Futbol Americas: USMNT Loses Again! + Mexico Draws Against Belgium!

This one through the middle towards Fernandez, he's in round the back. Bruno Fernandez here with a little back heel. It's a chance for Portugal and he's dispatched with precision for the first goal. Francisco Trincão. This is played in towards the edge of the box while Felix strikes. Portugal have a spectacular second. There's just absolutely no way you have time to take a touch. It's just nowhere near good enough and just completely inexcusable for no US player to be there to smother it. Hello, hello everyone. We are going up on a Tuesday a special edition of Football America's Coming Your Way right now. Grab a cup of tea. I know it's late. Get comfortable, but we've got plenty to talk about as this international window has been winding down. A couple of big things we now finally know. Who will join the USA in Group D at the World Cup? And we will be looking back at the USA's result against Portugal. Alexis Núñez here alongside Hercules Gomez and Shaka Hisslap. I'm going to try and keep it together for the entire show after Jamaica got knocked out of qualifying, but we won't go there now. We also have a very special guest joining us. Jürgen Klinsmann, his official Football America's debut. We've got a World Cup champion in our midst. We cannot wait to pick your brain on all US men's national team stuff. Plus we've got Casey Keller joining us as well up late because we've got plenty to talk about. Right, let's get into it, shall we? The USA had to go up against Portugal in their second game of this international break. They were looking for a much more spirited performance, but it wouldn't be easy. 6 minutes in, Wester McKinney has a go at a header, but it goes wide. Yeah, it's a very easy header for Wester McKinney. He's backing up. Nobody on him yet again. Wester McKinney finds the ball. 8 minutes now, Vicinha here playing it to Bruno Fernandez, but the shot is saved by Matt Freese. It's a great ball in to Bruno Fernandez. Even better effort from Bruno. Going away from goal, excellent effort and that's a really good save from Freese. Thank you, let's say. 20-second minute now, Sebastian Berhalter would have a go, but his shot saved. Yeah, long distance shot right there, trying to open the defense up. Easily saveable, drops it, picks it back up, but a good shot from Berhalter. 36-minute, Christian Polisic was looking lively in the first half. He has the go, but it's also wide. Long way out, doesn't hit it really well. Saadja seems to have this covered as well. And then the breakthrough would come for Portugal right here. 36-minute, Bruno Fernandez with a nice little back heel, and then string. Kyle will place it in the back of the net and the Portuguese take the lead. Yeah, Bruno Fernandez is the reason he has 16 assists in the Premier League. This is a ridiculous goal, but it comes off a sloppy U.S. men's national team giveaway, unnecessary. When you're competing at your best, and there's a dagger. 59-minute, Fernandez once again involved in a João Felix who came on for Portugal. He fires it in the back of the net and Portugal 2-0. It's a great ball by Bruno Fernandez that pick out João Felix, good finish. We'll say this, Felix takes a touch and it takes an edge to come down for him. Marish doesn't get close enough. João Felix, tidy finish. 64-minute now, Matt Fris will be forced to make a save right here from Neves. Yeah, it's a strong save. It's through traffic. Fris sees it late. He comes up big, pairs it wide. Into stoppage time now, it'll be Portugal back on the attack. Constant Sao, he will see his shot saved by Fris again. Again, it's another really good save by Fris. But the Sao takes that quickly. That's heading bottom corner. Almost has to come back on his weight to make that save. Well, in the end, the USA lose this one 2-0 to Portugal. That means they will be winless in this international window, the final big international window, before hosting the World Cup. Well, our Jeff Carlyle was in attendance at the game and at the press conference. And he had a couple of questions for Mauricio Pochettino. Let's have a listen. First of all, we need to see our opponent, who they were. Belgium and Portugal in top 10 on the FIFA ranking, I think. We need to consider that we were playing again teams. That always, when you play this type of game, always is difficult. That is the first thing. It's not to talk about 2 defeats. It's about to talk that the opponent have players that they won champion leagues, they are playing for big things in different clubs. And I see the quality there. That is why they are considered one of the best teams in the top 10. Second point is massive for us. It's about to learn. We should play more games. Rather than play before some games, I think it's to play games like this. Because even if it's painful, it's the only way to improve. It's the only way to learn. It's the only way to see how these top players and teams compete. And today, I think we compete really well. It was again Belgium's first half, 20 minutes or 15 minutes on the second half. And in details, in small details, I think we lose the game. The first goal that we concede is a thing that we were showing in the water break. That can happen, but for different reasons we made another mistake because it was one mistake before. And the second goal, when after we started to make change, they made change. Sometimes it's difficult to adjust all the set pieces things and can happen because we saw in the morning, in the meeting. Yes, things like this make us to really feel positive because I think we were competing well, but we still need to learn a lot. Alright, so Mauricio Pochettino, they're saying that they lost the game in the small details. Jürgen, let me start with you. Your biggest takeaway from what we saw today and just overall from the US in this international break. Well, I think in both games, especially the first half, they showed that they can play with Belgium, they can play with Portugal. They had their chances. Now today, obviously, Christian had that chart just a couple of inches past the post and then a minute later Portugal scores. And those are the little details that Mauricio is probably talking about. They are the small little things that decide these type of games. Now, just two months away from the World Cup, obviously it's really important, as he says, to play the biggest teams possible. The biggest teams you can get in these windows because it gets more and more difficult for teams like Mexico and the United States and Canada to play European powerhouses or South American powerhouses because the calendar just changed with the Nations League now being part of their calendar as well. It's very, very difficult to play those teams and when you play those teams, you want to get the most out of it. And you get here and there some lessons and then you learn out of those lessons and you move on. What I hope after these two games is that they're not getting discouraged because obviously performance is one thing. And I think both times the first halves were okay, were good, but also if you win games, if you have positive results that gives your confidence level obviously another boost. And then you go into the World Cup obviously with wide shoulders and with a lot of courage and confidence. And I hope they're not getting discouraged now with these two results. Right, well let's welcome in our Jeff Carlile, who was actually at the game and of course the press conference. Jeff, just your takeaway because you've been at both games as well and in the press conference in terms of the mood on what we saw from the U.S. Well, I think the mood around the team is one where they feel like they're not very far away. I mean, that seems to be the message from Christian Polisic after the match. You know, it's just sharpening up a few little things, but I think the thing that's concerning is that these mistakes keep happening. You know, Pochettino spoke about how Jedi Robinson was too high up the pitch in the run up to the first goal. And then in the second goal, I mean, that's just a complete breakdown in marking and people not really knowing their responsibility. And he chalked it up to, you know, all the substitutions that were made and sometimes people forgetting. But, you know, I think all it really took was someone having their head on a swivel to realize that there were two or three guys standing wide open at the top of the box. And so, you know, I think it's, they talk about little details, but it's also about concentration and recognizing situations and acting, you know, to try to address those situations. So I don't think there's any panic within the camp. I don't think there's any, you know, woe is me, you know, hanging their heads. But, you know, I think there is a little bit of frustration as well. I think you saw that in Christian Polisic, you know, with him picking up his yellow card in the first half. You know, he was getting involved in a lot of ground duels. You know, he was involved in seven duels in the first half and won one of them. I don't think that's what you want Christian Polisic having to do. I mean, that doesn't play to his strengths at all. So, you