Brad Friedel Unpacks USMNT's Goalkeeping Legacy - VAMOS with Herc Gomez 07/17/25, Presented by Michelob Ultra

18:47Brad Friedel:You train Friday, play on Saturday. You didn't have a charter flight back. So you stayed the night. So then that Sunday where we're not doing anything is not deemed as a day off. So then you land back in Boston and then like, really you had to give Monday off because to adhere to the, the players union rules. And if you had a midweek game, you couldn't give a day off. I don't know if it's different now, but one day off every 11 days, something like that. So it was like all these things. I was like, wait a second. I'll never punish a player for or punish a team. Like you lose a game and I'm going to bring them in and run.

19:23Brad Friedel:I never did that. I could have compromised. I don't know. Sometimes maybe I'm too stubborn for my own good.

19:27Herc Gomez:No, but you're right on the mentality. I learned this very quickly when I went abroad. When I get to a new team and majority of guys won't speak to you because you're taking somebody's position, you have to earn the respect until they pass you the ball. you see a 17 year old who comes from colombia and he's the head of the household for 17 people that now have come with them their well-being depends on him you know making the match day roster or him doing well and what that future can look like you you learn pretty quickly there's a saying you got the like a pirate the knife in between your teeth you're ready to fight type of deal you have to earn your spot and unfortunately there are some scenarios not all but there are There's some very good cultures in Major League Soccer, but the vast majority where it's not that.

20:12Herc Gomez:It's not you have to keep fighting to earn your place. It's not that you can go out and you'll be recognized, but you won't be criticized. You can have a beer with your friends midweek, and that's not going to affect you. You won't be on the tabloids. You won't be in the papers. You won't be in the news. There's a learning process there.

20:27Brad Friedel:That's the biggest one is the criticizing. So I'm really glad I didn't play in an era, well, the last four years of social media. These players today have to deal with an added evolution of media on social media that I never had to. You could make a mistake on a Saturday, even in the Premier League. If you weren't the featured game on Match of the Day, it would be like a little blip. Then they did that Sky Sports News every 30 minutes the next day feed. So by Sunday evening, it was over, right? So you just don't watch TV. Don't read the newspaper. or get back to training, go, don't make the mistake again.

21:08Brad Friedel:And it was between you, your teammates and the coach. There you go. Today you have, you know, I remember Matt Turner going to Arsenal and he, you know, obviously wasn't the number one, but he was getting a run of games. I think it was the Europa League at the time. And he made a mistake away against Sporting Livingston, I think. And the abuse that he got in social media. Yeah. I mean, this is his first mistake for the club. it was after probably six or seven appearances, Arsenal were going well in the league. This is when everything's happy. And boom, he got hit probably like he's never been hit before in his life.

21:48Brad Friedel:And those are the things that when people ask the development and things like that, we have good players in the United States. But when you make a mistake and you get just hit over the head by hundreds of thousands of people or tens of thousands of people or even thousands of people, depending on the size of the club you're at. That's that's mentality. That's how you deal with that. That's the hardest thing for the American players nowadays, because you can make a mistake in MLS and even the largest supported clubs, you know, are more along the lines of we still love you kind of thing. There'll be one or two that give you a little bit of abuse.

22:29Brad Friedel:It's more of a, you know, we love you at the club, which is cool. You know, don't get me wrong. But people ask where that mentality difference is. I think that is more of where it is. You mentioned the locker room. That definitely is in there, that mentality issue. But then it's how much criticism you get for really not a lot.

22:50Herc Gomez:You played for some national teams that were, one, very likable and, two, mentally tough. And they came from the same domestic backgrounds. my generation was likable and also mentally tough like it was the american mentality was what we were known for you were spirited you fought for each other you were tight defensively you played in transition set pieces all these things of the past and here we have the most progressive player pool that the u.s men's nation has ever had the golden generation because of where these players play at the club level their leagues and it they're not very likable with the general public most would say they're they're they're not mentally tough why why do you think that is

23:28Brad Friedel:The mental toughness, the likable are two separate answers for me. I think if you took away all social media, then the likability would be much more. Every single person, whether you're in the media or a fan, has their opinion. And it's an opinion within seconds. I mean, the game is still going on and the opinions are flying. Right. I never had that in my whole career. People could make their opinion watching it, but there was nowhere to post it. Exactly. Players are human beings. When you get abused by fans, let's just say for a month straight, your next post might be negative. Your next interview might be negative.

