Harry Kane propels England over Croatia and DR Congo "beat" Portugal 1-1 featuring Betty Glover: Night Cup 6/17/26

19:46Yeah, well, absolutely. Yeah, just trashing it. I was talking to a lot of the English fans, though, and they were saying that Harry Kane is the best striker in the world. So I think that rhetoric is starting to change now. I think people trust him and believe in him way more.

20:00Roger Bennett:But there's also, we have an instinct, I think, to criticise everyone for what they aren't. And for a while, that was true of Kane as well. I think it took us a long time as a country to understand that the guy who was scoring loads of goals was one of the best strikers in the world because he had this sort of slightly unusual journey to that status. He went out on, you must have seen the images of him on the bench at Leicester when he was 20. and I remember seeing him play for Millwall when he was on loan there and you sort of watched him and thought well this guy's he's gonna have a good career obviously but you didn't think he would be England captain and record goal scorer and I think it took us a long time to understand the scale of his talent and maybe it's only once he's gone to Germany, gone to Bayern Munich and started scoring in the Champions League regularly that we're sort of okay this is this is a different thing but again that might be tribal it might be that we can't appreciate someone who plays for Tottenham I think there's also something we want our footballers to have Riz We want footballers to have a aura.

20:51We want our footballers to stumble out of nightclubs at 3 o 'clock in the morning covered in their own upchuck. We don't just want that. We need that. That completes the pit. That's star quality. We don't want them to be humble. We don't want them to be completely dedicated to the game and their family. We don't want them to wear Skechers. What are you doing, man? What are you doing? Other shoes are available. I do agree, actually. Skechers are a big ick, aren't they? Aren't they? Yeah. They really are. I mean, God bless. chasing that sketch of sponsorship money. That's gone. That has gone. It's not there anymore.

21:23I'm going to be so annoyed in a year's time when you're like looking around in your sketches. I'll be like, looking at them, I'll be like, it's that day when we took out Harry Kane and I like pushed you under the bus. I mean, it's amazing. We do. We want Harry Kane to be like dangerous. And he's not. He's just dedicated to his craft. And I think that kind of does him in. This is a nice bit of like precursor to the foreshadowing of what occurred because he stepped up. And my God, a very odd stutter step. It was weak source, saveable height, arguably the worst penalty since Diana Ross's in 1994.

21:59Although I think that's actually doing Diana Ross dirty. It was in agony. You're melding immediately the last one. He ballooned over to this one. Your narrative is, oh, there's a fault, a World Cup fault, a lifeline. Now, goalkeeper fooled by the stutter was off his line. defender, I think it was Guardiola had also entered the box, so second time around. By the way, this is fascinating. Kane used a completely different technique. There was none of the stutter, there was none of the trying to see which way the keeper was going, put it the other way. It was just his old school, him defining what he was doing.

22:33Simpler, lethal. Incredible stat, Harry Kane has now scored the most penalties, excluding shootouts in FIFA World Cup history. It's the only way England could score though, isn't it? Do you know what I mean? So they get most of their goals from penalty stop.

22:46Roger Bennett:Set pieces. Set pieces. This was actually a penalty from a corner. Double set piece. Double set piece. Counts twice. Should count twice. England suddenly looked dangerous. Madweke, the out ball, always swaggering, always probing. But then, God, Diego Luna would have gone mental. Hydration break. It was like literally acted as a timeout. It was completely allowed Croatia to redefine. I don't know what you saw there, but it was like a completely different Croatia than the merge and not just a more hydrated one this is the thing with the hydration breaks okay and I don't want to be too overly negative because you know it is what it is but it does allow teams to reset and you know they can take three minutes and they can sort of work out what they're going to do and every time one team benefits from the hydration break every single time which you could say adds a different dimension to the game that's more interesting but I would agree with the great football sage Diego Luna, not that one, when he said last night that tiredness is part of the game.

23:47Roger Bennett:And that is true when you think about it. Suffering is part of the game. I loved it. Countries that speak Spanish and play football are obsessed with suffering. It's the definitive sort of Spanish language football verb. Almost like they don't really enjoy it. Anyway, football is a pleasure that hurts. Stuff happens on the pitch when players are tired. Yeah. It's when that seeps in that makes mistakes. It's why there's a strong argument in H5 substitutions because you don't have that fatigue setting in. And the hydration breaks are the same. So that, more than kind of the English wailing about, like, oh, it's destroying our game, it's Americans, blah, blah, blah.

24:23Roger Bennett:That, I think, is much more, that's a much more kind of legitimate criticism that you're stopping players getting tired, but we need them as fans to get tired. So that's when stuff happens. What are you telling us? Are we watching the enhanced games? A little bit, yeah. Who knows what's in that water? Electrolytes. I don't want to know. Hello, Powerade. Pop-up bagels. Croatia came out and asserted themselves in midfield. An incredible moment of twist and intrigue. Croatia suddenly picked England apart. This goal, the guile, the hunger. By the way, in both of the Croatian goals, the restraint that they showed in the build-up, Susic picked up the ball on the right, faked the shot to bury John Stones.

25:06That was the moment John Stones decided, I'm moving to Everton. I will say 97 % of footballers would have shot in that moment. Stones on the floor, there's the goal. But he just kind of pivoted, rolled that ball backwards to the path of a charging baturina, 23 years old, fresh off, propelling Como into the Champions League. And he just smashed it through Pickford a little bit. I'm not sure about his positioning. A lot of argument about whether my beloved St. Jordan could have done better. I will say Royce did a bit of a big verge, turning his back and showing his buttocks to the ball. It was still like, woof, big verge.

25:43I don't know how you say absolute banger in Croatian, but the whole move was exquisite.

