Paraguay stuns Germany, Morocco outlasts the Netherlands, and Brazil's comeback against Japan, featuring Brian Windhorst: Night Cup 06/29/26

22:21I do like the Amplify Real Estate, yeah. I think it's quite a good album that Pavement would come out with in about 1987 to penalties, which is what we want. Why did he even play the football stuff? I don't know. I think, honestly, for reals, There could just be. You know how the UFC dude just was like, let me experiment with what people want. Let me do Russian slap fights. And he just had that side quest thing. It was quite good, actually. I don't know why out of the World Cup, we don't just have, you know what I mean? Why don't we just have penalties? Like a separate penalty position? Yeah, a separate penalty shootout.

22:55The Penalty World Cup. That would work. I think Americans would love it. Especially if the fucking, excuse me,

23:09My son watches this. He does. Not live. I'm almost going to say it again then. I'm hit up. I've got emotions. I've watched a lot of football today. I've got up at four o 'clock this morning to do some very bad TV too. The, excuse me, families of America. Look, to penalties. Cooper, my hat. Don't blame my hat. It's just an innocent beaver, Rog. It is. That died so that you could... It's surprisingly well-knitted for beaver. It's amazing. It is amazing that the beaver gave itself up so you could do this. Worth it. Very bad TV, says the man who's on licks to a dude in a...

23:56Penalties. Cooper and I have scored. And then Nell, I'll be on you. Who knew he was going to miss first Moroccan penalty taker? Roger Bennett. This guy. Yeah. You can tell in his face, right? He didn't, what do they say in football? He's got missed penalty face. He didn't back himself. He didn't back himself. You can tell. Look at it again. He walk out. He's so nervous in the walk up to the spot. His eyes are the eyes of a doom man. Off the bar. Clivert. I'll just say this has not been the World Cup of penalty shooters who wait for the keeper to make the first move. He waited. but you know like kind of freaked him out again we've seen it a number of times spasmed a little bit he like second guessed he kind of shanked his shot God then remarkable Rahimi his kick was smothered this was unbelievable Verbruggen smothered the ball it kind of slowly went under him it wasn't going in it didn't have the velocity but the keeper's trailing foot kind of curled around like a little mini scorpion kick and kicked the ball into his own net it was almost like An own goal penalty, Rook?

25:00Yeah, I mean, again, I genuinely have never seen that happen before. I mean, I presume it must have done, but as you say, he'd saved it. Yeah, and the ball had stopped moving. And it squirmed away from him. I think it was still spinning a bit. Yeah, but it wasn't going in. Yeah, he could have easily just sort of wrapped his leg around it and kicked it the other way. It wouldn't have been a problem. But as he kind of fell, his leg jerked backwards, and it kicked it in. And his face, there's real genuine agony. If you see the penalty again, look at the Brogdon's face as he realized what's happened.

25:27He turns around and the agony and the despair and the kind of that falling feeling he must have had. It's all there in his face. Noel 813 says, worst fumble since last night when that fan dropped her iPhone off the stands. Very similar. And then you had Chemizdin Talibi scored. Kenton Timber concussed on June the 18th. Quentin Timber, not a doctor. Not quite sure that he's recovered raw, by the way. He did the penalty. It was a penalty that barely went out for a goal kick. It almost went out for a throw-in. It was that bad. It was a pretty bad penalty, yeah. It went two or three yards wide, which actually, when you think about it, you also don't see very often.

26:08And then Hakimi, he was never going to miss, right? He's just a lethal footballer until he did post-whack. I think in the studio, one of the broadcasters said, penalties is a science. This is a drill. This is all the more wonderful because it's so human. This is not a science. This is a crucible of pressure of elite footballers doing something completely different than the game they've trained for. That's a collective game. It's a team game. This is an individual trial and tribulation. Look, it's not hard to kick a ball from 12 yards, but it's unbelievably difficult to shoot it when your nation's hopes are on your shoulders.

26:45Every human being, five billion people around the world are watching you. It's hot. You're exhausted. You're suffocating under the heat, the pressure, the walk to the spot. It's as close to Russian roulette than it is to football. There's a lot of Mexicans booing you because of something that happened 12 years ago. Yes, that's all. I could have handled it, boss, if it wasn't for the Mexicans. Just put me over the edge. This is unbelievably hard. The psychologist who at Gears Your Day has made a whole business out of studying only the psychology of penalty shooters because he believes it's where human beings are operating under the conditions of most hysterical stress.

27:20That's what we watched tonight. Hakimi missing a penalty. Everyone is missing. That's what we're watching. We're watching humans under psychological torture. I think it's borderline cruel. But then Bono just took over, inserted himself into Somerville's head. It was unbelievable. The mind games, he moved left, stood there, moved right, stood there, right, over, and then fainted like David Byrne and stopped making sense for what he did. He made Somerville shoot at him. Mesmer hypnotized him. I know I've said this three times now, Rog, But I mean, every single time. Again, never seen it before. Bono didn't dive.

27:57Yeah, he just plucked the ball well. And you know what? If you watch it, he did it on the previous penalty. He went the other way, the penalty that went in. He went the other way. And again, he's not diving. He's maximizing his ability to save things. Because if you dive, you can't reach up. But Bono, realize if he steps across, he can still get down. But he can also just go. It was crazy. Incredible. Watching he plucked the ball out of the air as if it was a little feather. I've been expecting you. And then Ismail Salibri converted at the final whistle. Commentator said, Morocco wins and football wins the team that came to play, which I thought was a bit harsh, man.