know, again, some frustration. But, you know, I think the guys are very much looking forward to, you know, the next camp. Obviously, by then they'll know if they're on the World Cup squad or not. But, you know, two big games against Senegal and Germany. And I think the hope is that they will be able to iron out these problems that we've seen in these last two games. Herk, Mauricio Pochettino and everyone wanted to see the USA go up against quality opposition. You're looking at top 10, top 20 opposition. They got that in Belgium and Portugal. I guess you could say they failed those tests in the sense that they did not get a result in terms of a win. What did we learn? Mauricio Pochettino says you need to realize we are playing against top 10 teams. No, Mauricio. You need to realize you're playing against top 10 teams. You felt very good about the last five games. About competing with the likes of Ecuador, Paraguay, Australia, Japan. Competing with the likes of Uruguay. Teams that are already qualified for the World Cup come to the United States for a friendly with players they are trying out. Alternate lineups. Here comes real opposition. Tinker. All of a sudden experiment. What you want to do is go toe to toe with a team like Belgium. You need to realize who you're playing against. If this was the World Cup, would you play Belgium that way? I hope not. I hope you would be pragmatic. I hope you would take your chances. I hope you wouldn't leave yourself so exposed that you get five and could have quite possibly been eight. Scored against you. And in the very next game, your last game before an actual roster announcement, because it's the last game, the next time we see this team, we're going to know who's going to the World Cup. You say Christian Polisic is going to be my nine. I will play with no nominal nine. The goalkeeper who I left the door open to, Matt Fries, and benched him for Matt Turner, go back in the game now. Let me play two guys in the central midfield that have played together a total of one time for the U.S. National Team together. A center back duo that's never played together. My left back has two games in 500 days with the U.S. Men's National Team, and he wants to remind us, hey guys, it's top 10 opposition. That's why we lost. No, no. There are things that are happening with this U.S. Men's National Team right now that are under Mauricio Pochettino's watch. Eight straight games without a victory over a European opponent. That's under Mauricio Pochettino's cycle. Back-to-back losses a hundred days out from a World Cup for only the second time in its history. That's under Mauricio Pochettino's cycle. 1994 was the last time. Christian Polisic 18 months without a goal for the U.S. Men's National Team. That's under Mauricio Pochettino's cycle. So Mauricio Pochettino, who is the highest paid manager in the history of the U.S. Men's National Team, and one of the highest paid managers in the world at the international game, they reset the market for him, wants to constantly talk down to the American reporter and to the American fan as if they don't know the game. They know it well enough to see that what you're doing is not working, and it feels like time wasted. I will end on this. 2022 we felt very good about the U.S. Men's National Team because they were the second youngest team in the World Cup, in Qatar. And you said, this is something to build on. There could be fruit to bear here. Greg Berhalter, the Federation, had their drama. He leaves, and then he comes back. Copa America is a failure. In comes Mauricio Pochettino, and it feels like four years have gone down the drain because you're still trying to solidify a Starden 11. You're still trying to solidify tandems, tactics, culture, trying to sell us on this idea that it's all about trying. Jürgen said for moments they were in both games. I agree, and that's the problem. This team is so naive. Mauricio Pochettino, maybe it was tongue-in-cheek when he said it to Jeff Karla and the reporters about so many substitutions, they lost track of their man. That is called coaching. I am sorry. A lot of that is on the players, but these are your players and you're responsible for them. Casey, what everyone wanted to see from the U.S. was a response after the thrashing at the hands of Belgium. What did you make of the response we saw today against Portugal? And of course, as Herk was saying, what Mauricio Pochettino had to say? Yeah, I mean, the response was decent. I mean, I think we expected that. I mean, Portugal is a good side and we know they didn't have their best performance against Mexico, so we knew they were going to have a response as well. But I was hoping that I was going to see two changes or three changes, not six changes. To Herk's point, who knows what this team is? Who knows what this lineup is? Who knows what the formation is? Who knows what players are the players you can count on because it's always changing? I keep saying the most consistent thing about Pochettino is his inconsistency. I have no idea what this team is going to look like come the World Cup. I have no idea what the team is going to look like from one match to the next. So, yeah, wasn't it a decent response? Sure. But still, so frustrating on so many accounts and so naive to think that you can just throw the ball in the middle of the pitch and say, you go play against these teams. Yes, these are top 10 teams. Respect them. Understand that you have three or four guys who are playing in the English championship against five or six guys that won Champions League. So respect the fact that you might need to alter the way you play a little bit. You can't be that cavalier. You can't be that... Or you got to be a little bit more respective that you got to be, say, I got to be conservative. I can't push numbers forward. I have to be... But then the little things, you have to be right on the little things. You can't give an opportunity like that second goal where someone just loses concentration and doesn't take care of their marking at the top of the box and gift a goal when you're one nil down and you have chances. That's unacceptable at this stage. And yes, making all the substitutions is part of that. But to Herk's point, somebody tells the player when they come in. That's their responsibility in the coaching staff. This is your responsibility on set pieces. This is where you have to be. And clearly there's been a breakdown. And all these little mistakes keep adding up. And the hard part is, is all these little mistakes are from different people with different formations and different combinations in midfield combinations in the back. There's nothing where you can say, okay, here's a mistake. Now we can build off that. Now we can kind of get these things right because it's a completely different team the next time. I have no idea how you can work on that kind of stuff. Jackie, here, Casey talking, you hear Herk talking and you really sense their frustration because once again here we are with the last international window before the squad is announced and we still don't know what Mauricio Pochettino wants to do or what his best 11 is. I think the frustration comes from a mixed messaging from Mauricio Pochettino. Now listen, if you want to make changes and figure things out, come out and say that. And after the game today would have been a good time just to say, listen, kind of know who we're starting 11 is. And I wanted to try a few things over this international break with an eye for options. Then say that. Don't come out and say, well, we played against two teams that are top 10 in the world. As we sit here, I wouldn't put Herk's money on Belgium, gets into a semi-final. Well, well, three days ago Mauricio Pochettino was telling us that the expectation is this U.S. men's national team will get to a semi-final, but you lose 5-2 to Belgium. At times during this game against Portugal, I felt like Portugal could go up a gear or two and you lose this one 2-0. No, you could look back on and again, I think this is about messaging and not just about not just about dressing this up for the media or for the fans, but for the players to understand some of the things and some of the minor things that could change and need to change and need to be better. Jeff spoke about small moments and I totally agree and yes, the second goal was a glaring example of that. But you also look back at the Belgium game as a big learning tool in how this game is often times decided in moments. Belgium score goal is disallowed for handball. On one end, U.S. goes straight up the other end and score. Lammanns makes a great save on one end, Belgium goes straight up the other end and score. Within seconds, the game is about moments and making sure that you are in every single moment ready for whatever happens, whatever comes. Now, you take that messaging and again, this is not just about selling it. You take that messaging and you let that be what this window has been about. I think we all feel very differently, but sitting here on the outside and again, maybe he's sitting in the dressing room, it's certainly not saying that he is, but maybe he is. We sit here on the outside of that dressing room and you're just more