France Win Again...

24:52And you could see the pride, but also the ego going on when you say, OK, OK, they're good, but what about us? So I think he's looking forward to playing against France in the semifinal to show his strengths. It would be physically, as you explained before, better because he would have played one more game. But, well, first they have to beat Belgium, but that would be very interesting to see that game. He has been disappointed, though, Sean. He has, by his standards. But to his comments, he came into this tournament injured and just slowly feeling his way into the Spanish side. And again, we talk about Laminya Mal, and I don't think Olmo has been as good as we expected, or certainly was two years ago in Euros.

25:34No Nico Williams alongside. That front three is the three that won Euros. And now, between the injuries and the omissions, it just hasn't clicked as it has. But he's quite clearly not short of confidence, understandably. If I were that good, I would make short of confidence myself. He knows what he needs to do from here on in. And he knows how he needs to improve. And it's not a fear of that. I love the confidence. But again, if Spain win the World Cup or lose the World Cup, it will not be because of him. It's a bit like Argentina with Messi. All those years, he can't carry the rest of the team all the time.

26:11He has to have a supporting cast that are good enough and work hard enough. and work hard around whatever Messi doesn't do defensively. And they got that. Rodrigo, De Paul, Enzo Fernandes and all these guys. Molina just bombing up and down. Julian Alvarez working back in. So he got that support and cast. Laminema will need this. He's not going to carry this Spain team. He'll need Rodri to have a great World Cup and Pedri. He'll need a Yazabal to continue scoring goals. But if they get past Belgium, and there's no given. I think most of us expect them to do so, but it's not a given. that's the area we were talking about France earlier.

26:49I mean, Laminya Mal against Luka Dean. If he gets isolated and they ram that ball into him regular and can get enough possession, which I think Spain will, I think Spain will dominate the possession in that game, and he's sharp and he's on his game and he gets another maybe hour or 90 minutes against Belgium, that's the kind of weak points, I'm saying weak points, that's an area of the French team that Spain can get at. So, you know, we were talking earlier as if France are just unbeatable. unbeatable. I don't think that's the case whatsoever. Alex, it hasn't exactly been champagne football so far, has it, from the Spanish, but they're getting through and they're doing so as well with a solid defence.

27:29You conceded goal at the World Cup, six consecutive clean sheets of the World Cup. It's not bad, is it? But it does feel like they're in third gear, which is probably a scary thought for the other teams. Well, I think we keep expecting that next gear to come and and i didn't really expect that much against portugal to be honest i thought you know big regional rival with obviously a long history against the two i always thought that that was just going to be a scrappy match you know whoever came out of it was going to be better for it and that there's going to be better football to be played and i think we saw that with belgium belgium same it had kind of not the best you know a group stage round of 32 and then they saved it the best for that round of 16 where they completely dominated the United States.

28:15So we know that teams are capable of continuing to grow through the tournament, but I do love the idea that if you're going to struggle a little bit, you're so solid defensively and they've just, they've barely allowed opportunities to their opponents. That's how good they've been. And the goalkeeper situation was an interesting one coming into this. They have David Raya, who won the Premier League Golden Glove. They have Joan Garcia, who won the La Liga Golden Glove. But it's Unai Simon that starts, and he stepped up. I mean, it's really been a case that Unai Simon's done nothing wrong to lose his spot.

28:47Yes, he's being pushed hard, 100 % by the players behind him. And he just has continued to play so well for Spain. Why change what isn't broken? Yeah, absolutely. Dan, their defence, so, so solid. I think we also need to talk about Paul Kubasi, 19 years old played every single minute so far, he's been absolutely brilliant hasn't he? Most definitely Shall we get some predictions? Yeah, Jermaine What's this game going to be like? Is it going to be fun? I think it will be good to watch and I think this game completely opposite to against Portugal Spain, I think they will control the whole game, I think they will play with fun and I think at the end there will be a 2-0 for Spain.

