Manchester derby, Moldova’s misery and Zohran Mamdani – Football Weekly podcast

22:54Max Rushden:I guess he probably will or he'll feature at some point. So yeah, this is one of the more intriguing games of the weekend, I think. Yeah, I think Elliot's a brilliant signing. West Ham play Spurs, Seb. Tottenham had that disappointing game against Bournemouth where they were absolutely, they lost 1-0 but they were battered and were hopeless. And West Ham had that quite surprising win over Forest, those three late goals. And that was a huge win for Graham Potter. But like Nuno is now circling, isn't he? And you could just see him walking straight into for the London Stadium.

23:23Seb Hutchinson:Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it, if that ends up being the case. I did the Forrest-West Ham game and what I was impressed by, particularly from West Ham's point of view, was their defensive work. I thought they changed their shape. They went to four at the back. I think Wan-Bissaka came out, Walker-Peters came in and they had to soak up a bit of pressure from Forrest, but they dealt with it really. And as the game went on, the subs changed the game. Somerville came on, looked electric, considering how long he's been out. He looked a fantastic player and it's a player there missing. you know Kudus leaving and Paquitar and his celebration and it was a tricky one on the day because you don't know whether to make how big to make of that because it's still you know transfer deadline day the next day for Potter it felt like such a timely win but it's in front of the home supporters as well that they need to put on a display like that and pick up a few more wins I mean beating Spurs would be a fantastic thing but with so many links now with who might come in after Potter it's really uneasy period for him still despite that victory and Potter aside I think from West Ham's point of view to get that win on the board was massive because there were so many doubts people were looking the squad thinking is this squad good enough players were leaving they've just brought Fabianski back in which I think is quite a good thing because he's a popular player in the club and he's a player maybe just to settle everybody down going we have enough quality here not to be in a relegation battle he's 40 Fabianski um that's much older than I thought he was anyway you're going to be said but Burnley Liverpool aren't you yeah and the return to turf more because I didn't do Burnley at all last season and but then the seasons before I've been there quite a lot and it feels different now because obviously when company was there before they played that way that possession style but possession in their own half that often led to problems.

25:09Seb Hutchinson:Parker's team already in the first few games, they shipped a lot of chances against Manchester United. People said they were unfortunate to lose. I'm not so sure about that actually. I think Manchester United created enough to win that game comfortably on another day. But they are more direct. They are more in maybe the mould that helped them the last time they had a decent spell in the Premier League under Deitch. But again, I just worry about them getting enough points on the boards to survive ultimately in the Premier League. But they have one win under their belt and it was good to see all the promoter sides get that win.

25:43Seb Hutchinson:But hosting Liverpool, I think they're just not going to stop Liverpool from scoring. I'll lay that on the line. I think Liverpool now are third on the all-time Premier League list for consecutive games in which they've scored. I think they're on 37. Two behind Spurs, who were on 39 for a run between. I think it was 23-24. and I think Arsenal hold the record for 55 about, I don't know, 20 odd years ago. But you just feel that Liverpool are going to score in every game they play. And now they've got two of the most aesthetically pleasing forwards for me in Eketika and Isak. They're just players, when you see them live as well, the way they move, it's just nice to watch them play football.

26:21Seb Hutchinson:And it'd be nice to actually see Isak play some football, funnily enough, considering he only got a short amount of time for Sweden when they lost to Kosovo. So I doubt he would start at the weekend perhaps. And also the question mark is, do you play them together? I don't see how you can. Does it matter that Liverpool rotate them a little bit and that will help them over the course of the season because both very talented players. We don't have a huge amount of time to look ahead to all the other games because we heard every minute of Seb's goalkeeping career earlier. But I wonder, Paul and Baz, from those other fixtures, anything you wanted to pick out?

26:53Start with you, Baz.