confused, you've got more questions than we had before this window started. Yeah, Jürgen, you're the only one that knows exactly what it feels to be like in the shoes that Mauricio Pochettino is in right now. We're all still trying to figure out exactly what the identity of this U.S. men's national team is. We're 72 days away from the World Cup now. Do you know what the identity is? I mean, I think everyone has his own opinion and obviously Mauricio's opinion is the most important one for all of those. I was in a similar situation in 2006 before the World Cup in Germany and we played the March games and we played in Italy and we got a lesson for one lost there. My job was in jeopardy, three months prior to the World Cup. Obviously, the fan takes it differently, the coaches or people that were inside the games take it differently. And as I said before, is it about the performance? I think from the performance point of view, there's a lot of good stuff to take out of these two games, not from the results point of view. Obviously, if those two negative results hopefully don't affect the team going now into the last couple of weeks before the World Cup starts, then we're all kind of on a good side. Important is that the players realize, and I actually think they do, that for winning World Cup games in two and a half months down the road, you need to be on a concentration level that is completely different to the last two games. You need to be so sharp, so nasty, so strong in order to beat those three teams that you have in your group stage and the group of the United States. Now we finally have Turkey joining this group. It's a very difficult group. You can win this group, but also you can lose this group. So I think there's a lot of stuff to take away from today, but I just hope they all do it in a positive way. Jeff, you've been the one that's been closest to them going to the trainings and the press conferences at the game. What do you feel the identity is of this U.S. team? I think the identity is still a work in progress. You keep hearing Marisa Puccettino talk about intensity, intensity, intensity. Sometimes it's there, and sometimes it isn't. It's kind of a strange development really because intensity used to be the hallmark of the U.S. men's national team. They might not have been the most talented team in the world, but they were going to give you a game and they were going to fight and scratch and claw and make you feel like if you do beat the U.S. you really had to earn it. And so it's not clear at the moment that that identity is there. In terms of tactics, it's kind of been a little bit all over the place. Obviously Christian Polisik playing as a central striker tonight. Yes, he's done it at his club, but he's never done it with the U.S. men's national team, at least that I can remember. So I think the tactics are fluid, I guess you could say, maybe a little muddled. And so the hope is that when the team does get together in late May, that they're really going to hone in on what they're going to be about at the World Cup. I mean, I get the sense that there was still some experimentation there, but it's puzzling to me how this intensity kind of comes and goes. And Pochettino admits it, the players admit it, and it's a little baffling, especially when you're playing against teams like Belgium, like Portugal. I mean, that's when you have to be at your most intense. And so the fact that it isn't there, and it just comes up, they talk about little moments. Sometimes I think this U.S. team is just a second or two slow to react to certain situations. And so, again, that's something that you really hope gets cleaned up by the time May rolls around and that they can begin to fine tune things. But I still feel like there are a few steps away from beginning to fine tune. They still need to lay the foundation a little bit more before they can get to that point. All right. Well, if it's one thing I know about Atlanta is that it's a good night out any day of the week. So, Jeff Carlyle, we're going to let you go and enjoy some of the Atlanta nightlife. We'll tell people that you're just going to go and, you know, file some stuff after this game. But we know the truth, Jeff. Thank you so much for joining us. Stay away from the lemon pepper wings. You've got to have the lemon pepper wings. All right, we'll have Jeff. I'm going to say, I love lemon pepper wings as he's least said, but it's good to say. We're not going to go there. But where we are going to go is as Jeff Carlyle just mentioned, Marisia Pochettino was tinkering a little bit with his side today, especially with where he played Christian Polisic. Let's hear him talk about that now. Christian was in a position, kind of like a false nine, I guess? No, nine. Yeah. He played a striker in Milan. How did you see his opportunities and do you see him becoming a little frustrated because it's been a while since he's... No, I think he was very active and I think he made a good job. I think he was involved in too many actions. Yes, I like Ashama a little bit that he didn't score with the opportunity that he has. It's normal. He was a little bit frustrated, but I think we were a little bit frustrated the whole game because, you know, we spend a lot of time talking about it with the foreofficial, but it's normal. Sometimes the referees respect more some big names than others, but that is not the excuse. It's only that he feels frustrated, but that is what we want, what we expect. He was fighting, he was committing in the faces that we demand more, and then with the ball, he's going to score because he has a quality. I am sure that he's going to come back to his club and it's in the moment that he scores, he's going to start to score again. Alright, so Mauricio Pochettino there saying that Christian Polisic is indeed frustrated. He has been going through a bit of a goal-scoring drought, I mean, in terms of goal contributions, especially for his club AC Milan. He only has one assist so far in 2026, so it is a frustrating time for him. We know that we've discussed it a number of times on the show, but what do you make of what we saw from him today and in that position? Well, I think part of the frustration stems from not playing the position and learning that position can be dirty. Playing with your back to goal can hurt, it's very physical, and against the back line like Portugal's, you saw them getting chippy with Christian and he lashed out. Now, Christian Polisic has not been good for AC Milan in 2026. He's not been good for the U.S. men's national team. He does things in spurts where he makes you think about the old Christian Polisic in transition, how he moves and glides with the ball. We see that today. We saw a few of those instances, but a few of those instances is not what you bank on with Christian Polisic. Jürgen Klinsman gave him his first cap because he felt Christian Polisic could be a game changer, and that's what he's been. It's been 10 years of being a game changer for the U.S. men's national team, but it's okay to say Christian Polisic has been poor. It's okay to say he's not been good and he needs to be better. And the first game, he was part of the problem. Today, he was part of the problem. Whether he likes playing that position or not, it's a position he's played at AC Milan in a tandem. At times we saw him as a false nine. At times we saw Western McKinney and he both in the striker position like he plays at AC Milan. And it's okay to say it's not all on you, but he's been poor and we have to recognize. It's not the same Christian Polisic. And as Thierry Henry famously once said, it's got to free himself. Only Christian Polisic can help himself, can help his cause. That's really what it's about. You were struggling with your hip during the summer. It got better and you went on a crazy run at Milan. Now you're in a slump. If you're physically okay, go out there and prove it. If you're not, step away and get better. Yeah, Jürgen, just speaking about Christian, as we were saying, what do you make of his positioning and is he still that game changer for you? Any day he's that game changer, absolutely. But obviously, as Hörk says rightfully, not in the last couple of weeks. And the situation in Italy is not getting any easier. The AC Milan is still kind of a little bit in a race for the title, even if there are quite a few points behind into Milan. He hasn't picked up there his rhythm yet. And now the disaster happened that Italy is not going to the World Cup. So the whole mood in Italy will be catastrophic in the next couple of weeks for everybody, no matter where you play, what club you play for. But what I hope personally, just hope is that better now go through a bit of shitty period prior to the World Cup than during the World Cup. So you got to figure out, as Hörk says, you got to figure out, especially as a forward player, you kind of give yourself a kick in the back. You get angry with yourself, you get kind of aggressive. You show the aggressiveness also towards your opponents, which he did today. And then you expect from yourself that you make the difference again, that you give some assists, that you score the one or the other goal, and you make your mark before you then