24:04Brad Friedel:You may not want and then you're not likable. But really what you're doing is you're you're trying to compute all the negative things that have been said about you. So you react and then you might react on social media. and and it just and it just snowballs into this unlikability you know i mean i like all these guys like uh serginio dust is a likable guy richard's like a guy ream's a likable guy tyler adams is a great guy like i don't know like wesley mckinney's a fun guy to be around and like josh sergeant's a likable guy all like these guys are likable guys so that that's my answer on that the mentality side of things but when you build some things up you sometimes have to break them down first to then build them back up.

24:48Brad Friedel:And when MLS first started, they had a decision to make on whether to start at the grassroots and build up or start at the top, move down and then have the grassroots sort of meet it in the middle. And they chose to start at the top and bringing in some names to help with the notoriety of the league. Then there came this cycle with where U.S. soccer was obviously in charge of the developmental academy. And when they were in charge of the developmental academy a lot of the clubs had to start telling players how good they were to keep them in their clubs so you have this like decade of players who were always told how good they're doing and how good they are and at the bare minimum you're a college scholarship and come with my club and you'll play this amount of time for about a decade and now that's changed a little bit, you know, but it's going to take time to build that ruthlessness up that they have at Boca Juniors River, that they have Galatasaray, Femme Bacha, that they have in Mexico, that they have in the Premier League.

25:52Brad Friedel:I think it's really unfair for people to compare still MLS and USL to the leagues out there because it's still so very new. Correct. The other thing on the mentality side of things, the American kids, and this is a glasses half full or glasses half empty answer. This isn't my answer. Just giving you the two things. There's so many things in America to do that if you do fail at playing soccer, it's okay. If you're in a favela in Brazil and you fail at soccer, what are you going to do?

26:31Herc Gomez:It's cultural.

26:32Brad Friedel:Yeah. So the other thing I always wondered to myself, I ask a lot of people, if you brought the best coach in the world into a club in the United States and put them in the youth, you know, are, will all those youth kids just love the game so much and you have the best athletes and the best everything and all 20 of those kids are going to turn pro? I'm not so sure. Do you know, like it, because they have to want to wake up and play with the ball, be with the ball, be outside, be like they have all these other things that they should want to do. It's still cultural. And I think we still have a few decades, unfortunately, a few decades of the kids really loving the game before soccer becomes a number one, two or three sport in the US.

27:15Brad Friedel:But it's okay where we are. We're growing. Like people want it now, today. And like, you know, unfortunately, like I might not be around when we get, you know, these clubs have hundreds, over hundreds of years of tradition.

27:29Herc Gomez:Yeah. Yeah, I always hear people say that the U.S. isn't a soccer country. I tend to push back on that. They're not a U.S. men's national team country. It's not an MLS country because you see the Club World Cup. You see that the 94 World Cup is still the highest grossing World Cup of all time. You see the amount of people who watch football in this country, but it's what they watch. It's not Major League Soccer. It's not necessarily the U.S. men's national team, but they consume it. And this is why it's such an important country for FIFA. They see that people consume it here. But you're right.

27:59Herc Gomez:that cultural aspect is going to take some time.

28:06Herc Gomez:Brett, I got to get your thoughts on Matt Turner. You unearthed Matt Turner. I don't want to say you discovered it, but you gave Matt Turner his opportunity. And Matt Turner from New England, very good goalkeeper, you know, to Europe, he made it. He desperately needed minutes. I mean, if there's anybody on the team that desperately needed minutes, it was Matt Turner. And he doesn't play in the Gold Cup. My colleagues at ESPN, Casey Keller, your former teammate, Shaka Hizlop, ex-Hammer and Trinidad and Tobago national team player. They've labeled this generation of goalkeepers the worst generation of American goalkeepers in its history.

