World Cup: The Commentators' View Special

19:38Ian Dennis:So you can see that. You can see that from upstairs. But being down there, so having had the tour around the museum and drinking it all in and having been in Fort Worth as well, that whole thing about feeling like JFK was here the morning of the assassination. And, you know, we're there. And the little monument there is outside the hotel is quite something as well. And some of the photos around. And so therefore then to go to Dallas and see where it happened and then to stand down there, I thought, crikey, this is such an historic spot that it really did. I was pleased we were able to do that and have the time to go and see it.

20:21Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah. Just back to the stadiums quickly. So far in the tournament, I have done one, two, three, four, five commentaries inside stadiums. I've not watched an outdoor game of football yet. both stadiums I've commentated in which again that changes an atmosphere to a football match

20:37Ian Dennis:it does change the atmosphere so I've obviously done a couple of matches at the Dallas Cowboys stadium as outside in the Azteca we've definitely been outside Ian haven't we?

20:46John Murray:yeah I mean they don't like a roof on their stadiums do they? tell us about the thus far with the delay

20:58Ali Bruce-Ball:yeah and I was listening Ian, this was on one of our drives. So we turned you on on one of our drives, five-hour drive between Dallas back to Fort Worth. And we listened to you all the way. It was two hours, 10 minutes, wasn't it? The delay in the end.

21:12John Murray:Well, funny enough, I didn't, I should have made a note of the time when the halftime whistle sounded. And we knew that there was a storm coming. So we were led to believe that there was a storm. And I'd seen the local, I think it was the NBC app had said there was a potential for an isolated tornado threat, which I was thinking, hmm. But also, bearing in mind what happened in Orlando with England for the second warm-up game where there was a tropical storm, which I actually think was more of a violent storm than this one. And the pitch was, there was a deluge of rain, and I'm thinking, they're not going to play this.

21:47John Murray:And all the locals are saying, the pitch will drain quickly. And it drained whilst it was still raining. Obviously, the heat and the humidity is well down in Florida. So I'm aware of how quickly these storms can come in. And it said we're expecting it at halftime. Anyway, it's going to be a delay, and I know all the protocols and what have you. And I'm thinking, well, I'll just stay here. And then a guy from FIFA just sort of says, no, we need you to evacuate. So we had to go into the media room, which thankfully was just a floor down, because the media room at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey is down seven floors and across a car park.

22:25John Murray:And there's no way you'd get there. You'd just have to stay on the concourse if it happened at the MetLife. So there we were. And then all of a sudden, George, our producer, gets up the equipment and we just talked for an hour with Stephen Warnock, Jules, and obviously Pat with Steve Crossman. And it went really quickly. And then all of a sudden, we said that we had to get back into position. But the problem we had then is it was still raining. So we climbed up the steps because the lifts were just too busy. We then started to get wet, made the way into our position, and obviously the rain was still falling, but everybody was still on the concourse having their sausage buns slash hot dogs.

23:07John Murray:But it was a really, really long day, and then all of a sudden you've got to get back into game mode because you've had the best part of two hours doing nothing. So, yeah, it was an interesting experience. The only good thing about it, though, is that there was no hydration break in the second half, which they said...

23:26Ian Dennis:So much for the interest of consistency.

23:32John Murray:Yeah, well, exactly. So that was the best bit, because in Atlanta in particular, they've been roundly booed.

23:39Ian Dennis:The loudest booing I heard was in Boston for the England match of the hydration break.

23:45Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, well, John, as you say that, this is how it sounded on Five Live. England have realised that they need to get the ball circulating. The ball moves faster than players and if you're going to try and pull players out of positions, here's your favourite bit John.

23:58Ian Dennis:Listen to this that's a load of booing I've heard for a hydration break so far at this World Cup

24:08Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah that's becoming more and more prevalent. Argentina, Austria it was roundly booed both of the drinks breaks. Why don't we have a little chat actually about about England so far, John. So as we're recording this, Scotland and Brazil are just underway in their final group game in Miami. That's about five minutes in. England so far, of course, have beaten Croatia first game, scored four goals in that one and then drew against Ghana. You're probably, John, sick to the back teeth. You'll have done lots of sort of post-match analysis already. Ian, I'll love it. Are you actually, have you been able to watch the England games, Ian, somewhere?

