The Commentators’ View: FIFA World Cup Q&A

14:47Ian Dennis:So we need to clarify that.

14:49Ali Bruce-Ball:And Turquia. Turquia, isn't it? Czechia. Yeah. Exactly.

14:55John Murray:I mean, from being in Istanbul recently, they actually do, you know, There's a lot of signs now when you're going through Istanbul Airport that actually does say Turkey. Yeah.

15:04Ali Bruce-Ball:Let's hear from, by the way, fresh in, let's hear from Raul Jimenez himself. So this is Raul Jimenez pronouncing his own name from this season's Premier League pronunciation video. Raul Jimenez. Raul Jimenez. Jimenez? That's a Jimenez. It's a Jimenez. Not a Jimenez. Jimenez.

15:25Ian Dennis:You see, that's another one. I don't feel comfortable. I don't feel comfortable when it's a Z saying TH in English. So I feel I have to anglicise that. But there's always a contradiction because I would call former Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olotharbo.

15:47Ali Bruce-Ball:Olotharbo, yeah. Very quick story, which is unrelated to this, but must tell this. So this is a very good mate of mine. We're on holiday in Tenerife years and years ago. And he always tries to speak a little bit. speak a little bit of the language the spanish but doesn't have enough but feels bad that he doesn't have enough we once got we got to the end of a holiday uh and we got to a petrol station and we barely had any money left to put enough petrol in the car to get back to the airport but we just had enough and it was all in coins and so basically he handed this money over to the guy at the till to pay for the petrol it was a whole bundle of coins and he really felt bad about it and wanted to apologize but wanted to do it in spanish but didn't have the spanish so what he said was he said sorry about the thange he denies that but i swear that was his attempt at trying to uh speak a bit of the language and also just because you mentioned tenerife

16:42Ian Dennis:you know the people who get upset you know for example you know so at least i mean this is something that listeners get quite aerated about isn't it well he's not pronouncing it right so But you can just imagine someone who would say, he's calling them Tenerife, not Tenerife. And yet that person, if you say, where are you going for your holidays? They'd say, I'm going to Tenerife.

17:06John Murray:They wouldn't say, I'm going to Tenerife. But also, if you were to say, so I would say Castleford, but Ali, you would say Castleford. Yeah. I would say Bath. You would say Bath. I would. It's different ways of, you know, we're all different. And I think that, like you, I just think that sometimes don't try to get too het up about it. You can overthink it.

17:30Ali Bruce-Ball:How about this one from Ipeswitchfan, Alan?

17:32Ian Dennis:Like many football fans, I always feel that the World Cup years mark different times in my life. They enable me to think about where I was and sadly, probably what I was doing when England got knocked out. So I wanted to ask each of you for your first World Cup memories as maybe boyhood fans and then commentators. Unfortunately, mine goes all the way back to 1970, staying in a caravan park in Devon. And my parents decided that we needed to go for a walk. And as a seven-year-old, I had no choice. England were leading Germany 2-0 at that point. And I was completely heartbroken the next morning to find out that we'd managed to get beaten by three goals to two.

18:15Ian Dennis:And of course, by trying to save players for the semifinal. It's an event that has left me permanently scarred, and unfortunately for my poor children, I recount this story every four years. Keep up the amazing work, and I look forward to hearing about your memories and the new ones you're going to make in the next World Cup coming up in the next few days. Who wants to go first? Youngest or oldest?

18:38Ali Bruce-Ball:Ha.

18:38Ian Dennis:I'll go first. It's the youngest.

18:43Ali Bruce-Ball:My, I mean, I've talked about the 1982 World Cup. we've talked about this a bit on the pod before the Brian Robson goal after 27 seconds in Bilbao but I think actually you know we were recording a few things for the BBC's promotion of the World Cup in the build up to this tournament and actually some of the strongest memories I have are actually the tournament in 86 would be Mexico 86 I mean I remember my brother and I we would watch games and then we would immediately run out into the garden and pretend to be whichever players you know it was that we just watched and taken a look We loved Preben Elkier in that tournament.