29:31Belgium beat the USA Come on Jermaine If they can beat the USA, they can beat anyone, surely. I don't disrespect Belgium. I just think Spain is mean. Overall, you mean. I'm not mean. I'm just making the point. Well, you've had a be in your bonnet about Spain since March. Oh, my God. We're bringing up the time that I said they said. I've not let up the tournament with Europe. I forgot that. Which I think is fair, isn't it? Like, we've been saying. You're looking at me. You're looking at me. We've been waxing lyrical about France. You're the one who brought up the point. That's what I'm looking at.

30:04Yeah, I know, man. Spain haven't quite caught the eye, as say the French have, and that's fair. Well, you've certainly made that point today. Well, it's a good point to make, because it's fair. What's the score going to be in this game? I think Spain. 3-0, just way too strong. Belgium have had their run. They've had their moment in the sun with all the US thing. They've got their just rewards after the Balogun nonsense. But I think this Spain side, they're about to light up the tournament in some sense. You're saying they haven't lit it up so far? you're saying they haven't lit it up so far no I've been alright with them I think if you listen to the interview and you read out that long quote he'll tell you they want to grow into the tune so I was right Shaka thank you very much Shaka I'm not offering anymore because t-shirt down is a little t-shirt down is a little I like everybody he's like Popeye over here Popeye I'm afraid of T-shirt dance.

31:09You need to near more spinach. Yes. Well, you know, whatever. You know, I don't say it's going to be that easy. I want to believe that my Belgium friends are going to fight hard and not giving it that easily to the Spanish. I think they can afford that. They can work very hard and make it very difficult. So I go extra time 2-1 for Spain. Okay. All right. Everyone going for Spain here. Kesar, you flew with the Belgian fans, I heard. How was that experience? And has it influenced your prediction? Some French fries? They had a lot of smiles. They were very happy with the performance, obviously, in Seattle.

31:51But I think they understand as well that this is a different task against the Spanish side. So I'm still thinking probably 2-0, 3-1 to Spain. Alex? I think two all, extra times Spain win after extra time they'll score in extra time we're not we're not really an extra time group of people are we? because we want to have a drink and it's a three o 'clock game, it's alright that's an early start even for you we've got plenty of time for that Craig I don't know what you're excuse me that's a very good point speaking to your dad Yeah, exactly. You're the same age as their dad, yeah? Huh? No, I'm young.

32:34Not quite, not quite. Not quite. There we go. Kwanzaa, ban for two games. Fair? England, of course, or Norway. Too much ban. What's the charge again? It was not dangerous play, but anyway, serious foul play, right? It's a two-game ban, which is the same. I don't want to go over this old ground too much. Oh, we've still got a segment to do that, don't worry. Phil Balogun was a serious foul play, whether you agree or not, which I didn't. So, yeah, but it makes a mockery of FIFA, does it not? Have we got another segment on this and I'll just keep my powder dry? Yes. Yeah, I mean, I don't think he's got any complaints if the previous few days hadn't happened.

33:21For me, it's as dangerous as Messi's foot, as Balogun's foot, because he touches the ball, he tackles the ball, but unfortunately he rolls over the ball and it's why he tackles, but he doesn't want to do that, it's intentional. And for me, it's one game, if you want to give a red card, it's a red card, not a problem. But this is the point, nobody would have any complaints but for what we witnessed in the last seven days. Nobody. It is a tough one, but I think everybody who watched the game, you don't look at it and go straight away, that's a red card. So everybody was keep going and then it got back and then the red card.

34:05Too much ban? Fair? Too much ban, I don't think so. I think it's especially now when we go back and we talk about what happened with Baligon and all this situation then you open something up what Craig said, you open something up. it will get loose everywhere because now you see everybody starting now discussing about is the fall two games, is it one game, is it no foul and it's just, yeah. Just a reminder, we'll be looking ahead to that game in a little more detail plus reflecting on Spain against Belgium on ESPN FC tomorrow. Just a reminder before the kick-off of that quarter final, there'll be ESPN FC live from Bristol at 12pm Eastern on ESPN2.

