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- [00:00]
A
Quick word for our dear friends at Christopher Ward, the official watch partner of Men in Blazers. Now, many of you know men in Blazers and Christopher Ward first came together through football. But what I genuinely love about Christopher Ward is what they're becoming here in America. They've expanded across the US's showrooms now in New York City, Chicago, Northern Virginia, Dallas and more. They're building something really rare, real connection. They're not just selling watches, trying to foster community, places where people can gather to obsess over craftsmanship, design, engineering and the stories we carry through time. I love these watches. They're precision built, thoughtfully designed, proper mechanical craftsmanship. They're luxury watches at a real value price and they somehow still feel deeply human and accessible. So whether you're already a watch obsessive or you're just curious, go and have a look. Visit a showroom or visit the website. If not, try one on, have a conversation. Christopher Ward they're building something really special here in the United States. We're incredibly proud to have them all alongside us in this community. Now back to the football.
- [01:03]
B
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- [02:03]
A
You're listening to the Men in Blazers Media Network Suboptimal Radio. 23 of the world Cup. And what have we seen today? Argentina 3. Oh, Cape Verde, too. Like a dagger in the heart of those of us lifelong Cape Verde fans, watching our tiny team play fearsome football. Oh my God. Against the world champions. It's like watching Buster Douglas ride Seabiscuit on skates against the Russians at Lake Placid. It was the miracle on ice, on grass, on horseback. Am I right, Betty?
- [02:51]
C
You are right.
- [02:52]
A
I know. God. Was it not ecstatic and beautiful?
- [02:55]
C
It was. It was wonderful. And I don't think you should be sad, Rog. I don't think you should be sad at all. Cape Verde have been incredible. What a game.
- [03:03]
A
It feels like the greatest vacation crush of my life. Where I fell so hard and the joy was so fleeting and almost because it was so quick and fast and deep and collective with all of you. I'm going to remember it all of my life. At Tim Thornburg Cape. The chat is buzzing. Says Cape Verde may be the second best team in this tournament. No lies at Ms. 2. I've never rooted for a team so hard in my life. You and me both. At SPW 567 up the Cabo Verde forever. Yes. Get your Cape Verde tattoos. Let's all do it in other games. Well, Argentina will play Egypt in the next round. They beat Australia on penalties. Feels like a lifetime ago.
- [03:49]
C
Such a long time ago. I can't. I can't even really remember what happened in that game.
- [03:54]
A
I just remember Mo Salah popping on an extra large comedy pharaoh hat and crying at the same time. The absurd, the beautiful. As the Egyptians win their first ever knockout game in, in history. And the other late night rumble. Colombia and Ghana kick the crap out of each other to face Switzerland. Colombia, they're all yours. We are back like Jurgen Klopp in the studio with me is the mighty Betty Clever, your star of Morning cup date.
- [04:20]
C
Hello. Thank you very much for having me.
- [04:22]
A
It's so lovely to have someone that actually knows something about football for once on the bus. But we also have beaming live from Texas. Oh, it's my World cup wife, it's Roar Smith.
- [04:32]
D
How you doing?
- [04:34]
A
Oh, you got a little bit of a Texas twang now. Roar, you've changed.
- [04:38]
D
I've got a big hat. I've got a big hat, but it won't fit on the screen.
- [04:41]
A
Is it secondhand from Graham Potter that he put on Etsy?
- [04:45]
D
There's, there's Graham Potter's discarded hats all over the, the interstate. They're just tossed everywhere. Little signs of Graham Potter's former life.
- [04:54]
A
Oh, raw. How is Texas? I love it there. It is different gravy.
- [04:58]
D
It is. It is different gravy. It's very large. The map has been confusing me with its, with its ridiculous scale. But I did find a. I found a really nice little local restaurant, Raj, that I can recommend to you. Go on. A little Italian place called Olive Garden. Don't know if you've heard of it.
- [05:11]
A
Oh yeah, I've heard of it. Olive Garden is to Italian restaurants what I am to Cape Verde fans. It is.
- [05:22]
D
I want to make it clear this isn't a kind of European mind cannot comprehend situation. We have restaurants like this in Britain too, but they do give you free breadsticks and the breadsticks are delicious.
- [05:31]
A
Michael Gonzalez, 1719. You sound like a Japanese fan with the chips and the salsa. Once they raw. Are you in an Airbnb? I love your curtains.
- [05:42]
D
No, do you know, I am. I'm in a hotel, but I do, I do travel with a rider, so I have to bring my curtains with me and also my artwork. I'm not sure if you can see my artwork. It's a fat man with a cane.
- [05:53]
C
Fancy curtains. Yeah, I didn't even spot them.
- [05:56]
D
Betty. I can't sleep if I don't have gold lame curtains. I'm just a man.
- [06:03]
A
Yeah, just a humble man. He doesn't ask much, does it? You're missing the bus. Admit it, a little part of you is missing. Not sweating your bits off on the bus, mate?
- [06:15]
D
Well, no, but Roger, in honour of the bus, I have to turn the air conditioning off.
- [06:20]
A
God bless you. God bless you. Let's Schwitz in football together. Let's get into this. By the way, Antipantz Andy says I have a five week old son and he is truly a lifelong Cap Verde fan. That's beautiful. That's the real stuff. Let's get into it. Bear. Argentina 3 beautiful, beautiful Cape Verde 2 a game we'd all waited for forever since this tournament kicked off 732 days ago. Argentina. Cape Verde. The big ones. The unstoppable force of Leo Messi going up against the immovable object, vizinha. Together these two men have 528 million Instagram followers, which is more than the combined population of the us, Mexico and Canada. But this was the largest gap between two teams in World cup knockout round history. This was, yes, Shark and Blue Shark, but Blue Shark was really a minute. We didn't expect a lot out of this, did we? At the beginning?
- [07:17]
D
No, it felt like a game for a kind of a brave last stand, I think. I think we went into. Went into it expecting Cape Verde not to be, not to pushovers because they're unbeat in the tournament. They've shown that they can kind of. They can stand tall even against overmatched opposition.
- [07:34]
A
The. The general.
- [07:35]
D
My sense anyway was that they would. Would fight bravely, but futilely and Go
- [07:39]
A
out with their head held out.
- [07:40]
D
That's what I was expecting before Argentina
- [07:42]
A
would, would kind of breathe now that serious. I loved hearing bet the Cape Verd players grapple with the surreal reality of this encounter. Their Sydney Lupus Cabral, who had a great game, said before the game, he said, if we start to think, oh, it's Messi, then we're going to lose our minds. If Messi touches a ball, you might look at him and say, oh my God, I'm really playing against Messi. But then he added, he quote, hopes he gets some nice pictures with him photographs.
- [08:16]
C
And they did. After the game they all got photos with Messi and Lionel Messi after he had done his media stood there and had all of these photos with all of the different Cape Verde players who looked absolutely, absolutely buzzing. What a roller coaster of emotions for them, by the way.
- [08:31]
A
I mean that was the distance but difference between them. Right? I mean genuinely, that's what was so strange. They were in a way tourists celebrating a moment, but they came fearlessly.
- [08:42]
C
Yeah. And after Lionel Messi scored that opening goal, you did think, oh no, this is going to be a really long game for Cape Verde, isn't it? That Argentina are just going to open the floodgates. They're going to dominate. Cape Verd were brilliant.
- [08:57]
A
They were brilliant. And that is the truth about this beautiful, beautiful team. A little lost in the David and Goliath nasal gave in. And the fact that before the game Argentina were 92% on to win was the sense that, well, Caper deserved to be there. They played really, really good football. They shocked Spain nil, nil. Drawn Uruguay 2, 2, Saudi nil, nil. This team, we talked about them, we celebrated. They are the diaspora of wonder. They began scouting Cape Verde first and second generation diaspora players, famously finding Pico Lopez on LinkedIn. First ever Irish league player to play in the World Cup. Just astonishing. Man doesn't even speak Portuguese, but all of them speak the language of football. And this Cape Verde team had lost just one of the last 18 games. That's the thing we forget about coming into this. They, in a way they're just a symbol of modern football that now everyone has access to cutting edge data and training and recovery techniques and nutrition and what it takes to build a collective international team.
- [10:03]
D
Yeah, and Peter Lopez might not speak Portuguese but he will be the first man to, to do a LinkedIn post about what playing in the World cup taught him about B2B sales. I think we can all look forward to that. The, the, yeah, it's that they are, they tend to, they kind of stand for a lot of the themes we've talked about throughout the last 732 days. Rog. They are the team that has been able to put itself together by expanding its player base through players of the first and second generation diaspora. They do have access to high quality coaching, to conditioning, to nutrition, to fitness work, to all that stuff that can help level the playing field. And so to me, they're kind of that example of a team that we, we have presented as though they are lucky part timers who are just allowed to be here, but they're not, they've not looked overawed at all. I mean, the first game against Spain, you could argue they rode their luck a little bit, but from that point on they were better than Uruguay. And to be honest, they'll be disappointed if they didn't beat the Saudis. They have not looked like minnows in this tournament at all.
- [11:05]
A
Yeah, there's no cool running story whatsoever. This is not like a sweetheart. So this is a fascinating study of what builds collective cultures that in a World cup can combine in the moment to to be a true collective fist. And there was a real sense of occasion before kickoff Last night we reveled in Modric against Ronaldo, knowing that one of those two goats will be playing their last World cup game forever. This time we had Messi playing his record Men's 30th World cup match. Oh, the name we all tip to be one of the greatest performers at this World cup beforehand. Vizinha playing in this fourth World cup game. Early on T Vizinha began to flirt a little bit with hubris. He invited pressure with the ball at his feet, calmly jinked away from the press and then just picked his pass. A sense of confidence and ease that just transmitted through his entire Cape verb backline. No need to be afraid, but perhaps there should have been 28 minutes. You talked about this earlier, but Argentina in a way which is lulling their opponent to sleep and picking their moment a false sense of security perhaps spread against a Cape Verde midfield. They were anesthetized, almost hypnotized, and then they sprung to life. Messi ran off his defender. I think it was Lisandro Martinez who art the beautiful ball in. I bet that first touch from Messi at speed outside of his boot was the touch of a tender lover. But the finish, you watched him compute speed and space and an awareness of the keeper. Second touch just rasping smash of a finish. The number of computations In Lionel Messi's head in that moment. It was like. It was like beautiful mind level crap.