26:55Max Rushden:Newcastle Wolves game is kind of interesting. Wolves lost their opening three games. Newcastle starting the post-Izac era officially. Who starts up front of them? I guess it'll be Nick Vultamedi because he's match fit and he's been playing. He played for Germany over the international break. Johan Wissler, I don't know how fit he is, so it'll be interesting to see how they get on. Newcastle, I guess, could be forgiven for having one eye on their match against Barcelona, which is a massive game for them on Thursday. And Anthony Gordon's suspended, so presumably Jacob Murphy will start. And Wolves have a terrible record at St.

27:39Max Rushden:James' Park. I think they've only won once in over 20 visits. But if Newcastle were to lose this, it would be three league defeats in a row at home, which isn't great. That's interesting, they're on Thursday, because next week is just Champions League across Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, isn't it? I just presumed it was Europa League on Thursday. Blimey. How do we do the pods, Barry? When do we do an extra one? Something to think about. We can talk about it on the live show tonight, can't we? Also, Brentford, Chelsea, Bournemouth, Brighton, Palace, Sunderland, Fulham, Leeds. Paul, do you want to pick any of those out?

28:13Fulham, Leeds, I think. I'm only going purely anecdotally on this, but I feel like when they play, it's always a really big goal fest when they play. I would love to trace that back. I bet it turns out they've all been nil-nil, but I feel like Fulham and Leeds is always quite an explosive game. And Leeds are terrible at travelling to London. Like, Leeds always tend to lose in London. And that's something they have to keep a little bit of an eye on because, obviously, this game has already got the feel of one of those that later on in the season, you look back and you're like, that was quite an important three points there for either one of the sides.

28:43Max Rushden:Just on Crystal Palace-Sunderland, the last time Sunderland played at Sailhurst Park, Sam Allardyce was in charge of Palace. and David Moyes was in charge of Sunderland, who won 4-0. Ah, interesting. Leeds 4, Fulham 3 in 2020, the 19th of September. There was a 3-2 in 2003 and in 1982. Leeds won 5-0 in 1968. Leeds lost, sorry, 6-1 in 1956. You see, these are the ones that are stuck in my head, Max. There's 68. Well, that's 68-1. That's a very 1956. It is. Slow scorey. Christmas Day 1920 they drew nil-nil but then they played again on the 27th of December and Fulham won that 1-0 Will that be on the players' minds Max?

29:33That's what I wonder And what was the XG? My XG stats only go back to 1921 sadly said Anyway that'll do for part 1 Part 2 Barry and I will interview the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City Zoran Mamdani

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30:40Welcome to part two of the Guardian Football Weekly. So, Barry, yes, the other day, maybe yesterday, we were approached by the Democratic nominee for New York City's mayor, Zoran Mamdani's people. Would we like to have him on Football Weekly? And we thought, sure, why not? Well, I thought, who is this guy? I've never heard of him. The great thing about that, Barry, and it's nice of you to admit it now, you didn't to his face, was you said in the WhatsApp, I'm fairly tuned in. And I was like, how are you? this guy's been on the news every day for months zeitgeist baz they call me um yeah well zoran

31:19Max Rushden:failed to make it onto my radar but i i did my uh due diligence ahead of the interview i'm ashamed to say i tried to stick up for fifa's dynamic pricing and i thought it was an interesting chat yeah and here it is we're joined by the democratic nominee for the mayor of new york City and a big Arsenal fan, Zoran Mamdani. Zoran, thanks so much for coming on. Very, very welcome. It's a real joy to be here. Not all guests say that. Look, before we get to whether you think Jokeres is a massive waste of money, we should probably ask you some serious questions. Now, look, it would be giving us too much credit to say we had the forethought to ask you for an interview.

32:00You approached us. You're a very busy man. Why on earth do you want to talk to me and Barry? To make very clear that the crisis of affordability is also one that impacts football and soccer fans across the world. And I'm running right now to be the mayor of New York City. We would be one of the host cities for the final next year. And today is the first day that presale tickets open up for purchase, or rather for the right to purchase. And what we're finding is that FIFA is engaging in dynamic pricing for the first time in its history. It's setting up a resale market that has no caps to resale prices, and it has no set aside allocations for local residents without any discount.