come into camp for the World Cup. And this is the reaction that everybody is hoping for from Christian, and he's absolutely capable to do that. Yeah, well, in case anybody hasn't noticed, we have two leaders of the Goalkeepers Union here in Casey and Shaka. So let's talk about the goalkeeping position, shall we? Casey, I'm going to go straight to you. Matt Freese, has he just easily won that now, and is Matt Turner just out? It looks that way. It was a situation where Matt got this opportunity, Turner, in the match against Belgium and needed to have one of those perfect matches, and it didn't happen. And so then they bring Freese back in, and he made a couple very nice saves to keep it at 2-0. No fault on either of the two goals. So yeah, I think that has pretty much solidified the position. And Shaka, what did you make of Matt Freese today? Because of course Casey has expressed his concern that he's probably not of that commanding presence like he was and a couple of the other strong US men's national team goalkeepers we've seen in the past. But did he do himself a world of good today? Without question. Listen, I thought the position before this international break was free to lose. And even more so now, given his performance against Portugal. Now, let me say, if Freese had the performance that Turner did against Belgium and Turner had this performance against Portugal, maybe we're having a conversation. Maybe we're having a conversation. And that's not to say, I say that to make the point that I don't think Matt Tinnen necessarily was at fault for any of the goals against Belgium. But he needed to have the kind of 90 minutes that Freese had against Portugal to get himself back in the reckoning of Mr. Pochettino. He didn't, and then Freese produces this performance where I thought he was outstanding. Now, Kase is right. And to your point, you guys have always been able to rely on these incredible goalkeepers who have a presence between the sticks. I don't quite see that presence from Freese yet. He's growing into that. I think his inclusion when it was last year or whenever it was Pochettino first lent on Freese came as a little bit of a surprise. It kind of came from nowhere. He is growing to be that goalkeeper, but he is not that just yet. Maybe in the next couple of months, he grows a little bit further and you see an even better performance come to work up. But even so, he's the U.S. number one. I don't think there's much debate anymore. This was his coming out party. The very first save against Bruno Fernandez was a much more difficult save than Matt Turner on the long-distance shot and went through traffic and bounced about three times and he got a hand on it. There were some very good moments from Matt Freese here. Good moment to solidify yourself as a number one, but those big goalkeepers that make a name for themselves for their country as Kasey did once, as Shaka did once, they come out in the World Cup. They happen in the World Cup. Shaka did that at how old were you, Shaka? That was a long time ago. That was a long time ago. Black and white TV, just kidding. Let's talk about some concerns. Jürgen, of course the positioning between the sticks has been a concern for some time, but as Shaka and Kasey pointed out, Matt Freese did do himself a world of good today. But what would your biggest concern be heading into the World Cup now after what we've seen from the U.S. in this international break? Well, I don't have any concerns because I'm not on the inside of things. Oh, you're getting kind of loud. I'm not concerned about anything. He's carefree, I'll tell you the point. Concerns are, I mean, I always come up with a standpoint that a group of players have this once in a lifetime opportunity to go to a World Cup. Obviously, once he chose his 26, it's down to the 26 guys to go into this World Cup and it's their opportunity to rock it. It's their opportunity to shine. It's their opportunity to show the top five or top 10 or whatever in the world who they are and what they are capable to do. And I think there is a roster here in the United States that has the potential to really hurt big teams, big names in this tournament. It will be very difficult. It will be very hard. It will be a nail biter for everyone, for them, for their families, for the coaches, obviously, and for all their fans. And this only works at the end of the day when the chemistry is right between themselves. When they have a camaraderie, when they have a drive, an energy within their group of people that is outstanding. And then they can do a lot of good stuff. There is so much talent out there and I hope they understand it because this moment, this moment, to play a World Cup in your own country, the biggest World Cup ever with 48 teams, this is not coming back into life anymore. And I hope just that they understand that, that they realize that. And the coaches out there, the facilitated coaches out there to guide them through the process. But on the field, it's the players that make the difference. It's the players that decide, am I concentrated enough? Am I marking it okay? Am I doing making the right decisions at the right time? It's a players game and I really hope that they get that message. And I'm sure that Morito is pounding that message every day there together. You can tell Juergens used to dodging questions from the media right there, slightly dodged that one. Casey, what about you in terms of biggest concerns there? Of course, I know in between the sticks that was a concern, but if we put that one aside, what else would you be concerned with? No, my big concern is that I just, I don't see where this team is going to come together because I haven't seen any kind of consistency through anything over a long period of time. You know, I'd love to see, this is my back four. This is, you know, the starting midfield and then maybe think, you know, to Chaka's point earlier, yes, there's going to be a little tinkering because you never know, hey, if this guy gets injured, who can step into this back four, but it's a completely different back four. So I have no idea what any kind of tendencies are of the team. You know, you were talking about tactics with Jeff Karla before he stepped off. And I was thinking, the tactic right now is thinking and the mentality is we're as good as Belgium. We're as good as Portugal. We're going to throw the ball in the middle of the pitch and we're going to show you that we're as good as these top 10 teams. Maybe they learned they're not, and they need to play a little bit different if you want to get a result against a top 10 team. And so that's my concern is that there's just more questions than answers over these last couple matches. I thought we were getting into a good place over the last couple of camps and then this has scared me again. All right, well, Herc, in terms of stock up stock down now, if we're going to pinpoint a few players from what we've seen in the last two games, who's raised their stock and who's stock kind of went a little bit down? Who's raised their stock? Well, Matt Fries, I think would be the obvious winner here. Matt Fries was a question in a lot of fans and pundits minds. And when the door was open to Matt Turner, you said, oh, there's something here. Maybe Mani Sopochettino is seeing what we see. Maybe Mani Sopochettino is thinking there is a competition. And I think tonight he closed that door. He shut those doubts and he will start the first game of the World Cup and bearing any, I would think, travesty. I think he's going to be the starter throughout the World Cup with the U.S. Men's National Team and another player like Weston McKinney. I was one of the people who stated that with the formation that Mani Sopochettino had been playing with this national team, I didn't necessarily know where Weston McKinney would slide into. Weston McKinney is a player with the level he's at right now. Confidence he has can slide into multiple positions. I think it's another guy who raised his stock. Those are the two players I would say for me have raised their stock the most with the U.S. Men's National Team this window. I will just add to that. Talking about Fries again, that's a hell of a response by the way. Yeah. From Matt Fries. You see Tuner get the nod in the first game against Belgium. Can you give him Tuner's history with this U.S. Men's National Team? How long he had been the number one. And then all of a sudden he gets the nod for the first game of the window. And as a young goalkeeper, you can't help but think. You can't help but wonder, well, what is Pocchettino really trying to say here at this point? And then you respond like that. I think credit to the young man for it. Well then I suppose apart from Matt Turner then, whose stock went down or did anybody underwhelmed? There's a few players who underwhelmed. But I don't think anybody underwhelmed as much as the head coach. That Marisa Pocchettino, it comes with the territory. You're a six million dollar man. You love that. It's not even like we're pulling this out of thin air. The man said he was going to be in a semi-final with the U.S. Men's National Team. And then got stopped by Belgium by five goals and it could have been more. Like