Clint Dempsey on USMNT 4-1 Paraguay: The Deuce, Presented by Allstate 06/13/26

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2:21for an emergency edition of juice after dark presented by all state how are we feeling this morning clint can i get a vibe check hey we're in dreamland i mean this is you could have asked for a better scenario you think about a checklist of what you want being a host country start of the game getting three points being top of the table your stars showing up the stadiums being packed and now the U.S. finally got that 12th man and I'm excited about the next game and us making a historical run I'm not gonna lie I'm a little hungover let's just say I had a number of rogelobes last night but Clint you look lively you look vivacious you look energized can you grade that performance out of 10, what would you give it?

3:0810. I mean, we'll say 9. The only thing that would make that better is we kept a clean sheet and Tyler Adams didn't pick up a yellow card. So 9.5. We'll give it a 9.5. We've got to heal that calf muscle, Christian. I'll give you my entire calves to save the nation. But it was as if in this performance, the entire squad screamed collectively. You don't know where we're from, dog, for the entire 90 minutes. Yeah, I mean, everybody stepped up. I mean, you know, it's a situation where, you know, you think maybe one or two guys need to have a great game. But I don't know if I've ever seen a starting 11 with so many players stepped up.

3:47It was great to see the energy from the crowd. They fed off of it and they just stayed on Paraguay the whole time. It was a great performance. Let's dig in. Seventh minute, the own goal, the opener, perfect opener. Pulisic, that chop back in midfield to start the move. That was a kind of chop and cut back that honestly reminded me of you speeding down that flank against Garneau in 2014. Those vibes. Yeah, I mean, you see the playhouse that started, the run from Weston McKinney and him chopping it behind his leg. Keep dribbling and find Christian. Then Christian setting up those two players that were marking him to split inside.

4:28And like you said, having that cut back, looking to find somebody. We talked about his link-up play and being more involved in giving it and trying to get it back. And what a play created by both of those players. Who played together since they were under 14. That's what I loved about this goal. that telepathy, that joy, that relationship between them being lived out on the greatest stage in the biggest moment. The own goal. I also love, I've got to be candid, Pulisic's roar that they showed as he celebrated that. I mean, you've been there. That's the face of a man who is on all of the commercials, all of the billboards, all of the pressure, all of the scrutiny during this back half season of doubt and in that second what did you say we saw hunger we saw focus we saw confidence honestly reminded me of you running away after scoring inside 29 seconds in 2014 what did you see did you relate in that moment yeah i mean look at the the send-off game especially against senegal with him getting the goal getting the assist feeling that weight lifted off of his shoulders that monkey off his back not scoring since 2024 and then it's like he's almost just free now.

5:42Clint, what was it though? I mean, you texted me in that moment. You wrote, finally, the good stuff. I mean, you and I have been watching this team in this cycle together, game after game after game. We have seen nothing like this under Poch. We have watched, honestly, some truly tough performances at times. How do you understand what happened last night? I don't like to be hyperbolic, but it was like the closest have come to watching a biblical miracle. It was such a great performance from so many different people. They did a great job of how they pressed. It made difficult for Paraguay to try to build out of the back, which helped them retain possession.

6:14And when they were in the attack and lost the ball, how they counter-pressed to get it back. The different movements that they had, you talk about from their outside backs, but also the deep runs for their midfield into the channels and creating those mismatches and getting into space and being able to cut back for other players. And then defensively, they were just solid. They kept a high back line, and their defense was really their press. Paraguay could not get in the rhythm. and we just never let our foot off the gas. I mean, second half, obviously, we conceded that goal is what you didn't want to have to see.

6:47You wanted to keep that clean sheet because we talked about 11 goals in the last four games, but there's so many positives to take away. We're not even going to talk about anything that's negative. You just laid out the tactical game plan, but there was also one of mentality. I mean, it is a fascinating part of this early story for the U.S. Potch saying he wanted his players to take the field and play with the joy of children. Those were his words. I mean, that was an important element that we saw, right? No pressure, just nutmegs, cutbacks. It was like swaggy streetball. Yeah, flicks. You know, I mean, before the game, I saw the players walk out.

7:21I was pitch side covering it. And I was able to, you know, see some of the players, dap them up, you know, say hello to them. And you could see there was no stress. Nobody was worried. Everybody was focused. Everybody was in good spirits. And that continued throughout the game. You saw them take that energy before the game into the game confident. And, hey, this team is dangerous. I don't think any team wants to play against them because of the 12th man that we have and the way in which they're playing, the creativity that we're seeing, and also the way that they work hard for each other. You know, it could be scary in terms of how far we could go.

