Excellent Football Jokes and Closing

Hey, Pablo Torere here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now. And there is one thing that I can promise you Nothing compares to the World Cup. And this time it is even better thanks to McDonald's, You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal The cups feature some of the biggest legends football, like David Beckham, Teron Ree and Ronaldino, Christian Palisk Laminia Mal and Alfonso Davies. Right now, get one of nine Legendary cups when you order the FFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's at participating McDonald's only for a limited time, while supplies last, All rights reserved, copyright twenty twenty six, McDonalds at the FIFA World Cup, twenty twenty six This episode of the TFo Football podcast is sponsored by Boss, businesswar provider for the US men's national soccer team Long before kickoff, the performance has already begun. 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Wear your passion your way and be your own boss at boss. com or at your nearest boss store Meters, no matter what pitch you play on, a big win feels the same. electric It's that moment when you read the play before the trend even starts. Beat the clock on a campaign with a little help from AI And connect with customers in real time, like you've trained for it your whole career. That's contontentful. World class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully. Create and launch personalized content in an instant. accross every channel your customers are watching. No chaos, no limits, just open theme Take your shot at contentful. comot Hello and welcome to the TeFO Football podcast. I'm Joe Devine. That's right, and I'm delighted to be joined by Al Nash, live from London. It's Sunday night Yeah Yeah. Yeah, you like that? I love it. Fantastic. Now And I'm Joe Devine, of course, and I'm also delighted to be welcomed today by John Mackenzie. Hello and Kaya Kyan. I said welcome by John MackKenzie there. That fun. Yeah. I' done a few times. Welcome. But I am welcomed by John Mackenzie. are. welcome Joe. Now it's a podcast. we're here to talk about the World Cup What have we got on today's show Well so many things I was going to have you as my co host down there. I was going to have you read out the intro, but I forgot to text it to you ahead of time. so I'll just read it now. Sure. Yeah. Here's what we talked about today. Germany's statement seven one win over Curusaow. Will history repeat itself, wr, Steve. It In fact, just to be clear, Steve didn't write that, but he's here in spirit with, isn't he Let's see the national mananshaft. Lift the trophy once more. D I get that right? No, I said that wrong. I knew I was gonna say that wrong. They taught me how to say it correctly two times. But alas, what can you do Old dogs. Now, the Netherlands and Japan played out a two w all draw. We talk about that. veryery exciting. We play the game. Do I hate this? or am I an old man?? veryery exciting. That's going to be good. Oh, we play a Rndo. Do you know what a Rndo is, Al Nash? in the context of podcasting. I'll tell you all about it later. G. Don't you worry. Now we also play a new game that's based around items that have been bought secondhand from eBay. JJ and John are involved in that. JJ iss not here today, he's here tomorrow, but we'll still be able to see what he bought. eBay. now We also talk about the USA's impressive start as one of the hosts and why John knew that they would be so good. Scotland they beat Haiti last night, but could they have scored more goals and will it come back to bite them? And Brazil struggled of course, against an impressive Morocco side Oh, and then we check in on our summer version of Ps Abad. That's already very, very tense. and at the end we read some new jokes in a segment called Excellent Football Jokes. That's going to be fun. Look out for that. Did I miss anything producer Ryan No A down a shake of the head over there. How about that Normally I read that at the end, so when I finish the intro, I just sort of slump into my chair and everyone goes home, but it's the beginning of the show so I can't do that can I I must maintain the same energy and remember when I'm editing this late at night after the stream is finished that I must now add the entrance music It was it was the flute that the flute played in my ear. I did it. Very exciting. It was in the wrong place, but we'll get it right tomorrow. o. Now, let's start, of course, with Germany seven One, Curaco. My co host Al Nash, would you mind reading the second message I sent you there? I'll be honored Germany beat World Cup newcomers Curacao seven won it in a statement win this afternoon. They did out ye. Curacao didn't leave with nothing though. They scored their first ever, John ever World Cup goal? They did. I love that you read that like a joke. It was actually no joke. It happened. It was no joke at all. veryer serious game of football. J I mean there's a couple of interesting things here John. The first one though let me come to you is yan the andight beforehand producer Run, we tried to write this question in several different ways, but we reduced it to just how good are Germany? Because I'm sort of somewhat surprised and also not surprised at the same time Yeah, and as Ryan mentioned in the beginning of our stream, it's kind of hard to judge where Germany are at in these tournaments often We talked a little bit as well about how with Julian Nagsman, I think he's probably the best tactician who's up there. mayaybe maybe Thomas Tule there as well And so as a result, you get the you get the impression where the German national team that there's always that tension between if things go well then everyone's like, yeah, this is this is great. but if things go badly, it it will descend into a debate about did we make the most of the players that we had worry too much about the structural collective over the top aspect? Should we just have got our best players in the best positions for them to do well? And yeah, know that will be the way that the debate will go. But I think it was pretty good signs for Germany in so far as under Naglman, I think they have a lot of flexibility. They can play in different ways Yulian Nagsman when he was at Bayon played one season where he was doing a lot of Pet guuardiola things. So a lot of a lot of sort of nice neat tidy positional play structures where you could not only progress the ball in a consistent way, but you can defend the breakdown if you lose it. but also in the second season, introduced a bit more of a Germanic influence into the team. So playing a little bit more direct a little bit with the players closer together through the middle, bring in the players I guess into positions where they're able to integrate with one another and they have the ability to do that. And they did that a little bit in the game today. I thought they started off playing a little bit more compact in the centre through the middle, but then using combinations overloads in wide areas in the second half as well to get things out of it. So I think that will be very much the story for for Germany we'll have to see them play against. a better opponent than Curuso, but I think the idea will be will Yulion and Narglos be able to find the solutions when they need to? And if in the moment when they if they don't and they don't manage to do that, whether or not the conversation will then become, oh well we should have just done the simple thing and put our best players in the best positions. Yeah Yeah as TV's Al Nash said earlier, Kx didn't leave with nothing. and it sounds almost you know, humorous to say, they did score one goal in the seven one defeat. But it is their first ever W Cup goal. I'm sure it was celebrated at home. Yes, yes, it's a massive moment for the smallest nation at the World Cup and I think it was only a decade or so ago that they announced their intention to try and get to the World Cup. They had Patrick Cleliber as their coach. they've done a great job of recruiting players to be part of the national team, but also King in touch with that Dutch diaspora and also the people who live on the island, there's a real strong bond and I think the people who were there today We're really proud to see Curisa at tournament for the first time and no matter what the score was, I think they were going to be proud and have have a good time. So I think the first goal