19:19Ali Bruce-Ball:Do you remember Denmark's Preben Elkier? Danes were really good in that tournament. So that's a name that sort of sticks in my mind. But I think from that tournament, it would be Lineker's hat-trick against Poland when England were in trouble and he had his left arm wrapped in a cast and they beat Poland 3-0. I watched those goals back the other day and that's a really, really striking memory of World Cup football. And again, it feeling, you know, for people watching their first World Cups and listening to their first World Cups this summer, it feeling so exotic and so far away and so exciting and watching football at different times of the day that that's what i remember about about mexico 86 as a kid my first world

19:55John Murray:cup memory was watching as a young boy 1978 i had a blue teddy bear called it bluey was very creative in those days cheering on scotland so that would be my first world cup memory and then regarding as a memory for as a commentator would it be the the first world cup final in 2018 that shared with with john in moscow i remember arriving quite late after doing the third fourth place playoff the night before arrived quite late into moscow and i was just a bag of nerves but that was a real honor so they would be my memories for me i think the first world cup

20:33Ian Dennis:memory I have is actually 1974, but only because Jack Taylor was an Englishman who refereed the final, Wolverhampton Butcher. Other than that, I can't really remember too much about that. So for me, 78 was the first one. I was just like you, Ian, so into that. I remember being absolutely gripped by everything surrounding that. I had the Football 78 Panini sticker book, which I think I finished and just watching the sights and sounds from Argentina the ticker tape was incredible everything that surrounded some of the goals that were scored from long range and particularly Archie Gamal's goal against the Netherlands that night that was I remember sitting I can see myself sitting right in front of the television looking up the television screen watching that and I think of all of the things that we do and all of the sports that we cover all of the events and I'm including the Olympics here and people care deeply about the Olympics.

21:35Ian Dennis:I do think people care most about the Football World Cup and I think it stirs things in you that other sporting events just don't and that's why for me it's the best.

21:47Ali Bruce-Ball:Nathan is embarrassing us all slightly here, our producer Nathan, because he's put his first World Cup memory in the script. Have you seen that, John? No. He says it was watching Ronaldinho lobbed David Seaman at the 2002 World Cup. First thing in the morning at primary school, everyone sitting cross-legged watching on one of those TVs that used to get wheeled into the classroom. I remember I certainly wasn't in primary school watching that. I was in Olly Kay's house. You know Olly Kay, who now writes for The Athletic? He and I watched that game together in his house in Manchester. That was early morning, wasn't it?

22:21Ali Bruce-Ball:It was an early morning UK time game, that one.

22:24Ian Dennis:Spurs fan Sean says, compliments on the show as i've said previously it's the behind the scenes stuff i find most interesting so in that spirit sean asks how long have you been prepping and how does it differ from a premier league match prep for example is it fun difficult exciting prepping some of the more unusual teams curacao cap verde cape verde capo verde uh uzbekistan etc what are some of the matches you are most looking forward to and which cities are you most looking forward to experiencing and completely unrelated sean also asks most weeks there's a mention of a dog do any of you actually have a dog um i don't know actually about you i think i'm the most recent owner of a dog

23:17Ali Bruce-Ball:amongst us three so um we had a beagle called betsy lived for 14 years and um absolutely adored her, glutton a Spiegel as they all are, with lots and lots of character and we've been very tempted to get another one but have sort of enjoyed our freedom since she's gone, but miss her obviously.

23:37John Murray:At the risk of alienating half of the, or probably more than half of the audience that listens to this podcast, I am actually not a dog lover and I will never ever have a dog.

23:48Ian Dennis:That's revelation, that'll be the clip for this edition, for the World Cup questions and answers. That's going to be the clip that Nathan's going to put up. You'll be hated. You'll be blackballed now from polite society.

24:05Ali Bruce-Ball:You do a lot of walking, John, but you don't do it with a dog, do you?

24:08Ian Dennis:Well, my daughter has a dog, who is Pip, who is a lovely dog, and it's a collie, and it's quite a nice story because Pip was one of a litter, isn't it, litter of puppies, that was born on my family farm in Northumberland and Pip then was given to her. So it's quite a nice sort of family history from that dog. And he's great. He's a great dog.