28:36It's ridiculous. I found it electric from both teams playing an idea of football that was playing to their strengths, the opponent's weaknesses. I don't know if you want to say anything on that or we should move on because Morocco, they're not afraid of anyone. They are a team who believe they are heavyweights now. They really do. And they are heavyweights. They stood up to the Dutch. They played really well, Morocco. I'm not disputing that. I think the criticism of the Dutch is way overblown and is actually sort of not very football fluent, which surprises me, of Thierry Henry. But they stood up to the Dutch.

29:08They stood up to Brazil in that first game. They were brilliant against Brazil for 30 minutes. And then the rest of the game, they were more than a match for Brazil. They are a team to be taken really seriously. Canada in the next round. than potentially a rematch with France in the quarters. That's good. That's good. That's good stuff. Next up, Morocco play Canada. I think this is just like Morocco manager Mohamed Kahibi and Jesse Marsh strip off to the waist, oil themselves up and wrestle. What do you think about that? I think you too often think that people should wrestle in oil as a solution to problems.

29:38I think the world would be a happier, more peaceful place if we just did the oily wrestling. I only heard about oil wrestling when the USA played Turkey. And I heard that soccer is the number two sport in... A Turkish guy told me, soccer is our number two sport. I was like, what is the number one? He said, oily wrestling. I was like, what? That sounds like that's not a true fact and that's maybe someone trying to offer you something, right? I think that's deeply naive. Well, I wasn't in a helly way or anything. This is like genuine, like just a nice dude on the plane. He showed me videos of the oily wrestling.

30:13It's legit. Ooh.

30:19One bottle of oil down, one to go.

30:27We've got lots to get to. By the way, Josh Reagan says, can the US men's national team and their supporters be called the Bucky Bros? You guys decide. We don't decide. We just put out into the US. This is you guys. At Caleb6745 says, men in blazers spends roughly two months in America and it's turned into men in beaver hats. But we're not talking about the hats. We're just letting it be. At Eureka in LA, he wants to know, who took the edibles first?

30:59And 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. These are free college game day style live events taking place just before kickoff at some of the biggest games of the summer. But 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. Head to the events tab on meninblazers.com for all the details.

31:36To the football, to more together courage.

31:42Brian Windhorst:Let's get to Gotadamerung! Germany won, Paraguay won. What? Paraguay won 4-3 on penalties? I still don't believe this happened. We knew this was not your grandfather's Germany. This Julian Nagelmann's Mannschaft. We knew it was a team stuck between generations, between ideas of football, didn't have an identity, didn't have much star power, didn't have much personality, didn't have much experience, leadership. Had a lot of fear factor more than anything compared to a former German squad. Front page of German newspaper Bilch today ran a menacing threat of a headline. Today, Nagelsmann must deliver.

32:19I don't know why I do like my evil grandmother in the woods with a Hansel and Gretel voice. It feels like you're stereotyping a bit, Roger. I think so. One of the subplots to Germany's time in the state at this tournament has been a succession of fairly major German figures criticising Julian Nagelsmann constantly. While commentating about Julian Nagelsmann. So Thomas Muller, Hummels, Jurgen Klopp have all been doing various bits of German TV. And they've not really held back. And Germans are a bit like the Dutch in that they're very honest. And they will tell you what they think. I'm not sure it's helped around the mood around the team at all.

32:52It's been a lot, a lot. It's been a constant soap opera is what it's created. I think Jurgen Klopp does like the... What's 40 in German? I can't even remember. To count in German, I have to start at 1. Let's not do that. Let's not do that. It's going to take a long time. None of this is good content, my love. Anyway, God bless. The manager did buckle a little bit, shoved Dennis Undav into the starting line. Paraguay, football mad nation. We know this. They'd waited 16 years just to see their team back in the World Cup. Seen them smashed 4-1 in the opening game by the United States of America. And last clinging to a 0-0 draw of Australia, we knew that they'd do what it said on the Tim.

33:35They'd lock the game down. they'd hope mouth-hand defender Miggie Almiron would speak no evil upon his return. You know, they set up to frustrate, to spoil, to lull Germany forward, to hope they'd have stale possession, which they did, and hope that frustration would eventually turn into a mistake. And it did. It was really remarkable. You know, watching the game, I was like, my God, this is interesting, because Paraguay can have a similar personality to Ecuador, who just flipping beat Germany, and then it happened. Corner, punched away by quite ungainly Neuer. Paraguay regained control, fed Almiron, who's still like there.

34:15When it comes to creative forces, he's still like Paraguayan Bob Ross. Cut inside is mine. This is my happiest part of the day, just the wicked deviousness with which he spotted that slip pass to unlock the German back line. I think it was Galarza charged onto it. Low drive, lethal. all. That Paraguayan bowling ball, Julian Nc. I don't know how you leave him. So unmarked. Dude is like 5 '8". It was like watching Alan Iverson be allowed to dunk the basketball in the paint. Utterly, utterly stunning. That nod home emphatic and like, oh God, gobsmacked. And that's what Paraguay had been waiting for.

