In short
ESPN FC panel reaction to Spain’s 2-0 World Cup semifinal win over France, and preview of the final matchup (Spain vs winner of England-Argentina).
Guests (backgrounds)
- Craig Burley (former professional footballer/analyst).
- Gregg “Macca” Macca (football analyst).
- Frank Leboeuf (former France international/analyst).
- Santi Solari (former player/coach/analyst).
- Casey Keller (former US goalkeeper/analyst).
- Alexi Lalas? (not clearly stated; “Alex Aljo” appears—described as following Spain’s journey).
- Ilkay Gündoğan (former Spain/Barcelona? actually Germany/Man City midfielder; guest interviewee).
- Also: Casey Keller and Alex Aljo appear as additional studio guests; later David Bentley joins the England-Argentina discussion.
Key claims
- Spain dominated “from the start,” were tactically perfect without conceding many chances, and shut down France’s attacking stars.
- The decisive moments were a penalty for Spain (Yamal win; Y. Estabel conversion) and a team goal via Pedro Porro.
- France’s “front four” underperformed; Spain’s defensive system and high line repeatedly caught Mbappé offside.
- Coach De la Fuente’s big selection calls (e.g., Pedri bench) and Spain’s youth-coaching continuity are credited for cohesion.
Notable examples
- Mbappé runs behind the line repeatedly stopped/caught offside.
- Laporte and Kubarsi pairing praised for handling France’s threat.
- Rodri described as “Ballon d’Or” level, providing calm and leadership.
- France’s lack of response after conceding the penalty goal.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOSpain's Dominance Against France
1:28 to 4:09
Analyzing Spain's strategic victory over France in the World Cup semifinal.
“These were the scenes in Madrid as Spain book a place in the World Cup final, defeating France by two goals to nil.”
France's Lack of Response
4:12 to 6:40
Discussing France's disappointing performance and lack of tactical adjustments.
“Before that final, there was a debate in France.”
Spain's Tactical Mastery
6:41 to 8:15
Exploring Spain's tactical organization and defensive strategies during the game.
“He was crying, but at the time, whatever.”
Collective Effort vs Individual Stars
8:16 to 14:00
Examining the importance of teamwork over individual talent in Spain's success.
“But they never, they really put themselves in a bad position.”
Spain's Strong Performance
14:00 to 15:10
Discussing Spain's impressive performance against France in the World Cup.
“It's Dani Olmo, it's Fabian Ruiz, it's Rodri who's been great.”
Analyzing French Weaknesses
15:10 to 17:10
Examining why France's star players underperformed in the match.
“we forgot it because they were quite lethargic when they drew 0-0 the first game of the season.”
Spain's Tactical Evolution
17:10 to 19:20
Exploring the tactical changes and improvements in Spain's gameplay.
“where you have to head the ball away, be secure, don't try to do that.”
The Impact of Coaches
19:20 to 20:50
Discussing the coaching styles of De La Fuente and Deschamps and their effects.
“to what we saw in France, where they obviously weren't.”
Looking Forward to the Finals
20:50 to 21:34
Speculating on Spain's upcoming match in the finals and possible opponents.
“The latest edition of the Gabby Jewels podcast drop on Thursday as they reflect on what we've seen in these two semi-finals.”
Reactions and Reflections
23:35 to 28:00
Reflecting on the match and sharing personal insights and anecdotes.
“There'll be a party in Madrid tonight as the celebrations will go long into the evening and the early hours of Spain.”
Show all 22 chapters
Gloating and Awards
28:00 to 29:05
The hosts discuss a recent award received by Frank and playful banter ensues.
“That would be there's no one without two.”
Analyzing France's Performance
29:05 to 30:26
The conversation shifts to analyzing France's performance in a recent match against Spain.
“It's the first thing he said to Macri and I.”
Spain's Strength and France's Weakness
30:26 to 31:39
Discussion on Spain's impressive play and the challenges faced by the French team.
“Not only because of the non-talent or whatever, the fact that every player switched off on that game.”
Didier Deschamps' Tenure
31:39 to 32:58
Hosts reflect on Didier Deschamps' coaching success and the implications for his successor.
“in a final, that would have been a riot up there because it's for us, it's unbearable to see that team being so average.”
Future of French Football
32:58 to 35:47
The hosts discuss the promising future of the French team and potential improvements.
“yes but that's the collective sport Frank always says thank you for he's not the only galactic players Thank you for explaining to me.”
Ilkay Gundogan Joins the Discussion
35:54 to 38:15
Ilkay Gundogan shares his insights on Spain's performance and France's struggles.
“like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks.”
Spain's Team Cohesion
38:15 to 42:00
The discussion focuses on Spain's teamwork and standout players like Rodri and Laminya Mar.
“If this was Sesame Street, the episode scene would be football is a team sport.”
Understanding Laminya Mar's Impact
42:00 to 43:38
Discussion on Laminya Mar's potential influence in the final.
“You get the feeling going into this final, he's not someone who's going to hide or let the pressure get to him.”
Preview: England vs Argentina
45:30 to 56:00
Analysis and predictions for the upcoming match between England and Argentina.
“I don't want to dwell on that because I feel like we've talked about it a lot over the last couple of days.”
Analyzing Player Behavior and Motivation
56:00 to 57:40
Discussion on the influence of player entourages and the importance of motivation in football.
“Yeah, I think there's times at Barcelona I haven't really approved of his look and what he's done.”
France's Performance and Coach Decisions
57:40 to 59:18
Insights into France's performance against Spain and the decisions made by their coach, Deschamps.
“I mean, Laporte has been playing football in Saudi Arabia.”
Ballon d'Or Contenders and Opinions
59:18 to 1:01:15
Debate on potential winners of the Ballon d'Or and the biases in voting for football awards.
“Will any of the France front four, Mbappe, Elisa Dembele or Barcola, have even a five rating in L 'Aquipe tomorrow?”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Ken Marcotti here for Gusto. In football, we spend a lot of time on what happens on the pitch. But any successful operation also depends on the behind-the-scenes work. For small business owners, that often means payroll, hiring, onboarding, benefits, all the essential things that need to get done, even if they're not the reason you started the business in the first place. That's where Gusto can help. Gusto is online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses. It's all-in-one, remote-friendly, and incredibly easy to use, so you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere.
0:38It's quick and simple to switch to Gusto. Just transfer your existing data to get up and running fast. Plus, don't pay a cent until you run your first payroll and get direct access to certified HR experts to help support you through any tough HR situation. There's a reason Gusto is ranked number one on G2's highest satisfaction products list for 2026. and trusted by over 500 ,000 small businesses. Try Gusto today at gusto.com slash FC and get three months free when you run your first payroll. That's three months of free payroll at gusto.com slash FC. One more time, gusto.com slash FC.
