The BIG World Cup Preview

0:00I tell myself, it's not about comparing. But then I start wondering, what can they lift? Are they adding more weight to their barbell than I am? And suddenly, I'm not training. Then I realize, my journey is not theirs. I've earned every step. So I smile. My smile is the shape resilience takes to keep me moving. To put more smiles out into the world, Colgate has supported female athletes for over 50 years with the Colgate Women's Games, the nation's longest-running indoor track and field series for girls and women. Colgate, your smile is your strength.

0:57slash wholehome. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVAC on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering, and 24-7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done.

1:55Every stage there's neutrophil men for guys 18 to 49 to help grow thicker, fuller hair in three to six months and neutrophil men 50 plus designed specifically for men 50 and up who want to keep the hair they've got. Go to neutrophil.com promo code baseball for$10 off your first month's subscription and free shipping. Find out why neutrophil is the only hair growth supplement brand trusted by MLB at neutrophil.com spelled N U T. R-A-F-O-L dot com. Promo code baseball. That's neutrophil dot com. Promo code baseball. I'm Jake Stouck, co-founder and CEO of Serval. We built Serval to automate the IT work that slows companies down.

2:40Onboarding, password resets, access to applications, my laptop stopped working. While employees wait for help, their real work is put on hold. IT desperately wants to automate this work, and that's why they need Serval. You just tell Serval what you want to automate in plain English and it's built. No drag and drop workflows, no expensive consultants. Employees get unblocked and IT teams go from drowning in tickets to building what actually matters. With Serval, IT becomes the AI engine powering the entire company. This is a new way to run IT. We guarantee you'll automate 50 % of all tickets and we'll prove it to you in a free four-week pilot.

3:20Go to serval.com slash ACAST. That's S-E-R-V-A-L dot com slash ACAST.

3:50your whole career. That's Contentful. World-class digital experiences built fast, built beautifully. Create and launch personalised content in an instant. Across every channel your customers are watching. No chaos, no limits, just open field. Take your shot at contentful.com.

4:11Luke Moore: Just slide behind the wheel. How does it feel, everybody? Welcome to the Football Ramble! Just two more sleeps until the big kick-off. It's Tuesday 9th June. I'm Marcus Speller. I'm Luke Moore. I'm Jim Campbell. And I'm Pete Donaldson.

4:35Luke Moore: Hello, everybody. You better believe it. We've got World Cup fever. And there's only one cure for that. And it's listening to new episodes of the Football Ramble every single day throughout the tournament. That's right. will be here every single day through the World Cup or the Cup of the World as they say in Spanish all the way to the day after the final on the 20th of July. So hit subscribe to make sure you never miss a thing. Pete Donaldson, you're back in the chair. Check out Coup Le Monde. Check it out. Don't bring other languages in, mate. Okay. Not in the World Cup yet. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

5:06If English is good enough for the official language of the World Cup is good enough for you, Peter. Exactly. Japanese or nothing, please. I am fresh from Japan and the Samurai Blue love is in full effect out there. I've got World Cup fever, but it's an Asian variant. It's so much World Cup fever, you left your camera in your hotel room. I did lose it. And trying to work with the time. I'll tell you what. Don't find out what's on that fucking camera reel. That camera reel is going to be hot property, baby. The Dog and Zaka police will never let me back in the country.

5:40Luke Moore: Hi, Peter. A message from Japan. Could you pop back here for a bit? Can you pop back here? Oh, no. Have we got your camera? No, thank you. Not going to fall for that one. So, yes. Now, good news, everybody, fans of real music. The official World Cup album dropped last Friday. Have you been bopping away to it, Luke? I played some of it on Spotify yesterday, and I am happy to report it is almost universally abysmal. Anybody? I mean, I know who 21 Savage are. I know Major Lazer, Rolling Stones. Of course they are. there's a lot Stormzy's in there Pete you'll know Jelly Roll you'll know some of the artists right I'm not denying that okay but does that make it good no it doesn't I listened to about 30 seconds of the song by iShowSpeed Champions Champions track 6 I just couldn't do anymore just couldn't do anymore are they running out I mean FIFA are finally running out of ways to spend their money yeah I mean it won't be funny that's the only track on the album that's over 4 minutes long thanks iShowSpeed thanks do we need it who's it for the thing about this who's it for it's that cheesy kind of international sort of stuff that nobody ever buys who's it for it's for the official World Cup game that never will come out no exactly because they got separated off from EA right and EA got fed up with their bollocks didn't they and started to do their own game instead Marcus you presumably like it do you no pitbull no party presumably Nelly Furtado I've heard of that one so yeah so enjoy that as the lads have been doing and and also again if you are wanting that little bit more music in your life.

7:13Luke Moore: Each host nation, of course, is getting their own opening ceremony before the first game. Mexico kicking things off. Jim Campbell, they know how to host a World Cup. They do. They've done it many times. Shakira's involved. She is weirdly not a World Cup unless Shakira's involved at the moment. Yeah, you're right. Shakira, I think, has got to be involved. Well, she basically shot to the very top doing Wacka Wacka in, what, 2010? Yeah. And she's been kind of very... I mean, she had a big career before that. She did, but what I'm saying is... That was our hair day, too. that's when she wove herself into the fabric of the World Cup and she's not come out of it against him she got found not guilty of the attack stuff as well so she's probably high on the hog she's not welcome at FIFA then no she is she's a shining example would you like a job would your lawyer like a job but as Pete said she's definitely high on the hog do you know the phrase living high on the hog it means enjoying the finer things in life Pete does live quite high on the hog Pete's a flaneur low on the income, high on the hog literally people he knows all his family are saying can you come down off the hog it's getting ridiculous it's heartbreaking even the hog is begging yes indeed there is going to be a pre-match ceremony for every single World Cup match you'll be pleased to know yeah bear in mind that there are 104 matches at this World Cup and some of them at like 3am our time 5am yeah but 5am you could just about get up for that you can't get up for 2 or 3am yeah it's been said in the office earlier 2 and 3am they're too late to stay up and too late to get up I mean on the US side of things I am genuinely worried that the World Cup is not going to kick off in the US because obviously Katy Perry is going to be featuring in the opening ceremony but Tybourne star Lisa from K-pop band Blackpink Nigerian artist Rima and Brazilian singer Anita are all performing they're not getting in they're not getting in they're not getting in although they're already yeah hopefully so we should say they're not performing at every match it's just the opening ceremony just the opening ceremony in the US as discussed yes but But the pre-match ceremony for every single game...

9:12Luke Moore: Yeah, well, they're going to gather around the centre circle, aren't they? Yeah, and it's going to be the whole squad, isn't it? Yeah, it's unique, immersive, and I think it's going to be great. Like Chelsea, immersive experience. The ball gets immersed in the centre circle. Well, as you say, to clarify, it will involve every single player in both squads. All the squads. Are they going to respect... 26. But there'll be room and time to respect the ball markers. It sounds like it. They're going to be gathered around the centre circle for the national anthems, which is utterly pointless, of course.

9:37Luke Moore: Yeah. But just get them out in that sunshine a little bit longer. Firstly, in what way is two groups of people lining up and facing each other immersive? It's just not, is it? It depends on what the camera's doing, I suppose. Immersive for them. If it's sort of dropped in by drawing. But it's immersive for them, whatever they're doing. For me, whenever I hear about these kinds of things, I always just feel like football was really good as it is. I actually like football, so I don't need all this shit going on. I don't want to be immersed. I do a podcast every day. I prefer this because, presumably, the alternative was what they did in the Club World Cup, where every player came out one by one and it took absolutely ages.