34:52Like we said before with the Dutch, it's not that Paraguay weren't trying to win. It's that that was their plan. They'd recognised that Germany don't have a huge amount of cutting edge. That's what Germany lacked. and Paraguay's best chance was to get the Germans annoyed, to get them frustrated, get them panicking a bit and then pick them off on the break and what they did was they mounted a perfect counter-attack. Yeah, rapturous moment, which is not just against the balance of play, but I have a lot of Paraguayan friends who are texting me, this is against the entire flow of Paraguayan history.

35:23It's against our self-image and I know you've been asking, because I'm thinking it too, What would the US have done to Germany if we'd been allowed to get at them? History will never know. We will fear the Germans will fear us. Noglesman made a change at the half. Felix Mecher replaced by Goretzka. And Germany started to whip in crosses early. And eventually one of them worked. Killing ball from Wurz. Quite beautiful. This Kai Havertz header, man. That was such a deft, sophisticated, sublime, nuanced. It was just like an avant-garde jazz header. A moment of real class is what it was. It was Havertz understanding exactly what he had to do.

36:05And I think in moments like that, the ball from Virts is pretty good. He's had a poor tournament. It shows the quality of player that you're dealing with. The issue for Germany, I think, has been that, one, those players haven't delivered quite as much as they need to. And two, they don't have as many of those players as they should have, given the size of the country, the history, the clubs they've got, and also the youth development system. has kind of let them down a little bit. Into extra time. Record 12th for Germany. Paraguay just bunkered down. They created 0.00 XG in extra time. And so it came to pass.

36:39Germany actually had 13 corners in the game. 1-1-4 post. Tar leaping up, nodded home. And you saw in the moment his celebration. Just a release. The relief. Just all that pressure off their throat. But not so fast, my friend. VAR saw a block on the keeper by Anton. It was soft, but there was an arm around the keeper. It was raised down. The keeper heel went. I'm sure this was a scene that was incredibly triggering for any West Ham fans. Yes, there was a foul by the number 19. Absolutely. No foul by the number 19. Which one was it for West Ham? It seems so long ago, Rog. I can't remember. Doesn't it feel like Arsenal won the league?

37:16Arsenal did what? I mean, it feels, it genuinely feels, it feels so bloody long ago that we beat Australia at this point. It was very soft, but I think it was the right decision. I think the TV, certainly in Britain, from my friends who were texting me, the TV in Britain seemed to have decided it shouldn't have been ruled out. I think if you look, Anton very clearly fouls the goalkeeper. And it's as the keeper's getting up that the header comes back. And I would say that that pretty obviously means that the keeper, Gale, who was excellent, didn't have time to respond. Remarkable to watch. This German team, amongst the favourites before a ball was kicked in this World Cup, coached by a skateboarding wunderkind allegedly julian nagelsman just resulting yes swole what do you call it hench um just an endless barrage of crosses to the big lad it was like very england 1990 vibes that's the best they could come up with um i was shocked by their lack of image self-image their the crippling self-doubt um they have not won a knockout game since 2014.

38:18I thought about how the pressure, the stress on their shoulders must have been enormous as they went to penalties. Well, they came into this tournament with a massive psychological complex. It's that 2018 and 2022, they didn't get out of the groups, which Germany is humiliating. To get out, I think, would have been a considerable relief for the Germans. But you could see it come back as Paraguay provided resistance. You could see the panic, the nervousness, the fact that everything was so rushed, particularly in extra time, set in. they didn't look like a team that had the confidence that they were going to find a way through.

38:52And that suited Paraguay down to the ground. God, it was really remarkable to watch. I mean, he's still favoured Germany. I mean, penalties, Manuel Neuer in this game, setting the new record, 23rd appearance at a World Cup more than any other player in national team history. Going against Orlando Giel, players playing amateur football as late as 2018. Even last year, he was a backup goalkeeper for San Lorenzo. But he was fearless. Do you like a penalty shootout? Yeah. Do I like a penalty shootout? I prefer, Rog. One of my secret shames is I think the better way to settle a football match would be the old MLS style penalty shootout.

39:28You do? Genuinely, yeah. Because? Because I think this is not sufficient of a football test. Like you said before. So divorced from the game that precedes it. It's unrelated. And I think, this is another Charlie's point, I think it favours the scorer too much. I think the MLS style shootout was a better, a more balanced test. I mean, it's fascinating. It's like, you know, you've got a synchronized swimming and you're just going to, it's a tie and you're going to decide who can swim laps faster or something. It's a close, both of these things happen in the water. If you catch my drift, they're such different skills and it is so, I find it excruciating.

40:05But all the pressure is on Germany. First penalty, Havertz, ref took forever to set up, kind of ice poor Kai. All you could hear, this is amazing. Watch this again. All you could hear was the sound of Keel, the goalkeeper, just clapping over and over. These gloves making that whacking sound. Havertz will hear this in his sleep tonight. It was amazing. Somehow the stadium went completely quiet. All you could hear was like kids again. God bless Kai. Ran up like Fred Flintstone. That rarely works either. Jove the ball at a savable height. Just PTSD for gooners from the Champions League shootout. Mauricio scored.