- [12:50]
C
It was amazing. I don't. I just don't think he even. I don't think he thinks his body just does in that moment. And he controlled it so well and it was such a beautiful touch. Left foot. Sublime. And it, it, you. I. I don't think we should be talking about Lionel Messi saying this is going to be his last World Cup.
- [13:07]
A
Rog, you were doing the numbers, you were doing the math. You told me, you turn around to me because he'll only be 43 at the next one.
- [13:14]
C
I was like, I think. Well, if you think about it, he walks for most of the game, doesn't he? I think he covers like, I don't know, 6k plus, but majority of that is walking.
- [13:23]
A
He's like me on the, on the peloton.
- [13:25]
C
It was you on the treadmill this morning, trying to get your steps in.
- [13:28]
A
It is amazing. I think he's going to keep playing until Lamina Mal's brother plays his first World Cup. I think that's his dream. First player since the 1960s to score in five straight knockout games. His tournament. Goatus 20th World cup goal. The amazing part, the Messi story. And there's many amazing parts. I love the way you've decided. He doesn't think. I mean, it isn't. There was a. I remember there was a physicist who calculated that David Beckham, at his peak, when he was working out how to curve the ball over the wall and up and down, was one of the most. Like a rocket scientist kind of calibration. He could drop the ball into essentially a tiny letterbox of space. Had to calculate velocity, dip, wind speed, altitude, all those things. And they asked David Beckham, what did he actually think about? He's like, nothing, really. So it's like. It is. It is ultimately for these footballers, it is a beautiful thing, but raw, the messy story. This is the maddest part. We know he's in the ascendancy, we know he's smashing record after record. He's in ether. The no man has come, has touched in a World cup. But in this four, first four tournaments, man scored just six times. In his last two, he scored 14. After the age of 35, he's come alive. How did that happen, man?
- [14:50]
D
Yeah, that's what I always think about Lionel Messi, that he wait 15 years. I just. I find it extraordinary that he. He couldn't be bothered playing until he was 35. It's. It's it's. He'll look back on that and regret it, I think. I don't. I don't know. I think Argentina in those first World Cups. Let me cast my mind back, Rog. 2010, it was the Maradona team that was a disaster.
- [15:12]
A
A disaster.
- [15:12]
D
Yeah. It was not. It was not. Amazingly, Diego Maradona was not a particularly coherent manager. I don't want to speak ill of him, but, you know, who could have guessed that Diego Maradona would be a little bit erratic as a manager? 2014, Messi was good in a quite a downward argentine under Sebela. 2018 ended very poorly. So I think, yeah, he was. He was slightly unfortunate in the sense that it took a while for Argentina to catch up to him. And what Lion Arceloni has done in the last four years since kind of getting the job accidentally before 2022, is he's built a team that is distinctively Argentinian, but also is perfect for Messi. And I know Betsy's joking, sort of. I think it's possible. I think Messi could probably play. I get what you mean, though. I think it's possible if he decided he wanted to. I don't think it's like you wouldn't say it's 100%. No. He will never play in another World Cup. I have a little down as well.
- [16:12]
C
There we go.
- [16:13]
A
That is a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful thought. Will Vizinha be back? We do not know. But a question from the chat. Who plays Virginia in the undoubtable. Well, it won't be a messy movie. Virginia deserves a movie of his own, right? We've got to cast that.
- [16:29]
C
He doesn't have a club, you know, he's without a club. So somebody surely. Is anyone gonna pick him up?
- [16:36]
A
MLS giving VP money? Yeah, I would, I would, I would. Can you imagine just that is such an MLS pickup like, man, Messy. Best known footballer in the world, Ronaldo. I would imagine Vizinius probably In the top 10 footballers that American, kind of the greater American. And right now he's probably like the goalkeeper dude. I'm not sure people know his name, but man, you could do a number with him. I think the answer is Damon Wayans. I'd have cast for really reflective. A really, really reflective, beautiful, beautiful movie. I did ask Google AI Raw because they are our sponsors for streamers and Google AI believes that Damson Idris.
- [17:19]
C
Oh, yeah, I do like that one
- [17:22]
A
person in here, isn't it? Damps in here says Google AI is so clever. Known for his athletic build and Dramatic range. He can easily capture the intense pressure and emotional weight of playing on the biggest stage.
- [17:35]
C
Rory's not convinced.
- [17:37]
D
I'm not a casting director, but that's how that works for me.
- [17:40]
C
Works for you?
- [17:42]
A
Poll in the chat. Will Messi play in the next World Cup? Oh, so many of you were unromantic. No. 66%. See, 34%. Age is not a limitation. Anyone else? Kate Verde were not cowed after the break, they came out, they tried to force themselves upon the game. It's really amazing watching them just try and turn it on as if, you know, they were not playing. The world champions found a lot of joy down the right. Brought more confidence. Strong passes together. There was a sighter shot. I think it was Deroy. Duarte lashed through legs. Dibu Martinez with his new Argentinian flag fade, got low to repel. It was almost like in that moment, I wasn't that cute. An attempt to menace. But little did he know Cape Verde were not there to be cute. And I remember when Vizinha came on the show, the day that he shut out Spain and became known around the world. I was really struck by how unbothered he was in that moment. You know, I think I was talking to him as if this was his great moment. He was completely unsurprised. His message from the beginning was, you don't go through the hardship we've been through as Cape Verdean players to just turn up at the World cup and think, that's enough. And I thought a lot about this. As second half, they began to play without fear. And in the 59th minute, one of the most astonishing moments, honestly, I've seen in knockout World cup football. I don't mean to. I am hyperbolic. This is not hyperbolic. It was an astonishing moment. I mean, Mendez charging into the danger zone on the right. Nutmeg fed the Ruiz. Duarte cut back. Sharp angle blue. Sharp one that lashed a shot through the legs of Lisandro. Two nutmegs just past the completely gobsmacked Demi Martinez into the far corner. I mean, Betty Cape Verdean Ecstasy. This was. I mean, in American terms, this was like number 16 UMBC blowing out number one Virginia in 2018. March Madness and then some. It was hard to compute.
- [19:47]
C
In the moment, you couldn't compute. It was absolutely amazing. It was by far one of my best World cup moments ever. Until they then equalized again later in the game. Then that became my best World cup moment ever. But I absolutely. I just loved it. I think there were like two nutmegs Going on there, nutmeg after nutmeg, like the audacity. Coming up against Argentina, the world champions, to go and play like that. Cape Verde, 67th in the world. And they went on the world stage like that and played against Argentina with that audacity, that flair, that attacking prowess. It was. It was brilliant. And you could just see all the Argentinian players were just like, oh, God, this is our.
- [20:31]
A
This is our worst nightmare. This is embarrassing. This is humiliating. How did that happen? Raw again. It wasn't a lucky goal. It wasn't a scrappy goal, the. That double nutmeg. It was. I realized I've only seen it before in that first Star wars where Luke Skywalker fires the proton torpedo down the air duct.
- [20:49]
D
Yeah, I mean, that was on the counterattack as well, to be fair. No, I think, I think Cape Verde deserved it in the second half. The goal had been coming, which was extraordinary that it wasn't. I mean, you both know that, like, you get games where a team gets one counter attack, it works out perfectly. The ball falls in the right place and they get a goal. They don't necessarily. That hasn't really kind of been signposted. Cape Verde had warned Argentina and Argentina hadn't heeded out. And I agree with Betty completely that in that moment there's some brilliant shots because the. The crowd at that end were mixed, weren't they? So you have this kind of incredible, like Cape Verdean joy. And then all these Argentinians just standing like turning around and talking to each other as if they're asking, are they allowed to do that? Is that how this works? Is that permitted? Is there some sort of rule here that we need to kind of be invoking. It was genuine bafflement from everybody concerned.
- [21:43]
A
And as shocking as the goal was, and it was wiper next was almost as empowering. Messi scampered in on a one on one. It was him and Virginia face to face. It was the dynasty in heat. It was Pacino staring at De Niro. It was Ali squaring up to Frazier. It was Federer and Nadal in my imagination, as a lifelong Cape Verde fan. Anyway, Messi stabbed the ball in on goal. It should have gone, but no for Xenia, a man no one knew at all three weeks ago, saved the ball without flinching with his own archipelagos.
- [22:23]
D
Was that I was gonna say, was it his Jennies?
- [22:25]
A
It was his Jennies. Yesterday. Yesterday. Humphrey Joy. It's a new word. He used his. Jenny's raw. He used them. One of eight saves on the day with his bloody Jennies.
- [22:36]
D
Exactly the. It was very brave. Oh, well, I don't know. Is it brave? I'm not sure he knew anything. I don't think. I don't think he deliberately went Jenny first.
- [22:42]
A
I think he chose to. I think he chose to. He's like. He goes, I can either just save this because it's only Messi and he's crap. I can just swat at the side. Or if I use my Jennies, which is what they call them in Portuguese, if I use my Jennies. He calculated in that moment. He's like, yeah, testicular bleeding, but it's worth another cool Millie Instagram followers at least. I mean, he's just doing it all for the. For the gram.
- [23:07]
D
It's all for the gram now. He's just doing it to. To boost his reputation now. He didn't add kind of bravery, heroism to his. To his. To his. His profile. No, it was a brilliant save and it was. It was a great moment. That kind of, you know, Messi with his feet facing down. Vizini's Jennies was just. It was top, top World cup content.
- [23:26]
A
It really was. We meet again. Vesenius Jennies. We meet again.
- [23:33]
D
I'd be intrigued to know what the first time was, but maybe that's their own business.
- [23:36]
A
Bruce, Bruce, Bruce says, took one right in the Vizinias like a champ. God bless. You know what? For Betty's sake, I'm gonna move us on. This is all. This is all Humphrey Carr's doing. Just so you know. That's why we got rid of him. That's why we got rid of him. But hey, Hump's not here for HR Put reasons. Do you know that he'll be back. I'm joking. He will.
- [24:03]
D
Oh, yes.
- [24:03]
A
He will be mine. He will be on. There's another tete a tete. Schwing. Messi taking a quick free kick again from Zena. Another incredible save for Xenia. Equal to again. How do you understand this bet? This is a random player from like Portuguese. The bowels of Portuguese league football, but game after game after game after game in this tournament, it's almost like transcendent levels of performance in that moment. I don't know whether it's the setting, the pressure, the spotlight which turned them into probably fleetingly, but he. He became just an utter lockdown superstar.