24:36Ali Bruce-Ball:So in terms of prepping the World Cup, Ian, you started before us in terms of prepping the games because you had the two England World Cup warm-up games to do. What's your sort of modus operandi for trying to get ready for a World Cup? How long does it take to prep each country you're going to cover?

24:53John Murray:Well, before I left, I'd done 19 of the 48 teams. But looking at my schedule, I'm only going to do two more games than I did at Euro 2024. I'm only down to do 13 games at the World Cup. And before I'd left, Saudi Arabia and Iraq actually hadn't named their squads either. So what I would do, because they'd all had to name a 55-man preliminary squad, I thought rather than write out all 55 names, I'd just wait until the final 26 was selected. But basically, before I'd left, I had done all of the teams I'm doing in the group stages. So I'm doing six matches in the group stages. And then I take an educated guess at who is likely to get through to the knockout stages.

25:40John Murray:So I do my own projections. And then all of a sudden, I think, well, I'll add the Dutch in there. I'll add Argentina and Uruguay and Colombia and Croatia. who I think I might be doing in the closing stages. And then I'm cheering for them to make sure that they get through. Otherwise, I've got more work to do when I'm in the States.

25:57Ian Dennis:That is a great point, Ian, that this is something that listeners will not know. You end up with vested interests that you never knew that you had, which is based on the fact, based on which teams you've actually already seen and commentated on.

26:12Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah. And do you know what? I think that's a really good point as well, John. but even World Cup warm-up games. So Germany-Curacao is my first game and the fact Scotland have played Curacao in a World Cup warm-up and you can lay eyes on them. I think that's so, so crucial because the first 10, 15 minutes of a commentary when you've never seen a team play live before, if you've not seen television footage of them and just got some visual identifiers on who's going to play where and what they look like, that first 10, 15 minutes is an absolute nightmare. Do you remember you and I doing North Korea against Brazil in Ellis Park in Johannesburg with David Moyes?

26:50Ali Bruce-Ball:I mean, North Korea, clearly the amount of information we got about them was very, very, that was very difficult, wasn't it?

26:57Ian Dennis:And that was a challenge. I think my answer to this question of preparation has changed over the years because in my early World Cups and early tournaments, very often my domestic season would have sort of drawn to a close with still quite a bit of time to prepare but as the years have gone by you know you're commentating right until the end of the domestic season cup finals and you're concentrating on that and I find it very difficult to hop between the two and my general preparation is helped by the fact that I'll cover the draw so you are preparing very basically as Ian says for all of the teams for the draw so I've got that so I've got info I've got some information there should I have the need to talk on air about those teams but but I do tend to focus on the teams that I know I'm going to cover so in the past previous tournaments I'll have had much of the preparation done before I get there in more recent tournaments I've had to do it as I go along and you know that's not ideal because you also want to be watching the matches don't you and there's only there are only so many hours in the day and you've also this World Cup is going to be another test because of the fact that there are 48 teams in it because I do like to try and keep across all of those teams and matches which means that you know you've got even less time now so it's going to be it's going to be a packed schedule

28:23John Murray:that was the beauty of Qatar wasn't it the fact that Qatar because there was very little travel time, you could watch a lot of the football and therefore you knew a lot of the players. Whereas because of the sheer grand scale of what we're going to cover here for this World Cup, we're going to spend a lot of time in the air. You're going to miss a lot of football.

28:47Ali Bruce-Ball:Just in case you can hear it in the background, I thought I might have to leave the pod at some point today. There's someone doing a little bit of work on our house. So you might hear some drilling in the background, which I'm which I'm glad this chap is doing and I'm not doing because I'm not that proficient with a drill. But just in case that's you're wondering what the noise is, that is what it is. Do you know the other thing I was going to say just in terms of all the prep? And I've definitely learned this the more tournaments I've done is that sometimes, John, like you say, you feel you get behind and you're having to prep when you're out there and you're chasing your tail a little bit.

29:18Ali Bruce-Ball:I think sometimes it eventually gets to a point where I feel, do you know what? I'm going to be better if I get to bed and rest and I'm fresh and I'm slightly underprepped than if I were, you know, sort of burn the midnight oil, try and do notes on every single player, but then turn up to a game completely exhausted.