10:13Yeah, we could have heard that, couldn't we? And I think, you know... Well, maybe we'll get that as well. There is an argument, isn't there, that we ourselves make quite often that the World Cup is about the local culture of the place it's in as a sort of significant part of it. And there is a sort of OTT showbiz element to a lot of American sport in the way they hype it up before. I think this is actually on the kind of acceptable side of that in terms of it being just fine. 104 games though. Yeah. They're not going to do them all before the tournament starts, are they? It'll just be once a game.

10:45True. Yeah. If you're travelling in.

10:49Luke Moore: I reckon by the round of 16 that everyone will be like, come on. You're going to get into a situation where you're not going to want to, because I mean, I suppose the local broadcaster is going to have a decision to make whether they cover everything or they just do a bit of punditry in the studio. So you never know. you might not even see it all you probably will I think we'll see the National Anthem you excited for Katy Perry markers yeah I'm excited for all of it Buble in Canada is the one oh he's got three velociraptors back in Sydney exactly which we're looking forward to we're very much looking forward to that Alanis Morissette as well great stuff isn't Alanis Morissette she's great she is great last year sensational one of the highlights for me she's had a good career yeah not an astronaut though is she so Katy Perry wins again that's true that's true luckily they're at different ceremonies so we can enjoy them on different occasions.

11:35Luke Moore: Has she gone out with the Canadian ex-premier though? She is, Justin Trudeau. Absolutely. Oh yeah. Shouldn't be there. Shouldn't be there. Hands across the border. Finally. Will he be showing his face? Which one? I don't know. But anyway, let's move on to the host nations. He did it, Jim. Not me. I'm not laughing at you. For a change. I'm laughing at you. For a change. Now, we were talking very briefly about the US of America yesterday. They lost 2-1 to Germany but scored a peach of a goal. And before the game, speaking of... So we're talking about the whole ceremony and pomp and all the rest of it.

12:12Luke Moore: They were doing this in the pre-World Cup friendlies as they did yesterday or whenever they played Germany. There was a procession of former players from the 1994 World Cup that came out and obviously the current squad were there. And there's a bit of tension between the current players and the former pros. Timothy Ware called some of the older players really evil in a documentary last year yeah and then when he was challenged right he doubled down on it well yeah so Eric Rinalda walked up to where on the weekend and said it's all love buddy I'm not evil have you ever watched the YouTube channel Unleashed with Eric Rinalda no I haven't seen it it's well worth a watch it's basically he goes his main the last few episodes has basically been him going through TMZ footage of him getting into fights with children at Little League games it's really good stuff and then once you finish with Wijnaldum you move on to there's also an episode where Ian Harkes interviews his dad John Harkes and obviously the Harkes-Wijnaldum World Cup 94 one person slept with the other person's wife I didn't know that this is great it's a World Cup cook chair this is wrestling level stuff it is really backstage sort of intrigue but fundamentally it's really good to sort of see an ex-pro like speaking uh charismatically about his infidelity about his about his friends infidelity yeah no that is really good the tension between they're really good to see that really good to see yeah I'm in Timothy Weiss camp here yeah but the tension is from the fact that I think the current squad get obviously get a lot of pressure put on them the game is very different now you know 30 or two years they get absolute pelters from some of these guys and these guys are basically I think the way the current squad feel is the older guy get put on a pedestal just because they're in USA 94.

14:04It's that away shirt though, isn't it? It's that USA 94 away shirt. You can't beat it. I would hate Alexi Lannis to be talking about what I'm doing as well. And apparently Alexi Lannis is particularly sort of over the top forthright, isn't he? He's a prick. He's a total prick. I'm in complete agreement with that. Yeah, he's a complete prick. If you see any of his output on social media, it's in Belen. So really, they need to consult Bruno Fernandes on this. Yeah. How do you deal with kind of ex-legends, so-called legends of your team just constantly chipping off for you. Playing really, really well from you.

14:33Yeah, but I don't think these guys haven't got it in to be as good. I was about to say, they're talking a good game. Yeah, so it'll be interesting how that develops because I suppose you have to kind of have the conversation about what is expected realistically of the USA in this tournament. And this seems to be a really interesting talking point ahead of time, doesn't it? Because it seems that nobody can really agree on that even from within the camp or outside it. There's a really interesting kind of tension I think around the US men's national team I think it feels to me like they're a bit worried about quite badly underperforming and embarrassing themselves I think that's right and there's some real talent in that squad but they've not really been clicking

15:13Luke Moore: Jim we had Marie the mother of our Discord of course pop into the studio yesterday she's over here travelling from Mississippi and she was talking about the US national team and is concerned about the lack of callers that they had and saying that Pochettino his work cut out for him really Pochettino did some mad stuff a couple of weeks ago when he was doing the squad did you see that? He got put under a lot of pressure from the press because he didn't speak individually to the players that he didn't select and he said well I think that would be I can't remember what he said but he said he felt it would be disrespectful patronising or something patronising but like it's not is it?

15:49it's a respectful thing to do it makes it a bit like

15:51Luke Moore: you don't care Tuchel was on the phone to ours to just Jordan Henderson just Jordan Henderson and Phil Neville and then eventually Jordan Henderson talked him round I've got to go now because I've got to talk about the weather with Phil Neville have you seen that Corby Jones is getting a statue at LA Galaxy which is very enjoyable speaking of classic USA is that going to be part of the opening ceremony maybe maybe they'll bring it in give it one to Beckham yes right exactly but we talked yesterday about how the US have got a really poor record against European sides they've got a UEFA based side in their group but otherwise in Turkey but they play Paraguay and Australia they've got to be target and get out of the group they have to especially with the extended tournament yeah they have to they have to they absolutely have to Luke Moore and they'll be kicking off very very soon Mexico though will get the World Cup underway against South Africa which is now a classic opening World Cup fixture it is yeah you have to say that was the highlight of basically the whole World Cup in South Africa wasn't it that Bafana Bafana moment goal for all of Africa it promised so much in that moment it was beautiful Chabalala Chabalala goal for all of Africa Was that Clive Tilsey who said that?

16:57No, it was Pitjuri.

16:58Luke Moore: Pitjuri, there we go. Yeah, yeah. Now, as mentioned last week, and even earlier in the show, Guillermo Ochoa has been selected for a sixth World Cup. He made his World Cup debut in Germany 2006. And it's got to the point where I can't imagine a World Cup without him. No, same. In four years' time, I hope he's there, you know, even just some sort of ceremonial role. Which he's sort of in anyway, isn't he? Yeah. Is he, do you think? He's not even the oldest goalkeeper at the World Cup. No, no. Craig Gordon. Craig Fiedler. How was Neuer? He's back for an EarthGuard. You're right, Craig Gordon is.

17:29Craig Gordon is the oldest player in the World Cup. 43, yeah. Nice, like that. Pete, what were you doing in 2006? Can we have a guess? I think I was working for a local government quangle. No, you weren't. You were working at XFM then.