1:28These were the scenes in Madrid as Spain book a place in the World Cup final, defeating France by two goals to nil.
1:39It will, of course, be New York. They'll be hosting that final on Sunday. Many thought it'd be France, but indeed it is the European champions who eliminate the favourites to go through looking for their second ever World Cup. This is how things stand then. Spain are in the final. Tomorrow it's the little matter of England against Argentina to see who will face them at the MetLife on Sunday. Welcome in to the ESPN FC studios. Look at this for a line-up. Champions League winners, World Cup winners, Craig Burley. It's all good. Greg, Macca, Frank Leboeuf, Santi Solari all alongside me to reflect on what we saw go down in that semifinal.
2:19Spain defeating France by two goals to nil. Wow. Spain dominated right from the start. We'd see Laminya Mar win a penalty. Yorastabel will convert it. And then a beautiful team goal would see Pedro Porro guarantee the victory for Spain, who thoroughly deserved this victory, who dominated from the start. and are through to the final, Craig, very much on merit. Played a, well, definitely their best game of the tournament. Surprised a little bit by, or a lot by, France. How not until the end they had, they never really threatened to an ice-seam on, particularly in the first half. But Spain, we know they're good on the ball, but they've been super organised defensively this tournament.
3:00Only one goal, that was the game against Belgium. And for the most part of this game, they looked solid tonight. a really, really professional performance from Spain, some good goals, and really nullified the Dembellis, the Michael Alisi. You know, guys that have, Kylian Mbappe, guys that have lit it up for France when they've been struggling. Guys that have lit it up for their clubs on one of the biggest of days just didn't turn up. But you've got to give Spain a lot of credit for shutting them down. But I have to say, I'm surprised that it was as easy as it was in the end for Spain. Those stats actually flatter France because they were actually quite close possession shots on target.
3:41But as Craig rightly said, Spain dominated the game, didn't they? France got a couple of efforts near the end of the game. But in general, Spain were excellent. And to nullify France, who have, as you said, who've been scoring threes and fours and twos and threes every single game, you thought they'd just come today and exploit the Porros, the Kubarsis, the Laporte, of course, who's playing in Saudi Arabia. But they made us all look like fools. I thought everybody thought France would get to the final. And Spain were incredibly dominant today. Very, very good performance from the Spanish. Before that final, there was a debate in France.
4:17If France didn't win that World Cup, would it be a failure or a deception? And I would have gone, say, if you play a good game, if you give 100 % and you hit the post three times and you lose one nil on penalty shootout, it can be a deception. But today, it's both of them. Because that was a failure. That game wasn't a good game. As you said, Spain deserved 100 % to win. We didn't see anything coming from France being good. I think we can't find any chances that they could score. Maybe the Dwayne when United Simon stopped the shot. But otherwise, Spain were above France everywhere. And that's why you want to say out of to the Spanish team.
5:00And you go back, yeah, disappointed. but you have to learn your lesson. It's hard. The World Cup is hard because, yeah, you don't need to run fast at the beginning if you slow down or run very close to the final. And it's what happened to the French team. De La Fuente got everything right. Didn't he, Santa? You've got Pedri on the bench for crying out loud. Amazing collective. Well, that is the coach taking a risk and believing in what he's doing. But it's an amazing collective effort from Spain towards the tactical aspect of the game, because they dominated, not from the beginning, I think the first 15-20 minutes, France pushed forward.
5:41They were pushing with the fullbacks, Dignes and Conde. But then, after the first mistake that France makes, and one of the first incursions from Cucurella on the outside, that he crosses a mistake, a childish mistake, that punished very, very heavily France. Because once Spain is on top of you with one goal and with that kind of possession of the ball, it makes it much more difficult. Yeah, the first goal was incredibly important today. And it was a penalty, obviously. It was a definite penalty, but it was fairly amateurish, wasn't it? You know, going up in the air, not looking where you're clearing your lines.
6:20That effectively changes the game in a game of this magnitude, with such fine margins to give a penalty away and go behind, you thought. But then there was no response, really. No, no. It could have been worse. Olizé could have been red-carded as well because of the tackle from behind. Even if Maca thinks, no, no, no. Well, he played in England. I did too, but I was making the tackle. He was crying, but at the time, whatever. But that could have been worse. And yes, that's the thing that I can't stand is the fact that we didn't have any reaction. That maybe because Spain has a real thought about what they have to do on the field.
7:03That is very solid. Without the ball. Yeah, without the ball. They know exactly what they have to do without the ball. They for sure know what they have to do with the ball. France, you just wait. Normally it's what it is. The patient, you have a tactical defensive action. Let's say, wait for them. and then in transition go fast. But once you're losing, you don't get to get so many transitions because it's your team that has the ball. And defensively, Spain was absolutely perfect. When I mean defensively, I don't mean the defenders. I mean the whole team, the midfielders and the attackers too because the effort from Oriar Saban and Olmo to cover the triangle with the goalkeeper and the two center backs and doing it perfectly, very good high pressure with a very good high line from defending that showed in the 36th minute, I think there are a few, two or three plays in a row in which Mbappé tries to run behind the back and he gets caught offside.
8:03And I think those plays show how well trained is. You put Laporte, if you said Kubar-C and Laporte against this front four, you would have said, they're going to get caught running in behind. They're going to get caught. But they never, they really put themselves in a bad position. That they left themselves so much. What was France's best chance? Do it. Do it when the goalkeeper was out. But Spain squeezed the game, but not crazy. No, but with every player, with the midfielders. With Rodri and France. They squeezed the game, but they made sure they didn't leave almost a whole half. But then you have the goalkeeper, one chance with Mbappe running behind.
8:47The goalkeeper Unai is in a very good position. So this is a system. That's a team effort. That's a real team effort. But I have to say, I'm sorry, but I didn't expect Laporte to be at that level. Playing in Saudi Arabia and being French.
9:07He's lucky he's not French. Well, you know, we say that about Olysia. He has to be that awful third, fourth player. We say that about Olysia at the beginning of the World Cup. So, no, we are... It's a backer. But really, what Lapo did with Kubarsi was absolutely fantastic. You feel that he needs somebody like that next to him at Barcelona. That experience. Let's give Cucurella and Porro to... Oh, yes. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Because when Porro plays for Tottenham, he's very inconsistent. Yeah. But he looks much better in this... Oh, he's been fantastic. But you talk about big decisions from De La Fuentes.
9:40And we talked about Roberto Martinez and Portugal and Ronaldo and how he sort of bowed to Ronaldo you know, he's in 40 odd years old, you've got to make a big decision. He started with Fabian Ruiz, he then benched him for Dani Olmo, he then brings in Moreno, particularly off the bench, he then drops Pedri. This is a coach with a lot less experience than Roberto Martinez. A lot less experience. And so he's made these big calls. Maybe less experience professionally, but De La Fuente has a huge experience. Yes, I mean, in terms of the professional ranks. I know he's coached a lot. That's a big call with Pedri over the last couple of games.