the audacity. And at times when he addresses the U.S. media or just anybody in general, it's such a condescending manner. He sets himself up for this. And I could only, I could only imagine what he's telling the players. I could only imagine the way he's relaying the message to some of these players. I understand that this can't be all on Marisa Pocchettino. It's not his fault that Tyler Adams has heard. It's not his fault Johnny Cardoso is in here for the second game. It's not his fault Sergio D'Este isn't available. Like it wasn't his fault that Anthony Robinson hasn't been available for almost 500 days. I understand. But you have in following Balagin for the first time in a long time, a nine that is confident scoring goals that has provided you with proof that he can link up with your most influential playmakers. And what you do is you tell him, Patrick Gajiman and Ricardo Pepe slide over this way. I want to get Christian Pulisic closer to goal. I need him get per reports. I need to get him out of this slump. I played him in a different position that he's never played for the U.S. Men's National before. Don't worry about what we're trying to achieve or your position or lack thereof in a future World Cup place. I need to do this. So he's taken those chances by himself. And when you take those risks, you assume the risk. Well, it's on you. So a lot of what we saw and we've been seeing this window and before the stretch of the five runs, the five run unbeaten because it wasn't all roses then, is on Mauricio Pochettino. No. No, I tell you why. I think her phrase it perfectly. Yeah. You ask that question. The first thing I think is it's difficult to say anybody's stock went down. Yeah. And then there was as much tinkering, any formation and the personnel as we saw. So it's difficult to say anybody disappointed or underperformed or the stock dropped when they weren't playing alongside who you might usually expect or they weren't playing in a position that you might usually expect. But then to her point, that's on the coach. So if we are talking again, her phrase it perfectly. All right, I suppose we will leave it at that. We're going to continue talking about the U.S. men's national team because like we said, we now know how their full group looks like. We're going to get to that in a bit. But first, let me remind you that our other show ESPN FC is on every single day of the week. Just check it out on ESPN Plus. We already have ESPN unlimited as part of your TV package for no additional calls. Visit activate.espn.com to learn how to access your account or sign up then start streaming in the ESPN app. It's all of ESPN all in one place. Sign up or activate now. Gun down. The key to this case, it's Brian. A hour before he died, he was on the phone arguing with somebody. This might be a hit. You want the truth. They just want a conviction being placed under arrest. We had a killer amongst us. Murder at the U. Listen now. 911, where is the emergency? It's the middle of the night in a small town on the Jersey Shore. Someone reports an abandoned car on a bridge. A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern. Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships, buried cash, and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lies wherever you get your podcasts. Alright, into one of the other playoffs now. Kosovo were hosting Turkey and they did not make it easy. The Kosovo fans were giving the team hotel there for where Turkey was staying. Root Awakening as they were setting off fireworks for 29th minute now. Big save here. This is Urkan. This is really is an incredible shop. Aslani thinks he scored, but Urkan, outstanding. 53rd minute, the moment for Turkey comes. They get the breakthrough and they take the lead. Yeah, it's a scuff shot. I thought there may have been a sense of outside. There is no var. It stands and Turkey's up 1-0. 81st minute, Kosovo close to an equalizer here. Mr. Lira, from a long way out. It's just really well. I guess a lot of badness and depth on it. I kind of feel like the keeper had it covered though. Into injury time right now. Kosovo with their last chance to equalize. And it does not go in. So Turkey hang on to the 1-0 win and they are heading to the World Cup. Well, if you have a look there, these are the odds to win Group D. How interesting things will get now for the U.S. men's national team in this one. Now that we know that Turkey has come in there, familiar opponents to them. And Turkey has improved there, as you can see with the odds to probably make it out of the group. Who knows, as we were saying. It's going to make it really interesting in this one. So Jürgen, let me start with you. Now that we know that Turkey has qualified, we now know what the U.S. men's national team group is going to look like. How tricky is this looking for the U.S.? Well, this is a real, real tricky group. Because everybody literally can beat everybody in this group. There's no outsider in this group, not even Australia. Australia is very resilient. Australia has a fantastic spirit, very physical. They will give everything they have. Now with Turkey, it's probably one of the most mislead, let's leave Italy aside. But that's the team you do not want to meet now already in the group phase. From the teams that will stay, we'll head still to fight for that spot. So this is what happened today. It's big news for every U.S. soccer fan. Because this is a very dangerous group now. You can win this group, but you can also become fourth in that group. A very dangerous group where everyone can beat everyone. Casey, is that how you see it too? Yeah, because I think normally if you have one of the top teams in your group, you then think, okay, that team is going to pick up nine points. But they're going to also take points away from your opponent. So you then need to beat that opponent and then that's fine. But here, you could beat a team and then that team could beat the other team. And then that team could then beat the other team. And so it just could kind of throw and make everything just a very strange group. But in the end, look, it's up to you. You're at home, you've got good players. And go get the points you need to secure yourself at the top of the group. Look, if because of some strange things happen and teams are beating each other and you come in second, okay, it happens. Don't drop to third. That's all I say. Give yourself a better opportunity than in the next round. And I know this is going to be strange for everybody because, you know, with a round of 32, I mean, we've never experienced that before. So we don't exactly know how that's going to pan out. But what it does do is gives a team an opportunity that gets a slow start in the tournament and then is able to pick up the results that they need to get into the next round and pick up momentum. Her from what we've seen from Turkey in their qualifying as well. How dangerous of a threat do they look to the U.S.? Well, they're the most talented team in the group in terms of players. You'd be hard pressed to find a yieldies anywhere else, Art Aguiler, that type of talent. They have the talented players in that group. It's a team that automatically comes in and has a chance of being the best team in the group. But in this game versus Kosovo, I understand Kosovo is a home. In this game, Kosovo in the first half was immensely better. They probably deserve to be up. Turkey fought. They weathered. Great save, hits a crossbar, Morici can't get on to the rebound. That was on an empty net. Turkey gave up some chances. As they did when the U.S. men's national team in the summer series played against Turkey. The U.S. men's national team struck in the first minute. First minute. It was the U.S. men's national team being naive, being silly at the back, a Johnny Cardoso outside the foot across the face of the six that Art Aguiler cuts off and it goes into the goal. That then allows Turkey to take control of this game. And after the 20th minute, it was over. But the first 20 minutes of that game, I believe they scored in the 24th minute. The first 20 minutes of that game, the U.S. men's national team with their pressure caused them all types of problems. So they're a team because of their individual talent and their fight. And that muscle memory that is a World Cup and their fan base will present some problems. But I'm with Jurgen. I said it during the draw. This is a trap group and I'll double down again. Turkey is a very talented team. Paraguay is a very stingy defensive team. Tactically under Gustavo Alfaro, this is a team that does not give up many goals. They are tough to play against. And in the World Cup qualifying, when Gustavo Alfaro took over, they were dead to rights. And he put them at one point, excuse me, at a second place. They beat the likes of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina. They're a good team. And in Los Angeles, they're going to present a problem in the very first game. And then Australia, Jurgen's right. That's another pragmatic team. And we understand how this U.S. men's national team, they struggle breaking down a low block. This group is a trap group. They can easily win it. I can see the U.S. winning it. I can see them