25:48Roger Bennett:Lovely. It was a really nice goal. And Batarina is one of those players who's been around for a while. He came through when he was 16, 17, really young, and hasn't ever quite fulfilled that kind of wonder-cared potential. but you got a little glimpse of why he was so highly rated when he was younger. Tomo obviously had a great season. It's a wonderful story. But that was a, I think you're being a little bit harsh on Pickford, Rog, which is not like you. Do you? Just don't be fair and objective. I think you'll be disappointed with it. Yeah, because he did get his fingers to it, didn't he? I just, I don't know.

26:16I feel like, I feel like.

26:18Roger Bennett:You think they're just number one. But sometimes if a keeper, not Lucas Zidane, sometimes if a keeper gets their fingers to a shot, it makes it look more saveable than it is. Maybe. That's my theory. That's the mistake you say they should never get their hands to the ball. I like it when dolly's a stone. Yeah

26:37It was a dramatic Rumble at Zachary 1984 water breaks playing to American tactics poch on the laptop giving us 20 minute burst Purchase just trying to stream The Sopranos season fam come on working into this that goal felt like a punch in the face It was gobsmacking in a moment. But then Harry Kane was like, I am English Balogun. Grabbed his brace. With a goal, you made the point. It was like Southgate ball from 2018. Kane stepped up. Declan Rice, beautiful, beautiful free kick. Nick O 'Reilly, John Stones clearing space ahead of him. And he just had unmarked time. Crashed that header, unerring accuracy.

27:19At Oily Sailor tweeted, oh, you like Declan Rice's corners now.

27:25Roger Bennett:There was an element of English blitz going on, wasn't there? I don't know what the positions are in American football that O 'Reilly and the others would have been playing to clear the space, but it did end up with Harry Kane, probably the world's best striker, totally unmarked for about 10 yards in the penalty area, which I don't know a lot about football, Rog. But I think that's probably a mistake. Probably. Probably a mistake. But you can rely on Harry Kane in those moments, can't you? That is why he is probably the world's best striker. Yeah, they keep putting Harry Kane in NFL stadiums and he keeps dropping into field goal range to build up his muscle for his future career.

27:59I actually once interviewed him and asked him how he constantly puts himself in position to make it look as if the ball comes to him. And I was really, like, breathtakingly excited for, like, if you ask Mo Salah that question, he'll go off on, like, I visualize, I dream, I practice, I eat only an almond. So he'll give you something. Harry Kane goes, I don't know, really. It was amazing. Instinct, Rod. Yeah, that's what he meant. It's completely natural.

28:28Roger Bennett:He allows himself to be moved by fate. That's what it is. He's an existentialist. He's a determinist. Fate will put me in the place that I am and then things will happen around me. He doesn't believe in free will. He knows he's at the mercy of a cruel universe. At the end of the day, we're all going to die. Happy birthday, Raw. This World Cup is the greatest. It really is. That's the moment. Everyone, everyone, everyone's just turning up. Not you, Ronaldo. By the way, the first 11 opening round team will be this. It'll be Messi, Haaland, Harry Kane, Mbappe, Flo Balogun and Vizinha in goal. What a team.

29:14Not a lot of tracking back going on there, to be fair. Who needs it? Vizinha and his mum coming over. It's beautiful. By the way, Harry Kane could have had a hat-trick if he'd scored that first penalty. Don't think about that. But Croatia, tenacious, came back to life like regenerating flatworms or like a Slavic Deadpool. They don't die. The half seemed like it was fritten away, but at the last, Persalic stabbed forward. Another goal that was stunning. Perisic. Yes, that Perisic. Somehow they've exhumed him. Huge hops for a 37-year-old. And again, most footballers there, most goal scorers would have like flicked their head to try and redirect it into the corner.

29:55Instead, he just like lobbed it backwards to Moussa, opened up his body, side-footed past Paul Pickey into the bottom right. This was England, though. You know, you did not concede a goal once in qualifying, the perfect record. What was going on in this first half? The looseness, the chaos, the frailty.

30:17Roger Bennett:I think Tuchel said afterwards that he felt they were a bit nervous. Yes. That they looked like they wanted it to get off to the perfect starts to such an extent, I guess, that maybe they were in their own heads a little bit, they were a little bit reticent, a bit cautious. And, you know, Croatia, as much as, you know, they've got some very talented young players, Luka Vustovic, the defender in particular, they also have some very talented, quite old players. Not quite as old as me, but old in Modric and Perisic. And, I mean, even Pasolic has been around for years. I think they understood that there was weakness there.

30:46Roger Bennett:There were points that they could press. There were bruises to punch. And they took their time. They played their way into the game. They rearranged the hydration break. And they did some damage to England in the second half of the first half. I thought it was really interesting on ITV, on England's coverage. Anthony Barry, England's assistant, said that England had a lot of nervous energy. And he was quite negative about England's performance, obviously, even though they'd scored those goals. But he was really negative about it. He was very like they're in their own heads. There's so much nervousness going on.

31:20Yeah. Fearful patterns. Fearful patterns. Crazy. Not the fearful patterns, coach. What do you think the footballers will say if you like fearful patterns? What does that mean, actually? I don't know. What does a fearful pattern mean?

31:32Roger Bennett:I would say it's skulls and crossbones. Like a swatch of material covered in skulls and crossbones. That's a fearful pattern. I'm trying not to say things that my mind is fearing forward. Please do. I think what Tuttle seemed to say was that they went backwards when they could have gone forwards. So they kind of, they ceded territory. They didn't take the initiative in the first half. And I think that might, that might be the sense of, if you're afraid, you play it safe. And if you play it safe against a team like Croatia, they can catch you out. He said, so on English television, they got Anthony Barry, he's the assistant, as Matt says.

32:06And he said this, I wrote it down. He said, we had nervous energy early on. we'd fallen into fearful patterns during a, quote, complicated and confusing first half. Now, in America, Anthony Barry, we do these coach things where running off, they're allowed to ask two questions and a coach. Anthony Barry, you're actually meant to say nothing. No coach ever says anything, or if they are, they're rude to the journalist. They're not honest. They don't open their heart. They don't speak their truth. This was amazing. I'm going to read it again. nervous energy, fearful patterns, complicated and confusing first half.