10:20On the other hand, you really have to question De Deschamps why he decided to put back to Chouamini where Chouamini just came back from injury. When you had Coney, we were the best French player in the knockout game before. And you wonder, why do you change that? The guy is always on top of it. When he has the ball, Coney always go forward. where we know Schwamini can slow down the game a little bit, of course, maybe defensively is better, because he played for Real Madrid, maybe he knows the Spanish players more in a better way. But I didn't understand that move. So maybe Didier will explain why, because it doesn't make any sense for me.
10:59I didn't expect any changes from France for this game. Yeah, but Kola maybe. But this is the same. I mean, it's always the same. When you just make the changes and then you lose, and then with the Monday newspaper we can... Shanti, that's what we do. No, we do it before the game. You know, that's the show. Exactly. You sign for it. I can show you the other part of it, for example. Dushan decided Barcola to play today. And maybe, you know, as well, Dway could have played from the beginning. But the moment Barcola left the game, Spence scored the second. The runner. Yes, because Barcola made a great defensive effort today during the whole game.
11:42So it's so difficult sometimes to make these decisions. Yeah, but Santi, they are so timely. The question, Marco... He let Pedro Porro run on the side. The thing is, people were saying Dui is better, will be better to start because he can follow Pedro Porro, where Barcola is less a defender, which you are saying, completely the opposite. And you are right. But I saw that it was a great move because we all thought that Spain would be a little bit higher on the field. and the fact that Bacola can run, and we saw that the first 10 minutes before Spain scored the first goal, that he can surprise people behind the defence.
12:14But that's why he put him. Him, I think he's justified. Tramini is not justified. For Spain, there is always Rodri as well. He was great again. You know, we questioned him coming back from injury, maybe not the same. Just the positional sense. Probably doesn't need to run about as much as... All of them, they were great. Because he's very, very clever. And he didn't have his best season at Man City and he did have quite a lot of injuries, but he looks, he just reads the game so well. This was his best game, wasn't it, today? I thought he was magnificent, the same as you. Yeah, he's brilliant. It's interesting, we always kind of build up superstars and look into this, it was Mbappe against Laminya Mal, and you think, looking back, well, they won 2-0, Laminya Mal must have been amazing.
12:52He wasn't great, he didn't blow your socks off, but this is part of this Spanish team, and as you've all been saying, that's what it's all about, it's about these 11 players all playing together. And we saw Laminya Mal coming back, tackling Mbappe, as well. We almost got a yellow card, but it shows the involvement of every Spanish player. Also the players that come from the bench. Yeah, of course. Of course. No, no, everything was perfect on their side. And they're showing, and it's why the star system that we are trying to put on medias, where we try to find absolutely Mbappe against La Minam.
13:23We're talking about football. Football is a collective sport, and if you don't do the effort, you're going to struggle. Yeah, I mean, you need the stars. Yeah. It's a similar conversation we've had about PSG. We all love the stars. How it's really about the collective. And they performed very well during this World Cup. All the stars they've shown. But Mbappé, Haaland and Kane and Messi. But as you said, Lamin is the so-called star of Spain, albeit an 18-year-old star. And he hasn't been the star, he hasn't been the standout person for Spain at all. I don't even know who has been. But as you said, it's the collective rather than anything.
13:59It's Ayathebal who's not a big superstar in name. he's chipped in with goals. Olmo has been great. It's Dani Olmo, it's Fabian Ruiz, it's Rodri who's been great. Moreno coming off the bench. Yeah, and then the people at the back who you didn't have a lot of faith in. And the French play at La Porte. But they've conceded one goal, Spain. But from Belgium, that's all. So fair play to them. The problem is we talked about France the other day in particular. I think one part of the conversation was how's anybody going to beat this team? But there was always one. Remember, we talked about it the other day.
14:33All these stars, there was one real weak point in that team. Luka Dean, left back. Well, Jul Koundé as well on the right side. That was complicated too. Yeah, but we felt that even though it didn't really work out with it being Lamin-Yemal taking him to the cleaners, that side was a problem. But why did we see their stars not shine today? We were so excited about seeing Elisa at this World Cup. He started well. But Elisa has been kind of absent for the past three games. Yeah, it didn't do much. that Paraguay did he do it? Did he do it? It's just Spain are very, very good, aren't they? They're the European champions two years ago for a reason.
15:08Why did we forget that? Well, I think we forgot it because they were quite lethargic when they drew 0-0 the first game of the season. Yes, when they were awful, weren't they? And you thought, I don't know whether they've got it in them this year. And then suddenly as they progress, they play better teams and their level of performance improves. It's as if they start to click into gear, right, quarterfinals will win. Semi-finals, who were playing? and we're playing the best team in the world, right, we'll raise our game again and we'll beat them. And then coming into the final, they're going to be huge favourites again.
15:36Whether they reach this level, they may not have to reach this level because they're playing lesser teams in England or in Argentina, but they've certainly just come through this competition without breaking sweat, really, haven't they? Receiving just one goal is crazy. Yeah, it's crazy. We thought because we were questioning the team that they played against, but they just have proven today that they were in fact ready. He was. You know what he said? He questions everything. You know what he said? Oh, yeah, we were all tasked on the table how to win the World Cup after they beat Drew Carousel.
16:06I told you after that, Saudi Arabia. To hurt me more, he said, you know, have you seen that the French did worse than Carousel? Yeah, it's true. Carousel did a better job against Spain than your lot. Sure. Individually, who disappointed you today? What, the front four? Yeah. At first. And of course, yeah. Why? Well, because we didn't see them. Is it just because Spain did a job? Well, maybe. But if you are the player that we say they were, you should be able to lift up your level. And this switched off altogether. Dembele was kind of lost. Michael Lissé making wrong choices, making bad passes, which is absolutely the opposite of what we have seen so far.
16:52And that was painful. And Bacoladi tried to do what he could do, but we saw the way he didn't do better. And Mbappe, that was kind of average for a player like him. And that was sad to see them like that. And after that, yeah, of course, you have to talk about Dignes, where you have to head the ball away, be secure, don't try to do that. And that was the beginning of the end for them. When it gets to the knockouts, not that I would know, being a Scotsman. That was a long time ago, wasn't it? Yeah, as we always get knocked out. But when you get to this stage or you get to the knockout, you're only, as good as you've been, you're only one sort of by the ravage performance away.