29:36Ian Dennis:Yeah. And also, you know, the matches are of such importance, almost all of them, that the match action supersedes everything else. Yeah. and the scenes that you see. You know, we'll see scenes and we'll have a chance to describe things that we just don't have the opportunity to. You know, the experiences that we'll have at this World Cup. And very often that is more interesting to listen to than, as you say, Ali, things that you've prepped at 11.30 at night.

30:06John Murray:I actually think my prep has evolved with experience over tournaments as well. I used to spend a lot of time finding out how many goals and appearances they'd made for the club during the season. but John you're absolutely right it's all about the tournament and so what I do now the caps I update as I go along and the goals that they scored for the country but then I'm more interested as to whether it's their first appearance in the tournament or it's their first start in the tournament or he had a cameo role in the previous game because it's not about the domestic season of wherever they're from that has been and gone it's about the actual World Cup so I think I used to invest a lot of time and now I spend it a little bit more wisely and productively I think moving forward.

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31:53John Murray:I'm Steve Bratnell, host of Games Gone, the Steve Bratnell podcast. What's my favorite World Cup moment as a fan? I have to say, Michael Owen, skinning the hole of the Argentina defence and cracking it in top corner for a very short space of time, I believed.

32:14John Murray:My favourite World Cup player in history, it won't be popular, but I'm going to say Diego Maradona. All right, he handballed it. But the guy was a complete genius. The People World Cup 2026.

32:26Ali Bruce-Ball:Coming soon. Listen on BBC Sounds.

32:40Ian Dennis:What about Sean's question about some of the matches you're most looking forward to, Ian?

32:45John Murray:Well, if my projections are correct, in the knockout stages, I could have Argentina against Uruguay in Miami, which I just think could be a really, really feisty affair. I've got Brazil in the group stages. Brazil are always great to do in the group stages. Well, they're great to do any time. But I've got to say that the Argentina-Uruguay one has already been flagged up on my radar.

33:15Ali Bruce-Ball:I'm scheduled to be in Philadelphia on July the 4th on the 250th anniversary of the birth of modern America. And that could be Germany, France or something like that. I mean, the game is also, I know it's an epic game for a sort of an epic day and you're in exactly the right place for it. So, I mean, in fact, whatever the game is, it doesn't matter. I just think being in Philadelphia, you know, on the 250th anniversary, but particularly given, you know, world politics, the climate we live in at the moment, that is going to be, it's just going to be a really interesting event to be present at that, I think.

33:51Ian Dennis:And for me, as I've said, it's the Mexico City experience. I think going there, it's really had a hold over me almost for as long as I've watched football, the Aztec Stadium, because when we were growing up, there were so many references back to the 1970 World Cup and the final itself being one of the greatest games, greatest performances. and that Carlos Alberto goal, you know, as soon as I say that, you see it instantly in your mind. That is in that stadium. Pelle and Diego Maradona have won the World Cup in that stadium. England had great experiences in that stadium and then the England-Argentina match was in that stadium, the hand of God and the goal of the century.

34:36Ian Dennis:And I always remember as well, from 86, the thing was that, I don't know, I'm not entirely sure what it was, whether it was a speaker or whether it was a television screen that was obviously being suspended above the center circle. And there was a shadow on the pitch at the Aztec Stadium, a massive circular shadow. And again, that's really in my mind. And if it doesn't live up to expectations, the Aztec Stadium, I'm going to be so disappointed. it but i think it almost can't fail to because i'm going to be in mexico in the days leading up to the the start of this world cup and i don't think there's going to be anywhere better to be than

35:15John Murray:that but there is a scenario where you could go back again for england to play them in the last

35:20Ian Dennis:16 yeah which might not happen you see but if it does mexico against england at altitude in what would be the last 16 and they'd both have to win their groups and progress through to that point were that to come to pass Mexico against England in the Aztec Stadium has got the ring of an absolute World Cup classic about it and that that would be certainly the the potential match that that I'd be most looking forward to to seeing yeah it gets the butterflies going just thinking about it what what about the uh what about the cities as sean has asked the locations that you're most looking forward to to go into other than the ones already mentioned i think might be less

