What Went Wrong | The Beautiful Pod

Summary

The Adam Friedland Show Podcast Summary

Episode Title: What Went Wrong | The Beautiful Pod
Date: July 17, 2026
Host: Adam Friedland
Guests: Nick Wright (Fox Sports), Chris Ryan

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the fallout from the United States’ devastating 4-1 loss to Belgium in the World Cup Round of 16, dubbed “the catastrophe of Seattle.” Adam Friedland is joined by sports analyst Nick Wright for a candid “postmortem” of the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) and the larger realities of U.S. soccer. The second half features Chris Ryan, with whom Adam revisits epic matches at Azteca stadium, the incredible Cape Verde-Argentina showdown, and broader reflections on a World Cup bursting with cinematic drama.

The episode is characterized by a blend of dark humor, honest sports critique, and heartfelt soccer appreciation—capturing both the pain and beauty of what has been a historic summer for global football.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Postmortem: USMNT’s World Cup Collapse

Starts at 02:16

Reactions to the US loss to Belgium

• Adam and Nick dissect the heavy defeat, agreeing there was “nothing noble about it” ([02:24]).
• Nick Wright: “The only thing that mattered was can we break the hard ceiling of the round of 16? And the answer was resoundingly, no.” ([03:10])
• The team’s lackluster performances are called out, with the B-team loss to Turkey and overhyped expectations cited as significant failings ([03:25]-[03:38]).

Harsh Spotlight on Christian Pulisic and US Soccer Culture

• Nick Wright calls out Christian Pulisic: “CP was a total no show the entire tournament.” ([03:40])
• Debate over the controversial red card revocation (political interference by Donald Trump), which Adam mocks as “look[ing] like nerds” for relying on presidential favor for player eligibility ([04:19]-[05:30]).
• Discussion about American soccer’s lack of a clear, compelling team personality compared to past squads with scrappy edge (Donovan, Dempsey) ([10:15]-[11:20]).

The Talent Gap

• Nick Wright: “Norway’s best guy is a demigod and Norway’s second best guy, Odegaard, would be the best player in American soccer history by a mile.” ([14:53])
• Adam points out that the US lacks a world-class, game-changing star: “We don’t have any top 10 talent in the States. The problem is we don’t have a top 50 player in the world.” ([15:52]-[15:59])
• Commentary on systemic issues in US soccer, comparing it to Spain and Norway’s development models.

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2. The World Cup as Cinema: Beauty Amidst Chaos

Starts at 17:40

Mesmerizing Matches

• Adam and Nick reminisce about the electric Argentina-Cape Verde and Mexico-England games, calling them possibly the “most beautiful games I’ve ever seen in any sport.” ([17:40]-[17:55])
• Adam: “Soccer looked so cool ... the equalizer, an extra time. The guy trying to find his girlfriend. Soccer looked so cool.” ([17:55])
• Nick frames this as “one of the greatest months of sport I’ve ever seen in my life. Every single thinker.” ([18:53])

The Power of Narrative & Emotion

• Adam notes the emotional resonance of seeing unknown Cape Verde players hold their own against Messi: “...these guys that were fearless in the face of like, demons. The best player of all time.” ([58:59])

The Messi vs Ronaldo Endgame

• Extended, poignant discussion about Cristiano Ronaldo’s struggles and legacy versus Messi’s continued dominance.
• Adam Friedland: “It’s really painful to see how this story is ending and what Messi is doing right now ... it’s actually, like, too painful to even celebrate.” ([21:29])
• Nick compares Ronaldo’s twilight to “late stage Kareem” and laments the managerial mishandling by Roberto Martinez, wishing Ronaldo could have exited more gracefully ([23:02]-[25:00]).

The Spectacle of Azteca and Tactical Battles

• Chris Ryan and Adam marvel at the emotional pitch and wild crowd environment of England-Mexico at Azteca:
  • Chris: “The 11 minutes of added time were the most gripped I have ever been by a sporting event. Honestly.” ([35:46])
• Discussion of the tactical high-press approach, critical substitutions, and “warrior” performances like Anthony Gordon’s.

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3. Sociopolitical Jokes & Cultural Commentary

Woven throughout the episode

Politics and Soccer Collide

• Running gags about Donald Trump’s intervention for a red card appeal, with panelists sharply criticizing real-world interference and mocking the “nerd” optics it imposed on US Soccer ([04:19]-[05:46], [12:10]-[13:20]).
• Satirical asides on American and global sports cultures, U.S. presidential involvement (“It alienated half of the stadium”), and the pursuit of “soft power” on the football stage.

Romanticizing and De-romanticizing Football Legends

• Adam and Nick push back against nostalgia for 2000s US teams, insisting that the “spirit” of those sides was more about momentary magic than fundamental strength ([13:39]-[13:51]).
• Extended riffs on club allegiances, including Arsenal, Liverpool, and the pain/joy of fandom ([19:26]-[21:09]).

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Nick Wright (on the USMNT glass ceiling): “The only thing that mattered was can we break the hard ceiling of the round of 16? And the answer was resoundingly, no.” ([03:10])

• Adam Friedland (about American soccer’s lack of identity): "There's nothing that grabs me or grips me about the personalities on the team. It's just a fool's errand to believe that tactical football can apply to knockout... Knockout football is bloody and brutal and unfair.” ([11:20])

• On Ronaldo and Messi:

  • Adam Friedland: “It’s really painful to see how this story is ending … [for Ronaldo] … it’s actually, like, too painful to even celebrate.” ([21:29])
  • Nick Wright: “What Ronaldo needed to be was late stage Kareem…” ([23:02])
  • Adam, on Messi: “When you listen to [Thierry Henry], his … what he said after the Cape Verde match was like, he's just. He's a poet.” ([30:25])

• Chris Ryan (on Azteca): “The 11 minutes of added time were the most gripped I have ever been by a sporting event. Honestly.” ([35:46])

• Adam Friedland (on Cape Verde vs Argentina): “It’s the most beautiful, like, sporting event I've ever seen. It's just these guys that were fearless in the face of like, demons. The best player of all time.” ([59:26])

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Important Timestamps

• 02:16 — Postmortem begins: immediate reactions to US loss
• 03:40 — Pulisic and the failure of US stars
• 04:19—06:14 — Red card controversy, Trump intervention, and broader political overtones
• 08:57—10:15 — Belgium’s flawed “golden generation”; disappointment and context
• 14:53—15:59 — The US talent ceiling and contrast with Norway/Europe
• 17:40—18:53 — Glory of Argentina-Cape Verde and Mexico-England; “sports as cinema”
• 21:29—25:00 — Poignant, personal reflections on Ronaldo’s legacy and Messi’s freedom
• 35:46 — Emotional exhaustion after England-Mexico at Azteca, “the most gripped I have ever been”
• 43:00—47:16 — Tactical breakdown of England-Mexico, substitution drama, and Azteca magic
• 58:00—59:26 — Cape Verde-Argentina as pure sporting beauty, the wonder of seeing unknowns face Messi

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Flow & Tone

• The podcast combines dark comedy, frank sports criticism, and sincere appreciation for the beauty of the game.
• Banter is sharp, playful, and self-deprecating, with robust disagreements interspersed with deep soccer knowledge.
• Moments of genuine awe about the power of sport—especially for underdog stories and epic matches—shine through.

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For Listeners Who Haven’t Heard the Episode

This is a richly entertaining, at times profane, but deeply insightful conversation about the state of American soccer, the splendor of the current World Cup, and larger questions of legacy, identity, and what makes sport beautiful. Even if you missed the games, you’ll get a sense of the heartbreak, humor, and as Adam puts it, “the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

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Listen for:

• Candid postmortem of USMNT failure
• Emotional, cinematic recaps of World Cup magic
• The pain and poetry of Messi/Ronaldo’s twilight
• Brilliant and biting soccer analysis
• Hilarious running commentary on sport, fandom, and power

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(Skip over ad breaks, intros, and outros; the timestamps reference the main content.)

