Wirtz at His Best with Germany?

22:00The way it comes across is as if Bellingham is saying, I want to play the number 10, otherwise I'm not happy. That's the way it comes across. I don't think that that's exactly what's happening, and so Thomas Tuchel has to be very clear with Jude Bellingham. look, this is where I see you with this team, and this is what I think your role is. Accept that role, because that's where I'm going to play you. Not where you want to play, not where you think you should be playing. This is where I think you fit into this structure. Make it very clear. And once you have clarity, and you have told the player, and I think all players would agree with this, once a manager has told you what the expectations are, and what he thinks you can do on the field for him specifically, then it's up to the player to deliver.

22:45And it's up to the player to accommodate that role and understand that he can thrive within that role. And so then the attention shifts onto Jude Bellingham. I think there is too much talking going on in the periphery here. Where Thomas Tuchel's in the press conferences and you have Jude Bellingham gesturing and posturing. None of that helps. One talking over here and the other one posturing and gesturing over there. How about you two? You two come together and actually have a conversation, a tactical conversation and say, this is what I think your role is for this team, and it's going to be your role going into the World Cup.

23:25I hope you buy into it. This is the expectation. If you don't, that's on you.

23:28Dan Thomas:What I would like to see is both of those conversations take place away from the cameras. Over a couple of teams. And then the two of you can then just say, guess what? We can have this conversation, but I'm not going to say this in a press conference, and you don't make those gestures on the pitch, so then we don't have to spend all this time talking about this. You and I can talk about it over here, and nobody else has to know about it, and we can go on and continue from this great run in qualifying and make a run at the World Cup without having all the drama that we know the English press is just waiting to have headlines, to have drama.

24:08The amazing aspect to this is, from a Jude Bellingham perspective, I'm amazed at the rhetoric that somehow is being drummed up about him, that he is bad in the dressing room, he knew it at Real Madrid, they knew it at Dortmund, never mind the successes that he had at both those football clubs. And to Ali's point about sitting down and detailing what your role is, the first thing Carlo Ancelotti did when he signed Jude Bellingham and said, this is how I see you fitting into my team, Even though that role changed during the course of the season, and then as they got deep in the Champions League, he started off as this kind of box-to-box midfielder, certainly arriving late, and then there was a lot of covering for Vinicius Junior, second half of the season.

24:49He played both those roles wonderfully well because the manager sat down, explained what he wanted out of him, and exactly why, and got the absolute best out of Jude Bellingham. Now we have these two standing off and a rhetoric that's being drummed up in the press that I don't agree with and I don't think is at all helpful. None of us, except Kay, English, right? So let me ask the English person on the panel here. When you're thinking of the World Cup and the best version of England, does that include Jude Bellingham?

25:24Dan Thomas:Of course it does. And where do these stories come from? I feel that's why Mario is laughing. Are you laughing that most of these stories are coming from the English press, Mario? No, look, we all, you know, all live there. OK, most of us then, you know, maybe except for Mali. But we live there. We play there. So we know exactly how the press works. But I agree with what every individual said. Sometimes when something like this happens is Tuchel knows him better than anybody else. So have that conversation with the player because you don't want this to linger. This story should not take that long, for that becomes a whole big story.

26:00You know, sometimes even like the only why I'm laughing is because every nation has the same problem. In Holland, they make problems for them sometimes not to succeed in tournaments. And I'm asking myself, why are you guys doing that? In England, they do the same. Stop, man. Support your country. Support the team so the players can perform. That's all I'm saying.

26:22Dan Thomas:Nice. Let's get you some more qualifying. Good luck with that, Mario. This is Erling Haaland bringing up the somewhat overzealous man marking by Gianluca Mancini. He said Mancini was always marking me. He was touching my butt a lot. At one point I got tired and yelled at him, oi, what are you doing? But then I said, thank you so much for the motivation. Let's flipping have it. Then I scored two more. So, yeah, it was somewhat overzealous by the sounds of it, somewhat inappropriate, but it actually motivated Erling Haaland. And we couldn't quite zoom in too close on some of the clips that he's claiming, the butt touching in particular.