36:06Ali Bruce-Ball:obvious here john because i'm in philadelphia obviously for the reason i've mentioned boston i've been to before in new york i've been to great cities i'm spending three weeks in texas at the start of the world cup i've not spent any time in texas before shuttling between houston and dallas uh very impressive arenas that the games are going to be played in but i think the idea of exploring Texas with Chris Sutton and eating barbecue and doing sort of bucking broncos and a few social media videos and stuff that that floats my boat you know I think um we could have some fun

36:34Ian Dennis:with that I think Chris has got the capacity to upset a few Texans well I'm slightly concerned

36:39John Murray:about that as well that's a good point not sure is Texas ready for Chris Sutton I'm visiting seven of the 16 venues and I did have initially Toronto on my schedule and then I've had it stripped I've had it taken away from me. Bad behavior. And I've got to say... What, because you don't like dogs? I've got to say I was disappointed with that. I was looking forward to going to Toronto. I've never been. And of the venues that I'm going to, I think only Dallas is the only place where I've never been before. Really? And I quite like going to new places. I like seeing new things. So I've got to say there's a degree of disappointment that I've been to New York, Philadelphia, Miami, Miami, Boston.

37:24Ian Dennis:I've never been to Texas. And when I was growing up, I used to love Dallas. And with J.R. Ewing, et cetera. And what I'm quite excited about is our hotel is in Fort Worth. I think that's where Pam came from. Pam Ewing. Was it Pam or Sue Ellen?

37:45Ali Bruce-Ball:I think it was Pam who was from Fort Worth. I mean, that's already a social media. Do you remember the opening credits to Dallas? I mean, I can see Chris Sutton in a Stetson at the top of the stairs with the Dallas music underneath. You know, that's tailor-made for that sort of thing, isn't it?

38:03John Murray:Just keep him out of the shower, won't you?

38:06Ian Dennis:Yes. I'd be disappointed if I woke up and found it was all a dream. The other thing is, Phil McNulty, our chief sports writer of the BBC, was telling me that the hotel that we're staying in, in Fort Worth, is the hotel that JFK spent his last night in with Jackie before the assassination.

38:26Ali Bruce-Ball:Didn't know that.

38:27Ian Dennis:No. Well, I didn't.

38:29Ali Bruce-Ball:I was spending quite a lot of time there.

38:31Ian Dennis:And of course, the beauty of it is, you see what your schedule is, it could all change.

38:35John Murray:It could all change. It's all dependent on England, isn't it? So it's all based on England topping their group, and then everything sort of like filters down from there. Let's just rattle through a couple of these quick questions. Matt from Redford, love the pod. The guest appearances have been so interesting. Ahead of the World Cup, what country's national anthems and fans that they most enjoy experiencing firsthand? Also, what World Cup atmosphere they were most moved by or enjoyed the most? What would a quick answer to that be from Matt in Redford?

39:05Ali Bruce-Ball:I remember commentating on Argentina beating Iran in Belo Horizonte, Brazil 2014. Horizonte. Horizonte. Messi killed in a winner in the 90th minute. And the amount of support, I mean, it was, it was, it was, Iran played really well in the game and could have nicked it. But then obviously the magic man turns up and scores a real cracker to win it. And the reaction of the Argentina fans who totally dominated that stadium because they traveled, you know, in their thousands because it was easier for them to get to that World Cup. Again, that's the classic example of being at a World Cup and experiencing something you're never, ever, ever going to experience.

39:44Ali Bruce-Ball:That was an incredible moment, that.

39:46Ian Dennis:I find that when you follow a team, see a team that is supported by mass, mass crowds, and that's a little worry with this World Cup that I'm not sure we're going to see that because I'm not sure people are going to be able to afford to travel in the huge numbers that we saw. One of my memories was in Russia, seeing so many South American teams being followed by thousands and thousands of people, whether it was Mexico or Argentina. Do you remember St. Petersburg with Argentina? It was incredible. And you think they upped stakes. They were like families traveled from Argentina to Russia, St. Petersburg.

