Expectations for US Soccer Future

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You are listening to the Dan Lebatar show in partnership with the Draftkin Sports Act Now life in all fifty states So much crazy stuff here that not even making the rankings of crazy stuff is that a few years ago, the lacking in credibility front office of the Knicks decided that they were going to trade five first round picks for brridges because they wanted to specifically knock off the Celtics on the perimeter with their perimeter defenders and they did just can't believe That that happened, that that worked and that New York finished what was a very promising time for Boston. We will get to the United States victory, a giant soccer victory. And I will remind you, Mike Ryan is doing morally abhorrent, a very specific soccer podcast that's inside and outside of the show And he went live with reaction. So if you want detailed good coverage, immediate coverage that has some strong stuff in it that isn't just us yelling Gh states, that's already out. We're bringing in a mean now though. And before we do that, Jeremy, can you just give me the Bill Simmondons timeline on his public thoughts about everything happening with the Celtics over I'm gonna say the last six months or so Oh yeah tell me. Simmon said Janis's value was tanked The Celtics then offered Jayalen Brown for Janis but wouldn't give up Hugo Gonzalez and thus missed out so that the Miami heat get Janis for a big haul Then Simmons said that Jayalen Brown is worth a ransom And then he was traded for Paul George which Simmons described as one of the worst contracts in the NBA. I hate it Just went six to midnight. Am mean, That's a disturbing visual Zaz just went from six to midnight. I thought he was I didn't think he was at six. I you know, I was I was unaware that he was at six Qarter past three. You got it Yeah, Well I just I don't know what time it was. I don't want to think anymore about what's happening with that person wasnt at eight o'clock I was going to use another word that didn't have the L and clock. Can you tell me, I mean, if you've read anything, heard anything that makes sense to you about what Boston No. No, I haven't. Dan this is it's not going to get quite the same Vitriol because it doesn't come with the same unexpectedness But it is eerily similar to the Luadantis deal in this aspect You can internally surmise this guy's not good enough for us to move forward with What you cannot do is just accept anything when there is no pressure, there is no deadline hanging over you. They did not have to do this deal A lot of people are going to, you know, have ridiculed the Milwaukee bucks Guess what They decided they wanted a certain hall for Jan S L Kumpo. And if they weren't going to get it, they weren't going to trade him And so they dragged this thing out and was it awkward? Yes, it was awkward. And was it uncomfortable? Yes, it was uncomfortable. And were people frustrated? Yes, they were frustrated. By the end of the day, Milwaukee got what they were looking for. When it comes to Boston trading Jalen Brown, you cannot tell me that Paul George, who is nowhere near the equal or even approaching that at Dylen Brown at this stage of his career. And then aren't quite as sexy as they made it seem. Oh, ye got two first round picks. Not quite. Look through the details of that first pick that's coming through. It is very convoluted. In most scenarios, it's a swap. It's not an actual new pick that they get And then they get another first round pick in a couple of seconds. It just I don't know why they would agree to that ry a haul without any sort of real pressure of a deadline of his contract It's going to expire. We got to move him for something now for that to happen. And the kicker on all of this There's reported Swn Tarania said that the original Celtics demand was VJ Edgecb and they ended up with Paul Jordan and hand and five first round picks. not not just not just Edgecom. Ecom and five one delusional I mean, sure , it is delusional, but the idea is that you start there to end up with like ch coming two picks Right? You don't do that so you end up with Paul George A pick and then a weird pick swap. Yeah, but the contracts have to match. You need you need contracts to match. So we make the deal bigger Like guys, this isn't hard. the contracts have to match. So you guys I think Bobby Port is too. Okay Right? This is how this works. This's how the NB being works. The contracts have to match. That doesn't mean, well, this is the only way the contracts match. What are we supposed to do They kind of threw their hands up and you know, it and usually when it's feeles like this We're like, oh, I don't know why they would do that There's some element of, oh yeah, but they also got this guy. And you know, right now this guy isn't a big deal, but in a couple of years, he's got to be something else. That's how these deals work We're looking here at the Celtics and I'm like, whereere's the upside in this? Tell me where the upside is. It's not in the pick that's going to be a pick swap most likely. Maybe it's in a future unprotected Found pick But again, this team was a team that two days ago're saying, hey, if they bring the bad back together, it's going to be awkward, but this is a championship contending team still. And now I don't know if you can call them that, not in the Eastern confonference as isZ can you ask I mean the question? It's a very good question that you were asking in the first hour about the Paul George and just Paul George. Yeah I mean if a team Hold up The Sixers and said We will take Paul George but we're giving