32:41And so we've put together a call and a demand on FIFA to put game over greed and to end dynamic pricing, to end this idea of a resale market with no caps and to finally put 15 % of its tickets aside for local residents. You say game over greed. Are you aware of FIFA? If I speak, I'll be in big trouble. It's interesting, you know, like Infantino will be in New York. I just wonder if you're a fan of Gianni. You know, I think I have long been quite troubled by how the supposed stewards of the game have opted for profit time and time again at the expense of the people that love this game. And I think what is stunning to me is these demands that we are putting forward, they're just demands that FIFA goes back to what it has done in previous World Cups.

33:36And yet what they are seeing with the World Cup here in the United States, Mexico and Canada is the prospect of increasing their revenues close to 400 % compared to what they were in Qatar. and it just boggles the mind that when we had the world cup in the united states last time you could buy a ticket for the final in today's dollars for less than 200 bucks and now they will sell tickets for more than six thousand dollars for that same final and it there's just no chance for so many who love this game so much to actually be able to go and see this of course i mean do you think fifa will listen look i think that if you don't ask you cannot win and and i think that they announced this recently in a quiet press conference with uh with with media availability and i think there's still so many people who have not even heard of an affront to the game and i'm hopeful just in the last few hours since we've launched this thousands of people have added their names and we're going to keep making the case zorn i

34:36Max Rushden:feel kind of dirty doing this but i'm going to attempt to mount a defense for fifa how could For an event like the World Cup, yes. I'll have a bath afterwards, don't worry. For an event like the World Cup where demand for tickets massively outstrips supply, tickets are inevitably going to be sold for much, much higher prices on the secondary market. So why shouldn't FIFA get that extra money instead of it going to StubHub or Vivid Seats or some other broker? You know, I just think of what FIFA is doing in Mexico, where they're setting up a resale market with a cap on the price that that resale can be.

35:20And if you look at scalping, and then your only answer is that FIFA must become the scalper themselves, it misses the problem, which is that we should have a venue where the encouragement is to resell the ticket at its actual value, as opposed to a place where not only does someone, you know, or oftentimes a buyer, make that profit, that then FIFA also gets in on it too. And my concern is that this also has a real impact on the potential for the atmosphere of the World Cup and just how many fans will actually be there. Because so often the people who get the tickets quickest are not the ones who are actually the most eager to be there.

35:58They're the ones who are the most excited at the prospect of a profit. On the subject of fans being there, are you concerned, and we're worried about this with the Club World Cup, I don't know if we really saw it, but are you worried about ice you know being at grounds are you worried about you know there are travel bans for certain countries players staff fans from around the world being able to get in to new york city and the united states i am i am and i think that it's it's an affront to both the history of this tournament and also what so many of us love about soccer is this being the world's game and yet I have heard from so many already who are terrified of the prospect of being in public life during the World Cup.

36:44And you can see that even now in New York City, where so often we measure this just in the statistics of arrests that are taking place of six-year-old children that are being detained and deported from a middle school in Queens. But also you can see it in the hollowing out of immigrant neighborhoods across our city. And this must be an opportunity for us to make it clear that the world is welcome here in this city and that the values, the tradition, the laws of the city are at odds with the Trump administration's approach to immigration. I mean, there's a chance if you become mayor that there'll be a game where you're sat with Donald Trump on one side and Gianni on the other.

37:21Would that be a pleasurable place for you to watch a football match? It'll be a place where I will make the case once and again for the working class New Yorkers that they're leaving behind. And we've seen Donald Trump be booed at the US Open in New York. How do you think he'll be received at the World Cup? Similarly, there's no amount of censorship that can quiet the actual response of people when they see this president in person, because we're talking about someone who is already attacking the very fabric of life in this city. And I am a lifelong soccer fan. I went to the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

38:00I remember how much I enjoyed that experience in and out of the stadium, with the exception I was I watched the Ghana-Uruguay game, and that was one of the first times I cried in public. Luis Suarez. Anyway, I won't say any more about him about that moment. But the experience of being a fan and how we were welcomed into not only this country, but just life as it was. and a fear that if we are not serious about ensuring that is the same for so many who come here, that they will have a fundamentally different experience if they have one at all. Politicians are notoriously terrible at talking about sport or sort of making up the fact that they like it.