32:42This is how you would expect it. Nervous, fearful, confusing. It's how you'd expect to, like, describe some kind of Richard Gad Netflix show. Not the debut of Two Calls England. I've done quite a few of those halftime interviews, by the way. They're terrible, right? Absolutely horrific. You do them in the Premier League, right? Yeah, Premier League and also the WSL. Tell us what they're like. Are you nervous? How do you get your talk? Well, I'm just like, right, I've got one question here. Maybe two if I'm lucky. what are you asking them at this point? You know they don't want to speak to you.

33:09You know they're not going to tell you anything. They're probably out of breath. Yeah, it's just awful, guys. I've never had a good one. Are you nervous? Yeah, I'm always nervous. You are? Yeah. I always love it at the end. In America, they always go up to the coach and are like, Coach, the defense is terrible. What happened there? And the coach will always be like, We're just trying to do things and tighten up. And then they'll ask another awful question. The coach will be dismissive. and at the end they have to go, thank you very much coach. And then he always runs off like...

33:38Roger Bennett:I like the idea that Anthony Barry's seen that and seen them in the Premier League in WSL and thought, do you know what, there is a chance here for me to be emotionally honest. And the next time he does one, he's like, well, I think it all starts with my parents. Some nights I'm so lonely, I eat half a tub of ice cream and sleep with the light on. Yeah, exactly. It's a chance to get all of your fears out there in public. So we should encourage that. Has anyone ever said anything nice to you or good? No, no, never. Never, never at halftime. But interestingly, me and you both wrote down his quote.

34:07Yeah, I mean, because ultimately, I thought he was describing my life, how I approach everything. Nervous energy, vivid, complicated. I was like, I'm a late man. Whatever it was, the Tuchel hairdryer or the heart rocker, thank you Google Translate, whatever he did in the locker room. I think Harry Kane talked about what Tuchel did. He said that we are not fast enough, that we're not believing in our, you know, our abilities. This is so football, the simple. We think in the football locker room, they're like, we need to be moving into the third quadrant more. We need to be... They're just like, you have quality.

34:43Play to your quality. And then his last line was, go out and just go with the gas. And that's what changed according to Harry Kidney. They went with the gas. Go with the gas, which I'm sure sounds better in the German. I'm sure it's a very long compound now. The Guardian called it a round of gas.

35:00Roger Bennett:in half-time speech but if you read what what kane said and i think bellingham he said calm down yeah show the world how good you are which all right there's a little bit of rousing there but calm down is not a rousing speech i would quibble with that calm down calm down i feel so i feel so i think he might that one of the quotes is chill out chill out guys calm down show the world how good you are not that good honestly and then go out with the gasp which is like be more flatulent to be fair though break the marking strategy they needed that though didn't they they did that is what they needed it worked if I'm completely honest I wonder whether Thomas Tuchel said something quite different to that at half time and they don't want to tell anybody what it is fearful signs fearful patterns fearful patterns whatever it was one minute you got Elliot Anderson just knocking a ball into the Madweke space but it was Bellingham that ran onto it and kept running on and kept running on and kept running on.

35:57And then that angle drive, absolutely stunning. This was a man who had, what had he done? I think he'd done like eight touches, eight passes out of 12. I mean, he had a terrible, terrible first half. And you watch it again. And he celebrates for a moment, but then he looks down. You look at Bellingham's face. It's just pure relief. I mean, that was his trademark. Once he'd done the trademark, got that out of the way for his sponsors, his sketches or whatever. Once he got the sketcher pose out of the way, the whole world is sketches. You just saw utter relief, shattered relief. You saw in that moment the duality of being an England international.

36:39Roger Bennett:They're under intense pressure. But they'll also be under pressure from themselves, because they'll know that this is a really, really good generation of players. The talent isn't quite as broad maybe as France's talent in their squad. There are areas of weakness, John Stones' knees, for example. But they are incredibly talented. They do have enough there to be serious contenders to win the World Cup. And there is this burden of 60 years of hurt. So every time England play in the World Cup, there is intense pressure from the public, from the fans, from the media, but from the players as well. So I think the reaction in that situation will have been relief.

37:12He was a man on a mission, wasn't he, after halftime? and he just came out yeah absolutely went for it he went with the gas he went with the gas i mean tuchel's calmed down clearly worked for him gas calm gas well he's doing the wrong thing

37:23Roger Bennett:though hasn't he if he's gone out more intense and tuchel's told him to calm down that's not following instructions chill out man that's true you've misunderstood you stop it when in life viewers have you ever told someone to chill out when they're highly stressed and it's worked i just don't know but i do it to my fiance all the time yeah chill out oh it's it's like a smack across the the the chops from that point on Croatia were just holding out for another water break set piece after set piece really pummeled the Croatian box the goalkeeper Lovacovic stood on his head Perry blocked you won't see a better performance from the two who conceded three steadied the ship took Modric off had Kovacic come in calm things down started to try and find a way back a third time England actually sat deeper and deeper it got a little a little ungassy and if that's a thing um anxiety did start to crackle this was intense i don't know how you your guys anxiety levels were there was like a little moment little moment i mean i actually fell asleep in that little moment but the thing is if you use so that 20 minutes between half time and the war and the hydration break which we were all all waiting for that third quarter the inland went so hard they went they did do the full gas thing they were really energetic they were all over croatia all that stuff there is a cost to that because even with your once you've got your electrolytes back up you are still you are still tired you have used that energy and croatia i think in that yeah in the period immediately after that they did have a few chances nothing massively threatening but they were back in the game and it is croatia and experience either aside with a lot of quality they posed inland problems too yeah i mean by the way i've just realise the water break, because we're having so many of them, they're going to have a new commercial thing at the next World Cup, a toilet break.