you nothing Would the Sters have said yes That's a good question. I think Fancially, obviously that helps them tremendously. The The flip side of that is does that make them better basketball wise? C they do something? Is there something actionable with that added flexibility that they can do right now? And I would say probably not. maybe there is, but probably not without what I'm saying basically is without a plan without oh, with this added flexibility, we can out and C and trade for Norman powerower, whatever was available out there. without that very real salient plan I don't think the Sixers would say yes because again, they're a team that fancy themselves as, hey, when we're healthy, we can contend and compete for a championship. And that's where I thought the Celtics were before this. Apparently I was wrong because they made some sort of internal calculus makes them feel like they're not as close to a championship. as well. I guess the rest of us thought Chris Can you do me the favor, please of asking the guestbookers to get me somebody in Philadelphia to give the other side of this that I can talk to that is excited about what the sixers presently are. See if we can get somebody in the next hour from Philadelphia to speak on behalf of Philadelphia. I mean you said, you know, there's no deadline, the timing of it is weird. So why is someone as in as Brian Windurst, saying that he is being told that this deal was made under duress by Boston So the duress is not when I say there's no deadline. Obviously the fight deadlines in February. Obviously Galen Brown's under contract for this year and next year and I believe an option after that. He's up for an extension, but there's no rule that says you got to get it done right now or else lose that ability or lose some sort of asset or lose some sort of flexibility. they had plenty of time to find a proper deal. And this comes back to a conversation Zaz that you and I had a couple of maybe it was a week ago or so about the idea that hey Did the Celtics have open conversations with this guy prior to the honest thing? Do you have that kind of relationship? Because then these things can be addressed and cut off at the head or what have you at the past I talked to Tony Allen last night and I said Tony, you guys had a team that was famously filled with big personalities ticket and Paul and Ray and Rondo and even guys like Big Baby and Tony himself. how did you guys resolve conflict? likeike who's going to get the ball? all those kind of things that happen in NBA locker room. And he said, yeah, we did it. It wasn't Doc. it wasn't Danny. We did in our locker room. We addressed these issues. We talked it about. when ticket came over, he said, Hey, Paul, I know you were the best player on a team that lost eighteen games in a row You're going to be our top offensive player. It goes to you unequivocally. Ray Allen same thing. B those guys were coming from winning situations. They walked in and said, Paul, you're going to be our lead offensive player and then we're all going to get in where we fit in thoseose kind of open conversations are necessary. and it doesn't look like anyone in Boston had an open conversation. If the duress was Jayalen's really upset Then address it. talkalk to them. stop being nonc confrontational. figure it out. And at worst, you could do what the Nets did with Kevin Duran a couple of years ago, which is, okay, we'll trade you. We're not going to do a bad deal though. So in the meantime, be professional show up, play hard And we will search for the deal that will get you out of here to somewhere you like And they did. He did. he respected it, he showed up. Ped well, he played hard. and the Eventually the Nets found the deal from the Phoenix Sons that got them the picks and got the Michuel Bridges who turned into a zillion picks and it's paid off for them. I do not understand just like the same way I felt when Luca Dones got traded I can understand trading Jayalen Brown. I can understand Lua Don getting traded. What I cannot understand is this is the deal you came up with. All right, couple of questions though, and this one's a quick one, just quick back and forth. It's a yes or no. You said the Luucca trade was a cratering trade for a franchise. Is this one? No because they still have Jason Tatum. And if he's anything near what he was before the injury, They'll be fine, but it definitely it is a massive blow. It's not cratering But it's a massive bl. Last question Take on the role of Brad Stevens right now talking privately with someone he actually trusts. Cody, I can hear your stomach. You need to start eating breakfast You're Brad Stevens. honest answer Best guess Why did you do this, Brad Why did you do this? This is his wife asking him, his kid who's heartbroken. Why did you do this? What's the honest answer? Th when tyypically smart basketball people and I think we all agree that Brad Stes is a smart guy As is the rest of his front office, Mike Zarin and Dave Lewin, these are all really bright basketball minds When they do something that seems totally out of whack It's usually one explanation Owner was on my ass on my head and he was not patient and I could not get him to just understand, hey, there's a long play for this. So we had to do it. You know what's funny? Everybody has a friend. I know a lot of these people. I've got a great business idea. Then six months later they still have the idea, a notes app full of half finished plans and absolutely nothing done The hardest part is actually getting started. 