7:58Yeah, I mean, I want to ask you that question, but I want to celebrate another human being who showed up. I love, by the way, the attitude you score an early goal. You can often lose focus, but the US kept coming. Polisic set up that second goal, as you say. The clinicality of the moment by Foller and Balogun. You know, last World Cup, we talked a lot together. 2022 cycle. Our team cried out for many things, but most of all, a confident goal scorer. Someone we could rely on. three years ago, Flo Balligan, a gent who, and I love this detail, was born almost accidentally in Brooklyn. Beautiful fate in life.

8:35His mother came over when she was heavily pregnant. He was delivered there. They moved back to London when I think he was just a couple of months old. Could have played for Nigeria. Could have played for England. Was an England Youth International. But he chose ultimately to ride with us. That 31st-minute finish, it showed why, huh? Yeah, for sure. I mean, we've been talking about it for a while. You've asked me, who do you think our main number nine is? And I've always said, I think it's Flo Bologen. I think he's just the complete striker. But let's not take away the other people that help facilitate that.

9:10And you talk about that first goal. What a great ball in from Anthony Robinson in a deep run from midfield from Christian. Because sometimes you've got to mix up who is the person that's going to stretch the field. and when he played that ball into the channel, Christian making the run and then the ability to get his head up and find Bolligan and then Bolligan does a great job of using the defender to shield his shot into the far post, 2-0 and now you can see we're starting to fly. You're starting to see that connection between Christian and Bolligan that we also talked about because if they have that, we're going to see fireworks and Bolligan needs to get more touches to get in a rhythm and you saw that in the Paraguay game.

9:50Yeah, the second goal was really pure potch ball ripped from old. And then Balogun's second goal on the cusp of halftime. The way Flo turned, Alderete, who's been excellent this season in the Premier League, turned him inside out, flicked him away, then smacked that ball with just emphatic roar into the corner. God, that must have felt good. But it felt so bloody good as a fan. We needed that one moment. We've talked about this the whole bloody time, Clint. We needed that one moment to make TikTok explode, to make whatever SportsCenter is now just scream USA. And this was the moment. No, for sure.

10:28I mean, you got to mix up how you stretch the field. And this time it was it was Balligan who stretched the field, who you normally would see doing that. But what a great ball in from Tillman. And you talk about the strength Balligan showed to put pressure on the defender, cut the ball back, shake the defender, push it to his left. Like I said, he's good with both feet. his first one with his right second one cuts to his left top bends i mean then then we're flying three nothing going into halftime you couldn't ask for a better result in the first world cup match and he's the first american to score uh you know multiple goals since 1930 which is incredible world cup it was tim reams debut game wasn't it 1930 i mean flo balligan that statistic mind i do think in that moment from an american cultural perspective a star is born i think so I mean, look, he's always had the talent.

11:20I think if we would have gone further in Copa America, you've gotten to see more of that. He had a really good goal in that tournament as well. So we're just seeing the evolution of this team and them finding more chemistry. And I just want to see more, right? It's one of those things you want to see. Can they keep doing it right? And we talked about the attendance leading into some of these friendly games. And, you know, now you finally got that 12th man. You finally inspired this country. That's what you needed to do to get off to a great start, to put yourself in a position to win the group, which is then going to give you the best chance to go further in the tournament.

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13:30It's going to be amazing. Come and be with us in person or from afar on YouTube and let's celebrate this summer the way it's meant to be celebrated. Just head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details. To the football, to more together. courage. You felt that, that circular flow between the fans to the players, the players raising their game, the fans raising their voices back and back and back. It was like waves crashing against each other. But there was so much poetry in the game. The last moment, Clint, perhaps the most humanly validating of all, an incredible spell of possession.

14:05I think it was 26 passes by the United States ending with the ball that Gio Reynos fought a late cameo for him. We know his narrative since 2022. It's really been a descent of some human agony. You know, the sprinkling of minutes for his club team, really a man lost in the wilderness since that last World Cup, floundering at times. But just looking him here, picking up that ball and deciding, you know what, I'm going to cap this with a moment of balletic wonder. The outside of the boot, Clint, the audacity to do that, striker to striker. How hard was that skill set? Yeah, I mean, I think people question whether or not his selection.

14:42I think you could see that in his celebration covering his ears. I've always said that he's just someone who's different when he puts on the national team jersey. He seems to take it to another level. And, you know, the goals and assists that he's done in big games speaks for itself. I also was surprised on the pitch side, seeing how actually big he was. Always from afar kind of looked like he was a smaller guy, but the closer you get up to him, he he's a he's kind of a a big guy athletic and look he took the goal really well to to do a Travella outside of his foot use the defender bend it far post and just say hey Pochettino like I want more minutes that's what you do and that's what I think you're starting to see with this team is people fighting for spots everything is just not given and he's chomping at the bit to try to replace Tillman in that midfield but I would say Tillman put in another great performance you have Pepe chopping up the bit.