Transcript

[Adam Friedland]

Foreign. Welcome to the beautiful pod. It's Adam Friedland at the top of the show. I'm joined by Nick Wright of Fox Sports to do a Postmortem on the 41 loss United States against Belgium in the Round of 16. The catastrophe of Seattle, they're calling it. And then after that, I go back in time to yesterday where I talked to CR about the Azteca and of course about the. The Messi. The Messi. It shouldn't even be messy. It should be Cape Verde. The Cape Verde. It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It makes me want to cry. Do you remember when the tournament was beautiful? It was. Anyway, enjoy the show. The beautiful pod is brought to you by FanDuel. This summer, America's number one sportsbook is making it easier than ever to get in on the action across all your favorite sports. Think you've got today's home run hitter picked? Check out FanDuel's HR props, including moonshots and lasers for a chance at even bigger payouts. Late to start, FanDuel has you covered with all the live betting options all game long. Download the FanDuel Sportsbook app today and play your game 21 select states, 18, DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800- gambler, call 1888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut. This episode is brought to you by Vuori. I got to give Vuori some credit. They don't make you choose between comfort and looking sharp. Their core shorts work for basically everything, whether you're working out or just creating the impression that you work out. And the stratotech tee is so soft that you'll want to take it off only to wash it. Really good stuff. Get 20% off your first purchase at vori.com tafs and discover the versatility of Vuori. Clothing exclusions apply. Visit the website for full terms and conditions. Nick Wright, I talked to you. You were in. You were in bad shape last night. This is my. We're. We're good friends.

[Nick Wright]

Dear friends. Dear friends.

[Adam Friedland]

Last night we watched a noble 41 defeat.

[Nick Wright]

Oh, we didn't. There was nothing noble. Was a. There was nothing noble about it. My question for you is, how does

[Adam Friedland]

this affect LeBron's legacy?

[Nick Wright]

Okay, 30 seconds. Well, I mean, I do think Cristiano Ronaldo's performance, you know, as enhanced LeBron's legacy. I heard on the broadcast yesterday that he, you know, I think Landon said he's in the best shape of any 41 year old and I was like, no, he's not. So in that regard, like, can you still be performing at the Highest level at 41 or should be concert? You know what I mean? I just. Just for. For. For the record. So it wasn't so much the US men's national team that made me think about LeBron, but it was Cristiano Ronaldo limping around out there with. But that was a catastrophe.

[Adam Friedland]

And I respect you.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, well, you started there, so I figured I'd go there. That was a catastrophe for us, bro. Yeah. And the only. This was. The only thing that mattered was can we break the hard ceiling of the round of 16? And the answer was resoundingly, no.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, I. They're not very good. I mean, we lost the turkey. We're dog shit. I mean.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, but that one I didn't get. That was our B team. That was our backups. They weren't very good.

[Adam Friedland]

I mean, it.

[Nick Wright]

They weren't very good in that game. And listen, if we're going here is the way I think sometimes we patronize, like, the sports that American media kind of parachutes into you then don't give it the full respect of the full American media. Take storm. So can we please give the US Men's national team the respect to have the discussion we would have if this were one of our major American domestic sports, which is Christian Balisic. CP it was a total no show the entire tournament.

[Adam Friedland]

He's the feel for him, though, right?

[Nick Wright]

Why?

[Adam Friedland]

Okay, you put on the hat, the red hat, right? And then he goes. He goes ahead and changes the rules. An unprecedented way. Donald Trump goes ahead and for a British guy, and you're like, I've been wearing the red hat the whole time.

[Nick Wright]

See? But he. This.

[Adam Friedland]

Why are you trying to save a British guy? An unprecedented move in World cup history.

[Nick Wright]

So I listen.

[Adam Friedland]

Damn red hat.

[Nick Wright]

I don't. I disagree when people say how himself. I disagree when people say how unprecedented it is. People are like, in all of World cup history, the vast majority of World cup history didn't have any red cards given out due to var. I'm a throw that history out. Yeah, well, you know what I mean? Like, previously, in order to get a straight red, you had to do something so egregious that in real time on the field, the referee was like, holy shit, what happened? And so he gave the red. So I don't really care about that piece of it. And I don't buy the idea that the. That Trump stepping in. It was bad juice for the U. S. Red Cars.

[Adam Friedland]

Suspension.

[Nick Wright]

Well, suspension of the suspension.

[Adam Friedland]

They've never done it.

[Nick Wright]

Except they literally did it right before the tournament for Ronaldo. They literally did it. He. He got, he got a red card, got a three game ban. And then they were like, you know what? We're gonna suspend two of the suspension games. So that part I don't care about the work in.

[Adam Friedland]

He went to the White House, he put on a black tie. He sat there with Muhammad Ben Solomon. Okay? He showed a little bit of respect. He returned back to our country after a decade being gone. I don't know where, why, but, but, but yeah, this guy, this English guy who lived here for a month. Donald Trump's going to turn around and, and. No, I'm kidding. But listen, he's not R9. Like, we did it for kind of like a pedestrian. Mediocre, not mediocre. He could bang it in the back of the net. But he was an N. Listen, he was.

[Nick Wright]

But the. Here's the. Here's the. To me, people are missing. People are missing. The, the forest for the trees here. The reason Baligan was so important and the reason we thought him being suspended was catastrophic was because the guy who was. Is doing a whole ad campaign about changing what American soccer is, was awful the whole tournament. He got kicked in the calf. Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

He was nice during the group stages.

[Nick Wright]

No, he was not. He didn't play, bro.

[Adam Friedland]

You look like the American Neymar.

[Nick Wright]

Yes. First half of the first game he was good.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

And then he got kicked in the calf, came out, missed the second game. The third, the third game could only play part time. And in a game we lost in our first knockout round game, we're down a man. He can't go the full 90. And then yesterday he kicks a guy and then he's like, I can't play.

[Adam Friedland]

Especially because he's a Croat and he's playing against Bosnia. That should have fired him up. Dude, I didn't even think about that. Genuinely speaking. It's kind of like it's a. We're like hyping him up a little bit too much.

[Nick Wright]

Like.

[Adam Friedland]

And, and what I will say to defend Pulisic. He has never really bailed on the United States. He's always put in a shift for the States. I, I have to say that.

[Nick Wright]

Are you being sarcastic? It's just not true.

[Adam Friedland]

Yesterday he was abject, right? But like beyond that, like, he skipped

[Nick Wright]

the Gold cup because he was so tired, baby.

[Adam Friedland]

It made us look, baby. And like teachers, pets for the president to go, like, please can we have that.

[Nick Wright]

I don't.

[Adam Friedland]

A journeyman from a farmer's league.

[Nick Wright]

That is not the story as you hold a child's vape. Why did you get that vape from a junior high school doo doo team

[Adam Friedland]

who didn't even want to be there, who's like telling like Doku he couldn't like go see his kid being born the goal. Having sex with their talismanic midfielders. Like girl, like, they're a disaster. Their golden generation has been a disaster. They were like not being taken seriously going into this match.

[Nick Wright]

I know.

[Adam Friedland]

Got gassed. They got. They got to. They thought they were going to walk it.

[Nick Wright]

But that's so. That's why this is so disappointing, bro, is because I understand Belgium's the number nine team in the world. They haven't looked like that for a moment in this tournament.

[Adam Friedland]

They're disappointment. A massive disappointment.

[Nick Wright]

Right. They drew against Egypt, they drew against Iran. They needed an absolute miracle to beat Senegal. They have looked awesome in two matches this tournament. New Zealand and us. The fact that they did to us what they did to New Zealand is criminal like that. And did you.

[Adam Friedland]

Big Rom. Big Rom is the only one that I will vouch for. I would. He's. He's one of my favorite.

[Nick Wright]

Not De Bruyne or. No, I mean he didn't even play yesterday.

[Adam Friedland]

They won yesterday. It was because De Bruyne.

[Nick Wright]

They.

[Adam Friedland]

They literally. They gave him the.

[Nick Wright]

They didn't play. No. Lukaku's an all time great big.

[Adam Friedland]

And especially when he's fat. When he's fat, he bangs it in the back of the net.

[Nick Wright]

When he has six packs, he's not as good. Kelsey. Lukaku, six pack.

[Adam Friedland]

Lukaku, kind of. Kind of a disappointment. When he has a little belly, then that's really when you're in trouble. He's kind of Mariano. He's kind of enter Sandman style right now. They bring him in. They bring him in. He's the closer. No, genuinely, we were playing. It was a. It was a good draw for us.

[Nick Wright]

No, that's the thing we had. We had a perfect draw. We got super, you know, fortunate. Of the 32 teams to make the knockout, Bosnia, Bosnia is like 29th. We're at home and. And to have that performance. Can I ask you this?

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Wright]

For the 45 seconds after the Tillman free kick, did you think we were going to win? Because I did.

[Adam Friedland]

I thought the, The World Cup. Yes, I thought they were going to win.