was an amazing moment for them. When it came, it was A real sort shot out the blue because Germany had been dominating in the first few stages of the game and you're thinking how many could this be It turned out to be quite a lot, but I think you start to think for Karis how that kind of moment is a moment not to forget. I mean, there are other parts to the game that maybe we willll come on to later in terms of their momentum and how it was being built up and maybe got stunted. but Yeah, I think I think you listen they'll have that memory forever. They'll be very proud of the way they played. and this was their toughest game. So I think they'll go into other games thinking we've shown that what we can do. I know they kind of fell apart a bit towards the end of the game and they were picked quite sorry quite easily, but as John's outlined, Germany a good team who will do that too A lot of countries at this World Cup, and I think there's no shame in how Kosaal played today. and the goal is an amazing moment for them. How far do you think Germany will go It's a good question. It's always hard to say at this stage because of the whole third place thing and not being able to like plot a routot to the final and the brackets and all that kind of stuff. But I think when I was doing predictions I said they get around the quarter fininals They just kind of feel like where they are in terms of maybe the top eight teams in the tournament. I think they have quality to go beyond that if the sort of circumstances are right, but I don't thinkQf would be a bad finish for this squad. I think they do have some weaknesses in key areas like the fullb back positions. they may be lacking a bit Um yeah, so I think It's interesting. They can definitely cause a lot of teams, a lot of problems, but P probablyably about quter finals. I think as well with the German national team. there's been they've got a lot of key players who haven't necessarily played a lot recently or coming back from injury or haven't had good seasons. So forM Vts, we don't need to tell people of listeners of this podcast of the season he's just had. And I think that's going to be a sort of big question that hangs over them. like what difference will it make them all coming together for the national team and whether or not they can get up to speed quickly, which is why I think it's good for them to a ton of goals in today and just you know, feel relaxed that they, you know, that they can produce when they're when they're together. So we could see, yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing Floring Vitz showing everyone why will spend so much money on him Now Al Nash, I know you've been on holiday. You haven't watched loads of these games yet so far. But do you have a sense of who you think might win the World Cup U I've got a funny feeling about Portugal. Yeah. You know how funny? Pretty hilarious, Iess. Yeah yeah ye. No, I think I think Fernandez has had an amazing season, and I think you'll carry on that form And I think Ronaldo is going to finally lift that trophy. You think so? And we're all rooting for him aren't we? I wonder if Ronaldo were somehow to be out of the team, he might be more likely to lift the trophy. It is possible. This is a theme continues from the Eururos that we saw two years ago Itsd isn't, that you have you have an un take outable star in the team there? I guess it's not so much of a of an issue for other teams of theorld Cup Yeah, I think this is going to be one of the big questions of this World Cup in particular because I feel as though You know, it almost feels asough we've moved beyond the We have one star in our team and we just try and make them do everything. Teams are so much more collective than they've ever been, that the level of the domestic game is so high and we're seeing a lot of the tactical ideas that we see in domestic football sort of leaching their way into the games. And I think that's going to be really interesting. I said in the preview to our live stream that I expect there to be more upsets in this tournament than we've ever seen before, just because I think there's so many teams now who could just shift tactical shapes because they're doing that domestically all the time. They're happy to move around and for example, just watching Japan today. I know we're going to get ono Japan, but how well coached they are out of possession in a mid block is it's like impressive if you see a domestic team doing that where they're training a number of times a week and they're constantly working on the same shape to be able to get a group of players together who are playing all around the world. We said like there's a lot of them in the JLague but there's you know, they've got a hundred players or so around Europe playing in different teams, different levels. to be able to bring them all together in a very short space of time and get them that well coached is remarkable. So yeah, I think that we're going to see The big questions I think about this team has got X player who we think of as being really good Are they actually holding the team back in some way because you know, if you start trying to build the team around one player, everything else can fall apart. And that's the big Thomas Doual thing, right is you're not trying to get the twenty six best players on the pitch. You're trying to build the best team. and that doesn't necessarily mean that in every position you're going to have player who is thought of as the best in that position. actually, you can leave your fil phoners at home, you can leave your coal palmers at home and still have a very functional team. Big calls from John MackKenzie and Thomas T. Joint calls, I believe. Al, wouldould you mind leading us into the next section? Netherlands two to Japan Now Joal, I'll tell you for free Japan came back late to draw two two against an impressive Netherlands team. They're tough group. Wow. Re toughy. Yeah Now the Netherlands Joe are tipp by some Not myself, but some do say they may go deep in this tournament. ten places above Japan In the FIFA rankings. How about that? How about it, Thankks, Al Youre welcome. That was fun. Now John, let me come to you. Japan, They've come to this tournament with two of their key players missing, End Matoma, not there. Today's result was you know pretty good. like comoming back later on, as Al said, two two against the Netherlands team Does it feel this is od place to start maybe, but does it feel like somewhat this could be, you know a what could have been moment if Japan did have all of their stars at the tournament that maybe they could have even won this game? Yeah, So Endo is the captain of the Japanese national team, I believe And then Mittima was scoring plenty of really nice goals in the run up scored a goal against England, I think in that game that England lost And so really unlucky to lose Mittima as as an option. They were able to bring in Dys and Maeda from from Celtic who is a really good out possession player. So that will have it will have changed the dynamics a little bit, But yeah, when you have players like Mittima who who are so that's just so creative, so able to cause problems at this level. if you lose a player like that, it can have a massive dint on your tournament. So yeah, I think it's again, it's a testament to the fact that they can just they can just absorb those those kind of losses and still look like a really well coached team. But they will be thinking now, you know, if we had those players could we have maybe come out on top in this game? Who are the other two groups in teams in group F Sweden, Sweden and Tunisia and Tunisia. Yeah. So I mean, yeah, so like kinda Japan will be will be feeling presumeably be very confident about qualifying. Yeah. I think both teams will be happy with the point in the scheme of things particularly given that four points is probably going to be enough to get you through. If you win one of your two remaining games, chances are you'll be into the aroundound of thirty two. So yeah, a good result for them overall, both of them. yeah. Yeah. It's also quite fun when the two teams that you might expect to finish top of the group draw because it means that then it then almost becomes they if they win both their games, it then becomes a sort of who can score the most goals kind of will get through and you you'll probably see a little bit of gamesmanship in terms of trying to work out which route