24:45Ali Bruce-Ball:Have you found a spot to watch them? Have you had an eye on them? Yes, I have.

24:50John Murray:I've watched both. And I felt, I thought the first one against Croatia, I thought, brilliant. Very, very impressive. And in particular, the changes that he made second half, where he could have, he just went for it even more. Very, very bold decisions and obviously paid off. And then the second game, and I haven't had a chance to hear what you've been saying, John, but I felt that they missed John Stones in the game against Ghana. because when I was watching it and I was speaking to, he's an expat, he's been out here since, I think, 1989, he said, a guy called Julian. And I was just saying, need Stones here to come on, to take the ball forward because England were dominating, but they just couldn't break them down.

25:34John Murray:And then that would have enabled Rice and Anderson maybe to go a little bit further forward. It just needed something to unlock the Ghana defence. Credit to Ghana, actually. I thought they defended extremely well.

25:46Ian Dennis:Yeah, agreed. And as we were saying during the commentary, you know, that is entirely valid for Garner to play like that. You know, I know people will say, well, you know, they showed no ambition, but they'd won their opening match against Panama. You know, four points, as we speak now, it's not confirmed, but four points will be enough to get you through either in second or in third. And therefore, you know, they, Thomas Tuchel knew, he told us the day before, that's what the match was going to be like. and it was exactly like that and England just didn't have that break of the ball or that spark to be able to find the moment that they needed and when they did get the moment when O 'Reilly's header hit the bar and it fell to Harry Kane when he said to me last night he was almost in disbelief that he didn't score

26:34John Murray:yeah the hyperbole though around it on American television I don't know the commentator I don't know his name but he was going to England now facing jeopardy.

26:45Ian Dennis:Jeopardy.

26:46John Murray:And I'm thinking, no, they're not. And he also said, he also said England are one of the favourites. No, they're not. And they're also saying this is the greatest World Cup ever. No, it's not. I was just thinking it went into overdrive. It was driving me mad.

27:01Ian Dennis:Yeah. Carlos Kieros was quite funny, Ali, after the match last night. Oh, yeah. Because he came in to the press conference and the man from FIFA was sitting there and Carlos Kieros said to him, was VAR not working today? Because he felt that this Konza challenge should have been a penalty. He then said, later on, he said, yeah, of course, VAR was on holiday today. And then later he said, of course, VAR was having a coffee break today. So he did the whole thing. But he also said, when they asked him about the way that they played against England, he said, I can't play samba football against England's rock and roll, which I thought was quite a good line from him.

27:38Ian Dennis:But he was very pleased with the point that they had against England.

27:42Ali Bruce-Ball:They did their job and played really well. Do you think, John, there'll be many changes to the team? I mean, it's a different game altogether anyway in terms of opposition against Panama, final group game. Do you think he'll tinker much? Do you think Nick O 'Reilly might come back in?

27:58Ian Dennis:Yes, I do. I think O 'Reilly will come back in. I think, I'm like Ian, I think what you're seeing, Ian, is a really good point out about John Stones. There must be a chance that he would come back in. Although that would be interesting, wouldn't it, to change your central defenders for all three matches. Yeah. Unusual. Yeah. We certainly didn't say that under Gareth Southgate, who liked that stability, didn't he?

28:21John Murray:Yeah. Well, I'm doing all France group games, and as part of my notes, Saliba and Uppermicano played every minute of the Euros in 2024. And you do like sometimes that understanding, that stability to build relationships, I guess. but I can only think for John Stones, it's a question of they're still trying to manage his minutes, aren't they, maybe? Because the lack of game time he's played. And also, if they do progress, he will become, I think, is it five games in 17 days in the knockout stages? So therefore, to give him a rest now means that then he can play as many of those games where there's very little recovery time in the turnaround.

29:04Ian Dennis:Yeah. But I thought it was interesting, Ali, in terms of the reaction to the two performances. Yeah. The win against Croix, I mean, totally different kind of matches because different kind of opposition, but the way that England played in that opening 20, 25 minutes of the second half, you know, there was that feeling, well, here we go. Here we go. This is what England weren't able to do under Gareth Southgate. People forgetting some of the entertaining tournament wins that England produced under Gareth Southgate. And then the next match is a match that actually was very reminiscent of some of the struggling matches under Gareth Southgate.