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Start your free trial at shhopify dot com slash Miami Dan that's shhopify dot com slash Miami Dan. Again, shhopify dot com slash Miami Dan Barshead brings to the deli the taste of deep fried turkey, one bite and flavor takes over. perfectly seasoned and deliciously golden fried, a backyard tradition available at the deli. presenting the Frier's turkey breast only from Barshead, Dcover the craftsmanship behind every bite at your local boarshead deli or deli counter S's head Committed to craft since nineteen oh five Excited for summer hosting a pool party, a barbecue or just looking forward to some relaxing time at home. 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You've got a market that has cratered and is giving you something in return that makes The entire internet laugh in chorus at you and consensus U it is so rare in sports to have one of these situations that's this kind of mystifying from smart people. Jimmy Haslam deserves a little bit of credit too because his whole logic and not taking Boston's offer was I don't want this problem. I don't want to have a superstar that doesn't want to be here. He didn't want to happen to Milwaukee. What just happen to Boston. Which is people know that I'm leveraged in this situation. He's disgruntled. Let me take a more sure thing and not invite this problem. Smells like Rses today. It's wild though. It really is wild to see the spectrum of Oh, John Moran is traded for that little because he's too dumb and Jalen is traded because he's too smart. Like it's just weird to have that be what's presently happening in be a spot right in the middle. Well I remember people were worried about drafting Jalen Brown Like this isn't a disease as everyone is calling it. Jayalen Brown has thought he's the smartest guy in the room for the jump because in many cases he is This a guy who was top of his high school class. He played on the chess team at Cal as well He was offered a NASA internship He took a master's class in his first semester at Berkeley And he taught a lecture at Harvard as the youngest person ever to do it. He is a brilliant guy, but he tweets like an NFL wide receiver, like I've been saying I betet he reads books too. Oh, loser. What did Chris Cody just shout in Yuck? No, but there was an alarm sound in there. Nerd alert. Okay Grag a lib L Greg Cody, I have been remiss. Where's the other guy I have been remiss in not talking about soccer from yesterday. awes. Well, I mean Belgium was awesome. It was awesome before it got to the United States. I don't know what kind of historic setup This was, I don't know whether you guys preferred Belgium or Senegal for the United States. I know they just beat Senegal before the World Cup started. That was very exciting. I think we won payback from Belgium, right? Senegal is very good, but I don't know what the historical context is for being down to nothing in a World Cup game in the eightieth minutes And you scored two goals and then win the game and don't need penalty kicks. like I just don't think that happens very often. Well, that obviously doesn't happen very often, but I don't have the historical context for how often that's happened in the World Cup. That doesn't happen a lot in soccer anywhere in soccer. That was awesome, but Mike, like they got jobbed at the end of extra time, right? likeike wasas that a penalty? I thought it was a penalty. Yeah, I thought it was a penalty when it happen. I was surprised that the commentators didn't go right there. It was a penalty I you get into this a trouble spot here where you're slowing things down as we saw with Balligan and that red card yesterday It was kind of bullshit call It was bullsh put the United States in a difficult spot. I understand the recent data points. Belgium crushed the United States very recently in a friendly and The United States looked really good against Senegue that kind of started this whole run that carried into the tournament I said the same thing before the match. I'll say it right now. Gimm me Belgium. I think individually they're not as good as their their badge suggests. I think Senegal athletically and just talent wise top to bottom provided more challenges for the United States especially with Balligan out. So givem me Belgium and yes, the Wandalowski miss the Tim Howard sacrificing his body against Belgium and an instant classic Match I want the revenge against Belgium. I don't even think it's close in my opinion. I prefer the U.S to play Belgium. Belgium's an old team and a slower team, the United States youth and speed, I think is going to really show. You and I weren't saying that to start that Belgium Senegal game. We were watching that together. You and I were both like, I think Senegal, I'd rather play then like twenty minutes into the game. we flipped our take. No that's absolutely not true. That's not the way I remember you lying I When I was not lying, Greg was into the beers. When have trouble remembering. Okay a nice sa or teeam beer Buzz. Okay, before I even left the house And Senegal scored one nothing. I said man, Senegal looks good Senegal So did that four the b. So you were you were misnoted by your son. I just want to be clear here. Your son just put forth what was your opinion. You're calling him a liar. I'm saying he's mistaken You're saying he's lying. I would much rather play how many times do I have to say that? I would much rather play Belgium than I would say No, it's not how many times you have to say today. What were you saying about twelve hours ago? Your son is saying you were saying the opposite twelve hours ago. I was Arminr like with like thirteen of my friends. I we should open up a bar together. I just remember you and I together