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- [00:01]
A
Lamine Yamal steps into McDonald's, looks left, sees Pulisic, looks right, sees Jimenez, gives a nod to Ronaldinho in the corner with a FIFA World cup meal. Ronaldinho sees son in the booth. Son finds Beckham going for extra Big Mac sauce. He's got Davies at the table just behind him. Davies going for his collectible cup. A steal by Henry, who pulls his own collectible cup. Collect one of nine legendary cups with a FIFA World cup meal. Participating McDonald's for a limited time while supplies last. All rights reserved. 20:26 McDonald's at FIFA World Cup 20:26 this is Matt and Myron the podcast. For the record, I'm pro truck driver. Having spent many times.
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B
Are you guys getting on the show?
- [00:41]
A
I'm pro truck driver. I spent a lot of time. I drove a truck for a year. I'm good with it. So I just need to go on there. That was my Metcalf. It's Matt Myron on ESPN Radio presented by Progressive Insurance. Matt Myron is gone today on one of his 15 vacations, which means David Dennis Jr. The approved co host. Fill in co host of Matt Myron is here. David, nice to see you. Do you have strong thoughts about truck drivers?
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B
Yeah, they are kind of the, the worst a little bit. There's a, there's like, why do you
- [01:12]
A
keep assigning me to people who don't like truck drivers?
- [01:14]
B
There is one that. Well, first of all, we'll get into. First of all, I had to do a real thorough application to get on the show with you. It's real tight to get in here. I needed, I needed Myron. He had to do a recommendation. I had to write application, had to do an oral, you know, beach thing before. It was, it was a lot of work to get on. So I'm happy to be here, honored to be here. But there is one little area in Atlanta where these truck drivers, they're supposed to turn left into the trucking thing. But sometimes they. And they know you think they're going to do that when they're not turning left. They like to bully you off the road and it's terrible. So they are kind of bullies.
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A
Yeah. But these are the people that drive commerce in America and you know, they're away from their families a lot. And so I have a lot of respect for the truck driving community. Now I see Myron and David Denn Jr.
- [02:03]
B
I don't know how much their family actually kind of wants them around. They kind of seem like, wow, maybe there's, maybe part of it is just like, hey, just go. Why don't you do the truck driving job and just be gone for four days out the week. We're good over here.
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A
Well, they work for 40 hours a week for a living. To move it up and down the line is what Alabama told us in the 1980s. And I still hold that truth today. I'm on your side, truckers, even though these arrogant ESPN hosts are not. Matt Myron is presented by Progressive Insurance. Progressive Makes Bundling home and auto eas. Learn more progressive.com what are we thinking about? I'm trying to think, but nothing happens. Nothing happens. Time to find out. This is off the top. Flash off the top with Matt and Myron. The busiest couple weeks of the sporting year and the most underrated couple weeks. The sporting year have just gotten kind of completed. You had the NBA finals, the NHL Finals, NBA draft, NHL Draft. You had the Dennis David's favorite event at the UFC250 at the White House. And then you have baseball. And then you also now this year have the World Cup. And it is. We are through the group stages. We are down to the final 32. The bracket is in place. Ended last night. Messi came off the bench, scored again for Argentina, Algeria and Austria in a game that most people thought was going to be irrelevant and they were just going to kick it around and have a tie. Had one of the most exciting games of the tournament. And Uruguay's Football association canceled the Uruguay flight private jet home because they said they didn't play well enough and they would have to fly commercial back to Montevideo. David, of all the things that have happened recently, I know you've been into the World cup. Which one stuck out to you?
- [03:48]
B
The canceling the flight, man, that's like, this is, this deserves a lot of discussion, especially in terms of can we do this, like, for other things. Can we just do, like, can we just like. My concern, my, my questioning here is like, you get blown out 40 to zero on in an NFL game, right?
- [04:10]
A
Yeah.
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B
Can we just be like, hey, Frontier Airlines, I'm good with it.
- [04:15]
A
I actually think it's, you know, I mean, it's a long flight, I would think from wherever Uruguay played to Montevideo, right? But. But nevertheless, Uruguay, if you just look at the disappointment of the tournament, they're probably the biggest disappointment of the tournament. The three sort of sneaky underdogs were supposed to be Ecuador. Who made it to the group stage? Turkey A Turk. Turkey I A. Okay, I'm going to learn that at one point. Who. But who did end up Beating the United States even though they got eliminated. And then Uruguay, who didn't win a game and who didn't move on. So I do think, you know, there can be some punishment for not reaching.
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C
This is the.