28:38Herc Gomez:That used to be a position of importance, of strength for the U.S. men's nationally. There's one position you didn't have to worry about, Brad. It was a goalkeeper, the American goalkeeper. What has happened to the American goalkeeper?

28:49Brad Friedel:Mental toughness is one thing, but minutes is more. So if you go back to the competition that I had was mainly with three other guys. It was Jurgen Sommer and Casey Keller and Tony Miola. But what was one thing that we all had in common? We were all starters for our club teams. And when we weren't, when I wasn't at Liverpool, Casey played. When Casey wasn't after he left Leicester, then I played. Guys who are in form are the guys that are usually better. Or the guys that are playing for the club teams are usually ones in form and they're usually better. Matt's a great kid, great pro. He started everything a little bit late.

29:30Brad Friedel:I think 16 is when he started being a goalkeeper. I'm an incredibly good athlete. He's learned the downsides of the mental toughness. The first season I had him, he learned a bit as well, but in MLS as you know, you don't really get the crux of it until you get over there. I guess the one thing that I wish that, maybe it's representatives, Maybe it's whatever. I wish his move to Europe would have been to start, whether it was at a championship club, whether it was at a mid-Dutch club or mid-Belgian club. Forget about the money a little bit. You'd still be on good money, but play. Right. The other really gifted goalkeeper through the youth national team set up was Zach Steffen.

30:15Brad Friedel:And then he was getting better and better and better and better as he played with Columbus. Then he got his move. It's hard when it's Arsenal, when it's Man City to say no to the moves. But I think those moves stagnated their growth as goalkeepers because then they're just learning the negative side of it. you know you you're always a two you're not happy with the two sometimes a three sometimes not in squads and now social media is killing you then they're forgetting about you then you get your opportunity to go and then you're rusty and then it doesn't look like it's a hard thing to come out of and you know you saw matt and and i forget was it the switzerland game matt's a really really top level shot stopper yeah like there's one of the goals that came off of him and they tapped it in.

31:04Brad Friedel:That's not a normal Matt Turner mistake. He would normally hold that quite simple. That is his strength, is the sheer shot-stopping ability. And I really like the progress of Chris Brady and Schulte. Matt Fries, I called him into the national team the first time as well, to the U19s. If they do choose to move out of MLS, they've got to choose to move. Well, take myself and Tim Howard, for instance. I went to Liverpool, and when it became clear, I wasn't going to be the number one. I moved immediately. Now, I was a Liverpool supporter. Did I want to stay at Liverpool? You bet your ass I wanted to stay at Liverpool.

31:40Brad Friedel:But I wasn't playing. So I moved to Blackburn. Tim, when he got dropped at Man United, do you think he wanted to stay at Man United? Yes, I'm sure he did. But what did he do? He moved to Everton and had a great career. So it's like, but the common denominator was I was playing and Tim was playing.

31:57Herc Gomez:If Brad Friedel, the U.S. men's national team goalkeeping legend right now, had to give a power ranking just based on talent, his evaluation of talent at the goalkeeper position, who would be one, who would be two, who would be three?

32:08Brad Friedel:It's a shame that it's a hard answer. For me right now, there's really no out and out number one at this moment in time. I think if Zach has a good season and good camps, he could find himself in there because I know what his athleticism and quality can be. Unfortunate, he's had a few injury problems recently. If Matt can find himself minutes with Leon, I think that's where he's going to be going. But Matt could find himself in really good vein of form, and he could be the number one. I could see Chris Brady and Schulte and Freeze fighting it out as they're getting playing time to get themselves involved in that position.

32:45Brad Friedel:So there are kind of a lot of number one, twos, threes at the moment. I just don't have a... I would love to sit here as a former goalkeeper and say, that's the number one. But at this moment in time, Hercules, I don't.

33:01Herc Gomez:No, I think you're spot on. It's an open competition. I'd love to get your take on Major League Soccer today. I mean, Lionel Messi is Messi. It's the greatest footballer that's ever lived, and he's within Major League Soccer. What have you seen? Has Major League Soccer taken advantage of Messi and what he could do? Is there more that could be done? What's been your overall assessment of Messi and Major League Soccer?