- [24:45]
C
It's amazing, isn't it?
- [24:46]
A
You.
- [24:46]
C
You sort of look at Cape Verd and their performance and Viz performance in that game and you just think feels like they were doing it for a much bigger reason. Than just that game. Like, they were doing it for the people from Cape Verd. They were doing it for the underdogs. They were doing it for the story, the passion. Coming up against Argentina, you. It was unbelievable. And he was brilliant as well. He was using his feet. He was doing all sorts. He was just absolutely spectacular.
- [25:13]
A
All sorts.
- [25:14]
C
He was, though.
- [25:15]
A
He was using his. All sorts.
- [25:17]
C
He was using. God, here we go.
- [25:19]
A
He was. He was. Yeah. He was doing it for different reasons. He was doing it for the gram.
- [25:23]
C
He's doing it to get a move to a big old club now.
- [25:27]
D
I think Betty's completely right. I think that it's not just that when they get to the World cup, players like Vizinha, the rest of that Cape Verde team, but also like Curacao, Haiti, all those kind of underdog teams, they're doing it for their country. Thank you, Betsy. They're doing it. Those poor, poor unknown footballers from Scotland who just had to come and defend. That's all they had to do. The. No, but they're doing it for the country. They're doing it for kind of, yeah, that underdog spirit. But also, I think they're doing it for themselves. I think there is a sense of they want to prove they can breathe in this air. I think that's what it is, that Vizinha is 40. He's never going to get another chance unless he plays at the next World Cup. You know, he's never. Or he's never previously had the chance to play against Messi, against Pedri, against, you know, Dani Olmo or whoever. This is his moment. And I think that one of the things that makes them elite athletes and us people who live on a bus is that they. When they get their moment, welcome to
- [26:20]
A
Fantasy island, they take it.
- [26:23]
D
Do you know what I mean? And it's been amazing throughout this tournament to see these players who are kind of. Yeah, they're like the random players who are just not really. They're having perfectly good careers. They're much better at football than any of us. But Colgate,
- [26:38]
A
you saw that for 80 minutes against England. It was like. You're seeing that. I guess the Delta is players who are all looking at each other going, we're just going to bring this. This is like. This is it for us. You know, Declan Rice has played, like, what, 67 games this season? Many. He's had many highs. The Champions League final, the Champions League semifinals, the massive clash. This is their everything. You know what I mean? And they're everything in that. And that collective Heightened performance. I mean, you saw it with Congo, just the overwhelming surge almost. It's like that is a, it's a great intangible in World cup football.
- [27:15]
C
It's interesting. But I also feel like this is that they've just been so well prepped for this tournament as well. And I think you've just got to give them credit, you've got to give their coaches credit that mentally to be able to come in and compete with these teams. They haven't lost in normal time and they've come up against Spain and Argentina. It's, it's, it is astonishing. But also they beat Cameroon to get to this World cup. And Cameroon are, you know, Africa's most successful team at getting to the World Cup.
- [27:42]
A
So they deserve to be there and they deserve to be where they are in our memory at James Wilson Run says Aura farming from now on will just be called Vizena Ing. There was another tete. A tete. Messi, you know, kept running around every time. Vizinha was up to it and there was just like a look on Messi's face suddenly around like 80 minutes where he was pulling the exact. I was like, where have I seen that before? It was like the exact same bewildered face that he pulled when TSA at the airport said they wanted to check the bags and pat him down. He was completely and utterly confused as to how this thing that was happening to him was happening. And into extra time. Felt like order triumphed over chaos. Corner flicked on ball drop to an unmarked Lisandro Martinez. Far post. Too much time. Smash tone Pastor really cruelly exposed goat Vizinia. And the moment honestly felt so sad. Things I've not felt in sports, like I'm used to Everton losing, you know, I'm used to international team. I love the US Occasionally losing in horrific fashion. This felt like Mufasa betrayed by his brother while trying to save his son. That level of sad, you know what I mean? Like poor John Coffey, that gentle, kind man with miraculous healing powers who's wrongfully executed for a crime he didn't commit in the Green Mile. That tear jerking, it's like watching Bing Bong fade away and inside out. Did it not feel like that for you back?
- [29:13]
C
No, no, it didn't. Because I was watching Cape Verde and they were, they were giving it to Argentina. They were attacking. They had chances.
- [29:22]
A
You had no doubt. I, oh, I give up. In that moment. No, no, I rolled over.
- [29:27]
C
I thought, Argentina are going to end up winning this game. But I was like, oh, hello, Cape Verde. Aren't just cowering away here, just trying to, you know, stay in it.
- [29:36]
A
Well, so May, when you were thinking Kate Ferg could get this, I. I didn't like.
- [29:42]
D
I didn't like Bing Bong.
- [29:48]
A
Did he remind you of me?
- [29:50]
D
No, he reminded me of the mannequin piss, which is also annoying.
- [29:53]
A
Don't do that again. Don't do that again.
- [29:56]
C
I don't actually know what Bing Bong is.
- [29:57]
A
Bing Bong was a beautiful elephant and inside out, like the childhood toy of the lead character. And in a very heartbreaking character, the thing that she relied upon sacrificed himself so that she could find a sense of wholeness. And he just fades away very, very slowly. It's genuinely. I mean, outside of Schindler's List, it's one of the most emotionally difficult movie movie scenes.
- [30:21]
C
Can't say I've ever watched.
- [30:24]
D
It's a similar emotional tone, definitely. I. I thought the way they'd played that you couldn't rule them out. And also, it looked to me a little bit like Argentina were not the kind of super assured Argentina that we've seen between winning the World cup in Tita and like yesterday. They looked a little bit like panicky Argentina where everything. There was a time not that long ago when an Argentina team that contained most of these players was the international team that always managed to find a way to mess everything up. And it looked a bit like Argentina had seen a ghost. That's what I thought.
- [30:56]
A
That's so true, dude.
- [30:57]
C
I agree.
- [30:57]
A
I mean, they didn't look like. I mean, Argentina do not blow opponents away. They just did not seem in control and they did not seem confident. And it seemed like there was a sense of their own vulnerability. I want to apologize to the chat that's very annoyed at my inside out spoilers. Probably as annoyed at them as that one mad Belgian as he writes letters angrily about Rory Smith and the mannequin piss attacks which you keep sustaining. I don't know why you do it. I like the mannequin piss, although I do think it's a bit weird that the child's got its bits out in a. In a public sector.
- [31:30]
D
Jenny's.
- [31:31]
A
It's Jenny. Thank you. But Kate. Kate Bird. Have no respect. 103rd minute. One of the most stunning moments I've seen in sports since the last Cape Verde goal. It's honestly. This is honestly one of my most stunning moments in life. It really was. It was that. It was that incredible. I kept trying to think, when have I felt this in my life? Sydney Cabral. If you didn't see it. Sydney. That man's last move is for $950,000. That's like, that's like Queens in the, in the, in the couch of football. He's a bit player in European football. Cut inside from distance and just thought, you know what, against the best goalkeeper in the world on some lists. I'm just gonna do this. He just gave him, just gave him just, I mean, just humiliated and we just destroyed Deebo. If you gave this man 100 tries at doing that, how many do you think would go in?
- [32:29]
B
Wow.
- [32:29]
C
I don't know. He was down the right hand side, wasn't he? And I think everyone thought, oh, he's gonna, he's gonna cross it in. He's gonna cross it in. And then he just absolutely went for goal, didn't he? And it was stunning. It was such a good goal. It's one of the best moments. It will go down in World cup history, won't it go.
- [32:48]
A
I don't like to be hyperbolic. That goal should win the next ten plus games Gas awards.
- [32:52]
D
At least it's got strong post. Just vibes. That does.
- [32:55]
A
It does, it does scream and the wind cries pus. Gas. Is that what you're saying?
- [33:01]
D
I think that it feels very pushed. It feels very pus and 2.7 million pound move to MLS. That's what it feels like.
- [33:07]
A
Does it feel puskasy to you?
- [33:08]
D
It feels pustacy to me, Rog. Very push to see. Yeah, I, I. Martinez is on top. Is the best known world in, in some lists. Are they the list that he himself has drawn up. Is that, is that what you mean?
- [33:20]
A
No, that's really rude. It's his agent who draws him up. It was a genuine Martinez was going to draw a top 10 list of goalkeepers. It would be Emmy Martinez number one, Debu Martinez number two. DU, number three. Big M number four.
- [33:41]
D
Big M. It is about Dibu that he is the goalkeeper who's. He's the only goalkeeper who's ever got close on a World cup stage to do in the Wayne's World Schwinn movement, isn't he?
- [33:52]
A
He did.
- [33:53]
D
He took him closer than anybody else.
- [33:54]
A
I bet you Big M does love Big M. I bet you respect Big M. I bet you love Wayne's World and probably oddly likes Wayne's World two more, which is a bad cut. A lot of people annoyed at your roar. Ryan Landscroft says Rory comes out as anti Bing Bong hot take. Cam Gordet says Rory gives BING BONG A 4.2 rating God bless. 100 tries at most. Yeah. I gotta say, to get that ball up and down from there, just shut your ears. It was like erotica. It really was. I, I, I, I have, I have. I put that as the top. That gets into the top five moments of my life that go.
- [34:34]
C
What, what did you do? Did you cry?
- [34:37]
A
I screamed really loudly. Really? I made the same note. I've got three, four kids and I made the noise I did when each of them popped out in the birthing room. So I don't know where it comes in my top five.
- [34:50]
C
Why are you screaming when your kids were born?
- [34:52]
A
They're so beautiful. Yeah, that's not helpful. Men aren't helpful. It's just like, we're useless. But it's beautiful. And that girl was similarly beautiful. I mean, where did it rank for you, Betty?
- [35:06]
C
Moving on from me moments in my life or. Yeah, I think up there in the, in the top four. I mean, I'm only, I'm only 31, so I haven't had too many, like, wow. Moments.
- [35:19]
A
Engagement.
- [35:20]
B
That was.
- [35:21]
A
Yeah. The Curacao second goal.
- [35:25]
C
Curacao second. The Cape Verde second goal ahead of engagement.
