Futbol Americas: Matarazzo's Big Win + Brenden Aaronson Convo + Alphonso Davies Champion Again! + The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, Weekend Howler

15:54is that a no exactly that it's uh i mean yes there's there's tension but there's tension throughout the whole game uh and we had a we had a phase in the in the sorry we had a phase in the In the second half we were suffering and that was for me even more more nerve-wracking and I knew we got to the penalties we We played a good game. We competed against Atletico de Madrid team. That's in the semi-final of the Champions League I'm really really proud of the boys and I knew regardless of what happens. That's the whole city the whole region would be proud of the boys But you know if you're in penalty shootout you also want to win it and and when we've scored the last goal of course it was a magical moment.

16:39Tell me about you and tell me about these last few months and tell me about what it means to see your family in the stands and how they must feel seeing you achieve this, knowing that the journey that you've been on, knowing the moments in which you could have turned back, you could have turned away and you didn't.

17:02These questions are... these questions. See, last time you escaped this one. When I asked you this last time, you escaped this question. Why did I come over to this interview? You made it. It wasn't mandatory. Okay. No, they're super happy. I mean, my family, my wife, my son have sacrificed so much for me to do what I'm doing. You know, we've lived apart for five years. We're living apart again. My wife, who's very independent and strong, has supported me so many years and has always pushed me. I think I mentioned this to you in the last interview that there was a time where I was thinking, okay, maybe I'll set up with the family.

17:39She said, no, no, you're going to keep going because this is your dream. And I did. So she's sacrificed so much. So this win, this title is also for my entire family, not just my wife and my son, but for my parents who have given me so much strength and love and all my ancestors and everything. I'm a big family guy. You know, I come from a big Italian family. And so this one's also for them.

18:07Kasey Keller:Sid Lowe there with Pellegrino Matarazzo. They should have given Sid a box to stand on because who knew Sid was that short? Anyways. Is that a trick of the trade you've learned? That is. When I have to stand beside, every time I have to stand beside Shaka Hislop or Casey or pretty much any goalkeeper alive, I have to stand on a box about this big. I'll lend it to Sid next time. Anyways, after everything he just said right now and after everything we discussed about the significance of this win, especially for American coaches. I'm just going to throw it out there. How long till this puts him on the radar and in the chats of potentially the next U.S.

18:40Kasey Keller:men's national team coach? Well, I think he's already in that chat and that radar. But I think most people, if you were going to talk to probably most people who've taken a national team managerial job, it's either later in their career or club career, has kind of run its course very few national team managers like i'm a national team manager yeah um and so right now as he's kind of re-established himself you know from stuttgart hoffenheim now gives himself a big name by winning a cup for a a very good team but not like a team that you would instantly say, oh yeah, they could win a cup. So he's kind of overachieved already really quickly going from a relegation fight to winning a cup and almost getting almost in a Champions League spot.

19:42So this will open up more doors for him. And so I think as long as those club opportunities at good clubs are still there, the national team will have to wait.

19:59Herc Gomez:I hope it's a long time until we actually consider Pellegrino Matarazzo a serious candidate for the U.S. men's national team. And I say that for him.

20:07Kasey Keller:What, are you thinking about four years long?

20:08Herc Gomez:No, I'm thinking like 10 years. Eight years, 10 years. He's 48 years of age. Yeah, I'm thinking at least 10. I'm with Casey on this one.

20:15Kasey Keller:But we had Alex Pareja last week come on the show and he said that what he's hearing in Spain is this connection that he has with the players. Wouldn't you want that almost now? It's not what you want. You also got to look at the individual. And the individual, go coach club. This will be here.

20:28Herc Gomez:You can have the connection with the players, and that's great. But you've got to have the tactics. You've got to know he has that. I'm saying for him, I hope he doesn't have that with the U.S. Men's National League because that would mean he has a long, fruitful career at the club level. That would mean that Real Sociedad, La Real, is maybe a stepping stone. I say this with the utmost respect to such a place, to such a club that he's at right now, that maybe something bigger, better comes along and Pelegrino Materazzo could take that opportunity and open even more doors for CONCACAF, for American coaches and beyond.

21:02Herc Gomez:But if right now, at 48 years of age, if after his Bundesliga career of being a bombero, of being a coach that fights relegations and keeps a team afloat, and after a cup win in Spain, he's already thinking about the U.S. Benz National, I think that would be a disservice to him and what he could potentially do down the road. I'm with Case here. There's a reason why so many national team managers at the international game are a little older, a little bit more mature, because they see the national team job as a seasonal job, as a less hands-on type of job where they don't have to be in the day-to-day of the actual grind.

21:44Herc Gomez:I still think he has a lot to offer in that aspect, And I hope he's nowhere near the U.S. Men's National Team, you know, talk for his own good.

21:52Kasey Keller:Yeah, 48, man, he can still handle a lot of stress, a lot more stress. Well, Herc's saying a decade more of club football stress, so we'll see. When was the last time you felt in control of your business finances? Expenses tracked, invoices sent, taxes ready. That's where Found comes in. Found brings your banking, bookkeeping, invoicing, and taxes together in one simple app. Manage expenses, invoice clients, send payments, and prep for tax time right where you bank. Join the hundreds of thousands who have already streamlined their finances with Found. Open a Found account for free at found.com.

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23:12Kasey Keller:All right, well, speaking of stress, it wasn't good news for all Americans because Johnny Cardoso ended up on the losing side with Atlético de Madrid, and Martin Einstein got to catch up with him after the game.