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A
That's the country that won the first World Cup. They are one of the hosts of the next World Cup. You got to get to the group stage. And if you don't do like everybody else and fly Delta.
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B
Yeah. I guess, I mean, on the bright side, your points, you can get more points that way, right?
- [05:09]
A
You can get more points.
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B
I don't, I don't know if you can get points on the charter.
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A
Right.
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B
You can get more points. Maybe a free flight, you know, you. Somebody else later. Right. Good for them. Get those MQDs up. It's really important when you're trying to, when you're trying to travel so you won't be, you know, driving all over the place, stuck behind those terrible truck drivers. So you get in a plane. I think it may be, it may be a good thing for him, maybe a good thing for team. For Uruguay. I would say for the World cup, maybe not, maybe not treat these guys like this. But in regular sports, I think that there's, I think that there should be like, kind of like how you give somebody the game ball.
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A
Yes.
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B
You should also give somebody the Frontier ticket. So like one person gets a game ball and then one person flies Frontier and has to ride back while everybody else.
- [05:56]
A
I don't know if I could do Frontier all the way to Uruguay. That would be a tough.
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B
Not. Not Uruguay, but like an NFL. NFL team.
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A
Okay. Or something. Yeah. Go to Denver. Cleveland.
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B
Yeah, Cleveland. Denver. Right. I'm not pointing out Cleveland in particular. I'm not, I'm not assuming that they're going to have a lot of people who have bad games in Cleveland. Just want to. Don't want to say that about them. But you know, I'm just saying, if per chance desean Watson has to fly Frontier, would that be the worst thing in the world?
- [06:22]
A
It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But now when you look at. Okay, so for. I listen to this British soccer podcast during the World cup, it's three, like, it's the Guardian football podcast from the Guardian newspaper. And it's like there's a host and then there's like a cantankerous Irish guy. And then they'll have people from the countries that are playing. And so I've listened to it every day. They do a daily wrap up and they had kind of Said that for the powerhouse countries, this part of the World cup has just kind of been fun because everyone sort of knew they were going to advance. And then an interesting question yesterday, which is, what are now that the serious parts about to start?
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B
Yeah.
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A
What are the headline like, what are the most important things that have happened? And I was thinking about that maybe from an American point of view, because they were thinking about it from a British point of view. And I would say for the average American, to me, the three biggest stories are this. Number one, Messi, six goals has sort of, I think, made all Americans get to the point that they want to see America play. The first. First. They want to see Messi second, I would say then second to me is America. The fact that we've looked, we're not only advanced, we've looked really good, at least in the first two games doing it. And there's this belief that maybe we can do something in the knockout and then maybe third has been the way the country has sort of embraced it. And you've seen all these great moments. You know, Scotland in Boston, the rowing, the can, Albania in Kansas. There have been all these cool moments across the country. Those are kind of, for me, the three headlines of the first two weeks. What about you?
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B
I would, yeah, I would say those. I would also say just France just looking dominant, right? Like that. That part has been a big part of it. But Messi, the messy thing has been really cool because it's so rare when you get to see goats like raise their goat stock, you know, like you just don't. You kind of. When we.
- [08:19]
A
Especially when they're old.
- [08:20]
B
Especially when they're older, right. Like you, like we would talk about like LeBron, he's just kind of like steadying the goat pace, right? Like, if you want to make the argument for LeBron as the goat, right. Like he's not doing anything, he's not going to win a championship and he's also not going to be like an 8 point a game guy. He's just like steadying the goatness, right. Messi is adding to it late in his career and really putting a lot of distance between himself and some of these, you know, other people when you're talking about the goat conversation.
- [08:51]
A
And it's actually kind of good for Messi that in the same tournament he's in, you see Cristiano Ronaldo at the same stage of his career, but clearly not the same player. So that like that, to the extent people had that debate, you could make an argument that these three games have kind of crystallized who was actually. Who was actually better. I do want to sort of say I have been surprised how much this country has really gotten into the World Cup.
- [09:21]
B
Really?
- [09:23]
A
Yeah. Because I knew that people would. Would watch USA and I knew that people would go to the games. I never really felt like there's too many. There's too much diaspora here in America from all over that I knew people would go to the games. What has been surprising to me is to go over to friends houses. Like I ate with my family and like a family dinner last night, like 10 people and my aunts who don't even like sports were watching England, Panama and cheering during the dinner. I didn't really expect that to happen. And I think that's happened on a level that has to really please soccer lovers in this country.
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B
Yeah, I agree. But part of. I think part of it is the nature of soccer itself as a game that you could just turn on and watch. You know, like, soccer is just the probably. I would say soccer and hockey are the two games that, like, you're gonna watch and people are gonna start, like, yelling and cheering without totally knowing what's going on.