17:33Exactly. Or one mistake. Yeah. Because you have to do everything right and then you don't have to commit the mistakes. So today Spain didn't make any mistakes. And France made a mistake. Just as the other day, for example, Belgium made a mistake. And it was perfect towards the end. And then Courtois got injured. And then there's a mistake and Bellingham takes advantage of it. It happens in the Champions League, it happens in the World Cup, at the highest, highest level. You talk about Alise, incredible, great, Kane, brilliant, brilliant. Champions League comes around, PSG go and knock them out.
18:06World Cup comes around, Alise, fantastic. Kylian scored all these goals. When the push comes to shove, there's somebody out there who collectively are just better than you, aren't they? And that's what it is with Spain. When Luis Enrique left the Spanish job and De La Fuentes was hired, as you rightly said, He was coaching the 21s or the 18s or the younger players. I suppose in Spain there was maybe a lot of eyebrows raised or questions asked. He's been unbelievable, hasn't he? Not only has the football been good, it's not been as sort of possession-based as it used to be. It's been, not so much in this tournament, it's been getting it forward a little quicker, getting it into the front guys a little quicker.
18:48They've been brilliant. But this is something that Spain does very, very well. youth level and in the international, the federation that keeps the same coaches for a long time in the under 21, under 19 under 60, so they get to know all the players since they are very, very young, so La Fuente knows all these players since they are kids so that makes a difference when they grow up and they play all together and they trust them, yes, well and you can see that because he gets the best, all of these players, like today were playing at such a high level, compared to what we saw in France, where they obviously weren't.
19:24But again, since when did Spain play very, very well today? Since the goal. So you have to do, again, you have to do everything right. You have to work a lot for it. And then you don't have to commit the little mistakes that make the difference in this game. I think we shouldn't be too hard on DJ Deschamps. I mean... That's what I mean. When Wonder World Cup in 2018, finalists in 2020... No, no, because we are questioning... We have a mention. No, but we are seeing that De La Fuente... Give the money a question and change in the starting 11. We haven't mentioned Tiddy A.J. Schump at all. No, but I felt you had something behind, you know.
19:57But the process... Oh, De La Fuente is doing great, you know. No, but he gave the guy some credit. No, no, and I'm OK with that. So we're not un-like France? I don't try to defend. I'm not De La Fuente's advocate. You were the one who brought it up. Yeah, you're right. The French process is amazing. Yeah. No, but it's what I say. Only one game, one mistake, and everything collapsed. and that's crazy because with all the things that Didier Deschamps did since 2014, building up that team, you were talking about La Fuente knowing these players, because Didier Deschamps know those players very well as well, and that's just sad to finish that way.
20:33You want to lose and you're ready to lose because that's football and it can happen, but that way it was an on-game. It's so frustrating. So, what is it? Jules will be sad, won't he? Oh my God. Well, he's going to cheer up for the England. Get him on the phone and laugh at him. He's going to cheer up for England, so don't worry. No, he hates him. Let's get him on before England play. Let's get him on the phone. Tomorrow if we lose, I'm not coming up. The latest edition of the Gabby Jewels podcast drop on Thursday as they reflect on what we've seen in these two semi-finals. You can catch up with some of the past episodes as well.
21:07Be sure to check that out. He's wearing the English shirt, come on. Yeah.
21:14All right, it's Alex and Casey. Yay! What a reception, Casey! That's definitely not for Casey. We'll be looking back at the game more.
21:34Gab Marcotti here for Gusto. Anyone who follows football knows that final product is only part of the story. You see the match, the result, the big moments. But behind that, there's the planning and administrative work that still has to be handled properly. Small businesses are no different. Payroll, tax filings, onboarding, benefits, it all matters. And it can take time away from the work you actually want to be doing. That's why there's Gusto. Gusto is online payroll and benefit software built for small businesses. It's all in one, remote friendly, and incredibly easy to use. so you can pay, hire, onboard, and support your team from anywhere.
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23:35There'll be a party in Madrid tonight as the celebrations will go long into the evening and the early hours of Spain. It's always the early hours of the morning, isn't it? Absolute scenes there. I tell you what, you look at the record as Mbappe and Laminya Mar face each other, club and country. Laminya Mar, talk about having the bragging rights. Nine team wins in those 11 meetings. He was reminding the French, wasn't he, ahead of this tie about the success they've had in the past. and in the end he was rightly confident. Completely correct. Absolutely. Speaking of correct, Casey Keller joins us, as does Alex Aljo, who I think was the only one who predicted Spain to go through.
Read the full transcript
24:17Yeah, Dan, I am feeling a little bit smug because I said Spain would score in the first half, tick. I said France wouldn't score, tick. I just didn't think Spain would score a second goal. Stop ragging. Pedro Coro, man of the match as well. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying what I said earlier. I thought it would backfire actually. But yeah, we know how good Spain are defensively. I actually asked Mark Cucurea at the start of the tournament about this and he said our defence is so good and that is why we're going to win the World Cup. And I did say as well, just to carry on bragging, that Spain would win the World Cup.
24:53But now I'm sort of regretting saying that because they could be facing England, couldn't they? There you go. in the final so then I'll sort of take that back and say that England will win but no a brilliant performance from Spain it was actually pretty shocking because at the end there was Ole! Ole! Ole! every time the Spain players got the ball against this incredible French team all their big players went missing did they? I didn't see that coming or maybe I did maybe oh yeah come on see we've never had someone so happy on the show before hey I got it right stop patting yourself on the back I'll fix it You and Kevin need to do a podcast.
25:31Casey, we talked about this flat four, this flat four, the front four not turning up. Did you feel it in the stadium? Yeah, very much so. I mean, it was a case where every time they kind of got in the attacking third of Spain, the final pass, the final movement was just smothered. And Spain did such a great job of winning back possession and then being able to beat that first line of pressure that France put on. and you could see how frustrating it was. There was definitely more Spanish fans in the stadium considerably and I think we were hearing a cheer every time France wasn't able to connect a pass and make any kind of action in the final third that just disappeared.
26:13You could just see the confidence of Spain continue to rise and then when they got the penalty, that just kind of settled everything. Yeah, and I think Rodri as well deserves a match, doesn't he? He is certainly looking like Ballon d 'Or Rodri, isn't he? And he said Martin Zubamendi was going to take the keys for the national team from him. But Zubamendi hasn't played a single minute and you can see why. He's been absolutely integral. Alex, you followed the journey of this Spanish side. Just try and give us an insight into the impact that De La Fuente has had since taking over from Enrique.
26:47I think you can just see how united these players are. I just mentioned Zubamendi there. He'd expect to be starting. Well, he'd want to be starting, put it that way. But you can see that there's no bad blood between any of these players. I was watching them all celebrate that goal. Even look at the goalkeeper situation. You've got David Raya on the bench, Premier League Golden Glove winner. You've got John Garcia, La Liga Golden Glove winner, sat on the bench. But they're celebrating the goals. You know, they won't have played a single minute. Yet you can just see how, you know, it's such a talented squad.