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35:22Ethos has also earned strong customer feedback with a 4.8 out of 5-star rating on Trustpilot, based on more than 4 ,000 reviews. Take 10 minutes to get covered today with life insurance through Ethos. Get your free quote at ethos.com slash sports. That's E-T-H-O-S dot com slash sports. Application times may vary, rates may vary. Trustpilot rating as of June 1st, 2025. Buster Olney here for La Quinta by Wyndham. Summer work travel can feel like extra innings, long days, late nights, and not a lot of room to stretch out, especially when your hotel room feels more like the dugout than the clubhouse.

36:02But when you stay at La Quinta by Wyndham, you can step up to spacious suites that give you room to relax, recharge, and get ready for the next day. I always feel like I need that when I'm traveling on the road covering ballgames. Plus, you can earn Wyndham Rewards points with every qualified stay. Because when you've got space to unwind, you're always playing at your best. Tonight, La Quinta. Tomorrow, you shine. Book your next work trip at LaQuinta.com. Terms and conditions apply. It was confirmed today that Christian Pulisic had a micro fracture in his right tibular and fibula. Of course, coming up in the 59th minute of that defeat against Belgium.

36:45There's been a lot of talk, mostly negative, about Christian Pulisic since that game. Alex and Casey are still with us. Craig, you had a few days off, so you weren't here to reflect on anything that you saw in that US defeat against Belgium. What do you make of the way that Christian Pulisic seems to have been made the scapegoat for this? Yeah, I don't like it. I don't like it. You go into it as a squad of players and a coaching staff and all that. and the US pretty much to a man had a bad night. And I get it, he's had a tough tournament because he started well, got injured, hasn't really found his flow again, ends the tournament the way he pretty much started, is injured.

37:26But the pile-on, the pile-on to an individual is way over the top. It's like if Christian Pulisic had had a great tournament, the US would have gone all the way. That's kind of how the talk is. And I get it, he has a responsibility and he didn't come into this tournament to try and be under par or play badly. But to me, if I was Christian Pulisic, I would be big time annoyed. In fact, if I was Christian Pulisic, I think I'd be digging some of these people out, personally. Because it seems to me it's almost a personal attack on an individual rather than an analysis of the football that's gone before.

38:09because if it's an analysis of the football, you could go through pretty much the whole team and say, well, he had a bad game, he had a bad game. The goalkeeper made a mistake. Sergino Des had a terrible game, letting balls bounce in the box, all that sort of stuff. But it seems that he has been painted up there as the poster boy. And now that some of them, who should know better, by the way, some of them, because they've been in that position, want to, and I mean, kill them. They're absolutely killing them. Can you name names? Well, we all know. We've heard from Tim Howard. We've heard from Landon Donovan.

38:40We've heard from Cusley Lloyd. What Landon Donovan did. It's the people at Fox. It's the same people that stood... It's the same people that when Flo Balligan was told he could play, they went on that network and they embarrassed the hell out of themselves. I agree with you. For about half an hour. They all danced around the fact that it was wrong and said this is the greatest decision in the history of US sports. Flo Balligan's going to play. That's how embarrassing these people are. They have no shame. They have no shame, Frank. Look, I go there. I played with Christian. And I always said that.

39:16I said that Christian is, he can be the best player what America had in football, in soccer. That's clear. I played with him. I see his quality and everybody sees his quality. But I know too that Christian is not somebody who is, when he's injured or when he's like straight away, he's, oh, I'm out. So he wants to play if he can play but you guys have a point He was created to be in Captain America He was created to be the new superstar because I was there when when I came in and say for now on nobody plays the 10 anymore It's only the the young boy plays it. So he was created to be this person Creator he was created to be the new Donovan because Donovan was time was finished So and now you have it like you say I don't I'm not a fan of it when you see people who retired and working now on net works or working with their own podcast and they're going against people and that's nothing because we talked about it had nothing to do with the game because in that game where you lose against against belgium desk made a mistake remasterment made a mistake so in freeze made a mistake so but we hear not anything from these three players it's just christian police they're not an argument to say and you've said it before that politic is one of the best if not the best that we've seen in the u.s this is the time to prove it this is the time to step up yeah but But he wasn't sure.