- [10:18]
A
Right.
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B
Like when you watch soccer and you don't really need to know, like if, when people are watching, when the ball is close to the net in any sort of discernible fashion, even though, like the, the. The, you know, the pro would know there's too many defenders there, he's not actually going to score. If the ball is anywhere in the vicinity, people are going to make noise. And sometimes it's just that simple. That's all you need to just turn on a game. You have nationalism, you have your, you know, you're going to root for whatever country you root for. And then you have a ball that's close to the net and you're going to start yelling like. I think that's kind of a simple formula.
- [10:49]
A
That's really. That's a really insightful. It sounds basic, but it's actually pretty an insightful. I do think that's probably part of it. They. People still don't understand the offsides rule, including me at times when, when I can't remember. I think it was South Korea versus Iran. I still don't understand why the Iran goal didn't count. But nevertheless, if you put the offsides rule to the side, it is pretty easy to understand. I'm glad. And I think it will get more exciting in the next couple of weeks as we get to the knockout and we'll talk more about the US and the games they have now. Jalen Brown had an analytics site say he would be the seventh best player on a really good team, which is odd since he was the second best player on the title team just two years ago. However, that made him mad and my question is, can he play for the Celtics ever again? We'll talk about that and more here with Mr. Truck Driver Hater David Dennis. And I'm Matt Jones here on Matt Matt and Myron the podcast Foreign.
- [11:57]
D
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- [14:26]
A
This song was specifically created for David Dennis Jr. Playlist, Big Cowboy. I don't understand. I will say this. I love my producers. I don't know why they pick music like this. I even. I don't like this kind of country music.
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D
It's not me.
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A
It's the one person who picks the music.
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C
I.
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B
Okay, throw under the bus.
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A
So half the time I do it because I know you hate it. The other half is because it's one of the first things that pops up in the library. Who is this? What is this?
- [14:54]
D
Garfield?
- [14:55]
A
It's one of your favorites. Luke Combs. No, see, well, first of all, I don't hate Luke Combs. But you gotta play like Luke Combs. Like when he sang with Tracy Chad. I only have a couple of songs in the library, Matt by Luke Combs. I just pick one.
- [15:07]
D
Let's just.
- [15:08]
A
Why don't we just completely agree. We'll skip Luke Combs and, like, just sometimes I'm in the mood. Okay, Matt, there's only two shows on the entire network. I can potentially play it on O. Okay, well, we could.
- [15:18]
B
Well, I, for one, I'm glad you played it. I, for one, I'm glad you played it on this one.
- [15:21]
A
Thanks, David.
- [15:24]
B
I needed some new Combs this morning
- [15:26]
A
here on ESPN Radio, Jalen Brown. David, he. It's. Oh, how. I don't want to say, oh, how the mighty have fallen, but it shows how quickly things change. Two years ago, you know, they're cutting down the nets.
- [15:40]
B
It's.
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A
It's the J&J's. How many titles are they going to win? Is this the next dynasty? Yada, yada, yada. Then you end up with Jason Tatum getting hurt in the playoffs last year, and then the part of the season he misses this year, they get. They get upset by the 76ers. And now, for reasons I've never really totally understand, there's this business belief, well, we got to get rid of Jalen Brown and let's try to do it with Giannis, etc. Just as a starting point. Before we get to the latest news, do you kind of agree with what seems to have been the common wisdom that the Celtics needed to get rid of Jalen Brown and go in a different direction?
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B
No, not at all. Not at all. This dude, I mean, you have. You don't even know what your team looks like. You don't even know what Jason. What the healthy ish Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown look like right now. The Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum who won a championship together are vastly different than the Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum that you're seeing right now. Jaylen Brown's a better player. He became a better player last season. Jason Tatum, we don't know how healthy he is. I like, I think that the Celtics have bungled this tremendously. Like you, I understand you talk to Jaylen Brown, say, hey, Giannis is a top five player in the league. We love you, but it's Giannis. And then you just say, hey, we don't get the Giannis thing. Here's your two year $75 million a year like that. I think that is the conversation to be had. But for some reason they said Giannis doesn't work. Let's find out what else works. Dangle you on the train, on the deadline, on the trade market.
- [17:13]
A
David, you're a very proud person. So am I. If you're Jalen Brown. Jalen Brown, whether this is true or not, I think in his head believes he's one of the three or four best players in the league. Whether that's true or not is a different conversation.
- [17:24]
B
Right.