27:16There's so much competition. And somehow he's got all the players gelling together. And it's such a special group. It definitely makes it a little bit easier when you only concede one goal. Yeah, that helps. That kind of helps a little bit. And the times when Unai Simon went for a little bit of a wander, somebody kind of covered for him. So in the end, yeah, there's no question that Spain deserves to be in the final. And now we're excited to see who they're going to play against. But again, I mean, I felt like you did before this tournament. I think we all felt France was the strongest. But if they were going to slip up, then Spain was the second.
27:50And we're clearly seeing that. Yep, three semi-final wins in a row for Spain against France. And I'm sure Santi knows no hay dos sin tres, right? Thank you very much, guys. That would be there's no one without two. I know that, Santi. No, he doesn't. Of course you know that, Dad. Five years in Spain and he can't speak. What were you messaging on the phone? He phoned away. France, the president of France is texting me. Oh, my God, the president of France. No, that was my mother. Dan, he's been gloating again. Well, which bit? Frank. In what way? He was given some award in France to do. Oh, yeah, you've given a brilliant of a knighthood, is that correct?
28:32Pastille Day. Yeah, the Pastille Day. And I'm the godfather of the ambassador, sorry, of the Bluie de France, which is for you, the poppies. Yes. And I have been nominated officer of the French Republic. Do you have to go back and pick it up? Do you have to leave now? No, we only do the party within like two months. The charity worker this one was. First one was for football. This one was for charity workers. Exactly. Going back to that. Congratulations. Congratulations. Yeah, well done, Frank. Going back to that. Thank you. I hope you said I'm world champion. Yeah, I know. It's not bad, is it?
29:02All right. You brought it up. What? That he got 90. Well, he told me. It's the first thing he said to Macri and I. Yeah, I got it for the first thing. Going back to that, I see one thing that they talked about was when he went for the wonder in the second half. That summed France up, didn't it? When Desiree Dewey picked the ball up. Yeah. It just seemed to take forever. He had not an empty goal, he had two or three bodies. Yeah, but at least you can go over. Correct. The actual effort that he produced kind of summed the French performance. France looked tired in parts of the games. They looked a bit clueless.
29:36They looked not inspired. That's what I felt. And the technique, you know, the guy does everything with the ball. The ball is a toy for him. He really knows how to move with the ball. The chip that he should have done on United Simon, which is the simplest thing I think you have to do, he wasn't capable of doing it. So he says everything about France today, I think. There's one play with Barcolat trying to go to his left. Yeah. And again, he gives a touch a little bit long. And that tells you a little bit about the... Anything was wrong. We've been quite reasonable, I think, in our analysis in that France came up against a very good Spain side.
30:13Is that how it will be received in France as well? Well, hopefully. Hopefully everybody will recognize that most of the results of a non-playing game and being outplayed is because of Spain. Not only because of the non-talent or whatever, the fact that every player switched off on that game. Which is a reality, for sure. They didn't give what they normally give, but there is a reason why. It's human being sport first, so you have to be good at the right time. and I don't want to brag, but it's not easy to win a World Cup, that's for sure. I won't brag. I think that's the first time those words have ever come out of your mouth.
30:53The good news is, l 'equipo normally quite fear. Yeah, yeah, for sure. But the thing, the real thing is, we were expecting to see more in that game from the top players. But everything is due to a fantastic Spanish team. And that's a good credit. I think most people thought that this should have been the final. these were the best two teams. It's just that in the FIFA rankings. Imagine if you're a final like that from the French team. I know, but they're ranked two and three, aren't they? But I think everybody admitted that these were the two best teams. So if you lose two, the best team or the second best team, you can take that on the chin.
31:29In a way, saying that, I say it's better to be kicked out in the semifinal because to present a final like that in the level that the French showed today in a final, that would have been a riot up there because it's for us, it's unbearable to see that team being so average. Yeah, so flat. How would you sum up Didier Deschamps' tenure in charge? Great, fantastic. I mean, you cannot deny, 2014, first time he took the team, quite a final. Then he won the World Cup, then semi-final. Now he lost the final, sorry. Now he's semi-final. He lost the final of the European Championship. I mean, the guy has a great resume and you have to thank him for the time he did.
32:16But I think, I thought, you know, imagine Didi Deschamps would have won the World Cup. What would have been the issue for, what would have been the solution to do better for his successor? Yeah. Zidane Zidane. Now Zizou. It's got to be easier than taking over a World Cup winning side, isn't it? Yeah, it's better now. You have something to prove. You have something to make better. So that's perfect for Zizou. but DJ Deschamps would have won the World Cup you come after you say what can I do better nothing much but yeah it's a good time for Zizou to come and we want to thank you we want to thank DJ Deschamps a lot because he worked very hard and made that team great and probably the quality of the players of France is better than any other team individually yes but that's the collective sport Frank always says thank you for he's not the only galactic players Thank you for explaining to me.
33:09Elective sports, Sanji. To Tim Yu. Get that lesson. 11 against 11, Sanji. Or 1 against 1. Yeah. Frank always says that he was surprised that Zidane went on to coach considering how quiet he was. But we don't know that, no? No, it's confirmed. Yeah, it is. It's not confirmed. Yeah, I just confirmed it. Oh, you? I texted the prime minister. My mother told me that's confirmed. Are you surprised that he went on to coach? No, no, no. Not at all. I mean, he's already one of the top coaches in the history of the sport. He won three Champions League in a row with Real Madrid. He's a legend. He was a legend as a player, and he's already a legend as a coach.
33:47And I hope if he coaches France, he will be world champion someday. I wish him that. Oh, no. It's back in Europe, isn't it? Great person as well. Oh, yeah? Yeah, that's the first. Lovely teammate. Yeah, you can have good people in France. He made us great passion. great person great footballer we made him win the Champions League exactly you're right I thought it was you you carried them you're right me and you carried them he's very quiet as well isn't he he gets on very well with the players and also these players in four years time it would be amazing exactly they should improve I mean Kylian will be maybe 30-31 but a lot of the other players should be just improving year on year so it's an incredibly exciting time for France but they are going to come up against the Spain in two years and in four years' time.
34:35In the meantime, you had a fantastic generation. In England, 2010 or 20-something. Belgium, 2014, nothing went there. Nothing happened with those teams. So it's always how you make all the players fancy. Yeah, of course. And the sub-santies. Don't forget the sub-santies. It's not only galactic players. You know what I mean? Just a reminder, plenty of World Cup content over on our YouTube channel. Be sure to go there and subscribe. That's the morning show, the guys looking ahead. I think everyone picked France apart from Ali, who's stuck with Spain. He must be bragging right now. Yeah, indeed. There will be more reflections on that.
35:11Plus, we'll be looking ahead to England against Argentina in the other semi-final. Not much to talk about from that game.