40:28Ian Dennis:and you know the match we covered in that steam Diego Maradona was there so you know seeing that and if that is the case then that is the worst of of all of it you know the overpriced tickets if if the if the effect of that is that we see bland atmospheres and you know maybe a little pocket in the corner where they've got that you know they've managed to reduce prices to the extent that some people can get in so that they've got the tv shot of the fans from that country

40:59John Murray:that'll be a crying shame whether it be that love affair of the 1982 world cup and just seeing that the style of football but if the brazilian fans are out in force there is no better sight very

41:11Ali Bruce-Ball:quickly on that and that's one of the things i would say and we you might get it in mexico at this world cup i'm not sure you get it in usa and canada to the same extent but you know when we're in the host country, but we're not in the stadium, but you're watching the host nation play a game. So you're sitting with their fans at a bar watching that game. The one I remember was sitting in Recife, watching Brazil in a penalty shootout against Chile. I think it was against Chile in that World Cup in 2014. I commentated on that match. Right. And the experience of watching the Brazilian fans go through the agonies there.

41:44Ali Bruce-Ball:I mean, they couldn't watch the penalties or that, you know, there were tears, there was laughter. that's an amazing experience that you know being in the nation when the host nation is playing with their fans watching it that that's great fun and also answering matt's question about the

41:59Ian Dennis:anthems now you mentioned that match you know the two anthems there chili and brazil i mean everyone was in tears before you know the chili anthem everyone's in tears then brazil come they're all in tears everyone in the crowd's in tears i think any south american anthem has the ability to turn the waterworks on. And also, my other choices would be France, Italy, Spain, all great, great anthems. Germany as well. Come on, Paul, Forrest. You're going to stand up for the Italian national anthem, aren't you?

42:31Ali Bruce-Ball:Well, I would, I would, yeah, but it won't be there. Remember the, you're doing Japan at this World Cup. That's quite solemn, isn't it?

42:41Ian Dennis:It starts off like that, doesn't it? It's all very slow.

42:44Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Paul is a Forrest fan living in Derby he says for my sins you've spoken before about sometimes sharing commentaries for example I can recall the days of Mike Ingham saying we are at the 67 minute mark taking you through to full time here's Alan Green do you prefer being the lone commentator for a full match and does sharing the duties bring with it a competitive edge

43:06Ian Dennis:not so much competitive edge I know we've talked about this on this podcast before but you know I because it's what I grew up listening to those shared commentaries. You know, it's a bit like Test Match Special, I think. You're only 20 minutes away from another commentator. I love it when we, I loved it as a listener. I love it as a listener. And I love it as a commentator, working with another commentator. And as I always say, you know, listening to you, when we sit together commentating on matches, every single match that we do together, you'll say something or something will happen that I will think, oh yeah, I've learned something here

43:42John Murray:about commentary even even at our stage i completely agree uh i think it's it's a different style it's a different perspective but also as well yes there's the traditions of the dual commentary but for what many people wouldn't know as well it's it's the different workload as well and we do it for the fa cup final but we do it for the world cup final the league cup final but at times when john is doing a hit on radio five i might be off doing a hit on the world service and therefore it's the workload that you require for the big games to have the two commentators. And newspapers will send two or three reporters to cover a big game and therefore that's the reason why we still have the dual commentaries as well for the big matches.

44:27John Murray:And I, like you, John, I really enjoy it.

44:30Ian Dennis:Yes, so thank you to Paul for that question. Also, David in North Shields says, Obviously, the scale of this World Cup is unlike any before. You three, as the main guys, I assume will all be commentating on site. But how many matches will you be able to do with the travelling? Or are you all based in specific areas? Will you be working in teams like in Russia again? Brackets, commentator, summariser and producer. Or mixing around like usual. If you are in teams, who are you with? How many other commentators will be working for Five Live in Salford? Can't be just Mike Miney. and also while the World Cup draws to a close will Ali be commentating at the Open Golf as usual?

45:15Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, I will be because my last game at the World Cup is the first quarterfinal and then I'm whizzing home on the Saturday and I'll get to Birkdale on the Wednesday and the Open starts on the Thursday. Very sadly, John, you won't be at the Open this year, will you? Because obviously World Cup final is on the Sunday at the Open.

45:34Ian Dennis:Yeah, this sadly will be the first Open Championship that I have not attended since 1990. I've been at every single one since then, but not in 1996. So forgive my ignorance.

45:46John Murray:What happened four, oh no, four years ago, it was a winter World Cup. What happened eight years ago?