is better than the first or second place one. So yeah Well, we're going to talk about that again when it comes to Scotland shortly as well. Kyl, we mentioned already that the Netherlands might be a team that go deep into the tournament. Why are people predicting them to do that And also you you werebe a touch, unimpressed. Yeah. So in answer to your first question, it might seem obvious but they've got quite a lot of good players. They've lost a bit like Japan lost an important player before the Wor Cup. lost Javy Symons, who. is massive for them to an ACL with spurs onene of several Spurs players who picked up serious injuries this season, but bit of arsenal layer you b up not me, I didn't say anything. But think of the Arsenal medical the Spurs Medicalpartment. Spurs Medical department. I think they've done a great job. I think that shouldn't be underestimated in the role that first stayed up, but for Holland, they have good Premiereague players, obbvly the Premier League is held up as The best league in the world by a lot of people. a lot of the best players a lot of the best teams are from Holland Virgil van Dyke is still very important player for the Dutch team, and obviously score today a really good header, very big threat from set pieces, defensively They're really strong. They've got a good midfield as well. It's up frront where I think Maybe they're lacking. and I think maybe sometimes Ronald Cumin's tactics play into that a bit and he's generally a pragmatic coach. I know before in our sort of pre live stream show, John was talking about Ronald Cumin kind of ranning against his pragmatic label, but I think He's a coach who has shown himself across multiple managerial jobs now to be someone who would rather maybe lock a game down than go out in this case when they were two and up switched to a back five quite late but on Nathan Ake, I think for Rinders or sacrifice midfielder for a defender to go to a back five and that invited Japan ono the Netherlands and that's kind of when they lost control of the game, which I felt In the second half, I know Japan were causing quite a few problems, but they were relatively comfortable. It didn't feel like Japan were peppering the the Dutch goal. I think once they started to sit a bit deeper, they invited apan on to them and as you go further and further into the tournament, particularly when extra time and penalties and all that come into play If you go in front and you try and shut games down like that, it is certainly a valuable way of a valid way, sorry of playing in a ourn at footpoint it can take you far and the Netherlands have gone probably further than people have expected in recent years, semifs of the euros t finds the lastorldup and only lost to Argentina the eventual winers on penalties. So they've got that pedigree, but I think Kom's tactics sometimes maybe invite a bit more pressure on them than they need. So yeah, I just felt today in the game kind of didn't serve them that well, but it's always, you know, easy to be wise after the fact, but I just feel his pragmatism always help them that much. Maybe a lack of depth there as well for the Dutch team, right? And when you look at the Sbs are bringing on Quentin Timber, Ton Coop Mers, Manphester Pie shows that they've got a bit of a lack in forward areas in particular. Nathan Ackkey, Brian Bobby as well. So not not a bench that you feel as though in big games maybe will do a huge amount to turn tides. Yeah. Who do you think's going to finish top up of that group It's a good question. Al Nash, what do you think Uh I think it will be Netherlands yeah, despite is very good sumation their ups and downs. I think they just have enough to overline Fair enough. I distracted you a lot during that game peppering you with question.edily Yeah, yeah. Yeah yeah Hey, Pablo Torere here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now. And there is one thing that I can promise you Nothing compares to the World Cup And this time it is even better thanks to McDonald's, You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FIFA World Cup meal The cups feature some of the biggest legends football like David Beckham, Terry H Ree, andond Dinio, Christian Palisk Laminia Mal and Alfonso Davies. Right now, get one of nine leegendary cups when you order the FFA World Cup meal only at McDonald's at participating McDonald's only for a limited time, while supplies last, All rights reserved copyright twenty twenty six, McDonalds at the FIFA World Cup, twenty twenty six Hold up. This is your minute Is's your minute In this life This day Sure day Play Play, to make, to move. Move through to explore It's your morning to share Your weekend to shape, to cook. To soak, to listen to, to wait It's your body to rest, to nourish, to grow your mind, you know It's your place, your country, your life, to love, to rise, to dream Change. It's your world as much as anyone's. It's your world to understand The New York Times. Find out more at nYtimes dot com slash your world O, well, would you guys like to play a game called Am I an Old Man now? or is it okay to really hate these things? I gott to write that down somewhere because I keep changing what the game is called every time I describe it. But now guys, the World Cup so far it's been fun. We've enjoyed some of the games, I've enjoyed some of the moments, but also there have been things that have caused me to be liid with fury And I don't know what I want to understand from you guys today is whether it's okay for me to be so angry or am I just becoming an old man sort of shouting at a cloud, right So here's the first thing I don't like I don't like the music that they pump into the stadium every opportunity. I find that very upsetting. or I suggest that they could at least play something that doesn't feel like it's been sort of corporately selected Do I have any appreciators of this sentiment in the room, anyone that would care to argue the other way, Perhaps music in a stadium is a good idea sry, Th specific songs for certain moments? I don't think so. I just think any when I've been watching the live broadcast, like anytim the game stops or anyt timee there's there's a play certainly before games as well and after games. they just kind of pump very loud sort of bad music. I remember going to a hockey match once girlfriend at the time's family Um pointoless detail but I' said it now. The whole family. It would think Ive it alsoout the whole entire imediate family.. Yeahah. Had you met them before? F family? Yes, ye, There's field hockey. Field hockey. Yeahah, yeah, yeah And I remember at the time I forget the song, this is so not worth the anecdate. but I remember at the time they'd picked a certain song. It was a penalty and the song corresponded. It was sort of a countdown type song Like a song that had like a five forward thr or whatever the hell. And at the end they to do the penalty. Yeah. that's if you have to put a song in there to generate the atmosphere of the moment, then the game is clearly quite boring. Right. So I wonder if they're choosing particular songs for the moment? I don't think no, I don't think they are. Although you've sparked a memory in me I recently went to see a hockey game, an ice hockey game. Alexander Palace. Yes.ay Husky. Harring Gay Huskies.'mfrequently go there Terrific team,? Peter Cck in goal. Yeah veryer good. Anyway, I quite enjoyed the music there because it felt appropriate. it felt like it fit the ice hockey vibe. Oras I don't know, there's something in me that doesn't appreciate seeing a stadium sort of full. I think what it is that I don't appreciate the planned fun vibe with football. then but then maybe that's just me being a grumpy old man. It is the American approach to sports particularly in their dames and we've got a video coming out on TFo sports pretty soon about American Stadium culture and how they approach fandom and it's viewed as a an entertainment product as well as a sport, which I think I think a lot of peoplee who are used to watching football will be very aronted by as the title of this game proves. But I think yeah, that's kind of how it's viewed. so When people are spending lots and lots of money on tickets, I think the American stadiums justify it by saying, well, it's not just the game we're providing. Look at this funky music we're piping into the stadium, Yeah. How about that? Is just the sort of knock on impact of the commercialization of the