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36:15Spain then winning the European Championship. They've made it to the World Cup final, the last team to do the double. Oh, Spain back in 2010. They'll be looking to replicate that to welcoming Ilkay Gundogan. Joined us to give us his views on what we saw in that semifinal. final. Elgai, how surprised were you how good Spain were and how flat France were? I was a bit disappointed of France, I have to say. They were really struggling to create chances, especially, you know, when we talk about their individual players, their individual qualities, which maybe we have talked too much about and didn't pay much attention on that Spain side, especially the way they play as a team.
36:57But I think Spain was outstanding. I think you could see a real plan, a real structure, connections between the players. Everyone kind of knew what the other player had in his mind and what the next action could look like. And they made it so tough for this France team to create anything and scored twice and fully deserved to go to the final. We talk about that front four from France who didn't really do much today. how much about them was then not showing up or Spain keeping them quiet? I want to give a lot of credit to Spain, to be honest. I think they were enjoying the football. They prepared that game as good as possible.
37:38They defended as a team. They attacked as a team. They used all the spaces they had, you know. And again, I feel like we kind of underestimated them and we paid so much attention, you know, on how many goals Kylian Mbappé scored, how many assists Michael Olysee gave, about Ousmane Dembele, you know, the Ballon d 'Or winner. We talked about names that much, I feel like, especially people around me as well, on the internet everywhere. And we sometimes forget that football is a team sport, you know, and I think that today, tonight, was a good reminder of that. If this was Sesame Street, the episode scene would be football is a team sport.
38:20I think definitely but we've seen it we've seen we've seen it Craig as I mentioned with PSG but in this situation it was about a Spain side who seemed to be all on the same page De La Fuente seems to have everybody together knowing exactly what they want to do Absolutely and even the players that come in off the bench come in So how much is that on the training ground and how much is that just what you've grown up doing? As Santi said he's been coaching these players a lot of these players behind the scenes for a lot of years as kids, he knows them inside out, he knows their strengths, their weaknesses, and he's made some really good substitutions at really good times in games that have made a difference.
39:00As you said earlier, we expected if Spain were going to win this World Cup, it was because Laminya Mal was outstanding. But he's just come back from that two-month lay-off with the injury, so it has been about the collective, and if you would have said to me, this Spain team with this defence are only going to lose one goal thus far and get into the final, I know they would score goals, I know they would cause team problems, I know they would out-possess most teams, but I didn't think they would have the defensive record that they have, which is really the backbone for them to go and express themselves.
39:38If I may, we were saying the same about the French team, where we say they have the bench, they have a depth in the squad, in the squad. And when, you know, when you have done that, the, the four players at front and you put one, one out, Bacola is coming in. You put another one on Cherki is coming in and you have other players and Coney doing the job against Germany. I think it's also get the coach well done. The La Fuente fantastic, but the players themselves where they have to commit, they know they have to accept the decision of, of the coach. And it happened to, to us and to me, especially where you, the coach decides you're on the bench, you accept that decision and when you come in you give your best.
40:19We saw Mareno twice doing that and Nico Williams as well. So that's the spirit that you have to have. And Spain today they had that spirit because the players they are ready to commit. Was it the Portugal game sorry Matt was it the Portugal game where Torres and Mareno come on and Torres played that beautiful little ball reverse ball and Mareno's on their left foot bang two players off the bench. I wanted to ask is Ilkay still here? Yeah, yeah, of course. Ilkay, talk me through one of your ex-teammates, Rodri, because he's been absolutely outstanding. How good is this gentleman? He's amazing. I mean, he didn't win the Ballon d 'Or for nothing.
40:59I mean, he fully deserved it. He was, you know, around that time when we wanted to travel with City, the year even before that, the year after that as well, he was outstanding. I remember him also having a lot of talks, you know, with Pep when he first joined because the first few months he struggled a little bit, but you could always see that he has the hunger to improve. And by communicating that, by being on the training pitch and obviously having Pep as his coach helped him that much that he just elevated his game to a level that is incomparable right now. You know, he's the best midfielder in the world again for me.
41:41you feel like also in that World Cup he just improved game by game and today he was outstanding he is the leader of the Spanish team and he just gives you so much calm, so much confidence also on the pitch as a teammate that you always know you can rely on him From one end of the spectrum to the veteran to the youngster, a lot of eyes on Laminya Mar, maybe they're respecting more You obviously played with him in Barcelona, Ilkay. You get the feeling going into this final, he's not someone who's going to hide or let the pressure get to him. No, he's not at all. He actually loves it, he embraces it.
42:23And these are the kind of wingers, offensive players, deciders, game changers that you want in your team, you know. That are not afraid, that have confidence, they're young, dynamic, they want to win that game for you. And even though he hasn't maybe had the influence as much as we thought he will have in that Spain side, he always has his moments, you know, in the games. And I think also as a Spanish player, it's amazing, you know, that you can rely on such a young boy in the early stages of his career, you know, and just give him the ball. And because, you know, he always wants it. And every time he gets it, you know, he can do something unbelievable with it.
43:04Good man Thank you very much Cheers mate Nice to see you Burley We'll let you go as well I wanted the discussion Where England get knocked out No we won't be Discussed exactly Why we let you go I wouldn't do it without you Don't let me down Yes Don't worry Don't let me down Don't let me down You let me down With a fist bump Fist bump in the slap Yeah oh beautiful Argentina Lovely awkwardness Don't let me down Argentina Alright good See you later Craig Thank you Craig Oh by the way I'm going for a pint I'm not doing sports Alright Right, YouTube, ESPN FC, check it out. Get me one, Craig. We will be heading to the pub after the break.
43:44Adrian Healy and Kevin Egan, I'll tell you what, if you want to go for a pint with anyone, these two are great, terrible actors.
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45:21The excitement is building. It's all a bit messy, world peace. This is the pretend Bellingham, Tuchel, Harry Kane playing the peacemaker in it all. I don't want to dwell on that because I feel like we've talked about it a lot over the last couple of days. What I do want to do is head to Atlanta and join Kevin Egan and Adrian Healy to look ahead to this game. Adrian, you're obviously, along with me, just the only Englishman on this panel. Oh, no, Macca as well, I suppose. We're the only Englishman who care on this panel. Thanks, Sanya. How do you feel going into this tie?
45:58That's good. Now, at least he's filled the role of Burley making sense. Macca looking at this, so many different storylines going into this. Yes, of course there is. And everybody's looking forward to it. I think we're all a little bit scared. We hope the game goes ahead and it's nice and friendly and England get the right results. But yet there's many, many subplots plots that people will talk about continually. But what you would say is that a lot of these players have never faced each other. Messi's never played against England, which is surprising in itself. So the Maradona game, the 98 game, a lot of these players weren't even born.