39:07Roger Bennett:They will have to, yeah. Full bladder. Another one. If England are so full of gas, they're going to need a toilet break, aren't they? This is the future of football. It's all bladder and bowel related. Why do we watch Tuchel? I've got to say, changed the game of his substitution. Saka came on, flowed down the white, took control, rolled some slop towards Mr Rashford. It was like, oh, let me reintroduce myself. Cut inside. Eyes. Lethal finish. Can I read a stat to you? You tell me if it's true or not. Are you ready for this? These are the only players in England history who have more World Cup goals than one Marcus Rashford.

39:46Gary Lineker, Harry Cade, the legendary Jeff Hurst.

39:50Roger Bennett:I could believe that, yeah. Yeah, I think I can believe that. This would be Rashford's third World Cup. It's true. Yeah. Do you not find that mind-blowing? Why do you find it mind-blowing? I find it beautiful. I mean, it's like Marcus Rashford. You know, this man, he feels like he's fallen into the pack. Rise again, Marcus Rashford. I think you might be slightly overestimating how many dolls other England's writers have stored in World Cups because it's not that many. It's not that many. It's true. He's got, I think, five more than you. Make no mistake. On one hand, this was a big win. First World Cup win against a top 15 ranked side, I think since 2002 Argentina it's been a long time the 4-2 though sounds better than it really was I think the the lovely news the athletic determined England have a 99 % chance of getting through the group now but that party at the front the sloppiness at the back is going to preoccupy let's say the very calm tabloids as they prepare to play this my wife as they prepare to play God bless.

40:54Love you, babe. Should Gay He...

40:57Roger Bennett:Do you have Do Not Disturb on except for your wife? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that means I'm in trouble. Something very bad has happened. Babe, just put a comment in the chat and J-Dubs will read it out to me and we'll all know what I've done. Do you worry about that? Should Gay He be coming back to try and... as they play Goana and then Panama or was it like... I think Gay He's brilliant. I really don't understand why he didn't start. Why wouldn't he have started? Do you think there's an element of wanting to experiment just a little bit? Yeah, probably. I wondered that with Jordan as well, whether it's kind of...

41:32Roger Bennett:Tuchel will know the core of that side. Kane is the striker. Rice, Anderson, Bellingham is the midfield. Rhys James is the right back. O 'Reilly looks like fairly obviously the left back. But there's other... Bear in mind, Inland's form coming into the World Cup wasn't great. you know they lost to Japan in end of March start of April there were all these doubts they've lost to Senegal recently as well I wonder whether Tuchel still got a couple of positions he's not quite sure on and he looked at it and thought okay I'm gonna go with this and we'll see what see how that works out and maybe against Ghana and Panama you get something else and that has the added benefit of keeping everybody else guessing a little bit for the last 16 the quarterfinals I can't help but think that they were very defensively shaky and that's the one thing that everybody has talked about going into this World Cup, is England's defence is going to be the thing that lets them down.

42:22But I do think as they go through the tournament, they're just going to tighten everything up at the back. And I just, I think they'll get a hold of it. I don't think it's going to be as bad as it was. Tournaments, the fine teams, the progress, sharpening, sharpening, sharpening. It's that old German term, what is it? Tournier Mancha. Tournier Mancha, finding your rhythm, two, three, four games, hitting that knockout round where you really reveal yourself. England survive indoors. Next up, the heat, Boston and New Jersey. And as the world arrives in the United States for the biggest spectacle in sports, we're going coast to coast, host city to host city to meet the world with the Men in Blazers Matchday Live Tour.

43:08These are free college game day style live events It's taking place just before kick-off at some of the biggest games of the summer where we'll be taking the stage with celebrity guests in front of thousands of fans. It'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. Let's talk about Portugal 1, DR Congo 1. 24 hours of The Witcher. Did I mention Mbappe? Harlan and Messi scored. Ronaldo enters the chat.

43:48Oldest outfield player ever to take the field in a World Cup. 41 years young. Body of an oiled up version of Michelangelo's David. Mind of an insufferable David Goggins. He's like a bottle of Drakon Noir in human form. He'd watched Lionel Messi win a World Cup, then score three in this one. He'd watched Kylian Mbappe win a World Cup, then score two. who, you know, he was once this Portugal side's biggest asset, dot, dot, dot, how would he go down? We do need to say, Congo are a fascinating team, took the field for the first time since 74, returning, they've had Ebola outbreaks at home, so they've had to quarantine together, it's been an arduous arrival here, devoid of home support, travelling, they had a lot of their expats making a lot of noise, their most iconic supporter, the incredible man, Lumumba Valle, in honour of the country's founding revolution, He's the fan who stands stock still through the games.

44:45Do that for 90 minutes.

44:47Roger Bennett:Do you think I can? I could probably do it for about three. And I get like a tightening. But he is in quarantine. He'll be there, please God, for the next two games. By the way, I do think America is going to lose its mind when they see this. I think he is going to win the World Cup. Can you put into context how hot it is going to be in Atlanta? Because don't they call it Hotlanta? They do, but they also call it indoor stadium. Air-condition stadium at Atlanta. Yeah, so he wears that thick suit, doesn't he? Top to bottom. I don't know if he'll be okay. He's going to get a Dove sponsorship for men deodorant.

45:23Roger Bennett:In all seriousness, if he can stand stock still for 90 minutes, plus extra time and penalties if he needs to, I'm not sure there's anything that phases him. I mean, genuinely, this sounds like a joke, it's really not. I am in awe of his ability to do that. It's astonishing. I'm in awe of the idea. I'm in awe of the execution. I'm in awe of the beauty of it, the symbolism, the power. It defined the team. It propelled the team. The team is so eager to have him when the fans couldn't travel. They made him part of the actual official team delegation. It's magnificent. I cannot wait, sincerely. I've been on television for a month saying, wait till you see the Scottish fans, America.