40:36For me, it's not just him. It's not just him. He's the face, yes. But in general, the whole team has to be good. And that's why I say we live in a football world, in the landscape in America, that if you criticize, especially if you criticize other people, people get angry. People feel like, oh, you're attacked in personal. And that's why you just take Christian, because he's right now the biggest face. He's playing in Italy. He's played in Chelsea. But that has nothing to do with football Because if you look at the football side What he did already in his young age For now, for this country Is a lot But I don't understand Because people attack him for exactly the same stuff When they say, oh, he's going out because he's injured Or he's doing this Or he's not coming to the games I was there where other players did the same And I saw it So I just listened to it and think Interesting that one guy is saying If we play overseas, he's injured but then he's MLS he plays two days later so there's this different stories on everything and I think they should just focus on the game yes you can criticize if we see plays bad but then you have to criticize for this game against Belgium buddy buddy where did the US where did the US get did you mean when the beat was Algeria or wouldn't in dark when Donovan scored that goal in 2006 or 2010, where was it?

41:59Casey will know. Casey's with us. 2010, yeah, got to the next round against Belgium and lost. Again. So got to the same stage, yeah. You have to go back to 2002 for the last time they made it. So hold on, you're criticising the player for not carrying a team no further than you yourself never carried a team. Exactly. It's not like some of these past players got to the semi-final or whatever and they said, He had a Disrupted to Look Do I think he's perfect? No But I'll tell you one thing About Christian Pulisic And going back to Donovan And one or two others At least he's had the stomach To go to Europe Over a Long long period of time And forge out A pretty good career for himself At Dortmund At Chelsea At Milan Where he's gone over there For a long period of time and he has produced some very good performances.

42:59Some of this lot, sitting on their cozy sofas, they can't say that. Yeah, they can talk about what they did in MLS and they can talk about what they did now and again with the national team, but they didn't have the stomach, some of them, to go over there and train your butt off and play at elite level for years at a time. They dipped their toe in the water and they jumped back over the pond, right? But yeah, they want to sit here and kill it. Listen, they can analyse games all they want. I don't care. That's the job. But here, I think this is personal. It's a real personal attack on this young man.

43:32You can't say that about Casey. He played for Millwall, for crying out loud. Casey, your thoughts on what the boys have been saying. Yeah, there's no question that it feels personal. Look, I completely understand, you know, hey, had a great start to the tournament, had that great first half, picked up the injury, missed a couple games, kind of worked his way back in. And it really was, you know, one of those difficult collective nightmares. And Christian gets injured after, what, seven minutes, tries to battle through, and it just didn't happen. And you could see as well, when he came off, he was sat on the bench, head in hand.

44:10Of course. Distraught, couldn't actually watch the rest of the match. You've got to feel for him. Yeah, 100%. I mean, and look, I think we all want to be able at the big occasion to perform. Sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. And obviously, when you're the face, when you're the star, when you're the one that everyone's expecting, we were talking about before the World Cup, how is the U.S. successful? First and foremost, you need your stars to perform. You need your role players to do their role. And then you need a couple surprises. You need that player where you're like, wow, I didn't expect that kind of tournament from that guy.

44:44And it looked like against opposition that we should have beaten, that we were starting to see some of that. But then when you had your most difficult task, go ahead, Frankie. No, it's all right. You carry on. We want to hear from you, Alex, first, and I'll get him in. Yeah, no, I mean, it's just one of those things where we just, in the toughest stage of this tournament for the team, when there'd been this level of false hype on this team already. Anyway, look, I love being in situations in this country where there's 40 plus million people watching, the president sending messages to the team after every game, congratulating them and everyone's behind you and keep going.

45:29And, you know, the Federation is fighting to get a player back on the pitch. This was stuff that never happened in this country before. Nobody cared that much to give them that kind of attention. But with that kind of attention comes another level of responsibility. so for me I have no problem being critical as Craig was saying being critical on the performance but it's definitely gone over the top and and and that that that's the side of that that you know with social media and with different things that I that I did that leaves a bad taste it does and it's a shame because I think the belief was really genuine coming into it I interviewed Chris Richards in England before we came out here and he looked me in the eye and he said we're winning it no I I could tell he really believed me.