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A
But I think he certainly believes that and I don't know if in his head he thinks he's better than Giannis or not, but he probably would think we're the same or in the same ballpark if you know that they were going to trade him, trade you for him, and that the reason wasn't was Hugo Gonzalez. Which blows my mind how you wouldn't get Giannis because of Hugo. But if that's true, could you get over that and then come back and
- [17:49]
B
be cool with it now? I would for two years, $149 million
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A
you could get over your pocket.
- [17:58]
B
I've gotten over a lot worse for a lot less. I just put it like that. I would get over it. Jaylen Brown, to your point, is not. He's a different type of dude, man. Like this dude. Yes. That money is going to be would be great if they offer it to him. This is a proud guy. And he's also a dude who continues to in his mind what some of it's right, some is not just get disrespected. Since he's been with Boston, they put him on the put him up for trade about three or four times he wasn't on Team usa, other Boston Celtics were there. And now the biggest thing I think for him is, why me and why not Jason Tatum? Why. Why is Jason Tatum never on the trade deal?
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A
Why do you think that's true? Like, I, you know, you, You. You have probably more NBA sources than I do. I sort of look at it and say again, with no knowledge, just from the outside, that it does look like to Boston management, whatever, that Jalen Brown is the favorite, or, excuse me, Jason Tatum is the favorite son, and Jalen Brown is kind of the black sheep son. And that for whatever reason, two guys who both are very, very good, they look at one as significantly more important than the other. Are there any reasons outside of basketball that you think that's the case?
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B
I'm not sure. I'm. I think that there are concerns about, you know, Jaylen Brown's got a different type of attitude than a lot of these folks. You know, like, he's just like.
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A
So what do you mean?
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B
Well, Jaylen Brown is going to do the things that he's doing now. He's going to tweet when he's upset, he's going to vocalize his problem. He's going to do the things on tw, going to complain the refs. He's going to do all this stuff that are a little bit more. That are more abrasive. Right. But I don't. I don't see anything from Jaylen Brown.
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A
Like.
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B
Like, generally, when you have these and you say, we're going to blow the team up, we're going to figure this thing out, you have two guys who are equal, you kind of put both guys out there and see what the best offer is. Right. It's. It's very rare to have a situation like this where one dude is constantly the guy who was being put out there on the market when the other dude just came off an Achilles injury. Right. We don't even know how good Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum is going to be. And if I'm Jaylen Brown, the biggest part of this is, why is it just me all the time that's getting chosen for this?
- [20:08]
A
Yeah, it makes. There clearly is a reason. I mean, I guess it could just be the Celtics think Jason Tatum is a lot better. So is there a way for him to come back? I mean, have we reached a point of no return? Because I do think you're getting to a situation now. If you can't get Giannis, then you're going to get two dimes for a quarter in return. Like, I don't know how you get an equal package back for Jalen Brown now unless you just want to rebuild. And I don't know that the Celtics want to rebuild. I mean, I don't know that that really makes sense. Do you think they're just at a point that when the Giannis thing didn't work out, there's just no way for them to get equal value or greater?
- [20:47]
B
No, there's no way they can't get. I mean, the NBA is not built for you to get, get equal value anymore for these players. The NBA is built for these players to sign these massive, massive contracts to stay with their team. Because Adam Silver is, you know, responds to negative tweet tweets more than he responds what's best for the league. That's kind of neither here nor there. But like you're, you're not going to get the same that you're going to get from Jaylen Brown, but also you may not get a quarter for Jalen Brown if he stays because there's so much bad blood and animosity with him and the team right now. So if they start playing bad, there's going to be all this conversation of is he upset, is there, is there issues with him and Jason Tatum? Like right now Jalen Brown may not be worth a quarter to the Celtics.
- [21:33]
A
If you were ranking the top 30 players in the NBA, where would you have Jalen Brown? Is he in his mind? He's probably like 5th or 6th. Yeah, my mind he's probably like 12th or 13th. Where is he for you?
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B
I would probably be around the same, same, like 8 to 13 or something like that, you know, especially got to bring the two way player in there. But the thing is, I'm not sure that Jason Tatum's better than this dude right now. Like really I'm not sure.
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A
Is that because the injury, it's part of the.
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B
Yeah, the injury. We just haven't seen what he looks like coming back from this injury. Like he, he played, he had to sit out after a couple playoff games. Like, I'm not sure if how, how much better Jason Tatum is Jalen Brown right now.
- [22:13]
A
If you look at Brad Stevens time with the Celtics, it almost seems like he could do no wrong forever.
- [22:18]
C
Yeah.