29:39Ali Bruce-Ball:Did you watch it, Ali? Yeah, I did. We managed to get... So both those England games have come straight off the back of Portugal games, which we've done in Houston. And actually getting two and away from that Houston stadium is pretty good. It's not too hard to do. So by the time we got back to the hotel, it was 10 minutes in. So we stayed at the hotel, watched the first half, then walked down to our favourite restaurant where they've got a lovely bar and they did some great appetisers and the tellies are right there and it's pretty quiet and there's nice people in there and watch the second half in there.

30:08Ali Bruce-Ball:And my feeling is, you know, Ian, you're talking about that reaction on American television. I always think, you know, exactly the point John is just making there with the England national football team. You know exactly what the reaction is going to be from so many people back home is after that first, oh, yeah, you know, blood and thunder, we're going to win it, we're amazing. And then after the game, it's all going to be, you know, Thomas Tuchel hasn't got a clue. Why's he got the, you know, it's so extreme, isn't it, in football? The reaction is always so extreme and there's always a line somewhere there in between.

30:35Ali Bruce-Ball:And I agree with you. I don't see... They'll come out of the group and they'll improve, won't they? They'll get better. And I think they'll be better against the better teams as well.

30:46John Murray:As I've said many times, it's black and white with England. There's no grey. Talking of travelling to the stadium, I must tell you that the first time we went to the MetLife, we were told it would take three hours to do something like 12 miles. And it took us two and a half hours. We hit a little bit of traffic. The second time, producer George was driving. And I'd said, we need to leave it a little bit earlier because of the traffic. We had a right result. Because we went past where the French team were staying. And they had a police escort with their, it was the equivalent of a Luton van. And it was clearly the kit men getting a police escort.

31:25John Murray:And we cottoned on to this because it had just pulled away from where they were staying. So we just said, follow that car. And it took us a completely different way. And we did it in 45 minutes.

31:38Ian Dennis:Very good. Yeah.

31:39John Murray:Yeah. So just when we saw the stadium, we let the police escort go one way because they were clearly and we just and we were into our parking lot, as they say. Yes.

31:49Ian Dennis:Although when you say that, Ian, I should mention that one thing we've done with our little group is if anyone slips into American phrases in their normal life, then that's a$5 fine.

32:07John Murray:Well, I know why and I know who you've been traveling with, but I know why they are doing it Because when we're in Florida for the best part of 10 days My brother Steve came over to spend some time with me and I was taking the mickey out of him before his Americanisms going you never used to say that in your And then Badger our engineer would tap me and go there's another one Yeah. So I think that's probably where the seed was planted. Yeah. Yeah. I have quite enjoyed that.

32:42Ali Bruce-Ball:So not the sidewalk, John, the pavement. Very much the pavement for you. Yeah.

32:46Ian Dennis:And not blocks. It's not two blocks away. It's two streets away.

32:51John Murray:Well, actually, no, I would disagree with that. Oh, come on. No. Come on. If you go across into New York City or Manhattan, everything is done by avenues and streets. When I first arrived here in Manhattan, Dion is over the other way. And he says, come and join me. And I thought, oh, do I go? Anyway, Graham McMillan, very helpful in another one of our producers or planning editor, says, this is what to do. Go on the train, catch the blue line. So I said, Dion, I said, I'm on my way. Walk in and he's with this bar owner called Tommy. Anyway, he's Irish. and I said to him did you used to run a bar on Third Avenue you see not third up not Third Street Third Avenue and he went I did I said you served me 15 years ago and he went what and I went yeah and I told him the date it was the 29th of October 2011 and he said he said how do you know that I said because I went in very early to watch the 12 o 'clock kickoff and we were celebrating in our 40th birthday because we're obviously twins.

34:03John Murray:And I stayed all day to watch the football. And the 5.30 kickoff that day was West Bromwich, Albion, Liverpool. So I was able to find the game and go, there it was. It was the 29th of October. Incredible.

34:17Ian Dennis:You have an incredible memory for some things. For some things.

34:22Ali Bruce-Ball:Particularly if you spent all that day in the bar, I'm presuming not drinking soft drinks. So to actually remember that after all that is some going. That's a good effort.