having the moment of like, I think I've changed my mind here And you we were like in lock step with it. I cannot be held accountable for what I say fourteen Beers de. Okay know this about me. It wasn't fourteen. It was like twelve Don't besmmerge me U no, it it I would rather play Belgium. There's They're old and slow. All right, we got it. Can we listen to my dad celebrating the first goal I take that one away because they had just taken a goal away a few minutes before. That' number ten.. Can you guys freeze it on him please? because originally there, he looks a lot like Freddy Kruger. I'm told that we have a number of different. We have tellell me he doesn't look like your nightmare's Freddy Kruger right there. If I told you right now that he had claws for hands, that he had a hook on one of his hands, you would not be surprised by that We have a number of videos from Greg Cody telling the states to let's go. Let's see st. Let's see some more of the video of Greg Cody drinking a ton of beer. try to please me. Don't change the color Oh Thank you. Good night everybody. That's the beauty of being in a watch party you can say anything. That's what we did during our hydration break. It seemeems like I wasn't the only one ten deeper F the light you know it. Well Greg, I heard the the slur at the end of that. You may have heard the slur as well in his thank you. Before we get to the third video and before we get to the slur though The thing that's most encouraging to me this United States run. whatever it is you thought they were going to do when they initially come out and surprise us by being that aggressive in game one, winning for one and announcing to the world. Oh, maybe they will be an aggressive offense. The thing that's most encouraging to me about winning this game ugly is that when a week before A tournament that's every four years. they still didn't know who their goalkeeper is Three of the games where they were trying their hardest are three World Cup games They've allowed one goal. Like one goal. they didn't know who their keeper was going to be before this thing started a week before it started and in three World Cup games and I think they were favored against Bata why, right? They were favored. They've been favored in all of the games to win the games, but it's not just that they scored that way in the first one. they're not allowing anybody to score against them either when they're trying So it's hard to tell what's happening there because you'd like to say, well There was a certain point against Bosnia where Freez made two saves. The elements provided a tricky situation for the goalkeeper with the shadows and the swirling win. Freezes made two saves pretty early on and the commentators said and that is the same amount he had of saves throughout the entire tournament so far. He only had two saves. to that match and he matched it within the first couple of minutes against Bosnia I still think the United States plays a style that willfford teams chances I think that what happened against Turkey was against a second team. So that's not a real data point, but I think in the ramp up against Senegal against Germany This style has its drawbacks for the United States. Tim Rem is older. he can get caught out of position. He can get caught flat foooted or flatly. He's just not fast folks. And it'll lead to chances. I do think Belgium will score. I don't know if I want I certainly want to believe that. I think the world of Chris Richards. I think he's a hugely important player for the US. want to believe what? That that this defense is for real But I do think that we're going to concede some chances against the next opponent. I thought when the US was on the red for the final thirty minutes of the game yesterday, I mean, granted, Bosnia, Herzegovina, they they had control and some chances for like the first five. You know, or so minutes when they were on the red, but the rest of the game there, the US had possession, they were getting scoring chances down a man. I thought the US looked fantastic. Would you be interested in some reaction from Greg Cody an indiscriminate number of beers in, but the spectrum seems to be between twelve and fourteen beers in Reacting That was by your own admission. You knocked it down to fourteenoking I was kidding. Well, I heard the slur in your voice and we're gonna to go do an investigation of that slur in a second they got extra tall one. So if it's twenty four ounces, that's still one beer. So here is the sound and the reaction of Greg Cody reacting, I'm sure quite reasonably to the red card All right. Hey that's what I'm talking about US up one nill at the second half hydration break and hey that's what I'm talking about except that red card, that was absolute bullge. Thank God. Why are you always thinking it? All right, here's the thing Levotard always says I'm a homer. okay? I'm not a homer for the local teams. I have one home team and it's the United States, whether it's the men or the women playing soccer, whether it's on ice. I cheer for my country unabashedly. Okay, so let's get that out of the way. But it was what makes you say that? I couldn't tell from the way that you were dressed. Okay I feel like there's a real need for you to say that you che like an old woman. Unamashionedly, you look like an old Ukrainian woman who happens to be wearing a United States scarf around her neck for some reasonll everybody. Okay. Listen to this listen to this. this is Elvis during the peanut butter and Nana stage when he was hooked on pills Thank you. Good night everybody All right, I do want to say one thing about the Balligan Rd card, which will