17:40Luke Moore: No, I don't think so. Have you just accidentally revealed something? No, Pete worked for a government quangle doing CD-ROMs, didn't he? That's quite well known. He was doing CD-ROMs for different parts of government. I've forgotten about that. Did anyone want a CD-ROM? Because you started out doing CD-ROMs for Leicester Zoo, didn't you? Yeah. sounds like it was you unofficially doing it a hobby just leaving them lying around a keen amateur just hoping to get a chance sitting in the chimps in club just throwing his shit around I'm gonna see me wrong do you think I very much enjoy the fact that Mexico are the most world cup side that you said in the previous thing I think Achor has to be up there as like the most world cup he's just Zubi Zaretta man definitely always at the world cup and there is a feeling of this across the board because there are so many old players there like Ronaldo and Messi still being there, Neuer still being there.

18:28So it does feel like a real link to the past. Yeah, Jordan Henderson. Mexico, I'd like that. His nickname was El Kaiso, I can't remember his actual name in defence. And he did about four World Cups. Oh, yeah. They've got pedigree in this kind of area. Rafa Marquez. He was always there.

18:44Luke Moore: Yeah. Has anyone checked? Is he in the squad? He is. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will be the second oldest player at the World Cup. 41, isn't he? Yeah, Messi's the 12th oldest. It's the chopped Unc World Cup. Yeah, it is a bit. Love it, isn't it? Great to see Fernando Muslera. That's another classic World Cup goalkeeper. He'll always be there. It's great. Yeah, so Gordon Ochoa, Neuer Muslera. Older goalkeepers. And Tim Ream's in the list as well, by the way. Yeah, that. He's in the US squad. Love that. And Peter Shilton. Peter Shilton was fucking old in World Cup 90. He was, yeah. He was 40, wasn't he?

19:18It was Peter Shilton. I might have heard this wrong. but was Peter Shilton not on the short didn't he make the provisional squad for the World Cup 1970 wow I might have been and he was fourth choice or something and then he played in Golfer England in 1990 as well amazing

19:33Luke Moore: how about that South Africa playing Mexico of course in that opening game they were welcomed at their hotel by a mariachi band have you seen the footage of it though it's great they don't look bothered by it no the last one really loves it the last guy really loves it absolutely gets into it he's like I can't believe this is happening. It's brilliant. Most of them just got their headphones in, though. Like, okay, we're in Mexico, I suppose. This is normal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe they were listening to mariachi music anyway. Yeah. I needed a stereo. What a lovely welcome. Very enjoyable. This game is also, opening game is happening at the Azteca, which is probably the most World Cup.

20:07Exactly. With the potential exception of the Maracana, the Azteca's got to be the most World Cup stadium. Oh, it is something else.

20:13Luke Moore: A proper cathedral of football. Have you been to Mexico City? I've been to the Azteca. Have you? Yeah, okay. And when, I mean, it is just a plaque, and you feel like there perhaps should be something more. But when you see that plaque on the side of the board, say, you know, the game of the century was played here. Italy, Germany. West Germany and Italy, yeah. And then, of course, the goal of the century, the goal of the World Cup, as in the greatest goal of all time, or whatever, Maradona against England, and so on, you're like, bloody hell, you know, this is... History, yeah. Did you get weed on that day?

20:36Luke Moore: No, that was in Argentina. And we avoided it. Yeah. Good lad. But we got our own back with our own urine. Sprinkled it all over the Falk Club. It's a World Cup, yeah! Exactly. Welcome, yeah! You can't mistreat Argentinians in the World Cup year. I'd argue any other year. But there we are. Yes, indeed. Now, one thing, though, that the South Africans might be disappointed with is that there won't be any vuvuzelas at the World Cup. FIFA have banned them, and it's in FIFA's stadium code of conduct. Right. Imagine such a thing. Which is a big old can of worms. Just a black piece of paper. Could you sort of bring the components to a vuvuzela and sort of assemble it like a rifle?

21:16Could do. In the stand. Not a good look, I'll admit it. I think you've found a loophole. A 3D printed a Vuvuzela.

21:22Luke Moore: I think you do it right until the last bit, and then you start looking at the officials going... You don't have to hide from the stewards as well, just duck down and have a little toot. A little toot. A floor toot. A lot of people will be doing that at the World Cup. Lying down on the floor away from any cameras, just tooting away. I still have one of the Vuvuzelas that we got in set. I've got one as well. It's in two parts, isn't it? Is it? It's in two parts. Oh, there you go. It's ready to go. Mine's got all the flags of all the World Cup nations on it. Yeah, my one sort of bust or disintegrated or something, but I've got another one as well.

21:51Luke Moore: So I've still got one. A backup Vuvuzela. I tell you what, the lung capacity you need to have to be doing that all game like they did out there. Well, they won't be doing it this time, will they, sadly? What do we think of that? Because I hate the sound of the Vuvuzela, but at the same time, it is South African football's kind of tradition, isn't it? I think having access to as many that it would need to upset you, I think, will be the bigger problem, I think, for the Vuvuzela enthusiasts. yes so I think I think the South Africans should be allowed it I think they should have special dispensation it basically sounds like a swarm of bees yeah and it did get a little bit tedious on the TV it's a horrible drone it was it was on the TV everyone's about and as soon as we got out there it is so yeah but look a wonderful start to the World Cup on Thursday the Aztec Stadium cabab now let's focus on Canada still on attendance Canada Jesse Marsh of course is in charge he wants of Leeds United he's repeatedly called this the best squad Canada's ever had which is a mad thing to say exactly it's a crazy thing to say is it yeah because he's putting so much pressure on himself I mean this is a very very confident kind of Jesse Marsh projection though isn't it but you want to be saying you're a little horse you need to be talking about the fact you're a little horse I don't think he's got that in him I don't know if he knows how but it's not a small it's not a big statement to say they probably do have the best squad Canada's ever had and you look at a situation where they have been fancied for the last five years and they didn't do anything.

23:19Well, I mean,

23:20Luke Moore: they got to the last World Cup. So, you know, it is some sort of statement because, you know, the last World Cup they were there, obviously they didn't, I mean, I remember when Alphonso Davies put them 1-0 up in their opening game but obviously they then lost, I think, was it 3-1 they lost that game and then, you know, it sort of petered out from there. But I would have thought this was Canada's best squad they've ever had. I think it's probably fair to say. Because I don't think they've had too many over the years. So, you know, they're there. But their first game against Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of those ones where you think, will the canny European opposition be, you know, well, too canny for them?

23:58Luke Moore: Will 40-year-old Edin Dzeko be a problem? Well, I'm about to say, or... Oh, is he on the list? Yeah. Carry on, I'll check. He must be. Or is it one of those games where actually, that's not a bad start, Jim, because it could be worse. I mean, they've got Qatar in the group and Switzerland. As groups go, it's not too bad. Switzerland will be favourites for that group, let's be honest, because they're a decent side. You probably want Qatar first, ideally, but this is the way it's fallen. So I think they'll be happy with that. They'll be confident going into it. I think this is a really big opportunity for Canada.

24:27Kind of long term, actually. Apparently, football is really widely played among young people there now in a way that it's not necessarily been so much in the past. Obviously, Alphonso Davies is a superstar. They've got a reliable goal scorer in Jonathan David. There's a lot to get behind here. And I think the momentum of them playing at home will be absolutely massive for them. I think they're a really exciting team to keep an eye on, actually.