38:40But you are an Arsenal fan. I mean, I don't mind footballers being decades younger than me. Politicians is a blow. You're 33, I think, born in 91. Brian Adams was number one here. I mean, he was number one for 20 years. That's fine. So I'm working it out. an Arsenal fan. Tell us why you're an Arsenal fan. And like the Invincibles must have been when you were about 12 or 13. That is peak. I love football years. Those were, you know, I had them as magnets on my fridge. My uncle introduced me to Arsenal. And, you know, I was born in Uganda in East Africa. And Arsene Wenger was one of the first coaches to bring in a number of African players into the team and and some of my early memories are memories of of of kanu of lauren of kolo toure of emmanuel labue alex song and i would say that arsenal although this is a contested uh point is the most popular team in uganda and and growing up it has been a real part of of just my life and my identity and also my willingness to eternally believe in that this is the year and this is the

39:46Max Rushden:season and did you have that same opinion last season and the season before zora yes yes i did oh well you're a bona fide arsenal fan then no one can doubt your credentials god it has there have been many trials and tribulations but it's a good it's a good preparation for being a democratic socialist so arsenal arsenal prepared me well sure i mean there is a danger obviously that you know making some sort of joke about them perennially coming second which is not something that you particularly want, I guess. No, it taught me about the anguish that comes with the perennial runner-up status. But we were proud to win the primary and we'll be proud still to defeat Andrew Cuomo once again in the general election.

40:32Yeah, sure. Why is it that, obviously I understand why Republicans aren't big fans of yours, but why is it that not every Democrat is behind you, do you think? You know, maybe they support dynamic pricing. I can tell you that there are an ever-growing number that are joining our campaign each and every day. And it's a campaign that started at 1%. Maybe if I had to characterize it in terms of a recent upset, maybe this is the Lester of the campaigns. You know, we won the primary by 13 points, and we did that by beating a former governor who not only did people know his name, but also his father's name, a real legacy of familiarity.

41:13And so I think there are still many that we are introducing ourselves to, but I'm excited to earn their support. Well, I would love Ranieri to be the mayor of New York. I've got to say that. That would be great.

41:24Max Rushden:Riyad Mahra, Amy Vardy. My knowledge of New York mayoral politics is not all it should be, but how big a deal would it be for you as a socialist? How big a deal would it be for the city if you get elected? There have been a number of socialist mayors prior to me, the most recent being David Dinkins, who was the mayor in the early 90s, who was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. And I think it would be a reflection of the fact that what New Yorkers want is a future of dignity, where they actually are able to enjoy life in this city with an understanding that it's city government's responsibility to deliver that which is necessary for them to live here.

42:06I mean, we're talking about the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the history of the world where one in four New Yorkers are living in poverty, where 500 ,000 kids are going to sleep hungry. I mean, the stark contrast of realities for so many New Yorkers is one that has really led to a hunger for a different kind of politics that puts working people first.

42:31Max Rushden:You're sitting in front of some campaign slogans, fast and free buses, childcare for all, freeze the rent. These are all very noble ambitions. And we're in London. We'd love to have all those here. But it's a pipe dream for us in London anyway. Is it the same in New York? No, you know, I think there were many that thought my campaign was a pipe dream at the beginning of it. You know, and from that 1 % winning by 13 points. But I will tell you, these are not just slogans. these are policies and commitments that the real question is whether you have the political will to deliver on. I mean, child care for all, it costs$25 ,000 a year on average now for a family to have child care for one child in New York City.