- [35:30]
A
Yeah. It would high five for you. Honesty. You can keep rocking it on this bus, Ro, where's it ranked for you? Oh, RAW is just stunned into silence. I think the anti. You know, when you say something about Ronaldo on television, there's like, there's a lot of Ronaldo. It's almost like bot forms that come on and tell you that. I think the same with Bing Bong. If you diss Bing Bong publicly, they freeze. They freeze your stream. Raw, where does it rank for you?
- [35:59]
D
It's. I mean, I thought getting married was better, Rog, if I'm completely honest, but it was. Look, I think what, it should be that way.
- [36:04]
A
To me or to Kate?
- [36:07]
D
Both. I, I like both my spouses. I'm a very happy bigamist. No, like, what it says to me is that the gap between, if you take, like, Messi out of it, but the gap between your average elite footballer who plays in the, you know, the Premier League or the leader or whatever and earns hundreds of million, millions of pounds a year and the guy playing in the Spanish second division, that gap's not that big. It can. It can, is often not to do with talent. It's to do with luck, injury, commitment. Maybe a sort of a bad move when they're younger. Like the, the borders are really, really porous. And Sidney Lopez Cabral is capable of doing that. He just happened to do it on the biggest stage imaginable. And whether. Whether that's the best role I've ever seen or the best moment in my life is irrelevant. It'll be up there for him, and that's what really matters.
- [36:55]
C
And his celebration just. He. He was pretty stunned. Everybody else was stunned, stunned. Argentina fans were stunned. The Cape Verde fans literally didn't know what to do. And he ran up straight away into the stand to try and find his. His partner, his wife, his fiance, whatever. His partner. And it was just. He. It was like. He was like, oh, my God. He couldn't believe it. And that was the first person that he wanted to see. And that's what the World cup is about.
- [37:20]
A
All these moments. He tried to kick the corner flag. A miss, which makes me kind of validate my sense that I have a hundred chance of. I actually think it would be very low. And it makes it even more ecstatic because this goal was really. It was human inspiration. That's what made it feel so powerful. Lived out with billions watching live. It was hit on world champion Argentina. Timu, I think, had allowed two goals in the last 10 games. It was audacious. It was tenacious. It made anyone who was watching feel so unbelievably alive. We all shared it together. It was raw. It was like. It was humanly inspiring, man.
- [37:57]
D
But also, it was. It broke. It broke the pattern. The rule is the underdogs get one go. They get to equalize once. They get to. They get to cause trouble once. They don't get to go again. And Cape Verde went again. And they went again in that. This. This incredible style in extra time. And at that point, Rog, I thought, this goes to penalties in Argentina lose. And I couldn't quite work out. You did.
- [38:19]
A
You did, yeah.
- [38:20]
D
Because I couldn't work out whether. The only thing that made me think that it wouldn't end like that was that. I mean, I don't want to get into sort of matters of theology. It feels a bit too late for that.
- [38:30]
A
No, no, no, no. It's why we're here. Beautiful. Oh, the Bing Bong supreme. Raw. The Bing Bongas are taking you out. You got to start that again. Bo.
- [38:46]
D
Finish. Would they let Lionel Messi's World cup career finish in that? In that. With a penalty defeat to Cape Verde? I'm not sure they would.
- [38:54]
A
What if there was a God, you mean?
- [38:56]
D
Yeah, yeah.
- [38:57]
A
Did that. Did that prove to you that. That's so funny? When. When they scored, I. I said, I think to. That was my exclamation I didn't know if it proved that there was a God or it proved there was no God in that moment. Maybe that's so funny.
- [39:11]
D
It was.
- [39:14]
A
I mean, maybe God was just trying to confuse us with that storyline. But it's so funny, both of us. It was epic that. Epic that it felt theological, man.
- [39:23]
D
Maybe God likes tennis.
- [39:28]
A
Pickleball. It's easy on the back. It did feel like the air was sucked out of that stadium. I did think of Ronaldo watching in his tighty whities. Probably just during. So much life and strength in this moment. Cape Verde, tiny Cape Verde. Drinking Messi's milkshake. But we know there's no romance in sports corner. Once again, set piece coming to Argentina's rescue. Messi put the corner into a lethal area. I think it was Kuti. Romero headed down off the hand of the defender. Dene flicked it away cruelly from Viza and the Argentinian players went utterly berserk. It was fascinating watching the Argentinian coach. He'd been so chill, lonel, just so chill, like trying to project a calm constantly on the bench. But in that moment he just put his hands over his face and you saw all the stress that he'd really been masking just kind of, just kind of pour out. That was in its own way actually quite harrowing to witness Todd being a coach.
- [40:39]
C
But yeah, do you know what? I think it just shows how much credit Kate Verde deserve for making Argentina sweat like that. And the celebrations, like you say of the Argentine players afterwards when they got that last minute ball, that winner that they, it was pure relief. All of that stress, like you say, and that's credit to Cape Verde for making them feel like that, making them sweat. I was sort of watching it and I was thinking, why are you celebrating so much? Like on paper you should be winning this. Like you shouldn't. You should have had this wrapped up, have some dignity celebrating. So I was a bit like that.
- [41:16]
A
It was, it was. I mean, Argentina, remember they beat the Netherlands in an epic game in the. We went to penalties and the first impulse at the last World cup was to laugh in the face of, of the woefully traumatized Dutch players. There's something in that spirit in that moment and it's actually what probably drives them forward is there is a callousness and there is just an inward looking ness and you know, survive in advance, think only about yourself. But it was heartbreaking. 9th assist all time in a World cup for Messi in the second. Now all time behind Pele. I found the reaction from the Argentinian fans really astonishing. Talking about, you know, the. We talked about the manager, we talked about the players raw when England score. And this is back in your theological setting. When England score. I was at the Congo game. I was really struck. All the England fans around me, I mean, it's like a. It's like a. A release of anger. It's like a bellowing into that. I mean, I took three photos of some of the England fans around me. I was so, like, it was so fascinating to watch. It was almost like Hulk transformation poses all around me. Not mocking any of it. I'm just fascinated by it. It was just like rage, energy, hundred bears. Just like a bellowing. When Argentina score and you look at the crowd, it feels. If you didn't know what it was, it feels like an evangelical church. Just the acts of celebration feel almost religious tears, a lot of prayers, a religious collective ecstasy. I'd love to talk to Brene Brown. She talks about. I mean, what drew her to football was those moments. Like, there's a. There's a religious theologian, Durkheim, who talks about collective effervescence. That was collective effervescence. It's so different, what we're used to from the Premier League wanker signs immediately.
- [43:12]
D
There is like a. There is a religious element. There's definitely like a religious not element. It's a religious kind of feel to that worship of Messi. And it feels to me like the players. We've said this before, Roger. I think the players, the fans, the coaching staff, I think they feel that this is some sort of like pilgrimage or Calvary or something where they have to suffer so that Lionel can be. Can be delivered. That is definitely a thing. And if you. When you're around the Argentine fans, that. The genesis of the Wayne's World joke, the we're not worthy thing, like, it does feel like they kind of mean it. Like he is an almost sanctified figure in Argentina. And I think that that's the difference. That. Yeah. An England store. It is a kind of.
- [43:58]
A
Rock. Can't stand to say nice things about England.
- [44:04]
D
With Argentina, it feels a little bit more like they're having a religious experience.
- [44:10]
A
It's an ecstasy. And it is.
- [44:12]
D
That's it. That's the word. It's an ecstasy.
- [44:14]
A
It is. It's a beautiful. By the way, it's a huge big ten religion. It's not just in Argentina. It's like in the Philippines, in Bangladesh, it's. I mean, it's a global evangelical Sense of wonder. There's cleverer people than me out there who do study the tenants of e evangelicism, who can no doubt correct me or give us insight. AJ Piano says quite astutely, the atmosphere after the game was somehow evocative of both teams having been having winning. Look, Argentina survive in advance. They were scared, I think, is your point. They, they. They stared into an abyss of humiliation. Their darkest fears. They survived to tell the tale, but I mean, ultimately, the last word on this is Cape Verde. This night was theirs. This tiny team, no one knew. We didn't know who they were. We didn't know where they were from. We didn't. We now know about the 10 scattered islands, many of which are unpopulated off West Africa. We know by right population 500,000. Everyone now knows. Everyone loves them, everyone respects them, and on a football field, everyone fears them. Their flag is now known across the world, which might be, I think, one of the greatest legacies of this World Cup. I mean, they are the people's World cup champions, there is no doubt. 2026. And we were chatting before we went on. The core value of what they've given us is. Is really. Is really hope.
- [45:40]
C
It is hope and it's keep going. Even when you fit, when you feel like you're down and out, you've just got to keep fighting for it. And if you're an underdog, then you've just. You've got to have that belief in yourself, which is what they had. But I just think when you think about the 2026 World cup, you're 100 going to be thinking about Cape Verde, aren't you? You just are. What a moment. It doesn't matter who wins this World cup and what they do to get there. You are going to think about Kate Verde and everything that they left on that pitch, aren't you? Made more dribbles than Cristiano Ronaldo has in this tournament so far. Can you believe it? That's a great stat, though.
- [46:18]
D
That was a great stat.
- [46:19]
A
It's a crazy stat and it's totally right.
- [46:23]
D
If you think about. Think about 1990, if you're old enough, which Betty's not. You think about Cameroon.
- [46:28]
A
Roger Miller, it was the Virginia.
- [46:31]
D
He was the Vizino.
- [46:32]
A
They were before Abraham.
- [46:33]
D
Exactly. No, like, that is Cameroon's World Cup. They only. They made the quarterfinals. It was a smaller tournament, half the size, but they made the quarterfinals. And that's what people of my generation. Your generation, rogue. That's what we remember. It's. It's Cameroon's World Cup. So yeah, this will, this will be Vizini's World cup and Cape Verde's World cup and the Tartan Army's World Cup. It'll be those three things. That's what we'll remember.
- [46:52]
A
Yeah. I mean it's so funny, man. That is how I button this up too, man. Exactly the same rule in a slightly different way. Not gonna lie when I told you all I'm a lifelong Cape Verde fan, slightly exaggerated. I was really? Yeah, really.
- [47:07]
C
I've really believed but like the passion.
- [47:10]
D
You did.