being third or worse. Jack, you see like that too? Yeah, I do. We sat in this very studio to do the workup draw. And the expectation was that Turkey, kind of given the draw, would be the one that would advance into this group. And I'll say now exactly what I said then. All four teams come into this tournament thinking that they topped the group. To tell you how much of a trap group it is, I know. Forgive me if I'm wrong about this. I'm not a gambling man. But according to the full screen that we just had up, Turkey will higher rank than Paraguay. But Paraguay will shorter odds, shorter betting odds in top in the group. Now, if the bookies can't figure this out, if the bookies are unsure about how to... How to have the cap, how to have the cap. This group, it speaks to how difficult it really is to make a full prediction. All right. Well, Jurgen, let's talk about Australia a little bit because that's an opponent that you know exactly what it's like to go up against in terms of teams that you coach. I believe that you have beaten them, especially with South Korea at the Asia Cup. But how much of a threat can Australia be? I know we put a lot of the trickiness on Turquie, but as Herc pointed out, Paraguay can be very stingy with their low block. But what about Australia? Well, Australia is unpredictable because Australians play most of their mind, Europe, as most of the players anyway. But they are used to play all sorts of different opponents. They are able to play the East Asian ones like Japan or South Korea. They are able to play the Middle East countries. When you play in the Asian Cup, you play against Jordan, you play against Bahrain, you play against Saudi Arabia. Their game management is completely different to what we are used to. And the Australians, they are capable to adapt. They know how to play different type of systems against. They know how to kind of play with your mind. They are able to play dirty. They are able to play straight forward physical and be honest in a certain way. But if you play with them dirty, they will have answered it in a dirty way. So we had an experience in the Asian Cup. We went all the way into extra times and then finally we broke them down and won this game. But it is going to be a very, very difficult opponent. It is going to be a difficult opponent indeed. We have a question that we are going to ask these boys at the desk later on in the show. But before we let Jurgen and Casey go, I want to ask it to you guys now. Casey, let me start with you. In terms of the host nations, now that we have gone through the playoffs, we know the likes of Canada have avoided Italy. So they don't have to worry about Toronto being a home game for the Italians. Which of the host nations now do you feel have the better or more comfortable group? I would probably say maybe Mexico. And I think they are maybe building a little bit of momentum. I think they are recognizing that they have to be very solid defensively. They have showed that against two good countries. Well, the top ten countries that we played, they conceded one goal when we conceded seven. So I think Mexico has figured out kind of their identity and how they have to play. And that will give them that confidence going forward. I think Canada will still, I think they need some key players to really come through in these next couple months. I think Alfonso Davies, if he can get fit, that will really help. I mean, I know they are not just Alfonso Davies. They are very athletic. They are a good team. But I give Mexico the edge right now. Alright, Casey is giving Mexico the edge with a more comfortable group of the host nations. What about you, Jürgen? Well, I would agree with Casey. I think what Mexico did in this little window, they played obviously their first game at the Azteca stadium after the long time remodeling of the stadium. They are now ready for the opening game. But they played also tough opponents right there in Mexico where they have a different crowd of Mexican fans. Then if they play a couple of days later, then in Chicago with a more Americanized crowd, where it's more about the event, more about the entertainment. But they know that when they play their games in Mexico, this team knows they have to deliver. The pressure is on them. And I think with their coaching staff, especially with Rafa Marquez also being part of that coaching staff, they are ready now to go into the tournament and to give everybody a real fight. That's a bit of my feeling. So I would agree with Casey. I would give them the edge at the moment. Alright, interesting enough because we're going to be talking about Mexico in just a bit. But in the meantime, let's thank Jürgen for joining us. Jürgen, you survived your football America's debut. We cannot wait to have you on again so we can continue picking your brain about pretty much everything. And Casey, thanks so much for joining us. We'll see you again soon too. Thanks guys. Alright, you're going to survive. Look at that. What am I? Alright, well let's talk about Mexico right now. They went up against Belgium. We have Brian Gutierrez with the corner kick in and it finds his way to Jorge Sánchez. Brian Gutierrez in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. And this ball kind of stumbles to Jorge Sánchez the right back and it's 1-0 Mexico in the 19th minute. That's right, it was going all Mexico's way. Thank you. That's Alimoreno range. Yeah, a little tight Alimoreno range. A little far out from it. A little far out. Alright, well. A couple of minutes later it would be Belgium that find the equalizer and how about that? This is a really nice finish. The golazo. Well outside, finds that side nothing. Could be a correct or just ridiculous range and really is. That's the range. I don't know about you Shaq. I don't know how much you can do there. No, no, nobody's doing anything about that. No, we're not. We won't talk about the goalkeepers. Nobody's doing that. Shaq, I believe you probably. Alright, well in the end Mexico have to settle for this 1-1 draw against Belgium. Alright, shall we talk about it? I mean, as Casey just pointed out, didn't seem like a bad international window for Mexico. Considering all the concerns and questions we had about them and I thought it was interesting what Casey said. He said it sounds like or it looks like Mexico know what they want to do in terms of an identity. Do you see it like that? I think the coach knows what he wants out of the group and he plays a very pragmatic role. And this is who Javier El Vasco Aguirre is. This is the third time he's been involved in the Mexican national team, third cycle, and all of his teams have been pragmatic defend first and will take our chances. That's not necessarily been the Mexico way. And it's not exactly been how Mexican fans want them to play. And in a game against a top five team to win the World Cup, I think Portugal has a very good shot at winning the World Cup because of that player pool. They held them to a scoreless draw on the Stadio Azteca and yet they were booed after the game. And the last 15, 20 minutes every touch of Portugal had was an ole, ole in Portugal's favor. And their goalkeeper was having the homophobic chant yelled at him by his own fans. There is a discontent right now with the fan base and the national team and it stems from much more than what's actually going on in the field. That's part of it. They wish their team would play a different brand, although I don't understand how securing a result like that against a team that is a legitimate threat to win the World Cup is a bad thing. But this national team right now, it feels like it's them versus the world. And that's the way the players and Javier Aguirre and Rafa Marquez feel. And it's allowing them to get results. And I'm not just talking about Belgium. I'm not just talking about Portugal. I'm talking about the Nations League. I'm talking about the Gold Cup. Results that they weren't getting before. Do you feel they have that grit, that bite when you compare it to the U.S.? Well, not just the grit and bite. They know who they are. Yeah. They know who they are exactly. So what is all our stress and concerns and saying this is the worst generation of Mexico? Well, because they are the worst generation. Um fracasso. But they're still able to fight to get those pretty girls. They know who they are. But so do the rest of the people. They know who you are. But they're still heroes. And you're the worst generation of players that Mexico has had in the modern era. Since 19, was it, 78? Help me out here. Yeah. Am I right there Beto? 1978, where they didn't make it to the next round. That's the Argentina World Cup. In Argentina, I think I'm right there. That's the worst generation. And because of that, on home soil in their World Cup, fans and punts are freaked out. And I think that has unified, has given these players, they've galvanized the situation, each other, and they're fighting for each other as much as some would hate to see that. That's what they're doing and they're getting results. That change mentality, I think is an incredible motivator. When you feel as you against you would. And that's what I heard because he was alluding to with this Mexican national