40:40Neuer old and late to get down. Kimmich was very German, sent his, the keeper, the wrong way. Second Paraguayan penalty by the captain, Gustavo Gomez, was so composed. And then up came Musiala, calm and cool, but so was Galazzo with a chill roller. Oh, Valtemada. I mean, the keeper again did the mesmerising clapping thing, mixing a few spasms on the goal line, gave Valtemada so much to think about, too much to think about, dove to his left for full extension. and Valtemar just looked like a lanky lost dude. He can really reach high shelves and that's about it. Valtemar scored one of the best penalties I've seen for ages for Newcastle this season.

41:19But as he walked up, and I have witnesses for this, Rog, I said, he will miss. Because, again, it was the walk. I don't like the stutter penalties. I don't like the straight run-ups. I don't like the one that, I think one of the German players, did the sort of lots and lots of steps. Yeah, that's the Havertz one. I hate the one where they go straight. Like Marcus Rashford or Saka does it too, where you go straight and then you move to the left and then curve. It's too much to go wrong, too much to think about. Run up, pick a spot, kick it as hard as you can. That is my advice. Dear Jordette, I don't charge as much as he does.

41:56That's my advice. Under eight. Under eight, penalty, just kick it as hard as you can. Jürgen Klinsen once told me his philosophy on penalties was just to not think about where you're kicking it because if you don't know where you're kicking it, how does the goalkeeper know, which I think about all the time? There's a truth in that. There is. There's also a non-truth. But do you know what my most abiding belief about penalty shootouts is, Rog? Go on. Players who are brought on just to take a penalty always miss. So what happens for Paraguay? God, it's so unbelievably true. Antonio Sanabria stepped up, game on the line, a nation held its breath.

42:32You know, in this moment when Paraguay could have won, All I could think about was what an holy combination of food was churning in Freddie LA7's stomach right there. You know, I was like, oh, is Freddie just going to upchuck if this goes in? We didn't find out because he missed. His teammate, Fabian Ballenbauer, had a chance to ice it too. It was like two match points in the tennis. Yeah, your point. Oh, my God. But old man Neuer dived to smother it as he screamed in German, What do we say to death today? Hey! My lip reading is not so good. Roar, you expect Tar to be Darth Vader clinical. Man's pissed off.

43:10Man had a header scratched off. It would have been the winner. But what did he do? He put the ball really... Do you know what it was, Rog? It was a bird burner. It was a bird burner. We need a new graphic. We've got to get some more money. Do another graphic. Can we send producer Charlie out with a begging cup tomorrow? Just get some more money for Gavin. Let's start a... What's it called? Thingy. Fun rate. Yeah, a GoFundMe. Bird burner. Bird burner. If ever there was a testament, I think, to the power, the crucible, the pressure of penalties, it's that man. You saw that one just a German lethal moment, just absolutely obliterated by a young man.

43:48We didn't watch this one together, but do you think it was one of those that goes just over the bar and because it's on that trajectory, it looks much higher than it actually is, or do you think it was quite high over the bar? I think it ends up like genuinely someone is up there eating some nachos, who's not watching the game in like... Straight in the face. Yeah, it's like com lols. But we didn't get to know because upstep Jose Maria Canale, a man who plays centre-back, you know him, for Argentine Premier Division, Lanos. And he just delivered the thunder from down under, smashed the ball into the roof of the net, utter conca-cath thunder ecstasy.

44:21We'll get to Paraguay in a moment. I'm just so happy for them. But we do need to dwell on Germany, who was in their first ever World Cup penalty shootout. at Raw, they fell to get out of the group of their last two tournaments. They now bounce out in the round of 32. Humiliation. We've downgraded Italy as a global footballing superpower. When does the blip become a feature for Germany? When did you say Germany are a second-tier power? Or do we say, like, look, Jurgen Klopp's going to rip off the headphones, get into the management position, and he's going to save them? I mean, I think we probably could downgrade them at a certain point, because their record since 2014 is abysmal.

45:00In fact, the record of every World Cup winner, apart from the French, since 2006, is awful. So children watching. Just don't win the World Cup. Don't win the World Cup. Don't win things. You're doomed. Lose the final. Yeah. Winning is a trap. It's a trap. Just don't win the World Cup. Don't aspire to win in life. I don't want to get too kind of inside baseball on it, Rog. But the issue with Germany is really, really clear. Their youth system produces loads and loads and loads of the same player. That's the problem. They produce nothing but sort of neat, technically good midfielders. Whether they're playing in midfield or not, those are the players they produce.

45:34Wurtz, Havertz, Kimmich, that style of footballer. They have no cutting edge. And that's what's cost them in this tournament. If they had a proper striker who could score goals of that sort of ultimate quality higher than Denis Undav, then I think they would have been able to see off Paraguay. Because I'm not being funny and you don't want to tend to downgrade Paraguay at all. Paraguay aren't very good. I know, but maybe Paraguay, hear me out here, Maybe they were the tourney of Mannschaft after all. I'm trying to work out what does the 4-1 beat down from the United? Maybe that was their Saudi Arabia or Argentina game.

46:05And Paraguay, when they make the Netflix film about how Paraguay won the 2026 World Cup, which would probably be a ratings disaster. Yeah, I don't think there's not a lot of audience for that. Can you imagine? Here we are in the biggest game of football. It's Paraguay-Cape Verde in the final. No, maybe they're growing into the, this is a team that have played themselves into form. They'll now play France or Sweden in the last 16. Which one? That back line against Mbappe and Dembele. Or? Oh, yeah. Jota Rez and Izak. I think they'll batter those boys. You know what I mean? They're going to inflict a terrible pain.

