Futbol Americas: Injury Woes for the Host Nations + Pochettino Non-Committal + Noahkai Banks Switching Up? + Neymar Speaks About His Fitness + CONCACAF Champions Cup Recap + Run It Back + Drippin Or Trippin

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19:19Neymar:He's had ample opportunity and he has not done it. He has not taken the chance to say, listen, U.S. of A, baby. America. I'm here for America. He hasn't yet said that out loud.

20:00Shaka Hislop:in general but Shaq uh well as we welcome in our Jeff Carlisle Jeff I'm going to start with Shaq

20:07Cristina Alexander:here real quick because the language is is different it's different it's odd yeah what does football takes you where it wants not where you want you you are in this game for as long as as you have been Mauricio Pochettino so that you can make those decisions as to where you want to go. Unless Mauricio Pochettino is trying to tell me that he just happened to be the U.S. men's national team coach by happenstance, that that's what football decided, that he played no part in that decision, and he will now play no part in what is to come next. Again, I have been fairly critical of a lot of the things that Mauricio Pochettino has said as U.S.

20:49Cristina Alexander:men's national team coach and this is the reason why i just find so much of it so unconvincing like what are you trying to see and now it's not lost on me that two or three weeks ago he was having a go with at timothy ware about ticket prices now you link with real madrid and or a move elsewhere and you are nowhere near as firm by your measure, nowhere near as committed as you were asking Timothy where to be. I just don't get it. I really don't.

21:27Shaka Hislop:Jeff, do you get it?

21:31Mauricio Pochettino:Listen, I mean, from the moment Marisa Pochettino was hired, I don't think anyone really expected him to last beyond the World Cup. And I can remember talking to people in the U.S. Soccer Federation, and they're saying, well, maybe he can take on a different kind of role after the World Cup is over. But I don't really think that ever included continuing to manage the team. But I think Schalke is right. I think Pochettino could do more to kind of shut these things down and to say something like to the effect that I'm not going to talk about any of this stuff until after the World Cup. And I'm committed to the U.S.

22:12Mauricio Pochettino:you know I'm going to give them my 100 % focus it's World Cup or nothing and then you can say after the World Cup then I'll start entertaining offers you know it kind of reminds me a little bit of Lopetegui when he was coach of Spain and then he was going to be linked with Real Madrid and then the Spanish Federation said no thanks so obviously the US Soccer Federation is not going to make that kind of decision But I do think that Pochettino could be firmer and could be more direct and just say, listen, I'm only thinking about the U.S. men's national team right now. We have a great opportunity going into this World Cup, playing at home, a squad that, for the most part, Sergino Test is probably the exception, that seems to be healing up at the right time, you know, guys getting back on the field.

23:04Mauricio Pochettino:So, you know, I think Mauricio Pochettino could do more to kind of just put these rumors to rest, at least for the moment. I mean, because everybody does know that he's probably going to end up elsewhere. But, you know, communicate now what your focus is and how that is going to be directed at the U.S. men's national team.

23:22Herc Gomez:He likes the attention. That's the reason he's not putting these rumors to rest. That's the reason when they ask him about the Premier League, he's talking and flirting about the Premier League. He was talking about how much he misses Spurs, how much he misses the allure of the Premier League. And it's no secret that in the United States, our media, when we cover the game, isn't like the English media. It isn't like the Latin American media in Argentina, in Brazil, in Mexico. You can be whoever you want here, and you're not going to be criticized in the same way. Hell, you don't even have to live in the country, as Mauricio Pochettino does not live here.

24:01Herc Gomez:He lives in Barcelona. He misses the attention. So when they ask him, he flirts. It's no secret that Mauricio Pochettino is not going to be with the U.S. Men's National Team post-World Cup. I know that. Shaq knows that. Chris, you know that. Jeff knows that. The U.S. Men's National Team players know that. Maybe there are parts of the fan base that do not know that. but he is out afterwards regardless of what happens regardless he is out he doesn't want any part of the u.s program after 2026 you can see he desperately misses the day-to-day of a team the day-to-day of a club the day-to-day of the attention that comes with coaching somewhere where football is everything

24:51Herc Gomez:but you're criticizing players you're criticizing the press and Jeff has been at those press conference when he criticizes and chastises the press if we really wanted to hold mariso pochettino to the fire as he desperately wants he would have been out a long time ago and that's a reality if we hold him to his words to the bar that he has set as shack has mentioned he would have already been gone but that's not this type of program so he's still here so anytime that there is a Mauricio Pochettino linked to the Premier League or to a club like Real Madrid or to any high-profile job, Mauricio Pochettino is not going to shoot it down and say, I'm not talking about it.

25:35Herc Gomez:He's going to entertain it.