23:39We didn't have luck, but we have to go back to the page and continue working, because we have the Champions for in. How was the result? In the final, very sad. We have to suffer, learn with the players, and we have the Champions for in, so we have to go back to the page and continue working. What did Cholo say? We haven't talked yet, but we know that the team is very intense, like us in the field. We have to suffer, it's difficult to get to a final and not be able to achieve it. And now we have to go to the page and continue to work hard. How do you do it for the page? We know that we have a very strong team, high level, to compete for all the competitions.

24:31and it's a final. We went to win the game and we know that the final is so, we decide in details. We went to the finals, we didn't have luck, and now we have to continue working as we did from the beginning.

24:52Kasey Keller:In this match, Johnny Cardoso came off the bench, he played about 42 minutes. Casey, what can we take away from his performance? Look, I think Johnny's really grown at Atletico Madrid. I know he had a difficult first part of the season battling with injuries, couldn't really get kind of into any kind of rhythm. And then second half, he's been great. He really has been. And it's really unfortunate that he missed that huge chance. You know, I mean, look, he's not a goal scorer. We know that. He's a defensive midfielder. But he was put on a plate with a huge opportunity to really, really established himself at Atletico Madrid and wasn't able to do it and then the penalties you know penalties the dice throw of the penalties you came up short but look if you would ask me this quay this quay this would be sued would be sued would be on un un un un un unury very very very it's just unfortunate that he missed the great chance.

25:53Herc Gomez:I'm not going to sit here and bury the kid when the prime suspects of Atalico Madrid, El Cholo Simeone, Juliano Simeone, the first 15 seconds of the game lets the ball bounce. It goes over him. There's a cross. Ruggeri, the center back, a left center back right there, doesn't get goal side. He ends up giving up a goal. Musa comes out, decapitates a Rousel Cidat player. There's a penalty kick called.

26:18Kasey Keller:Yeah, the decapitate.

26:19Herc Gomez:You go to penalty kicks. Zorlach, one of your forwards, misses the first one. Your big money signing, almost$100 million right there. La Araña, Julian Alvarez, misses the second one. I'm not going to bury the kid for not finishing his chance. But if Johnny Cardoso finishes. Oh, my days. If Johnny Cardoso finishes his chance. Yeah, that's. It's history for Johnny Cardoso. It would have been so great for Johnny. Antoine Griezmann has his first title, his first domestic title with Atletico Madrid. El Cholo Simeone has a bit of vindication. And this player who's been oft injured with Atletico Madrid this season has his moment in the sun.

26:56Herc Gomez:Has his validation for a$40-plus million transfer. Is the player who they thought he was at Betis. Is the player who Betis thought he was at Internacional. Is the player who many think he can become with the U.S. men's national team. And it's that chance. And that is the difference between the great players and the not-so-great players. Is making the most out of the chances you have to be great. and he had that chance right there. I'm not going to bury him, but that's an opportunity.

27:21Kasey Keller:But a little bit of dirt, Case. No, it's not dirt. It's just, look, I mean. It is what it is, yeah. If I had an opportunity to make a save or if I made a mistake, they're two significantly different things. And then there's the situation where then the ball just slams in the upper corner and everyone goes, all right, you didn't do anything about that. But when you have that opportunity and you just aren't quite able to take it, it's not it's not necessarily a bad reflection on you. It's just there was just that moment to do something really spectacular. And, you know, we were rooting for the kid and it just didn't happen for him when it when it really could have.

28:01Kasey Keller:But overall, as Casey said, I mean, we put this aside. We hope he brushes it off, moves on, of course, because what we've seen from him the second half of the season has been great. exactly what you want to see before heading into a World Cup?

28:12Herc Gomez:No. I don't know if great's the word.

28:15Kasey Keller:Good enough?

28:17Herc Gomez:Better? I don't know if Atletico Madrid have really gotten what they wanted out of Johnny. And half of that battle has been getting him on the field and keeping him on the field. For whatever the reason, he's not been on the field enough. Whether that's tactically, and I don't think too much of that has been tactically. I think a lot of that has been fitness. He's not been able to be fit to play in the big games. There is a catch-22 with what comes next for Johnny and Atletico. There's the opportunity to lift yourself up and be great against a team who's looking for the same opportunity in Arsenal.

28:58Herc Gomez:I don't know right now who is worse or who feels worse out of Arsenal and Atletico. It is a Spider-Man meme. All I know is they both have a ridiculous opportunity to lift themselves up and get into a Champions League final. If Johnny can prove to be fit and be part of that and make it to a Champions League final, this will increase his case for the value that they need out of Johnny and in the U.S. Men's National Team. Because regardless of what many people say, regardless of what the scoreline was against Belgium when Johnny Cardoso came off the field, he's still a player that has not lived up to the billing for the U.S.

29:34Herc Gomez:Men's National Team. And with the health or the history of the health of a player like Tyler Adams, finding that six, finding that defensive midfielder who could be trusted, has to be the top of the list if you're Mariso Pochettino. And Johnny's a prime suspect. Yep. I mean, he's in a situation where you're at a big club that spends a lot of money. They have a good path from their youth team as well. so they they invested some money in them but they did exactly the same thing with conor gallagher yeah and they gave him an amount of time and they said okay we'll sell you and we'll go next thing so i think yeah i think this is going to be very pivotable pivotable now till the end of the season for johnny and then i think the first half of next season as well and if he can then stay fit to Herc's point.

30:28That's crucial. And then establish himself. I think Atletico Madrid keeps buying these defensive midfielders thinking who's the next Koke? Koke Saul. And Koke just keeps going. And the only way you can establish yourself is to be there every day and be better.