46:03Wait till you see the Dutch fans. I will just say this is incredible. At Zachary984, we need a hydration break for Rog to finish his second. Roger Lube. I keep trying to make Roger Lube's a thing. Portugal started well. Little stocky. You love this man. João Neves.

46:20Roger Bennett:There's so many of him. But he's also got his shirt just jammed into his shorts. I love a player. He's like, I'm not here to muck around. I'm an Iberian. John Stockton, I'm chucking in. He looks like a kid who's late for school. That's how he dresses. He's such a good... I mean, he's a mini-icon in his own right at this point. 5 '8", he rose like a salty cod in the North Atlantic. And that mid-range header did feel in that moment, instead of it being a Spain-Cape Verde that we wanted, we had more of like a Germany-Curacao situation on our hands. Yeah, but if you look at that Congo team, there's not a lack of experience, there's not a lack of quality.

46:57Roger Bennett:They've got plenty of players who... A lot of Premier League. A lot of Premier League players. is they've got Gabriel Zakawani, who is a name who will not mean a huge amount to people who are not Leyton Orient fans, but he's a long-standing football lead defender, Condoleez International. He's done a lot of work to recruit players. Aaron Wan-Bissaka is his big capture. So I went into that game thinking Condole would put up a fight. I didn't think they'd be, like all of the African teams, I didn't think they were going to be pushovers by any stretch of the imagination. The thing is, after six minutes, you do worry that that draws the energy a little bit from the team.

47:27Roger Bennett:This incredible first game since 1974, first game as DR Congo and then you concede early against the team that is stacked with talent you do worry a little bit in that moment and Portugal had 80 % possession in that first half created almost nothing with it something almost very Spanish about it they moved the ball around but did not a single shot on goal after that opening header Ronaldo, I spent time just watching him run around the field, really staying in the box, getting so frustrated so frustrated, every time the ball didn't come into him, losing his mind, stroke of half-time, epic moment.

48:02Weesa has been saving himself for this moment, saving himself for marriage. Five foot nine, arch snapping the neck. Two tiny little men cancelling each other out with headers and we had the ecstasy of watching DR Congo score their first ever World Cup goal. It was almost even worth slapping into half-time and seeing that commercial with Rick Rubin's bare feet all over again which was just magnificent. I was so pleased to see him score because he's had such a difficult season hasn't he? He's scored three goals in 25 games. I know he's been plagued with injuries but it's been so tough for him. Everyone was writing him out.

48:40We did. We wrote him off in our morning cup date when we did the preview. Shame on you. We said he's had a terrible season. His form isn't there. He's been struggling to score and that's who Di Alcungo have to rely on. And what happened?

48:54Roger Bennett:He scores. If you want a measure of how this World Cup is being consumed in America, Rog, and around the world, I watched this game through the marvel of modern technology in a very, very busy airport restaurant in Kansas City. And there were three TVs, all of them showing slight different satellite delays. So it was this sort of Mexican wave of people cheering, but there were people in Argentina shirts. The Argentines really wanted Portugal to lose. There were French shirts growing up. There were American shirts growing up. But the entire place in Kansas City Airport this morning was agog at this game.

49:27Roger Bennett:And everybody realized how special it was for Congo to score. It was amazing. I got a little on the way back from the game, which I watched in a pub, Kells Irish pub in Seattle. On the way back, I ran into two Congo fans wearing their shirt. I got a little cuddle. It's a great shirt. It's a really good shirt. It's good. Skechers. Here's the big haxy question. There is something about this World Cup that I love. I love, I love, I love. Iraq equalizing against Norway, Cape Verde holding Spain, Jordan battling Austria, Switzerland tying with Qatar. There is a fearlessness. There's an audacity. There's a belief in every team has it in their idea of football.

50:08Almost a lack of respect. We are living, I believe, in a post-Morocco 2022 world where everything feels possible for these teams.

50:15Roger Bennett:Well, I've been trying to make Brightonisation a thing, Rog, but because Betty's here, I'm going to go for Bournemouthisation. I'm going to change it. Love it. Those countries don't have the same depth of talent as the really big nations, the traditional powerhouses. But every single other thing, nutrition, conditioning, sports science, tactics, data, analysis, recruitment to the extent you can do it in international football. They've got all that stuff. And it shaves the margins. That's what's happened. Cura Sour K got overpowered by Germany eventually. and Tunisia were so bad against Sweden that they had to send up the um the old open neck shirt symbol and get her very Renard in but the um but everybody else the uh herve come back i can't wait he wakes up bleary eyed somewhere i can't wait do you ever think Renard when he's not in work wears that same outfit oh always i think he lives in some sad little studio apartment where he's just having a wife beater just like eating a piece of toast and cooked on his own and then he gets the phone goes he's like what and then he pushes a button and like this back cave opens with hundreds of the same white shirt he's like i am ready i am i am confident that hervé renard lives in something that might in the hands of somebody else be described as a lair that's what yeah yeah i reckon it's a massive open glass windows onto the beach palm trees it's tropical there's a bar it's well it's always well stocked that's where hervé renard when he's not working does not wear that way i bet you he just wears loin cloths what's a loin cloth you don't want to know like um it's like the thing that you wrap around and kind of well it looks oh yeah yeah yeah yeah it's just like genuinely highly i think he's totally highly oiled and a loin cloth that you tell us what you think he does i think he wears cargo shorts and like death metal t-shirts that's fair that's what he's doing welcome to seattle um by the way so this game bruno toiled roberto Bruno Martinez and Luis Rafael Leal, eventually Ramos.