27:04Dan Thomas:But there was definitely a bit of a tussle between them. What do you think about this quote, guys? Well, I think a lot of it is, look, you're Erling Haaland and you are scoring a lot of goals and you better get used to it because people are going to do whatever they can to try to get you off your game. And if it is maybe some of the things that Ali grew up what?

27:38Ali was nice. Ali was nice. Ali was kind to the players. He was kind. Who was kind of my point?

27:52Your point, Casey. this goes along. This goes on quite a bit with attacking players. In my case, there may have been one or two circumstances, instances in which the butt grabbing went on to the oil check. And hands went into places that they shouldn't have gone.

28:16Did it carry on into the players' lounge? No, no, no. No, it did not. But I must say, in the immediate aftermath, they're like, what? Did I just... I feel violated. What just happened here? And so it kind of takes you off your game, but then in some ways, the best reaction that you can have is the reaction that Erling Haaland had. Now, the slight difference between Erling Haaland and myself is that he went on to score a ball, whereas perhaps I did not. Look, this is... this has happened over the years so many times to so many players. It is more difficult to do now because VAR and because of the amount of cameras that are actually all over the field.

29:05And so you can't quite get away with as much as you did, say, 20 years ago and as much as some people did 20 years ago. You know who you are. Now, excuse the pun here, Mario,

29:18Dan Thomas:but did you have this in your arsenal when you were a defender? Was this one of your tactics? It's a big hand. It's a big hand. It's a big hand. Let me be nice to you. Let me be nice to you. Look, Kate, look. I will play fair against everybody but if you leave one for me I'm definitely going to leave one for you. That's all I'm saying. I do have to say if they give you a kick especially in Italy I'm not picking on Italy, but Italians sometimes, they leave one for you and they love to say sorry. I played against Insagi. He kicks me, he says sorry. He kicks me again, says sorry again. So I said, okay, now it's a friendly game.

30:05So I kick him back. He looks at me, I said sorry. He gets angry. I said, so you can kick me, but I can't kick you back. I said, no, my friend. It's not going to work like that. Mario, can you show us your hands, please? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Hey, hey, I don't have big hands. My hands are not big. My hands are not big. I'm safe. I'm safe. Imagine those hands grabbing your backside. I'm telling you. Hey, but, but, but, but I got a sharp elbow, Ali. I got a sharp elbow. I got a sharp elbow. That's it.

30:37Dan Thomas:Gus Boyette told me a story. He's playing when he's playing in Uruguay before he came to Europe. He's playing in Argentina in a Copa Limitadores game. And he said he's going up for a header. I mean, Gus is a big guy, you know, so he's going up for a header. And he just felt something in his side. And he's like, what is that? The Argentinian defender had a hat pin and was stabbing him when he was going up for the header. So there's some things that go on. Maybe not, but I think I agree with Ali 100%. VAR has taken a lot of that stuff out of the game. because what could have been off-camera, away from things, you're going to get a big suspension now.

31:20But you know who never had to deal with that? Goalkeepers. That's all I've got. That's my entire contribution here.

31:26Dan Thomas:Yep. You guys kept your hands to yourself. You had gloves on. You had gloves on. You did. You got big hands too, Shaq. Dangerous too. Big hands. I think that's how we can move on. Let's move on, shall we? Please, please. Now, this is an excerpt from the Times article on the controversial disallowed goal from Virgil van Dijk when Liverpool played Man City before the international break. It says Virgil van Dijk's goal for Liverpool against Manchester City on Sunday should have stood according to the Premier League's key match incidents panel, even though the KMI panel has agreed that Robertson was not affecting Donnarumma enough to be deemed offside.

32:05Dan Thomas:It also found that it was correct for there to have been no intervention, from the video assistant referee michael oliver well exactly it's difficult isn't it because i suppose it doesn't mean too much now but what we're seeing here is it sounds like they're talking out of both sides of their mouths um chuck as a goalkeeper if there's a guy standing in front of you and then has to duck to get out of the way of the ball well no i'm i'm i'm fully agree with donnarumma's um reaction here that's exactly what i would do get up and start pointing and remonstrating and making an issue of it. But as you see the header comes in, Robertson isn't in Donnarumma's eyesight.