43:15Fast and free buses, it costs$2.90 to ride the bus in New York City. And even just that is out of reach for one in five New Yorkers. Freezing the rent, the mayor of New York City determines whether the rent will increase for more than two million New Yorkers who live in rent-stabilised apartments. Mayors have frozen the rent in the past. It's just that we haven't had one for a little bit under Eric Adams. So to me, it's a real question of just if you want to fight for these things. In the same way as it actually pertains to the World Cup, do you want to fight for a tournament that working people can be a part of, or do you just want it to be something where we are relegated to watching it on screen?

43:51These interviews are always very tight for time. So just finally, just on freeze for rent, approve the rent barry and i and football weekly we're planning to be in new york city for the whole world cup do you have a five bed house maybe brooklyn heights over we don't have to tell anyone about it just you could sort us out i think it'd be really good for us we'd talk you up during the campaign we've got a big new york office could you sort that you've got the wrong mayor if you want those deals but damn it vote republican i would love to see you guys when when when you come oh well um you say that now but we'll be knocking on your door i'm sure um uh Listen, good luck with the campaign.

44:26We obviously extend the invite to any of the mayoral candidates who'd like to come on Football Weekly. Good luck to Arsenal. But with my Spurs hat on, I don't really mean it. Thank you for your time. We really appreciate it. What do we think of Tottenham? I'm not answering that question. Thank you, Zoran. Thank you, guys. Truly, this was a pleasure. So that was our chat with Zoran Mamdani. As we said at the end of that, anyone else who is running for mayor of New York City, if you'd like to come on during an international break, you are very welcome. And that'll do for part two. Part three, Paul Watson's World of Football.

45:05Welcome to part three of the Guardian Football Weekly. Look, we're playing the Troxie tonight. So I don't know how many of you will listen to this and think, actually, I could buy a ticket if you haven't bought a ticket already. But there's still a top tier to fill, I believe. I'm not sure if it's totally full yet. So thanks to everyone who's bought a ticket and people who are going to negotiate the tube strike and still get to the Troxie. I think it's near an overland station, isn't it? So that is useful for everybody. And, yeah, we have big plans, and I think it'll be fun, Barry.

45:37Max Rushden:Well, as I said yesterday, no one will tell me what these plans are, so I'm convinced it'll be fun for everyone except me. You're coming, Paul, aren't you, for a bit? Yeah, yeah, I'm popping in. I'm popping in. I want to my idea would have been if there'd been nobody in the top tier I could have been the one person in the top tier like a sort of fan of a really tiny club it would have been quite a good bit wouldn't it that I could have my San Marino flag but no I think there might be other plans I'll be an impact sub I'll come on and do two minutes somewhere Perfect it's going to be live streamed so go to theguardian.com slash footballweeklylive and it'll be nice to see you whether in person or virtually where do you want to start Paul Venezuelan heartbreak Yeah Yeah, I felt very sad about this one.

46:20Venezuela are the only team in Commonwealth who've never qualified for a World Cup. And it is going to continue to be the case. They were basically, they were holding the spot for the Intercontinental Playoff, that seventh spot. And it capitulated in quite dramatic style. They lost to Colombia 6-3, which is a result you only really see in tennis. But they absolutely blew up and lost that one, Venezuela. So then all they needed was Bolivia to not do the unthinkable and beat Brazil. And Bolivia went and beat Brazil. But the key to this is Bolivia did something really clever that they've done with their international matches, that Bolivia is obviously at really high altitude.

46:58They used to be playing in La Paz, which is like relatively lower. It's like about 3 ,600 metres. It's still certainly high enough. They've moved their games to El Alto, which is 4 ,150 metres above sea level. What a name! What a name! Yeah, they're not being subtle about it either, are they? where are you playing your games the high well I did I mean I've told this story before but I was backpacking around Bolivia with there was about six lads we'd all met we were quite good footballers I was probably the oldest I was only about 30 and we played a team of Bolivian farmers on a mountainside and they were all over 60 and we couldn't breathe they absolutely battered us it was like it was insane you just couldn't after two steps you just couldn't move.