46:45That's what they're going to believe. Can I say this is the greatest night, not just in Paraguayan football history. I think this is, and Paraguayans, Les, now I'm so happy for you. I think this is probably, look at them dancing in the street here. This is so humanly beautiful. This is the good stuff, man. This is the beautiful stuff. This is the joy of a nation through football. I believe this is one of the greatest nights in Paraguayan history. This night will be remembered. Oh, that's absolutely true. I mean, I think if they do play France, they might find that their World Cup is over relatively soon.

47:17And it's wonderful for Paraguay. I don't want to be kind of churlish about it. It is genuinely wonderful for Paraguay. And yeah, they have grown into it. They've obviously, they've improved a huge amount since that US game. They are tough to beat. They are well-organized. I don't know if you know, are you aware of the work of the philosopher Mario Balotelli? He's my theologian. He's everyone's theologian. He's going to be with us tomorrow during the France-Sweden game. We're going to stream it live on Twitch with Mario Balotelli and Lindsay Heaps. Mario said in one of his treatises that the reason the small teams can beat the big teams is because they are good.

47:54Yes, he did. It was such a good answer. But it's true. There isn't a better way of putting it. Like, Paraguay don't have a huge amount of injuries. You know, NC's a good player. Almiron's a good player. Diego Gomez, the Brighton midfield is a good player. Maurizio, I think, looks really neat. I can see him moving to Europe at some point, as though that's the only thing that matters. They're fine. They're not great. but that they are well organised, they're fit, they're tactically smart, they can cause problems. And the US should maybe have been given more credit for making them look so bad. To causing more problems, Paraguay.

48:27God bless you. Before that, Brazil 2, Japan 1. A game that didn't need a penalty shootout. By the way, I think I've just fixed penalty shootouts. Hear me out here, Roar. MLS-style shootout with bottles of oil. You've got to stop trying to introduce oil wrestling into stuff, Rog. Well, I just think it's like life's funny. It's just funny. It's a funny sport, man. It is a funny sport. Life needs more of that crap, man. But I don't agree with your idea of having a video podcast about it. No, I agree. That's a bit... I don't think we should live stream it. I think probably... No. No. I don't think we need to take that step.

49:02It's on the dark web.

49:07I'll tell you what. Let's see how the numbers do. Yep. And if we need to do it for the content. If the numbers do so well, it'll be troubling. Don't you watch if we do it, okay? If we do oil wrestling, don't watch. Let's get into the game. Game 74th of the Swole World Cup. Just a fascinating one. Brazil, gold standard from days of yore. Team who had never lost against Japan. Hadn't lost in 21 games in North America playing in Mexico and the United States. That's bonkers, man. Playing Japan, an aspiring nation. A desperately aspiring nation. Nation that know they're good at football. Ten games unbeaten.

49:40Just beating England at Wembley for the first time. but had not won a single knockout game in a World Cup in the nation's history. Both teams unbeaten in the tournament. I think you can say Brazil were yet to impress Japan. Set up with five at the back, four in front of them. Smothered the space around Vinny Jr. Shut down the Brazilian attack. It seemed with ease in that first half. Choosing moments to spring forward. They could trust their midfield was more athletic. Was faster than Brazil's relatively young one. I think Casemiro had already taken the yellow card, which means he had to dial it down by the 29th minute.

50:15And he almost just ushered a convoy around the runner. Sanu, Caishou Sanu, gifted him a large yellow convoy in on goal. Gabriel, fascinating to watch him. He's like a shadow in this World Cup of Arsenal Gabriel. I can't tell whether he's fatigued or whether just the Arsenal system is one thing, the Brazil system another. All season long, we've seen him block City. Here he's like so tentative. and he kind of backed off and backed off. It was a very odd thing to see as Sanu just lashed home low. How do you say Worm Burnham in Japanese? Let's find out. I think the issue with Gabriel is that centre-backs about partnerships, Rog.

50:54So he'll know that with Saliba, Saliba's the one who tends to drop and Gabriel goes out and engages. Whereas with Brazil, that's not as quite as kind of intuitive. That's right, man. He did look like he was on an island there and didn't know what to do. But hang on a minute. Unleash the hounds.

51:20it would tell us any japanese speakers and we say that in your language um by the way we do have to say that sano is akin to japan's thomas party he's a man who's accused of rape um sexual assault charge was reportedly dropped after a large payment was made to the victim it was crazy because in that moment because of football you were seeing this man who was destined to become a hero in his nation um you know but that was japan's only shot on goal in the half um i thought in the moment i've been reading a lot about japanese philosophy recently i don't quite understand why. The Japanese have a concept of sadness rule.

52:03God bless they've come out with this. This is so nice. It's called mono no awai, which I've just butchered. I apologize, Japanese listeners. It's often translation. I love this. It's called the pathos of things, the gentle sadness of fleeting beauty. Stay with me here, listeners. It's a realization that true beauty like like think of cherry blossoms um when you see them they are stunning um but they're also transient and fleeting there's an awareness when you look at them that they're coming to an end and and that only deepens the joy of the beauty of the present moment i thought about this philosophy in that moment rule that as stunning as it was this was brazil they were facing um And it was probably going to be fleeting.