24:46Luke Moore: Do you think, though, that they've been a little bit underhand putting snakes in the Swiss camp? No. I'll be honest, I wish England did stuff like this more often. Yeah. Well, their groupie rival, Switzerland, are in the training in San Diego and they posted a map of their training facility with a giant red no-go area around the pitch because of snakes. Actual snakes. Not people who are leaking information. They've not really given any more information than this though, have they? It's a bit like there be dragons, isn't it? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, don't go over there. I've seen no evidence of the snakes.

25:18I've just seen a Swiss freaking out about the snakes. Could be a lie.

25:21Luke Moore: It could be. It could be. Most of the snakes in California are apparently not dangerous to humans anyway. It might be for the snakes' own safety. Yeah. It might be good to protect the area environmentally for the snakes rather than for the people. We never think of the snakes. As your dad would always say to you when you were a kid, they're more scared of you than you are of them. Yeah. That's true. Thanks, Dad. Bitting me on the ankle. yeah yeah yeah well indeed now get RFK Jr. in yeah he'd pop the head off he would wouldn't he he's not more scared wear it as a tie I wish I'd put RFK Jr. in my predictions for non-playing football celebrity we'll get on to that no politicians in that because it's not not allowed yeah they're the most famous people in America exactly now turn into something much more serious actually did you see that Swiss forward Briel and Bolo obviously a crucial player for them was initially denied an entry visa last week.

26:10Luke Moore: Now, we spoke about this, didn't we, a number of weeks and months ago, and a lot of people have been saying, what's going to happen? Well, here we are on the eve of the tournament and a player playing for Switzerland was denied entry. Now, it was eventually resolved, but we are seeing more ridiculous situations with this sort of thing, right on the eve of the tournament. Let me just look at what Brian Bola looks like. Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, yeah, and we have a stronger example, because that situation was resolved. But Omar Atan, a Somali referee who is one of the 170 officials appointed by FIFA for the tournament.

26:44Luke Moore: So FIFA have appointed him. He's not just turned up with his whistle hoping for a game. You know, this is a guy, a very well-respected referee described as one of the best referees in Africa. He was voted the best referee in Africa, I think. Right, there you go. Denied entry. Yeah. He's now been dropped from the list of officials. It's absolutely bananas. Dropped from the list. So FIFA, obviously you bow to the American border controls. I mean, usually FIFA get to conduct their tournament however they want. And everyone just sort of falls in line for the promise of some money that never actually comes.

27:15So I'm actually, in one sense, I'm enjoying Gianni just having to kneel to whatever insane border rules that the US have in place, administered by some of the thickest people in the world, who probably don't even have their own passports, one would suggest, the way that they don't really know how the world works. But it's for the worst reason possible. The Senegalese Uzbek squads have had really intense searches of their persons. The Iraqi team photographer has been sent back. He had a visa, and that didn't seem to matter. Every African and Iranian fan coming in are having a terrible time. The Moroccans are being denied the entry to the US.

27:54It's a mess. The referee had a US working visa issued and a diplomatic passport. You either have diplomatic relations or you don't. with the country. And the problem is, I think that Somalia is on Donald Trump's mandate to ban this, right? So that's part of the problem. But the thing about talking about Infantino, the frustrating thing and the kind of unacceptable thing really is that Infantino will spend all this time kind of cosying up to these fucking idiots and doing pointless stupid shit like giving Donald Trump a FIFA Peace Prize, showing him the trophy for the Club World Cup, putting an album out, right?

28:34Yet, whenever a journalist asked about this very live issue weeks and weeks ago, all the journalists were given a pat on the head by Infantin. It's going to be fine. We're bringing the world together. None of this stuff's going to happen. As soon as it does inevitably happen because they're incompetent and Customs and Border Protection are a bunch of fucking idiots, FIFA completely wring their hands. Oh, it's not up to us. This didn't happen in Russia. This didn't happen in Qatar. It happens in the fucking US. Exactly. When you are sitting down and having a meeting with these people, Gianni, what are you actually talking about?

29:03because this is something that is a live issue that's going to affect a lot of people. So what, if you're not talking about this, which you're clearly not because it's happened, what have you been talking about? It's going to affect the fairness of the tournament. Exactly. Fundamentally. Because you've got like, I think the Iranian players have got to come in and out on the same day or something. And all these other people are getting stopped. It's so arbitrary. It's so fucking pointless. And it's only going to, there's only going to be a stink kicked up if a team, you know, like Mbolo, for example, plays for a big, you know, powerful side, European side.

29:29He plays for Ren. football for a moneyed European side. It's a mess and it's going to get messier. Because what happens is that the customs border protection guys, they basically get quite a lot of latitude to kind of, if they decide to want to talk to anyone, they can take you into a room, chat to you, ask to see your phone, decide whether you're going to pass this kind of extended kind of vetting process and if not you just get put on a flight back home again. They've clearly not taken into account any briefing, if they've even been given one about the World Cup, which is the world's biggest sporting fucking tournament, actually happening.

30:07And if they do, they just don't care because they're drunk on power. They probably don't like football anyway. They don't give a shit about it. Probably not even bothered it's happening. And Omar Artan, the Somali referee you mark has mentioned, he was just put straight on a flight back to Turkey where he flew in from. But it was no kind of, okay, let's just look into this and find out what's going on. It's like, no, we're not happy with this. See you later. It's bonkers. Yeah.

30:26Luke Moore: I mean, do you hear that Scotland fan who phoned in Talk Sport? He was saying that he's set to lose 10 grand because his permission to travel to the US was revoked for no reason. He said, I've not got a criminal record. There is no reason for this to happen. And so I think we're going to hear a lot more stories about this. We are going to hear a lot more about this because it's not something that the administration wants to cover up, is it? It's a flex of power. And we're going to see a lot more of this sort of stuff, I would think. Okay, then, gentlemen, let's go for a break. Coming up after this, a supercomputer has predicted the World Cup winner.

31:05This episode is sponsored by Quo. Messy communication is one of the easiest ways to lose momentum. If replies are slow, threads get dropped and messages get missed, customers will simply go elsewhere. That's why today's episode is brought to you by Quo, spelt Q-U-O, the business communication system built so you never miss a call. Quo works wherever you are, right from your phone or computer. Your entire team can handle calls and texts from one shared number, so no more missed messages and no more dropped conversations. Everyone sees the full thread, replies are faster, customers actually feel taken care of and nobody misses out.

31:42You can keep your existing number, add teammates in minutes, sync your CRM and let the call routing handle itself as you scale. Core is the number one rated business phone system on G2 with over 3 ,000 reviews and people like it because it's built for how modern teams work. More than 90 ,000 businesses, from solo operators to growing teams, rely on it to stay connected, professional, and consistently reachable. Money is on the line. Always say hello with Quor. Try Quor for free, plus get 20 % off your first six months when you go to quor.com slash ramble. That's q-u-o dot com slash ramble. What if a marginal gain unlocked greater performance?

32:23What if an insight in data could change everything? At Aramco, our focus on detail helps us deliver reliable energy to millions across the world. Because margins aren't marginal. They're where we can truly push the limits of what's possible. Aramco, an integrated energy and chemicals company. Learn more at aramco.com. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVAC on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind.

33:08Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering, and 24-7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com, or just stop by. Grainger, for the ones who get it done. Hi, this is Brooke DeVard from Naked Beauty. I am always looking for ways to elevate our daily rituals, and the Kohler Smart Toilet is proof that design changes everything. It's this stunning sculptural piece that feels like quiet luxury for your bathroom. It totally transforms your daily ritual into something elevated with customizable cleansing and touchscreen controls. It's functional art that makes your space feel cleaner and more intentional.