46:31So thankfully they'll go at it and they'll make their own history and hopefully for me personally, drive England to the World Cup final. Santi from Argentina. Yes, I mean there's a lot of literature behind this game but we all want to see a football match, a football game. And it's only that, no? I mean, with all the passion, with all the, we know which colors we are defending. We can show our passion and our color, but then we have to be fair and think about a football match. And then I like to see the positive things of life and of football too. And we cannot forget that we play football in Argentina because the English brought football to Argentina.
47:10I mean, all the, many of the Argentinian teams are named with English names. You have River Plate, you have Boca Juniors. Newell's boys. I'm from Rosario, which is Messi's city, and Pochettino's city, and Di Maria's city. And we have Newell's old boys, after Isaac Newton, and Isaac Newell's, who founded the schools and founded also that club. The English did some good things overall. Right, let's not go down any other road. No, no, no. Let's go back. Rosario Central Station, Macca, Rosario Central Station, which is because it's the railways that brought football to... And Italian as well. Messing's from Italy a little bit, no?
47:53Oh, my God. Right, stop talking, everyone. Let's go back to the pub. Kevin.
48:00Yeah, lads. Welcome in over here to the Irish Eggs. I tell you what, I brought the wrong fella to the Irish Eggs. We came in, I said, do you enjoy a Guinness, Adrian? Oh, no, Guinness, that wouldn't be for me. I mean, come on, Adrian. Not the day before an England game. Before an England game. Hey, at least this place isn't called the English accent. You named it well. You named it well. You know what, though? You know what was interesting? It was when the game finished with Spain comfortably beating France, a brilliant performance, obviously. You could tell there was a nervous energy around the English fans and around the Argentina fans, knowing that if they win tomorrow, that's who they face.
48:29Yeah, it was almost like hardly any of them expected that outcome in that manner. But now it's real. They're like, oh, Spain can do that? There was one fella that actually had much better energy than the rest. A fella that you might know well, played in the Premier League, ridiculously handsome, great right foot, goes by the name of David. Get in here. David B. There we go. Take the mic. The one and only David Bentley. I love the good looking bit. Thank you. Cool. How are you feeling? Amazing. We're going to play Spain because we're going to beat the Argentinians. Don't worry about it. Come on, in we.
49:00Are you really that confident? I am. Why? Because we've got Eric Cain, we've got Bellingham. What's the team we've got? You're English, don't worry. Hey, we've got Craig Burley in there. Craig Burley's there, yeah. He's in there. He played for Scotland. He did, he did. Scotland started the tournament as they're like, you know, everyone in America loved them. They started the tournament. England are going to end it. Oh, here we go again. What did I tell you last time, Craig? They're obsessed. Good stuff, David. You've been doing the rounds all over America, haven't you? Like you used to weave through that Blackburn midfield.
49:32You've been weaving around this country. What have you been doing? I've had an amazing journey. As a footballer, you become a little bit institutionalised. You don't understand what the fans go through, how much money they spend on tickets, flights, accommodation, their love and passion for the game. They get criticised. I've not seen one problem. I've been to Boston, New York, Mexico. The fans have been amazing. It's so true. The vibes, the energy. And that's definitely the energy we get here. The Irish vibes. That's what we've got. No, we're bringing it today. Dan, as you can tell, Dave are just one of many to join themselves.
50:05We told us to go. Stay back. Currently it's coming home. We're going to not win the Messi out of the world court. You have to stop the enemy that's been too full of arrogance. You know what I mean? Wow. The guy is so confident. Yeah. Yeah. Santi, you want to say something to that guy? Yeah, well. He was like that on the football field. Okay. Exactly. It was the same on the football field. What sort of game are we going to see, Maka? I hope it's... I hope it's an exciting game. I haven't been overly enthralled with England, you know, visually when you've watched them. Or Argentina have been in more exciting games, but I haven't really seen Argentina go to the next level.
50:45So I like it to be a high-quality game. That's what I'm hoping for. I'm hoping for England to win, but I want to see better football from England as they progress. Prediction? 2-1. Frank? Going for, yeah, 2-1 for England as well. Yeah, like Macca, 2-1 for Argentina. There we go. Thank you very much, gentlemen. So we know one spot that is filled for this year's World Cup final, which of course will take place at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. But who will be flying to New York to face the European Championship? Will it be Argentina or will it be England? As my concern mentioned, it's the first time that Messi has ever faced England.
51:27However, who would have thought Argentina, according to the bookies, go into this tie as underdogs? they're looking to defend their title the first team to do so since 1962 England looking for their first win since 1966
51:45It's time Steve McManaman and Frank Leboeuf We got rid of the Argentinian and the Scottish Craig and Santi were with us How are you Macca? I'm good mate, how are you? I didn't think you were coming down to New York Yes, I wanted to see you and Frank I was missing you so I nipped on town to see you Lovely to see you Well done. Pleasure to be here. I know what I think about you. I miss you, by the way. So it was nice to see you. So did I. Frank, Spain clearly the better team. Argentina or England, any chance against them? Which of those signs would have the better chance of beating Spain? Spain will be favourites, yeah?
52:18No doubt. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's what I'm saying. People were afraid of France if they had to play them in the final. Now that we have seen that game against Spain, I think if you're Argentina or England, you say, okay, we're happy to be in the final, but what's going to happen to us? Because if they play that way, of course, like we have said with the French, nobody can beat Spain right now. So you don't want to be ridiculous. So you want to fight, and I'm sure either Argentina or England are going to fight against Spain, but you will have to rise up your level because that's a hell of a team. Yeah, a couple of years ago, you think what Spain did to England in the Euros?
52:54You know, there's no reason why... Yeah, well, I mean, it was very close. They scored a late winner, didn't they, Spain? I mean, they were the better team against England at the time, but it's a final. So I think England actually would have a better chance against them. To answer that question, I think England would have a better chance against Spain because they know them intimately, don't they? Because they're the European team, everybody's played against each other. So I think England would have the better chance out of the two. Do you agree? I agree. I agree. And the spirit and the pressure they're going to put on the Spanish team can create some differences for England.
53:25Marco, how many times does Zimbabwe need to full praise? the offside trap for him to finally grasp the concept of how to perfectly time his run in behind without any hassle. Considering how quick he is, you would think that he'd get it. I mean, some of them today were very narrow, weren't they? But as I said, the fact that he's far quicker than Laporte or he's far quicker than Kuba R.C., he just has to hold his run a little bit more. But we've seen it in La Liga. He did that with Classico. Yeah, well, in Classico it was incredible, wasn't it that time? But not every football player is perfect and that would be something that Kylian probably will need to work on and will probably work on it.