[Nick Wright]

No, not the World cup, just that game. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

No, I. You Know what it is, truly, the country is so, like, effed up. Outside of sports. Sports have been great. It's sports summer, right? We've got games every day. How dope is that? Then we got this. It's been. Come on, Nick. We've had the best summer ever, okay? And we have to do it because of our jobs, because. Because we're serious sports pundits and there's nothing they can say to stop us. Uh, no, but in reality, like, like, look at, like, the US Men's national team, like, genuinely, like, played a real system. And that was the novel thing. The first half of the first game, I thought was. It looked like, this is a sea change. This is miles better than we've ever seen before. But think of just like, the personalities like Trump making that move, I think, alienated half of the stadium. I mean, generally speaking, like, we thrived. And I'm not saying we won chips, right? We thrived when we had Dempsey and Donovan. We had, like, a little bit of a scrappy edge to us. Dempsey was Crip walking on the fucking pitch. He was saying, you don't know where I'm from, homie. Like, he was a Texas guy, one of those guys that said Patna. You know those guys, like a Utka, Texas. It was cool that we had that on our team. These guys are just like. There's nothing like that grabs me or grips me about the personalities on the team. It is a just fool's errand to believe that tactical football can apply to knockout. To a knockout game State. We've seen it over and over again. Pep Guardiola tried to over manage over and over again. Every time he'd go up against Carlo Ancelotti and he'd be like, I'm going to play Kyle Walker at 9 and I'm going to. I'm going to have my goalie as a midfielder. And. And he'd overthink it. And yeah, this is. This is something that is suited to a league campaign. It's not suited to knockout football. Knockout football is bloody and brutal and unfair and just waltzing in there and being like, we're playing a terrible team that doesn't want to be there. Literally, they have not looked like they wanted to be at the World cup the entire time. They were like, we got shirts and the country says we have to have a soccer team. And, like, just genuinely. And then we're like, oh, yeah, we're amazing now. No, have some fucking humility. We're America. They beat us before in the knockouts. Just have A little bit of fucking revenge on your mind. Don't, don't have the president being a suck up to the fucking head of FIFA.

[Nick Wright]

So you are. Listen, the.

[Adam Friedland]

It's an inept, like, like at being an autocrat. He's being inept at it. Like, what they used to do is just say, I'm going to kill your family unless you throw this match. And that's how Peru loses 6 nil. You don't brag about being like, hey, I talked to the teacher and the teacher says that we could. That flow can come back. No, we look like nerds.

[Nick Wright]

But that has, that had nothing to do with how we played yesterday.

[Adam Friedland]

It alienated.

[Nick Wright]

There was a spirit around. What alienated the stadium was that Belgium scored immediately.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, Pulisic, he was storming the capitol and Trump didn't even care he was there with a caveman hat. No, I mean, the truth is this.

[Nick Wright]

They were.

[Adam Friedland]

They got too impressed with themselves and they literally waltz in and they looked at like Belgium's recent form. They're like, oh, they, they couldn't score against Iran.

[Nick Wright]

But that's why. So that's why I'm saying the Tillman goal should have been a hard reset. It's like, oh, shit. We're very lucky we're not down right now.

[Adam Friedland]

Donovan and Betsy had a spirit. There was a soul there.

[Nick Wright]

Those teams were not good. Bro, you are, you are romanticizing those teams because of Your age is 38 years old. Right?

[Adam Friedland]

We didn't even in the first match where we, we cracked four. We saw it going back the other way and we're like, oh, it's going to be a disaster if anyone tries to attack us. The thing we used to do well is create keepers. That was the one thing we did

[Nick Wright]

well in the Prem 3.

[Adam Friedland]

We had Guzan, Friedel and Howard. And Howard was like, like, that is the one thing America did when we were crap at ball.

[Nick Wright]

Right?

[Adam Friedland]

And now we have this guy from Harvard. It's. It's one of the most embarrassing. It's hilarious. I mean, that howler at the back, you don't see. It's, it's, it's.

[Nick Wright]

So let me ask you this question. Let me ask you a serious soccer question. Yeah, I read just some random tweet this morning and I.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you sure?

[Nick Wright]

You know what? Okay, yeah, I was like, you know,

[Adam Friedland]

it's one of the most well researched periods in history.

[Nick Wright]

I just.6 million is just an estimate. Okay, stop. We'll cut. You don't have to cut anything. I'm not Responsible for what you say.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm just.

[Nick Wright]

And the take of it here was the gist of the tweet.

[Adam Friedland]

Let's hear it.

[Nick Wright]

That guys 3 through 11, Norway versus the United States are not that different. But Norway's. Norway's best guy is a demigod and Norway's second best guy, Odegaard, would be the best player in American soccer history by a mile. Okay. But still would be the best player in our history by a mile. Like is. Is really what our ceiling is, is not about the overall development of 30 guys, but the fact that every team that's going to make the final eight has one of these, you know, a guy who might one day or already has been a finalist for the Ballon d'. Or. And we'll never. We've never had anyone, you know, even been able to buy a ticket to the event.

[Adam Friedland]

Ronaldo and Messi.

[Nick Wright]

No, I know, but you understand what I mean. That's why I said a finalist.

[Adam Friedland]

We don't have any like, top 10 talent in the. In the States. The problem is we don't have a

[Nick Wright]

top 50 player in the world.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, probably. Yeah. The problem is in Europe, like, sports is free. People go to academies young and like the whole thing about like if LeBron played soccer is like, it kind of ignores like the way that they're trained. Like Spain, for instance, like La Masia, like Barcelona's academy is like, we will never have physical advantages over other national sides. We are going to be the smartest at sports. We're going to like, we're going to out tactic and outmaneuver and out chess every other team. And we're going to have a six like Busquets or like Guardiola used to be, like, you know, the deep lying, playmaking midfield. And we. He's going to make a turn against you every single time and you're going to know the move is coming and you're not going to be able to stop it. And he's going to see every pocket of space around him. Right. Like, there is more to just raw athleticism. I mean, like people have mentioned. I mean, the best soccer player of all time is 5, 6. You know, there's something about. There's an education aspect to it. And the problem is, is like, no, but there.

[Nick Wright]

But. So this is. This is why I brought up Norway

[Adam Friedland]

and Holland pedigree there.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah. The reason I brought up Norway and Holland is, is because I understand what you're saying, that there are ways to do it without great athletes. But there also is a Way to do it with just one great athlete. Like Holland. Holland is maybe. Yeah. I mean, maybe not.

[Adam Friedland]

And he would get him to a final, but, like, he was with truck drivers and he could never, like, drag it across.

[Nick Wright]

But I'm not. I'm not talking about the US winning the tournament. I'm saying, can we just turn our hard ceiling.

[Adam Friedland]

They just made soccer look whack yesterday. So beautiful. I mean, like, the two games we saw this weekend were, like, the most beautiful games I've ever seen in any sport. I mean, like. And okay.

[Nick Wright]

Oh, you're talking about Argentina, Cape Verde and Mexico. England.

[Adam Friedland]

And you can't say chase down block. Okay. What game is better than. Than the. The Azteca, which was the most frenetic, insane, like, like, white knuckle. Like, I feel like I'm still like. Like, calming down after. It was two days ago. And then Cape Verde, like the. The equalizer. An extra time. Like, the guy trying to find his girlfriend. Like, soccer looked so cool.

[Nick Wright]

It was so great. And you said, what moment was better? You said, I can't say the chase down block.

[Adam Friedland]

What other game? I can't. I'm J. Honestly.

[Nick Wright]

Game 6, 2012, against Boston. 45, 15 and 5 for LeBron legacy game. But I mean, like, emotionally, it was.

[Chris Ryan]

Listen, just K is like, we didn't

[Adam Friedland]

know any of these guys names, and they're playing against. God, they're playing against Messi. They're going to tell they were waiting outside the bus afterwards. They can get a picture with Messi.

[Nick Wright]

So this is. This shouldn't be lost in the US's catastrophic performance yesterday.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

And I'm not just saying this because it's on my network.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

This has been one of the greatest months of sport I've ever seen in my life. Every single thinker.

[Adam Friedland]

Maybe Ronaldo literally may have played his last game yesterday, and that's how bad Tim Ream. Tim Ream ruined Ronaldo's day. I mean, like, it really just. It was so beautiful. And, like, there was a. I saw a friend of mine asking what team he should follow and declaring Arsenal. And then less than 24 hours later,

[Nick Wright]

don't be afraid to name drop, bro. You're talking about.

[Adam Friedland]

Van Leon declared Arsenal, which I'm like, I would never wish upon my greatest enemy. It's like someone's saying they're converting to Judaism. I'm like, you don't want no part.

[Nick Wright]

It's your team. They just won the Premier League.

[Adam Friedland]

A horrible life.

[Nick Wright]

It's been.

[Adam Friedland]

It's been a.

[Nick Wright]

They're the champs.

[Adam Friedland]

It was a. It was a.

[Nick Wright]

They went to penalties against PSG to get the double. How can you say that's no good?