25:37Cristina Alexander:Here's my thing, Herc. Why not shoot it down? And this is the thing. He enjoys it. No, no. He can't. So, if Mauricio Pochettino, for argument's sake, is having conversations quietly with Florentino Perez. I have absolutely no idea who's running things at Spurs, so I have no idea who to talk to them.

26:00Shaka Hislop:I don't think they even know.

26:01Cristina Alexander:Exactly. Nobody knows. But anyway, so we go with Real Madrid for argument's sake here. If he's having conversations quietly with Florentino Perez, and Florentino Perez is saying, Mauricio, I'm really interested. I'd love for you to be our next manager come July, August.

26:23Cristina Alexander:With Mauricio Pochettino just coming out and saying, I couldn't care about anybody else. I'm focusing on winning the World Cup. And that's it. We'll see after that. After we win the World Cup, I'll figure out what I'm doing next. That's not going to put Frantino Perez off. So unless he is still auditioning or asking for attention from a Florentino Perez or whoever is the, you know, kit man at Spurs, unless he's still auditioning for that attention from them, I don't understand what he's doing. Everybody in football knows you walk and chew gum at the same time. You can be playing for one club and know that the manager is getting a bid for you, ready for you somewhere else.

27:13Cristina Alexander:We've all done it. You don't come out and talk about it, but we've all been in that place. I just don't understand why this.

27:24Herc Gomez:I really don't. Well, I'll tell you why he doesn't shoot down the Real Madrid rumors, because they're too good to be true for Marisa Pujatino. I mentioned this last week. there it doesn't make sense it would have made sense champions league runner-up when he was head coach's first that would have made sense maybe kind of after he fumbled being the first psg team not to win league one with psg with those players not being able to manage that locker room maybe after psg and the clash of heads he had with the sporting director there over control it doesn't make sense for money to put you know at this time in his career with his pedigree right now where it's at to be in the running for Real Madrid.

28:01Herc Gomez:He doesn't shoot it down because it's too good to be true. He wants his name to stay in the light. Jeff, you can help me out here. The English club, I believe it was Brentford maybe, where his name came up. He didn't shoot that down either. When you don't shoot down a Brentford, you're certainly not going to shoot down a report about Real Madrid. Oh, boy. Jeff?

28:22Mauricio Pochettino:Actually, I think he did shoot down Brentford. I mean, I think he, the comments that I remember him making, they were more forceful, you know, than what's going on right now with Real Madrid. And so, you know, I think, and that link never really made much sense. So I think on that standpoint, I don't think people took it seriously in terms of Pochettino ending up at a club like Brentford. No disrespect to Brentford, but it just didn't seem to be an appointment that would be in alignment with what Brentford is about, with what Pochettino's about. Again, it just didn't make much sense. Certainly, Real Madrid is a team or a club that I think Pochettino would very much like to be a part of.

29:06Mauricio Pochettino:And I can see Herc's point that he wants to keep his name in the limelight. He still wants it to be considered. But I will say this. Pochettino has constructed a castle around himself. I mean, if you want to hire Mauricio Pochettino, you've got to get through his assistant, Jesus Perez. You've got to get through his attorney who starts, you know, looking at this offer, looking at the kind of project that's being put forward. and then if both of those guys give their blessing, then Marisa Bocchettino is brought into the room. So, you know, I think an awful lot of work would have to be done. And maybe that's being done right now.

29:43Mauricio Pochettino:Who knows? But, you know, I do think that, you know, that kind of appointment would be a long ways off. But, you know, we'll have to wait and see what happens. But, I mean, for now, he needs to focus on the World Cup and he needs to focus on this window because it seems like every single window that we've looked at for the past, you know, eight months, we're thinking, okay, this is the time that he's going to have his full team together. And it seems like there's always some injuries that come up or for some reason, you know, Weston McKinney is not available because Juventus changed managers. I think this is the time where he's really got to get this team together.

30:18Mauricio Pochettino:And, you know, not that they weren't pulling in the same direction before. I think the team has looked a lot better in the last couple of windows, but he's got to get everybody together and really, you know, full speed ahead towards getting prepared for the World Cup, getting guys more familiar with each other, and getting the tactics sorted out, all of that kind of stuff. That needs to happen now in this particular current window that's coming up. And hopefully the U.S. is at their peak when June comes around. But the work has started. It needs to continue in this particular window, I think.

30:53Herc Gomez:Listen, I'll just leave it at this. I don't blame Mauricio Pochettino for not shooting down these reports. I mean, why would you want to make your name, why would you want to dim the light? You know, if you know you're leaving after the World Cup, you maybe want to keep something open, and if it's Real Madrid, it's Real Madrid. It's very difficult to turn that down.