- [47:11]
A
Did you really? Yeah. You know, I wasn't into football when I grew up as a young boy in Cape Verde to be candid. So it took me a little while to get into them. But the lightness they've given us, I mean here's the lightness that they've given us, the joy, the wonder. I believe they've been the antidote to so much of the darkness that surrounds us in the world and that's what's made them so like gravitationally fascinating. And you're right. When the 2026 story is told, the telling of this story will be a core part of it. Its scope and scale will get bigger with every telling. Having said that roar, the one thing that made me pause for thought is that the Tarn army felt like the greatest thing to ever happen to America when we were living it. And now it feels like it happened about four or five years ago already.
- [48:03]
D
Yeah, it does. No, you're right. It feels like a thing that belongs to a different time. But I think you have to remember that we're still in it. We're still in the World cup. That this like sacral 6 week period is still going on and it will only really be in three, five, six months time that we start to realize which bits truly stay with us. I think the Titan army will be. I think the Titan army in Boston will be a thing. And I think Cape Verde. The thing you said about the flag, Rogers, that's it. That's absolutely right. I'm pretty good on flags. It's one of my sources of pride.
- [48:34]
A
I. I would struggle with when people, when I think of rule, I do think flags.
- [48:38]
D
That man knows his flags.
- [48:40]
A
Yeah, flags. He's flagged in flags.
- [48:42]
D
Not like in a nerdy way. I don't know, like military like navy signs and stuff. I'm not one of those people. But yeah, country flags. I quite like Cape Verde I'd have struggled with. But not anymore. People will notate Verdes flag. That's what the World cup does, it's the only stage that can do that.
- [48:56]
C
And I'm not a flag person, but I think I will be now because I've added an extra flag to my brain.
- [49:03]
D
You give us quite a flaggy vibe, I'd say.
- [49:05]
A
Yeah, well, the different kinds of people. You're either a flag person.
- [49:11]
C
What does that mean?
- [49:13]
A
It's a flag people and non flag people.
- [49:15]
C
I think a flag person is quite like. Like geeky, I'd say. Nerdy, I think. And that's why Rory is a flag person.
- [49:24]
A
He's a massive flag person, right? Yeah, massive.
- [49:27]
C
Massive.
- [49:27]
D
Honestly, you leave the bus for 48 hours and suddenly people gang up on you.
- [49:33]
A
By the way, I love you all the more because you are a flag person. Rule. I'm a little bit annoyed about Bing Bong. That was. That attack felt personal. But let's leave the last word to Virginia, who came on our show. Honestly, this, when it happened, this is one of the highlights of my footballing life. He did the thing, he did the seven saves against Spain. And then that afternoon he came on our show. And back then, this struck me when he said it. And then he lived this out. This is part human poetry, part prophecy roll, Vizinha.
- [50:07]
D
After all, Cap, everyone will know who is Cap Verde and where is Cap Verde.
- [50:12]
A
What do you want the world to say about Cap Verde after today then?
- [50:15]
D
We are small country, but we have a big heart and we are very resilient. We are proud to be coveredian and we are here to show that we will fight everything and we will do everything to put the name of Kabwe to everyone.
- [50:31]
A
He knew. He knew, he knew. He's no BS, that man. No bs, but he knew then, Ro,
- [50:40]
D
he's going to be the DP at the New England Revolution within about three weeks.
- [50:45]
A
God bless.
- [50:47]
C
He. He did his first brand deal, I think, on his Instagram the other day. So he's just going to become an influencer now. Sit back, kick his feet up. That's.
- [50:55]
D
Will he be a good influencer or a bad influencer? What do we think?
- [50:59]
C
I think he'll be quite. I think he'll be quite good.
- [51:01]
A
Based on what? I mean, there is a scenario where he becomes like a right wing dictator now and like, you know, just use that huge platform to overthrow this, you know?
- [51:10]
C
No, I'm hoping he just like tries to sell you soap or something. Do you know what I mean? I'm hoping it doesn't go that deep.
- [51:15]
A
Yeah, Metal he goes to. All he wants to do is Go the Met ball. That kind of.
- [51:19]
C
Exactly, yeah, yeah.
- [51:20]
A
That would be amazing.
- [51:22]
D
Do you think he's got it in him to launch a like a crypto coin?
- [51:26]
C
Oh, I hope not. I hope he doesn't go down that hole.
- [51:28]
A
That'd be amazing. Like tour, you mean. That'd be amazing. It could go one of two ways. And let's think in this moment joyfully, positively, wondrously. I've got a feeling he's going to use it for the power of good. Sun Tzu 5650 Rose never seen a red flag. He didn't like. Oh my God. AJ Piano. I'm one tonight. The word is vexologist. Yeah, I know because I am one. Is that the word?
- [51:56]
C
It's got a word.
- [51:57]
D
Oh, no, it's not. It's. It's. It's vexillologist.
- [52:00]
A
Yeah, yeah. I read it wrong. AJ Piano knows I'm just a moron. And as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports. We're going coast to coast, host city to host city to meet the world with the men in blazers. Matchday Live tour. These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer where we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans. Going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or From Afar on YouTube. Let's celebrate this some other way. It's meant to be celebrated. Let's head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football, to more together. Courage. Australia won. Egypt won. Egypt win on penalties. 4. 2. 2 teams just dreaming the same dream. Please God, let us win our first ever knockout game in World cup history. Egypt haven't made it past the group stage since 1934. There they are. By the way, that 1934 is when this World cup started. But my God, Mo Salah back in the squad now officially a free agent. Back from the hamstring knack. You were there Raw. You were at the game. What was the vibe like around Jerry World this morning?
- [53:24]
D
There were three teams playing Rog, Egypt, Australia and Liverpool. Judging by the shirts in the crowd, the. That I think most people had come to see. Had come to see Mo Salah. That's what, that's what the vibe was. There was, there was. This is what I found. Just endless. They would knock off Liverpool shirts in Arabic. Those guys were there more Liverpool fans. This is just. This was like me standing outside for like three minutes, crucially outside the stadium footprint. So I was allowed to film the. The FIFA can't do anything about it. Yeah, Sana was. It showed. It showed you what a draw Salah is. The number of people who turned up in Liverpool shirts who had no obvious affiliation to either of those teams just to see Mo play.
- [54:05]
A
He.
- [54:05]
D
He wasn't fit. I would say Mo Salah's not fully fit. That's fairly obvious. It was exactly the game you thought it would be. It was strappy and intense and both teams kind of decided very, very early on, I think that they, that they knew that they could see a way to get to penalties. Not that they tried to get to penalties. They both pushed when they could, but I think they both had it in the back of their minds. This is a really good chance to get into the last 16. Let's not waste it.
- [54:29]
A
Yeah, the goals were pretty fascinating. It was a. It did feel like a game where both teams were thinking about the fear of losing rather than the desire to win. There was. MM ashore, scored for Egypt. Fine header and I loved his effort. He did the. To celebrate, did the Conor McGregor Billionaire Walk. And then he realized halfway through that he failed to get the right camera.
- [54:54]
C
Nightmare.
- [54:55]
A
Yeah, I mean, just, I mean you don't score, do you? Sell the. You know, and have the world think you were doing the walk like an Egyptian by mistake. So he like celebrated with his teammates and then did the whole thing again right into Canberra, gifting the highlight editors this shot they wanted, they needed so they could feature on repeat in the bump to break. Huge respect. Respect Professional.
- [55:16]
C
Yeah, I mean get the, get the camera right. That's, that's the, that's the second thing that you need to do correctly when you score goals, you've got to work out which camera is and do your celebration into that camera.
- [55:27]
A
Rookie error broadcasting professional Betty Glover.
- [55:30]
C
I just looked into the wrong camera then myself actually. So that was quite nice. Only two.
- [55:38]
A
And now Australia had to do something that they've not done in literally three weeks. 250 minutes of live football. They hadn't scored a big boy goal. Started to lump it into the box. It was very old school Australia, not the new speedy counter attacking stuff. Upset piece, dangerous flat pace on the delivery. I think Egypt were fearful of Sutar. Who isn't? Let's be honest. And the ball glanced off Muhammad Hani's gorgeous curls. Own goal. I'm gonna say own goal. Been quite quiet recently, but other day Hani became the first gone goals most ever. Now 13th of the tournament. I think there was another one later. 14 now and God bless. Hani scored twice in a World cup into his own net, so at least he's consistent. But that too is a. Is prolific.
- [56:30]
D
It wasn't the sort of home goal where you think he should feel bad, though. Some own goals, you do think that they're going to feel really terrible about it. This one was just the ball hits him. There was nothing you could do about it.
- [56:40]
A
Yeah, we knew as soon as it went in extra time was coming. We knew nothing would come right towards the end. Don't know how you feel about that rule. The Australians made a big move. They took out their quite excellent find of a keeper. Patrick Beech put in Matty Ryan. It's like a tribute to 2014's coaching brilliance when Louis Van Gogh brought in Tim Cruel for Jesper Silence and. And experience glory. I'm sure you got a theory raw because Matty Ryan ultimately didn't get near any one of these.
- [57:10]
D
I've got. I've got several competing theories, Raj. So you. We know my theory that players who are brought on to take penalties always miss that. That happens every single time. If you. If you are a player who's brought on just to take a penalty, you will miss that penalty. Refuse to go on the pitch. It's a hiding to nothing. I also have a theory that goalkeepers who are sent on to save penalties don't save penalties. This is particularly true when they're Matt Ryan, who as far as I know, is not a particularly sort of expert penalty saver. It's a trick. Tim Krull, Tim Crawl did it once and then everyone, then loads of people have decided it's a thing, but it's a trick. They're doing it to say, look, we're in this guy on. He must be a good penalty saver, but he's not. Ryan guessed right the first way. He guessed right on the first one. But the problem that I had was that first penalty was Saber, the Egyptian player brought on to take a penalty against Matt Ryan, the goalkeeper brought on
- [58:04]
A
to say the penalty is it. Two theories.
- [58:06]
C
That's true. I didn't think of it like that.
- [58:09]
A
Something else. It's amazing. As soon as they saw Matty Rome was on, the Egyptian players gathered around the laptop to watch a game in which he'd done a penalty shootout. It's amazing photography. You can see all of them just sat around looking at Matt Ryan's movement. Worshipping almost. And it was really remarkable to witness. And it carried out the penalty shootout was defined by two remarkable Australian misses. First was Harry Souter, the hero. I think the commentator shouted, he's a rock. Ayers Rock. Forgetting that Ayers Rock was a place where the dingo eight more babies. You saw his eyes sunken, exhausted. He stepped up to the ball and oh, my God. If only he'd unleash the ball. If only we had the name for what he did with the ball. That was so awful.