45:51Ian Dennis:Well, the World Cup would always finish the weekend before the Open. But with the extra week now, that's not the case. Ah, I see.

45:59John Murray:So does that mean moving forward, you will never do an Open again?

46:02Ian Dennis:Oh, crikey. In a World Cup year. It'd have to be a World Cup year, wouldn't it? Yeah, and actually, intriguingly, the Open in a couple of years' time has shifted into August, isn't it? Oh, yeah. In a couple of years' time. Because that's in the year of the Euros and everything else that's happening that year. Olympics. So it wouldn't surprise me if, if I was going slightly off topic, if the Open actually did move its position in the calendar.

46:30John Murray:I know you've got some powers, but just to accommodate you.

46:35Ian Dennis:anyway back on back on topic the question about how many matches we're going to be able to do actually geographically feasibly i look at my schedule and i think compared to tournaments in the past where it's been like two matches in three days three matches in four days this is much more like a domestic schedule when i look at it and that is purely based around the fact that it would be too difficult to get to wherever the other match is so I think I will probably maybe I think it's about three matches a week I will do during the course of this World

47:13John Murray:Cup I remember in Qatar and also Russia I did on occasions I did sort of like three games in three days or in Russia I certainly did three and four days but looking at mine I think I've only got on two occasions i've got back-to-back games atlanta and philadelphia and then boston new york which

47:32Ali Bruce-Ball:are easy to get to within the space of 24 hours yeah i'm the same ian so houston and dallas you can shuttle between so i think i've got a back-to-back there and maybe is there a new york boston or something like that that i'm doing as well where you don't have to fly and you can get there and you can do it um just taking that on to the next question as well about the teams it's similar in a way isn't it to the way that we did Russia in terms of I've got three weeks with Chris Sutton for company doing that sort of Texas bit I know Dion Dublin is over on the west coast with with Vicky Sparks Paul Robinson is is doing England with you John isn't he and we'll hear Alan Shearer on our England coverage as well I joined Pat Nevin then for my last few games in the last 10 days so so you'll get blocks of it's the way it has to be doesn't it because because as you guys have been saying the area is so vast we can't just keep dotting around and moving around all over the place you've kind of got to operate as a as a unit but i i quite like that i quite like having that time together and building that rapport that you can you know bring the off-air

48:33Ian Dennis:stuff on air and all that sort of thing i like that but i also like the variety which i will for the first week i'll be with chris sutton in mexico and then uh and then we go our separate ways but then we'll we'll come back together again i think later on in the tournament um Clearly nobody wants to work with me.

48:51John Murray:I'm just here, there, and everywhere on my own. Boo-hoo.

48:54Ian Dennis:Get the violin out. And in answer to the question, how many other commentators will be working for Five Live in Salford? I mean, the sheer scale of this means that, yes, there are quite a number of commentaries that will be coming from the BBC studios in Salford. So Jonathan Pearce, Lee Blakeman, John Akers, Chris Coles, you know, familiar voices during the course of the football season they'll be commentating on matches from Salford with Leon Osman, Sue Smith, Michael Brown Curtis Davis, Stephen Warnock I think Clinton Morrison is also doing matches as well and for the Scotland matches it'll be a sort of link up with Radio Scotland for Five Live with Alistair Lamont and Pat Nevin providing the commentary on those matches.

49:43John Murray:Couple more starting with this one. Hi Earl I'm Mark from Bournemouth and I, funny enough, support Manchester United I think the podcast is brilliant I only tuned in on it about Easter time and I now listen to it on a regular basis My question is what do you do during the summer when there's no major football tournament going on?

50:04Ian Dennis:Well, thank you Mark for that question It feels like it's actually quite rare now when there is a free summer but personally, as you will know if you listen to us regularly we travel so much, whether it's within the country or outside for the matches, that actually I quite like to have a better time at home. Yeah, I mean, in terms of... You do do the golf though, don't you? The two of you both do the golf. Yep, yep, we do that. But when you do have a little stretch of time, for me, actually, the last thing I want to do is pack my bags again.