30:52Kasey Keller:Well, just thinking of Conor Gallagher, he might be wishing he still was at Atletico Madrid the way things are going at Spurs. Anyways, there was still more bad news for another American in Europe. Jonathan Klinsmann, son of our good friend and the great Juergen Klinsmann, suffered a broken neck and had to be taken off on a stretcher after colliding with an opposition player. This was during Cesena's game in the Serie A B at the weekend. This is obviously the end of the season for him and this is just a nightmare, isn't it, Casey. Yeah, it's really bad. I talked to Juergen the night it happened and, you know, he was going to fly out and, you know, make sure, you know, kind of see what next steps are going to be taken.

31:34It doesn't seem like it's career threatening or anything like that. It's that it is unfortunate timing. I mean, Alejandro and I had a talk on this show that we were surprised that he didn't wasn't given more of a chance with the national team, that he should have been given more of a chance with the national team from what he's done in Italy. And then this is, you know, this is a blow. It happens. I think he was on the outside looking in on the World Cup squad anyway, but still, obviously now he's completely out, and we just wish him the best and quickest recovery and to continue the good work that he's done in Italy.

32:15Herc Gomez:First off, thoughts and prayers to the Klinsman, to their family. I hope Jonathan is doing well. If you saw this play, and I'm glad we didn't show the images, it was completely unnecessary. It's a rebound where the forward has very little chance. Yeah, it was a 70-30. Yeah. Yeah, to Jonathan's favor. It's a 50-50 ball in his mind. It's really an 80-20. Yeah, 80-20. When the goalkeeper comes out and he slides with his feet, the knee catches the head, and it's just so unnecessary. It could have been easily prevented, and it could have been something very, very scary. Yeah. Thankfully for Jonathan, thankfully for all of us, it was not.

32:55Herc Gomez:We wish him a speedy recovery, but it was unnecessary. And hopefully this is a learning lesson for that player and for Serie Ache and what they could do in moments like this. I do not know. In terms of the national team, Kay says maybe he's on the outside looking in. I don't know. I don't know because we look at the call-ups. You're still not convinced. There were four goalkeepers called up and two to three. Two had no caps. Yeah. So I don't know. Yeah, I'm with you. This is what makes it, if you're Jonathan Klinsman. Such a bummer. Such a bitter pill to swallow because you've established yourself in CEDE.

33:33Herc Gomez:And here you are with the U.S. Men's National League and I'm just as good as these players and have more experience than these players. If I can get myself into camp, into that final, just if you can see anything of me, Maybe there's a call-up. Maybe there's a World Cup spot. That could have been a possibility. Now it's taken away from the footballer. And as a player, all you want is a fighting chance, and that's been taken away from him. That's been stripped from him. So I feel for him. But as, you know, I think we all share the same sentiment, just glad that he is healthy, that he will be fine.

34:04Kasey Keller:Yeah, he did, of course, come out even on social media and explain the situation a little bit. He's, of course, going to go some more tests, undergo some more tests. I'm sure Juergen will be out there to be with him. And as the boys said, we definitely wish him back on the pitch healthy and well soon enough. Well, ESPN FC, remember, is on seven days a week. A new episode is out now for more reactions to what we saw over the weekend in the UK and Europe. In today's world, planning ahead isn't always top of mind. But not having life insurance can leave families facing difficult financial uncertainty during already emotional times.

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36:09Kasey Keller:All right, well our Julian Laurent has managed to catch up with Brendan Aronson on what has been going so right for Leeds in the second half of the season. If I told you at the start of the season that you'd be playing an FA Cup semi-final, would you have believed me? Because that was not really the priority. The priority was the league and staying up, right? Yeah, 100%. I think for us the biggest thing was the Premier League, like you said, staying up and just having a great season, which I think we've done. and we're putting ourselves in a great position. And then, you know, the cherry on top is, you know, being in the FA Cup and getting to the semifinals.

36:42And for us, you know, of course, we're focusing game by game, like you'd like to think as a footballer. But, you know, that's in the back of your head. It's going to be a massive game for this club and for this team. It's Wembley as well. Is it something a bit special for you? I don't know if you've played. I tried to look if you've played at Wembley before. No, no, no. Is it something like when you're growing up, you think, oh, wow, Wembley, you know, is special. And with the fans, half of the stadium will be yours. Is it something like that? It's just the game that is that kind of importance anyway.

37:09Yeah, I think it's, for me, when I look back at Wembley, all the finals that I played there, all the big games. Like, I remember Messi against Manchester United in that stadium. One of my favourite games to ever watch. Really? You remember that? Yeah, I mean, I watch all of Messi's, like, clips, but that's, like, the game that's in my head, you know, the Wembley one. But, yeah, I think, you know, for me to be able to play in Wembley, it's always been a dream of mine to play in the Premier League, play in England, play in the best leagues in the world. I mean, I love football. I love watching it.

37:33So, you know, being able to play in that stadium is amazing for me. It's Chelsea in the semi-final before even thinking about maybe there's a long time since the club has been there. And you've done well against Chelsea this season, both home and away in different scenarios too. At home, you batted them. You were much better over there. You were 2-0 down and you came back and showed that kind of character. Yeah. Is this important or it's just another game and you don't really look after what happened before against them? Yeah, I think, I mean, we've had a great season against Chelsea. Like you said, it's not easy when you come up from the championship.

38:04I mean, listen, a lot of teams have come up and not done well against the big six teams, but I think we've showed great performances besides Arsenal. But, yeah, Chelsea two times this year. You know, we won at home, fantastic performance from us. And then going away where I thought they played a great game and they were good on the ball and this and that. But I think to us to show the confidence that we have in the group to keep going, to keep fighting, and then to come up with the 2-2, I think we have a lot of confidence from those games, and we're going to take that into Wembley. And yeah, I think the best thing about it is, you know, we're of course not the favorite.