[Adam Friedland]

Down. We shut their asses down.

[Nick Wright]

No, he should. Van should root for Man City just because Holland's so fun.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, it's plastic. Come on. It's not a real team. There's no history. What are you going to root for?

[Nick Wright]

Like you told them not to root for Arsenal, so who are you going to tell them to root for?

[Adam Friedland]

It's the hope that kills you. It's like, I'm going to be a Bills fan or something. I was like, what?

[Nick Wright]

Well, you know who my team. You know who my team is, right?

[Adam Friedland]

You're Arsenal.

[Nick Wright]

Well, no, I mean, kind. The guy who does stats for our show is a die hard Arsenal fan. And so on his behalf, I root for them, for him. But this is such a layup for you. Who is the team I root for?

[Adam Friedland]

I don't know. Is he going to the Sixers or. Where is he going?

[Nick Wright]

The Knicks? No, you're on the right. You're on the right track.

[Adam Friedland]

There you go.

[Nick Wright]

Never walk alone.

[Adam Friedland]

They're the other big six club that I could see myself like romanticizing their, like a working class club. But I just. I adopted Arsenal because they had like the crossovers and dunks, guys, and man, Manu was like kind of the Celtics.

[Nick Wright]

Aren't you a part owner of Arsenal or something dumb? Don't you pay him money to be

[Adam Friedland]

a fan club member? I'm a club member and I'm proud of it.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, you pay him money to be

[Adam Friedland]

like 38 pounds a year, to be a.

[Nick Wright]

Like a Packer. Can. Can. Can we talk before I go about Ronaldo?

[Adam Friedland]

It's really just. I've been talking about it every episode of the show because, yeah, this is really the culmination of 20 years of these two intertwines kind of. Yeah, like superstars, of course. And it.

[Nick Wright]

The.

[Adam Friedland]

The contrast, I think that everyone's kind of ignoring yesterday out of empathy for him. Like, seeing him just be like the Euros is more. He was. He got injured in the final. I know, it's just like. It's like, bro, just shut up. Just be like, I'm. I'm. I'm fucking sick at ball. Fuck you. Just be like, don't be so insecure. So publicly, like, you're so. He's a genius of the game, right? And it's like, it's really painful to see how this story is ending and what Messi is doing right now. Which is. And karmically, I'm like, I hated Ronaldo. I loved Messi. I'm like, good. If someone told me this was happening, I'd be like, fuck, yeah. But it's actually, like, too painful to even celebrate.

[Nick Wright]

And this is where Roberto Martinez, the Portuguese manager, had a very tough job because he. He's older.

[Adam Friedland]

Well, listen, he's just like, what's Ronaldo's autograph?

[Nick Wright]

I know. So, like, most famous Portuguese people in history, in order. You ready?

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Number one, Vasco da Gama.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Number two, Ferdinand Magellan. Number three, Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

So Roberto Martinez was in a position where, well, he's like, kind of like.

[Adam Friedland]

He's like a democratic campaign consultant. He loses every time, but he gets a better job. He was in Belgium.

[Nick Wright]

He was Belgium with the golden generation. Yeah, well, they were like, they did get to us, each other.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, it was a waste of time.

[Nick Wright]

So what Ronaldo needed to be was late stage Kareem, which is, hey, you're still useful. You're still going to get minutes. And we might even, like people go back and look. 1988 NBA Finals, Game 6, season on the line. They ran the play for Kareem. Kareem got a phantom foul, made the free throws. They go on to win the championship. Ronaldo, they needed to set the precedent from the beginning of the tournament that Ronaldo was going to be used in that role as, like, the ultimate sub. He didn't have the courage to do it then. I mean, I didn't believe in written

[Adam Friedland]

them to a chip. I mean, yes, practically speaking, they had the best midfield in the correct same. Maybe, but.

[Nick Wright]

So I was at Portugal, Colombia, in Miami.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

And I was totally out on Portugal. And then in their knockout round game, who they play in round one, I forget. Croatia. Croatia.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

But that was bullshit. I bet Croatia.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, you're. You're having a rough one. This tournament, it hadn't been great.

[Nick Wright]

Let's go. I, I, I. I'd rather not you.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, God, it broke my heart when I heard you say that.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah. The Cape Verde, Spain, that was all. Listen, it's it, it. It happens, you know, you live and you learn. It's not fair. It's not fair, but it's fine. I. So I bet Croatia. And the moment Ronaldo came out of the game, I text my buddy that I bet with, and I said, we lost. It was tied. And I was like, we're going to lose. I was like, portugal just unlocked with me, immediately scored. Yeah. And he And I thought that because Roberto Martinez had the courage in a tie game, what could be Ronaldo's last game to take him out, that he was then going to do that yesterday. And if at any point yesterday I believe they had taken Ronaldo out, they could have beaten Spain.

[Adam Friedland]

What a loser. Just tell him to fuck off. Tell him to. You're on the bench, dude. You stink, and you're making the team worse. It sucks because it's like, actually protecting Ronaldo. Listen, this is not going to be a mark against his legacy. This is not going to be remembered right now. Watching this is. Is like. It hurts my insides. Because it's like, you see someone that's so desperately insecure that it could just be like, he's so good. In any other era, he'd be the best player in the world, right? In any other era. You can't say that about Bird. Like, Bird wouldn't be the best player in the world now. In any other era, this guy's the best player in the world, right? And it sucks. If he was just like, bro, it sucks. I play at the same time as this freak. He's like, jesus Christ. It sucks. Like. And guess what? He probably made me work harder.

[Nick Wright]

But, like, do you think his biggest fans. Tragic. What percentage of the biggest Ronaldo fans deep down. No, they're both on the wrong side of the argument.

[Adam Friedland]

They're boss.

[Nick Wright]

No, no, but I'm saying he's bought. I saw that. I don't know if I believe that story or not.

[Adam Friedland]

I saw you got something for LeBron.

[Nick Wright]

No, no, no. Because I just don't know what I believe on Twitter. Yeah, but I. But so what percent if we had a hundred I show speed types in the room. Die Hard Ronaldo fan. He's a nice kid.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

No, I. I'm not. This wasn't a knock on it, but I'm saying. I'm saying, die hard Ronaldo fans. You got 100 in a room. What percentage of them? Now, if you ask and be like, hey, who's better, Messi or Ronaldo? All time, I think that they're have come over finally.

[Adam Friedland]

I think they're finally just like, he's not as good, but I think he's cooler, which is not.

[Nick Wright]

Is that what it is?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Which is also not true. Like, there's no one left. It's really sad. Genuinely speaking, like, Cristiano Ronaldo standing over the ball at Old Trafford, the theater of dreams before free kick, it was one of the most scary, intimidating, juggernaut, like, you know, like, it's. He is a great. And the. The problem is, I've explained this before in the show. Like, Messi's context for understanding his career is that Argentina said he was a loser because he never won for them. And. And Diego Armando is better.

[Nick Wright]

And you'll never be Maradona. Did you call. Did you call Maradona Armando?

[Adam Friedland]

Diego Maradona? Yeah, yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Oh, okay. Sorry. Go.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. They're like, you'll never be as good as this guy who was good for six years and destroyed himself with cocaine when he was a genius in the game. He's. Honestly, for me, he's the second best of all time. But, like, so Messi was homesick, he missed. He left home at 13. He was never able to return until he got in that World Cup. And what we're seeing right now is he's free. Cristiano Ronaldo's framework for his career is Messi. So you see one guy looking in one direction, the other guy looking, and he's like, why is he. Isn't he looking back? I mean, I'm not saying that Messi is not being. Isn't competitive, but it's just like, it doesn't. It. It matters so much to Ronaldo and genuinely speaking, like, his entire life he's been just trying to get as good as he can at sports because he wants. Except, I mean, like, he thought it would make his dad stop doing drugs. And, like, he destroyed, like, he bought his dad, his brother a mansion. And he was like, hey, do you want to come see me play for Sir Alex Ferguson? You know, Manchester United? They're like, yeah, I'd rather hang out with your brother and just do drugs, guy.

[Nick Wright]

All right, no, hold on. I have one announcement for you, and then I gotta go. What is that?

[Adam Friedland]

We're going to the final.

[Nick Wright]

Well, you know what, you're on the right track, but not quite.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, close.

[Nick Wright]

So I the. You're a big Knicks fan. Yeah, I mean, you're a Laker fan, but you

[Adam Friedland]

like the Tibs, the Tibbs, like, identity.