33:22Brad Friedel:For Messi, coming here has been incredible. You know, at the time I spent in Florida, you know, you didn't really know, even in Miami, even though they were called Inter-Miami, that there was a team. You know, and not being disrespectful, that was more up in Fort Lauderdale where the stadium was. Correct. I mean, you come to Miami now and it's pink and black all over the place with Messi. So what he's done for the notoriety of the league has been incredible. His performances in the league have been very, very good. Very good. Excellent. He's one of the best. I'm not here to talk technically about Messi, but what he's done for the league has been very, very good.

33:57Brad Friedel:What am I concerned or anticipating? Like what after? So this league needs a television contract that props up the league. That's what the big sports have. That's what all the big leagues around the world have. I do not think that that's what they have with the Apple TV deal. I'm wondering what's going to happen. Like, you know, they went through this phase that they wanted all younger players to be able to sell more. And now we're back into the phase of signing name players, which I like both. I like a mix of both. Inter-Miami, individually, they may make money capitalized on Messi being here.

34:38Brad Friedel:But like the league overall, my belief is it still loses. USL will lose. USL Championship League One will lose money. So what happens with this promotion relegation? How does USL deal with that? Now, I'm looking now, not today. Like, I'm looking 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the road. One of my worries is if MLS doesn't get a big television contract, like, how many more franchise fees can you bring into a league? Right. And by the way, they got many people much more smart than me that are owners around the league. I'm sure they'll get together and figure out how to protect their investments. Okay, I'm not saying that.

35:20Brad Friedel:I'm wondering what it is. I'm not on the inside of it, but I'm trying to think of permutations myself. If the television contract isn't there, what then? Do they combine with USL? Do they have this promotion relegation altogether, or do they sign teams all the way up to where they have 40, and then everyone's put in the franchise fee and they split then and they have promotion relegation between MLS, like an MLS 1 and an MLS 2, they're going to have to devise some sort of a plan and they're going to have to get a television contract and real hard sponsorship cash involved to be able to keep propping it up.

35:57Brad Friedel:So for me, it's going to be really interesting to see, especially when I get into my retirement years, what they do.

36:04Herc Gomez:For those who are listening, Major League Soccer is in year three, I believe, of a 10 year deal,$2.5 billion. The problem with that, it's 250 per year, let's say. Major League Soccer is now a TV network. They produce those games. They produce them. Apple puts it on the platform. And listen, we all work in an era where it's a paywall, but this is a paywall behind a paywall and a product that is very niche when it comes to the world. It's big in America, Apple TV, but the rest of the world doesn't really get to see Messi. And that's a shame. When you leave the big boys like ESPN, Fox, do they end in Spanish?

36:37If you had Messi, I think it takes it to a whole

36:40Herc Gomez:nother level like you're talking about. So I agree with 100 % what you're saying. The TV deal is a major thing here on how to exploit or get the most out of Messi. And eventually, if he resigns, his contract is up. And I think a lot of Major League Soccer, not just into Miami, Major League Soccer itself hinges on keeping Messi within Major League Soccer for that 2026 World Cup and beyond.

37:00Brad Friedel:You should have a television contract, or this is the best world, you should have a television contract that covers your salary cap plus, and then you work to the budget of six of let's call it 65 to 72 % of your turnover. And then you have a healthy club and then you have a healthy league. Right now, the franchise fees go into the league, gets spread, sponsorship, some goes to the teams, some just goes to the league. The television contract doesn't cover the salary caps. So they've got to find something to be able to cover the salary caps. If they don't, I've yet to meet a billionaire who enjoys continuously losing money.

37:44Herc Gomez:Brad, you coached in this league in Major League Soccer. I was pleasantly surprised with what Inter-Miami did because I cover them weekly. I watch their games. I talk about Messi all the time. This is a team that, yes, they have Messi and they have Busquets and they have Jordi Alba and they have, you know, Ustadri and Mascherano. But there's five players nearing 40 years of age. And there's a rest of some players like, no offense to Fafa Pico, who's a very serviceable player, but not on those terms. And you can see Messi getting frustrated. There are a lot of holes on this team. I was probably surprised with how far they got and how they did it.