31:10Shaka Hislop:Yeah, but there's a way to do that without so leaving it to chance.

31:12Herc Gomez:Well, hold on, just really quickly. Yeah. I don't blame Marisa Pochettino for not wanting to turn that down or deny the reports. Where's US soccer in all this? Where's Matt Crocker? Where are the people, you know, the powers that be there?

31:28Shaka Hislop:it's a valid question because what I thought with all of this too is don't they prepare if rumors start going around, Hey, if you're asked this in the press conference, this would be the ideal answer. I mean, we saw it halfway through the week, even with Julian Alvarez and his future with Atlético de Madrid kind of saying, well, I don't know, but maybe a yes, no. Yeah. The simple answer. And we all know we're not born yesterday. Also saying my focus right now is with the U S men's national team means that there's something else to it. We're not playing devil's advocate. It's just the way it is.

32:01Shaka Hislop:You guys saw it on the player side. Jeff and I have seen it on the journalistic side of it. So we're not saying it's that, but there is, I think, a better way to handle it language-wise that, back to your point, should have been prepared, and we don't know if it was, and Mauricio Pochentino decided something completely else.

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34:12Shaka Hislop:Well, we do know that Mauricio Pochettino would like to decide for Noah Kai Banks and his talent that he has at such a short age with 19 years old. He has the option to play for Germany. He also has the option to play for the U.S. men's national team. Here are his numbers with Augsburg, at least this season in the Bundesliga. With 21 games, 19 of those as a starter, his average minutes per appearance to almost the 90 minutes. his goals and assists as well, and 86 clearances. All right, here's what Noah Kai-Banks had to say on deciding which national team he will play for. I know there's a World Cup coming up.

34:50Shaka Hislop:I don't want to set a deadline. I want to take my time, decide calmly. I have a long career ahead of me, so I don't want to make it dependent on a tournament. This is per kicker. But Jeff, we know you had an interesting conversation with Noki, I guess we're calling him. For you, is this something, nothing or everything?

35:14Mauricio Pochettino:I think it's more everything. I mean, or I guess I would say something kind of leaning towards everything. You know, every time that Noakai Banks talks about his time with the U.S., it's in over-the-top positive terms. You know, he looks back fondly at the U-17 World Cup in Indonesia. He said it was one of the big moments of his life playing in a big stadium for the first time like that. He talked about how much fun he had, you know, coming back to camp, seeing his friends again, seeing guys that he played with. You know, he would have been on the U-20 team at a World Cup, but Augsburg did not release him.

35:50Mauricio Pochettino:But Marko Mitrovic, you know, he's the guy who had initially scouted banks for the U.S. program. You know, he was very high on Banks, had nothing but good things to say about him in terms of the kind of person he is, you know, how he's improved his game over the years. Gonzalez-Segares, who coached him with the U-17, said every camp that Banks came in during that time, it was just a quantum leap of improvement, you know, with different skills. You know, sometimes it was with his passing. Sometimes it was with carrying the ball out of the back on the dribble and beating guys that way. And so obviously, in his time at Augsburg, he's grown and developed his game even further.

36:28Mauricio Pochettino:But in terms of the U.S. program, he even talked about coming into the camp last September and how welcoming everyone was. He talked about some of the veteran players like a Tim Ream, a Tim Weah, Christian Pulisic, just how well they treated him. They included him in dinners and just tried to make sure that he wasn't isolated or by himself. I mean, they really tried to recruit him and indoctrinate him into the program. And, you know, this is following a pattern that we've seen with previous dual nationals. I mean, I can remember Yunus Musa kind of had a similar path where he played in some friendlies.

37:04Mauricio Pochettino:You know, again, the guys were super friendly. The coaching staff was very welcoming. It's kind of a U.S. men's national team playbook, if you will, in terms of recruiting dual nationals. Obviously, this situation is a little bit different. You know, when I talked to him, you know, he said, you know, he only talked about playing for the U.S., but, you know, at a roundtable later that day, he said, yes, I have been in contact with Germany. So I think that was kind of the first inkling that this wasn't a done deal. You know, this wasn't going to be just a textbook situation of the U.S. winning out at another dual national, that they were going to have a fight on their hands.

37:42Mauricio Pochettino:So, listen, I think the guy is in an impossible situation because he has a foot in both countries. There's obviously a lot about the U.S. that he loves. You know, he sees his dad regularly, but he also grew up in Germany. And he grew up not only in German culture, but a German footballing culture. And so and there are some compelling reasons, you know, if he's got a chance with the German team to go that route. But, you know, it's really, really difficult to try to predict the future about what opportunities are going to come your way. And I can understand him saying, hey, I don't want to make this decision based on one tournament.