[Nick Wright]

That's still. Yes. So the guy who you. I'm sure you saw at all the games, middle aged white guy, always wearing sunglasses, back hair. No, just shut up for a second. Sitting next to DJ Khaled, the best seats in the house, next to the Knicks bench is one of my buddies, Richie. So he has those seats and a box at Arsenal. He's a die hard Arsenal fan. He has the best seats for the Knicks and a box at Arsenal. Richie and I, yeah, my buddy Richie And I have kind of an open ended invite. If I can make it to England for an Arsenal game, we're going to go to go with him. I. I am. You. My, my, my buddy Josh, our stats producer, and you are going to be my plus ones, assuming Richie, you know, will allow it. And we'll go to an Arsenal game together.

[Adam Friedland]

He hasn't FaceTime with TT this summer.

[Nick Wright]

What? I. He's in LA, you know, I'm working on it. When I did your pod the first time, you were like, this is your, you know, your golden goose.

[Adam Friedland]

That. That's your guy, that position, like him. Imagine Holland as like a, a box president's juggernaut. And imagine someone that's also technically like, can do everything else. He's the most comprehensive 9.

[Nick Wright]

Are you finding yourself a little. Because Thierry has been. Thierry's been unbelievable on the broadcast, but Zlatan is. Thierry's been unbelievable on the broadcast, but Zlatan's kind of overshadowing him a bit.

[Adam Friedland]

Is it making you listen to what Thierry says? You learn so much about the game. There's a really good clip of him talking about what Wenger taught him about passing to teammates. He, like, expressed frustration and Vanger's like, you have to study how everyone receives the ball and you have to tailor every dish to everyone's, like, skill set. So it's like he, he said that, like an actual true genius on the pitch is just like, understanding how everyone else plays to such a specific degree. It's not everyone adjusting to your game. And when you listen to him, I mean, his. What he said after the Cape Verde match was like, he's just. He's a poet and he's.

[Nick Wright]

No, he's great. He's absolutely great. All right. You're the best.

[Adam Friedland]

You're the.

[Nick Wright]

Having me on. I appreciate it.

[Adam Friedland]

Thank you so much. There's no one better to. To talk American ball with. It was a joke I never believed. I am an English fan.

[Nick Wright]

Come on. I'll talk to you later. All right.

[Chris Ryan]

Bye.

[Nick Wright]

Bye.

[Adam Friedland]

The beautiful pod is brought to you by FanDuel. On the biggest stage in the world. FanDuel is changing the game because sometimes your player gets subbed off and your bet goes with them. Not anymore. With FanDuel Super Sub, your player is subbed out, your bet stays in. That's right. If your player leaves the match, your bet continues on with the substitute. So you're still in it until the final whistle. Because in matches like these, anything can happen. And now your bet can go the distance. Let there be goals this summer on FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com Tafs to get started now 21 select states 18 DC, Kentucky, Wyoming gambling problem call 1-800- GAMBLER, call 1-888-789-7777 or visit CCPG for adults with Crohn's

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[Adam Friedland]

Get checked for infections and tuberculosis.

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[Chris Ryan]

Ask your doctor about tremphaya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit

[Adam Friedland]

tremphyaradio.com this episode is brought to you by Boar's Head. What if we told you the taste of deep fried turkey is now available

[Chris Ryan]

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[Adam Friedland]

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[Adam Friedland]

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[Chris Ryan]

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[Adam Friedland]

Rhys James is gonna be the cane that they're gonna throw back to Jude by now you shoulda gay he realized Kobby may never Jordan Pickford, Dean Henderson and James Trafford are the goalies. Dan Byrne the word is on the street diving Tony in your heart is Gordon Rashford you've heard it all preferred and Ollie Walkins to Henderson Jordan I don't believe that Morgan Rogers feels the way I do about Saka. And noni madaway k nika riley, nylie anderson, stone and quan denver j spans ezri but dangling rise. You're gonna be the one that sings

[Nick Wright]

it

[Adam Friedland]

and after all you're my sucker ball. All right Come on England come on

[Chris Ryan]

the lads I thought that was one of the best songs I've ever heard.

[Adam Friedland]

I'm Going to go pee. And then we get started. Sports. Summer marches on. Chris Ryan in Los Angeles. How are you enjoying this tournament? I can't get enough of it.

[Chris Ryan]

You know, the best thing I can say about last night, the England Mexico match, is after watching it, I felt like I played in it. Like.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes.

[Chris Ryan]

It was so emotionally exhausting. It was. The 11 minutes of added time were the most gripped I have ever been by a sporting event. Honestly.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Were you terrified for your life leaving the stadium? You're like, the. The cartel is gonna get my ass. Yeah. I love the subplot of the, like, 17 hotels that they booked and they still found it.

[Chris Ryan]

I can't believe that that one got out.

[Adam Friedland]

You know, it would have been good if they got everyone from the Harry Kane TV show, right? Yes, they got all. All the guys that acted in whatever that show is on.

[Nick Wright]

Wait, the. Garrett.

[Adam Friedland]

It's the Gareth Southgate. The Southgate series.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

They could have gotten, I don't know, maybe what's his name, the guy that did the Nazi and Inglourious Basterds. Christoph Waltz. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. He could have been the gaffe. But get all those boys. Get all those boys. And while you're at it, get everyone from the Lakers show on HBO and from the Clippers, one that no one watched. Yeah, yeah. And get the real Clipper, Darryl. I'm talking decoys on decoys. Yeah. They have to do a Saddam Hussein style decoy system.

[Chris Ryan]

But it's like, did they really think that some guy working at the Mexico Hyatt was not going to be like, they're staying here?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, well, not if they marched in. All those guys from that show. Doppelgangers. Doppelgangers. Yeah. The. I just saw. They put on Instagram reels. They put a clip of Kane crying. He's like, but I always hit penalties, coach. And then Southgate's like, it's all right.

[Chris Ryan]

You did it for Britannia.

[Adam Friedland]

I want to talk England. I want to talk also Messi. And this weekend, all the games that we missed from this weekend. But I think in. In Argentina, Cape Verde and Mexico, England, I. It's in the top 10 of games I've watched in anything of my life.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And also, like, I think the players think that too. I think that the guys in that Argentina, Cape Verde match were like, I took part in something like, way bigger than myself. And the same thing for England, Mexico.

[Adam Friedland]

The guy trying to find his girlfriend after scoring an extra time.

[Nick Wright]

Every.

[Adam Friedland]

It's. It's bit. It's a Movie, Chris. This tournament is a movie. And thank you, Gianni Infantino. Thank you, Marco Rubio. Thank you, u. S. State department. We'll. We'll get to the red card. I think it'll be less of a discussion point when this comes out tomorrow, but I do want to mention it, but in those two games, I think, like, cinema, like, just. We haven't processed them yet, but where do you see them in, like, the scope of, like, any athletic competition you've seen throughout your entire life?

[Chris Ryan]

Well, you know what? It's like, the world cup always brings in new football fans. And I have had several people ask me, like, is it always like this? And it's not. You know, it's like the club seasons are like, more of, like, a long form, like a marathon. They're not like this, like, batting down the hatches. Let's fucking go. But it is kind of like, what's primally interesting about soccer is the idea of, like, bunch of guys want to get the ball in a net, and a bunch of guys want to stop it from happening. And it's just a battle of the will sometimes. And when it actually plays out and a place like Azteca, you're just like, this is better than apocalypse now, dude. Like, I can't believe I'm watching this.

[Adam Friedland]

I don't think I've ever seen a stadium like that before. Yeah, I mean, it was just frenetic and psycho. Like, in that stadium. I literally. The England fans, how did they get them out?

[Chris Ryan]

No, you have to watch, like, Copa Libertadores games at Boca or something like that. But, like, it's not even. Even that had, like, this was like, Istanbul meets Buenos Aires meets, you know, everything you could want in a football

[Adam Friedland]

match meets the, like, Serbian basketball games. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, seriously, like, did sicario get them out of the stadium? I wanted to see that. And also just, like, was like, a nurse joker situation for Jordan Henderson. Like, I'm worried about him. A nurse joker situation where he's just,

[Chris Ryan]

like, walking away from the hospital. I have seen him in a cast, so he has since. He has since gotten out of surgery. But did you see that when England was coming to Azteca, they had the pickup trucks leading in the bus that are the same pickup trucks. Sicario from Sicario.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, dude. Oh, my God. Yesterday truly was the day of the soldado.