38:35But sometimes that's a blessing in disguise. You know, you go there and just give your all and, you know, just go and express yourself. You came back here after the international break. That was not the most successful for the US men's national team. How did you react after those two games against Benjamin and Portugal? Yeah, I think it's tough, you know, because I feel like there's this kind of stigma that people don't think that we care and stuff like that. But we do care. I think we care a lot. You know, it's difficult when we go into games and you know, we lose games like that I think the Belgian game was a bit hard done by Because I thought we were the better team for most of that game and you know, it's moments for us right now I think with the I think we're a bit unlucky with the national team I think you know, there's just little moments that don't go our way and then they get the goal and then they you know We're a bit more spread out.

39:19We're trying to go for it and then they score another one Yeah, I think everybody gives I think this camp. I saw everybody was super focused I saw a great group of guys that you know want to make the country proud want to make everybody proud and But, you know, this is now it's up to us. You know, we have two more games going into the World Cup to do what we can. And, you know, the coach is giving us all the right things that we can do. So, I mean, it's just up to us. You know, it's up to us to make the final thing. And I think everybody's ready to go for it and ready to give their all. I went to see Flo Balogun in Monaco last month.

39:45Yeah. And he was, you know, he's in a good time of his season as well in Monaco. But I said to him, do you allow yourself to think about the World Cup already? Or, you know, that's the end of the season with Monaco. Same for you. There's a lot of things to play for. So is the World Cup still somewhere? Or right now it's just, it will happen and it will get closer and closer. And it's very exciting. It's a dream come true. But there's a lot of things to do here, first and foremost. I think I always promise myself, first of all, I think what I always, I try to keep myself grounded. You know, I take it day by day.

40:14I try to just, you know, right now it's for me, it's Leeds. It always is Leeds. Whenever I'm away from the national team, it's Leeds. Because, you know, when you play at a massive club like this, when you play at a big club and you're, you know, like amongst it all, you know, you kind of get back into it and you're in your bubble again, you know. And I think, yeah, I think whenever I get back, I'm focused on Leeds. You know, when it's FA Cup time, I'm focused on FA Cup. When it's Premier League, I'm focused on Premier League. And then, yeah, you know, when the World Cup rolls around, it'll be World Cup.

40:38So that's just how I kind of deal with it.

40:43Kasey Keller:Right. So like we said, Leeds definitely enjoying a good run of form. And as, you know, he was talking about, you come back into the Premier League, you're focused on survival. But now you find yourselves in a semifinal, a big day out at Wembley, even though it's just the semifinals. But still, for a club like Leeds, that's this big. Well, I think it's winning is habitual. And when people say, oh, well, we're out of the cup, we can concentrate. No, no, no. You want to just win games. Just win games. Doesn't matter. If it's a cup game, it builds confidence. If it's a league game, it builds confidence.

41:15So, you know, they're in that situation right now because they've put themselves in that situation. They're building confidence. And they're winning some key matches. And they're finding the results when they need them. And look, I remember Leeds of 20 years ago. I mean, Leeds is a massive club. And if they can get stabilized and kind of be a Premier League side, sneak in some great cup runs, they could become again a top six club. It's a winnable game.

41:49Herc Gomez:This Chelsea team is on a bit of a slide, if you will. Last seven games, they've won once. That was a quarterfinal matchup against Port Valle where they routed the team 7-1. That was one win in the last seven games. Port Valle. I know.

42:03Kasey Keller:I was like, Herc made them a lot fancier than they are, all due respect to Port Valle.

42:08Herc Gomez:That's their only win. That's their only win. That's six other games granted quality opposition in most cases. PSG got a beating home and away. But this is a team right now that is low on confidence versus a team in Leeds that's a very difficult team to play against. And a team that you know, no matter what minute of the game, they won't give up. They're scrappers. There's a scrappy team, so they definitely have an opportunity in this game. And the pressure on Chelsea, too. I mean, now you look at the point gap in Champions League spots and the pressure that puts on Rossini and the club. And, yeah, how does that manifest itself?

42:42Kasey Keller:How much of the good that we're seeing at Leeds right now is also helped by what we're seeing from Brendan? done well I mean Brendan just keeps fighting his way back into the team and and you know but it's an attitude Brendan has never been a player that is short on work rate is short on endeavor he will fight for everything and score a penalty too and and it's and you know pop up with a great assist here and there so it is it's uh I think it's it's it's it's a tribute to him that he's had to had to You know, little humble pie. Yeah. Had to came back to Leeds and has really fought for the club and has done an admirable job.

43:25And kicked that off with getting to a cup final.

43:30Herc Gomez:I say this with the utmost respect. Brendan is more heart and work than he is talent. And there is talent in that, but he is more of that vein. And I think that's what endears himself to the fans. That's what endears himself to his teammates, to his coaches, is how much you can count on the guy. When it comes to the national team, though, as that pertains to the national team, Case mentioned equity. In the beginning of this show, and I forget what we were talking about. Pellegrino in Spain. Thank you, sir. With equity. Brendan had equity in the previous cycle with the previous coaches. And that equity is they knew they could always count on this guy and what they can get out of him.

44:10Herc Gomez:And every once in a while, he would come up with a World Cup qualifying goal. He would come up with an assist. He would come up with a moment that off of his work rate would create something for himself or for others. This national team doesn't really know that of him because in the limited time that he's received and has been very limited with his coaching staff, he's not had those moments. And there are positions in the way this team plays, I feel, when they play three at the back and there are two attacking tens, those two, excuse me, dual tens, that he can be of use. But he's a player that needs to be on the field and needs to stay busy.

44:42As for his comments about fans or people have this perception of the U.S.