33:46A modern home deserves a modern toilet. Experience the difference of Kohler smart toilets. Find more at Kohler.com.

34:03Luke Moore: Some people actually think that their government cares about them. They've sprayed the skies and now it's like on that milky gray cloudy thing. The milky blanket. And the milky blanket and now you can't see the sun anymore. Do you really think that the government is going to go, hmm, we're going to tell him we're going to dim the sun? Welcome back to the Football Ramble, everybody. He's got cataracts. He's got cataracts. That was Matt Letizia giving some insight into... Speaking the truth. Sounds like you talking to him there, Jim. Miltie Blanket. Miltie Blanket. No comment. I think the guy you spied on Middlesbrough was just like, I'll go anywhere, just get me out of the room.

34:44just get me out of this room with this ambassador because I cannot do another five minutes with him they're dimming the sun Marcus

34:51Luke Moore: they're dimming the sun well let's hope they're dimming in North America while England are playing take the heat off the players actually speaking of the fact that you seem to want to talk about the weather every episode of the show I've prepared a little weather report ok I sound delighted by this here's your football ramble weather so we're starting in a place where England are going to be taking on Croatia in their first group game in the World Cup, Arlington, Texas. A city named in tribute to Robert E. Lee, but it's not all bad, they did invent the ballpark nachos. It's currently a sweaty 31 degrees of temperature that's not quite as hot as the 3rd of July 2018 when England beat Colombia on penalties at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow when it was 32.

35:31As we head northeast to the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough where it's currently 29 degrees, which is nowhere near as hot as October 15, 2018 when England beat Spain 3-2 at the Estadio Benito Valorin in Seville in temperatures of 32 degrees of kickoff. Oh, past the oranges. Over in Jersey. Right now, England are going to be taken on Panama at the MetLife. It's currently highs of 24 degrees, aka not in the same postcard as 30 degrees Celsius. The temperature in which England beat Argentina at the Sapporo Dome in Hokkaido at World Cup 2002 on the 12th of June. That's your weather. And here's Marcus with the sport.

36:06There we go. There we go. that is genuinely incisive important journalism and I can see by his faces but Marcus is right at rest exactly everything's going to be fine this is with the sun dimmed

36:20Luke Moore: yes exactly well the yeah the warmer temperatures you said they were evening games weren't they Marcus come and have your milky blanket and have a lie down give me one of those milky blankets and we'll go home champions well who are going to be the World Cup champions after that weather the report. Probably England. Could be old England. Not just England, old England. Old England. Jordan Henderson. Well, there's a new one in America, you see, so you have to differentiate. That's true, yeah. But the University of Reading in this country have trained a supercomputer to predict the world. Trained it.

36:55Luke Moore: They've trained it. Yeah. Yeah. You do get it right. Do more calculations. Get it right. The computer says that defending champions Argentina are the most likely team to win. I mean, that could say a lot of different things about the way they've trained this. Yes, it could do. They're already champions, actually, so probably them. Well, I mean, the Opta tournament predictions have Spain first. They have Argentina fourth. Where do they have our boys? Someone's lying, aren't they? They are. Someone is lying, Jim. Some boffin's going to have egg on his face by the end of this tournament. Whereas this supercomputer has all down his anorak, probably, despite the weather.

37:30Luke Moore: His girlfriend won't mind because he hasn't got one. Do you not think that the... It's very easy to poo-poo this, I think because not many teams retain and obviously people have got older and the world's moved on you can't be a supercomputer boo boy are you? No I am on board mainly because not because of anything that that team's doing but like if they win the group which it probably will they'll probably face Uruguay which is a lovely sky blue battle of stripy pyjamas under the milky blanket under the milky blanket if you want to see some authentic sky blue you can only watch it on Uruguay's shirt now then they'll have a little bit of turkey then they'll have a little bit of Portugal.

38:07This feels like an England-esque route to the final for me. It could be.

38:11Luke Moore: It sounds like Man by Number 5 is what it sounds like. Are we happy with a supercomputer being at the University of Reading? Is that a good university? Yeah. I don't think, I'm not sure, I don't know if I trust it. They've got England as fifth favourite, so up there. How super can the computer be with that funding? No, exactly. Can you build us one, Pete? Of all the people I know who's likely to build a supercomputer, There's a few odds and subs kicking around. Pete, what's the difference between a computer and a supercomputer? More RAM. Is it? Which is very expensive these days. But what pushes it over the threshold?

38:40I think it's just a computer. Okay, why don't you say computer then? I don't think there's many mobile phones that couldn't compute the things that the supercomputer is computing. No one walks into PC world saying, no, no, I don't want a computer. I want a supercomputer. This is not just a computer. This is a super computer. It's a marvellous machine. Yeah, to me, a supercomputer sort of exists in its own separate room. It's absolutely gigantic. A tape has to be going around, doesn't it? It's a supercomputer. Remember back in the day, that Cray computer was in a pool of water. That was exciting.

39:09Was it a water? It was like a water-cooled computer. That was exciting.

39:13Luke Moore: Beautiful. I miss the octopuses. Yeah, I prefer the octopus, yeah. Well, they're the most intelligent creatures, aren't they? Famously very clever. And he was good, Paul the Octopus, in South Africa 2010, I think. God rest him. It was 2006, wasn't it? Elephants in South Africa, didn't me? No, 2010, I think. It was a German TV show that did it. Yeah, we're poor. But I'm pretty sure it was 2010. God rest him, yeah. Apparently, though, there's a German economist called Joachim Clement, and he's got a complex forecast model, which has kept a 100 % record of predicting the World Cup winners since 2014.

39:51That's only three.

39:52Luke Moore: Yeah. I mean, not bad, though. That's like a complex formula. Okay, fine. It's three out of three. So he claims. But it is still in play, right? Yeah, fine. Still in play. What's he saying? Well, oddly. The BBC went with the headline, why reluctant guru says the Dutch will win the World Cup. Well, do you know what? I've had a few people. So I used to work for a betting company, right? And I'm on a couple of WhatsApp groups with them still. And these guys, they're spreadsheet guys. They love betting on sports. Call them boffins. Yeah, they are boffins, actually. They're betting boffins. They're boffchoffs.

40:25A few of them are talking about Netherlands. Really? They are. They are.

40:29Luke Moore: I'm being serious. A lot of chat about Netherlands. We've got our predictions show, so maybe we'll save some of this chat for tomorrow. I've typed in all of the fixtures into this supercomputer and... Mossad. Mossad. Mossad are going to win. For God's sake. Not again. Do you want to hear from my supercomputer? Yeah. Here we go. Mossad. Yeah, there again. Yeah, same again. Hotly tipped. So this guru... Yeah, this German guru. A German guru. Well, the reason why he's reluctant is because obviously Netherlands and Germany. If he's styling himself a German guru, he's watching porn during the day. I'm telling you.

41:02He must be. With Daniel Farke. Absolutely. Surely not together. World Cup Daddy, World Cup Daddy.