sport, right? when you're making the sport into a bit more of a product and and it's kind of like an event that you go to then you're not getting a lot of fans through the door who know a lot of the traditional songs. And so what they're doing now is everyone plays Heijude, everyone plays sweet Caroline.. S sweet Caroline. If you don't sing it like that you say sweet Caroline. Sightly different. I hadn't really thought about that before. And I think I find that quite annoying because it is it's just a sort of a reminder that you have to play songs that people already knowort would generate atmosphere rather than actually build an atmosphere from regular match going fans. likeike with North London forever Yeah, I have a lot of respect for Arsen for doing that, right? It's hard to achieve that kind of thing, but yeah Okay, here's another thing I hate I hate it so far When their camera has cut to famous people in the crowd that are not related to football. I'm trying to I do think that's not a uniquely American thing. I want to make it clear because they do do it in the UK as well, although the famous people you see are like, the prince is there. or you know we've seen Rod Stewart about seventeen times in the last week or so. But I am finding it frustrating that it does appear that any opportunity a breaking play Maybe this was mainly during the first US game as well where there were many celebrities that congregated, so it might might go a little easier during the tournament, but know I find it annoying when they cut to famous people cut to Alast cut to. I did that to me at the wrexing game, weren't you? Did they? Wow, that's an honor, isn't it? Very strange. How about that And do you have the biggest double chain in the world and just looks horrendous, but. Do you have any relation to football professionally Um anyy rel Is there like a relation? Well, I mean, I guess you break you break my rule, don't you? They shouldn't have cut to you in the case of my rule because you're not an athlete or It was a wrexom game, I guess Humphrey was there who writes for us andal. That was the connection, c. That's true. A nice connection. They love a connection. A good one. Okay They cut to two famous people. remember from that? The main one I remember is Tom Brady, who wass an athlete, and I think that one's kind of okayed the secret handshakes with Finge daughter. I'm trying to think of other famous people that they cut to you Part of my problem is that most of the time I don't know who they are, but they've got an air of face.bled and I love it. Okay Ben Stiller at Wimbble, and you're like, Ohh, but is that is the nature of the event? It's kind of very quiet and very sort of like Maybe it's a sort of fish out of water thing. you don't expect to see Ben Stiller at the tennis. There's lots of breaks in play as well for these sports whereas we' true Yeah for football, you're like, Ohh great we're going to see a buildup sequence and then it's like, oh, no, we've just got Rod Start for a few seconds and then you're like, oh, suddenly they' they're now shooting What's going on here? Right? Well, this brings me to my next one, which is I really don't like the drinks breaks. Kya, I know you agree with me about this. Yes. Th are the hydration breaks that happen for three minutes in the middle of each half. Y, regardless of how hot the weather is that. Qite literally rain or shine. Yeah. And people in the UK won't have seen adverts for these during the broadcast because we have offc rules that don't allow for that. But I'm sure in other countries that won't be the case. Yeah. And there have been instances where the games have been delayed because those adverts have been late to come back or I think in America I read that I think Henry Bushll wrote this in the athetic that some people watching American coverage had missed part of the game because the adverts were late to come back. But Today, the drinks break was kind of at its worst and I think kind of what people have been so fearful about with it that it's going to kill momentum for teams. So curious how score in the twenty first minute The drinks breaks come normally twenty two, twenty three minutes in and it completely stunted the momentum. and the worst bit about it was it was, I think where it was in, I think it's either Houston or Dallas. I think it's Houston was pouring with rain, the roof was closed. So it wouldn't have been a case of it's too hot, we need this drinks break It would have been a case of this is an air conditioned stadium that we're playing in the temperature probably would have been fine for the players. and I think there's a you know, there's a feeling that the three minute length as well is kind of longer than we've seen for drinks breaks in the past And for Curis out, they had taken they had two shots on go. before the game and they were kind of in the ascendancy sorry before the drinks break and they were in the ascendancy After the drinks break, I think Germany went on to have, I think seven unanswered shots and in that time the game went from one or to three on to Germany and then obviously Germany scored. right after halftime as just completely took the game away from Kurosao. And I think If you're going to do an upset, and John's right in predicting this could be a world cover of many upsets If you're going to do it, you need so many things to go in your favour and curious how K kind of got really unlucky in the time they scored, which Given that football is a game of two halves to use a cliche is Re disappointing because I think if they'd have been able to hold on Rock Germany a bit longer than the one minute that they manage because of the drinks break. Who knows what would have happened? Maybe Germany would haveome a bit more frightened Naglsman wouldn't have been able to essentially call a time out and get his players sort of calm them down a bit and get them back on track and sort of talk to them about what they're doing wrong tactically. And I think it really backfired for Kisao and That feels really unfair because there's already seventy five ranking positions between the two teams. like Gly don't need anything more in their favor, I would say. So yeah, it's changed the game kind of particularly in this World Cup. I feel like the way we're experiencing it is different. I mean, we're catering in things into our live streams to do during the drinks breaks because So the game is kind of changed into four quarters now, which is I don't think a good thing at all, particularly for momentum, particularly for smaller teams. I think is actually an advantage to the big teams and yeah, I don't think there's enough upside to justify it Any other drinks spreke opinions before we move on that with their drinks breaks inQatar No. Oh and stadiums No they were. And we have seen them before, right? Yeah I feel like there was like you could have a drinks break if the temperature was a certain temperature now. I think they just implement them and these are mandatory and they're they're much longer is that Yeah three minutes. and then they add them as additional time at the end of each half. So that's why we've seen so far that the added time at the end of the first half is much longer than normal. that w As they're accounting for the Yeah ye. It is kind of db. I thinkah Kya's point about it's sort of changing the flow of the game. I quite like it because it gives me a chance to go to the toilet without missing it. It's important at your age, John. It's true. Would you say? Yeah. And you know, part of me kind of thinks, o, it's great that you're now giving mandated like tactical slots for people to solve problems and stuff I think Kaa is right that it probably does play in the favor of the better sides Um I also think that, you know, the idea of like temporizing games is kind of interesting. Like can you go really aggressive in the first quarter? and then reassess at the end of that and change things up in the second and know that you've got that three minutes to be like, right, this is the change that we're making. Yeah. So I think maybe it'd be interesting to see what happens later on in the tournament when you get to the knockout stages like whether or not we see big big tactical shifts happening in those in those drinks breaks. But right now, yeah, it does just feel as though it's An way that they smallmaller teams are a little bit more disadvantaged. So just to be clear, it's okay that I