38:18Herc Gomez:No surprise that Messi was a big player for them. But then they play PSG. And they're getting embarrassed by PSG. PSG lets their foot off the gas, the pedal. And people are like, well, this is the problem with Major League Soccer is how can a team with a$6 million salary cap compete with the Champions League winners? It is what it is. Major League Soccer and these mechanisms. How difficult is that as a coach to come in and try to compete with the rest of the world? Forget the rest of the world. Mexico, Liga Mekis, who has historically dominated you in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. How difficult is that with these mechanisms?

38:50Brad Friedel:I mean, playing PSG, you're talking, I've watched them live three times in the Club World Cup. I didn't expect many teams other than your top boys to be able to compete against that. Atletico could, Inter could, you know, but look at what happened to Inter, a very, very good team in the Champions League final. That goes back to my early comment. You can't, I know you have Messi, but we're at Messi at the end of his career. Can't compare MLS to PSG right now. You can't compare them to the top Premier League sides. You can't. It just doesn't equate. You're talking the budgets that are in the hundreds of millions of euros and pounds and dollars.

39:36Brad Friedel:So to get through to the next round, et cetera, was a huge accomplishment.

39:41Herc Gomez:Yeah.

39:42Brad Friedel:Just leave it at that. Let the league grow.

39:45Herc Gomez:What about Liga Mackeys, Brad? Because I could fully understand you're not going to compete with PSG. Atletico Madrid didn't compete with them. Inter didn't compete. There are a lot of teams who won't compete. But I hear Don Garber, and Don's been very serviles for Major League Soccer. He's very respected, talking about being one of the best leagues in the world. They've not been the best league in CONCACAF. Like, what about competing within CONCACAF?

40:05Brad Friedel:I mean, I think Liga MX on a whole is still better on a whole when you look at the two leagues. I think, you know, you go down to the mentality. I think when somebody like me makes a comment like that, they go, what about that player? What about that player? I'm not talking about certain individual players. There's certain individual incredible players that play in the Egyptian League. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the entire mentality. Like if you were born and raised in Mexico, you are more than likely born and raised in football. Yeah. In soccer. That's your mentality. If you find yourself good enough, then you go in and you start going through the levels.

40:45Brad Friedel:If not, you love the team that your family supports. Yeah. That still is not the tradition in the United States. So right away, we have a little bit of a disadvantage with regards to the progression of soccer. However, we have an advantage of the progression in life because of all the other things that we can do. It's a generational thing. I don't know if we'll ever get it because of all the other things that we have to provide in the country like this. you know this might be where we're at you know and we grow MLS and we try to make MLS more competitive by bringing in the promotion relegation etc etc I mean there's some other permutations that you can bring with that the top end of the football business is is cutthroat and you know whenever I say to people like oh he's just he's like anti this or that whatever bitter or whatever he's the old retired players I'm not I love the progression of where MLS is I really do I think the players today in the national team are technically better players than what I grew up playing against.

41:44Brad Friedel:I firmly believe that. Of course. But there's not many U.S. players today that I see that had a mentality of a Joe Max Moore. Like he used to kill people. He was a goal scorer. He used to run through people. Like Ernie Stewart's mentality as a player. You know, now are guys better technically than these guys? Yes. But that's not technical ability is not all that makes a player.

42:09Herc Gomez:Each generation would be better, whether it's, you know, technical, physical. But it's very interesting that the mental aspect sometimes gets lost on these players. Brad, you're an absolute legend. Where are you going to be? Where can we find you? Tell the people where they can catch you.

42:23Brad Friedel:I mainly stay under the radar. I really do. Maybe I'll pop up at a club here soon. We'll see what happens. Well, we appreciate your time. Thank you so much, Brad. All right. You got it. See you. it.