32:45He isn't interfering with Donnarumma's ability to get to the ball. On review, and again, as I said on the day, in real time, you understand the referee and the linesman giving it. On review, I'm not sure that... Well, I'll be honest, as I was about to say, I agree with the KMI, but I don't know what they're saying. I think the goal should have stood I'm not sure that's what the KMI was saying But the goal should have stood in my opinion

33:12Dan Thomas:Go ahead, Mario Yeah, no, I agree with Chaka If he was going to say something different, I would jump in But I agree with Chaka Because I thought he was going to say like No, no, no, it doesn't stand No, I agree it stands You know the game is gone Absolutely 100 % gone When we have to make reference to the KMI KMI, yeah And we don't even know what they're saying. I have no idea what that statement was. It's as clear as mud. Can anybody answer the question as to what is the purpose of doing that now? What does that do for anything? For anybody? Liverpool is much happier now. Well, thank you. Thank you.

33:50Dan Thomas:It should have stayed. Yes. Thank you very much. KMI. KMI. TMI from KMI. Correct. All right. Gab and Jules do talk a little bit more about this on the Gab and Jules show. The latest episode is available now wherever you get your podcasts.

34:3226. Gab Marcotti here for Gusto. Right now, everyone is trying to run leaner, tighter budgets, smaller teams, higher expectations. Now, the last thing you have time to waste on is manual payroll or chasing down an HR form. Gusto is how small business owners get time back when every hour counts. 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. Automatic payroll tax filing, simple direct deposits, health benefits, commuter benefits, workers' comp, 401k, you name it.

35:14Gusto makes it simple and has options for nearly every budget. And it's all built to save your time with built-in automated tools for offer letters, onboarding docs, direct deposit, and more. Plus, you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No hidden fees, no surprises. 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.

35:49Dan Thomas:So as you know, the U.S. beat Paraguay 2-1 on Saturday to stretch their unbeaten run to four games. It was a little brawl that broke out in second half stoppages. but here's what Mauricio Pochettino had to say speaking about that game.

36:28playing in my team. Yeah, but how now we are going to win games? How we are going to convince the people to support us? How we are going to improve in our game? How we are going to put our standard high? That is the problem. Question that we're in the past. We need to analyze, you know, the reality, not the thing that are... You know, things that are reality. And then, okay, we can talk in this way. But come on, it's about to trust, it's a confidence. When we arrive here, we are not amateur. And all the coaches like Costa Rica, like Mexico, that they were suffering, they are professional. Why don't work?

37:10Why doesn't work? Because of the coach, coach out. But sometimes it's not the coach. Okay, but the easy scene is to blame the coach, the coach, the coach. No, the coach, no, the coach, no, the coach, the coach. What is going on behind the scene? no, Mike?

37:31Dan Thomas:It was BS, the word they beeped out, in case you were wondering. What do you think of what he said there, Casey? Yeah, I don't mind what he said. But in the end, particularly on the national team side of things, it's really difficult to change the players. Because you have what you have. It's a lot easier to change the manager and hope that he can get the best out of the players. But take that aside. We spent a lot of time talking about the first eight, nine months under Pochettino. And he couldn't get a reaction from that team. He couldn't figure out how to get results. It's been nice, these last couple camps, not having to preference everything we talk about.

38:17Dan Thomas:Where's the attitude? Where's the effort? Where's the commitment? Now you're starting to see, hopefully, Murcio Pochettino getting a team that wants to fight for one another, that wants to fight for their position, doesn't feel entitled. And it's amazing. Some results follow. So we're still waiting for that marquee result. We're still waiting for against, I'm not sure Uruguay is the marquee result if it happens tomorrow night. But a good performance and a result tomorrow night just continues this momentum. That is one of the tougher opponents, though, Uruguay to face in this cycle. Would it be?

38:59Dan Thomas:They made a ton of changes against Mexico. And it was like, oh, here's one of our last opportunities to look at players. I'll be interested to see if Bielsa puts out a side that looks like Uruguay and doesn't look like a squad that he's trying to figure out 18 through 23. come the summer. If it is a decent squad for Uruguay, would that be a measure of progress to see how they do against them? Well, I think there's been progress from the United States. I think there's been an improvement. And I'm not quite sure whether I go as far as to say that there's been a change in the mindset and that somehow that was brought upon by Mauricio Pochettino, Although it's something that he has stressed in every press conference that he has had.