52:09There was a moment when Concha Chao delivered a perfect cut back, trying to find Bruno. He was about to shoot it and then Ronaldo nipped in. And his team missed it. The look on Bruno's face. It's just so hard. It's like they don't want to be angry, but they're very angry. The face was like, Ronaldo, I'm trying to win a World Cup for you. Can you just get out the bloody way, man? That's Portugal's World Cup. They can win a World Cup for Ronaldo, but the only thing is, Ronaldo's got to get out the bloody way, man.

52:38Roger Bennett:We get a lot of criticism for not taking Cristiano Ronaldo's form for Portugal in 2025 seriously enough. It was very good. You should make that point. But it's just that every time I watch Portugal play, it looks like he's the problem. Rory, he spent most of the game in the offside position. Stretching the play. Stretching the play. Yeah, stretching the play. You don't understand football. You don't understand football. Why are you standing offside? It's obvious why you're standing offside. So come on, be serious. He's now gone 10 games combined between Euros and a World Cup without scoring a goal.

53:07I thought when I watched him, there's a quote, because we're in Seattle, Kurt Cobain said, I don't care what you think as long as it's about me. And there was a very sad quote just before the game. He's sponsored by Whoop, that wearable technology. And they put out a post saying, the average age of a footballer is 27. Ronaldo is 41. But the Whoop age is just different. and I don't know what the Woo page is, but I think his Woo page today looked like it was about 72.

53:36Roger Bennett:Do you know Brian Johnson? I know many Brian Johnson. The billionaire who wants to be immortal. Yeah. There's a little bit of that about Ronaldo. There's a little touch of, he's measuring stuff at night that you do not need to be measuring. Do you know how many? There's a little touch of that. What do you mean? What's he measuring? Well, Brian Johnson measures, I don't know, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say it on YouTube. Just hint at it. measures the hardness of things at night. Right. And it's not the mattress. I think it's to do with blood flow, I think. Right. It's meant to be a measure of youth.

54:11Roger Bennett:Whoa. So, Rinaldo, I'm 99 % certain Rinaldo's doing the same thing. He measures a Woo page of his bits. Yeah, exactly. That's so weird. Do you know what? People need to stop measuring everything. Like, just live your life. Yeah, but you want to know what your Woo page is of your bits.

54:31I don't think he does. He was crying about saying 44 earlier. I'm 44. It's all sold on sale. I don't really care about any of this stuff, but I want to know the whoopage of a bit.

54:41Roger Bennett:There is a difficulty though. The thing is that the excuse for Ronaldo in the World Cup to try and get this back on track, Rog, has always been that Portugal doesn't, because it's such a small country, what, 11 million in the population? It's not massive. You know, Portugal doesn't have quite the resources to provide him with the supporting cast that you need. You can't win on your own. As much as we think that Messi won it on his own in 2022, he didn't. He won it with a team that had plenty of quality and was built to work for his strengths. That introduce doesn't wash with Ronaldo. Does Portugal probably have the best first 11 here apart from him?

55:11Yeah, but the incredible thing is that this is the greatest shock about Portugal. The only two people who still believe that Ronaldo is the Ronaldo of Real Madrid, like that Pete Ronaldo are Roberto Martinez, the Portugal manager, and his boss, Cristiano Ronaldo. Those are the only two, the man he reports to. So the question is, does Roberto Martinez have whatever they call the bits in Portuguese to leave Ronaldo on the bench? The next match is against Uzbekistan. You need to do it. Will he score five against Uzbekistan? Feel great about himself. And then the question is, can Portugal win this?

55:47That's what I'll leave by asking you. Can Portugal win this thing with Ronaldo? The thing is, did you hear what Thierry Henry said on Fox? He said that the team needs to score, not you. And I think it's so difficult with Ronaldo because you watch him and it always just looks like everything he's doing is for himself, not for the team. And that is frustrating. And you just can't see Portugal winning when they're playing with him in the team like this. But they were my favourites, actually. Were they? To win the World Cup, yeah.

56:20Roger Bennett:I think that's absolutely... If you look at the squad, they're really stacked. I think you could win it with Ronaldo in the team. But I agree with Betty that the bits where you really find it difficult to believe that they can go all the way is when he's getting in his teammate's way actively. There is probably an argument that Martinez obviously adheres to. I think Martinez legitimately believes that Ronaldo should be in the team. that if you have Ronaldo standing in the box, that is the sort of thing that the opposition will worry about. But when you see him, there were two or three that I saw where he's making runs, and you think, there's a Vitini standing there, or Juan Evers is standing there, or whoever.

56:58Roger Bennett:Just leave them to it. He's like an overbearing parent. I love an overbearing parent. If you watch, the Conger defenders delighted in pissing him off. If you watch again, they were pushing him, they were jamming him up. They were kind of challenging him, and he couldn't challenge back. I'm loving all of this when Ronaldo does win the World Cup scores the winner in the World Cup They'll take quotes from this like when they have around the world scene where people like Portugal could never win the World Cup with Ronaldo done done it's over where's Ronaldo? I've just got a two to cut me in with. Roger doesn't matter what they're saying about us as long as they are talking about us There was one point though where the ball was swung in and he could have jumped and he just didn't even jump and I don't know if it's because he can't jump anymore.

57:43I'm just like, jump, Cristiano. He can jump. He just, whoop age. It's just not what it was. Oh, we just did a poll asking what will become a thing first. This is crazy. This is not self-promotion. Brightonisation, 28%. No, no, Bournemouthisation, guys. Roger Loves, 72%. I love you.

58:01Roger Bennett:There are very little, very few circumstances when anyone needs to say Roger Loves. What about Roger sketches? By the way, the game that was just over, Ghana 1-Panamo 1-0. We've got to talk about it in depth. Who wants an hour on that one? I don't believe even the IU mother watched that game. It was so hard. There was beautiful scenes, the vibes in the stadium in Toronto. ESPN said 15 ,000 Panamanians had gone to Toronto, which is amazing. The Ghanaian fans brought... It was incredibly musical. That's what it sounded. The football did not match it. It was really conca-caf after dark fair. Felt like a draw.