team. And yeah, that's not, I heard all the concerns about Mexico and the build up to this tournament. And now here we are. And while Belgium, you could argue that it was a Belgium B on, on, on this place today. You've now got two very good results against two very good teams. And then you may look, look to the U.S. and see their results against that very same team. And it will certainly feel different from a fan perspective. I'm not sure the fan perspective, again, makes that much of a difference to this team, given the season mentality, that's it is paying dividends. But also, while you could boo after a draw with, with, with Portugal, you draw Portugal in the tournament. That's a great result. And I think once the tournament gets going, once you start putting results together, sentiment changes. Almost regardless of, of, of the performance of how those results come about. If you play to your strengths of the strengths of this squad and you get results, I think the fans response. I just think this is, is a, is a kind of temporary issue that like, like everything else in football results change more than anything. Let's talk about the goalkeeping situation because that was one of the biggest concerns as well for Mexico coming into this. We know that Mexico for so long has been led by Memo Choa. But now with Tal Arangel, how'd you feel like he did? I feel he did fine. Tal Arangel, listen, his only competition was Luis Angel Malagon. He's out of the picture with the Torna Killies and in comes Memo Choa. And you would have thought if Memo Choa was going to be a contender, he would have gotten one of these two games. He didn't get one of these two games. So all is well, right? It's going to be Tal Arangel opening day against South Africa. But I've seen this movie before. And it was in 2010 when Memo Choa was the young buck. Memo Choa was a young goalkeeper and right before the World Cup, he had a few blunders. And right before the World Cup, it was this same coach to Memo Choa that said, I'm going to go ahead and give this guy who's almost 40, the goalkeeping position in South Africa. So Tal Arangel feels good about himself right now and is gaining that experience. But if I were a betting man and I am, I don't think we've heard the last of the situation. All right. Listen, I had concerns about Arangel coming into this window. I thought he could have himself well. And that's as a player, as a goalkeeper, as somebody who plays this game, that's all you could do. When you're given the opportunities, take them. And again, to come out of this and the one goal you've conceded in this international window, is that effort from Luka Bakio, I think that's a good international window, kind of given the questions coming into it. All right, Tal Arangel, you've got the shaka hislap stamp of approval. For now. For now. For now. For now. Too late. They don't really have that many more options now. All right. Let's go to Czechia going up against Denmark. Shakadou laugh at me with this one. Because you know I was rooting for my boy, Razma's Hojlan. Three minutes in though. It's Czechia that find themselves in the lead. Well, that's a goal. Last of that is well struck outside the box. You cannot hit that ball any cleaner. It's through traffic and it is a stunner. Absolute stunner there. Seventy second minute now. The Danes would equalize. It's a really nice ball. And floats it in. then keep us tempted to come. Anderson gets above him because of the trajectory delivery. Easy header. Well, we're headed to extra time in this one. In the 100th minute though, Chekia will take the lead. Yeah, it's a lot of traffic in there. It's a rebound. It's a Kressi shot that takes a deflection. You're going to see right there. It lands to his left. And the player's on the ground. He doesn't really see much of it. Doesn't know too much about it, but it's in the goal. About 11 minutes later, it's like deja vu again because the Danes come back and they find an equalizer. Casper Ho with the header. That is a really good header. Going away from goal. Almost hits him in the back of the head. Really nice finish. Well, you know what that means, guys? We're headed to penalties. Rasmus Hoelach. Oh, boy. Oh, come on. My voice steps up. It was going also well at Napoli, but he misses the first penalty too, man. Sanders drier, the DP for San Diego FC steps up and he misses as well. Matt, your sense is stepping up. You know it's not a good day when you miss three of your first four. Disasto. Disasto. Sadie, like now, stepping up to bury it for Czechia and they are going to the World Cup. Absolute scenes. Limbs. Dancing. Denmark will have to join me and Shaka. On the sidelines, on the outside. Come on. Looking at it. All right. Well, these are the odds to win Group A. Remember, this is Mexico's group. They are in it with South Korea. Czechia, who have just punched their name in the group as well as South Africa. And after what we saw from Mexico in this international break, looks like their odds got a lot better. Yeah, I would say for a good reason. Mexico won't be the home team throughout, but they'll be the home team for what is important for them, which is the group phase. To set them up for the next phase. And two of the three games are at Estadio Asteca. They've lost twice in the modern era in Estadio Asteca in competitive matches. They've only lost seven times in their history, I believe. I mentioned this during the draw. An eventual meetup for a place in the quarterfinals and around a 16. If Mexico goes to their trajectory and England goes through their trajectory would be in Mexico City. They would play in Atlanta three days before and then have to travel to Mexico City. And I recall Shaq saying that the Asteca with the daylight, with the smog and the altitude, I said that is a crazy combo and Shaq said it best, the ultimate leveler. Forget about England. They're going to give that to South Africa and then they're going to give that to Czechia. This is a team that just came off, they suffered in this game, but they came off an impressive result. Maybe not the way the fans or punts would have liked, but an impressive result against Portugal. And the Portuguese players talked about how impressive the atmosphere was. They talked about the air, how difficult it is to breathe. They talked about the smog. This is going to be something that affects all teams. And if it does not affect the Mexican national team, everything that encompasses Asteca, the fan base and the climate, it's going to be a massive advantage to them. And one that's going to lead them into the second round. Do you think that kind of makes me chuckle? Maybe not the right phrasing. Is while Portugal can play in about the heat and the smog, smudge. Yeah. Oh yeah. We haven't even hit some a month yet. And so you understand exactly what I mean by that. But the conditions that the European teams coming to North America have experienced in this international window will feel very different come June and July. Regardless of where you are, pretty much, it will totally contrast to how things are felt right now. And while you've seen some very good performances by some very good teams, that those weather conditions change a lot about how people progress, how they manage in 90 minutes. So it was all doom and gloom from Mexico heading into this World Cup. We were like, oh my goodness, this is not the most talented blah, blah, blah, blah. It could still be doom and gloom. And then we look and it's like, hey, you got the favorite group. I think Mexico got it. It's going to bring all this opposition to smog and whatnot. It's going to be Mexico to win the group then. Which bash, bash, moving on. Yes. I say yes. Mexico will win the group. Yes. The toughest game is outside of Mexico City in Guadalajara, which is Son and Co. with South Korea. It's all about that first game against South, excuse me, South Africa. That first game is very telling. If they come out and they play, they put on a show, this team potentially can make history and go to their quinto partido, now a sexto partido. But if you have anything less, the pressure is going to mount. And this team in Mexico, they felt the pressure before. They'll be all right. They'll top the group. I think they'll be all right. I think it's all cautious. I know. I can say wherever I want. My team's not there. My team's not there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we can say wherever we want. Another team that's certainly not going to be there next week. Oh boy, oh boy. He shots fired. Former champions as well. Bosnia and Hurt, so Covina up against Italia Italy taking the lead here through Moise and Canada was all going to Italian's way on a very sketchy pitch. Portero, Shaka, what you doing? Yeah, but this is a hell of a finish. It's a really good finish. Really good finish. Sisted by the goalkeeper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh no. Yep, you know what's coming. And then, Bastoni just taking the last... Your last man. At the celebrations. Yeah. If you commit to that, you've got to get ball otherwise that's going to be a red card. But he's at an angle that is it really necessary? Yeah, turn your feet. I think that's... And Moise Kim, again, gives