39:50The culture, the mindset, this, that, and the other. It seems to be a topic or conversation that surrounds all of his national team call-ups. And so it has to become a talking point because he wants it to become a talking point. The reason, and while I appreciate what Mauricio Pochettino is saying, the reason that in this country anyways, we're looking at the coach and saying the coach, the coach, the coach, the coach. It's because the coach, in this case Mauricio Pochettino, was the highlight of this men's national team when he was deemed to be or designated to be the guy taking over. And because there is a ton of money that went invested into Mauricio Pochettino.

40:33And because of all the teams that he has coached around the world and he comes with this resume, then he becomes a guy that most people in this country are looking at and say, that guy is going to get us to whatever that next level is. And when that wasn't happening, the natural reaction was, well, we thought this was a guy. And all of our players or most of our players that start in this team are playing in big teams in Europe or are playing consistently in Europe. How come we're not getting the best out of these guys? And so it comes with a territory, and he should know this better than anybody else, given the fact that he has coached the teams that he has coached in his career, that it's going to come down to the performances on the field, the results on the field.

41:19And if those things don't match the expectations, then the coach is always going to get the attention and the blame.

41:26Dan Thomas:And Alejandro, they overspent for a manager to get results against teams we don't get results against. But when he came in, we were losing to teams that we always got results against. So not only it was like it was the double. It wasn't the fact that you were you weren't able. You got paid a bunch of money to come in and beat like the Dutch in the second round of a World Cup. You were now losing to the Panamas. You know, that was not supposed to be the case. You're supposed to take us to the next level, not actually lose the teams that we always beat before. So the weird thing about Pochettino's statement, and I take everybody's points about the U.S.

42:11progressing, and they have. And Pochettino has to take the credit for that. And quite clearly, he has. It feels the same. But in one sentence, he says, me coming into the U.S. as coach, I've changed your culture. I've changed your mentality. I've changed everything about the team. But if we look at other teams, when they lose, we shouldn't blame the coach. So is the coach responsible? So it's almost as though he's taking credit for successes and good results when they come. But if bad results come, that's not the coach's responsibility. Shaka, you know coaches win and players lose. You know this.

42:51It's been like this across all time. He somehow managed to do that in one statement. No way until the next window, the next game. He does not even the same exact statement on the back of one question. Now, again, take everybody's point. The U.S. continues to progress really nicely, especially what we've seen over the last couple of windows. Building into the World Cup, you couldn't ask for a better time to be peaking. I know we're still, what, seven months away or whatever it is, but we've only got one more window in March to go. So you're hitting the heights at just the right time. write that and hopefully that that takes you through but again a lot of these statements

43:31Dan Thomas:I just find a little confusing one more question Casey does geo start tomorrow I don't know because I don't know exactly what the thought process is is it let's keep going or is it that there's so few windows to see somebody else I would love to see a level of consistency and And that's the one thing we have not seen from Pochettino is any sort of consistency whatsoever. We've also seen a lot of clubs get angry at the U.S. because when he has tried to play a player two matches in a row, then the club comes down on him. It's different in qualifying, I guess. Oh, you're playing qualifying a game.

44:11Dan Thomas:Of course, you've got to play your consistent side. But in friendlies, I guess for some reason, when you only have a handful of games, the national team manager isn't allowed to play as players. He's not getting minutes. I'm watching Gladbach. Yeah, to me, you would think Gladbach would be thinking, great, keep building that fitness, keep building that form. Gladbach are in no position to get upset if he plays a second game. He's like, well, if you're so concerned about me, then play me. Yeah, exactly. I think, in my opinion, I think he should play. Agreed. As you can see, these guys have got a lot to say about it.

44:42Dan Thomas:So the good news for you is they're going to be on Football America on Tuesday. Swing is for the fences. Look at that. Alongside Alexa. Ah, boy. I just don't want to get the cameras. Yes, he wouldn't need to. All right, so this was an interesting one because there were claims of voodoo made by the Nigerian national team coach Eric Shelley following their elimination to DR Congo. He claims a number of the coaching staff were performing this during the penalty shootout. The claims have obviously been denied from a representative from DR Congo. this is what he had to say though. This is excellent.