41:08Luke Moore: What's going on here? I think it's overheating. Shouting World Cup Daddy. Marcus, do you want to do a correction and clarification from yesterday? Yeah. Well, I sort of jokingly said that Rio and Gamora will be first on the list should England get an injury. And that was a joke that some people took too far. Let's just say that Marcus, he's not big enough to do his own correction. I'll do it for him. Marcus forgot that Rio and Gamur can't be called up on yesterday's show because he wasn't in the original 55-man squad. Right. I'd love to see who was on the 55-man squad. I would as well. No, but I did genuinely forget that because the point of taking those five players...

41:47Did you say you forgot then?

41:48Luke Moore: I just did. You said that people thought it was a joke that they took too far. I think it was their fault. And that joke is a joke you're taking too far right now. Do you think the Florida team sheet screen won't be able to handle his name? I don't think so. Oh, yeah, that's true. I might not be able to do that. Because Josh King was also called up. but again it was a group of young players no more Kings they don't and now we thought Sodja we're going to take one but what's interesting is and we touched on this a bit yesterday is that those guys who come along for experience and like train with it they don't normally play do they no but Josh King was loving it he did an interview with the Fulham social media stuff and he was beaming that he was chosen to go like Conor Cody that time when everyone was saying no because Conor Cody was the cheerleader role because Josh King knows he's not going to play but the fact is you're going to go out there and get amazing experience and you know enjoy some hot weather.

42:35Luke Moore: Now, how about this? Three Argentina fans cycled 10 ,500 miles to Kansas City for their opening game, which is a hell of an effort. Luke, you're a man of the bicycle. Well, me and Pete are both line bike lads. We're line lads. Yeah, line bike lovers. But I don't think I've done quite as much as that in terms of distance. Although over the course of my line bike career, I have actually cycled quite a long way. But if you're cycling up through the Americas, which presumably these guys did, then you're going to need more than two or three gears. On line bikes around London, I've done 5 ,271 kilometres, which is pretty good.

43:11It's battery-assisted, though, isn't it? Yeah, it's not the same as Fox. If you're a Boris bike, man, that'd be absolutely fine. Yeah, but they're battery-assisted now. What? Yeah, a lot of them have got power. They're e-bikes as well. Wow. But 10 ,500 miles to Kansas City from Argentina is a hell of a cycle ride.

43:24Luke Moore: It is, it is. Now, Lionel Messi didn't feature in Argentina's warm-up game against Honduras, because why would he? he'll be turning 39 during this World Cup he doesn't need that I'm not doing extra games no that's what he may have said come on but good news though the 70 foot statue of Messi holding the World Cup in India which was described as swaying in the wind has now finally been taken down yeah I saw the video of this so it was unsafe it was proper gone for it wasn't it it was like Messi when we won the triple on that bus when yeah when they took it down though because of the way he's posing he's holding the World Cup up he was lying on his back on the trailer with the World Cup up in the air like he was still celebrating it.

44:04And then weirdly, I don't know what the story is here, but this is in Kolkata. In the background of the video, there's a massive replica of Big Ben.

44:14Luke Moore: I love it. It's just confusing. It's a confusing scene. That's like a theme park. That one's still standing. Yeah, I know. You've got to go the distance. That one's not swaying in the wind. Of course, it would be the Elizabeth Tower. The Big Ben is, of course, the bell. So it wouldn't make any sense for Big Ben. Yeah, but we affectionately call the Tower. We do. We do. We hear every time, don't we? We do. Exactly. Talking of things that we like to hear from, Romario was interviewed by The Guardian recently, 32 years on from winning the World Cup in USA 94, of course. And my goodness, if he was made of chocolate, he'd eat it.

44:48Luke Moore: Absolutely. Nothing left of the man. It's wonderful stuff. I mean, one particular line that I thought was very good early on in the interview was, I consider myself one of the five greatest of all time. Then he listed six players, including himself. That's it. I give myself an 11 out of 10 as a player. So he does rate himself. Look, he was a fine player. He was brilliant. Do you not think that he can't, because Brazil were quite brutish and not quite as crit as they were, and Bebeto was a nice guy and he was an absolute C-word. He refused to sit on the plane next to Bebeto on the way on with the World Cup.

45:25They hated him. and like do you think he's probably up there but because he's such a bell nobody respects him I think I think he thinks that yeah I mean that team were a mess before World Cup 94 and they also weren't particularly aesthetically pleasing were they so they've not been remembered in the same light as a lot of but he was I think there's something to that

45:46Luke Moore: he was a brilliant brilliant player he was I mean I remember you know like Barry Davis saying you know they had they may not have been one of the most attractive or whatever he said but they had one player a very, very special player. And it was Romário. Yeah, he was amazing. He was a brilliant, brilliant player. But unfortunately, it's a bit like now Michael Owen, who massively talks himself up. And I can understand a little bit of the frustration if maybe you're not remembered like some other players were. And maybe Michael Owen, because of how his career sort of finished, or maybe not even finished, he had a lot of years with injury and so on, it might be frustrating that people think of you as one thing, whereas actually, the guy won the Ballon d 'Or, you know, and had a fine career.

46:23Luke Moore: So I get that frustration. but when you go into battle with it and you talk about it and so on people are not going to go oh yeah you're absolutely right people will naturally kind of I get that impression of Romário I get the impression that he is a wonderful player brilliant striker just one of the very best but because Brazil have had so many amazing players and Ronaldo came along straight after him I feel like he probably feels like he's forgotten because Romário was on course to go to the 98 World Cup and he got an injury very late on and he couldn't go whereas Bebeto did go and obviously Ronaldo was there I mean Romario just to back it up if you think he's not shine coming forward about his own career he addressed the many in this interview with the Guardian he addressed the many accusations over the years that he was lazy and didn't train well saying I was a force to be reckoned with on the pitch and screw the rest they had to put up with me anyone who didn't like it had to put up with it what a team spirit I know I know amazing yeah so I mean I do love how the interview how the Guardian wrote this he said before leaving Romario takes control of the conversation and interviews himself in what he claims would be the greatest interview of all time.

47:28He's got a YouTube channel where he's travelling around interviewing greats about football and I've not seen that much of it but what I've seen it looks like he just talks about himself the whole time. Yeah. He can be talking to anyone. He also posts lots of AI images of him and like Ronaldo and Ronaldinho and Marcelo just like hanging out on the beach and having barbecues and stuff. It's very odd. I like that though, Jim. He's a big Bolsonaro guy as well though, isn't he? Oh, is he? Yeah, he's a big one. I don't think you can be anymore. A lot of Marlo, aren't they?

47:53Luke Moore: Well, Bolsonaro's in jail now. He is, yeah. So they've probably wrote back on that. In the Guardian article, it said that he's not in jail himself, but... Ooh. Yeah, right. Well, let's go for a break on that note. Coming up after this, we'll take a look at some more tournament favourites and the return of Dick Advocate.

48:19Seeking. Pushing. optimizing, creating, learning, discovering. At Aramco, we believe in harnessing the power of data to push the limits of what's possible. That's how we deliver reliable energy to millions across the world. Aramco, an integrated energy and chemicals company. Learn more about us at aramco.com. hi this is brooke devard from naked beauty i am always looking for ways to elevate our daily rituals and the kohler smart toilet is proof that design changes everything it's this stunning sculptural piece that feels like quiet luxury for your bathroom it totally transforms your daily ritual into something elevated with customizable cleansing and touch screen controls it's functional art that makes your space feel cleaner and more intentional.