47:44Seb Hutchinson:Roy would say there's no excuses for that by the way. Roy would say no excuses. But I mean you're looking at the kind of altitude where obviously teams come in and do like special oxygen training with oxygen masks on and they're doing all this kind of crazy stuff or like anti-oxygen masks or like getting them so ready for it. But yeah it still works and this is really interesting because Bolivia have now secured this seventh spot. They'll go into the Intercontinental Playoff. They'll play two teams from CONCACAF, one from Africa, one from Asia and Oceania. That's New Caledonia. But it's an amazing thing.

48:19If you look at how big a factor this home advantage is, they lost all but one of their away games. And yet they still managed to make it through at this point. And in fact, between 1993 and 2024, they haven't won a single competitive game away from home. So it's like there's home advantage and then there's this. It's pretty crazy. and you do just have to feel for Venezuela because as I say, they've never qualified for a World Cup. This really felt like quite a good chance because even though they were only going to get that seventh spot, the intercontinental playoff is there for the taking. You'd think if you're in, if you're a South American side, you'd think you'd have a pretty good shot at that.

48:55So how does that playoff work? You have to, there's like a mini league between those teams or is it just a one-off game between they draw that? It's a little tournament in Mexico. Yeah, I think, I'm pretty sure it's in Mexico next year. I think it's in March next year. We might have to look that, Check that. But it's a little mini tournament. And yeah, I would think that the team coming in from South America is probably always going to be amongst the favourites for that. So Bolivia will still fancy their chances, but I don't think they'll be able to move it to La Paz or El Alto. Yeah. Just for context, what was that?

49:284 ,000 metres above sea level. The highest ground above sea level in English football is the Hawthorns, which is 168 metres above sea level.

49:38Max Rushden:I did see as well Ecuador beat Argentina at home. I had my annual bet on Ecuador, which is always nice. Make a few quid. Congratulations. Already qualified Argentina going to Ecuador. There's only going to be one winner there. Yeah, and there was a bit of that with Brazil. Brazil were qualified, obviously well qualified. But Ancelotti won't be delighted if they only finished fifth Brazil, which is not great. They're not massively blowing anyone away at the moment. But yeah, they were pretty demotivated going into that, I imagine. Let's talk about the Austrian sinkhole, which Barry was deeply unimpressed by.

50:14But it is still worth discussing because you don't often get a sinkhole at a football match. Yes, Barry.

50:19Max Rushden:I saw a headline, a football match had been interrupted by a sinkhole. And, oh, this is interesting. And I'm fully expecting half the pitch and several players just have disappeared into some bottomless abyss. But no, it wasn't that good. Your standard for sinkholes is pretty high. I mean, it was weird. So it's about 75 minutes in, Austria against Cyprus. And just near the Austria box, there's just a hole in the pitch. And it was big enough, apparently, for a whole football to go inside it. So it's a pretty significant hole. And if you think in the context of these players running full tilt around that, it would potentially be a pretty career-ending injury there.

51:00Yeah, the game was stopped. This is in Linz at the Raifhausen Arena. They stopped the game, patched it up as best they could, finished it off Austria won it 2-1 the weird thing though is not just this one sinkhole it's a second Austrian sinkhole so in 2022 a completely different stadium in the game between Austria and Denmark and the Nations League at the Ernst Happel Stadium a really similar thing happened a little kind of sinkhole appeared in the pitch and so it's just weird this has happened in Austria twice like they have a sinkhole problem but the real highlight of the game for me was did you see Ralf Randic on his bike?