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35:44Ali Bruce-Ball:Five lights for... Hello, I'm Alistair Bruce Ball, and I'll be commentating on the World Cup for the BBC this summer. It's a commentator favorite World Cup moment. France 4, Argentina 3 in Russia 2008. 18. Amazing goal from Benjamin Pavard in that game on the half volley. Pavard with the right hand. Unbelievable. Unbelievable goal. What makes the World Cup such a special tournament? It's its exotic nature. I think particularly as a kid, it just seemed to happen in far off lands that you'd only ever dreamt about or heard about.

36:18John Murray:The People World Cup 2026. Listen on BBC Sounds.

36:24Ali Bruce-Ball:The Commentator's View. At the People World Cup 2026.

36:33Ali Bruce-Ball:Just before we get on to correspondence, chaps, very quickly, who's the best team you've seen so far? I guess, I mean, that's difficult, isn't it? Because you won't have seen everyone live, but you'll have watched some games on telly as well. Who's caught the eye for you at this World Cup so far?

36:48Ian Dennis:Do you know when you asked right at the outset your impressions of this World Cup, one of the things that struck me about this 48-team World Cup, and also, obviously, we're travelling around, is it's been, it has been, as I expected, impossible to keep across it all. It's just not been possible. And I feel like I've seen lots of bits of matches. I feel like I've seen lots of halves of matches. And you're trying to catch up on things. And so many things slip through the net because there are so many matches. So I think it's very difficult to say who the best team is, unless you've actually seen all of the matches.

37:25Ian Dennis:So I know, you know, I've been impressed by the same teams as everyone else, probably, when those teams have turned it on. But I would say the best match I've seen is England-Croatia. That's the best match I've seen. And I don't think there are many better spells than England produced in that first 20 minutes of the second half.

37:43John Murray:I would say that's the best game I've seen from what I've watched either in the stadium or on the TV. but France worry me from an English point of view because they're getting the results but they haven't produced the perfect performance yet. So I think France, who were, for me, one of the teams coming into it, you were thinking it was either between Spain and France, I actually thought. So I would still say France are probably the team that have caught my eye, actually being in the stadium. Ali?

38:17Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, France is firepower. Again, I've not seen them live. I think it's frightening. You know, whoever they start, whoever comes on, they look absolutely lethal. Morocco have impressed me in Scotland's group and, you know, up against Brazil and Scotland. They were too strong for Scotland. And I remember them from four years ago. They are a good team, Morocco. They will be awkward.

38:39Ian Dennis:What are they, ranked sixth in the world?

38:41Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, well, exactly, exactly, John.

38:43Ian Dennis:That first half hour against Brazil that Morocco played, when it went through Brazil time and time again,

38:50Ali Bruce-Ball:Yeah, yeah. And Argentina, obviously, saw them beat Austria. And they're quite interesting, Argentina, because in the build-up to this tournament, they have not played anyone of any note. They were meant to play Spain in March in the finalissimo, which got cancelled because it was going to be played in the Middle East. And obviously, the world situation meant that was too difficult to do. So it was quite difficult to read them coming into the tournament. But the squad is very similar. Messi is on fire, obviously, and everyone is playing for him. And he looks like he's in the form of his life, which is a ridiculous thing to say because he's been in brilliant form all his life.

39:24Ali Bruce-Ball:But they are also, they are streetwise. You know, they are a good tournament team. So, yeah, I would say them. I would say them as well.

39:33Ian Dennis:Let's have a listen, Ali, to your commentary on Messi becoming the World Cup's leading goal scorer. He's currently, as we said here, he's got 18 goals after scoring. This was the point where he scored the two goals to topple Miroslav Kloser's record of 16.

39:51Ali Bruce-Ball:Messi, not rattled by the early penalty miss, fires the pass into Almada, tearing towards this Austrian defence, passes it to the left-hand side. Medina's cut back, Almada steps over,

40:00Ian Dennis:Messi gets the World Cup record!

40:05Ali Bruce-Ball:Another accolade for the little maestro, walks onto it 12 yards out, buries it in the bottom corner. No man in the history of the World Cup has scored more goals than that man and he's not stopping anytime soon. That's a nice one to do, Ali. Yeah, it was brilliant, John. And do you know what was so lovely about that goal was you could see it coming a mile off. You know, the position he took up, the way he was running. As soon as that ball came in, the Almada dummy was absolutely brilliant. And as soon as Almada stepped over that ball, you think that's on Messi's left foot. That's it in the back of the net.