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A
And this is the first time that you've looked and go, I just don't feel like you handled that correct. Yeah. Somewhere along the way, you know, you made Joe Missoula. I never thought that was going to work. And then it did. And now all of a sudden, this is the first time you go, I don't know about that. We're going to get back to the World cup, talk about soccer around the land. That's next here. I'm Matt Myron on ESPN Radio. Matt and Myron, the Podcast.
- [22:54]
B
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- [22:57]
D
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B
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D
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B
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- [23:25]
D
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- [24:02]
A
All right, Alanis Morissette, what a perfect intro for our next guest here on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio. I hear that in Trinidad and Tobago no one is bigger than Alanis Morissette. So Shaka Hislop, ESPN soccer analyst, is joining us to talk about the World Cup. Am I right? Shaka, you big Alanis Morissette fan.
- [24:22]
C
I guess that's one way to put it.
- [24:26]
A
The World cup update is brought to you by Gusto. Gusto is your small business partner for payroll, benefits and so much more. Get started for free@gusto.com Shaka, this has been, we talked about this earlier. This has been a World cup that America has embraced. I think maybe more than I thought they would. Do you agree with that? And why do you think that's happened if you do?
- [24:46]
C
I do agree with that and I think it's good to see these state of the game here in the U.S. listen, I went to college here in the United States back in the late 80s, early 90s, so I know the soccer scene from back then. I then went and went out to Europe where I played. And coming back, recognizing how Far the game has advanced, how much MLS has contributed to that and now how much hosting the World cup in 2026 continues to grow that game. And not just grow the game in terms of, in terms of participation and those boys and girls who are already involved in the game, but an appreciation from armchair fans who may not have watched a soccer game, who do not understand or know of the soccer culture and particularly the fandom that comes with it. So to see that being recognized and embraced in the way that it has for those of us who've been involved in the game all our lives, it really is a. A joy to witness.
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B
So team usa, what would you say would be a success for this team? Because nobody's really giving them a shot to win this thing. But what would you categorize as a success?
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C
There's only been what, eight or nine countries that have ever won the World cup. And that's for a reason. Now USA for me have been far better than I expected coming into this tournament. I said before a ball was kicked that a quarterfinal is about right for the US if the US gets to the quarterfinal, that should be seen as a good tournament. Now how the brackets have kind of all panned out and if the favorites are to win their respective games going forward, I think the US come up against Spain in that quarter final. Spain were one of the favorites. Spain are still are the current reigning European champions. While they themselves have not been great by their standards in this tournament so far, they continue to grow and will remain many people's firm favorites to get to the final, if not win it. So I say all that to say while the US have been far better than I expected, have been far better than, as I said pre tournament, I thought a quarter final booth was deserving. They just come up against one of world football's biggest boys. I'm not sure that, that they can get the better Spain. That should not take away from how good they've been. What we've seen of them so far.
- [27:10]
A
Shaka I. You were more confident than me. I mean, I just hope I looked at their, their group when they got in and said they should get out of it, but they might not. I mean Turkey was pretty good. Australia was okay. I mean I thought they might come in as a second place team in the, in the group and then you go down and you would play Argentina in the sweet 16 if you did that and that didn't happen. So I actually would argue if you get to the final eight in your America and you're one of the Eight best teams in the world, at least in this tournament. That would be. I mean, that's only happened once for America in history. That would be one of the great achievements of American soccer ever. And then Spain, I think that's a notch too far. But if you beat me, Belgium, for instance, to go to the final eight, that would be a heck of an accomplishment.
- [27:58]
C
It would. I am in total agreement with you. So let's start with that group that the US Were in coming into the tournament. I said of those four teams, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey and the United States, all four come into the tournament thinking that they're going to win the group. I think all had genuine expectations of that. And then in the first game, you saw the US Against Paraguay in a performance that I said was the best I'd seen from the United States at any level at any time. You mentioned I'm from Trinidad and Tobago, so I grew up playing against the U.S. at Junior national levels. Even including those, I thought that was as good a US Performance as I'd ever seen. Different performance against Australia, but every bit as effective. They had to be more disciplined. They had to recognize a lot of the phases of play in a way that maybe they didn't have to against Paraguay, who were just far too pragmatic, in my view. And they got the job done. And then they earned the right to make the changes against Turkey. I read nothing into that result. I think a lot of people were making a lot of it for no good reason, in all honesty. They earned that right. They earned that rest. And now you go into the knockout stages, starting with Bosnia Herzegovina. I think they get the better of them.
- [29:16]
A
Talk about that game because most people probably don't know much about boxing.