an opportunity. Covers a lot of ground here and then just overcooks the finish. A little bit too much. Need to be just a little bit more delicate. Keep our advances. Could he have gone for the dig? That takes a massive bounce right before he hits it too. Gattuso wondering how did you not bury that, my brother? Well, that would definitely come back to haunt him. Because eventually Bosnian, Herzegovina find the equalizer. Nice cross. Again, it's the odd number at the back. There's a lot of white shades but somehow blue shade gets on it. Don't know what makes an incredible save. Yeah. It really is and then just bundled over quite simply. That's when you're a goalkeeper. You want somebody to bow you out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, happy with that. Happy with that. All right, well, this went extra time and then penalties and that's where Italy all came undone. It's your youngest player taking a penalty kick. The first penalty kick disguised it over. He offered power. Oh, Genaro Gattuso, he knows the feeling. Mm, mm. Yep. He stands there at the crossbar. It's just opting for power. Nerves get the best of him. Bosnia in the driver's seat. And Luigi Donnaruma hoping to come up with a big save but he does not do it. He just squeezed it under him. A nice heartbreak. That is absolutely... Three workups in a row now, easily have missed. What a great party we could have with Italy, Trinidad, Tobago and Jamaica just watching the World Cup from home. But anyways, that means that Canada avoid having Italy in their group. They're going to have to deal with the likes of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a 40 year old Edin Giacomo. Imagine that plus the likes of Switzerland and Qatar. So how good is this for Canada then now? Considering there was such a hullabaloo made of, of course, Italian demographic in Toronto. Jesse Marsh was asked about what it was going to be like feeling like you're at home but you're not really at home. How they've avoided it. So... Listen, they dodged a major bullet in terms of what they would have faced in the first game outside the field. You have to give Bosnia and Herzegovina, their flowers give them credit. They are a team that is to contend with. You have to be aware of how dangerous they can be. But I've lived in Toronto. I've seen the amount of Italian Canadians that are in the Greater Toronto area. That would have been an Italy home match. For sure. First game of a World Cup that is supposed to be on home soil to feel like you're not the home team against a team that would have been heavily favored not only against you but in the group. Automatically would have also meant you're not favored in that game. But you're the third best now in your group because Switzerland is the other team to contend with in that group. So now you're saying, okay, realistically, we're the third best team in this group. So they dodged a major bullet. Now with Bosnia and Herzegovina, you will take your chances and say we could be the second best team in this group. I think Canada we're fairly fortunate here but now it's up to them because Bosnia is playing with house money. I will also say three very different tests in those three teams. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be very physical. They make it a very tough game to play. Switzerland are an outstanding footballing team. Because I think the team that finishes bottom of the group, so now you've got to make sure and get a good result in there. But Qatar are still in there and it will offer a very different test. It's a difficult one for Canada and as you said right now, I think the best they can hope for is a second place finish. I don't see them topping the group. I think Switzerland and the bookies would agree are the best team but don't, while you may have avoided Italy, don't sleep on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Again they will be a very stern test. Alright, well I know this is football America and we take it from the America standpoint but we have to spare a thought for Italy because now a third straight World Cup that the Italians will be missing. They've actually made history because no other former champion has ever failed to qualify for three straight World Cups. And I mean we all grew up in an era where Italy gifted us some of the best footballers. We have ever seen what is going on. I mean I grew up in Italy was a world power in the footballing sense. With the tautis and the pierlos and the... You can go on and on and on and on and on with the amount of ridiculous players and Sedia in the 90s and the players that played in Sedia in the 90s. And then I grew up and there are children today that won't know what it's like to see Italy playing a World Cup but will know what it's like to see Haiti playing a World Cup. Will know what it's like to see teams like Curaçao playing a World Cup. Will know what it's like to see teams like Bosnia and Herzegovina playing a World Cup. Italy is not doing a lot of things right. It's not by coincidence. I don't care how difficult you think European qualifying is in the World Cup. It's not by coincidence you miss out on your third World Cup and in the last two before that you went out in the group phase. They no longer produced young players in Sedia. I can't think of a single young Italian player that comes to mind. You're like, oh, this is somebody you have to keep an eye on. Could be a Belondo or winner in the future. That's Italian football has lost its way. And if you think that is not a problem, well, look what's happening with your senior national team. And I mean, he's still in his 20s, later part of his 20s, but Shakit's almost a crime to know that Dona Roma is not going to another World Cup. The oddity about this Italian national team and Sydney, this phase that they're in, and we talk about them missing three World Cups in a row now, they might have won a Euros in there. Yes, they did. So for all the criticism around what it means to Italian football, missing three World Cups, they were crowned Euro champions in 2021. So how do you square that up? I say this. I can't help but feel that there is an expectation that comes from within Italy that because of who they are, because of how many World Cups they've won, because of their footballing history, they deserve the right to be there. And I say that because you heard that from Gartuso. Yeah. After finishing second to an outstanding Norway team in the group phase, where Italy have to play a playoffs, how does that work? And so it speaks to, if not an arrogance and expectation around who they are, nobody deserves to be in a World Cup. You earn the right to be in a World Cup unless you're hosted. You earn the right to be in a World Cup. And as long as that mentality continues, I fear you will see this kind of up and down, Sydney a whole lot more down of Italian football. There are a lot of issues to be fixed, whether we're talking Syria and how they compete financially, whether we're talking about the development. But until you fix that attitude, I'm not sure things get better regardless. Without adding salt and the wounds to the panel here, you could not qualify in an expanded World Cup. Yeah. The Italians, I think. Could we, apparently? I'm all right with it. I'm used to it at this point. You're not all right with it. We never had to worry about Mexico, USA and Canada. Sorry, I'm not okay. Let's talk about the Mexico, USA and Canada. Final question, just a tie-up bow on it. Which of the host nations do you feel now that all the groups have finished themselves? Which of the host nations got the better shake? Mexico. I think you're going to explain it very well. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. I think Mexico win the group. I stand by that. I do not think Canada win their group. And as we discussed, all four teams in the USA's group go into the start of the work of thinking we've got a chance to top the group. So by virtue of that breakdown, Mexico for me are the happiest. Look at that. We just only spent about a year just absolutely dragging Mexico. And I was like, you know what? Timing is everything. Now it's like Mexico have the best group. They're probably going to top it. It's going to be smooth sailing. Grand, grand. Must be nice. Mexico, must be nice. All right. Well, this international window is pretty much winding down. That means club football will be making a return this weekend. And La Liga will be back on our networks, Atlético de Madrid and Cholo Simeone. I have a big one as they host Hansi Flick and Barcelona that's Saturday, 3 p.m. Eastern time. But join us 30 minutes before for the pre-show. All right. Well, that's going to do it for us then. We are back next week Monday where hopefully I would have recovered. Yeah. It bombs back quickly enough. You got used to it, Alexis. It bombs back quickly enough, Shaka. I tend to hang on to heartbreak. I'm fine. I am completely unfazed. You are not unfazed. I am. There is some stars. Trust me. I'm not all right. I'm going home and crying to my pillow right now. I probably have a couple of adult beverages. That's it for us on behalf of her, Shaka and myself. Thank you. Thank you for watching Football America. See you Monday.