45:22Eric, coming towards the end of the game, I could see that you were a bit frustrated with maybe some of the DR Congo staff members. Could you give us an update on what happened there? During all the penalty sessions, a guy of Congo did some voodoo. Every time, every time, every time. So this is why I was a little nervous after him. What did you see? Something like that, you know, with the with the uh i don't know if it's a water or something like that you know so i don't know

45:53Dan Thomas:yep there's been a lot of drama and that's just even more of it to end tonight's show with here on espn fc but we thought we'd bring you in because that's what they have been talking about stick around extra time is on the way next mario will be joining us to answer your questions

46:12Dan Thomas:Hello and welcome into the latest edition of Extra Time. We've got Ale, we've got Shekha, we've got Casey and we've got Mario Melchiot with us as well. All right, got a few questions here starting with one for Ale. Is it about voodoo? It is not about voodoo. Ale, would you have enjoyed playing in the MLS with a calendar aligned with UEFA League season with campaigns beginning in late summer and ending in spring? said change set for the 2027 season. I would have loved it. Would have loved it for many reasons, but perhaps the, I think the most important reason for me specifically would have been the national team call-ups.

46:51Back in the day in MLS, MLS would not stop for international breaks. And so basically I was missing games while I was gone with the national team. And that would put me in a really uncomfortable position with my MLS club and the national team. And I was always stuck in the middle. And when the national team comes calling, you go with the national team. But what happens when you're in the middle of the playoffs in Major League Soccer? And then you have World Cup qualifiers on the other end with Venezuela. And I found myself in that position time and time again. And it's not a good position to be because I literally remember being seated in the office with the general manager, club president, and the coach.

47:35And then on the phone and speaker, you have the national team coordinator, and they're having a back and forth as to what happens with me. You know who doesn't get to make a decision? This guy. This guy. I'm stuck in the middle. And how do you leave your MLS team when the showpiece event is a playoff, the defining moment of the season is a playoff? Well, I had to do that myself. And the times that I didn't do that, guess what? the national team call-ups were not nearly as frequent as they would have been otherwise because the national team coach also says, ah, you weren't coming. So they hold it against you regardless, and to me that was an impossible position to be in.

48:17Dan Thomas:Happy to see this, Casey? Very much so. I think it just cleans everything up in so many different levels. So, and I think it's a much, much better time. Take the transfers, that's key. But I think it's a much, much better time for MLS to have the focal point when you're not competing with football, the start of the basketball season, the start of hockey, all that. Have a time right now where it's at the beginning of baseball and go get some focal point. But another point to that, Casey, think about this. Right now, MLS is not they were in their playoffs, right? And momentum in the playoffs was building up and they had to stop.

48:58because of the international break. They had to stop in the middle of the playoffs. What other league in this country does that? In any other sport, they wouldn't do it. You imagine the NFL stopping play in the middle of the playoffs? No, it just doesn't happen. And so these are the sort of things that if you want to take this next level, this step to the next level as a league, these are the sort of things that you have to do. This is not a choice anymore. This is the sort of things that you have to do in order to be taken seriously around the world.

49:25Dan Thomas:Okay, from Mario. What's the percentage chance that Jaro Aranje can win their first ever World Cup next summer?

49:56100 % is stopped, Yaga. No. Because he's doing that, because he's doing that, I'm saying we have... I give us more than a 50%. I give us 55%. What are you saying? 50%.

50:14Dan Thomas:The Dutchman has come out of Mario. Yes. The confidence is flowing. I love it. Yes. Come on, man. And we are based on striving to go after what we can do. I don't care. Okay, so it's 55 to win it. Yes. 55 % Netherlands. Yes. Yes. I mean, I love you, Mario. You know I love you, Mario. You know I love you, Mario. I know, man. I cannot take you seriously when you say that. Oh, boy. Love it. No, no, no, no. Ellie, Ellie, Ellie, allow me. Give me in one second then. Let me take the 55%. Let me take it in. Allow me today. Only today. Only today I beg you. Yes. Tomorrow is a different day. It was a big win today, to be fair.

51:07Dan Thomas:He's feeling confident. They were playing against Lithuania, who were defending with Arvida Savoni. Anybody? You know who Arvida Savoni is, Shaq? Sure. Oh. I know Casey does. Casey does. basketball player. Played center for the Lithuanian national team. That's exactly what I was thinking. Great passer of the ball, by the way, as a center. Shaq could have told you that. Shaq, over the weekend, it was the 20th anniversary of Trinidad and Tobago qualifying for their first World Cup in history. Any memories from that night in Bahrain? Yeah. A lot of memories. That was good. I remember Bahrain started the whole stadium up.