hate that Maybe I'm an old man for some of the other stuff. Yeah, it's fine for you to hate whatever you want to hate like bad about hating anything. you know, my problem, I feel when I hate something as though I've made a miscalculation somewhere or that I'm allowing my emotions to get the better of me, John. I don't know if I don't think this is necessarily like representative, but I feel like the older I get the less I hate things like I used to just hate of so many things. Yeah. And now I'm just chilling out a bit more. I'm just like, okay, you know, Whereas I think although like most people get older and hate more. I started off. Maybe you're in a sort of it could be a little bit of a trrough. It's like a be Like a belk. Like a bellk. my most toolerant arere you most tell that I'm going Shp This is you most tolerant. Yeah. Wow. What about you, Al Nash? What do you hate? Well I was to say, I think when you're younger, you kind of performatively hate things. R to kind of try and Like mus a muscular personality, Right? And it's like elbow iss big one for me. like I hate elbows. like really? Ab phenomenal. How about that? Yeah love el. Cold play very good as well. Early cold play Oh. Early cold play B. Tell me about it, guys. Yeah. Any others? Viv Lvida R Rusia? Yeah, Russia. Well, that that was the decline started there. Kai is younger than us you see. So Karly thinks Viva Lvid issld play So my first sort of coldplay was thatt I don't remember like is it clocks and R of the heads. Yeah. Yeah, yellow. that's kind of when I was quite young, so ye Yeah R Yeah. We drove through the Highlands of Scotland listening to the first album Cold Bl. You know what, I actually quite enjoyed that. I'd completely forgotten that album. Right And it was nice thought you werere talking about our drive. No, no, no, I remember that very well.. I remember that holiday very well. Yeah. had a great time in Scotland. Absolutely. But it was nice to relive that album and be reminded that know I was a massive coold Blay fan when that album came out and obviously as time went by sure. It's obviously rubbish That first album was good, right? In that performative way that Alb was talking about. Of course, of course. We all performed hatred for Colflay at some point in our lives. It's okay to accept that. Hey, would you like to play Orondo? We're going to name all of the Colflay songs. This is true. The tracklist for whatever that album was called. Now, Al Nash, here's what Orondo is, okay. It's a little fun game that we play here on the TFa foootball podcast And you'll understand why we call the Rndo way I describe it, right. God, I normally explain this just off the cuff, don't I? What do I say? Oh I say it's a question, it's a question that has multiple correct answers. And we go round in a circle and you give me a correct answer. And if you fail to give me a correct answer, you will immediately be ejected from the game exact. Yeser or take too long, I will object you for time wasting. But if you get a correct answer, you get to stay in the game. The last person standing is named Rondo Dl Rey. I know that's wrong. I know it's wrong. Please stop telling me in the comments. Now. category, the question for today's Rndo, I've made it one for you. because you're a Manchester United fan. I am Manchester United's twenty seventeen Europa League final squad. So they don't have to be starters. They just have to have been on the bench or in the starting lineup Okay, And we're going to start with you, Al Nash. I'm looking for one name and if you get it right, you'll stay in the game. Great. And if you get it wrong, you'll get another go because we're nice here. Okay. Okay. So seventeen eighteen. That's right. the Manchester United twenty seventeen wasas this twenty sixteen, seventeen or seventeen eighteen It was sixteen, seventeen. And who was the manager? was Marinia, wasn't it? That's the year was it the year they finished second in Premier League Maybe around then, who knows? Okay. Squ. So I'm looking for answer from you, All Nes. O you go Rondo. I'm going to say Eric Bae. Eric Be injured I tried to get less obvious. I think he might be injured. But I think I'm certain he was in the team. He just wasn't in this team. How you're very nice. No, noca. There's a first part David Tans get the second term. Yeah Davidah. David Of course was there. Of course he was. There you go, rightight, John You feel bad, imagine how I feel. Fred Fred Rred's not there.red's not there, John You're out of the Rndo immediately, How wouldould you like a second turn? No, second no. I'm quite happy with the turn of events. Okay, Kaya. the Match dayay squad from the actual game. It's the match dayay squad from the game. Okay. Now I must warn you Kaya iss very good at the Rondo. Oh bet. He keeps that you know, Viva Lvita, he just pulls it out. How about that This is my paradise. Let's hope to have a rushub of blood to the head. Sergio Romero was the backup goalie or maybe even started in the game Serio Romero was there. I don't know whether he we he was in the squad. Okay. Al' Mash back to you. Was Mateo Darmen then? Mateo Darman was there? One of few Italians to play for Matches Un.red Fred didn'tooy Manioni until twenty eighteen. Okay, well. Well, you know, that was just the next year. What can you do? Kaya, I think last time was injured Um I'm gonna go for Daily Blend. Daily Blend. He is there. Yeah, he is there. That's good. Okay, back to you, Al Nash. I presume that Luke Shaw was there. Luke Shaw It's a dangerous name to say, isn't it? becausecause so many injuries look sure. was retracted and have another one aret? Well he was injured during the Marino areera as well. I think got injured in the Champions League could have done you know, wouldould you like to terminate? I'm going to retract, say Paul Pogb Paul Pogba Was there. Congratulations, Okaykay, Ka, back to you You're doing well, Al, you're doing well They wore a blue kit do you know that? I watched the game? It was my second year university. We'll watch the game . This is John's most tolerant. I'm supposing that watching the game is the reason why you remember. I don't remember anything about my life. Maro Anne Felane. Mari Anne Felaney was there? A, come on. Alan Nashback to you. Phil Jones Correct, answer.. Oh, my go, it's getting tenense when he said, you watch the game k They before the car you wed the game. They were wearing a blue shirt. They were with red added d stripes Let's go for well he said Jones. I feel like Jones and Smalling come as a pair. So Chris Smuling Chris Smalling. No is there. Oh Okay, he's there. It just took me a while to find him Al Nash. U TV's Al Nes Sane Wn't an Island still there to? Is that answer you'd like to submit? I think it's wrong but I'll just say it yeah. It's wrong, Al manash. It's wrong. Kaya Rondo Del R another one, doesn't? Christ,'re abolutely right John's got' got another thing. Let him have it that easily. I forgot the rules of our game. Oh, it's such an easy one. I could have got so easy to strike her. It was there for years Yeah, Amazing potential they've fulfilled it Crentlying in Meico, I believe. There's one with amazing potential that did by right Wh if I' thinking of who you're thinking of. No. He watched the game You sure you're gonna go up against him like this? This is a level of mind games I'm not used to. Black gloves. You better get the name right. Oh I know who you're thinking of. No Dithering Ka. Yeah. it's taking some time. Beuse I'm not sure if he was injured the day. I'm not going to hear without suestion. I'm gonna to go to Wayne Rooney. Wayne Rooneyy was that? Yeah. Of course he was Conggratulations I will clap you now. Thank you Rono Del Ray, O names you could have had Antonio Valencia. Oh yeah Enrich Mcarian. Yes. He was there. Juan Matter, Anthony Maral, Jesse Lingard and Herrera is embarrassing. Timothyossum Mensoo may you a harder. Oh, are my boys? I love T Fos Menso. Mcus Rashford Of course. Yeah. And current Manchesterited manager Michael Carrll, If I thought he was gone by that. I cannot believe Michael Carrick was still po. was Anthony Marsll in there A Marceial.,'s Mceial. you could have There you go. Well, how about that? Congratulations, Kaya Well done. Do you feel good Um yeah, so And to the listeners at home I would say it's a cliche, but when you're in the heat at the moment, it's very difficult. It's hardlys really hard. I don't like playing because I get