42:36Herc Gomez:This is Shooting It Straight presented by Camarena, the most awarded tequila. The U.S. Men's National Team doesn't sell well in its own country. Mauricio Pochettino called out U.S. Men's National Team fans for not showing up during the Gold Cup, but his comments were tone deaf. He completely overlooked the financial strain people are facing and the fact that ticket prices were astronomically high to watch a second choice squad in a tournament few U.S. Men's National Team fans took seriously. They didn't turn their backs. The message was this wasn't our best. And those who still wanted to go were priced out.

43:04Herc Gomez:Now U.S. soccer and the American Outlaws are capping match tickets at$45 for the October games. It's not everything, but it's something. A step in the right direction. Let's be honest, this team hasn't been easy to root for. Post-World Cup drama between player and family members with a coach. Off-field tension this summer between the team's biggest star Christian Pulisic and Mauricio Pochettino. A growing disconnect with supporters. The vibe? It's unlikable. Moves like this are how you start to repair the damage. Trust isn't won back overnight, but making games affordable again, that's one of the first and most necessary steps in rebuilding that bond, especially with the 2026 World Cup around the corner.

43:39Herc Gomez:A step in the right direction for a team that desperately needs it. The U.S. men's national team doesn't sell, but moves like this, that'll definitely help. And I'm just shooting it straight.

43:56Herc Gomez:This is Drop the Bag, your ultimate sports betting guide. Whether you're a fan of any team in Major League Soccer, the Liga Mequis, or any other league around the globe, Vamos has you covered. Game number one, Saturday, July 19th. MLS, New York Red Bull versus Inter-Miami. And listen, Inter-Miami plays, I'm going to take them to win. especially if the prop bet is plus and it's plus 160. All right, Inter-Miami is going to play in New York, New Jersey against the Red Bulls at Sports Illustrated Stadium. And if you know anything about Inter-Miami, if you know anything about Messi, he loves to score goals.

44:33Herc Gomez:That's his kind of range. He's up against Joe Willis and he finds the net. Oh, this guy. Did we really expect anything else? Messi won Nashville nil. 56 goals to his name already in Inter Miami's all-time leading goal scorer by a mile. Second place, his friend Luis Suarez with 34 goals. Now Messi is convincing other friends to join him as well. Argentine journalist Gaston Edul reports that Rodrigo de Paul, that is correct, the Atletico Madrid midfielder. the world cup winner with an El Messi has agreed to join Inter Miami signing a four year deal now the bet is Inter Miami wins you're going to make some money it's plus 116 that's going to be a given for me already we've seen memorable moments from Messi against Red Bull in that stadium but the fact that the rich get richer adding a player like Rodrigo de Paul on a four year deal when they already have three DPs makes you wonder how they're going to do it I can only assume some Gareth Bell like contract like they had in LAFC where his first season he's a TAM player none of us believe Rodrigo DePaul is a TAM player but it's their way to get around it and certainly next year you're not going to see Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, or Lee Suarez as a DP but this year they fit him in as a TAM player and next year ADP.

46:00Herc Gomez:I don't know how they do it. I don't care how they do it. This is a great move for Inter-Miami, a great move for the league, and a move that may very well keep Messi around for years to come. Again, if you're interested in this prop bet, it's Inter-Miami to beat the New York Red Bulls. Straight up, in 90 minutes, plus 116, you will win. Game number two, Saturday, July 19th, MLS, LAFC versus LA Galaxy El Trapico. And we're taking double chance, LAFC or the Galaxy, to win and both teams to score at plus 125. These two teams play, they very rarely disappoint. High scoring affairs. LAFC is currently in the top six of the Western Conference and is plus 15 points ahead of the current MLS champions, the LA Galaxy, who are bottom of the table.

46:51Herc Gomez:They're playing again this Saturday at BMO Stadium in El Trafico to determine which team is the best team in Los Angeles. Out of the last 25 meetings between these two teams in Los Angeles, LAFC has won nine. While the Galaxy has won ten, six matches between them have ended in a draw. They average 4.28 goals per game. I repeat, 4.28 goals per game. And the both teams to score has occurred 84 % of the time. So pick a winner here and both teams to score. It doesn't matter if you're going for Tyrandolo's team or Greg Vanny's team. You're going to see fireworks. And again, the bet is double chance LAFC or the Galaxy to win and both teams to score at plus 125.

