort. Dessert? Deserve more.
- [28:17]
A
Deserve to go in. I'm very sad.
- [28:18]
C
Woodwork is still shaking.
- [28:20]
A
I think they're probably right.
- [28:21]
D
The Munos goal was brilliant though, wasn't it? We've already been treated to some great goals this tournament, but that was right up there for me. It's kind of the world's best toe poke in terms of the finish.
- [28:31]
A
World's best toe poker. That is a rabbit hole. I could definitely go down Anyway, does
- [28:35]
C
it still count as a toe poke if it's not on the ground? Suppose it kind of.
- [28:40]
A
I suppose it is still a toe, isn't it? But yeah, it was a lovely finish. Anyway, that'll do for part two. Part three. We'll look ahead to tomorrow's game.
- [28:51]
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health and get you set up on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile. Unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan.
- [29:24]
F
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.
- [29:51]
A
Welcome to Part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. So tomorrow, Scotland, Morocco, usa, Australia, Brazil, Haiti, Turkey, Paraguay. It's a great set of games, isn't it? We should probably start with Scotland, Barry, because the game against Haiti, we got some pushback for saying, you know, they should have won by more because it was a win at the World cup and they haven't done that in a long time and Haiti actually played quite well, I thought. But they need a point, like they need a point from Morocco and Brazil and that is not easy.
- [30:19]
C
Yeah, I kind of thought we would get pushed back, but I. I stand over my opinion. Any win at the World cup is a good win, but I think the team they were playing were bad. I don't think Scotland played well and I think Scotland on their day, on a good day, would have won by three or four goals. But they didn't and that could come back to bite them. It may not. If they get a draw tomorrow, then doesn't matter how many goals they scored against Haiti. Whether or not they will get draw remains to be seen because Morocco need a result as well after their draw with Brazil, Scotland are definitely capable of a lot better than they showed against Haiti. So let's hope they showed against Morocco tomorrow.
- [31:04]
A
Yeah, and Nikki, they need that midfield and they do miss Gilmour, but they need McGinn and McTominay especially to really perform.
- [31:12]
E
Yeah, McTominay, obviously there was that talk of him having a bug right before the tournament, so perhaps he'll be in slightly better condition for this one. But it'll be interesting to see how they approach it. Right, because it was a 4, 4, 2 against Haiti. And will they take out one of Shay Adams or Shankland and pull someone else into that midfield? Because it does feel like it's going to be all about whether or not they can. They can exercise some control there. I thought Lewis Ferguson was good against Haiti, but McTominay was a bit less his usual self. And so how you aim to. I guess maybe it's too pessimistic to say, but I almost feel like the Scottish plan is going to have to involve a certain amount of how you aim to slow down this Morocco team because Morocco have got so many different ways of attacking you. They have got a lot of options on the flanks and they've got fullbacks who can really kick on. Most obviously Hakimi, but I mean, Masrai and Canoes on the other side are also just as much going to get at you. So it feels like they're going to want someone else in that midfield. It feels like you're going to want an extra body in there and how they're going to do that, we'll find out.
- [32:13]
A
Yeah, I totally agree. And then the us, Australia, two sides who had absolutely brilliant almost of life affirming performances, you know, in their first games. And there's a sort of bit of needle now, I mean, mainly because the US have written off the Socceroos and I saw my mate Craig Foster saying, you know, you don't want to piss off the Aussies, you know, because. Because they don't like that. And I just think it'd be really interesting to see how this game plays out.
- [32:40]
D
Yeah, I think it's going to be a corking game. People keep telling me that Seattle, where the game's being played is probably the US stronghold in terms of football. Soccer. Yeah. And it's going to be interesting. I suppose the big talking point is Christian Pulisic. Will he play? Won't he play? Feels like his every move has been tracked this week. Sort of granular details, you know, there's
- [32:59]
A
been a poor reporter at the ground for Fox and she's just basically watching Christian Pulicita pitch beyond where the other players are training on his own, trying to stare at how long the sock is on his calf.
- [33:11]
D
Yeah, yeah, I've seen that left calf too many times, Max. Yeah. Mauricio Pochettino kind of non committal on Pulisic, which makes me think he might play. But equally, I don't think they need to risk him. I think the fact they got that win on the board first time round probably takes the pressure off. Yeah.
- [33:27]
A
And maybe he's just injured from advertising Wells Fargo credit cards too many times, Hershey chocolate bars and everything else, but good on him. Cash in when you can, Christian. So Brazil, Haiti, Baz, any thoughts?
- [33:39]
C
I think Brazil will win very comfortably.
- [33:42]
A
Okay, thank you.
- [33:44]
C
But I would welcome Haiti to surprise me.
- [33:47]
D
Yeah.