52:49Mono away. But only if you kind of are facing Brazil the concept rather than Brazil the actual reality. Because I think this Japan team, we said this last night, are a match for Brazil. But the idea of Brazil, I think, still has a power. And that's what we saw. And there's two ideas that have a power here. By the way, one of you is putting into the chat in Japanese. The literal translation is Wamubana, a worm burner. A low, fast ground ball referred to as a choro, a goro, or I can't read that, a renaissaino goro. I'm sorry, Japanese people. I'm trying really hard. It's very late. I've slept for like two hours in the past 48.

53:30There's another idea that the Japanese are grappling with. They've never won a knockout game in a World Cup. By the way, I think about this for the United States too, with our hex with European teams that we just can't beat. Their manager, Hajime Moriasu, talked about how, yes, this has become a psychological issue. And Mr Carlo Ancelotti will have known this first. He removed Paquetta. I think he picked up a knock, inserted my friend, Endric. His presence uptick, just the verve on the flanks and the intensity, really. Brazil started to fire crosses into the nerve centre at will. Colin knew Japan had taken the lead in the last two World Cups and lost that game in the knockout round.

54:10but this felt like Japan were different that they were built different they looked so bloody good Brazil they urged on the crowd about 80 % I think yellow and blue bellowing drumming them onwards kept running at mass defenders pressure built and then a sudden the arc ball Gabriel turned into Brazil's most potent winger well played sir and the most potent finisher revealed himself to me of course it was you all the time Casemiro this man he'd already had header nodded off the line savaged at half time in the Fox show. They called for him to be yanked. I mean, there was mockery. There was derision.

54:44Roar, this is what I love about the game. One minute you can be, you know, you have a nation calling for your retirement on the spot. The next, you can have the whole crowd on their feet calling their name. That's why I love football. There's a bit of the last two years of Casemiro's career in that game, isn't there, really? Because he's been, he was when, maybe not when he arrived, but after a little while at Manchester United, he was basically a feeder of fun. He looked like he was finished. and then under the judicious guidance of Michael Carrick, he has been reborn and he was performing so well towards the end of the season that I think a lot of United fans would have wanted to keep him.

55:18And again, he showed that today, that occasionally the older gentlemen in the Brazil squad do have that latent ability, that decisiveness, that in knockout football does matter. You need to have people who will step up, whether they're what they were or not. If you've got people who can play in moments, that's what this is. God bless Turnabout Moments. We've got to shout out Japan's goalkeeper, Zion Suzuki, born in Newark, New Jersey, to a Ghanaian dad, Japanese mother, moved over to Japan as a kid. It's been shown to be a remarkable shot stopper. One of the best saves that I've seen. Commentators scream, Vinnie Junior, almost one of the great World Cup goals, completely missing the fact in the moment that the kid do finger-tip the ball onto his post.

56:04which was one of the most sensational World Cup saves of this tournament. But again, Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid had an incredible knack of inserting players at the right time and trusting that they feel emboldened by his trust to just do something brilliant. Deep into stoppage time, this was so cruel. Ayo Tanaka of Leeds. Leeds are falling apart again. Coughed up the ball on the edge of the box. The ball was stopped and instinctively fired by Guimaraes straight into the Kenny Loggins dangers. Oh, Martinelli. First touch, smart, but he dropped it almost still too close to his body. He had to kind of reangle with the instinct of a million goals scored in street ball in Sao Paulo.

56:46It was stunning the way he caressed it. I think it came in like a kiss off the post. Should it count double? An exquisite moment. A cruel moment for the Japanese and for Ayo Tanaka. I think it was terribly cruel. We watched that moment in Leeds, Alabama. You did? Yeah. It was your fault. By the way, this man, Ayo Tanaka, if you're watching, you've had an incredible season at Leeds. You've had a really good tournament. You should not, you will be, but you should not be just remembered. No, look, mistakes happen as a team. So as much as Tanaka gave the ball away, you probably shouldn't let Gabriel Martinelli stand completely unmarked in the box.

57:21Happy for Martinelli. Kind of needs this, needs this moment. Tough season, Martinelli. Very tough. a player that feels things and has worked so hard to put himself into that position. Elated for him. Elated that Carlo Ancelotti reacted in this stunning World Cup moment, just like he did when Everton scored a 97-minute winner to clip Tottenham 5-4 in the FA Cup and he famously just blew into the coffee. That annoyed me when he did that. That was him being like, big-timing us. But no, here he did it again. Just standing on the sideline if he's just watching casual strangers say goodbye to each other in a coffee shop while he was waiting for a train in the station.

57:59Tranquilo. It's his thing. But that's really important to Carlo's image. Carlo has to project that. Being a manager's... Do you think he represses all the emotion? He's like, down below his nipples are buzzing and he's just like, Carlo, express out of the station. I think he probably takes it all out on, like, if he gets bad service. I think he's probably a complete nightmare. Dai! Macafai! All that stuff. The Italian comes out just when there's not a camera on him. He's like a reverse Jesse Marsh. God love you, Jesse. You're an incredible, both an American and a Canadian at this point. Brazil, I've got to tell Ro, still look old to me.