44:47Herc Gomez:men's national team not caring, I think it's very evident. Why? I think it's very easy to see. It's not the players like Brendan Aronson. It's the players who were in the Nations League semifinal versus Panama and squandered that and their performance there. It's the players who were in the Nations League, you know, third place match against Canada and squandered that. It's the players who had a public spat with U.S. men's national team legends while denying to play for the U.S. men's national team, whether it was health reasons or whether it was a newborn baby or whether it just needed time to themselves.

45:25Herc Gomez:It's these things that became outside noise and became inside noise with the fans. That's the reason this team, to its fans, they think they don't care enough. They haven't shown them in big moments that they care enough. As a player, you always care. But your main responsibility is to act like you care, to act like you've been there. And for the majority of time, at least this summer, and under Pochettino's watch, and I would even argue before that, in Greg Berhalter's tenure, this national team, this pool of players has not quite shown that. But the other thing that I like about what he said in part of that conversation with Julian is, do you have an eye on the World Cup?

46:10I want players to be in situations where I've got a relegation fight. I've got a title fight. I've got a cup fight. I've got all this stuff that I have to concentrate on. Then the World Cup comes. I don't want somebody that has nothing that really matters until the World Cup. This is real life. This is what every club in the world goes through. You fight to win. How many French players are still fighting for a Champions League title, fighting for a league title? Fighting for their place on the team. Fighting for their place on the team. Or then how many players from other countries are fighting to keep their club in their top flight league, fighting for all these things because that is what the sport's about.

46:53And then you have that moment where you celebrate with your team. You either stayed up. You did whatever you did. You won a title. You did that. Then you go, okay, we're going to have a beer. We're going to have a glass of wine. We're going to have a scotch with a friend. And then we're going to go, all right, national team time. Now I'm focused. Why'd you point at me with the scotch? Yep.

47:11Kasey Keller:Hey, I don't know. Of course, that's for the ones that are 21 and over. 18 if you're in the fun parts of the world. All right. Well, you can catch Brendan Aronson in action in that semifinal of the FA Cup where Leeds face Chelsea. That game, though, is on Sunday, 10 a.m. Eastern time on ESPN2. Before that, though, Manchester City up against Southampton, who shocked Arsenal in the last round. That will be at 12.15 Eastern Time on ESPN+. From first call to final invoice, Service Titan is the only integrated intelligence that automates your entire workflow. Built for visionaries, ready to stop operating and start automating their success.

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49:23It looked like it was going to the corner play.

49:25Kasey Keller:He got the goal. Anyways, after the game, our Archie Rintut managed to catch up with the Canadian.

49:33Alphonso, Bundesliga champions once again. How does it feel? It feels great. You know, every time you play for a trophy and you win it, it's always something special. You know, we never take it for granted. We knew it wasn't easy and we still have a lot more games left. So we're going to enjoy this one and move on to the next one, I guess.

49:55Kasey Keller:Congratulations. But you've played in different teams under different managers. What is unique about this group? Yeah, the hunger that we have. Every time we step on the pitch, everyone's motivated. Everyone's hungry to be better and better each and every game. We never get too high or too low. We try to stay complacent because we know any given day something can happen. So we always try to keep our head on the ground and our feet on the ground. and keep focused and move on. It feels like Vincent Kompany has created something special here. At what moment did you think we've got a coach here under whom we could do something special?

50:33Yeah, I mean, we saw it from the moment he came. The demand that he put on every player, no matter whether you've been here or you're new, everybody has the same responsibility when they step on the pitch, is to give their all. And obviously, football is a running sport, and as you can see, we run a lot. So, yeah, with Vincent coming in, he just brings the, he brought the joy, the excitement and the hunger back in the locker room. One of my favourite moments today was seeing the joy after your goal that you and Jamal Musiala have together. What is it like to continue achieving things with such a friend like Jamal?

51:10It's amazing. You know, we both had, you know, dips in the season this year. And, yeah, we were talking before the game. We haven't done a celebration in a while. And this is something we really wanted. And I guess we were just waiting for one of us to score. And I'm the happiest to be. I'm happy that it was me. Obviously, he scores a lot of goals, and I don't really. So I was happy to get that opportunity and bring back that celebration that we've missed for a long time. Just finally, the cockatoo is out both in person and on the t-shirts. Talk to me about the importance of the cockatoo to buy.

51:44There may be people who don't know about this. I would say it's our lucky charm for sure. Yeah, thanks for you to do this to us and everyone fell in love with the cockatoo from the minute. So yeah, it's been with us ever since he joined the club and yeah, I would say it's our lucky charm. All right.

52:04Kasey Keller:Well, this is now Alfonso Davies' seventh Bundesliga title, which means he is tied there with Rafinha for non-European players who have won the most Bundesliga titles. Claudio Pizarro is there as well, just one behind them. And no surprise, they're all Bayern Munich. Yeah, shocker. Shocker, shocker. When they kept showing up for the match, it was like Bundesliga titles. Titles, Bayern, 35. Next, Gladbach, 5. 5, 4. I mean, yeah, there has been a level of dominance from Bayern Munich. But you're bearing the lead here.

52:42Herc Gomez:Those two are already done. And here's Fonzie who keeps on going. And he's playing for 18. That's won 13 out of the last 14 titles. Something like that, yeah. By the time Fonzie leaves, this could be a record nobody's going to. And there were some question marks on his contract. And there were some rumors that maybe he was going to Real Madrid and whatever else. And, you know, then some injury issues and he, you know, signed a new contract and then got injured again, unfortunately. But, yeah, he's a he has a chance to win seven more. Oh, yeah. You know, and so just a physical specimen and has really kind of hopefully now not just for Jesse Marsh and the World Cup in Canada and everybody involved.