[Chris Ryan]

I almost didn't want the match to start because, like, all of the footage was so incredible. All of, like, the social media, like, the buildup was so down to the hour delay.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I mean, yeah. And the fireworks the night before also, just for us to be American snobs, seeing people react as if, like, this is zero class from the. From the Mexicans. As if, like, that doesn't happen every Champions League knockout. Seriously, like, it's one of the coolest things if it makes you feel like you're on this, on the team.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Like, I'm. Yeah. The funniest example of that, of course, is 74, the German tabloid whatever build sent in, like, sexy girls for a sexy girl party pool party to, like, party with the. The Dutch. And the night before the final, they released it, like, in the. In the. And all of them were on the phones with their wives until, like, 5:00am like, apologizing. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

This is like what we say about Algeria. Algeria, Austria, last week, where it's like. I'm not saying it's good. I'm just saying it's not new.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, no, no. It's always been crap. And going back to your point about a ball in the middle of a field and guys wanting to kick it about and fight each other. That is literally what this game started off as. It started off as guys from Eaton trying to fight guys from a factory with a ball in the middle of the field. And that was, like, sporting and posh to have, like, a brutal, like, you know, like, assault. It was kind of like. Yeah, it was. It was more akin to, like, the basketball that you play in the pool. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Just, like, elbows and, like. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

And dudes drowning. Let's do England. Mexico first. Right.

[Adam Friedland]

Just last point down to the. Point down to the soft power propaganda of the. Of the regime, like, Donald Trump's, like, getting the red card dismissed.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, my God.

[Adam Friedland]

The exact same thing. Would have lied.

[Chris Ryan]

We are so. We are recording this on Monday. They play tonight. I. Regardless of whether every other country would, would or wouldn't try to do this, do you think it's bad sports karma that he did it?

[Adam Friedland]

Lie about it. Just lie about it. It's like the Venezuela thing, right? Like, it's just lie. Like, Trump was like. And so, like, we just send in Delta Force and they. We paid off like some. Some schmuck cousin. And, yeah, it was so easy. And now we're gonna steal the oil. We've always stolen the oil. Just don't say that you're stealing the oil.

[Chris Ryan]

Feel better about this process?

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Just send Kissinger into the locker room and say, if you don't lose, we will give you the wall. Okay. And then act like, oh, Peru naturally lost 6 nil. Okay. Just the. It's. It's. It's not classy. Right. We used to have guys that went to Yale that were in a. Some sort of secret society where they, they did like they did battle raps from history against each other. And it's not as badass as it sounds. And they used to kill the President, but guess what? They wore a suit. Okay. And that. We just want the. Get the Yale guys back in there. Now I'm going on tangent. What is this? Fetterman with his hoodies just. They used to have cla. Okay, no, just absurd.

[Nick Wright]

And now.

[Adam Friedland]

Come on, let's go. Kevin de Bruyne, Remontada the Americans. I'm done with America. No, if they don't win, it makes it bad, right? But they have to win this match.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes. I think if they win, whether or not there will be an asterisk. I think we've seen that the way that people consume information and news goes so fast that I don't think that people are going to be like, well, I can't really be happy about this because Balgon had a red card.

[Adam Friedland]

He's not R9, okay? He's not a fucking Ronaldo Nazario. He's not like, yeah, he's not. He's not a central figure in that squad. They could have won it without him. Trump said it was their best player. So. You know what, Trump? I respect nothing but respect for the office. Okay? Anyway, England, Mexico in the Azteca. The ghosts of the hand of God. Just literally I. I'm still catching my breath from that match last night. The rain, the atmosphere, the fucking penalties, the fucking sending off. It had everything. It is arguably, were it not for the Messi game, the. The best game in the World cup in, in a World cup that every single fucking game is. Is a fucking all timer.

[Chris Ryan]

And it had this thing that we have been talking about this entire show, which is the best players playing the best games, which is what I think is really cooking everyone's noodle is Holland introducing himself to 100 million people that didn't know who he was or didn't really know he was like that. Jude and Harry getting after it in this match and being like, we are actually better than you guys and we are going to like show you Bellingham in the first half like in that it like.

[Adam Friedland]

And it had a 442, Chris. It had a 442.

[Chris Ryan]

Here's my big takeaway from this one.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes.

[Chris Ryan]

Is Tuchel what We thought Carlo was.

[Adam Friedland]

Tuchel is now going into moron season. I'm sorry. Like they. They accomplished what he almost fucked up, which is they played such a high press. There was so much space between the rest of the team and their front three and they just gave Mexico possession. But what they did was they shithoused it to the first drinks break.

[Nick Wright]

Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

Which mind you, because. Because of the temperature in my studio that I'm shooting this right now, I think we will begin to institute hydration. Hydration breaks. Yes, we will. Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

And it's kind of amazing to watch the managers adapt to the reality where you can tell they're kind of playing to the break.

[Adam Friedland]

Yes. And in the Azteca, that's what you have to do. There's a really good clip of Brad Friedl talking about it where he's like, they're not as good. Their players are nowhere near as good as yours. You have to catch your second breath. And the England, one of the assistant coaches, I forgot his name, he was like, we wanted to go into the end of the first quarter quarter.

[Chris Ryan]

I know.

[Nick Wright]

Nil.

[Adam Friedland]

Nil. And they accomplished it. They gave Mexico far too much of the ball. But as you were saying before moments, guys, Jude cracked two. And then the clearance at the far post. The clearance at the far post. I mean that is. It was what would have been remembered about that match had it not come so early in the match and had it not just the entire energy of the entire thing been so frenetic and insane. So had we. Yeah, go ahead.

[Chris Ryan]

The reason why I said the Carlo thing is we were like, Carlo just understands man management and he understands where to put guys on the field and positionally, if not necessarily like mind blowing tactics. But like I want to have Martinelli play here or I want it. That's what we thought Carlo was going to do when he got his pants pulled down in this match when. When Konza goes off, Tuchel was like, this is why I brought Danburn. Is that like we are going to win or lose in the 90. Well plus 11 and not. I'm not playing for pens. If this goes to extra time, we're dead because we've been running around up at altitude with 10 men. So what he does is he brings on burn for the exact right moment that he has to, which is dealing with 700 crosses at Azteca in a fucking lightning storm. There is only one guy you can bring for that and it's this six foot seven monster which is even more altitude. Bicycle kick. Yeah, yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

He's already Higher. Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Yes.

[Chris Ryan]

And then when he bet it all and put. He pulled Kane, he pulled Saka, he pulled Nico and he. And he pulled Anderson, and he puts on all those fucking center backs, he's just like, we're going to deal with it. It's going to be a war, but we are dealing with it. I had nothing but respect for that. It's. He parked the bus, but he parked the bus in a way that was just like, if this doesn't work, I'm willing to die on my shield right here.

[Adam Friedland]

Two guys really fucking put in massive shifts. First is Princess Diana on the left as an outball. I mean, Gordon was fudgeing. Running for 90 minutes.

[Chris Ryan]

He was insane. He left him on to be the outlet.

[Adam Friedland]

It was nuts. They need to make a beanie baby of Anthony Gordon, I think. Yeah.

[Chris Ryan]

They need to make Aguirre say fudge you to him, like, and laugh. But, like, when he was, like, it was amazing.

[Adam Friedland]

Love the chippiness. I loved how chippy it was. I loved how, like, literally the. Also him and fucking Jude as a front line with, you know, what was it? Eight center backs behind.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. Kansas, Stones, Gahey.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah. Jetspence, who I would say utility man could play anywhere on the pitch. No, genuinely speaking. Sam loved that. Sam loved that, that. Thanks, brother. Thanks, brother. No, genuinely speaking. The game had so many phases, right? You had the, like, why are they giving Mexico so much of the ball? Then you had the two minutes of,

[Chris Ryan]

like, do you think to your first point, do you think that that was because of Declan's yellow? Like, do you think that threw them off to get a yellow in the midfield? Like. Like the most important player they've got in a lot of ways, gets a yellow in the first minute and it's like, oh, crap, is this going sideways already? It.

[Adam Friedland]

It caused everyone to lock in and, like, focus. I think genuinely speaking, because it's like a roll of the dice after those two goals, everyone's thinking, oh, yeah, sack and deck have to come off. Right?

[Chris Ryan]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

And then Kinones, Asimo Gyan, all star first. Jesus Christ, this guy, we're going to miss him for four years. Where does he go? Saudi?

[Chris Ryan]

Yep.

[Adam Friedland]

What. What are his stats in Saudi?

[Chris Ryan]

I think he had, like, 31 goals. Christ.

[Adam Friedland]

In front of, like, guys that fly out. Only fans, models and poop on them. Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Well, they fund the show. How did Duran not have stats like that?

[Chris Ryan]

Remember, he did for a second, but

[Adam Friedland]

then he, like, he went off the plot.

[Chris Ryan]

What happened to Ivan, Tony Was he banging him out there? Oh, yeah. Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

How many. How many goals does he have? I mean, Pin holdo's horse there.

[Nick Wright]

32.