58:34Look, old on TV. They're now going to play Norway or Cote d 'Ivoire, which will be an epic rumble. Jonathan Wilson wrote a beautiful piece in The Guardian. Look at it. It's fine. It's fantastic. He compared their quite ordinary play with fleeting Transcender moments to Colo Ancelotti's Real Madrid, who are often ordinary. but never dead. That's a real way of putting it. Can't improve on that. I think that's absolutely right. We knew going into this tournament that Brazil if they're going to go far it won't be because they are the most coherent team. It is because they are best able to harness that ability to just switch it on for a second.

59:11That's what this Brazil team is. Oh, she can bless the question. Is any danger zoo not a Kenny Loggins danger zoo? I think the one I was in with the man showing me the oil wrestling videos last night. That sounds like a different type of danger zone. That sounds like the sort of danger zone you have to report. Kenny Loggins was not involved. For you four, did Colin Ancelotti tell his players that they're Brazilian heroes? He did. He said always Brasileiros. Tudo bem. The Japanese players, God, it was hard watching them just fall to the floor in utter agony. Honestly, I'd like to pop this button.

59:46If I undid all my buttons, would I look like Irving Renard as well? If you undid all your buttons and took it yourself in oil. Don't do that. They've lost so many players who injured. Matomo, Endo, Minamino, Kubo. They kept fighting. They know how close they were, how close they are, how close to where they want to be, and then they self-destructed last. They were so good as a unit. Third straight World Cup, same result, elimination of the first hurdle. And it feels like this was a big opportunity for them. They were 1-0 ahead of Brazil, only to fall. I mean, it felt an agony of squandering. I mean, the worst thing for Japan, that's really beautiful, the Brazilian fans controlling the Japanese fans.

1:00:31That's a lovely moment. But the worst thing for Japan is that this kind of happens so often that they look great in the group stages. And then when they run into, when they run into one of the sort of traditionally bigger teams, I wonder, Rog, whether there's an element of the seeding being an issue. I don't want to go off on a tangent. Yeah. But because the way the groups are constructed, Japan habitually finished second in their group, which means their first knockout tie is harder. So I wonder if the key for Japan is winning a group because then you get an easier draw in the first knockout and then suddenly that hex is lifted.

1:01:00I wonder if that might be the factor. Or come third like Paraguay and beat Germany. But that shirt is beautiful. That Japanese shirt. The last lantham is beautiful. Your fans are beautiful. You'll always have the Mexican restaurant and the free chips and salsa experience. No one can ever take that away from you. I can't believe that you think Freddie LA 7 is a sign up and not that one. What? Don't tell me, Mr. Norabunga. Pretending. I do think LA7 says, don't get me off on LA7 being a PSYOP. LA7 announcing today, oh, I have to stay here till July 23rd. I refuse to believe that a Japanese person is that impressed by the idea of free crisps.

1:01:39I think it was the honor and the desire to have to eat them to fulfill the honor. Look, don't get me off on my Japanese philosophy again. Old Gumbo says we want more tangents. We don't want more times. We're going to get to Wendy. I do want to say for Brazil, they kept it classy at the end after the final whistle. The Japanese were really in agony. Matthias Kuhner thought it would be a good idea to walk up to Japan's Kento Shiogi and gesture with five trophy fingers and then telling him that Japan are a small country because prior to the game, Shiogai told the Japanese TV, Brazil used to be strong, but what about now?

1:02:11I've got the image. France is strong. Argentina too, but about Brazil, I've not heard much lately. Keep it classy, Matthias. That's not a great look, is it, really? It's just him restraining the urge to rip off somebody's glasses. At Jet318 says, yeah, it's going to hurt the vibe, losing the Dutch and the Japanese. That's a really good point. He's going to pick up all the litter rule. Who's going to pick up the litter? Put it on the bus. Who's going to do Lynx Rex? How will we ever survive without Lynx Rex? Why don't we, maybe we American fans could do the Lynx Rex now. Maybe we could just rip that one off.

1:02:42Once a team goes out of the tournament, you can take its bit. Yeah, Charles. Get a bus. Fire up the bus. We have a bus! We have an orange bus! Oh my God! We got the Men in Blazers orange bus. Who's with me? Can we fire up the music? Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun. Na links da da da. Na rechts da da. There you go. I'm so into this. Can I get the bus to San Francisco? But the back, it's just come from there. I know. Don't make them drive it back. Oh, we can't. We went to be in the bus tonight, but we got a, What's it called? The fort lift truck. We couldn't get the fort lift truck to work to get the truck set up.

1:03:21It's very difficult working off a bus. We'll be with you on the bus tomorrow. I'm gonna send the bus to Santa Clara. If we send the bus to Santa Clara, will you at home do the links and wrecks with us? Or do we have to translate it into link left and right so you actually know what we're talking about? Just give us some guidance. We're gonna work on this. We'll workshop it.

1:03:43But it's time at long last for our beautiful, beautiful guest who stayed up so late to be with us. Be me into night cup, a bloke who's no stranger to two box television interviews. I love this man. I've always revered him. He's able to take a moment and expand it before its context. He paints a picture around the edges of the stories. He's a gentile always deep in the engine room of NBA breaking news. But imagine my delight and my surprise being on first take this summer, learning that this genius is proper, proper football. I'm not going to talk about his beloved Tottenham Hotspur's near-brush relegation because I'm not that kind of host.

1:04:27But it is a joy with all of my heart to welcome to the show, it's Mr. Brian Windhorst.