40:40Ali Bruce-Ball:And you know what the noise is going to be when that happens. And then obviously, I mean, it was great drama, John, actually, because obviously he missed the penalty. He missed the goal, you know, the target with the penalty early on. So I'd given that one the big build up. And then the whole stadium was in shock after that. And then obviously he scored the late one right at the end of the game as well. So Argentina has scored five goals and he's got all five of them. But, you know, Mbappe, Mbappe could catch him at this tournament. He might not have that record at the end of this tournament. And that's been quite fun, I think, the Haaland, Mbappe, Kane, Messi, all of that going on.

41:12Ian Dennis:Yeah, but you see, my feeling was when Kane scored two goals in the first match for England, at that time, he was only six goals behind the close-up record. I must say as well, Ali, did you get any idea about how much the commentary team from Argentina enjoyed that one?

41:30Ali Bruce-Ball:Do you know what? No, I didn't actually, John, because I'm trying to think where they were stationed around us. There's a good reason I ask that.

41:38Ian Dennis:There's a good reason I ask that. Because for the opening match in the Azteca, when, as I say, the first thing as an Englishman that you think of when you walk in there is Diego Maradona. So my first experience of being in there, I go up to our commentary position. There we are sitting there. I look to my left. Who have they put next to us? The commentary team from Argentina. And that is definitely someone with a sense of humor who did that. So we actually had, they didn't speak much English. And we had a nice little piece of interplay. And I was wondering, because the main commentator was a big guy.

42:14Ian Dennis:And I think the guy who was working with him was a much slighter man. But I had a feeling they might have been at that match with Messi as well.

42:25John Murray:Talking of that, when we did Spain the other day, the Spanish, he was not two rows behind. He was a row behind, but he was a little bit away from us. when he started, my word, he was loud shouting. I'm thinking, when you score the goal, where will you go? There's nowhere for him to go.

42:44Ian Dennis:Well, I was listening to Ali before the England match yesterday. You were commentating on Portugal. And I could hear them in the background, the Portuguese. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

42:54Ali Bruce-Ball:But Ian's right, that starts two hours before the game. And they're at level 11, spinal tap quote, level 11, you know, two hours before the game. So how on earth they keep that going? I've no idea. But no, that was, John. That was really special. In terms of correspondence, Gav, actually, one of our listeners has got in touch from Teesside, says, hello, Ali, John and Ian. Great work as always. That's very kind, Gav. Thank you. Your podcast has been a staple of my ultra walks this year. When you're away on these big tournaments, how well, if at all, do you get to know the commentating teams from other countries?

43:26Ali Bruce-Ball:Have you had any? Yeah, quite well. Do you have much comment? It's my answer to that.

43:30Ian Dennis:because we've done it now for such a long time that you do tend to see the same people. And so it is quite nice from that point of view. I was talking to the commentator from Belgium, was staying in the same hotel. I've known him for a long time. He was off to watch the Belgians. I saw Casper from Norway, who covers the Premier League, who you two probably know. And he was talking to me about the prospect of us meeting up again should England and Norway cross paths, which is entirely possible. And so, yes, is the answer, Gav. Certainly from my point of view, you do get to know those commentary teams from the other countries.

44:09Ali Bruce-Ball:I mean, I quite often will speak to commentators from the other countries to do pronunciations, actually, to run through the teams and just sort of get a double check on that.

44:19Ian Dennis:We've had this one from Matt in Mexico City, who says, hi, Ali, Ian and John. I'm loving the podcast to get to the warts and all behind the mic view of what goes on and hearing how you prepare for a football match in a tournament. How do you get to stadiums in the huge cities you'll be commentating on at for this World Cup as compared to the ease of travelling around Qatar? Matt says, I live in Mexico and the Aztec Stadium is quite a long journey from the main hotel area of the city. Traffic chaos is bad on most days and with matches coinciding with the afternoon rains in June and July during the World Cup, it's surely madness.