[Adam Friedland]

Oh, better than Kinone. Yes.

[Nick Wright]

One less.

[Chris Ryan]

Kinone said 33.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay. Genuinely, that's the player of Mexico's tournament. Mexico doesn't leave that match with their heads hanging. Hanging low after the. Bringing it back to 2:1. They closed that half really well and it required a lot of heroic saves and a lot of heroic, like, you know, like the. The fucking clearance off the line in Jude. Second, third quarter, I think England got it together, right? And at 3:1, I'm like, oh, this is being put to bed.

[Chris Ryan]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

The red card changed everything then. I think what you were describing is the Southgate DNA. I think that England, we're like, we're not going to be too proud. Like, I think like Brazil was like. Brazil, I think is a. Is a squad where you can't get 11 guys behind the ball.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah, but. And Carlo got spooked and brought Neymar on too.

[Adam Friedland]

I know. And Nil. Nil. I know. I feel like it's sad when he was talking shit in like, in the grill of Norway, like a goalie, whatever. Anyway, so, yeah, genuinely speaking, where does this leave England? England has a path now. They have Messi in the semis. They have Norway. Next match, Benedict Arnold himself. Erling Holland is going to be coming up against them after he was born in our beautiful, beautiful kingdom, you know, and he turns his back. He turns his back. The raiding Marauder. Marauders of the.

[Nick Wright]

The.

[Adam Friedland]

The row thing I think is lame. Okay. I think it's lame. I talked to Norwegians. They think it's lame too, actually. They. They're like. There's a complicated debate on the left about. It's so funny. They're so funny. They all have health care and they're debating about a cheer. No, I want to give just Anthony Gordon and. And this was, I think, in. In his England history. I. I think it's. It's fair enough to say. Like, would you say the same?

[Chris Ryan]

It's just like. It's also like he's the one that never seems spooked by it. Like, that's the thing is it's like. I wonder whether or not we. It's not that we overestimate it, Azteca, but these guys have all played at Galatasarai. They've all played psg. Like, they've played in like, they've. He plays at the Bird of Bale. Like he knows pressure.

[Adam Friedland]

Are you not Entertained.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. And I thought that header, I was like, that dude's about to go flying through the net head first. Like that's how much he wants it.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. Of their two moments, guys, the cool like contrast between the two is we were saying, I was saying to Waz last episode, like Cain thrives in calmness and having his brain completely empty and just thinking about like the attempt on goal and like just kind of like trying different attempts around a keeper like throughout a 90 minute span. Jude thrives on chaos and that game state required chaos and he rose the occasion. He is for me the England player of the tournament. But it's obviously close. It's not even worth debating. I mean it's. It's one of one or the other. The funny thing on the horizon is day game. Miami, Norway, England. Yeah, well, that there. There will be deaths.

[Chris Ryan]

That's a trap. That's a trap game in some ways because you get through Azteca and then you start dreaming about Argentina and you got to take care of business against Otogarden and Holland. But I.

[Adam Friedland]

What day is that?

[Chris Ryan]

Saturday. It's at 5pm Eastern, I think.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

They have six days of recovery. I don't know if Jordan Henderson will be ready by then. That.

[Chris Ryan]

That I think he might not.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah, they. Jordan Henderson's gone, obviously. He's with Kobe's broken arm guy in Switzerland right now. So there is. There. There's a roster crisis, I think. I think it's fair enough to say. Right.

[Chris Ryan]

That's the nice thing about this English team is they're relatable. I would have been Jordan Henderson if I had been on that team. I would have got a yellow card on the sideline and then I would have fallen down celebrating Wonderwall.

[Adam Friedland]

It was a very like. Like Don Zimmer being thrown down by Pedro moment.

[Nick Wright]

Right.

[Adam Friedland]

It was like. You can't not laugh. It looked so painful. It looked brutally pa. It was like it broke it. It was like a spaghetti. You just saw it like a fold, like an accordion, his arm. They need a vet presence in the locker room and I think that this is a crisis. They need Jerrell Quanza in the next match available. This is a massive crisis going into the next match.

[Chris Ryan]

Is Rhys James ever going to play again? Is he out for this tournament? He was getting into it with the choa on the sidelines. So I was like, oh, is this like a prelude to him?

[Adam Friedland]

I thought you were going to say cholo. No, with a cholo.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

He's like, the Smiths are the Smiths. Are actually not the best band of all time. Yeah. It must have been hard for them to, like, go against the Depeche Mode Smiths. Country. Seriously.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah. They really rock with it. Maybe it's American. Mexicans. Borzo. There is one person I think they can maybe labor has a new leader in Parliament. Britannia has. Someone is at the wheel again.

[Chris Ryan]

Prime Minister in waiting, Andy Burnham.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, he.

[Chris Ryan]

He.

[Adam Friedland]

He plays ball. Also, there's a clip of him scoring a class finish. I think Trump loved going to Buckingham Palace. I think he's got sway with FIFA. You got to get this Quanza card.

[Chris Ryan]

Special relationship. Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

You got to get it out. And then you got a petition to. To have another vet brought in. And you know who that man is. It's pretty obvious. Trent, he's at. No, come on, Bowden. Harry Maguire, he's at the ready. Maguire's on fire.

[Chris Ryan]

Signing Pan in Miami.

[Adam Friedland]

He's been there the whole time. Maybe the right one for you.

[Chris Ryan]

He's been in jail in America the whole time.

[Adam Friedland]

No, that was in Greece. He cleared it up.

[Chris Ryan]

One last. Can I ask one last boring question, which is. I saw a lot of critique of Mexico for just lumping in crosses for 40 minutes.

[Adam Friedland]

It's Mexico.

[Chris Ryan]

I didn't really. Like, they're not Bayern Munich. Like, I don't really know. They're not going to carve England up when England's just going to be standing in their own box the whole time. Right.

[Adam Friedland]

But they're supposed to be doing Cruyff turns for like, 90. No, it's. It's Mexico. And guess what? It almost worked. Yeah, it nearly worked. I mean, their striker plays for Wolves. Like, it's just like, it. Honestly, credit to them. They were like. They were. They had a ton of chances. It was hell. It was white knuckle. Like, I don't think that they leave that if. If their fans are giving them an. I mean.

[Chris Ryan]

No, it was more like online punditry. Like, that was bad tactics. And I was just like, I don't know. That's like. Usually that's the easiest way to attack a big block like that.

[Adam Friedland]

It's going to be 44 years before they could l. Tree make it to the quarterfinals. Poor guys. Cape Verde, Argentina. Let's talk about it.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah, I.

[Adam Friedland]

For me, I. I turned to my girlfriend's brother. I was watching it with him and I said. I said, that was beautiful. Yeah, the first one, it was. It was one of the most incredible matches I've ever watched in my entire life. I think we were Saying before that, it was like pure cinema. It's like a cliche. I just in the scope of sports games, I can't. Like where for me, what's the most special is like, when I have like an emotional attachment to something. When Dec hit those two free kicks against Real Madrid, it was like, it meant something to me. When Kobe had the 60, obviously it meant something to me. The fact that I didn't know any of these people's names at all. Yeah, no one knew. And if you say Sam, even. Sam didn't even attempt to lie that he knew any of their names. You did say you knew one of them. Well, he played for Benfica. Who was it?

[Chris Ryan]

Cabral.

[Adam Friedland]

He's lying. No, I mean, the players were at the Argentina bus because they wanted to meet Messi. They're going to be able to tell their families and grandkids they played against Messi and they almost beat him.

[Chris Ryan]

There was a post somebody did where it was all of the Cape Verde players. Their most recent Instagram post was any shot of them with Messi. Yeah, like, and it was like nine of them, but it was like, same dude. That's what I would do.

[Adam Friedland]

It's the most beautiful, like, sporting event I've ever seen. It's. It's just these guys that were fearless in the face of like, demons. The best player of all time. Both of the criminals scored also. You got. You got Christian Romero and you got the Butcher get goals. Although they, they ruled out. They said olden goal in the Romero thing. Yeah, Sam, that wasn't fair, right? It was on frame. I think it was probably a little wide. No, they wanted to take the assist away from Messi. Everyone knows that Infantino wants Messi out of this turn. No, I mean, I guess it leaves Argentina with the tastiest path to the final. And it kind of gives us just like a collision course for a rematch of the last of the last World cup final.

[Chris Ryan]

Sure.