it ro all the time. How about that? Okay, fine. Well I thought you did admirably well. Very well, very well indeed. Now there we go, that was the Rondo. What's up next John Let's talk about the US M's national team. Paraguay four one in their opening game of the World Cup. It's an interesting story with the US men's National teeam because I think there were many people expecting them to not perform particularly well in this World Cup going into it. You weren't one of them. s you've been kind of hard on the notion that actually they're a pretty good team. Well, I mean, I sort of push back on I think It's a little bit embarrassing how English the European people, maybe we should say. just I think that the American te do badly every time because they think Americans can't play football which is I think, unfair. And so I was pushing back against that rather than this idea that they're going to go through and win the whole thing. Right I think they go into this tournament with one of the better coaches in tournament They have Probably the best squad they've ever had by a long margin. And I think because they don't have a huge amount of top end players necessarily or at least the kind of creative players that you might expect for a team to be good. People have just been like M, well we, you know, Christian Pulisic is there is there is their styar player. he's not been playing particularly well in the run up to this. I think he hadn't scored in something like eighteen games before one of the one of the friendlies, I think it was against Senegal, where he scored a goal in that game and was really celebrating because he hadn't scored for a long time and But ye, I watched a lot of their games in the run up. I made a video about them and I was watching these games and I was like, they're good. they They are a team who I think most good sides wouldn't want to come up against because they are a potential banana skin. They play with a level of intensity that I think is quite scary for international teams because they yeah, they have the physicality to just kind of go at you to an extent. And that's what we saw in the game against Paraguay. And that Yeah, they the kind of game what this the're kind of team who can cause you problems, I think, in a knockout competition So yeah, I was watching I was watching a lot of the games and, you know, there was they were they were Poatino was trying to find a way of being able to overcome a lot of different tactical problems. They had a few iffy games. they they lost five two to Belgium, they lost to Portugal They had a few games like that where people were like, oh, you know, as soon as they come up against a big side, they'll inevitably fail I think if you watched all those games in a series, you could see that they were fixing problems, they were finding ways of being able to Um Patina to get the players on the pitch doing the things he wanted them to do. and he's arrived at the system. maybe towards the like the run up to the The World Cup, so maybe quite late on, but it seemed to work. It seemed to fit. There was questions about the squad when it was announced because they went in looking quite midfielder light. But then they had Malik Tillman who, you know most people thought would maybe start in the forward line who's been playing in the in one of the eight slots alongside Tyler Adams. He seems to be working really well Wester McKenny playing in front of him with the capacity to just you know do a lot of ball carrying and a lot of out of possession work as well. They've been using this really nice system where they can shift between back four ideas and back three ideas using Alex Freeman as as a guy can play as an outside centre back or as a fullback. He usually plays as a full back. So they have like flexibility there. They physicality and intensity to be able to cause big teams problems. but they also have the, I think the ability to play well against the lesser teams as well. I used were playing against Paraguay who weren't very good in the game, but sure. in that context I think they with the exception of Germany today, I think they're the best team I've seen so far, the best team I've seen. Yeah the US. Yeah. And I think that one of the things that there's always going to be tough for the US. is that they are going to have to play different kinds of football depending on who they come up against. Yeah. playing Australia on Friday and then they're Turkey the following wee Yeah, and you know, we saw from the Turkey Australia again that you know, Australia are going to sit in a low block and try and frustrate them That will be a question how will how will they deal with that? for sure, but I also think that you know, this is a team who can play in different ways. I showed in my video the just just using possession possession numbers showing that they started off the tournament. they were playing smallaller teams and they were putting up you know sixty five percent seventy percent possession because they were much better than the teams. By the time they get to the end of the tournament, they put up forty percent possession against Mexico in the final, which they ended up losing. They didn't actually play particularly well in that game, but it was just a way of illustrating that it's difficult for these mid mid table World Cup sides because and you know, we'll talk about it with Scotland as well you're going in and you're expected to perform one way against a team who's going to play in a very different way to some of the other teams and you have to shift between those styles. Whereas you know if you're in England or Portugal or Spain or a Netherlands, you sort of have your one size fits all approach and you tweak within that. whereereas Teams like the US have to have the ability to be like, we're going to have a lot of the ball today or we're not going to have much of the ball today. And I think that's what Poatino hass done so well. He's sort of given them different solutions. He's found this system, which is sort of one size fits all, but structurally, but then they can do different things within it. And yeah, I'll be interested to see how they do against Australia, but I think the fact of the matter is they're through now and they will then be coming up against teams where they can play this more underdog direct style of football Yeah. And yeah, I think that if the draw is favouraable to them, they could go round a sixteen quarter finals even if they have a nice run teeam that Hey, Pablo Torere here. As a sports journalist, I've covered global sports for many years now. And there is one thing that I can promise you Nothing compares to the World Cup And this time it is even better thanks to McDonald's, You have the chance to take home one of nine legendary cups when you order the FeFA World Cup meal The cups feature some of the biggest legend in football, like Did Beckham, Terryon Ree, and Ronald Dinio, Christian Palisk Laminia Mal and Alfonso Davies Right now, get one of nine leegendary cups when you order the FeF World Cup meeal only at McDonald's at participating McDonald's only for limited time, while supplies last, All rights reserved, copyright twenty twenty six. McDonald's at the FIFA World Cup, twenty twenty six. We did expect to be good Ka that weren't fantastic. No, I'm not talking about Turkey. All right, okay. I think we will save talk of Turkey for another time.. Turkey obviously lost too nill to Australia Yeah pretty early in the morning in the UK. So none of us really saw that. although John did watch it the next day and also so did you. and I watched the highlights and we all sa have our Turkey. No, I'm talking about Brazil But ye Morocco the other day I can' remember what day it was now. they all bleed into one. It was one all Morocco fantastic in that game as expected. Brazil. Pretty rubbish Yeah. I mean, I think it's technically todayod Maybe yesterday was when it was? Was it? it was eleven o'clock? It was yterday ele oclock.ed yesterday and today. Yeah. bed in today as we started the stream. but was yesterday.ly tomorrow. did not happen today. Yeah. That. Yeah, they were Rubbish may be a bit harsh, but they were slightly disappointing. And I think Rco might be coming away from that game thinking w, we miss an opportunity to get three points here and I think the issues that you have looking at the squad for Brazil on paper in terms of the midfield the lack of mobility and the lack of legs