- [59:02]
C
That was awful.
- [59:03]
A
If only that kind of awful had a name.
- [59:05]
D
We do have a name.
- [59:14]
C
When you told me about that, I had quite low expectations, but I didn't realize that it would be a full on graphic on the screen and everything.
- [59:22]
A
We spent all our money on it. Can we queue that one up? We set all of the budget for the entire show. This graphic costs more than the bus did. Wow.
- [59:34]
C
Who voiced that?
- [59:35]
A
I think it was Pepe Mullenstein. That's why it costs so much.
- [59:40]
D
Does this mean Betty's not seeing the worm burner graphic?
- [59:43]
C
Well, I haven't.
- [59:44]
A
No. We're going to save that for the. Right. Oh, my gosh.
- [59:50]
C
Oh, my God. That looks like a 90s crisp advert, doesn't it?
- [59:55]
D
It does, yeah, a little bit.
- [59:57]
A
Don't. Don't say that. We actually just stole it from a 90s crisp advert and stuck the word over in Photoshop. We're very cheap. That really excites me. I can't be candid at Sun Tzu 5650 says poor bird. We did actually use a bird. It was a real live bird. But to make that also.
- [60:15]
D
The problem, Rogers, was we had. We had to sacrifice quite a lot of birds to make sure we got the angles right. So there was. Yeah, I mean, there was. There was a lot of death.
- [60:22]
A
There was a lot of animals harmed in the making of that video. So the person who gets angry about the mannequin piss. I'm joking. There were no animals in that. Don't, don't. Put the email down. Put the email down. Everyone else converted, including Mo Salah. You liked Mo Salah's pen, didn't you? With Velocity? It was like. It was like a change up Panenko. It was so Mo. Did you love it?
- [60:47]
D
Do you know what I loved most about it, Rog? What Matt Ryan had been. Had been giving it all that. Been giving it a bit of the old duck to him. Yeah. Before the penalty. Quack, quack, quack, quack. And Salah steps back, marks out his run up. Run up. Does the run up dead fast and then slows down just a little. The little Panenka sits Matty Ryan down. I've got nothing against Matt Ryan. He seems like a perfectly nice man. And then Mo Salah who has been miserable for a year, he's been miserable for personal agony, for professional frustration. He's just looked really unhappy for most of the last year. And Salah turned round, he'd celebrated and he turned around and looked at Matt Ryan with the biggest grin on his face. And it was so nice to see Mo Salah smile. To smile like wholly and warmly with his entire body. Mo Salah is enjoying being at the World Cup. I was genuinely delighted for him.
- [61:36]
A
He really is. By the way. It's so nice that Mo just finally found a source of happiness which is another person's complete and utter misery and humiliation inflicted by Mo Sal.
- [61:48]
D
Mo Salah has learned that one of life's great pleasures is seeing an Australian lose at sport.
- [61:55]
A
We'll move on. Mannequin piss saving you from going there. Everyone else converted. And then the final kick for Australia. Somebody I'd love to know who thought it was a good idea to dispatch under great pressure must score. Penalty. 18 year old child Lucas Harrington. He walked to the spot. To me you look like such a baby. I couldn't stand looking so I started a Google. Thank you, Google AI. So I look up. What do Australians call their children? The first one was ankle biter. Good one.
- [62:28]
D
Okay. Yeah.
- [62:29]
A
Second one was a little Joey. My Australian accent's terrible.
- [62:33]
C
Little Joey.
- [62:34]
A
There you go. Thank you. The final one is incredible and I just love it. It's so deep. Shark biscuit. There's so much in that. That is cold. Anyway, we had to look. Everythington plays for Colorado Rapids, Vizinius future club. He's been the subject of interest from Barcelona. Stepped up. I watched the Brazilian commentary and the Brazilian commentator said look at the mature look in his eyes and all I saw was a young kid doing the human thing and crapping his pants.
- [63:11]
C
I imagine he put himself forward, didn't he? So you sort of get. Got to give him kudos for that. I don't. It's hard. Why did they have two fullbacks taking penalties as well? That's just. It's baffling to me.
- [63:23]
A
It's the other agony of the whole thing. What the ball hit the bar. Game over. Did respect everything. And he said afterwards beautifully how he's harder on himself than any critic could be and he looks forward to having another chance in the same situation which is elite mentality. But at Billy T who might be Rory Smith's burner account said Australia should have kept their pens down under, which is half funny. First time ever Egypt and one World cup knockout game there in the last 16. It was amazing. I mean, I'll give you the last word, Roy, you were there. I found it very moving watching Mo Salah first of all put on a comedy pharaoh hat. Giddy LOLs, having a blast. But tears, I mean, number one, this football mad nation who have long been a regional powerhouse but have constantly failed in the, in the World cup which has been humiliating, frustrating, I think quite confusing for them. They've made themselves known but watching Mo, this man who's seen it all, done it all, scored against them all, won it all, still feeling the power of the World cup like a kid. It's beautiful.
- [64:35]
D
Yeah, it is. And I was trying to work out, as he did, the sort of lap of honour, how much the tears were to do with relief at having finally qualified through a knockout game, pride at being the captain of the Egypt team that finally makes it through that knockout game and sadness as it is a year since Diego Jota's death and I think that all three of those things were mixed up in Salah. He's actually been, I find it quite inspiring over the last year he's been incredibly open, he's really felt his feelings, he's really kind of allowed himself to live his feelings in public and I think that is. There's a really kind of crucial lesson for everybody in that I think it's brilliant for people's. For people to see someone like Mo Salah being willing to kind of be open to their emotions and to display them, to see that there's no shame in it, I think is really powerful and you. Do you have that feeling of like it clearly meant so much to him that all this stuff swirling around, but also that giddiness, that euphoria that made him want to put on a pharaoh hat, whatever. I don't know what pharaoh's hat's called.
- [65:34]
A
All the amount that's Google AI in a moment all the emotions.
- [65:38]
D
The necklace is called an enc.
- [65:40]
A
I know that I'm going to get to it in one set. I think you said it's beautiful. I interviewed Mo this season just after he had scored early and gone to the Cop to commune with him for the first time after Diego's passing with tears in his eyes. And a lot of the Liverpool players have made the decision to not talk about it because they didn't want to keep processing it in the media, which I Also understand he did want to talk about it. He really did. I mean, he was very, very eager to process it in public and talk about it and talk about his feelings. And I admired it greatly, miss him greatly. You saw Luis Diaz today score a goal, ultimately offside. But in that beautiful moment, he first thing is input was to honor Diogo with his signature celebration. And his memory does hang heavy over so many facets of this World Cup. May his memory be a blessing and raw. A pharaoh hat. It's called a Nems or a Nemes. I don't know how you pronounce it.
- [66:45]
D
Nice. Okay.
- [66:46]
C
You look interesting.
- [66:47]
D
Every day's a school day.
- [66:48]
A
Sounds like a player who'd sign for Wolves.
- [66:51]
C
Can I just say something on Australia? Oh, go on, Rory, go on.
- [66:55]
D
I was just gonna say, I'm sure Nemes is a year. I'm sure Nemes was a Slovakian striker, but go on.
- [67:01]
C
I was just gonna say when I worked in Australia during the Euros, the last Euros, and I was like, taken aback by how much they love football out there. Like they're so passionate about it. And I actually think, although a lot of my friends that are Australian are absolutely heartbroken off the back of this, but Australian football is in a really good place. They. They had one of the youngest squads in this World Cup. I think it was like an average age of 25. And if you compare that to Egypt, who had one of the oldest average ages in. In their squad as well. So I think they're in a really good place. I think they've got young players, they're only going to get better. And I just wanted to say that just if anyone Australian was watching and
- [67:43]
A
I'll shout out and reinforce that I love their fans. I've really enjoyed it. I spent a lot of time with Australian fans around the US Games and magic. Just their passion, their dedication, the joy they're getting out of the sport. Many ways they're parallel to where we are. Trying to force their game up the charts.
- [68:02]
C
Really similar.
- [68:02]
A
It's really beautiful. And I look forward to them learning from this, growing and being an even greater force out of Asia. In the nightcap. Columbia one go on the nil clash between two teams have promised they're going to become more aspirational, move into the elite without ever really doing so. Also share something else. Colombia is one of Ghana managers. Colis Kiraz's many, many, many exes managed them 22 months across 2019 onwards. 6 World cup dude legit walked up into Kansas City. I think it was like 89 degrees at kickoff. With a gold chain sweater draped over his shoulders, he looked like a New York golf funk who dabbles in waste management. I admire his style greatly. Both teams goal shy. Gone to have 15 shots total in the group stages. The lowest of all. That's Kira's ball. We've always said Colombia could be dangerous if they could find a sharper edge. Five minutes in, quite bizarre injury. Jean Cordoba ripped a fistful of Apuco's shirts and seemed to pull his groin in the process. That sacrifice on came Luis Suarez. No, not that one. Not that one either. This is the Sporting Lisbon strikeout who replaced Victor Jocherez. 38 goals last season season and manager Nesto Lorenz will be taking credit for that because 10 minutes later Suarez cut across back the sell inches over Lis Diaz's head. The Bayern Munich man streaking across the goal mouth and it fell to Jean Arias one time passed it back across the goal for the opener. It was ecstatic. Garner had to sub out the injured Marvin Siya. First time in World cup history both teams made the substitute in first 15 minutes. It reminded me when you get dressed in a snowsuit full on and then you decide you actually have to go the bathroom. What else can we tell you? James Rodriguez hooked at halftime. My mate Luis Diaz had the ball in the back of the net. We talked about that really platonic ideal of a Luis Diaz go where he slid in, but it was offside. You love the Ghana goalkeeper, Lawrence Atti. Ziggy.
- [70:02]
C
Ziggy. Amazing.
- [70:03]
A
You know exactly how many saves you made, don't you?
- [70:05]
C
I don't know the exact number, but I can tell you it was a lot, Rog, because that was all he was doing. He kept Garner in that game.