38:18Mauricio Pochettino:But sometimes that one tournament is all you're going to get. And so I think, you know, there is a case to be made for striking while the iron is hot. But, you know, he's got a tough decision to make. I think another thing that's factoring into this is that Banks is called in and he plays in one of these games at the end of this month, that would set back his potential one-time switch to Germany's team by three years. If I'm reading the FIFA statutes correctly, and believe me, sometimes I wish I had a law degree when I'm reading these things, it'd be a situation where he would be pushing out his possible debut with Germany a few years into the future.

38:58Mauricio Pochettino:So there's that to think about as well. And I think, you know, you can say, hey, you know, there's there's nothing there's it's no skin off his back. If, you know, he comes here, he plays, he's still eligible to play for Germany. There are some rules on the books that kind of make it less of a cut and dry decision.

39:15Shaka Hislop:Yeah, it's a big decision, Shaq, with such little time and such a short age, a 19 year old having to make this big decision.

39:23Cristina Alexander:Yeah, and I think that's the thing here. Because he's 19, and to just point, yes, you should strike while the iron's hot. Also, there's value in backing yourself. I'm thinking I'm 19. I continue to develop as I am. Who knows where that can lead me in terms of not just club, but maybe in demand for an international team. Now, I say this every single time. I was faced with a similar choice, having been born in England, but raising Trinidad and Tobago, I've only ever felt Trinidad and Tobago. And so when I was eventually called into the national team, the decision for me was easy. I also recognize it's a very personal decision because I've seen people do go the other way for their own reasons.

40:09Cristina Alexander:I will never criticize somebody for whatever decision they make, for whatever reason they make. That's theirs. I haven't walked a step in their shoes. So I truly do sympathize with the position that he may feel that he is in or feel that people are trying to put him in, which is why, and then again, I credit what he said to Jeff and where I disagree with Jeff slightly is, listen, I'll make this decision. I'll take some time and I'll make this decision on my own. It's mine to make in my own good time okay there's a world cup coming up but if it's not in my time then that world cup kind of

40:52Herc Gomez:um becomes secondary yeah it's it's a very difficult thing to process because in the eyes of most people if noakai banks is thinking about representing germany in their mind it's well then you don't feel american so you shouldn't be with us they don't understand how difficult of a decision it could be and it can be difficult because in a young boy's mind and he's still very much a boy regardless of 19 years of age you're asking to make a choice in many people's eyes about identity and trying to figure out who you are at that age it's an impossible task and it's case by case you cannot put every dual national in the same bunch what noakai lived in his journey and how he feels and the opportunity he may have of either a world cup with the u.s or a world cup with germany however distant that may be for some people is his right it's his right as a dual national and his ability to represent the u.s men's national team is his birthright Yeah.

41:58Herc Gomez:Sometimes people get so just diluted with the fact that this person isn't 100 percent in in my country. So I don't want them. That type of mentality. And there are a lot of countries in this world that will recruit non-citizens in the U.S., green card holders to serve in the military. But when it comes time to put on a uniform to play your sport, oh, no, no, no, you better feel it. You can defend me. Whatever you want. Join the military. But if you're going to play my sport, you better feel it. It's an impossible task. It's a case by case. And I know there are videos circulating on the Internet.

42:43Herc Gomez:Noakai Banks making comments a while back about his dreams to play for the U.S. men's national team. If you're a player who's not played first division football and you get a chance to go with a youth national team or your first full national team and they put a camera in your face, sometimes you say things because you're so excited. And you're so young. And you're so young. That's the world we live in where you say things sometimes that you can regret. It doesn't make him a bad person and it doesn't make his choice wrong. This is an individual case. And I'm glad Shaka mentioned that because, Shaka, you very much felt Trinidadian, and that's a great thing.

43:22Herc Gomez:But if the choice was you have to represent England to play in the Premier League, that's a choice that many would have said, well, this may change something now. So, as you say that, that was...

43:33Cristina Alexander:How old were you, Shaka?

43:34Shaka Hislop:I'm sorry. How old were you when you made that decision?

43:37Cristina Alexander:Well, I earned my first cap for the Toronto-Berogne national team at 29 years old. that being said to your point so the longer story is now we're going to go for a bit of a tangent um when i started playing in england you only allowed three non-uk nationalities in in your squad i qualified having been born in england right and the reason that it took me that long to make my debut for Toronto-Tobago national team is Jack Warner tried to call me into a national team to play a friendly, outside of a FIFA window. And I was like, I need to get this move. Premier League clubs were sniffing around. I was like, I need to get this move.