15:38He got in. He had some good opportunities. It would have been nice to see him put one in the back of the net. But Gio, you know, really showing why he was selected. And you need people in games that maybe that can do something different. And that's what he showed you. Every single U.S. player I've spent time with in the last four months, Clint, you know, I've asked them about Gio. Like, how do they feel? You know, that he's not getting minutes, but he looks like he's in it. Every single one of them would just say, Gio can do things that no other American male can do. And he showed us that last night.

16:09You're a striker. The goals were beautiful to witness. Let me ask you this. Which U.S. goal did you look at and think was the best goal of the night? Was it Ballard in goal number two or was it Gio's finish? Oh, that is a tough one. I mean, it's definitely between those two. Sophie's choice, baby. yeah i mean i i can't choose between those you can't come on which would you rather having the clint highlight reel i mean honestly i think the balling balligan goal is just a little bit more impressive to me because his ability to to to fight off that first defender and then be able to beat another man and then to put it top corner with the is his left foot uh that that is truly amazing goal.

16:58Take nothing away from the 20-something pass buildup and the Travella from Gio with the outside of the right foot. But in terms of the difficulty and effort that went into scoring the goal, it has to go towards Balligan, in my opinion, because it showed another level. He scored one with his right. He scored one with his left. But also, he showed that he could create goals for himself. I know that Tillman put him into a dangerous position, but the work wasn't done. He still had to body off a defender. He still had to shake and beat another defender and push to his left foot and to finish. So that one just is a little bit, if one was a 9.5, then the other would be a 10.

17:42We're choosing between best and best is what you're saying. Yeah, exactly. In terms of the players, Tyler Adams, yellow card notwithstanding magnificent. I thought Malik Tillman was excellent. He was swarming all over the field, everywhere. Who else caught your eye on this team performance-wise? McKinney was awesome all over the field. Just a great job defensively and in the tech. I mean, there's so many players that you could just, that just played at a high level. Chris Richards, great to see him fit back, bolstering the back line. 83 passes out of 83 passes, incredible. Yeah, it is incredible.

18:17So, yeah, I mean, it's just too many names to count, man. But definitely that midfield, Tyler Adams, Tillman, and McKinney. if they play like that every game we'll be all right Christian and Balligan that connection that they had was was great to see Dest on the right Anthony on the left I mean there's just so many positives to take away from this game it's most of the time we're like searching for positives to like talk about after games yeah this have your pick you know it's like looking at a globe spinning and picking a country you want to travel that's that's how this situation is so many players to choose from so it's time for juice's one word match report i'm going to say a player's name just react tell us how you describe them in one word are you ready for this okay christian pelissette dangerous you're underselling him there balican lethal seginio dest creative giorena difference maker let's pull this together i've got to ask as good as a u.s were with swag filled we were sizzling how much of this was that paraguay were truly terrible the way in which the u.s played paraguay was not expecting it i think the press was something that they struggled to deal with they couldn't play out of it and when the u.s lost the ball the way that they counter pressed they never got in a rhythm they they couldn't get going so i think that threw them off with the speed of some of our players and the energy that they played the game with because of the crowd it was one of those situations where in a fight they couldn't get going because of how the u.s started so that's it ultimately we enforced our will there was a great comment on our youtube last night from at pronounced ty who commented i think quite presciently on youtube don't fill up on the bread basket people we will see but we have to say paraguay conceded i think it was 10 goals in 18 qualifiers the u.s blasted four in one game Our team looked well-drilled, synchronized, burst, passing, seamless movement.

20:24Mauricio Pochettino has told us all the time, trust the process, trust the process. Are we just saying, yes, that's warranted? Or do we need to see more evidence before we declare, like, let's lose our mind. The U.S. 2026 are what Morocco 2022 could be. Look, it's one game. The job's not done. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. I'm someone who's always, don't get too high, don't get too low. But you need to celebrate your victories. And that's what we're doing. We're enjoying the moment. We're enjoying the energy that we're getting from the crowd and the belief from our fan base. But still, there's a lot of work to be done.

21:03And you need to make sure that you put yourself in a position to win the group. And we're in a great position now, but we still have two big games to go. Australia's not going to be easy. It was a hard-fought match last time we played each other. We're going to need to be like what we were against Paraguay. And then we're going to need to change the stat of how we play against European competition. Raj, you're the one who told me we've not been able to win in our last nine meetings versus European side. So that is a stat we're going to need to change. And if you want to give yourself the easiest route through the way it was set up in terms of a first-place team playing a third-place team in the knockout stages, you need to win the group.