- [70:12]
A
I think it was eight. Seven, eight, wasn't it? Cuz every time I told you what it was, you told me it was one more and you were always right.
- [70:17]
C
It was eight. It was eight.
- [70:19]
A
Both teams wilted in the heat or eat too many burnt ends or whatever. By the way, I did love when. When the Columbia scored, the commentator shouted out and arrowhead roars. We need to call these stadia by their real names. That is it. I don't know. The game was a bit lackluster after the MDMA buzz of Cape Verde. Garner for Kiro's team were a bit of a hot mess. They lacked organization and the sad totem ultimately raw. They had a weapon right there. Semenya, 21 goals on the season. Ink zero shots on target for the entire World Cup. It's like Kiros ball. Not all chains at glitter of gold.
- [71:00]
D
Yeah. It felt a little bit like Ghana went out with a whimper, didn't it? Which was. Which is a shame because as you say, they did have. Not. Not. They maybe don't have the breadth of quality that Colombia have, but they weren't. You know, Colombia have got one world class player in Luis Diaz and Ghana have one world class player in Antoine Semeno. And Colombia worked out how to use theirs and Ghana didn't. And that ultimately is on the coach. And it'll be. I think it'll be frustrating for the. For the fans, for the team, and probably most of all for Semenyo himself.
- [71:26]
C
Definitely Semenya was. You could see him shouting at his teammates, telling them to get in different areas. You could see he was so incredibly frustrated to be that. That good. We know what Anton Semenya is on the wing so fast. Brilliant. And you didn't see any of it.
- [71:41]
A
I mean, here he was shackled with defensive duties in the Kiros system, which must have pissed him off no end. I will say, one of the joys of my World Cup, a stealth joy. Going to the Ghana game against Croatia. Meeting so many members of the Ghanaian diaspora from across the United States who'd flown in to rocket with their team, experienced incredible joy. Big, big love to you all tonight. It was amazing to meet so many of your proper Premier League maddies. Colombia will now face Switzerland in the next round. That's the big one. Quick word on the greatest team international football's ever seen. Usa. Usa. Usa. Chance to show off on new stingray soccer dudes.
- [72:26]
D
Nice.
- [72:27]
C
Oh, my God.
- [72:28]
D
Yes. Here come the soccer dudes.
- [72:32]
A
And you will fear the soccer dudes.
- [72:36]
C
That. That was worse than I thought it would be.
- [72:38]
A
Well, we're running out of money.
- [72:39]
D
Better.
- [72:40]
A
We're running out of money. Can I just play?
- [72:42]
D
If anything, it's too classy.
- [72:44]
A
Can we just play it one more time? Because I've got a telly winner. I believe we will play soccer dudes.
- [72:51]
C
What is that? Is that a seagull?
- [72:56]
A
What?
- [72:57]
B
What?
- [72:57]
C
Can I. Can I hear a bird?
- [72:58]
A
Yeah, it's a bird burner that we killed for the. For the other one. We got no money, so we had to get a twofer and we threatened it and it made that noise and then we did the thing, you know what I mean? We ran out of money after bird furness. That one was super cheap. Look, big news today from U.S. camp today. Coach Poach.
- [73:20]
D
Yep.
- [73:21]
A
Do it out at the Mariners game. Let's take a look.
- [73:26]
C
He looks confident.
- [73:27]
A
He does. He's not on the mound, though. That's a cheat.
- [73:31]
C
Oh,
- [73:34]
A
he looks cool. Oh, I don't know what. He just got a lemon out of his pocket.
- [73:38]
C
What did he get out of his pocket?
- [73:40]
D
Probably a lemon with a bad energy.
- [73:42]
A
Is that the sucker? Dudes go hard. Sorry. I bet that's the first time he's thrown a ball with one hand in his life.
- [73:49]
D
It was, it was, it was a very delicate, like he was trying to. I don't know. I think you'd give it a proper lob, wouldn't you?
- [73:54]
A
You'd probably go like, you know what, there's a pitch called an Es where you do. You throw it in a. You, you fool the. The batsman. And I think that must have been what Potter's going for.
- [74:05]
D
He looked like he was throwing a muffin to a friend.
- [74:08]
A
Yes. Oh, that's exactly. It's right into his mouth. That's it.
- [74:15]
C
I was, I, I was looking online at what people thought about it and a lot of people said that it was a good, it was a good throw.
- [74:21]
A
I know people, Potch is so in people's good graces right now that they say, yeah, he threw a strike. We're going to win. Need such a dude. Yeah. Some people are so pumped about Potch at the moment that that eos was seen by many to be in a great omen ahead of the Belgian game. God bless. I was actually asked to do and throw a pitch out at the Atlanta Braves, but I'm so stuck in the basement watching World cup games, I couldn't get there. But if I did.
- [74:49]
C
Because you've got a bad throw now.
- [74:51]
A
I've got a great throw. I've done it many times with a white socks. I've got a beautiful throat. I can get pinpoint with great accuracy at 110 miles an hour if I want. But. But what? What I was going to do, what I was going to do if I could get out, because I really wanted to do that. I love the Braves. The Braves are like an iconic franchise in my imagination from when I moved here. I was going to just get the ball and just throw it. Really worm burner. I was going to throw it along the floor. How good would that be?
- [75:18]
D
We can surely get, we can surely get one of the MLB franchises to let you do a worm burner.
- [75:23]
A
Surely be amazing. Let me worm burn on your pitch, lads. For more U.S. coverage tomorrow, we got Herc Gomez coming on to break down the Belgian battle ahead and Today we posted Clint Dempsey's preview of the great house of waffle battle against the Belgians live on our YouTube at. JF knows nothing said Clint Dempsey has to replace Baligan. Seems fair. But then Baligan has to do the pod next week. Wouldn't wish that on anybody. Mid roll promo time. Big news Atlanta. Oh, my God, this is exciting. Party just got 10 times bigger. We have moved our tailgate from Tuesday to Monday right before the US Belgium game. We're going to be Founders Green south downtown ahead of the clash of clashes. We're going to move the match day live so we can be with the incredible masses of Atlanta humanity before one of the biggest moments in US Men's history. Come and be with us. We'll take the stage with Killer Mike. Becky Sourbroom will be with us. Roar will be there and more as we celebrate. Our sack of dudes show is free. Doors open at 5, we'll be on at 6. And then the game will be on right after us on a huge screen so we can all watch it together. The link for more information is in the notes below. Roar.
- [76:37]
D
Rog, just as you've got a sting doesn't mean you get away with not doing your electric. Your electric guitar thing for soccer dudes. That's it.
- [76:46]
A
You will fear the soccer dudes.
- [76:48]
C
I cannot wait for Rory.
- [76:49]
A
Yeah.
- [76:50]
C
To shout soccer dudes on that stage on. On Monday.
- [76:54]
A
Bring the house down.
- [76:55]
D
Oh, come on.
- [76:56]
C
Wait to hear.
- [76:58]
A
Horncastle is going to be the one that's screaming. Such a crowd pleaser.
- [77:02]
D
Horncastle will say anything to anyone to make them like him. It's pathetic.
- [77:08]
A
It's amazing. He's genuinely, I think, making a run for mayor in 2020.
- [77:13]
D
He walked on stage, Betty, the the other day and just literally the first thing he did was like stand up and shout agl. Like that. It's extraordinary.
- [77:21]
A
It's amazing. In an American accent. It was beautiful. We reached the part of the night where we figure out what everyone suddenly believes. Well, taking a look at Kalshi percentages to peek into the brains of football fans everywhere. Scan below, sign up and get stuck in on Kalshi. Tonight we are comparing the South American giants. We saw Argentina. We've recently seen Brazil. Ever heard of them? Eight world titles between these two bad boys, both routed around the 16. And while Argentina arguably's got the easier path going forward, we've been too quick to dismiss Mr. Carlos Boys. And did Cape Verde reveal hidden weaknesses in Argentina tonight? Let the people know. Roar. Who goes further in this tournament?
- [78:05]
D
I still Think that Argentina's pathway has lower hurdles to clear. Switzerland, sorry, Egypt and then Switzerland or Colombia before a semi final against England or Brazil. So I think they will make the semi finals. Brazil have to face Norway, which is really tough. We don't really have like a weight class on Norway yet. It is possible that Norway can win. We don't know. It's hard to, it's hard to say because it's Norway. We're not, we're not used to that.
- [78:31]
B
Oh my God.
- [78:32]
C
Can you imagine?
- [78:33]
D
Oh, fantastic.
- [78:34]
C
It'd be amazing.
- [78:36]
D
We'd have to put up with that row in for a long time though.
- [78:38]
A
A lot of times.
- [78:39]
D
And we have established if we encourage the Norwegians at some point they will start burning monasteries. That, that is what they do.
- [78:47]
A
Only on the north west corner of England.
- [78:50]
D
Yeah. In the northeast. But we still, we need those monasteries. That's where we keep our treasure.
- [78:54]
A
That's where you keep the honey and the treasure.
- [78:56]
D
That's where it's where all of our treasure is. I think, I think the odds would be that Argentina are likely to go further. I think the general public, who are normally so wrong about so many things are in this case. Right.
- [79:10]
A
Okay, it's time for tomorrow, the previews round of 16. Time we start with Canada. Morocco. My friend Jesse Marsh, he's been talking a lot recently, told Time magazine, quote, let me make it very clear, I never will coach the U.S. national team. It's a long time. In other words, as a poet laureate Taylor Swift once said, we are never ever getting back together. He called Morocco last time semi finalists on the 33 game unbeaten week like a gory, horrible nightmare and a team of literally zero weaknesses. Morocco coach Mohamed Wabi, for his part predicted Canada will be their most challenging game so far, which is interesting, quote, I'm rarely mistaken on this raw. Should we expect both teams to be a lot less polite Once a whistle blows in Houston tomorrow, it's going to be a knife fight, isn't it?
- [80:02]
D
It is just Canada will be, will be. They don't have Morocco's quality, but they will be really intense, really well organized. They will go full marsh. So no, I think I'm going to this one, Rog. I'm genuinely excited about it. Do you want me to say anything to Jesse? Is there anything you want me to get him?
- [80:21]
A
You know what I want him to know. I just want him to know that we are all behind him, we adore him and to do really wacky cellies if the Canadians score because they really, I mean they're just joyous, nerdy delights.