eliminate him playing against Belgium. That's crazy by the way. I worry about that's not a small that's not a small thing. It's a terrible. It was a pyric victory by the US because it's a win that comes at great cost. I am very concerned that because of that what a striker he's been in this World Cup for the US. and I am concerned that they are much less a team without Balligan and I think it shifts The way I'm thinking about the Belgian game a little bit, I still expect them to win, but I think that's a. That's a real loss. this guy Is he doing the things that everyone was expecting and has been expecting for the last four years from polisic? Well need Polisic needs to this is so huge now for Pistic that Balgan is out next game Christian Palic has been the states's best player for a long time and now with Bgan out He needs to go out there and win the US. a World Cup game. Balligan's been their best, most consistent attacking player. I thought Christian was actually kind of bad in the early parts of that game and started coming alive when they actually went down a man, but Balligan Not since Brian McBride, have I had this much faith in a striker that when he gets into a threatening position is going to get a shot on frame. The goal that he had I' say the casual observer. they don't understand the amount of power and skill that takes to keep the ball at his feet, dribble through two tackle attempts in the box and go five hole on the goalkeeper That is Lass and it is what was promised when Balligan came on the scene. Now Pppy, I am a huge fan of Ricardo Peppy. I think highly of them. He's had some injuries and he has he's had some puzzling dips in form. But Pppy and I think is our best option. If We were on better form, I'd argue Hey, let's kick pull aic up top. He can play that striker role a little bit and you don't lose that much with We on on the wing, but way has been bad for like the last six months It's got to be pullistic. It's got to be peppy. I have faith in them. I think it's enough Polistic is going to need to be better Y If you guys want more instant analysis and deep in the weeds on soccer stuff, morally abhorrent is already out and it covers the particulars of the game For twenty two years on this show, we've debated the greatest athletes of all time. Who's the goat in football? Who's the goat in soccer? 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One of the things that I'm surprised by. and Mike, you weren't here when we were having this argument because everyone here was hopeful and everyone here was saying, not unlike Landon Donovan had given some voice to and some other people had given some voice to when they said, it's not ridiculous to think that the United States can win the World Cup. And then Tim Howard said, it is ridiculous. It's totally impossible. I happen to agree with Howard. However, And I still agree with him because I believe that when this gets into the deeper stages, they're really outclassed and And that's no indictment of them that I can't believe. is we're headed into our fifth game World Cup So this now classifies as a run, whether you think it's diluted or not. It classifies already as a run, but this is the most surprising thing to me. and it's just not a place that I had American soccer. and it's certainly not how we've been talking about American soccer for twenty to forty years, which is They've been favored in all five of the games. They're going to be favored against Belgium. They are slightly favored Not as much as they would have been Belgion was available. Well they're minus one hundred and thirty on Draft King sports and Belgium is plus one hundred five. But still to have the United States favored for five straight games and then meet the expectations and exceed the expectations makes this already Better than anything I thought they were going to do and they have already exceeded expectations for what American soccer is because they've turned themselves into a team that has the respect of being the favorite when they've never been that. Like that's just not a position in the sport they have ever occupied They could play five World Cup games when I'm guessing in their history, they probably haven't been favored in the entire history of United States soccer. I'm guessing in the World Cup, they probably have not been favored five times. They do have a fortunate round of sixteen draw though. They do. I mean, Belgium Senegal was going to be an easier draw than a lot. They could be playing France right now I mean, it's it's they lucked out in that sense. aggree, but still Th having the placement of American soccer in the way everyone's talked about American soccer And to my dad's point of like undercutting your point a little bit, the host nation does get a favorable group. So whereas if they weren't hosting they'd be a tougher group probablyably wouldn't have been. We were talking about this team probably having trouble qualifying forent the last four years. Poachino is already the winningiest manager in US World Cup history. love that guy the whole new world. loveove his alfit overver here. I What a vibe. I understand why peopleople like,y, man, we're feeling good Tim Howard, Wh are you taking away or feel good? And I do think that hey, when you're a host nation and you look as good and as threatening as the United States do, all the cards are on the table. anything is possible. But while they've had a favorable draw thus far and Belgium counts, even though they're a name brand. once they get past that, you're looking at either Spain or Portugal. and then France in the seminal ever. againgain Packet one hundred thousand people Jerry