44:25Cristina Alexander:Let me just get this move to the Premier League and then I'll come play for the national team. But he insisted. He insisted I come back to Toronto-Tobago to play a game November 19th, 1994, five years after USA beat us on November 19th to qualify for the worker. Who celebrates not qualifying for the worker? I don't know. So it wasn't falling in a FIFA window. So I would have had to leave my club. I'm like, just let me get this move. He insisted. To put it nicely, it was a bit of a falling out between the two of us. And I never made my, I didn't make my international debut for, so yeah, so that'd been 94.

45:06Cristina Alexander:I didn't make my debut until 98 or five years later. But then that, and I will also say, I have kids who born, my daughters were born in England. My son was born in the US. They're also citizens of Toronto, Tobago. My wife is from Toronto, Tobago. And we do everything in our power to make our kids feel like or to understand, know, recognize, respect Triantobago for what it is. We do everything that we can. I say that in a personal because I know, to your point, how people kind of want to twist everything. Yes. Even in playing for Triantobago, the amount of times people have said to me, you're not really from Triantobago.

45:54Cristina Alexander:You were born in England. I left him down when I was two years old. The amount of times people have said that to me. So there's a lot to this, in short, that Noki Banks is going through. You can't package. It's up to the individual. And don't allow anybody else to make that decision or dictate a timeline for it.

46:17Shaka Hislop:And I think at the end of the day, because it's such a personal decision, that there's no wrong decision.

46:21Cristina Alexander:There's no wrong decision.

46:22Shaka Hislop:Whatever team they want to go for.

46:24Cristina Alexander:Do what you feel is right, what you're comfortable and confident in.

46:28Shaka Hislop:Especially when you're 19. And I think the way that he wants to take his time says a lot about his maturity at this point in his career. And that we're talking about him so much at only 19 years old also says a lot about his talent and his future as a professional soccer player. Jeff, thank you so much for hanging out with us on Football Americas. We appreciate your time as always.

46:51Mauricio Pochettino:Anytime.

46:52Shaka Hislop:I want to remind you what's coming up this weekend in the Bundesliga. And also, if you want to hear the full interview with Noah Kibanks and Jeff Carlisle, that will be available on YouTube. Looking forward to all the action this weekend available on ESPN+.

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48:49Shaka Hislop:All right, let's take it to some more World Cup talk, because this is one of the biggest question marks. Will Neymar be on Brazil's roster? He has had quite the injury history, and this is just recently. So many in 2025, the most recent one being another muscular injury that he had in 2026. And he had a lot to say when it came to his future with Brazil. He did miss the last match with Santos, by the way. He said, since many people are creating theories about what is happening to me, nothing is happening. If I play injured, as they said last year, I am wrong. If I only think about myself, I am wrong.

49:29Shaka Hislop:If I take it easy, I am wrong. If I play with pain or something that could aggravate it, I am wrong. It's complicated, huh? It's very difficult to get it right, man. Very difficult. And continues on, very difficult to please everyone. And what surprises me the most, I mean, it doesn't surprise me. It's the people, these people who seem to be by my side every day and start making up stories, saying this as if it were the greatest truth in the world, as if they were the owners of reason. It's very complicated to me. My goodness, I have to be the patience to put up, to have to have the patience to put up with you.

50:03Shaka Hislop:I mean, he said a lot, but at the same time, didn't say much here.

50:09Herc Gomez:I think he said what he wanted to say. Listen, the fact that Neymar is 34 years of age, excuse me, all-time leading goal scorer for the Brazilian national team, has done so much with his career and still gets worked up about what people are saying about him, tells me he desperately cares about playing in this World Cup. He desperately cares about how he wants to go out, about his legacy. And if I'm a Brazilian fan, that's what I want to hear. But I also want to see it on the field. Rodrigo just tore his ACL. Carlo Ancelotti just called him up. Carlo Ancelotti was going to go see him play in a game that he couldn't play.

50:52Herc Gomez:The reports are he would be called up. He's back in the good graces, if you will, of a national team that desperately needs a creative spark three months out from a World Cup. This is the Neymar I want to see, an angry Neymar with something to prove, a chip on his shoulder and willing to put in the work. But it starts with health. And it ends with health with Neymar. Again, another carnival. Another Neymar sister's birthday. Another game that he's going to be missing from. Those could be circumstantial. But at some point, if you're Neymar, you've got to be on the field. So, Ancelotti, you could be on the field during the World Cup.

51:28Cristina Alexander:I think that's the thing for me. I need to see Neymar on the par consistently and contributing consistently. That's the be all and the end all here for Neymar. I'm not a fan of the statement that he put out. As a global superstar, that's par for the course. People are going to talk about you one way or the other. You have to know what's best for you. To the statement, you have to be selfish. Certainly when it comes to your health, especially when it comes to your health, you have to be selfish. You cannot take on what somebody is saying or what some journalist may have written or somebody said on a podcast.