46:12I'm just saying, I'm just repeating what he said. But that's also part of the problem. You can say, we're going to go far, we're going to get out of the group. But we're not winning this tournament yet. He already pictured it and it was happening. He affirmed it was happening. Don't shoot the messenger. Thank you very much, guys. Frank. Yeah, thank you very much. It's always been like that when you have a failure that you have to point at one player and it's mostly the star of the team who didn't perform the way that everybody was looking for. And I blame the media for that because nowadays it's even 10 times worse when you have to find somebody guilty for something you couldn't achieve.

46:53And I want to remind everybody that football is a collective sport and you lose together and you win together. And we have seen the Ballon d 'Or being so important nowadays where I remember Zinedine Zidane winning it And it took like five minutes that we talked about it to congratulate him. And then it was over because that wasn't important in our days. And we forgot that. Yeah, it's maybe important to have those players, most valuable players who bring people to the stadium. But in the two sides, losing or winning, we have to stop analyzing game with a failure of the main important player. But does not part of that come from the marketing as well?

47:31If you're going to be the face, if you're going to take millions from credit card companies, from shoe manufacturers, then you also have that responsibility on the pitch. As well, you talk about being a team. He's not getting paid as a team. He's getting paid as an individual. He's getting paid as the superstar. Yeah, but that's outwith the borders of a football field. That's his choice. One of the issues I've always had here Is When you build something up so much To The fans And a lot of casual fans They don't understand Why it's gone the way it's gone Because they've listened to the wrong people And they've had the wrong message Stuffed down their throat Christian Pulisic is a very good player But he's not a superstar the US are a good team but they're not a great team and when you can look at it from that angle you can understand maybe why Belgium beat them or maybe why they have their struggles, it's not to say they can't get better but when you build something up and I know Chris Richards was probably tongue in cheek and joking but there are people out there who will build up we can do this and we can beat Spain then when it falls flat people go this is just terrible This is a disaster.

48:49This is in the American way. We used to winning everything. That's the thing for me. I think some of this, I don't put this on Christian Pulisic. He didn't ask to be labeled Captain America. I don't think he's comfortable with the tag of Captain America. But you're right. Every time you switch on your television, he's advertising something else. So now it's not a soccer-supporting public. Who are you bringing into the game with this World Cup? the first and probably only name you think of is Christian Pulisic. And that comes with a responsibility. Again, a responsibility that he didn't ask for.

49:26I also wonder how much of this backlash is because of the Balogun situation. Given the overturning of the red card, not just soccer-supporting public here, everybody got themselves in a tizzy about we are going to beat Belgium now and are you all afraid of us at our best? There was this rhetoric that kind of just swole as a result because the Balogun red card was overturned. Now, if Balogun had saved out his suspension and they just lost a normal game, I don't think anybody would have had this kind of reaction, especially this kind of reaction to Christian Pulisic. I see it this way. And for me, I think this is the point what a lot of people are missing on that.

50:09Christian Pulisic, let's say you take Christian Pulisic, who he is as a player. he you said it quick he left us to go early in a young age to germany and he started all his career there so he's normally he when you look at him he played his young ages in the us but he's an europe project so and then you have the guy donovan we go back to him he's an american project he's just mls so and if you look at it when you look at donovan how protected he was And you guys have a point, and I'll tell you, has a lot to do with the media. Who's behind the media? Which agents are sitting behind the media? Who represented from the guys in the media?

50:50Are they going against the people? Are they saying the truth? Are they laboring something that, you know, like you said, the fans are still new in this thing. There may be, I said this on a tweet last time, that U.S. fans, they're getting better. They're understanding more. But they're still not seeing everything how it is. So if you layer something out and you say Christian is this fault, this fault, this fault, they listen to that. And this goes quick. He's not good. He's a bad player. He's this. He's that. So he scores a goal. Two days later, the media says amazing player, blah, blah, blah.