49:15A modern home deserves a modern toilet. Experience the difference of Kohler smart toilets. Find more at Kohler.com.

49:26When you're a maintenance engineer in a beverage manufacturing plant, you keep production lines moving and quality on track because there's no room for slowdowns. with Granger's vast selection of high quality motors, sensors, belts and hard to find parts. You can get what you need fast and all in one place. So nothing gets in the way of getting the job done. Call 1-800-GRANGER, click granger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done.

50:03Luke Moore: Gentlemen, France beat Northern Ireland 3-1 last night in Didier Deschamps' final game as France manager on home soil. How about that? Get yourselves out to America, lads. Yeah, leave it lead. Indeed, Michael Alisse scored a hat-trick. Third was an absolute beauty. And I did think to myself, yeah, we really could have done with him. Yes. Yeah. he's a really exciting prospect for this World Cup because he'll probably play more centrally than he does for Bayern Munich so that they can get Dwayne in the team as well and that's just terrifying isn't it yeah yeah I think you know they are some have them as favourites others second favourites I mean they and Spain I think are the two really really fancied teams obviously France Spain Argentina and believe it or not England are the four seeded teams by FIFA I think I'm right saying it's the first time that's ever happened at a World Cup.

50:54Luke Moore: So obviously, if everybody does what they think they may well do, those four teams have been in the semi-final. It just won't work out like that. It never does. You know, when you do all these, and I've done them as much as the next man. There's so many combinations possible because the sheer amount of teams evolved. And also the third place business as well. Yeah. But trying to do that pathway predictor, you know, you just get tied up in knots and you think, I'll sod it. I'll leave it to the supercomputers. Exactly, Peter. But France are, and will be, you would think, a force to be reckoned with, Jim Campbell.

51:23Massively. Yeah, I mean, they're among the favourites for good reasons. They are... The squad is terrifying. Yeah, it is. When you look at it, it is absolutely terrifying. It's so, so stacked with talent. And yet, North and I were quite good last night against them, I thought. They got a goal. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's fair. But again, it's early days, isn't it? Once you actually get out there and the true competition starts and the true spirit of that is among the teams, then it's very, very different. What I think is interesting, Jim, is if you're a hater of France, which I think you're kind of contractually obliged to be if you're an Englishman at the moment, Sure.

51:53It's interesting they're playing Senegal first and they played Senegal first in 2002 and they got beaten. They did. And also Senegal are a really, really good team at the moment. And Norway are good. Yeah.

52:02Luke Moore: Well, that's the thing with France. They are going to have to turn up right from the off. Yeah. You know, you think about Spain in their group, you know, they've got Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde, which is, let's be honest, a much softer start. It is. A soft soaping. Yeah, exactly. Than France. And also you look at the talent in that team. But then you look at Didier Deschamps and how he's had them playing in the last few tournaments. It's been quite conservative, hasn't it? It doesn't always work out in the way you expect when you have all these superstars in a team together. So this group is fascinating, actually.

52:33Luke Moore: Yeah, I mean, in the last Euros, they were a little bit disappointing, France. I understand that they went to the semi-final, but they didn't particularly inspire. Spain were the side. They were absolutely brilliant, of course, in the last Euros. and it was a relatively sort of rare display from a team who was so good and so easy on the eye and inspired a lot that, you know, they obviously went on to win the tournament. Often teams that win tournaments, it is a bit of a war of attrition sometimes, and especially with this World Cup, with that extra game. Yeah. You know, and the travel involved and so on, that you would think that.

53:08Luke Moore: But Spain themselves, I think it does help that they have, as I said, relatively straightforward start, you would think, in a World Cup because Lamin-Yemal and Nico Williams are still coming back from injury. They're on track to play in the opening game against Cape Verde. Why are they doing that? Well, they're on track, but would you not be pretty happy to let them have a little rest there? Shut up, guys. Yeah, well, exactly, Peter. And there's chat that Victor Munoz is going to play a big part and he could have a breakthrough tournament. as well. He seems a really exciting attacking kind of winger.

53:45Really quick, strong. So that'll be exciting. I mean, one of the things about the World Cup which is super exciting is you get these breakthrough players, right? These players who can't make themselves household names normally get a big move to Chelsea afterwards for loads of money more than they're worth. Well,

53:58Luke Moore: we know Rio and Glemo is not going to be one of them. that's true. Sorry, Munoz is on Newcastle's radar apparently. Interesting. That's going to cost you. Well, he's at Osasuna at the moment. So, I mean, you can't imagine his contract That would be gigantic. Now, gentlemen, how about this? You mentioned Norway. They're in a group with France. There's been a war of words between Norway and Scotland after Scotland cancelled their training ground friendly at short notice. Starla Solbachen called Steve Clarke unprofessional for not fulfilling the fixture. He told a Norwegian broadcaster, it was at least as surprising to me, and it is unprofessional of Scotland.

54:39Luke Moore: It's unprofessional that the coach has not called me, that they use the team manager and call and say it after we have finished training. I don't think the injuries they're blaming came from the last training session. That's not the case. It's disappointing. It's unprofessional, but we have to live with that. That's why we adjusted a bit in the game. Do you know what? Breda Hangeland, who's a former Fulham defender, of course, who's the Norway team manager, he said, we've been working on this match for many months. I saw that. Really? It's embarrassing to cancel it a couple of days before. A behind closed doors friendly against Scotland.

55:09We've been working on it for months, have you really?

55:11Luke Moore: We've been looking at their penalty techniques. Everything. Come on, man. He's pissed off. Yeah, he is. I mean, I guess that's part of your, it's all corded into your plans, I suppose. It's a mind game, though. It's a lovely mind game. Scotland think they're going to get him in the final. Because you might be trying something out that you don't want everyone else to see, I suppose, isn't it? Against a competitive side. Yeah, no, I do take them. I don't think they've been planning for specifically Scotland as to how are we going to stop John McGinn. I think it is, as you say, Peter, this was taken into account in our preparation.

55:42Luke Moore: And so it is a bit annoying. Maybe Scotland, because they've had a couple of decent results. They're like, I don't want this on our record. We all want to face Heartland. No, exactly. No way. Well, they saw the photos of them all dressed as the Vikings. Yeah, all right. Well, according to the website for the Palace Theatre in Greensboro, where Norway are based, there is an intimate evening with Leanne Rimes on soon. Oh, you can do that. Leanne Rimes, that's lovely. Yeah. They're still the one. They are still the one. Can I fight the moonlight? That was Leon Rimes. Oh, you're still the ones, not Leon Rimes, is it?

56:12I don't know. You don't. Shania Twain. Shania Twain.

56:16Luke Moore: I really like that one. Oh, that was Buster Rimes. Anyway. In my head. Leon Rimes is his sister. I've got that, yeah. Yeah. Anyway, let's talk about some of the minnows of the World Cup. England again. Yeah. We spoke. The little sea slugs. Yeah, we spoke. Don't call them minnows. Call them slugs. Okay. Absolute slugs. Lambs to the slaughter. We spoke about Curacao on Friday. They are ranked bottom of the supercomputer's list of nations to win the World Cup. I'll have a little quid on them. Dick Avocat will become the oldest manager in World Cup history at 78. It's a World Cup for the oldies. It is actually, isn't it?

56:56I told you before, a video interview I saw with him recently, he looks great. He's a massive Dutch Buddha. It just looks amazing. I'd love to have seen him do it with his top off.