58:38suited neither of these teams. These two were both trying to work out if it's good for Scotland. It was good for Scotland, wasn't it? A draw would have been good for Scotland, yeah. They were excited. And then, it was in 94th minute, Panama was stretched. Thomas Asante skipped past the challenge, just carved down to the byline. His cross found an arriving Caleb Urenchi, and he crashed through two Panamanian defenders. And it was just, whoa, shocking. Delight on one team, despair on the other. And by the way, relief for the rest of the world that the game was coming to an end. Betty talked about Scotland.

59:11Uzbekistan plays Colombia tonight. She's going to do that one later in Uzbeki. Big news is, as of tomorrow, we will have seen each team play exactly once. We know a whole lot more than we did a week ago. Who excites you the most? Who's going to make the final? Quick back round before we close this show.

59:28Roger Bennett:I think the most impressive performance is not that a lot of the big teams haven't been that stunning yet. I think Argentina were really good. That's to say, it's Algeria. And Algeria's team are not bad. France have probably beaten the best team to Senegal are our equality side and as much as it pains me to say it England Germany were also quite good to add into that list I think I'm intrigued by Spain obviously they had a bad first game but it will be very interesting to see you know that they're one of the favorites less stacked aren't they as a team I think England look they look like they could win this well can't they really do the other one to be much to mention actually even though they didn't win Morocco thought Morocco were outstanding and the United States Brazil.

1:00:05I think the final's dead on, gonna be in market here, Cape Verde against the USA. Tomorrow, headliner, South Korea versus Mexico, Guadalajara, where Hung Min Son is the most popular McDonald's commemorative cup, apparently, God bless. They clearly are not seeing enough David Beckham commercials. I can and I'm not getting enough. I love watching these fans fall in love together. It's been a human inspiration. I can't wait to see what kind of new culture comes out of this World Cup. Like Cumbia, K-pop, fusion foods. I'll eat any taco with the word go-choo jang in it. God bless. The other host nation playing tomorrow.

1:00:48Another of my favourites. I love Canada. They welcome Qatar fresh off their first big boy point in World Cup history. Jesse Marsh's adopted homeland. Get a little more aggressive after the Bosnia game. Not clear. You don't think Alphonso Davies is going to play. They're having a press conference tonight, so we'll find out more. I read something that he was, but I don't know. Apparently, he's looking better.

1:01:10Roger Bennett:I don't think he'll start. I suppose if they need him, he might. He's on the bench if they need him, I suppose. Jesse Marsh is talking how he's along just for the quote aura. Aren't we all in a way? Other match in Group B, which is open wide. Everyone on 1.1 goal scored. Switzerland versus Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, we know Cechia will just lump that ball, lump the opposition. They take on South Africa. God bless Trevor Noah when he said, not every team can show up expecting to win. We will break all of this down tomorrow at 11pm Eastern time with our guest, the great Andrew Luck, who is a real bull knower.

1:01:47We'll go deep on the previewing the US-Australia game of Naifi Spoonie. We've reached the part of the night, that's the worst accent ever. Sorry, guys, where we try and figure out what everyone suddenly believes. Turning to the calcium markets to appear into the hearts of mine, and the football loving fans everywhere figure out what is just real and what is fantasy. Tonight, we're answering the question that has perplexed England for 60 years. Is this the year? And we're looking at the market from before England beat Croatia early in the day, where it was even across the board. Only 11 % chance of winning the whole shebang.

1:02:20But after today's result, knee-jerk much, you know. Well, not much has changed from the percentage from quarterfinals round 32-16. But look, the odds of being crowned champions is now 22%. Raw, Betty, does that seem fair to you? Or is that, what do you call it? Classic overreaction.

1:02:37Roger Bennett:Well, it is to an extent, because we still don't know how to weight Croatia. But why on earth is the round of 32, in both scenarios, considered the most likely? These people are doing this wrong. England are not going out in the round of 32. That's not going to happen. It's quarterfinals at a minimum. Again, when the movie comes out, put that line in it. When it happens, it'll be amazing. Where will they get to, Doreen? I think they're going to get to the final. I really do. Semi-finals, maybe. I think semi-finals. I think semi-finals, final. 14 % I think semi-finals. I'd love to be wrong on this.

1:03:12Are you ready to have your heart broken again?

1:03:14Roger Bennett:I think if they get to the semi-finals, they'd probably play Argentina. I'm not sure we need that to happen. Is that true? I think that's on that side. It was just an honour to breathe his breath, or whatever it is. I don't know what we're talking about. Now, Afhoflex24 says she's very happy for us, Betty Stanton. Oh, amazing. That's nice. Good, good. And by the way, she does speak as Becky.

1:03:39It's time for the food. We've got Roar back on the bus. We've got the bet in here, which means we're going to food it up, where we make Roarie chow down on the best eats America has to offer. Live on air. I've been so excited for this. Can I just tell you? Look at this. I love the European mind cannot comprehend Seattle edition look at this One of my favorite I love Seattle. I love this place. I love this town This is one of my favorite places to go to after every live show. I have gone to Dick's Drive-In Classic classic institution. I think it opened in 1954. This is the deluxe Don't know why they didn't get me a double deluxe daddy hungry There's a photo of me, first ever live show we did in 2017.

1:04:22Well, I'm not measuring my bits. Let's have a photo of me at Dick's because I love this. As you can tell, I'm a huge fan. Interesting. I do promise the food tastes a bit measured. Maybe this is what he's measuring. Look at that. There's me at Dick's measuring my whoop. Let's get into it raw. Enjoy a little taste of Seattle history and then give it a score. Scores on the door. Look at that. Oh, my God. I'm going to pull this away from my mouth for a second because then it was annoying to eat in a mite.

1:04:51That looks like a good burger, you know. Oh, my God. It's the best. I don't like to be hyperbolic.