[Adam Friedland]

Speaking of, like, when you said. When you said, like, games in the World cup typically aren't like the. Like this. I think maybe there was something in the cosmos. I get so, like, hokey, like, when I talk about ball. But, like, something in the cosmos changed. The last final changed things. And now everything is chaotic and like, incredible. These games are supposed to suck and

[Chris Ryan]

like, even the games that suck are amazing. Like, even France, Paraguay was incredible because France was like, we're not going to fucking succumb to this. Like, too bad, you know, like, and they're laughing at those guys. Like, in Cape Verde, Argentina, the Thing that was obviously amazing was Cape Verde, like, going for it. My favorite moment of that match was when Argentina scored their third. I think Scaloni grabbed like, Taglia Falco and. Or Taglia Fico and Monte and he was like, nobody fucking plays anymore. Like, no more football. Like, we. All you guys do is stop these guys.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah.

[Nick Wright]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

Messi signed Viza for Inter Miami after the match, which is, like, funny. Like, the only people he ever gives flowers to are goalies. Like, there. There was a Champions League match, Celtic, Barcelona, 2:1. And he said, Fraser Forster, he said, is not from this planet. Messi said, it's not from this planet. About Fraser Forcer, granted. He was on an absolute heater. It was incredible to see. I mean, that is like the game or day of his life when they hit that equalizer in extra time. I just kept screaming, oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God. The added element for me. I'm sorry, I'm gonna dick right again. Of like, the. The chance of, like, saying that this could be goodbye. Yeah. It just made it. It just made it like, you know, all the more, like, insane and incredible. We haven't even mentioned Croatia, Portugal yet. That's how insane this World cup is.

[Chris Ryan]

Yes.

[Adam Friedland]

You know, that game was maybe the fourth craziest game of the weekend. And like, I. I don't understand, like, how ins. Like, how are they getting every single one to be this. This nuts?

[Chris Ryan]

We're recording now. I have no idea what's going to happen in Spain. Portugal, it could be even crazier.

[Adam Friedland]

No, it's gonna be boring. They're gonna, like, let see you, like, win it. Maybe See you next fucking World cup when you're 46 years old in Portugal. See you next World cup when you're 46 years old in Portugal. Cut that, guys. Come on. Cut that, guys. I. Yeah, there's the way Messi took down that. That through ball and. And just one touch and then fired it in. I was like. And the way that this goalie, who was a nobody, nothing, was unbeatable at the time. Yeah, it. It's just like, I don't understand how they could keep topping it. And it's. It's just like. It's so cool that for work I have to watch this and I can't. I can't be told not to.

[Chris Ryan]

You're right, though, because, like, every time he gets the ball, like, there is like a weird, like, pregnant moment where you're like, oh, man. Like, this is probably one of the last, like, 100 times I'm gonna see him do this. You know what I mean? Like I know he might keep playing for Inter and maybe he goes superhero and plays one more World Cup. I don't know if that's even possible. But yeah, like during that Cape Verde thing, I was like so torn between wanting Cape Verde to pull up the greatest upset maybe in sports history versus wanting Messi to stand the tournament.

[Adam Friedland]

Henri after the whistle was like the story is not the result. The story is, is these guys that they did something. So what was their FIFA ranking? In the hundreds. In the hundreds.

[Chris Ryan]

He's wrong.

[Adam Friedland]

And then I think we're booking tomorrow. Okay. It. Yeah, let's go. Golden Boot Tally. Let's go through. The really dope thing is that Messi, Holland and Mbappe are all, all uneven goals at seven. Yeah, six. Kane is at six. Yeah. But that's because of the agenda. That's. That's because the anti British agenda.

[Chris Ryan]

That's cause he shares more.

[Adam Friedland]

And then, and then of course Cristiano Ronaldo riding their heels at three. Yeah. So I think he's an outside chance depending on what happens today. Real quick, Norway. Brazil. Did Carlo get too stupid? Okay. That's the real question. Like Martinelli changed the game when he came off. I thought the profile of the game changed. To be fair, they could have very easily won that match. They missed a penalty and Endrick just blew a one on one with the keeper. Haaland announced himself. He had a moment. I think Norway now.

[Chris Ryan]

I didn't notice. Who's the center back? Who was guarding Holland?

[Adam Friedland]

Allison Becker.

[Chris Ryan]

Oh, he's playing center back.

[Adam Friedland]

The keeper was Allison Becker from Liverpool.

[Nick Wright]

Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah. He's the.

[Chris Ryan]

He wasn't done any favors by his defense.

[Adam Friedland]

He plays ahead of Marmar Dash. Really?

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. Okay.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Gabrielle's crap. You know my agenda. I want him out. He's terrible on the ball. Who is the center back? Who was the center? Okay. Holland announced himself. Any other takeaways from that match?

[Chris Ryan]

No, I, I feel like they. I feel like that's probably the last big Neymar moment we're going to get in his career. Speaking of like goodbyes, I don't. I wonder whether he's done on the national team after this.

[Adam Friedland]

We don't even recognize that that was goodbye to Neymar. That's how like insane like the, just like the next match is coming and we. There's something even crazier we have to focus on.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. It's like they were talking to Zlatan about it after the match and he was like, this is a guy who's like, won plenty of trophies and played well for his country and clubs. But there always is going to be a feeling like there was something more that could have been achieved.

[Adam Friedland]

Special Neymar memory in international tournaments, I think was the goal against Croatia where he needed that extra touch because he knew that it would have been cleared on the line and then he roofed it. I watch that all the time. He's the most what if superstar I think we've seen the last 20 years. Yeah, I remember actually. Fun fact. Do you know what Barcelona did for him to get him to finalize the deal? I did. When he was leaving from Santos, they organized an orgy for his father in London.

[Chris Ryan]

That's cool.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, he's a family man. He loves his family. Okay. France, Paraguay. I said some woahs. You need a racist low block to defeat this team. It was a perfect blueprint for the racist low block. There was a member of parliament, she says it was like, it was like she was in Nuremberg in front of a fucking like 100,000.

[Chris Ryan]

So awful.

[Adam Friedland]

Yeah, horrific, Horrific. The way like the other thing is this like no one registers like Mbappe, like gets just as bad a treatment as Vinnie or any other like superstar of color. Especially after the last World cup there was an incident with Enzo. Of course. You need to literally approach France like their PSG in the Champions League final. As I said last episode. And what you have to do is recognize you don't have as many good players. You have to have 11 players buy in and be psychos. And the only team I think remaining that's equipped to defend for their lives is Argentina. I think at this point England doesn't have enough talent. They could, they could buy in, but I don't see them being talented enough to actually pull that off. Any other takeaways from France?

[Chris Ryan]

Paraguay, Manukone. Come down to Liverpool fc. Play with a real club. Let's go be our number six. Play with Grav. I loved when he blew up like he basically did Paraguay. To Paraguay.

[Adam Friedland]

And so you're done with Endo. You think he's a loser?

[Chris Ryan]

I believe he's quite injured.

[Adam Friedland]

Okay.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah. I'm just saying I think he's a great vibes guy. I don't know if he should play defensive midfield for us. And then I loved that Olise is like single handedly able to destroy somebody trying to do shithousery on a on France because he can just like cut in and dribble 30 yards and nobody can bring him down and nobody can touch him. He's next.

[Adam Friedland]

Do you think he has more dribbles than French words like that?

[Chris Ryan]

He knows, like, honestly, like, that's more

[Adam Friedland]

completed dribbles or French words that. Yeah. Why does he play for them? It's insane. Mbappe fun fact has never lost a World cup match. Isn't that crazy?

[Chris Ryan]

Did you see there's an image of like a bunch of Paraguay fans and then a dude standing in a. In a Mbappe dictator T shirt, like, among them.

[Adam Friedland]

It's going to get to his head. Honestly, Mourinho might just have him sent to Guantanamo. Like, I don't know how those two personalities are going to jive. Norway, Brazil. We talked about usa, Belgium coming up over the horizon tomorrow. Let's. We're going to talk about it tomorrow. But the red card, honestly, it's a little bit. Just lie. Just say Infantino realized that the ref was taking money from what he called.

[Chris Ryan]

Just say the VAR assistant was watching something else when he was supposed to be watching the. Like, I don't frame him.

[Adam Friedland]

Just like, what happened to the David Stearns of the world? Okay. This, like, just. Just bear, like, hide the body. Okay. Throw him into the sea. International waters. I'm exhausted.

[Chris Ryan]

Yeah.

[Adam Friedland]

I love you, hydration. I love sports. Summer 21 and President in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 and present in DC, Kentucky or Wyoming. Gambling problem. Call 1-800-GAMBLER or 1-800-MY RESET. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 1-800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-HOPE New York or text Hopeny in New York. For Louisiana, call 1-877-770-7867.

[Chris Ryan]

This episode is brought to you by Whole Foods. It's hot out there, folks.

[Adam Friedland]

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[Adam Friedland]

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