53:27But, you know, you hate seeing people who there seems to be spending more time on the treatment table than on the pitch. And so I'd love to see him have a season or two where he doesn't he doesn't end up getting hurt.

53:41Herc Gomez:This isn't where I thought this conversation was going to go at all when I saw this in the rundown. But just for a second, appreciate like Alphonso Davies journey. Yes. African refugee makes his way to Canada, plays in the Vancouver Whitecaps system, gets recognized within Major League Soccer, gets sold for a record fee for Major League Soccer to Bayern Munich, and he's playing as an offensive player. Yeah, he was. He was a winger. He's a winger. In MLS. And he gets to Bayern Munich and within six months is converted into one of the best left backs in the world. This isn't like something we are making up here.

54:18Herc Gomez:He was one of the left backs in the world within his first year of playing the position. He won a Champions League in the first year playing that position. He was embarrassing Barcelona defenders and offensive players in his first year playing in that position. And here he is. And now he overtakes. He's going to overtake next season probably. His eighth Bundesliga title. And it's going to keep on getting better. It's a testament to Fonzie. It's a testament to how good he is and how flexible he is. You spoke about how physical of a specimen he is. you'd be hard-pressed to find a faster player in the world.

54:54Herc Gomez:You say, well, maybe. Yeah, well, player. But now – He played like in the fifth division. Yeah, it was an Australian guy. But now if you're Jesse Marsha, how do you get the Bayern Munich Fonzie to Canada, to be the Canadian Fonzie that you need? Because there's a reason he still plays as a left back for Canada. There's a reason we don't see Fonzie doing the same things he does, and it's not just his teammates. I really think there are two Fonzies, and you need to unlock the Bayern Munich Fonzie with the Canadian men's national team. And Jesse Marsh has that task, and that's why he's empowered him as a team captain.

55:33Herc Gomez:And if they are to do anything in this World Cup, if they are to escape that group, which is a very tricky group, Fonzie Davies is going to have something to do with that.

55:40Kasey Keller:Well, let me ask you this, because, of course, we heard from Alphonso Davies. They're speaking about the hunger that this Bayern Munich team has. But the truth is they are starving for that Champions League title. We know that that is the one that they have wanted now for a couple of years. They are in the semifinals going up against PSG. If they do beat PSG, which at this point I think it could be 50-50 in terms of predictions, go to the final now. That's end of May. Of course, it's a blessing for him. But if you're Jesse Marsh, any concerns there considering he may come to the camp tired right before a World Cup?

56:10Yes and no. Or motivated. Yeah, if you can't get motivated for a World Cup.

56:15Kasey Keller:But given his recent history with injuries. Yeah, but, I mean, he's also probably fresher than a lot of players because he hasn't played the amount of games that he would have liked to have because of injuries. But, yeah, it's not ideal, you know, coming in late. But I'm sure there will be a couple other World Cup players in that match as well in the Champions League finals. So, yeah, I think it's a good problem for Canada to have that you have your captain potentially playing in a Champions League final.

56:45Herc Gomez:It's still a problem, though. and I know where Alexis is going with this. He's coming back from an ACL injury. There are muscular injuries that come after a knee injury. He's picked one up. He's come back from it. There's a possibility. The realistic chance of Bayern Munich winning it all isn't 50-50 in the first game against PSG. I think it's higher than that. The embarrassed PSG in the first game. It wasn't until Luis Diaz got red-carded that it even became even. This is a scary attack with Harry Kane, Michael Elise, and Luis Diaz running at you, the best in the world. This team. A Fit Musiala now working his way into it.

57:18Herc Gomez:Alphonso Davies has got game-changing pace back into that back line. Neuer's starting to be a defensive. Stop it.

57:24Kasey Keller:I was going to say Casey.

57:25Herc Gomez:Neuer's starting to be a difference maker again at the back. This is a team that right now, smart money is they will win the UEFA Champions League final. And if you have a Champions League winner coming into the fold for the Canadian Men's National Team, leading up into the World Cup, I don't care how beat up he is. That is motivation for everybody.

57:43Kasey Keller:All right. Well, there's plenty more German football coming your way on our networks because Bayern can go one step closer to adding more silverware to their cabinets this week in the DFB Pokal Semis. They're coming your way. Here are the matchups. They go up against Leverkusen, and then Stuttgart will face Freiburg. Those games this week, Wednesday and Thursday on ESPN+.

58:09Kasey Keller:All right, it's time for the good, the bad, and the ugly, and I'm not talking about me, Herken Casey. I'm talking about what happened on the pitch. The good, Leo Messi scoring a brace in a 3-2 win at Colorado.

58:22Herc Gomez:Which one of us is ugly, Casey?

58:24Kasey Keller:Me, guys. I'm going to say me, rock, paper, scissors.

58:27Herc Gomez:But this is obviously the good. Messi's not going to miss from the spot, and then you can't give Messi time and space. He's going to put it away as he does. Zach Steffen picked that one out, a difficult one for the American goalkeeper. Messi doing what he does. Yeah, the Rapids moving to the big stadium, to the football stadium to get a big crowd and Messi entertain that big crowd, no question.

58:48Kasey Keller:That's exactly what you'd want to see. Well, I think that's what everybody came into that big crowd to see. German Bertrami got his goal. That's true. All right, so that was the good. This is now the bad. And look away if you're an LAFC fan because they got absolutely smashed 4-1 at home too to San Jose.