worldorld. you already in the semifinal against France. I mean, this is beyond our wildest streames. Let's go for it. Let's shoot for the moon. But the the for bumps The fortune if it didn't end with Balligans Red will end beyond Belgium if they get that photone. Yes.' Yeah I agree with you because then the opponents get super tough For me, France is far and away the best team in this tournament You take away France and I think the U.S is in the mix with anybody else. But I don't agree it's already been a successful. No G it I think that No they've been here before. Keep in mind This is a forty eight team tournament, not thirty two. They have been here before. They were expected to beat Bosnia It's an even match up. I don't care what the odds say with Belgium. If they beat Belgium, which is a name brand higher rank than them. if they beat Belgium, I think that qualifies this as an unequivocal successful tournament for the US. If they lose the next round, I think it's a feeling is going to be one of great deflation. My dad, he's not wrong. If if you look at their world ranking, it's about where they're at right now, fifteen, sixteen, fourteen talking about the Coca Cola FF m'sankings saying Based off those rankings, they should be on top six This is this is where I disagree with him though because the idea that the United States is playing for round of eight and you have the expectations that make you disappointed if they don't win. is the United States as a soccer power is further along than it's ever been when they've created the expectation, not the hope the expectation that will leave you dispirited if they don't beat Belgium. Like don't tell me that's not a success because it's a success right now. It's it They can lose and I understand the idea that it's disappointing and I understand that you're between hope and belief. But I've never expected anything from the American team. So when you're talking about historic power and And you guys are sitting here with what I believe is the delusion of saying that what comes after that isn't monster after monster after monster that would and should be heavily favored against the United States. The idea that you guys are already beyond hope and hope into belief I belief where you're going to be disappointed because you got expectations, That is a seismic difference in how you're viewing US soccer. Dan, how could it not be considered a disappointment if they lose to Belgium? when they're favd. Like they're favored against Belgum That would be a disappointment if they lose that I'm just placing for you both the historical context, the resumes of the countries and where American soccer has been for my entire lifetime You are not allowed. Are you giving me the finger pal You are not allowed to say, I am giving it to you a new way. I'm trying to reolize the fing fingers like with them, you know, you rarely see it like that anymore. Yeah, double guns over. Yeah. Yeah. What I am saying is that If the United States as the host country in twenty twenty six is playing for the round of eight against what can be considered a soccer power and. They're favored to win because of how they've played in this tournament, not because of their reputation before it, because if I placeaced this game in front of you before the tournament, you would not have had them in almost any circumstance in the round of eight favored. It's because of how they've played in this tournament, neglecting the last forty years of American soccer. Well when do we get to raise the expectation then? when No, it's now I'm saying By raising the expectation that is the success. I'm telling you right now, I understand everybody wants to win. But once the expectations are raised to I expect them to win and advance to the final eight teams in the World Cup, you have advanced US soccer further than it's ever been in the history of the sport in this country. No matter what the bracket is No matter that you're the host country. I think you're acting like this is nineteen ninety four. The US. soccer program is fully grown right now. It's a fully grown program They're fifteenth ranked in the world. They were thirteenth ranked a few months ago. I don't know why they dipped. In the Coca Cola Fifa men's rankings? In the FIFA Coca Cola men's rankings. That's right. Which is it? is it FF Coca Cola? It's Cca Cola Fifa men's rankings. Yeah, I'm drinking a Coke when I look at the rankings every time U no good one. Listen, this is a real soccer country right now. We're not the NASL days when we hope to compete with everybody. We're grranted, we had an easy group stage, I think, a moderately easy group stage moderately and and Bosnia was not a great opponent. Now we're tested. Now we're tested And if Baligan is on the pitch, I think we beat Belgium now. I'm not so sure. but like them tonight everybody. Exactly. Let me do this another way for you guys, Okaykay? because I understand Yeah. the play recently has altered expectations. I think we're in agreement on this and I understand why we get caught up in the enthusiasm of the patriotism and it's just wonderful when you can combine both of the two best things in sports, the surprise, and patriotism If Id told any of you before the tournament This run gets through the group wins a game I'm not giving you any any other information. I'm just telling you they're playing for the round of eight Success or not success. meets expectation Yes, I would have expected that I thought that was the that was a let's let's at least get to the round of sixteen that meets expectation. This is where the program should have been. The only reason why we had so much doubt was