57:04Luke Moore: It's a shame that they're in a really tough group. Yeah, it is. Because obviously they've got Germany, Ecuador. Ecuador are a little bit like Norway. The hipsters are talking about Ecuador a bit. Defensively very, very sound, aren't they, Ecuador? But I mean, come on. Curaçao are going to be the tough group, whatever group they're in. Yeah, it's Curaçao. Imagine me a group where Curaçao don't find it tough. I'm gutted for them. Oh, yeah. But it is great to have Dick Havocat back in there because obviously he left his post at Curaçao in February to care for his daughter, but then returned in May after a health improvement.

57:33Luke Moore: so that's a wonderful story all round and for him to be such a hero in Curaçao as he's getting them to the World Cup wonderful that he's back in the dugout but better news that his daughter's health has improved Dick Advocat's Curaçao makes me almost as excited as Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay yes he's been very good on the ice stuff and the border security stuff oh really Dick Advocat's Curaçao just sounds like a drinks cabinet or a cigar brand or something. I don't know what you mean. Well, Curacao kick off against Germany on Sunday. But big news. Big news. Leandro Bakun is in the squad. Maybe. The big news.

58:14Luke Moore: So I was a bit, I was feeling a bit down on Germany thinking, I know, they're not really sure. Big news though and I'm now a bit worried about them. Do you remember the German fan with the saxophone in the Euros? Yeah, he's back in there. You can forget. He's been flown out to the US. Have you seen the video? I have. It's some sort of like pool party where they've erected like a runway. more than the stage in the midterm. It is like MTV Spring Break. But it's like, you know, I don't know, like a band like U2 or something where they have the stage and it goes all the way out into the crowd. The boys had that on Friday.

58:43Luke Moore: There you go. At the Emirates. It's like the boys' own. And he was running around on it, wasn't he? He was. Soaking wet with his Germany shirt and his saxophone. He looked great. People can't get, he is like a mix between the Pied Piper and Pitbull. He's just incredible. And I thought at the time and two years ago in the summer he was the most important man in Europe. and I'll stand by that but he's there in the US I think it gives Germany a huge advantage yeah but then they've got the Goretzka man as well haven't they who's that there's a guy do you mean the guy the footballer he's in the team there's a man who follows around Leon Goretzka right where he goes and shouts Goretzka and he's Goretzka's biggest fan but Goretzka fucking hates him I'm not surprised and he always thinks he's getting away with it and there's always a shot of Goretzka getting off his bus and he goes and he hears it and he goes well look that blind box that followed Gooty around yeah that was weird wasn't it or those Velociraptors with Michael Bublé although Bublé I think is unaware of that isn't he they're very sneaky he'd be frightened wouldn't he I tell you what for years those raptors have been stalking him I'm worried for him now in that opening ceremony because they're staving it for the big stage they're going to bang I'm worried what songs Bublé's going to do because he's a Christmas guy let me tell you something he's a Christmas guy if Bublé if Bublé could do the funniest joke of all time if he's on stage and people dressed as raptors going to set about him come on finally they're doing Only you and I would find funny.

1:00:00It's a very niche Tumblr blog that no one else read apart from us. No one else even knows it. All right. I would agree it would be great. Yeah, right. There you go. It'd be brilliant.

1:00:11Luke Moore: Right. Now, Dr. Congo. He is at the World Cup and has got an advantage. Dr. Congo has a huge advantage as well. Do you remember... Do you remember the superfan, Michael Kuka Bumbuladinga? Yeah, he's great. who went viral at the Africa Cup of Nations because he always wears colourful suits and silently imitates a statue of revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba with one arm raised for the entire 90 minutes. So the former political leader of the country many years ago. And yeah, he basically dresses up as him. But it's the fact that he has that pose because there's a statue of him? There is, yeah.

1:00:53So has he got tickets for every Dr. Congo game? He's going to do this? Has to be, surely. Well, he's included in their delegation, isn't he? Is he really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has been included in the delegation, as Jim says, at the request of the players. That's great. Magnificent. How far does his... Can he play a set of witter? How far does his access go? Can they have him in the dugout if they want? Presumably if he's part of the delegation, maybe they can. Blocking a VAR with his hands.

1:01:18Luke Moore: If they really want to go to hold the full hog on this, they should. They should have footage of them taking him out like the boot of the coach. Yeah. And he's in pose and they have to like put him up there. You can't play him. You can't play a man whose hand for 90 minutes solid is going to be in an unnatural position. VAR is going to do it. Ask him for trouble. Ask him for trouble. I'll tell you what, I can't wait to see him. He's the new pop man. Oh yeah, for sure. He's the new bird man. He's the clipster. I think he's, the bird man is a bit special. Are we going to see the bird man? I mean, I think the Colombian bird man changes, doesn't he?

1:01:50I think it's sort of passed down from generation to generation. You're called to the role, are you? I think so.

1:01:56Luke Moore: I can't remember the last time we saw the Birdman. No, I can't either. A long time ago. We're going to see old Michel. Sorry, Michael. I anglicised his first name, Michel. I think this is great. I think that... I love the fact that, yes, of course he did it on, you'd say, the world stage with Africa Cup of Nations, but let's be honest, the World Cup, there's going to be more eyes on him. Their first game's against Portugal as well. That's a lovely fixture. I'd love to see him upstage Cristiano. That'd be so good. he'll be Cristiano will be almost as static as him you would think for most of it but then when a header comes his way I think he'll be there so that I think that's something that we've all got to look forward to absolutely because it's going to happen and it's the same group as Columbia by the way so we could see the Birdman versus this guy stand off I think you're right I think the Birdman might be a thing of the past but hopefully someone will resurrect it they've got to because the Birdman used to hang upside down off one of the tears that's amazing stuff he did he was being hung off one of the tears at one point upside down he was I want evidence run the tape he was I've seen him I always think of him as being upside down see now you're agreeing I was about to say is that the alibi you want no it's not I rest my case thank you for listening to the Football Ramble part of the ACR Scroated Network we'll be back tomorrow for our World Cup predictions subscribe to the Football Ramble wherever you are watching or listening so you do not miss it I'll tell you what I've got a big shout for these World Cup predictions it's not what you think we managed to get through a whole episode and we're hardly talking about England at all which is good of us I think they'll feature tomorrow won't happen again yeah thank you Luke Moore thank you thank you Jim Campbell thank you thank you Pete Donaldson thank you thank you super fan Michelle

1:03:39The Football Ramble is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network

1:03:49Hey there It's Wayfair here, where delivery and setup are as easy as a few taps on your phone. You're relaxing in an old hammock, scrolling Wayfair's app, when you spot it, a brand new patio set. Next thing you know, Wayfair delivers it right to your patio and sets it up. Oh, you need a new grill too? All right, Wayfair's got you covered. With Wayfair's room of choice delivery and fast expert setup on qualifying orders, life gets a little easier. Visit Wayfair.com or the Wayfair app. Wayfair, every style, every home. Tired of unexpected equipment failures eating into your production time? Manufacturing teams using MaintainX are seeing real results.

1:04:2633 % less unplanned downtime and 32 % lower maintenance costs. MaintainX puts real-time data in your technicians' hands, preventing breakdowns before they happen. Get up and running in just three weeks and join over 10 ,000 frontline teams maximizing their uptime with MaintainX. Start your free trial at maintainx.com. Thank you.