51:24Again, he's the best. So you have to look at the outlets. Who are the people talking him down? Who talking the situation bad? And then you will find out. If you just put the puzzle together, you will understand that in the landscape of U.S. there's a lot of politics. He's taken, and I don't want to sort of go on about it, but he's taken such a pounding these last few days. It almost feels like the next time he steps on a field here in the U.S. for the U.S., that there could be some sort of reaction from those fans. It can be good. Yeah, because of this message that it's basically his fault. Yeah.

51:59And I know that as a player, the next time he plays, because he'll be disappointed. Of course he will. He'll be disappointed in the way this World Cup has gone for him personally as well as the team. is that he'll know in his mind the next time he steps out in the field that all eyes are going to be on him. It's not really a very nice situation to be in. I imagine that conversation will continue on Football Americas. Just a reminder, you can catch that. That is midnight. Is that tonight? Friday. Friday at midnight on ESPN2.

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53:34So the bracket of course was set a couple of days ago We now know France are through Who will the other three teams Who will make it through to the semi-final And what about the final and what about the winner We had some predictions on earlier show España It was my pick to begin with I'm riding with Spain because if for no other reason I am as my wife likes to tell me all the time Stubborn Do you know what? Do you know what? No! Ow! Ow! Ow! It's coming home. It's coming home. Finally. Here we go. I do think France is going to win again. I know. I'm sorry, Natum and Kay. But that is my decision.

54:12Do the right thing. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh. Yay! There's a lot of England. There's a lot of England. There's a lot of England. Oh! Oh! You're joking me! Are you serious? Why? Go with England to lose the final. I want England to win, but we're here to do a job. You know, you know what I'm going to pick. France. France, of course. France is winning the World Cup. And that is where the dream ends for Norway. So in the end, we get France winning. Norway or Morocco? Norway, unfortunately. I would love to pick the world cup. After all that, Norway won the World Cup. Oh, wow. That is amazing.

54:53It's too many Englands, isn't it? That's a kiss of death from Kay and Nathan. It's not the country where you live or the country you were born that has to be picked, you know, by some people. All right. We are in the league. Who are you picking? I'm picking the best team. I'm picking my team. The good thing Craig doesn't have that issue being Scottish. Let's take a look, shall we, at his picks in the quarterfinal, going through the semifinal. Don't brag. So tomorrow you said Spain? Yeah. Yeah. And then on the Saturday, England and Argentina to advance. And you've got Argentina to beat England.

55:25Why? Well, yeah, because I've got France and Argentina in the final. Yeah, this is why I'm asking you why you believe Argentina would beat England. Neil, why? Experience and the fact that, you know, England have to have some sort of fatigue from that Mexico game. Then they go into the Norway game. And the Messi factor, I just, I don't, I think Argentina are just a slightly better side. So France-Argentina final, who wins the final? I think France get their retribution. Oh. On Argentina from four years ago. Time will tell. That is it. That brings us to the end of today's show. Where's everybody else's?

56:02They've all done theirs. Yeah, and you are the only one important here. Suddenly you don't like the sound of your own voice? All right, little T-shirt. All right, little T-shirt. Hey, hey. I bet he's got a jacket back on. Yeah! No, no, no. That's it. Free wheel. Free wheel. Oh, boy. Welcome to the latest edition of Extra Time. You'll buckle tomorrow. You want my jacket? No, no, I like the night jacket. It's nice. It's good. That on him would be an overcoat. No, it's very fashion. Frank, let me give you a jacket because it was raining and I didn't bring a coat down here because it was so nice. And it fits beautifully, Frank.

56:39Oh, yes. Yes, thank you very much. Can I be back? No. You'll not see that again. That is that. Nice days off for everyone. What did you do? Money in business. All right, good. Same answer for everyone else? Yeah, yeah. I went to Target, CBS. I enjoyed it. You love those. Has CR7's desire ultimately diminished his overall career these years in Saudi Arabia and consecutive failed World Cups with Portugal while chasing that elusive 1 ,000th goal seem a bit uninspiring? 100th. 1 ,000th? 1 ,000th career goal. Did I say 100th? No, I just thought it said 100th in the graphic. You said 1 ,000th and Craig can see that part.