54:01The superb football that he is. Does it frustrate French fans? Yes, especially when he has all the vision on the other side, when somebody's on the left side and kicks a long ball behind and he's on the other side on the right side and he sees all the four defenders. So you have the time to go and to see and not being offside. And that's an obvious way of thinking in that specific action. And he was caught like twice today. And I say, how come he can be caught there and not thinking and seeing what everybody would have seen? So it's frustrating. Frank, will Lamine Jamal finally show up in this tournament in the final?
54:43Well, I want to wish him the best. He's a crazy, amazing young player, 19 years old. That's insane. I didn't like the way that he had to kind of legitimate himself comparing to the French team with going into television. So yeah, yeah, we did good, but we are good as well. Yeah, we never doubt about the fact you are good and show it to the world. And right now everybody showed up and we're talking about Kane, Bellingham, Mbappe, Messi, all the talented strike forward players and he's not there. So we want to see that. He is in the final. He is in the final because of that fantastic collective sport that football is.
55:23But that's what it is. And it's because of his teammate, not because of him. And that's what I don't like about football. We try to we need superstars. We need MVPs, let's say. But we forget that without the others, a superstar can do nothing. That's that's the real lesson of that World Cup, I think. Would you have a word with him and just say, he's off taunting the opponents. No, only because I think those comments were made when he'd been given the Man of the Match award. So he stood at the board after the game to receive his award. And then he was questioned about it. He put on Instagram this morning before the game, didn't he?
55:59The celebrations after being in France. Yeah, I think there's times at Barcelona I haven't really approved of his look and what he's done. At cup finals and things like that. But I mean, it's just up to whoever's in charge, isn't it? I don't think Dele Fuente would say anything to him, particularly now, whether somebody's powerful enough to say anything at Barcelona. I doubt it himself, but sometimes... The opposition players really need that motivation, though, Macca? No, I don't think so. Are you looking at it going, oh, we're really going to try and win this game even more? I don't think so anymore.
56:26Most of it's a load of nonsense. I think people who work around him, because nowadays they have an entourage of people who can tell them, everybody loves you in the world. Don't make them change their opinion about you because you are going out and making stupid reactions or stupid comments. So just take it easy. Everybody loves you. You don't need to prove anything. You are in the right path and make sure that you do the job and don't talk. I think when you compare like Lamine with someone like Erling Harland who doesn't say anything really. Exactly. Michael Olysee. Yeah. And this tournament, everybody's gravitated towards Erling Harland and he's come across really, really, really well.
57:09We know him, of course, from back in England. But around the world, he's suddenly become this big focal point of what great things Norway had done. And he normally never comes out and does anything stupid. So you'd rather be on his side than Lamine, as in his entourage, saying to him, you don't have to behave like this when you can also be as equally as famous, well-liked by doing this. A couple of corrections. I said that they drew against Curacao. It was Cape Verde in the thing. You said Laporte is playing in Saudi, back at Athletic Club now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Macca, you didn't say anything wrong.
57:40Well done. Yeah. Congratulations. Well, I said Laporte was French, did I? Yes, you did say that. Many times. That's right. I mean, Laporte has been playing football in Saudi Arabia. Yes. Curious how on Cain Verde gave him the same letter. So... No, that's not... That's just you not doing your homework. No, no, no, you're absolutely right. That's your England and stuff. Yeah, yeah. That just seemed years ago now. It's crazy. Frank, why wouldn't Deschamps put in Turkey earlier when France weren't creating anything? You can try to recreate the game and rethink the game. Deschamps did very well until that game, but I have to say the player let him down and they didn't do the job.
58:21It was perfect until the player switched off. And that this game against Spain, because maybe of the Spanish team, we didn't see the French player in any of them. So yeah, you can say, oh, Chucky should have come, or Kone could have played, or Dewey should have started. You can rewrite the story, but at the end of the day, Deschamps has been a fantastic coach and it was an on-game from the French team and Cherky, he went on and we didn't see him like the others. The others are better, quicker, more mobile than Ryan Cherky. That's why he put him on as late as he did because if he was the superstar in training that people talk about, he'd be playing every single game.
59:04And the fact that he's played on the periphery shows that whatever Deschamps is seeing, he's not as impressive as... Pep did that with City as well. He's not as impressive as the four and five with Barcola and Douai in front of him. Final question, Frank. Will any of the France front four, Mbappe, Elisa Dembele or Barcola, have even a five rating in L 'Aquipe tomorrow? What's it out of ten, L 'Aquipe? Yes, I think it is. Is L 'Aquipe brutal, is it? Notoriously brutal, is it? Or something? Is that what the question's about? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not at all. Yeah, I think they will give him just below the average.
59:40I think a four. A four? A four out of ten. Who? For all of them. Alise as well? Alise. First Alise. We didn't see him today. No. Alise, then Billy. We didn't see him back all day. Was it a little bit better? Mbappe tried a little bit. And we're so frustrated. And everybody will be frustrated because we expected so much from them. And we love them, for sure. We love them. They're so, so much fantastic players. but today they weren't good and they will be judged the way they deserve it. So I think a four out of ten is nice. Different question, Frank. Who do you think will win the Ballon d 'Or now?
1:00:15Now all the Paris Saint-Germain boys are out. He hates the Ballon d 'Or. He hates the Ballon d 'Or. Forget it then. Harry Kane, maybe Harry Kane. No, but what if he loses tomorrow? Who do you think will win it? Well, you can give to La Minna Mal. I mean, he won the La Liga, he won the World Cup. He hasn't done much in this tournament. Yeah, but we know how it is. You know, you give to forward players. We're giving back to Rodri. Fabian Ruiz wouldn't get it, would he? I tell you, if Argentina win it, Messi will win it. That's what happened because the journalists are voting. And we know they know nothing.
1:00:48So the thing is, the football is made that it was a pain in the butt for them to put Rodri. They didn't put Carvara when he won everything. They won't put Fabian Ruiz. He's not the type of player they want to see receiving a ballon d 'or. that's insane because he doesn't interest anybody that's crazy because I love Fabien Riz but that's what it is and it's how the choices are made and no Messi shouldn't get the ball on door I'm sorry it's over but I mean Jamal why not because that's the way it goes and it's fashion and it's nice you have to sell it and when you sell it you give to most valuable players twist the raw subject twist the raw nerve we keep talking or the team sport.
1:01:32Can you talk about the Ballon d 'Or at the end? It's your fault. Corsenti back. Early finish tonight, boys. Early finish. Early start, early finish.
1:01:45Tom Macca's ending. Tomorrow, 9am East 30, ESPN2.
1:02:01you
From the publisher
The FC Crew react to Spain's extremely impressive win over France in the World Cup semifinals as they advance to their first World Cup final since 2010, and France are sent home with a loss that forces some questions about the team. Also, a quick look towards England and Argentina's World Cup semifinal on Wednesday.
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