- [80:35]
D
I'll pass that on.
- [80:36]
A
You got that? You got that?
- [80:38]
D
Yeah.
- [80:39]
A
Later that day In Philadelphia, America's 250th birthday bet Paraguay, France heat wave will push temperatures over 100 degrees. This is pretty awful. Most of the festivities and the, the hoopla have been cancelled or moved inside. Real question on the field if Paraguay and their defensive girth can deal with oh, the pace of Killian Mbappe who when asked if he was looking forward to the matchup said I am looking forward to the changing room air conditioning. But this might be the first game in which the hydration breaks are actually not booed.
- [81:13]
C
Yeah, yeah, they there are actually, actually going to need the hydration breaks. None of this in an air conditioned stadium. Having a little sip of water and doing all your tactics. They've got to take that fluid on. France are the only team that we have watched at this World cup and gone. Yeah, you're, you're convincing. You look so good. They're the only team really. Don't you think, Rory? Like I, I just can't see anyone tripping France up. I really can't see it. Oh God.
- [81:45]
D
No, I agree. I think maybe a little bit of Spain, the Soto senores, a little bit of them, the. But other than that it's quite hard to see. I mean France have just got that, that, that firepower that if they click you, I don't think you can stop them because the quality is so high. If the Spanish can take the ball off them, maybe that's what I think that semi final will be on. That's on that side of the draw. France against Spain and it will be really interesting. But yeah, the French are just, they're fearsome. Paraguay will defend with their lives. They'll strap and they'll fight and they'll claw. But I don't see how they can keep out a team of that quality.
- [82:19]
A
They've already declared two national holidays in Paraguay. One when they qualify for this World cup and another when they ousted Germany on penalty kicks. Hundreds of thousands hit the streets to sell it. This is so beautiful. I just love this so much. I too would want a day off to drink all day and celebrate. This is not just football history, this is history. History for Paraguay. Midfielder Mauricio said the players mentality is that they were ready to quote, die on the field to win. And the manager, Gustavo Alfaro added Europeans were trained in top level academies. We come from the red clay earth. God, if they bury France, I do think they Get. They get a week off. They get a week off work, at least if they win tonight.
- [83:06]
C
But it seems like years ago that they lost 4:1 to the USA, doesn't it? That feels like such a long time ago.
- [83:12]
A
It was.
- [83:13]
D
It was in 1973.
- [83:14]
A
It was.
- [83:15]
D
It was during the OPEC oil crisis. Yeah.
- [83:18]
A
God damn it. That was so exhaustingly awful. I don't know how we got through it. I think I got scurvy at get318. Says soccer dudes is even creepier when it's in amsr mode. No, sucker dude.
- [83:32]
C
Oh,
- [83:37]
A
It's time for the food. It's a European mind cannot comprehend. And today, though, we're in Atlanta. Look at this. This is amazing. So we could get proper food with raw. The same thing together. We went to a Texas classic. We're doing Whataburger tonight. Raw. You've got to move the mic up just for Mesopotamia purposes. When you eat this stuff.
- [83:57]
D
I've got my big fixed mic, haven't I?
- [83:59]
A
It's a classic Whataburger with fries. Most importantly, the creme de la Texas creme. You got spicy ketchup, which comes in one way, comes out another. Betty, you got the same bit of chicken sandwich because you are not a meat eater. So three simple steps. Eat, ponder, Score. Let's go.
- [84:17]
C
Oh, okay. Has Rory got the same?
- [84:21]
A
Yeah, let me get that. There you are in the camera. Here we go. Oh, wow.
- [84:34]
C
The sound of you two eating is making me feel a bit sick.
- [84:43]
A
We may be miles apart, but we're brought together by burgers and spicy ketchup, which is exactly what the founding Fathers intended. You ready? Am I going to guess your score? You don't have your whiteboard, but I'm going to guess your scores.
- [84:55]
D
Roger. Let me see if I can send it to you telepathically.
- [84:58]
A
Okay. Oh, that just hit me like a. Like a Vizinia save. I think you gave this a. And you're overcompensating. I think this is a 6.1.
- [85:10]
D
It's a 6.1, Roger. Quite right. You're quite right.
- [85:16]
A
How's the chicken?
- [85:17]
B
My.
- [85:17]
C
My board is over there, so I'll just vocally say it to you. I actually think it is actually. Really? It's better than it looks.
- [85:24]
A
Yeah, that's a. That's. That's like my mother. When she doesn't like something somebody, she calls them interesting. What score you. Oh, they're interesting. What score? Are you giving it back?
- [85:33]
C
6.7.
- [85:34]
A
There you go. Doesn't then the leaderboard roar and I think you really thought it was a 5.2, didn't you? You were just being generous.
- [85:41]
D
It's that that's not the best burger we've had and we've had a lot of average burgers.
- [85:45]
A
Yeah, that's what this is, what the bus is all about. If it's about one thing, theology and average burgers. Raw. It's time for closing with our leader, our listeners. Letters where you share your World cup journeys with us, your memories, your experiences, your human existence to see. Tell us the best of your World cup journeys@menblazergmail.com or slap it into our discord. Can I just say men blazers discord during the World Cup. It's winning the World Cup. You guys are so funny. You make us all laugh. It's really popping off. Come be there. See for the games, it's what Twitter used to be, which is joyous, safe, hilarious and full of very, very good human beings. Sign up for free now. Get stuck in but raw. Tonight's fun letter comes from 62 in the YouTube chat earlier this evening. Please do the on this.
- [86:35]
D
Well, I've actually got two Rog. I'm going to start with this one
- [86:38]
A
starts there's always a vacuum and we'll read the other one tomorrow. Okay, fair enough. There's always a vacuum. I think we've over produced this segment.
- [86:49]
D
It's.
- [86:49]
A
No, no.
- [86:49]
D
I was going to read it. I was going to read one that I received. I was going to. What? I was going to read one that I received privately, but I'll do another day.
- [86:55]
A
Oh well. No, no, no. Go for it, Ross.
- [86:57]
D
This is from J. Partri62.
- [86:59]
A
Someone sent you a compromising pick and you want to talk about it.
- [87:02]
D
Let's follow. Let's follow the script. There's always a vacuum when a World cup ends and the flow of James comes to an abrupt halt. But for this. But for this go around, the lack of the steady flow of mib telecasts will be the greater loss. A lot of people saying this. I found myself watching a cast, then listening again in the car, which is deeply troubling behavior. That's me editorializing. However, yesterday, while traversing a windy, or possibly windy mountain pass. Don't know, I was laughing so hard I had to hit pause for safety. MIB World cup coverage has developed a mythos. A mythos as the consummately hilarious, entertaining and informative source for all things World cup. If an MIB cast is airing, Fox is muted. And that's from J parts 62, which is very nice.
- [87:43]
C
Wow.
- [87:44]
A
J. Potters, we love you.
- [87:46]
D
Yeah.
- [87:46]
A
This is my other one that's growing up. Yeah. I just thank Jay Partridge. Good news. When this World cup is over in 897 days time must still be here. Trapped in this bus like in that Superman movie where they got stuck in that. You know, that one dimensional. Yeah. I'll always be on the bus for him. Forevermore. Show us your other one. Raw.
- [88:06]
D
This is, this is from. From Simon in Harrogate. And this is the. The other option to get a letter on which is if you know me personally and WhatsApp me something nice, I will read it out. Simon is my cousin in law, which is not a thing, but he's one of my favorite people in the world. And he said that he laughed out loud on the train listening to you, Rog and Humphrey and the commentator distrusting the doll store as absent father. The man sat next to me was deeply concerned when I kept laughing. Which I think is. I think if we're producing content that makes people feel uneasy on trains, Rog, then we're doing our job.
- [88:37]
A
Our job is done.
- [88:38]
D
Yeah.
- [88:40]
A
I do remember when you got a very angry letter about the mannequin piss. The letter writer wrote, your job is not to talk about the mannequin piss. Your job is to talk about football. And you've actually redefined it. Your job is just to piss people off. Is that what you said?
- [88:56]
D
All of our jobs is to do stuff that makes people laugh on trains to the extent that the person sitting next to them feels weird. That's our job. Yep.
- [89:03]
A
To make life feel uncomfortable for others.
- [89:06]
D
That's what we're here for.
- [89:07]
A
To mo salah laughing at Matty Ryan after doing that change up Panenka. Tomorrow was a day we spent 250 years trying to wait for. A day that deserves that. Cold pie in a perfect pub with the games on. It's the 4th of July. What screens 4th of July more than World cup round of 16? So plan your day with a bar finder on the Men and Blazer site. It's linked below. It's got an interactive map of the best football bars in the US Coming off your thousands of recommendations. Give it a look, find your pub, throw on the red, white and blue and have a day, America. I'm gonna watch the games in a pub tomorrow in Atlanta and I can't wait. Maybe with Betty, maybe not. We'll see. I think it's happening.
- [89:48]
C
It's gonna happen.
- [89:49]
A
It is happening.
- [89:50]
D
Jealous?
- [89:51]
A
It's what the founding Fight. Yeah. When you left, we thought, wait. Thank God he's gone. We can have fun now. He's so serious about the football watching in the purple conditions. And now we're free at last. We're gonna go. Just what the founding fathers dreamt of. In all seriousness, for all of you celebrating fourth of July weekend, we are full of love and life for you. I cannot wait to be with you tomorrow. We end with a moment of pure, unadulterated joy. As a lifelong Cape Verde fan of any days, me. 27 days now, is it. Argentina won the game, but Cape Verde won our hearts. This burger's making me have little problems speaking. I'm trying to hold it together. I've already got heartburn and it's like, not so great. I don't feel very well and I'm not a doctor, but I think I might be in trouble.
- [90:43]
C
I thought you were crying.
- [90:46]
A
No, I'm not. I'm sad about Cape bird. Brings out your true emotions. That's the nice thing I'll say about it. You know, I am struggling. What a burger. I am going to also have another bite in a minute. Which doesn't make any sense. Back to Vizinha, who promised everyone who'd know that Cape Verde are after this World Cup? They do. They do. Here's what it meant back on the archipelago nation of half a million. Betty, it's amazing to be with you. Huge love raw. Thanks for being with us in Texas. Big, big love to all of you. Or as Vizinha puts it, big heart. Encourage sa.
- [91:47]
D
It.