57:22What a surprise. Without his glasses. No, the short answer is absolutely not. I think he's fully entitled to play pass long and wherever he wants and do whatever he wants. And questioning that is just idiotic in my opinion. Yeah, it seems so. Yeah, I remember going to Qatar and deserving it. Nothing to do with it. I think it's nice for him to, if he wants to carry on playing, and I think he's being very honest with himself. and he knows that maybe he had to think about the future, get a little bit of money as well and enjoy his football. He was, as you say, very much entitled to do so. What was he, he's 41 now, so he's got to be 37, 38 minimum when he went to Saudi Arabia.

58:06Yeah, exactly. How can a player that's achieved what he's achieved, played in the games he's scored, the goals he's scored, up until that age and diminish your career? How is that possible? It's not possible. it's not his fault that he wanted to play for Portugal and the manager wasn't strong enough to make the big decisions like Rudi Garcia made for Belgium made three big calls and players that play for big clubs Doku, Lukaku wasn't a surprise and Kevin De Bruyne all sat on the sidelines while he did what he thought was best for the team the manager meanwhile Ronaldo played which ultimately wasn't the best thing certainly over 90 minutes for the team that's not his fault he's not going to refuse to play it's the manager at Beckham.

58:50Do you play against him back in the day? Yeah. Did you ask for his shirt? I have his shirt, yeah. Oh, nice. But does he have yours? He has it. He doesn't know where, but he... He washes his car with it.

59:09Well, you know. Oh, yeah. Petr Cech's washing his car with my shirt. I'm sorry, don't try and dig yourself out of home. I'm in company, that's all. I got a Rivaldo shirt from Barcelona. We're not talking about you. Yeah, we're not talking about you. We're talking about... Just to say that... Just to say that, I'm pretty sure Rivaldo doesn't remember having mine. No, thanks. Really, that was just a humble brag. I was really worried you were going to be left out there. So you shoo-hung yourself into that. Oh, what about when I had... Will Declan Rice and Bruno Guimaraes be the best midfield pairing in the Premchak?

59:46Yeah, it's hard to kind of see another that eclipses that. Declan Rice, absolutely incredible. You've seen that. Bruno Guimaraes, I think one of the best midfielders, even in that Newcastle team, one of the best midfielders in the league. As long as they get an understanding, I can't see too many. Hey, come on. What about Mikaesito? Shut up, Chelsea. Come on, Mikaesito, I think has been better than Bruno Guimaraes. Pairing, pairing. Midfielders, Bruno Rice is going to be better. Because he's going there. Oh, yeah. Well, so far, they haven't been the best pairing. They haven't played together as well.

1:00:20He's lucky at Teta in the sense that whenever he's made mistakes, the board have backed him to go and buy another player. Because this is effectively a replacement for Zubi Mendy, who hasn't... How did this turn negative against Arsenal? Well, because you're here. Such a shame. Hey, Craig, why so long for VAR? Would record time between appointment of Spott and Mbappe taking penalty I don't see any surprise amiss. It did take a long time. He complained to the ref after that. He said it took more than a minute for the ref to decide. Then after there was another discussion about the player not being behind the line.

1:00:58So maybe it's why Mbappe missed it. But we are used to that now. So I think the players, they have to... Sympathy for Mbappe? No, I don't think he missed because of that. No. I will say, I finally woke up to get it. Pretty fast, yeah. In the league, we're used to it. The league's kind of taken three and four minutes over the most straightforward decisions. But in the World Cup, they've been getting it right and getting it right quickly. I found this to be a little bit of a surprising anomaly. What the man? With Messi and Mbappe both missing penalties, which style of penalty do you consider worse?

1:01:34The no look or the slow stutter? What was your technique? Did the Frank Leboeuf? Craig de DeFranck Leboeuf What's that? I was just bringing Frank in So he didn't have to shoehorn himself in We talked about that You want to say something Craig? We talked about that I think it has to stop for me For players to tease Goalkeepers With a stutter And they don't respect the goalkeeper And they don't respect for me the football and that's not the character that I want to see when you shoot a penalty. It used to be I put the ball and I pick a side and I kick strong in the air or on the floor and that's it.