really got showing up and Kasimira came off a half time, got booked, had quite a difficult first half For Bino who I kind of forgot he is. Yeah, I think when you I know Al has a soft spot for Kazimirro, so I feel bad sort of talking badly about him in front of him But I think That is the issue that you feel with the Brilliant team because they've got such good talent up frront and finish Junior' goal was unbelievable probablyably one of one of if not the goal of the tournament. I think Flo Balligan's goal Second goal for the USA is a pretty strong contender as well. and Yeah, I just feel that When it comes to unleashing that individual talent, I feel like Anntosi is try to do a bit of the Romadriid playbook where it's kind of be relatively solid defensively try and control the game in midfield a bit and just have your individual talents up frront who can make the difference for you. But I don't know and listen, Kasmir has proved a lot of people wrong this season has had a much better season than people expected him to. But I don't know that he Brung Mirich and Lucas Pacatar as a midfield three can control games in a way and this sounds unbelievably harsh judgement against it, but like Modrich Krus and Casimara did when they're in that Ral Madrid midfield. So it's difficult. there's not that much strength and depth in the full back positions or in midfield position for Brazil But now they come up against teams you'd expect them to to be in Haiti and Scotland and you still make them favourites to progress to the group quite comfortably and you know yeah they'll be contenders because of that individual talent they've got. but yeah, slightly underwhelming start for them. Sorry you caught me midb. Okay, perfect timy. prorofessional broadcaster. Now next up, we're going talk about Scotland shortly, but before we do that, let's play another new game. This game is called I forgot to name this game. This game is called Head head heads up. No, what heads, heads I'm just saying words Why are you going with head to head? That's the best one I'm trying to head to head. It's called head to head. second hand. I like that. No, that's good. I've come up with that in the moment. I'll use that now for the rest of the tournament. Head to head, seconde hand. Now here's how head to head second hand works. John will be playing versus JJ. Now ten times over the course of the next five weeks or so John and JJ will have to buy something from eBay the second hand There'll be a different monetary value attached to each item and there's a different category each time Both players will come to the TFo foootball podcast, they will show their item and they will describe why they've bought it and why they should win that week' installment. G ahead second hand Today it' round one. Obviously JJ isn't here, so the fantastically talented TV alal Nash will be standing in in JJ's place. but we're going to start with John who is here. Now John, the category for the first week of course, was the bargain round Your rule here was that you had to spend under twenty pounds and what we were looking for was the best football item possible for twenty pounds or less. No other rules, pure bargain hunting. So what have you got John? What have you got? I think I've done well I wish you'd open it Donn started. I thought it would be more fun to show Actually that's true. There's a very popular unboxing. Yeah. Unboxing. Now, what you got there? Oh wow Manchester United Chess Wow. That's exciting. cool. It's the nineteen sixty eight winners versus the nineteen ninety nine winners. Oh should they get they get dad and and and Everyone's involved. How about that? You get the old folker you take that round. Also chess instructions if you're not knowledgeable of Very important Al Nash, Do you know how to play chess? I do. How about that? arere you excited by this as a Mchester United F? I to know who the queen in this scenio. Yeah seemingly these roles. I don't know. I'm a little's The difference the the Queen and King are the same person. One of them's got a crown at the bottom and then the other one doesn't. Right Which person are they? Number four, whoever that was, but it's David Beckham for. A it's not, it's different ones for Wait, wait, wait, wa Watch Jhn, what's happened? T the audio listener There seems to be like lots of nights for I think they've mixed up the bases. I think the bases come off. Okay Okaykay here. Of course it's a second hand game. so anything could have happened with the let me show you some of the So we've got Ryan Giggs. Wow. There's Ryan Gigs. There he is. There's a David Beckham. Oh, there's David Everybody's favorite' be a bishop yard, I you think I think so.. I guess you can choose who you want them to be. You can just switch them right. No because you can switch the base. There's Roy Keeen. Who would you have Roy Keen as Al Uh You think u Maybe maybe a I want to say I think castle. a roo. A roo. The rooook there. What do the roos do again? The castles. Is that They go as far as you want in straight lines? Sure. Yeah, you know. Okay. And actually they they're quite like hacking people. That's what I'm thinking. So in a sense, that's not that's not a bad sh. I think that John, I think you've actually outdone yourself there. Y' g. And at the risk of you making any more noise pulling things out of that plasic. to stop. I think you probably should stop. But what I will say is I can't wait to see these players displayed on the display behind you I'm finding it difficult to imagine how JJ will have bested you here. How much was this by the way? twenty bang on. Oh it was bang on twenty. And that includes your postage and packaging, does it It becausecause otherwise you'd be disqualifiedes. I negotiated pass I'm avealer. Well, I think a round of applause for John though. That's terrific bargain hunting. Terrific bargain hunting. Now, Al Asashh. wouldould you mind telling us what JJ purchased and then reading what he sent you to read? Of course. Shall I reveal it first and then read it? Yes, please.. So this is JJ's address. Yeah number. Wmost do well for himself, isn't he? Ry. Wow. Buckingham Palace. Yeah. He has got There A, yes Kanami Okay. Superstar Soccer ninety eight is yes. Okay. Lovely. And I will now read out what JJ said It's a straight back from JJ Behold, the greatest football video game to have ever existed This is the game that properly, properly got me hooked on football I played them all. Fifa swaps Chump mum Ultimate soccer manager, Italia ninety, but this was the one. I used to rent this weekly from Blockbuster just to play it until I could finally afford to buy it It was a time when we were carefree When the sun was bright and the sky bllew And I was inside playing international superstar soccer ninety eight from J Ball. There we go. Well, a round of applause for JJ Ball there. And for the mightidel who talented Al now.. What a rendition. How about that? What do you make of JJ's selection here, Al? Well, I hasten to add, Joe, that this includes commentary by Tony Gubbber. Wow Tony Gubbber. nice little photograph of Tony there. Oh can I have please do? Yeah Oh, there's Tony's bigig Tony. there's Tony. the good man. It looks great. Oh the graphics look amazing. Look at that. Big swoosh for a free kick. Wow Yeah. Looks great. Who is it presumably the game is decided by you who wins? No so I've put a poll in the. Oh no way. the live chat, this's the benefit of having., Okay. So I put it to the live stream audience. Who should win the first Mrter Spinker, I put it toer want to be absolutely clear? I will say Can I read the blurb and that might swplay the view? No, please do, Yeah, because they're still voting time. It's back greatreatest ever soccer game returns and sparkling form for nineteen ninety eight incredible motion captured players rendered with stunning three D polygon graphics, push the sixty four to the max. Hi, h Hi Hi Dan. Choose from forty eight international teams and nine stadiums. W. New team formation options and strategies allow for deeper playability than ever before. Design your own players and save them to controller pack. Commentary from Tony Gubber WeC Match of the Day Fame. And I will say every sentence I've just read ends an exclamation they really mean. Al Nash. they're always auditioning for another brand Yeah ye. if Konami want to get in touch Now I have to say, I've ended the poll now. that was a good few minutes of voting there. and