- [33:47]
A
Oh, me too. I must win for Turkey. After that defeat to Australia, Paraguay were not good against the US So see how the dark horses can get on. Thomas Tuchel has won a battle with FIFA to get photographers moved away from the bench during the national anthems. He Said he couldn't see his team before the win over Croatia. I have to tell you something. I'm begging FIFA to change the position of the photographers in the national anthem because I could not see my team. One of the best things, Nikki, about being here is not having to engage with people furious about whether Thomas Tuchel sings the anthem or not. I just wonder if he was sort of trying to placate them or. He doesn't care about anything. So maybe he did just want to see his brave boys.
- [34:26]
E
Didn't he say that he isn't going to sing the anthem until he earns it? So it's not about singing himself, but wanting to, I suppose, be able to share that moment. I understand that as a coach, wanting to see your players. I don't know if you've seen, like, the actual images of what it looked like. He does have, like, a hundred cameras right in his face. And I can imagine, as a coach, wanting to have some sort of line of sight to your players in that moment for a game, just to, I don't know, transmit those subtle cues to each other and remind each other of what you've talked about in some way. I don't know. I feel like that is a moment that's slightly been taken from the coaches. So I think it's a valid complaint. Even if, of course, all these things are blown up into far too much discourse because it's a World Cup.
- [35:12]
C
It's also quite claustrophobic, having this wall of cameras right up in your grill, and it's just ridiculous. It's another English obsession. It's like the captaincy. Hymer Halgrimsson is the manager of the Republic of Ireland. He's Icelandic. I have no idea if he sings the Irish national anthem. I don't care if he sings the national anthem. He probably doesn't because it's quite hard to learn. It's in a different language to, you know, it's in Irish and it's all about, you know, shooting Brits and whatnot. But, yeah, I don't. No one cares whether he sings.
- [35:50]
A
No. I mean, I certainly don't care. I doubt. I wonder if King Charles cares if he's checking on Thomas Tuchel. How does Thomas Tuchel learn it? By winning football matches or by becoming more English? You know, if he just sort of, you know, I was going to say, gets into faulty towers. That's the wrong show to suggest, isn't it, that Thomas Tui. You take my point, don't you? Anyway, what did you think of England Nikki, what's the vibe? Is there World cup fever after that, which I thought was a great performance against Croatia?
- [36:14]
E
Yeah, I thought it was. It was really fun. I don't know if, if it's also partly a feeling reinforced by the fact that the BBC on all their, on the iplayer, they've got all these, all these reflective nostalgic shows available to watch that I've been throwing on in the background while doing other things. So you've got the deer, England. There's also. There was a look back at the golden generation and, and how all that went in 2006 and there was something when you just contrast, I think it's especially watching that golden generation one, you contrast how there were these periods when England had quite good players, but somehow you knew that actually watching them at a World cup was going to be dreadful. It was going to be painful. You're going to be sitting there for 90 minutes waiting for maybe David Beckham to do something that made it all okay. And it was fun to watch an England team go out and score four goals in the first game of the tournament and, and look like they had a good energy about that and enjoyed doing it. I doesn't mean they're necessarily going to win it, but personally I do think they are in, they're in the small group of teams that can win it.
- [37:20]
A
The videos of Dr. Congo's fans celebrating are still filling me with joy. And there is one where loads of them are in a sports hall. Some lad in the front row has the notification that they've scored, which is normally incredibly annoying. But this is watching the anticipation of this guy looking at his phone and looking around going, we're gonna. This is gonna be a goal. And then like few people start dancing in the background and then they're all. It's just absolutely, it's so, so fun and like there are obviously millions of videos from millions of different. That's what the World cup does, right. But you know, kids at school in Korea or whatever, whatever, it's great.
- [37:55]
D
He did one last double take as well before the goal actually was confirmed. Yeah. Amazing to see him. What was the one, Was it the Spain, Cape Verde? No, sorry, what was the goal the other day where there was a pocket of Fans?
- [38:07]
A
That was Dr. Congo as well. And actually that was in Lisbon. That was a watch along scene. Lisbon. And so it is like a sea of red and then these 10 blue shirts jumping up. We have a lot of correspondence, Barry, on your new friend, right, Ken's alpaca writes new friend For Barry, it's not just England scoring. Cisco Jab says I stopped listening to my pod just so I could come to YouTube and watch Barry squirm. See him. Watching Barry get uncomfortable about the reference to his new friend is chef's kiss. Nish Kumar got in touch. Hey, Nish. Has Barry got a girlfriend? Has he befriended a Hollywood star? Is his girlfriend a Hollywood star? Has Nicole Kidman rebounded into Barry? Do we need to buy a new hat? Barry, are there wedding bells on the horizon?
- [38:48]
C
No, there aren't.
- [38:50]
D
Okay.
- [38:51]
A
Damn it.
- [38:52]
C
Basically, what happened is I had a conversation with a woman in a bar.
- [38:56]
A
This is pretty extraordinary.