44:53Ian Dennis:I can't imagine with all your equipment, public transport is an option so what do you do do you head to the stadium five hours before kickoff to be on the safe side in a taxi have you ever had the stress of being stuck in traffic and looking at the watch anxiously uh thank you matt i think we've we've kind of covered that already haven't we with with mexico city but the answer to that is very much yes and yes and we can't often drive ourselves don't we like in boston yeah for the match there we drove to the stadium because it It was, I mean, actually, that was a little bit like yours. And one way it took us nearly two hours.

45:27Ian Dennis:On the way back, it was 40 minutes. And that does help, I must say, in terms of transporting the equipment. Being in a car where you can park outside the ground is a big help.

45:38Ali Bruce-Ball:They are super slick operations as well, these stadiums. I mean, they're so used to hosting the big events. But driving away from Houston and Dallas, it's amazing how quickly, you know, almost on the full-time whistle, with thousands of people coming out of the ground that you can get away and get moving. That's one thing. The organisation here, but I think they're so used to it with all the sport that's played in those stadiums, is quite impressive. Trying to find a taxi outside the Aztec Stadium

46:03Ian Dennis:was an interesting one, post-opening, Matt. I bet it was. As Chris Sutton might have told you that, Ali. That was an interesting one. But we eventually did it. And of course, it was such an early kick-off. We had lots of daylight, and so we had plenty of time.

46:14Ali Bruce-Ball:Nice one from Phil in Brighton. Dear Ali and John, most of my World Cup following has been listening to your brilliant radio coverage. We did watch some of England-Khara on BBC One. At halftime, I was very excited watching Alan Shearer's summary from the stadium in Boston. Behind him in the commentary position was a UK three-pin multi-way plug. I rewound the coverage to show my fiancée, Helen, and said I'd emailed TCV about it. Helen patiently replied, Yes, love, I think they'd like that. Is the thoroughness of BBC engineers such that they take UK multi-way plugs on overseas assignments? Thanks, Phil.

46:47Ali Bruce-Ball:P.S. Helen and I are getting married in August. Please wish Helen luck. As you can tell from this email, she has to put up with a lot. That is a niche question.

46:55Ian Dennis:Well, Helen, the time must fly by with Phil. Good luck, Helen. Yeah, good luck, Helen.

47:01John Murray:Hope we both have a nice day in August.

47:03Ian Dennis:Have a great time. That is actually, that's really eagle-eyed, isn't it, of Phil, to spot that. And what happens is with all of the equipment that we bring, our engineers will bring a UK, what do you call it? as well. Adapter. Adapter. No, like a... The multi-plug, the bank, the plug bank. Yeah, the multi-plug. Well, it's a four-way adapter, isn't it? It's got four... That's it. Yeah, so they bring them and we put them and that means you can plug in UK plugs.

47:30Ali Bruce-Ball:We're going to finish with unintended pub names which have snuck in during commentaries, of course. This is where you can get in touch if you hear an unintended pub name during sports commentary. Wimbledon fan Derek says, I'm enjoying the coverage of the World Cup. My suggestion comes from Spain against Saudi Arabia. This was on BBC One.

47:46Ian Dennis:Cucurino's header for Laporte.

47:49Ali Bruce-Ball:Picked away to the backpedalling Porro. So the backpedalling Porro is suggested, which sounds a bit like a trick cyclist act. I do enjoy when the listeners come up with what the backpedalling Porro might be like. So if anyone's got thoughts on that, send them to tcv at pbc.co.uk. And Paul Robinson, your co-com, John, for this trip, had a suggestion in the England-Kharner game. Still 0-0 in the Foxborough drizzle

48:19Ian Dennis:Bellingham turns the ball out to James Maduweke again out wide Takes on the left back Mensah who got the tackle in And the final touch was off Maduweke It's a throw to Garner

48:28Ali Bruce-Ball:Just wonder what type of establishment The Foxborough drizzle would be

48:31Ian Dennis:I think it would be a cocktail, wouldn't it? Unintended cocktails

48:35Ali Bruce-Ball:That's a good one That is good That is a good one The Foxborough drizzle Very good

48:41Ian Dennis:And actually I must mention Because of course Herr Chapman was with us in Boston. It's the first match that he's actually been to and presented from at this World Cup. So I mentioned the fact that we were going to record a World Cup special of the commentator's view and he seemed very excited. At least I think he was excited.