51:48And through throw it at, well, we're trying to be our fans who've made the journey, to us on the pitch, and we on the sidelines, because I was on the bench for that game, we were, well, at first just kind of all huddled under, because they had the hard plastic kind of benches, so everybody's kind of huddled under there, and then you have to try to time it, when the rock stopped flying, to run onto the middle of the pitch, but it was so good, because then we were all just in the middle of the pitch and just stayed there for as long as we wanted. I always remember, and I remember running over to Dwight York and Russell Atapy in particular, I played under 12 national football with Russell and Dwight.

52:32So to come all that way, kind of give them the trajectories of our professional careers, and then that culminating that journey for us was a special time.

52:43Dan Thomas:High point in the career that you had, Shaq, is that the new one? No question. Yeah, everything feels in comparison. It's distance. When you play in the World Cup, first and only ever performance at the World Cup, and we're a part of that, easily high point. It's amazing how when you get emotional, Shaq, the voice gets deeper. Yeah. And you start speaking slower, more deliberate. It's like you're bringing people in to your story. I'm a man with deep emotions. Yes, yes. I was invested, Shaq. I was running to the middle of the field with you. When you were running, I was running. I was looking for Dwight.

53:21Dan Thomas:I was looking for Russell. Check, I'm worried about you, man. I'm worried about you, Seth, man. What's going on, man, on that side, man? I am telling you, my brother, I'm telling you, man. I think it's the cold weather that's already happening on your side. It makes you think different. Mario, let me start with you here. Do you feel like you decided to retire or were told to retire by your body or the game itself?

53:51I think the best thing I could have done is that I told myself to retire. I wanted to stop when I was 33 years old. I was in Qatar and I looked and I was like, I wanted to have done everything that I wanted. Not have won everything that I wanted, but have done everything. So, play for your country, play Champions League, play in the countries where you wanted to perform and won certain trophies, of course. And I think when I did that, I said to myself, now I want to go and live a different life. And clearly, my life was with Ali Shakak.

54:27Dan Thomas:We love having you. We love having you as part of the team, Mario. Guys, same question. I'm going to say the game in that, well, it wasn't necessarily injuries. Tell the truth. tell what was the moment that you decided to retire Shaq. Tell them. Tell the world. Tell them. What was it? When I scored on you. Yeah. It's time. Like I said, it was the game. Yeah, it was the game. I remember it. Yeah, I remember it. Yeah, yeah. Um, where was I? What happened? So, well, I said the game because I didn't have any major injuries. I was talking about a back injury back in my career, but, you know, otherwise I was fit.

55:11Just... When Ali's calling on you, they realize... I know. It's time. Yeah, it's time. I know. I know. Time to buy a tractor. That's when you know. Time to buy a tractor, invest in some acreage, and become a farmer. That was it.

55:30Dan Thomas:Oh, Casey. I was very fortunate. and I was able to come back home, be part of the Sounders when it started. And then I played three seasons, and I was kind of looking at the calendar, and they were asking me if I was going to play another year, and I'm thinking, I'm two weeks from my 42nd birthday, and I'm going, you know, I always wanted to be able to retire when people were saying, you sure you don't want to play one more year? as opposed to saying, why are you playing one more year? And I really felt that it was a good time. And most players get retired. Most players don't have the ability to retire themselves.

56:15Dan Thomas:And I just thought it was perfect timing. Most players don't get Ali to retire you. Yes. Well, your special shot. Ali, didn't you give it all up to us? That is correct. That is accurate. Well, to be honest. You gave it up for love. Well, yes, I did. I'll tell you what was happening, to be honest. I was at Chivas USA at the time. If you need to know anything about Chivas USA, the team no longer exists. So that's where dreams go to die. And careers go to die. Retired Chivas USA too? I retired Chivas USA. So me and Chivas have a lot of USM and nothing in common. And so I was in between contract with MLS at the time, and I was negotiating a new contract and what have you, but I needed to find a new team because I did not want to be at Chivas USA.