50:40Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, we will always find room, obviously, for a family holiday in there and you're trying to find that in the school holidays and in between the two football seasons. The golf is definitely one that takes up a bit of time, but those are a joy to go and cover those tournaments. But yeah, no, it's true. It's true, Mark. That's every other year that there's no major football tournament, but there always seems to be something to keep us busy. But we do have a little bit of time to unwind. And you, Ian, will it be Toro Molinos again?

51:07John Murray:I'm doing a road trip in Spain. Oh, you? To practice my Spanish, yeah. Like Sancho Tanza. So getting a car and just going off on the beaten track. So where are you going to go? Well, it's a road trip. I'm just going to find it. I'm going to go to Granada. Granada. There's a place called Altia. Want to go there? What's the attraction like? Nerha. It's meant to be a nice little quaint town.

51:33Ian Dennis:What about Altia?

51:34John Murray:Altia. I don't know. It's just meant to be sort of like lots of white wall buildings. It's meant to be really quaint. So I want to go there. So I'm going to be going off driving around Spain in your Seat Ibiza.

51:49Ian Dennis:That's what I like to sound of that. Can I go? If Herr Chapman hears that you and I are going on a road trip in Spain,

51:58Ali Bruce-Ball:he'd love that, wouldn't he? Yeah, but John, with your travel nightmares, that's going to jinx it. Then I won't want you anywhere near it. Yeah.

52:06Ian Dennis:But no, you'd be more than welcome. Well, thank you very much. But no, I think I'll be staying at home after we get back from the World Cup, Watching a bit of cricket, I hope. That's what I'd like to do. And racing. And racing. Bit of racing, Ian, yes. And finally, on this edition of The Commentator's View, Anthony in County Cork says, Good morning, gents. During the World Cup, with time differences in your travel, will there be a World Cup TCV? All the best, Anthony. Well, apparently the official answer on that is, we'll see if we can get together during the tournament to record a TCV from across the pond.

52:47Ian Dennis:So I suppose it will depend on schedules, etc., etc.

52:52Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, I mean, previous major tournaments, even though it probably didn't come under the banner of the commentator's view, we have gathered like post-group stages, pre-knockouts or later in the tournament to do that kind of thing. But you're right, Johnny. I mean, we'd love to do it. We'd absolutely love to do it. And I would love to hear your stories and everyone's stories of what they've been doing and what it's been like. So if it's possible, I'm sure we'll... I mean, I would have thought, it would probably be in Mark Chapman's rider, that there would have to be a couple of episodes of the commentator's view just to keep him happy during the World Cup.

53:22Ian Dennis:He's going to have to have something to listen to, isn't he?

53:25John Murray:Who knows, there might be a bar owner in New York that thinks, hold on. I could say that we could hold an impromptu TCV, small gathering of an audience. it could be the second stage of the world tour. It could be. They were long awaited. With a bit of foresight, that should have been done. I know you and I, Ian,

53:48Ian Dennis:will be in New York at the same time. Will you as well, Ali, at any stage? Will we all be in New York at the same time?

53:55Ali Bruce-Ball:I'm not sure. I'll have a look at my schedule. I'll have a look.

53:58Ian Dennis:Well, we'll leave that one there. So that is it for this episode of the Football Daily. Thank you, Ian. Thank you, Ali. Good luck to you. Thank you, John. On your travels. And thank you as well, the listener, for all of your listens, downloads and correspondence over the course of this season. TCV would not be what it is without the sense of community among our listeners. J4J. And the dogs. and as we say keep your eyes on the Football Daily feed as there may be the odd episode of the Commentator's View dropping for you during the World Cup but that's all for now and remember you can find each and every episode of the Commentator's View right back to the start of the first series by scrolling down your Football Daily feed and as well make sure you listen to our commentaries on Five Live during the course of the World Cup and that's where you'll hear us next.

54:59Ian Dennis:Adios, amigos. We can't play hard.

55:03Ali Bruce-Ball:There's this feeling you get when it's about to go in the net and everyone goes...

55:13I don't know what that's called,

55:19Ian Dennis:but I know what it feels like. We know that feeling. Sensational, oh my God, make comedy! The FIFA World Cup 2026. Coming soon.

55:33Ali Bruce-Ball:On 5 Live and BBC Sounds.

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