49:00John Murray:Well, he'd sent me a message when we were at Philadelphia earlier in the week and obviously we had the delay. He'd sent me a message which basically read something along the lines of get yourself out there and don't let the weather stop you from doing a job words to that effect so i just said don't worry now what's going to happen because we were more or less dry because of the that we were partially covered uh i said this is going to be calmer now you're going to get soaked when you're in boston so i did i take great delight

49:32Ian Dennis:by sending him a message saying how is the rain we got away with that we got away with that so much That could have been really difficult. I'm not sure how we would have stayed on air if it had rained like it did the previous afternoon.

49:48Ali Bruce-Ball:I was thinking about your notes, John.

49:52Ian Dennis:Well, Rob, our engineer, put these sort of see-through tarpaulins over the desk. But even so, it was still raining. It was a light drizzle for the whole of the match. But I could kind of keep it undercover. Although I've just unpacked my bag here in New Jersey. and I found that my world soccer, my edition of world soccer is a bit, it's world soggy as opposed to world soccer now. You should have bought the digital version.

50:21Ali Bruce-Ball:Of course you did. There we go. So suggestions as always, tcv at bbc.co.uk. You could message and voice notice on WhatsApp as well. I forgot to mention that. 08000 289 369 and suggestions also welcome for the great glossary of football commentary. We're not doing one of those in this episode. There's no World Cup clash of the commentators either. You'll be delighted to hear. But before we go, Sue in Effingham wants our tips and tricks for syncing up the live radio commentary on BBC Sounds with the television pictures. So what would your advice be? Who would like to tackle that?

50:56Ian Dennis:Well, the easy one, obviously, is if it's a BBC TV match, then you can choose the option on the red button or on the BBC iPlayer of watching the BBC TV pictures with the Five Live commentary on it, and that is all synced up. So that is the easiest way of doing it.

51:21John Murray:But then didn't our mutual friend Mark make a suggestion that if you, when it's not on the BBC, do you pause it for 15 seconds?

51:28Ali Bruce-Ball:I do it all the time, Ian. I do it all the time back home. So if it's, say, Champions League night, and I want to listen to you guys, I will get sounds up on my phone, pause the telly when the game kicks off, wait for you guys. Hopefully you're going to describe kickoff. Sometimes you don't. So maybe you have to wait for a notable incident in the match where it's very clear on your pictures and then just release pause on the telly. The two are synced up. The only thing with that is you can't then pause and go for a wee or go and make a cup of tea because the whole thing goes out of sync. So once you're in, you're in for the game.

52:00Ali Bruce-Ball:You've got to keep it going. But you can do it. You can do it effectively.

52:03Ian Dennis:You can also do it the other way around, can't you? because I know some people with some devices, the radio commentary will be ahead of the pictures. So you can, if you're listening on sounds, you can pause on sounds and then match it up with the pictures if the pictures are behind the sound.

52:20John Murray:I actually, that's the way I do it. Yeah, that's the way I do it more often. I find it easier to pause sounds and then watch that way.

52:27Ian Dennis:Yeah, so I hope that's helped, Sue, in Effingham.

52:31Ali Bruce-Ball:Anyway, chaps, lovely to see you both. that is it for this episode of the commentators view we will hopefully be back again before the end of the tournament so if you've got any more questions please send them in to tcv at bbc.co.uk or you can send us a message or voice note on whatsapp to 08000 289 369 and of course Rick and Lloyd will bring you football daily every morning from Santa Monica as we take you closer to all the big talking points at World Cup 2026 plus there is extra insight big name guests and interviews from inside the England and Scotland camps Thanks for listening.

53:33Ali Bruce-Ball:I'm Steve Crossman. This is Sporting Giants Messi v Ronaldo. Listen first on BBC Sounds. Take the leash off your laptop with the processor that gives you long battery life. Work on the go. Jump between back-to-back calls. Stay locked in from brewing morning coffee to burning the midnight oil. Get maximum performance, even when unplugged. finally the freedom to move across the room or across the world is here snapdragon that's how with the american express platinum card you can access over 3500 in annual value with benefits and eligible purchases across travel entertainment and more there's nothing like platinum learn more at american express.com slash explore dash platinum enrollment requirements monthly and other limits in terms apply