51:32Yes that's it so he's done his ankle or something so he cycles across the pitch yeah it just looked amazing so he cycled across the pitch for his halftime team talk like on an e-bike um it's a great look you could see everyone completely baffled but he's got um he's got this like ankle operation he's got to have so yeah he did the sensible thing and rode his bike across the pitch good if he was on a line bike and then halfway down the pitch that's when you know when sometimes you're on one and then it says oh you can't cycle on here it just stops working and then he's stuck in the center in a sinkhole and i guess like in the context of football if a football fits in the sinkhole that feels like it's big enough to be an issue for a football match i think i think when we're judging sinkholes barry wanted deaths you wanted players sucked into the abyss i know what you mean barry a sinkhole's not a sinkhole unless there's a lorry halfway in you're absolutely right um look we talked about norway beating moldova 11-1 but we didn't really talk about moldova losing 11-1 um what is the moldovan view of this yeah well there's a there's quite a quite a stunned reaction because um moldova actually haven't been doing that badly they actually only lost two of their 10 games in 2024 like they're generally on a fairly fairly good trajectory this one's hit them pretty hard uh i don't know if you saw this i don't know if you mentioned this before but the moldova goalkeeper christian alfram said that holland when he scored his five goals was coming up to him and apologizing as he picked the ball out of the net.

52:56He was saying, he apparently said, he was apologising to me for rushing because obviously they were keen to rack up to make goals as they could. And apparently every time he got the ball out of the goal, Holden was like, it's not your fault, mate. So the goalkeeper, I think, wishes it away. Roy Keane wasn't saying that to Seb, was he? No, he was not. But the real victims, obviously, are Italy because this now takes the goal difference pretty much unassailable. So if Norway beat Israel and Estonia, they then play Italy but Italy can't overtake them even I think they'd have to rack up something crazy at 20 goals so but in Moldova yeah the coach is I don't think sacked yet Sergei Klushenko he I don't believe resigned afterwards I don't think he's been sacked yet but there is a countdown clock the press are running a countdown clock until he resigns.

53:42Does it have 12 or is it a special 11 hour clock? It's like the doomsday clock it's like one minute till for my money he was the most miserable looking man I've ever seen at that game, Klesenko. But he also looks a bit like Bob Mortimer. Okay. I would urge people to have a look at this. I think he looks enough like Mortimer for there to have to be questioned. Listen, if Bob Mortimer became the manager of Moldova, I would change my allegiance almost immediately, I would say. Let's talk about Cape Verde, beat Cameroon 1-0. They did. And this is a massive, massive win. They are now four points clear two games left they just need one win and they qualify and they've still got to play e swatini who have one of the longest winless runs in international football so they are one foot in the world cup cape verde and that will be their first world cup they'll be the second smallest nation by population to ever make it uh to a world cup the the goal which i think i've seen i've seen a lot about the goal and it all revolves about uh onana so livramento from cape verde Dele on Livramento gets the ball and runs a full 50 yards with it you know it's a massive massive run and Onana just kind of shelters on his line he just doesn't make any move at all and the ball's like lashed past him and obviously Onana's taken a lot of stick for this like it's it wasn't good goalkeeping it wasn't confident goalkeeping he made it pretty easy but I think you also have to look at the fact that that he was allowed to run 50 yards before he put the ball in the net I don't think it was a you know it's been referred to as a blunder I think I saw it referred to by Onana A blunder is when you don't catch a cross and you drop the ball on someone's foot.

55:17A blunder isn't someone runs 50 yards and blasts the ball past you, but you should have come out and made it harder. No, I agree. And look, he has some blunders that he can look at without wanting to add to the Anana pile. So no, that's not a blunder. Yes, it's a blunder. In the post-match. Yeah, he stopped in the mix zone to say, no, no, no, no, no. Let me show you a blunder. Anything else, Paul, that you want to tell us about? Yeah, Jamaica won the Steve McLaren-Dwight York battle. Jamaica beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0. Big resolve for Steve McLaren, going to ease things for him. Jamaica have taken charge of that group.

55:54Dwight York, on the other hand, is in a bit of trouble. They didn't do well at the Gold Cup. There were also some players who broke curfew at the Gold Cup and went out having a lot of fun, and that caused some trouble in the press. So there's a feeling Dwight York is not particularly popular. Also, he's been paid a fortune. But this game had a slight other thing, that Dwight York applied to the Jamaica job before Steve McLaren got it. So it was a real big moment for Steve McLaren. I actually did a bit of ear cupping for that one. Seb, you mentioned in the WhatsApp group that the sheep had their second shearing yesterday.