52:11Cristina Alexander:You have to do what's best for you because in this game, all that matters is your performances on the park. You get yourself fit. You get yourself playing well. You score goals. You contribute significantly. What somebody had to say in a podcast back in March 12th does not matter. One iota. And the surprising thing for me is I thought Neymar would have known that by now. I thought the people around him would have recognized that by now and insulated him from that if that is, if his reactions continue to be as emotional as these statements suggest. Yeah, there's a, I'm sorry.

52:52Herc Gomez:There's a woe is me sentiment about Neymar's message here. It's difficult to be me. Well, that's because there are many people who feel you have not fulfilled your potential, even though you're the all-time leading goal scorer at the Brazilian national league. Not Romario, not Ronaldo. It's Neymar. But you were in the era of Cristiano and Messi, and nobody's going to fault you for not being the best player in the world during that era. But many of us thought you could be. And the fact that you took the money, you went to Paris, and then you took the money and you went to Saudi Arabia, Many people see that as a stain in the legacy.

53:34Herc Gomez:So I'm not with the victimization that he's putting out there, but he certainly has the talent when fit to be a productive player and help at some capacity for the Brazilian national team, this Brazilian national team.

53:46Shaka Hislop:It's crazy that we're having the same conversation with Neymar as we've had since he was in Barcelona. And since he was looking for that out, and we know that the reason was because he didn't want to be overshadowed by Lionel Messi. But a Neymar who would have, I don't even want to say put his head down, but really put in the work and the talent that we all know and showcases talent at the end of the day, we would be talking about a historic Neymar no-brainer that he's going to be in the World Cup. But with the Rodrigo injury, now, Shaq, obviously that kind of reinforces the possibility of seeing him there.

54:20Shaka Hislop:But if you're Ancelotti and you're seeing this pattern again, because we know that muscular injuries really say a lot about your lack of work and recovery. don't say that that's the case for every player, but for Neymar in particular, and the timing is always the same.

54:35Cristina Alexander:Yeah, and the thing is, Neymar has suffered horrific injuries over the last few years. Agreed, agreed. And that is always difficult to come back from, especially at his age. And then, so now you have to wonder, do you take him because he can contribute, because he's a leader in the dressing room, or is there a concern and I'm sure there's a genuine concern that he can't really see in 90 minutes he can't really give you that 90 minutes and if he's if he's not a part of the team if if he's on the squad if he's on the bench and doesn't play does he become does he become a problem in the dressing room of of the park or no I I asked that question I have no idea what the answer is.

55:26Cristina Alexander:But these are all the things that Carlo Ancelotti has to think. We're talking about, well, succession planning, I guess is the corporate term, in terms of the Mexico national team.

55:38Shaka Hislop:See, your business for a reason.

55:39Cristina Alexander:Well, it is in Mexico national team. Would it be better value to have a young player who's on the fringes, who you can build your squad around for the next two or three World Cups as a part of this one for the experience? All these things are Carlo Ancelotti's responsibility in making a decision as to who to take and who not to take.

55:58Herc Gomez:Six months ago, that would have been, you don't have those players. You don't have that pool. So he has to be one of the 26. If Neymar is not one of the 26 best Brazilian players, then where are they? But now there's the emergence of Chelsea's Brazilians. There's the emergence of Enrique León. There's an emergence of all of a sudden young attacking quality that's coming through that makes you second guess if he should even be one of those 26, which is why I don't think the victim mentality is going to work for him if he doesn't change it right now.

56:27Shaka Hislop:Yeah, no, it's definitely not working. I don't think it's working for him. I really don't think it's going to work for a Carlo Ancelotti who really does not have the time or the energy to have to deal with that. The locker room question, I think, is one that could be the final decision. I mean, if you think about it, a younger player who can potentially have a standout World Cup with still a long future as a professional footballer, then that also becomes very, very attractive but at the end we know we're not expecting maybe that much from brazil in general maybe that could also be a motivating point here uh for neymar so that is still very much up in the air all right we're gonna move along we saw some conca calf champions cup action as well the round of 16 so we're gonna start with nashville versus inner miami and we know what it's been as of late in these matchups.

57:22Shaka Hislop:Herc, were you surprised to see the nil-nil?

57:24Herc Gomez:No, I mean, the nil-nil, yes, because I think Nashville actually was the better team in this game playing at home. And I thought they'd give Inter-Miami a scare, which is what they did, but they couldn't put the ball in the back of net. They had more chances. And quite frankly, Hermano Beterrami should have been sent off for an early tackle he had in the first half. That doesn't go through. Inter-Miami escapes. I shouldn't say escapes. Nashville leaves Inter-Miami very much alive in the driver's seat for the next round. But Nashville's a good team. They're a team that if you allow them to run at you with Cristina Espinoza, with Sam Surridge, with Hani Mukhtar, they're going to make you suffer.