- [29:19]
C
Bosnia and Herzegovina kind of are one of the smaller European nations, have a deep history to their game, but are relatively inexperienced at the World cup level. I think they come into this game against the U.S. and will be similarly pragmatic and hope to hit the US on the break. I don't think they have enough pace up front with the likes of Zeco, etc. To really hurt the US but I mentioned their wanting to sit back and defend. I mentioned their pragmatism because that was exactly the approach of both Paraguay and Australia and the U.S. similar approach, but two different opponents, two different threats, which I thought the US Just coped with so wonderfully well. And I don't expect anything different from. From Bosnia Herzegovina going forward in the knockout range. And the US have shown that they can cope with that just fine. They're very disciplined defensively. The attack really is continues to grow. Christian Pulisic I think is back to full fitness after featuring for the last half an hour against Turkey. The first 45 against Paraguay when when he had to be substituted. He looks as in good form as you could expect. Baligun up front is having a tournament to be remembered. This is a very good US team and I think will prove just far too good given those departments than Bosnia Herzegovina.
- [30:53]
B
So there's Spain, there's France and some of these powerhouses. Who would you say is the dark horse that we should be looking at here?
- [31:01]
C
The dark horse for me would be Norway. I'm not sure if they are on the same side of the bracket as United States would be.
- [31:08]
B
Who?
- [31:08]
A
Who did you think?
- [31:09]
C
Norway.
- [31:10]
A
Norway. Okay.
- [31:11]
C
Norway have an incredible attack which includes Erling Haaland, who many believe is the best striker in world football, if not top three best strikers in world football right now. Martin Odegaard, the Arsenal captain who sits in the hole just behind. Just behind Odegaard. They have shown a real understanding about their game coming into this tournament. They have a significant attacking threat. Defensively they aren't great though. So whether they are top heavy enough to carry that poor defensive defensive setup, time will tell. But they are one of the dark horses, especially kind of given the fact that they finished second in their group against who I feel are the favorites to go on and win it in France. Also in that third group game against France, Norway rested 10 players. So the result was almost a foregone conclusion. Saying that Norway did put up a bit of a fight, but now they come into to the group stage rested in a way that not many others do. So you applaud Norway for resting players in that third group game. They settle for for second place be now they come into the the group stages far fresher than most in a way that the US did in resting players but somehow were criticized for. Which is why I go back to what I said previously. I am not at all critical of Pochettino's decision to rest players for that third Turkey game. I. I thought that was just good football management.
- [32:45]
A
I am critical though of the way he dresses for the game. He looks. I just feel like. Like that's a handsome dude. He should dress. Shaka Hislop ESPN soccer analysts Let me ask you one more question that sort of sticks out big picture going into knockout stages. To me, nine of the 10 African squads made the knockout round. America won its group, Mexico won its group. Canada won its group or actually came in seconds. Group it feels like to me, the rest of the, you know, Europe has always, and to some extent Europe, Brazil and Argentina kind of been ahead of everybody el in the knockout stage. Those teams may be the ones in the final eight, but it did feel like that the Africa and the CONCACAF teams maybe made a step towards at least the second tier of Europe getting closer. Would you agree with that?
- [33:32]
C
I certainly would. I think those smaller nations, just smaller confederations, are catching up. They're getting to understand the game in a way that they don't go out, they aren't too open, they aren't too expansive to get badly punished by some of the bigger European nations. The tactics of those smaller nations is catching up, even if the talent is still the ultimate decider between who wins a game and who doesn't. I'll also add in this tournament in 20, 26, 48 teams starting to work up. That's the first time we've had this bigger field. Now, the big concern around that was with these other teams coming in, with this many more teams coming in, the worry was for some of those smaller nations, we'd be seeing far too many huge scorelines, which was not good for the tournament. And I hold my hand up before the tournament started. I share that concern. But as we sit right now, the only really lopsided result was Curacao against Germany. Curacao, the smallest nation to have ever qualified for a World Cup. In their first game against the powerhouses of Germany, they lose by seven goals to one. It was 11 for a spell, and then Germany just ran away with it. But other than that. And even then, Curacao went on and they tied.
- [34:55]
A
Exactly.
- [34:56]
C
They performed really well with the tournament going forward. So you've not had these heavy, lopsided results that many were predicting. And again, I hold my hand up. I'm guilty of that myself. And I think it speaks to these smaller nations. Whereas they might be outmatched, talent wise, they've been able to keep up, certainly in terms of the tactics, in terms of preparation, in terms of understanding the games, the transitions of it during the course of 90 minutes and how to manage those different departments. So credit to those smaller nations for closing that gap and giving some of these big boys a run for their money.