47:33Herc Gomez:Game number three, Saturday, July 19th, Liga MX Atlas versus Cruz Azul. And we are taking Cruz Azul to win and the total goals are over 1.5 at plus 130. Now, Cruz Azul, you're defending. CONCACAF Cup champions are visiting Estadio Jalisco this Saturday to face up against Atlas. Cruz Azul didn't start off so hot. Their last game, they tied 0-0 against Mazatlán in Mazatlán. Nicolás Larcamón, the new head coach of Cruz Azul, promised an attacking flair, promised something different than what they are used to. It was not so great. But do not fret. this team is stacked and they may even get better.

48:14Herc Gomez:Currently negotiating with Serie A striker Luka Jovic from AC Milan. But they are not alone in this novella because two other European clubs are also interested in the Serbian player. If Luka Jovic does accept the offer from Cruz Azul, that means that Giorgios Giacomakis may be free to go. The Greek sensation has an offer from Saudi club and would allow to free up a foreign player spot allowing Jovic to arrive. The winds are changing down to Liga MX. I don't know what to make of it when it comes to Jovic on this team. He was at one point a Real Madrid signing, a big signing. Now he makes his way to Liga MX.

48:51Herc Gomez:That's great news for Cruz Azul. I don't know what that means for Luka Jovic, but either way, I'm taking Cruz Azul to win and the total goal is at over 1.5 at plus 130. And finally, game number four, Sunday, July 20th, Liga MX campeón de campeones. Club América versus Toluca. Liga MX is pinning the last two champions in Mexico against each other. Club América, four-time finalists, three-time winners in the last two years against Toluca, the current champions of Liga MX. And we're taking, what else? Goals in this one. Total goals over 2.5 at plus 125. America and Toluca, the two most recent Liga MX champions, will face off with each other in the campeón de campeones next Sunday.

49:33Herc Gomez:July 20th at Dignity Health Sports Park in Los Angeles, California, the home of the LA Galaxy. Las Aguilas have a new striker who will try to replace the legendary Henry Martin, who's been at the club for seven years, earning multiple titles, and one of those being the league's top goal scorer for a couple seasons. Last Sunday, Club America officially announced a signing Colombian Jose Zuniga as a new forward reinforcement. La Pantera makes his way out of Cholos and on to Jardines' squad for the Super Cup match this Sunday against Toluca. Keep an eye on Brian Rodriguez, the Uruguayan right now.

50:06Herc Gomez:Will he leave to enter Miami? Will he go to Saudi Arabia? Qatar's in the mix as well. And on the other side of the pitch, Toluca under El Turco Mohamed. Well, they're looking to become back-to-back champions in Liga MX. Don't forget about Marcel Ruiz. Can he depart for England? There are rumors out there that Ipswich Town is interested in signing Toluca's talented midfielder, who also won the Gold Cup this summer with Mexico. Could be a reason why Toluca signed Argentine attacking midfielder Nicolás Castro from Spanish side Elche. My friends, if you parlay these four picks, a$10 bet, the odds are plus$2 ,400, plus$2 ,400.

50:39Herc Gomez:That means a$10 bet will net you a payout of$240. And remember, if you drop the bag, drop it responsibly.

50:50Herc Gomez:And with that, we come to an end of this episode of Vamos presented by Michelob Ultra, Superior Light Beer. Special thanks to my friend Brad Frito for joining us. great, insightful talk on really Mauricio Pochettino and the psyche behind Mauricio Pochettino and what we could expect between the fallout of Christian Pulisic, the U.S. men's national team, and all things we lived through this summer. Thanks a lot, Brad, the friend of the pod. Hope to see him again. Do not forget, if you have any thoughts, recommendations you'd like to share, send them my way. Comment or DM on my many social media platforms at HerculesG on Twitter, Instagram threads, TikTok, Blue Sky, all that good stuff.

51:25Herc Gomez:Do not miss an episode. You can catch up on all our previous episodes right here on the Men in Blazers Media Network. Vamos!