58:01Herc Gomez:You suffered, but you survived, which is good for Messi, who wasn't at his best, which is a little strange because I believe it's 15 goals in 10 games against Nashville for Lionel Messi. So I wasn't too surprised that it was so close that Inter-Miami suffered, but I was very surprised at watching this game that it stayed 0-0. I thought Nashville deserved more, and now enter Miami very much in the driver's seat.

58:25Cristina Alexander:I was surprised I was 0-0, to your point. And you started to show 22 shots. It doesn't talk about how good those opportunities were. Nashville is an incredible footballing team, and they showed it. But both these teams, guilt-edged opportunities that I would have lost a mortgage on, that one of them taking one of those. because the quality of the opportunities that they had suggested so much more than what we saw from the final scoreline. To your point, Herc, now they go back to Miami, we'll see. But don't ride Nashville off. They showed that they are an incredible footballing side.

59:04Shaka Hislop:Yeah, and learning from the not-so-fun history that they've had recently with Inter-Miami, with Messi specifically. Let's take it to the other match, though, with San Diego versus Toluca. Toluca with the missed opportunity. They played versus 10 men for pretty much most of the game.

59:20Herc Gomez:Well, minute 12, there's going to be a red card. This is how it starts off. Toluca, there's going to be right here. You're going to see Marcel Ruiz take a boot to the face. It's a red card. Penalty kick. Look at this. I mean, it's hard to argue. There's context. It's a dangerous play. It's going to be Jesus Gallardo in charge. It slots it away. And at this point, I'm thinking to myself, 1-0. I might go to sleep at halftime. This is an 11 o 'clock game for me. And then guess what? Right off the gates, they make it a game.

59:51Shaka Hislop:Yeah, it was great. Vasquez with the goal right there. I mean, 46 minute, it was Vasquez again there, Shaq.

59:59Cristina Alexander:It really was. And to San Diego's credit, look at the number of players they get in the box, even though they're on demand. Oh, this is a goal at halftime. What a finish this is.

1:00:08Herc Gomez:If you look at this, the angle behind the goal, There's just a little sliver of space, and Anders Dreyer just finds it and curls it away. Listen, I saw this game come on. I'll watch the first half. I want to see what this is about. Minute 12, red card, and a goal off the penalty. And I'm thinking to myself, it's over. I said to myself, San Diego is so young, they're naive enough to commit these mistakes. And it happened. And right when I was going to go to sleep, they started coming back. and I go, oh, hold on, I need to pay attention some. And in the second half, the way 10 men San Diego played had me wondering which team had 10 men.

1:00:48Herc Gomez:And they weren't doing it against just any regular old team in Liga and Megas. They were doing it against the back-to-back champions whose head coach said, we're throwing away the league. What's important for us, what really matters, is the CONCACAF Champions Cup. All their chips right there. And they took it to them. and I'm watching a 19-year-old goalie. I'm watching both outside backs who are also teenagers. I'm watching a center back who, by the way, got red card at the end, saving a goal with his hand. It was a penalty kick as well. But I'm watching a 20-year-old there. I'm watching Vasquez who's 19.

1:01:22Herc Gomez:I'm thinking to myself, Mikey Virus and Tyler Heaps, like Tyler Heaps, excuse me, they've really created something here. Like this team is dynamic, vertical. They're confident. They're naive in the stupidest and best way possible. Best going both ways. And I'm thinking to myself, wow, that was fun. Like, this is a team I got to pay more attention to. And they did it against Toluca. And you can say what you want against Toluca. Not their day. They got worked by 10 men and then nine men. Whatever the case. But Toluca got two away goals. And this competition is different with the away goals rule.

1:01:56Herc Gomez:I don't know if it'll be enough for San Diego. But, man, I do know that I'm going to be tuning in a lot more to watch San Diego. That's how good they were.

1:02:03Shaka Hislop:Yeah. Yeah, and those very particular errors, because the two only goals that we saw, well, not only goals, but the two goals that we saw from Toluca were penalties, Shaq, at the end of the day. So they still have time to adjust and really just put this one away.

1:02:16Cristina Alexander:And listen, to Hugg's point, that second penalty that Toluca scored right at the very death really changed things an awful lot. But San Diego are the story here. With all question on, it was a red card. No question early on. No question. And it took them 10 or 15 minutes just to adjust and realize, hold on, we could still take this game to Toluca here. They're sitting back slightly and we threw numbers forward. And I thought, again, San Diego 3-2 doesn't spell, not as good a result as you want to be taken on the road. Sitting a far better result than you thought after a minute or 12 or whatever it was.