57:04And in the middle of all that, ESPN put an offer on the table and said, well, we don't know what you're going to do with your playing career, but this is what we can do for you and this is what we're willing to offer. And at that point, I looked at it and go, well, that's much better than whatever else I was going to do. But it's still difficult to tell yourself that it's over. However, the offer, I looked at it and said, it gives me an opportunity to jumpstart the next phase of my life. It gives me an opportunity. My kids were getting older at the time, so I wanted to stop the moving and the coming and the going.

57:41I wanted them to have a place that they could call home and a school they could call their school and a set of friends and all of that. So I wanted stability for the family, stability for me. And I said, ESPN, here we go. That's it, baby. And that's been here more than a decade now, which is amazing to me. Happy anniversary. Thank you. It's not my anniversary, but thank you. I hear you. Something like that. Thank you, Shaq. I appreciate that. I told you I'm an emotional guy. Kate, Kate, Kate. Kate, I have a question. Which one do you thought was the most emotional one? Because Eli went quite far.

58:24He went quite far. So was it Eli or Shaka who was winning the emotional contest? because I think Ali was winning this one with his family when he was talking. He got emotional. Yeah, but then Ali sparring on you

58:33Dan Thomas:has got to be an emotional moment. Yeah, not for the right reasons. But yeah. He was. Okay, okay. Years of therapy. Years of therapy. But you did well tonight, Shaki. You discussed it in front of the world. Yeah, I know. See, you're stronger now. Closure. I'm not sure it's closure. I'm not sure it's closure. It's progress. The therapist would call it growth. Growth. Just one thing for Mario, as I was going more emotional or deeper in the emotions and talking about my family as such, it's not so much what I said, Mario, it's as much as how you say it. That's what my wife tells me all the time. And that's what Shaka gave us.

59:12He gave us depth in the way that he addressed his emotional well-being. Okay, okay.

59:20Dan Thomas:Last question. Since Craig and Stevie are not on the show, be honest. We're laughing and smiling. Are we all rooting for Scotland tomorrow? Casey? I'm going to basically echo Craig. I'm not playing. I'm not invested. What do I have to do? I don't care. What do I have to do with Scotland? Look, I mean, I think it's a good story. I mean, obviously, I have nothing against Denmark if Denmark qualify and win the game or draw the game. But I think what Hamden is going to be like tomorrow would be fun to be there as a neutral and just soak that in. So... Yeah, so... I could care less. But you sold it really well.

1:00:03Dan Thomas:Thank you. That was a KMI moment all over again. Mr. Scotland, Mario Melchia. Mario, can you root for Scotland tomorrow for the boys? For me, I just... I want to see the smile of Stevie, you know. And Craig, you know, it doesn't matter if you win or lose, you will still have the same reaction. But Stevie, I want to see smiles. So I give his country yes. I would love to see them win. for sake of accuracy and clarity, you're saying that Craig is not going to be smiling. Regardless. It doesn't matter. If they win, they lose. It's the same. Correct. I'm just wondering to make sure that. What do you think, Sean?

1:00:39I'm going to Scotland. I'm... I think that's a nice story. I like Scotland. I like Stevie. Yeah. I like Scotland. I like to see Stevie happy. Yeah, we are. I'm going to pick Denmark. Yes.

1:00:54Dan Thomas:I'm back in Scotland. Come on, you Scotland. We are going to find out. We're going to join us tomorrow. They will both be on the show tomorrow. Both Stevie and Craig. We need Don. We need Don to finish off the full... You need Don. Make sure to join us. Maybe he'll make an appearance. Do we need Don? We need Don. Just go with it.

1:01:24Buster Olney here for La Quinta by Wyndham. Summer work travel can feel like extra innings, long days, late nights, and not a lot of room to stretch out, especially when your hotel room feels more like the dugout than the clubhouse. But when you stay at La Quinta by Wyndham, you can step up to spacious suites that give you room to relax, recharge, and get ready for the next day. I always feel like I need that when I'm traveling on the road covering ballgames. Plus, you can earn Wyndham Rewards points with every qualified stay. Because when you've got space to unwind, you're always playing at your best.

1:02:00Tonight, La Quinta. Tomorrow, you shine. Book your next work trip at LaQuinta.com. Terms and conditions apply.