1:05:00Come on. Get in here. Well, he's chomping down on it. It's a five-hour segment. Tell us a little bit. You've just eaten Seattle history, babe. Give it a score.

1:05:09Roger Bennett:Give it a score. Are you storing the fries, Betty? Yeah. You store the fries? Yeah. Tell us about the fries, please. I like a moist fry. They're quite moist and they're thin. I'm not comfortable with the word moist. Why? I don't know. A lot of people don't like the word moist. I don't understand. You don't? I'm an anti-moistist. Thin, quite crunchy. Yeah. I do like them. I need a score. A bit cold. I've got to guess your score. Yeah, you've got to guess. I think you gave this an 8.5 because it's like the equivalent of a messy hat trick in a burger for. What? once again it's just a burger stop pointing your devilish ideas that was a bit that was unnecessary I mean don't get me wrong it's nice yeah I think it's just a burger I would guess 5.4 for Betty slightly cold fries seven look at this this is better you raising the bar too high for me I'm gonna have to do enough I'm gonna start doing pictionary moist yeah fine I gotta tell you I love this city.

1:06:10I love that burger. It's a mix-a-lot of human wonder. One final piece of us today, as always, we invite you, dear viewers, to come and share your World Cup journeys with us. Tell us what you're loving, your journey, your ideas, your experiences in written form. Drop a line in the Men and Blazers Discord. Send us an email. Tag us on social. Let's make memories together. Raw, we've got Eric Bennett. What a name. What a handsome human being, no doubt. We're a truly beautiful letter. Can you do the honours?

1:06:37Roger Bennett:Hey, Rog. I just want to. I just wanted to say thank you for all the years of coverage on soccer in general, but most importantly of the World Cup. In June of 2018, the US was announced as one of the hosts of the World Cup. At the time, my wife and I had been hoping to get pregnant with our first child, but we're not having any luck after almost a year. Despite the circumstances, we talked about how amazing it would be to have a kid and attend the World Cup with them. Later that fall, as we began to consider alternatives to natural pregnancy, we were delighted to discover we were indeed pregnant with a little boy.

1:07:07Oh, yay!

1:07:08Roger Bennett:World Cup dreams became common, calculating how old he would be and trying to guess which city we would need to make friends in. Do I need to give you CPR or something? I don't want to take away from you, Ben. Are you literally choking up? I need a home plate, but keep going. Luckily for us, Seattle was chosen to host, and we'd have a short 20-minute bus ride from the stadiums. By the time Seattle was named, we had added a little girl to the family, and dreams of World Cup joy doubled. All this to say, this month has been surreal. on June 19th my son Otto's 7th birthday we will gather with friends and family and cheer on the USA in our hometown I'm pretty sure he thinks it was scheduled this way for his birthday it might have been, we don't know while I couldn't fulfil his request to watch the USA live this time around I did somehow secure 4 tickets for the whole family to cheer on Qatar and Bosnia-Herzegovina on June 24th my daughter Ellis' birthday there's a pattern here, a fearful pattern Gemini's as a Gemini myself, quality birthday The best thing about having a birthday in June?

1:08:05Roger Bennett:You're never more than six months away from presents. Some people might find a match like this a disappointment, but I just feel so damn blessed to be there at all. For eight years, we've dreamt of this day, and now it's almost here. Courage. Lovingly, Eric, Nicole, Otto, and Ellis Bennett. P.S. Welcome to Seattle. Oh, that's amazing. Beautiful. God's respect, Otto. Happy birthday. That made me feel joyful, optimistic. I hope these games are moments you cherish together as a family, make incredible memories in your wonderful city with the least important, most important thing. Come down, by the way, bring Otto to our show live Friday, match day live, Seattle Pier 58.

1:08:48I can't wait. Obviously, US are going to take on Australia, but we're going to be with you, all of you, before the game. I think the march to the match goes right from where we are, and we're going to be spending time with the incredible Ken Griffey Jr., one of my genuine heroes from when I moved to the United States, Marshawn Lynch, the mighty Skittles, local hero, DeAndre Yedlin, and the greatest soul poet, Mr. John Green. Come and join us as we prepare for another deluge of the American spirit. You can find out more in the links below. It's free, and I can't wait to give you all a hug in every single regard.

1:09:25Ro, it is your birthday. I want to close with a very expensive gift from all of us. Aww, that's nice.

1:09:31Roger Bennett:I haven't had any presents. Having just said I'm never more than six months away from presents, I've not had presents today. Are you a birthday person? Aww, no. It's like people who love birthdays, people who hate them. Do you love them? Yeah, I quite like a birthday. Rog, this is the best present I could have hoped for. Aww. That's made my day, that. It's a gold one as well. It's worth it. I think they're a bit fancier in America. She's right. it was very expensive yeah there was like the normal ones it was a gold one i'm like it's real thank you roger thank you to whoever actually paid for it yeah that's it uh we're gonna leave you betty it's a joy to have you come be with us anytime and eat our lovely lovely lovely fries more than a seven um we're gonna leave you with a beautiful clip from an interview uh that we take this morning with representative hakeem jeffries fresh off announcing that the mother of cape verd goalkeeper overnight sensation Vazinha can I am joking can obtain a visa so she can watch her son play in person in the next game it's an incredibly moving story watch the whole interview on our YouTube channel this is Rog save for every second big big love here's Hakeem Jeffries courage you mentioned the symbol of it all Vazinha 40 year old goalkeeper and he also started to talk about his mother who'd been unable to make the trip to watch her because of the visa issues.

1:10:56You couldn't help but have your heart break upon seeing the interview and the mention of

1:11:02Roger Bennett:the inability of his beloved mom to be able to watch him in person and was very pleased, you know, to make the announcement earlier today that his mom will be reunited with her son so she can watch the match with Uruguay in person. Thank you.