1:02:22Because that's normally very easy to score a penalty. It's a 12-yard pass that you have to make it strong to avoid somebody to get it. And he was a goalkeeper. He can tell you that it's almost mission impossible. So I don't know what they do. I don't know what they try to express when they do that. But that's ugly. And that's really shameful when you miss it. So it has to stop. I didn't side foot too many. I did a few. I actually scored past Casey in the FA Cup, but that was pretty easy. He's still... He's still not sleeping about that. He's still angry about it whenever I bring it off. But I used to go for that slow quite a lot.

1:02:57Yeah. You know, the pace he wanted. Zidane was doing the same all the time. Yeah. Didn't even change. That's where he got it from. So Craig. He was cupping Craig in fact. Not many of us have taken three penalties in a Premier League game. No, exactly. Exactly. Klaiver was the one who got the hat-trick, wasn't it, the last season? Yeah, he was the first one to get the Premier League hat-trick. You missed your third. I missed my third. Jermaine, what was your penalty technique? Close the eyes and power. Yeah? That was your knee skins. Did you ever change your mind? And I know I did this. Yeah. Did you ever change your mind on the run-up?

1:03:30Yes. Because I saw the goalkeeper at the time, they were going everywhere. They were going over the line as well. you know, there were cheaters like Xhaka at the time. And the thing is, it was kind of a music when the goalkeeper was doing left-right. And it was too early, it was left-right-left for me. So I changed my mind because I saw that. And it happened to the Community Shield penalty shootout that we had against Manchester United. And I saw Schmeichel moving too early, so I changed my mind. And I was fortunate to score, but it's not a good solution. Did you miss because you changed your mind?

1:04:07No. I tried to go down the medal with the third one. Oh, that's good. But you don't think that if you just go and pick one corner and he goes in that corner, it's a problem. And if you go slow and you wait till he has the... Because I think that even if he goes on the side, and we saw that, I think the last penalty shooter that we saw, I think, I don't remember what it was. Switzerland-Colombia? Yes, Switzerland-Colombia, where even the player will pick the side and shoot strong on the floor, He went in twice because it's hard for the goalkeeper to react. If you put on the gloves area that I call like Messi did, it's a nightmare.

1:04:41Because it's much easier for the goalkeeper. There is a real technique. There is a way to kick a penalty. And again, if you do a 12-yard pass and you want to make sure that somebody doesn't get it, it's quite easy. But you have to know and be confident that your shot will be quicker and pacer than the reaction of the goalkeeper. Shaq, what's worse for a goalkeeper? With what? We've been talking about the run-up for the last five months. You've been listening to the conversation. No, listen, I hit it with pace. Hit it with pace and to the side, to Frank's point, good takers can go pick out the corner.

1:05:17And even if you go early, even if you guessed right, Van Nistelrooy was typical with that. Yeah, exactly. You knew which side he was going. Right. So the only way to get his penalty was to move early. If you moved early, he would just roll it down the middle. But as long as you stood your ground, he would go to that same side every single time. And even though you knew you couldn't get there, that's what you do. Which France against Morocco is worse to watch? This one or the last World Cup? Oh, the last World Cup. This one was a lot of quality. That little pass from Elysee was pretty good, wasn't it?

1:05:54Just before that, we didn't see Elysee yet. Yes, I know. That was amazing. Craig, to what extent do Mbappe, Vinny and Bellingham shoulder the responsibility for not being able to perform for Madrid like the way they have in this tournament? Or is it something that depends entirely on the manager and the way he sets the team up? Good luck.

1:06:18Well, I think they all have a responsibility at their clubs, but you're playing with different players. The balance of the Real Madrid side has just not been good. and Bellingham was out injured for a while so you can't I mean obviously they have a big responsibility because they're three of the bigger players at Real Madrid but they're all stepping into a completely different international team and playing with different players I don't know, Frank I was going to go I was going to go I'm with you on that it's not the same the tactic is different the individuals are different, so it's incomparable for me.

1:07:01So let's go. Let's do it. Let's go. ESPN FC, then back tomorrow. It's all about Spain, Belgium and looking ahead to those two remaining quarterfinals, Norway against England and Switzerland, Argentina.

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