21:42I'm going to get to the Australia game in just one second, but where does this match rank for you in terms of the greatest U.S. group stage performances? I think it's right up there with how they played against Portugal in 2002. The way that they started that tournament is very similar to the way that this team has done yesterday. So, look, I hope we talked about what we wanted to see. We wanted to see a deep run like what we saw in 2002 get into the quarterfinals. And maybe that's a sign of things to come in terms of how we started. Because that to me, along with Portugal, is the two best performances I've seen in an opening match.

22:26We got to the semifinals in 1930. We do not talk about that enough as a nation. I found the scenes across America incredibly moving last night. Massive crowds in the streets in San Jose, California. in Connecticut, in Hartford, Columbus, Ohio. You've lived similar scenes, 2010, 2014. What does it do for players in the locker room, you know, coming off that field, an incredible performance, dream cut, and then looking at their phones after being in the shadows for so long, knowing suddenly a nation is waking up to their play, loving them, just surfing behind them. Yeah, I mean, they're riding the wave right now.

23:05I mean, you think of where we were after not qualifying in 2018. Then they did a great job of qualifying in 2022, a lot of these guys first World Cup. Then you see us kind of take a step back, being the first host country to not get out of the group in Copa America. Then you see us getting knocked out of the semifinal against Panama and CONCACAF Nations League. And then you see the attendance not really being there and they're not being that buzz and knowing what that feels like to play in empty stadiums or, you know, stadiums that are not at full capacity. They've talked about it. That has completely changed.

23:37Like, people are believing again. People wanted to believe again. Now they have a reason to pump their chest out and be proud of how their team performed because they gave them everything they want. They gave them excitement. They showed creativity. They showed fight. If they can keep doing that, America loves winners. They love getting behind people that will give their all. And I think the potential is there to do something that we've never done before. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. You have to put every performance in like what you saw against Paraguay. And you know you're going to have some situations where things are not going to go your way.

24:15You're not going to score on goal and you're not going to, you know, get on top of teams early. But if they go out and have that same mentality, press the way that they press, keep that high energy and play with no fear and still stay compact defensively. I mean, the sky's the limit. I mean, I love what you've just said. America loves winners. This was Nick's energy, right? Yeah, I mean, it was. I mean, in the sense of big stars are coming out to watch the games and you're seeing the fan base finally get back to the heights that they had, you know, in 2014 or 2002. And it's one of those things like when you have a home World Cup, there's nothing bigger.

24:58You think back to 94 and the buzz around that, and we're having that again. But to start the competition the way in which we did, I mean, that was a message sent to the world. That was a message sent to our fans. And Seattle's going to take it to another level. I know what it's like to be in Washington State. I know what it's like to watch the march to the match. And Seattle has their work cut out for them to stay with what we saw from L.A. But, hey, they're more than up to the task. I look forward to going out there and seeing the energy that they provide. And hopefully it'll be another memorable night.

25:31You and me, both you beautiful human being. I mean, this is Nick's energy. USA in eight. Chalamet is going to be courtside very soon. We're going to get Spite Lee out. Nothing can stop that. It was a massive night for U.S. soccer, Clint. We've talked about how this team has plummeted into the shadows. You know, Liverpool, massive. Arsenal, massive. Real Madrid, massive. U.S. men's national team falling off. If they can do this again and again, this is a moment when the men's team can really reclaim their spot in the pantheon. I mean, I think it's a moment that we're not going to wait every four years to see the needle move for the game of soccer in the States.

26:08I think it's only going to create more money to be dumped into our professional and domestic leagues, also into our youth development, but also every year being more excited about watching this team play like what we've seen from the women's side. So I'm looking forward to it. And it's so nice to be talking with you, Raj, and us being so hopeful again, because we've had some dark days where we've jumped on this podcast and we've been trying to build each other up, being each other's therapists. And now we don't have to do that anymore. We get to sit back, enjoy and cheer this team on. Oh, we're out of rehab now, Clinty.

26:46We are living. We are living the good stuff.

26:52By the way, I love what you said. Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the broadcast, he said last night, I don't know if it will become better than this. But you do, you think about the kids watching, being inspired. The thing you just said, the youth development, getting that right, that's it. We didn't fix youth development in America last night with that 4-1 win. But like, this is a moment, the inspiration across the nation, you project that forward. If we can correct that strategy, it can get better than this, can't it? It really can. It's all about being inspired. Like, I really didn't believe that I could be in a World Cup until I saw the 94 World Cup, went to a game, saw Germany versus South Korea at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Dallas, and then seeing our national team doing well and then having a team, your own country, being able to be confident and root for them.