- [35:35]
A
Good stuff. Shaka Hislop, ESPN Soccer Analyst Love it. Hopefully we can have you again before the tournament's over. From Trinidad and Tobago to beautiful Bristol, Connecticut. That, my friends, is ability to adapt to your environment. Shaka, thank you very much.
- [35:50]
C
As long as you give me some more. Alanis Morissette. I'll be back.
- [35:56]
A
There you go. We will talk some NBA offseason more World cup and spin a fail. That's all next here on Mad Matt and Myron the podcast. Check engine ABS or maintenance light on. Take the guesswork out of your warning
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Ask for O'Reilly Veriscan today.
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Is there any other battery with powerboost ingredients inside?
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No, just Duracell. Remember, goats only trust goats because they're built different. And Messi only trusts Duracell.
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More great tunes here on Matt Myron on ESPN Radio. Feels like this one's for our producer James. We are presented by Progressive Insurance, David Dennis Jr. Matt Jones can be.
- [37:42]
B
For me, it can't be used to think of this. I didn't pick this song.
- [37:46]
A
I mean, did you?
- [37:48]
B
No, I didn't.
- [37:48]
A
I didn't think so. I mean, I don't, I don't know your musical taste well, but I feel like I was not your thing. All right, so the NBA draft of this week, let me get. There's been a lot of stuff happening, so I'm going to read you maybe the three or four biggest stories and you tell me which one you think is the biggest deal. I'm going to put. Giannis traded the Heat to the side because there's been so many conversations about that that at some point, like what else is there to say?
- [38:09]
B
And it's not that. I mean it's not going to determine who's winning the championship.
- [38:13]
A
So I, I actually agree with you on that. The NBA draft occurs. Top four kind of go as we think debonza Peterson, Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson and then, you know, little shake up after that. But fairly, fairly chalk draft, but a lot of potential stars. The Lakers sign Austin Reeves to a max deal. 4 years, $185 million that they wasn't even drafted and now he gets a max deal and then Lamelo ball traded to the Timberwolves as the, as the Hornets get out of the Lamelo ball business, the streets of Charlotte are safer. We'll see if the team is better of those of the draft. Lamelo, Austin Reeves, which one do you think Matters the most.
- [38:52]
B
I would probably say Lamelo being traded to the Wolves because for now, for the time being, that has kept Anthony Edwards steady in Minneapolis. Like that is something that he seemed to want. This trade now, I don't think it'll go as well as maybe Anthony Edwards thinks it'll go with Lamelo. I think that was not. I think, I don't think that was a good trade for the Timberwolves to make. But when they moved on from Julius Randall, Carl Anthony Towns wins a championship without, you know, after leaving Minnesota and you're looking at Anthony Edwards and you're saying this is going to be the next dude who asked out. Minnesota got cheap at the wrong time with this dude. They are not ready to win a championship. He's going to be the next guy out. And for the time being, LaMelo Ball going there means that Anthony Edwards, a potential face of the league type of guy, is going to stay in Minneapolis a little bit longer.
- [39:46]
A
I agree with you on that. By the way. Pour one out for Julius Randall. Traded. My goodness, I love him. He's a Kentucky guy. That's my guy. But they traded him in the 28th pick for the 33rd pick. Like they literally said to him, we got to give a pick better than the one we have to get them to take you. That broke my heart. But Lamelo ball and Anthony Edwards.
- [40:06]
C
Yeah.
- [40:07]
A
Explain to me how these two dudes play together. They strike me as. They strike me as being the same, but Anthony Edwards is just better. So Lamello ball is going to be the second version of that. And how does that work?
- [40:20]
B
Okay, offensively it works.
- [40:22]
A
You think it does work?
- [40:23]
B
Okay, it works offensively for a couple reasons. One, LaMelo gets guys open. So there's that. He is going to raise the roof on a, on a. On a bunch. Raise the ceiling. Not raise the roof. Raise the ceiling on a bunch of different guys. Particularly Anthony Edwards who was a really good spot up shooter from three. We saw what he did with con canipple and those guys are getting them open. Anthony Edwards. Now you cannot just double team him at the, at the half court line, which a lot of teams are doing because LaMelo Ball now gets the ball at 4, 4 on 3. So I think they're going to cause a lot of headaches offensively for a lot of teams. Anthony Edwards is probably going to score more points and have a better field goal percentage. Lamelo ball theoretically is going to have the same. And, and what we know about Lamelo, when he was with Charlotte, he was one like one of the 10 most important offensive players in the league in terms of plus minus, in terms of the offense being better, in terms of when he's off the court, all that stuff. I think offensively they're going to cause a lot of trouble defensively, Lamelo being healthy. Those are the questions when you're talking about a team trying to win a championship. But in the regular season, they're going to cause fits offensively.