59:08Herc Gomez:Yeah, this was all San Jose. Second half. Nil-nil halftime, right? Yeah, even the first half they had the most dangerous one in the first few minutes of the game. Nico Shakiris, the 19-year-old from San Jose, the number 10 pulling the strings. Bruce Arena getting the better of this, of Mark Dos Santos, and at home for LAFC. Son had one or two chances he could have probably done better on, but this was all San Jose case. Yeah, I mean, Bruce obviously knows how to win an MLS and took over a San Jose earthquake side that was struggling for years and is now turning him into a contender.

59:49Kasey Keller:All right, we're going to get to the ugly in a bit, and I'm definitely not talking about Lionel Messi in this one, but there were some ugly scenes going on over in Mexican football right now as Club America went up against Toluca. America won this game 2-1, but it's what happened after the match that was just complete bedlam.

1:00:07Herc Gomez:Yeah, Elinho right there gets a straight red for kicking. the America player, and then Cáceres is going to get into it. And you're going to see Alejandro Cendejas over here confront Ilinho, the number 10 for Club America, the U.S. Men's National Team winger. And Ilinho is going to go crazy, and it's one after the other. I don't even know how they will do this, who they're going to end up suspending in this game. We're going to find out soon. Karen Diaz, the linesman, has to go and hug, bear hug, Alejandro Cendejas to get away from Ilinho. Ilinho's already gone. He wants to take an America player with him.

1:00:40Herc Gomez:Look, he's going to right now confront Sendejas and then boom! Slaps him, left hand again. A little jab there. Sendejas is still trying to go at him. It's going to be a few matches. It's going to get uglier, Kix, because it doesn't end there. This is Jardini. Yeah, it goes to the tunnel. We think it's over. Elinho's done, right? You would hope it's over. Look at this. This is a tunnel at Estadio Azteca. And here's Henry Martin, who plays for Club America, team captain, who is injured, not fit, who gets into a verbal and physical altercation with Elinho. I am glad the production team took the sound away because there are racist insults being hurled at Elinho, and there is some sort of child or woman yelling, kill him, kill him, it is craziness.

1:01:26Herc Gomez:Oh, my days. Oh, no. And Elinho right there is going to give the bird to the fans. You said three or four games. Oh, more. Count on more now. Five to ten. And Henry Martin might as well. Yeah, he'll, yep. Maybe something for Estadio Azteca, though I do not think they will go down. I mean, that's hard for me. That's always hard when you start, you know, taking the responsibility out of the players. It's the player's fault. Whoever did that, it's the player's fault. And then punish them. Don't punish crowds. Yeah, but I know yes and no. Here's why I'd say yes, you're absolutely right, because you should punish the players because this could have been easily resolved.

1:02:05Herc Gomez:And here's the no of this. There needs to be adequate enough security where those people, I don't care how VIP they think they are.

1:02:12Kasey Keller:This isn't a good look before the World Cup. It is not a good look.

1:02:16Herc Gomez:Hopefully it's an isolated incident. I don't foresee any issues happening at any World Cup venues. I'd like to think. But it's such an isolated incident. You don't think you need to have security because when was the last time you saw a player who was injured come into a tunnel and get into a fight? I've never seen it. But this is rightfully the ugly, ugly scenes. And this is a few days later and people down south are still talking about it. We are, you know, we're alive right now, 930 at night and still awaiting the sanctions and suspensions that could come out of this for all parties involved.

1:02:51Herc Gomez:So it will be interesting. And you can bet your bottom dollar that these two teams will see each other again in the postseason. OK, that'll be fun. Who's going to be? Who's not going to be suspended?

1:03:03Kasey Keller:All right, back to some hopefully better behavior in La Liga. Here's what's coming your way this week. Tuesday, Real Madrid, can they bounce back in the league? They really don't have a choice now, but to only focus on the league, they go up against Alavés and then Barcelona up against El Teder Vigo. All those games Tuesday, Wednesday on ESPN+.

1:03:25Kasey Keller:All right, let's go to Argentina for a big one, the 266th edition of El Superclasico in front of 85 ,000 fans as River Plate hosting Boca Juniors. Leandro Paredes there we saw him here right before halftime. Paredes he finds Merentiel who gets his effort just wide. That's a good ball in good contact just misses wrong side of the post. Just a few A few minutes later, Paredes once again finding his man yet again. The shot is blocked by a defender. Boca players though are calling for a handball and after the VAR, the ref awards a penalty to Boca.

1:04:08Herc Gomez:Yeah, it's the correct call. Hand out in an unnatural position, blocks the shots. Grande Paredes can't make a pass without the outside of the foot, from what I can see. He's got that one dialed in.

1:04:20Kasey Keller:Well, Paredes, he has been all over this first half. He shoots, he scores. Yeah, there's no doubt about that one. None whatsoever. You're going to learn how to take a penalty, smash it in the top corner, and you're going to score every time. Boca take the lead, 1-0. Into the second half, we go now. Merentiel gets the ball. He megs Anibal Moreno. Oh! Oh! Oh, no!

1:04:44Herc Gomez:Shades of Riquelme. Absolute filth.

1:04:47Kasey Keller:Yeah, that's good. Oh, no. Oh, man. Kirk, you ever did that in a game? You ever embarrassed someone like that?

1:04:52Herc Gomez:Yes, but no video footage.

1:04:53Kasey Keller:Oh, man. Producer Beto, dig up some footage. Look up Toronto versus New York Red Bulls. You can find it. He's now a commentator on the Paramount Network. All right, Salah's here with a chance, with a header, but can't seem to get the ball in. I'm sorry, can we just watch that Meg on replay? Oh, come on. Into stoppage time now. A long box, long ball towards the box. Blanco pushes Martinez Cuarta inside the box. The River players now will protest with the ref, And Andre Herrera, he's one of our own at Man United. He's not having it, though.