56:26This was very excited. How did it go? How are they?

56:30Seb Hutchinson:Well, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing, but the shearer, Danny, brought two other helpers with her this time. So last time I was helping her. Oh, yes, of course. Yeah, the second time round, I thought, I cannot get this man involved in this process. I don't know what I did wrong. Oh, right. So you're now more like a sort of director of shearing. Honestly, I was off painting a bench somewhere else, you know, wood preserver or something. Right. But yeah, I just basically moved away from the air and let her get on with it, her and It's interesting that you would shear them at the end of the summer.

57:01Like they sort of needed to be sheared two months ago and now they need a woolly jacket.

57:06Seb Hutchinson:it well i'm glad you asked because their their fleece grows so quickly this breed of sheep that they do need it done twice a year which is obviously inconvenient from a point of view having to do it twice a year but it grows so far so so we know the coldest months in britain really are you know january late december january and february so by the time we reach december their coat will be thick enough to protect them and it will be at its thickest in february january february And did Danny Shearer bring Alan and Duncan Shearer? Yeah, I don't know. Danny Shearer feels like somebody should be playing for England under-17s now, but they were very efficient, far quicker than us doing it earlier this year.

57:47Seb Hutchinson:And I think the template has been set for future Shears. I love Max coming in with his Shearing opinions as well. It must be what it's like to be an international football manager and have someone go, what do you plan for? Max coming in with Shearing a little bit late there, aren't you? there's nothing I don't know about sheep shearing. Let's finish with this from Tommy. He says, hey, on Saturday, the 13th of September, I will be marrying the love of my life, Grace, in Derry, which will be followed by a literal piss up in a brewery, he says. We've been going out for eight and a half years, almost exactly half of the time I've been in a relationship with Barry and the Football Weekly podcast in all its many forms, all the way back to Euro 2008 with Jimbo and Barry in their house chair.

58:28It's been a staple in my life ever since, going with me on walks, car journeys, housework, and when I was supposed to be doing actual work as well. It's got me in trouble with Grace as I moved around the house chuckling to myself with one earphone in and getting stern looks for not making both ears available to her at all times. So now I have to listen to you all on loudspeaker, and Grace now enjoys hearing the latest musings of Dar O 'Brien. Brackets, Barry. I would absolutely love a shout-out and an excoriating comment on the institution of marriage from the man himself. Grace is a period drama book nerd from Newry.

58:58Are you taking notes, Barry? And I am a Liverpool-supporting computer nerd from Derry. She doesn't enjoy football herself, but loves watching Mo Ridiculous over-the-top reactions to the action on screen and loves Mo Salah because he pulls his sleeves over his hands. I can't wait for Saturday and spending the rest of my life with Grace and hope that Barry and the Football Weekly gang remain as another slightly less important constant in my life. Tommy.

59:21Max Rushden:Well, I think Tommy's been very fickle there that he's getting married and immediately going to put us on the back burner. But it's a very Northern Irish wedding. I hope they have a lovely marriage I don't know why personally you'd bother after eight and a half years if it ain't broke don't fix it but maybe Grace put some pressure on Tommy because she certainly seems to wear the trousers in that household from what I can tell just from that email but yeah I wish them a lovely day and every happiness Yeah good luck to you both and thanks for listening and thanks to everyone who is listening And Grace would be interesting to know that I'm wearing a hoodie that has little thumb holes in the cups.

1:00:07Max Rushden:So I've got my sleeves over my hands Salah style as well. It's not too late, Grace. Ditch Tommy. The similarities between you and Mo Salah are unending, aren't they, Barry? Anyway, that'll do for today. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, Seb. Thank you. Thanks, Paul. Thank you. Thanks, Barry. Thank you. See you at the live show tonight. and if you're listening after the live show and you came to the live show, thanks for coming to the live show. Football Weekly is produced by Silas Gray and Joel Grove. Our executive producer is Phil Maynard.

1:00:49Seb Hutchinson:This is The Guardian.