1:02:58Cristina Alexander:But credit to them. They are the story at the end of this 90 minutes.

1:03:02Shaka Hislop:Yeah, absolutely. It was a surprising night, we could say, at least last night with the round of successes a little bit unexpected. We're going to run it back, though, staying in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Kirk, try not to laugh that much. Well, this is still, yeah, this is run it back. This is a go-last. All right, yeah.

1:03:22Herc Gomez:Shaq, this is a field player in goal. I don't think a real goalkeeper would have stopped it. Nobody's stopping that. You're right.

1:03:31Cristina Alexander:It's almost wasted.

1:03:36Cristina Alexander:Look at this. There's no stopping that. What are you supposed to do about that?

1:03:40Shaka Hislop:Interesting that the goalie and the field players have the same colored socks, but I digress. I'm trying to divert the attention. I mean, Shaq.

1:03:48Cristina Alexander:Yep. What a game he had. It really was. This touch here. It really is special. Nice of the ball to pick him out. A rise lead. Great touch. Who does that?

1:04:03Shaka Hislop:Right? In a Champions League game against Manchester City, by the way.

1:04:08Herc Gomez:Or a hat-trick. There are games that cement you in legendary status, and that's easier said than done for a team like Real Madrid. That was ridiculous.

1:04:16Shaka Hislop:It totally is. So I mentioned Pliadol. Uh-oh.

1:04:19Herc Gomez:Boy.

1:04:21Shaka Hislop:I mean, keeper Shaq.

1:04:22Cristina Alexander:Yeah. Come on. Question mark.

1:04:25Shaka Hislop:It's tough. Would you have taken him out, Shaq?

1:04:27Herc Gomez:Huh? No. Would you have taken him out?

1:04:29Cristina Alexander:No.

1:04:29Herc Gomez:You can't kill his confidence like that. I'd have left him in. I mean, there's no getting back the second game, so why take him out?

1:04:38Cristina Alexander:So, straight away, after the first goal, somebody, the goalkeeper coach needs to go around and have a bull with him. Hand him a pair of boots, something. I just thought the entire coaching staff hung him out to dry.

1:04:52Shaka Hislop:Yeah. I think therapy is in his future. if it's not there already. Malik Tillman, though, her subs on.

1:04:58Herc Gomez:Yeah, this is unfortunate. It's the dying minutes of the game. I don't think there's much to it, but when you leave your feet from behind in the box, you leave yourself open to a play like this. Malik Tillman did that, and penalty kick. And what was a very good game for Leverkusen versus Arsenal.

1:05:17Shaka Hislop:It definitely was. All right, let's get to our Drippin or Trippin. This is the Jordan and a collab with soccer. These are Jordan soccer sneakers. Shaq, thoughts?

1:05:29Cristina Alexander:I don't like the tongue. Jordan's tongue? So it's tripping? Yeah. I think it's probably tripping. More tripping than dripping.

1:05:40Shaka Hislop:I kind of like these. I could see Herc wearing these. Yeah. I kind of like these. What if I say that and I'm like, and they're ugly now?

1:05:51Herc Gomez:Listen, they look like a crossover between a basketball shoe and a soccer shoe. It really does. And they look like the old Jordans that I really like, the ones with the black and the red. They were shiny, the 90s Jordans. So that's why I like them. The tongue, I'm not a tongue guy either, but I happen to like these. These are sweet. Interesting way to put that. Do you, Chris?

1:06:10Shaka Hislop:Interesting way to put that. I don't think I'm cool enough to wear these. Well, I didn't ask if you were cool enough. Well, I mean, I like them. Yeah. This is a dripping. This is a dripping for me. I do love the subtlety of the details. But again, it's like the school of rock kid, right?

1:06:29Cristina Alexander:Some nice old details. The 23 on the heel. Not bad. What 23 on the heel? Oh, you can see.

1:06:36Shaka Hislop:I think these look cool on you.

1:06:38Herc Gomez:I need glasses, Shaq. No. Shaq, what size are you? I can't pull that tongue off.

1:06:43Cristina Alexander:What size are you? I can't pull that tongue off. 13. You couldn't buy me a pair? Is that what was happening?

1:06:50Shaka Hislop:I'm about half that. And maybe a little bit more because it's...

1:06:55Cristina Alexander:I was half that when I was about two. Two.

1:07:00Shaka Hislop:Listen, in Mexico, they take me to the kids' section. I am not lying. In Mexico, I'm a three and a half, and they take me straight to the kids' section. And you know what the best part is? Is that it's cheaper. So it pays, to be sure. And on that note, we will be back on Monday.

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