- [41:26]
A
But nothing but that trade does not change the fundamental calculus of the west, that it's Oklahoma City and San Antonio with Denver maybe a notch below. And then Minnesota's not in that group, right?
- [41:39]
B
No, Minnesota's not. Now, the things that does change fundamentally, I think it does make the chances of Denver playing against San Antonio because. Because Minnesota just had Denver's number and like, and, and like Denver, I think does not have to worry about Minnesota in the way that they did before. So now if you're looking at Jokic and you're saying, I don't have to play Denver, I mean, I don't have to play Minnesota and now I'm playing OKC and I'm playing San Antonio, that changes things a little bit for Denver and Jokic in that balance in the West, I would not be. I would say that they have a shot, depending on Aaron Gordon's health, to be back in that mix up there with San Antonio and okc.
- [42:21]
A
Now I'm a big college basketball guy and, and have followed because of that. I really have always loved the draft and I. I'm of the believer that this draft we just had, it's maybe the best draft from 1 to 20 in 20 years. I mean, I think the top four. How many drafts do you get where four guys could become superstars? Now they, they won't all, but four could. And then five through 20, maybe 25. Jaden Quince Quaintance went 20th to the Spurs. He could be great if his injury is not. You look at that and you go, man, there's so much talent. Do you, I mean, from the NBA perspective, do you get the sense that like a lot of teams like Sacramento taking Darius Acuff, that could be a franchise turning pick right there and they made it at number seven. I think it is a fascinating draft for those reasons.
- [43:13]
B
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think that we're looking at, like you said, multiple all stars, multiple all NBA guys, that top four. I mean, how surprised would you be if Caleb Wilson ended up being the best player out of there?
- [43:25]
A
You wouldn't. I don't think you would be. You wouldn't be surprised if any of them did. I think maybe if Cam Boozer did that would just mean the other three guys ended up being disappointed. But. But really you wouldn't be shocked with any of them.
- [43:35]
B
Right? Like Cam Boozer. I don't. I never quite saw him as the best player out that group but I do think he could be like, he could be a guy that like a championship team was like we could not have won this without.
- [43:45]
A
But he's got the highest floor. Like he won't fail. There's no way he fails. I don't know if he'll be the best, but I don't think he'll fail.
- [43:52]
B
Like I think of him not, not they don't play similar but like how OG Anunoby was for the Knicks just now where it's like he's not a guy that carries a franchise but there's no way the Knicks could win a championship without him.
- [44:03]
A
Like he does a better version of his dad. Like he just think about how good his consistent his dad was and now make him a little better. And I think that's what his son is.
- [44:11]
B
And he also just has like this institute like one. The thing that can't about Cambooz that stood out like he missed some athleticism but the thing that stood out to me the most is that the guy just always made the right play. He just always made the smart play, the right pass, the right switch, the right box out. He has this understanding of the game at such a young age. He's going to be an asset to whoever he plays for. My hope is that Memphis figures out a way to build something around him or like build, you know, a real contender because I, I would like, I would have loved for him to go to like a place like Indiana or some place that's already looking like they're trying to make a move. Having to build something from the ground up is the only thing that kind of worries me about him.
- [44:49]
A
I'll say this because a lot of the conversation going to draft was like, well is Darren Peterson, is that going to work? And then people knew Boozer's name and then there was the Caleb Wilson people. Can't skip over AJ debons. The dude is an absolute freak of nature.
- [45:03]
B
Yeah.
- [45:03]
A
And I will say he's going to be a star. I just don't see any way David, he's not an all star during his time.
- [45:10]
B
Yeah, I would be surprised if he's not an all NBA at some point.
- [45:13]
A
Like he has to be.
- [45:14]
B
Yeah, he's got to be. He just feels like a sure thing. Yeah.
- [45:17]
A
And he's been like a sure thing for a few years. So he's gotten used to it.
- [45:21]
C
Yeah.
- [45:21]
A
I, I just, I, I'd be shocked if he ends up not being.
- [45:23]
B
I think they're making a playoff run. They're going to be in the playoff this year.
- [45:27]
A
Washington.
- [45:28]
C
Yeah.
- [45:29]
A
Oh, that's a hot take. We will get back to the World Cup. Trey Young and David Dennis, that's next. Thanks for listening to Matt and Myon the Podcast. You can listen to the show live every Sunday morning at 10am Eastern on ESPN radio, the ESPN app, and on
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D
Sirius XM channel 80.
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Matt and myron the podcast.
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