John You're the winner today, C winner Fair winner. That's a brilliant perick Chest set. Were there other teams chest sets available? I only saw that one. And did you search for chess related items or did you find it on? I've got this one randomly. You did tell me you did tell me to search ab football memabilia when we were going through this as though I was I don't know what you thought I was doing. You made it sound as though I was just on eBay and I was just scrolling through everything on e football. You' like, have you thought of searching within football memorabilia? You could search for more specific its about that, well well done. It's a real find, isn't it? It's great.? I think it is. And to be honest, even the detail that you haggled alone delivery. It was enough for you to win that round. So well done. JJ will be here tomorrow and he'll be here in future. I think actually the next time we play this will be the England game on Wednesday where you'll both be here with your second installment So look forward to that and thank you again to Al Nash for stepping in. You been reimburseed all this. We expected to spend twenty quid each week? it goes up the le may Oh, cry he's being reimursed. He's oing his money out. donon't worry. I'm cheking I'm looking out for you Jon.'s you that'saying for your. Okay,. There we go. Now, okay, back to the football before are you okay for time evenven if I wasn't Joe that's kind of true. We willll be so quick. Don't you worry about it? Now a quick sojon to Scotland there John, who played of course last night, didn't they? They beat Haiti one Nil in the end although it was not hugely impressive display. And the conversation we had afterwards related to the potential permitations because they're in a tough group. They are in the Brazil Morocco group Obviously they needed to beat Haiti to have any chance of progressing in reality because it's unlikely that they'll get significant results out of the other two games. The problem now is trying to work out how good you have to be to be a good third placed team. and one nill against Haiti feels maybe like a missed opportunity despite it being fantastic to get a win Yeah, I've just done anys analysis video on this on the live stream. So some people might already have watched this, but Yeah, the thing for me is that it's pretty clear that if you're going to go through as a third place team, which you probably are if you your Scotland and Brazil and Morocco are in your group and So you're aiming for that third place, but not all of the third place teams go through, only eight of the twelve. And so we had to look at what is likely to happen if you do finish in third place in terms of goal difference or points. And there's two things. One of them is that if you get more than three points, you're almost certainly going to go through So You get you get your one win against Haiti and then you take a point off Brazil or Morocco and then you're probably through for Scotland U The other approach is to focus on goal difference, which is, you know, the reality is is that if if you're on minus two goal difference you're might maybe not going to make it. If you're on minus one, maybe you will. the problem with Scotland now is they're on only plus one because they only beat Haiti one nil, which means if they lose both of their next games, they they they have to hope to do so by simply one goal losses, which will take them to minus one, which is already on the cusp of you know, two very good results to only lose to those teams by one goal, you're also on the cusp of maybe not making it through as a third place team. So yeah, I think it's it's an interesting one, right? Because on the one hand Scotland have built a team where they are going to be able to play sort of lower block and counter football Haiti is the only game that they're going to come up against where they'll be the clear favorites probably. So should they build their squad and their approach around one game in order to go through or should they you know try and build an underdog football team where you're like, okay, well, we'll be Haiti, whatever. and then we'll go into the other two games with the belief that we can take a point off Brazil or Morocco U The problem is is actually watching the game against Haiti, I thought like It was, you know, in the second half, Scotland did play that way. They played kind of underdog football against a team who have ranked forty below them in the in the FIFA rankings Yeah. and they didn't look dangerous at all, right? So this sort of raises questions about the about whether or not that approach was better. And I suppose you could say, well, why not just approach the Haiti game as like the game that if we win by three four goals maybe we've got a chance we've got a chance of keeping the other games a little bit lower scoring but still go through with the with with the goal difference. It is worth saying we mentioned this in the video that they lost Billy Gilmore right at the end of their preparations and no doubt he would have been an important part of the game against Haiti. The problem is they've got this team that's actually pretty good at playing quite direct, not that great at having ball possession for a long period And I think they got a little bit nerved in the game because they weren't able to progress the ball particularly well. And when they were losing it, they were leaving themselves a little bit open at the back in certain areas. So Andy Robertson was pushing forward, leaving space in behind the Hiti were able to exploit. And so you're in this sort of a little bit of of a bind because it's kind of like, well We want to possess the ball and dominate the game. We don't really have the play to do that. It's not going to work out in this game but hopefully in The games against Brazil, Morocco were able to actually make it work, do direct attacks that sort of work and then and then absorb the pressure the other direction. So it's a tough one, but I felt it was too negative that the way they were playing against Haiti. they went one goal up and then they they just sort of sat back. and I just kind of think you're almost just going for the win for posterity's sake here. You're just going for the win to be like, well, we won We were third place team and we didn't go through. we're very unlucky when it's really really it's kind of like, well, you're not playing to just in to have that historical posterity in in hindsight' kind of you want to get through the group. So I just wish they'd kind of gone for it a little bit more in that game. tried to score a few goals and, you know, if you If you end up losing or drawing because of that, then you say you know, we lost or drew. We weren't going to get through otherwise if we didn't go for this game. So it's a tricky one. Yeah. OkayK. Well Scotland play Morocco on Friday and then big game against Brazil Wednesday the twenty fourth of June. So lots left to come and we'll talk about them as well as all the other teams that have performed much more as the tournament goes on. as a reminder, we are live again tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that. There's a few days off. I think next Thursday is our first day off But we will be here, ever present for most of the rest of the World Cup couple more things together before we finish today though Who would like to read some excellent football jokes I can do it. Oh great That's good news. That's good news now. This bit as many people in the livestream have already identified and pointed out, this bit is very loosely based on the late greatreat Norm McDonald'. who used to tell fantastic jokes on his podcast. I've got one here for you, Al Nash to read out. Would you read that one for the audience please? I say it's odd to see so many photographers at World Cup games. Don't the knowose on TV That's because they wouldn't be there if I knew it was on TV. Yeah. abbsolutely. Take that one home you want what about this one, Al Nash? You want to read that one? Some of the games of this World Cup being played are the Mercedes Ben Stadium. Yes, lovevely place. It's really slick and well designed A real Rolls Royce of a stadium? A very yeah, real Rolls Royce of a stadium. Yeah I think this one would suit Ki. would you pass that to Kai for me El Nash Okay, than you. Why take a single piece of paper when you can't get a whole Tim Ren? When you can get a whole Tim Reen. Oh yeah