1:05:26Herc Gomez:No, he's not having it. There is a bit of a shove on the back right there. The referee deems it. Not enough contact. It was silly. No penalty? But I think if the player hadn't made so much out of it, maybe. But no.

1:05:42Kasey Keller:All right. Well, Boca managed to hang on to the 1-0 win in this Superclasico. It's the first time Boca has won consecutive games versus River since 2022. and they have won three of the last six away matches against River in all competitions. All right, we had some good, bad, and ugly, but we still have time for some more ugly in Weekend Howlers. Durant Ferry here with a lesson on how not to play out from the ball.

1:06:10Herc Gomez:Casey's 19 years old. He's going to learn. I know one of the staples to this kid is that he plays well with his feet. Why are you making this guy do this? But he did it against the Luka as well in the Kakáv Champions Cup. I don't know if you're Mike Iveris at some point you just tell him to be safe. Yeah, you tell him to be a goalkeeper. Or that. If you want, then put your center mid and goal if that's how you want to play. We can't all be Ederson.

1:06:33Kasey Keller:We can't all be Ederson. All right, back to this game, shall we? America against Toluca, Rose, when you get missing now in front of an empty net. How do you miss that? That's when you're really happy as a goalkeeper, when you find yourself in no man's land and the guy goes around you. Then you're like, oh, I shouldn't have been out there.

1:06:51Herc Gomez:No. Okay, thank you. Yeah, La Pantera. He's actually had a tough time for Club America. I believe one of the announcers in Mexico said he was allergic to the gold.

1:06:59Kasey Keller:Oh, no. Not him and our Ale Moreno. No. Poor Ale. Catching strays. Catching strays. Everybody's catching strays today. All right. So after we just saw those two weekend howlers, who had the worst weekend? Is it Mr. I Should Never Play Out from the Back Again? or is it that missing in front of a wide open empty net? Which one has the most consequences? Boca River. Yeah, for sure. So that's the... But just in terms of sheer embarrassment. I mean, goalkeepers, to me, I mean, it's always worse conceding than not scoring for whatever reason. You guys got to miss six chances, score the winner, and you're the hero.

1:07:46I make six saves, make one mistake. And they go, remember the keeper. And I'm the villain. So, yeah, I mean, as a goalkeeper, you accept that responsibility. You accept. But I am just so tired of your goalkeeper has to be the best player with his feet and he has to do all this stuff. What is your job? I go back to something Martin O 'Neill said to me when I was at Leicester City. If I need you to create goal scoring chances for us, we've got a whole lot of problems. Do your job. Keep the ball out of the back of the net. And we'll sign some guys that can do that. I'm signing you to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

1:08:30And coaches are putting these goalkeepers under a ridiculous false position. the problem is when you're a 19 year old kid yeah when you're 30 you go yeah i'm not doing that no and then you guess what you keep a couple clean sheets and the coach is like oh i don't want you to keep clean sheets i want you to take a good goal kick now how about i keep some clean sheets for us and we win some games and get some bonus money and the fans are happy and oh no i'll just keep rolling stupid balls out of the back and we can keep conceding goals and i mean managers in the rest of the world get fired for stuff like that.

1:09:08Oh, yeah. And players never play again. So, this ridiculousness.

1:09:14Kasey Keller:I feel like Casey just had a lot of trauma to get out. Do you know what I mean? Like, poor goalkeeper. It's not an easy job. Not an easy job. Oh, yeah. And then you make it even harder for them to tell them to be the best field player as well. I agree with you, Casey. I mean, what are you doing, coaches? Defend goalkeepers. All right. How about epic goal or epic fail? Can anybody defend what we're about to see here? This is Alex Croniale against Abraham Romero. Yeah, you know how you can defend that, Alexis? Don't be so stupid high off your line and be a goalkeeper. What? That's a golasso, Case.

1:09:44That's not a golasso. Case, Case. You know why it's a golasso? Because the goalkeeper's in a ridiculously bad. He's at the penalty spot. He wasn't. How high do you want him? You didn't see him. How far back do you want him? He sprinted back to get to there.

1:09:57Herc Gomez:That's the fastest goalkeeper I've ever seen in my life.

1:10:00Kasey Keller:Case, this is a golasso. Oh, my goodness. The audacity of trying out.

1:10:04Herc Gomez:I know that case. I know that case. He brings up a lot of good points when it's Durant-Ferre and being such a young goalkeeper and playing out of the back, how maybe at this point of his career you want to minimize risk and you want to pick and choose. Maybe, maybe. I will bite a little there with Casey. But there comes a way you have to play if you're a goalkeeper now in modern times where you've got to play that sweeper-keeper, If not, with the high line that your back line possesses or your front line presses, that space will be there. You've got to be that last line of resort. So if a player is heads up enough to hit a 65 yard on a dime ball over your head, then so be it.

1:10:49Herc Gomez:That's a risk you have to assume. I think nowadays goalkeepers have to play this way in terms of playing off their line. In terms of Duran Ferre and what we just saw, if it was a one-off, I wouldn't be so hard to be like, Case, it's a one-off. But this happened 10 days ago, two weeks ago against Toluca. In Toluca, you're putting the kid on the line of fire, so to speak, and you're crushing his psyche. And you're losing games. You're losing games. There are things you can protect the kid.

1:11:18Kasey Keller:Protect goalkeepers at all costs. No. Just have a goalkeeper do his job. Don't have him do everybody else's job. Let's go back to old school goalkeeping. You know, use your hands, guys. Use your hands. I don't know much. Anyways, that's it for this edition of Football Americas. We will be back on Thursday to argue again about how goalkeepers should just use their hands. No, just take goal kicks.

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