- [38:57]
C
So, I mean, that's.
- [38:58]
A
That's something.
- [38:58]
C
That's something. And I think she was quite smitten by my accent.
- [39:03]
D
Well, of course.
- [39:05]
C
Took selfies. I made the critical error of showing the selfie to the Wicked Witch of the North.
- [39:12]
D
Yeah.
- [39:15]
C
Who decided to roll that grenade while I was in mid flow yesterday. So, yeah, I wouldn't go. Go buying a hatcher. I did meet a Hollywood star this morning.
- [39:27]
A
Yes, you did.
- [39:27]
C
But I didn't realize it at the time.
- [39:29]
A
No. They were filming Selling Sunset in our. Our pool was closed because they were filming selling sunset. Mrs. Ruston, very excited about this news.
- [39:39]
D
Yeah.
- [39:40]
C
And so he told me that that's what they were filming. And I googled it and then realized I'd been in the elevator with the star of the show, Christine Quinn.
- [39:51]
A
Christine Quinn? Yes.
- [39:52]
C
Earlier this morning, she was fumbling around in her. Her purse, looking for the key fob to work the buttons on the elevator. So I stepped in, and then I chivalrous. I commented on she was drinking what looked like a very healthy green smoothie. Healthy and unpleasant. So I commented on that, and she said, ah, well, sometimes I blow out and have a pizza or some ice cream, but today I'm keeping it healthy. And then when we got out of the lift, we both turned the same way, and it got to the stage where I had to say, look, I'm not following you. I lived this way as well. And then it turned out she's Christine Quinn from Selling Sunset.
- [40:34]
A
You know what Selling Sunset is?
- [40:36]
C
I believe it's some awful reality show.
- [40:39]
A
They sell incredibly expensive houses for, like, hundred million dollars. So I, you know, I think you would be an amazing addition.
- [40:46]
C
Well, I mean, I looked out the window and they were filming a poolside interview. And all I can imagine. I can't think of any reality show that would not be enhanced by me in a pair of Speedos running across the courtyard and just, you know, top bombing into the pool.
- [41:07]
E
You don't know best. She might have been asking her friends asking. Was that Barry Glendenning from Football Weekly?
- [41:13]
C
She could have been, yeah.
- [41:14]
A
It could be a collab. I'm not quite sure how it works, but you never know. Everyone is welcome, Baz. The production team, along with Ben and myself, are playing a pickup game of football 9 aside, we are bringing in Lloyd Griffith as well, from a comedian actor, and doing a rival podcast at the moment. So we'd like some tactical insight or arousing team talk for you. Are you gonna come? Are you gonna play?
- [41:41]
C
I'm not gonna play. We did pass one of those little electric delivery boxes on wheels.
- [41:48]
A
Yes.
- [41:49]
C
Or we passed two of them on the way down here. Both of them stuck behind trees. So whoever's waiting for their dinner to come in with those things, I hope they're not too hungry. But you did suggest that you could recruit one of them just to run up and down.
- [42:04]
A
Could you run the channels like Cristiano, I wonder, would be that more useful? Or you? I don't know.
- [42:09]
C
Well, I know some of our production team played a pickup game earlier this week and by all accounts, disgraced themselves and were completely embarrassed. You're representing the pod. You're sort of representing me.
- [42:26]
D
Okay.
- [42:27]
A
As long as you don't. As long as you know when you are meeting Instagrammers, you're representing me. So, like.
- [42:32]
C
Well, my new friend is, needless to say, a. An influencer by trade.
- [42:38]
A
Oh, wow.
- [42:38]
D
Okay.
- [42:39]
C
But I have more followers than she has.
- [42:41]
A
God, poor her.
- [42:42]
C
I think that that stuck in her crawl.
- [42:45]
A
That it did, anyway. But imagine the power couple you could be. Combine those followers together. Anyway, thank you, everybody. Thank you for today. Thanks, Ben.
- [42:52]
D
Thanks a lot.
- [42:53]
A
Thanks, Baz.
- [42:53]
C
Thank you.
- [42:54]
A
Thank you, Nicky. Thanks for staying up all night.
- [42:55]
E
Yes, no worries. Thanks for having me.
- [42:57]
A
Football Weekly is produced by Rory Simon and Matt Bentley Varney. Our executive producer is Joel Grove. We'll be back tomorrow. This is the guard.
- [43:17]
B
This is Ben Green from the Athletic FC podcast, and today I want to talk to you about Boost Mobile. In football, sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery to reach their full potential. And think about your phone the same way. Head into a Boost Mobile store and their team will clean up your device, check your battery health, and get you set up on the Boost Mobile unlimited plan for just $25 a month. Forever. No contracts, no price increases, just a fresh start for your phone and your wallet. Visit Boost Mobile, unlock your phone. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on the Boost Mobile Unlimited plan Marketers.
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