1:04:32Brian Windhorst:Thank you so much. And Rory, nice beaver. Thank you.

1:04:40Thanks for having me, Raj. I appreciate it. Wendy, it's so nice to see you, you beautiful human being. How are you World Cup-ing? I mean, free agency in the NBA is about to go off. So how are you doing, Booth?

1:04:52Brian Windhorst:Yeah, you know, this is the busiest time of my year. It's not great. But I did get to watch the two matches late today, and I got to see the two shootouts, which is just incredible drama. And I really think that we should just slow down the time between the penalties so that we can watch more crowd shots. I want the I drink it in. I the agony, the joy, the agony, the slow motion. I cannot get enough of it. It is the greatest. And, you know, you know that these guys realize that they will live with the results of this for the next 40 years of their lives, that they will miss this penalty or get this goal.

1:05:33Brian Windhorst:It's, I mean, it's so delicious. So it hasn't, I haven't gotten to watch a lot. I've watched the U.S. games. Our performance is so much better than it used to be. I have no idea how far they're going to go because I don't know enough about the competition. But there was a couple of World Cups ago, guys, where we couldn't get a centering pass. We couldn't forget about actually getting a shot on the frame. We couldn't get a pass to get a shot. So it's been, you know, I've watched and enjoyed Pochettino's fashion with the one button, you know, the one button button. I mean, it's been fantastic all the way down.

1:06:16Brian Windhorst:So I look forward to Wednesday. But it is sleep. You and I are together on our lack of sleep. Last night we had three hours, and tonight we're headed for about the same. I'm jealous about your three hours, Wendy. I'd bite your arm off for these three hours. But what you've said is really human truth. Can I ask you, we've been talking about this since Raw came. You said you want more crowd shots. You are in a game now, which is there's no crowd shots anymore. There's just shots of a dunk, and then they cut to Seinfeld. And then there'll be another dunk, and it's Chalamet. And then it's another dunk, and it's Zoolander.

1:06:55That's not his real name. You know that. What? He's not called Zoolander. Is he not? There'll always be Zoolander in my book. He's actually proper. He's an amazing human being. But I'm blanking on the real. Ben Stiller. There you go, Stiller Zoolander. I mean, that's crazy what you have. It's now become genuinely, there's no human. It's all inauthentic response in your game. Maybe you're watching ours and be like, oh, that's what I used to have.

1:07:23Brian Windhorst:We get a little bit of that in the baseball postseason where there's, Again, there's the delay between the pitches and the tension buildup. You get a little bit of it. But, yeah, no, we beat that horse a little bit in the playoffs. But I will say, I don't know if you are a Curb Your Enthusiasm fan, but seeing Larry David's reactions on the sideline was a game within the game. I agree that maybe it wouldn't have been so good if it was game after game, but there were some terrific moments for that. But the Knicks hadn't done it in 53 years, so I'll let their celebs have their moment this time around.

1:08:01I know our listeners adore you for the NBA. It may come a surprise to many of them that you have a football side to win. How and when did that interest begin?

1:08:11Brian Windhorst:About 10 years ago, I decided I wanted to get in the Premier League. And I love going to London. I try to go at least once or twice a year. So I wanted to pick a London club. and this is embarrassing to say, but I like the logo. I like the logo. And then I think they finished second in the table my first season, fully following them. We're talking about Tottenham Hotspur, guys. Yes, Spurs. Windy loves it. Nice cockerel. I did love it. And I think the first year I fully followed them, they finished second. And then I think year three or year four, they reached the Champions League final. and it was during the NBA finals in Toronto when they were playing in the Champions League final and I couldn't get it on the local TV.

1:09:00Brian Windhorst:It was a streaming service I didn't have and so I had to find a proper bar to go watch it in with a bunch of other people and then they lost obviously but it was a great experience and my first match that I went to was a derby. It was West Ham against Palace in about 17. And I was already sort of on the fence and it was at Selhurst. And we were sitting in the section that was right, right where the two, the away fans and the home fans meet. I was just a few feet away from the, from the, the ham, the West Ham fans. And it was two nil favored to West Ham. And they were talking so much trash to Zaha, you know, and it was just fascinating to watch it.

1:09:48Brian Windhorst:And then Palace, who I think had scored about two goals in about two months at that point, came back with two goals, including one stoppage time to get a tie. And Zaha came over and mooned the... I mean, he was wearing some sort of underwear, but he took down his pants at the West Ham grandstand. And I fell in love with the Premier League because I've never experienced such an incredible emotion in a game that was tied. And so I've been all in on that. And I've gone over in pilgrimages every year and gone to a bunch of games. I look forward to going again this year. I thought maybe Tottenham tickets were going to be very simple to get for a few minutes there.

1:10:31Brian Windhorst:But I guess I will. I actually, I had convinced myself that this was going to be good for my character. Because I have several friends who are City fans. And they tell stories. in the, I don't know what year they were relegated in the nineties, maybe. Okay. And they, you know, they, they say with, you know, with sort of redness in their eyes, like I knew as they were getting relegated, I wouldn't see them on television for years because, you know, there was no way to watch them in the U S at the time. And I thought this is going to be, I talked to myself in that this was going to make my character as a Spurs supporter, um, that I was going to follow them into the championship and I decided that's where we were headed so I'm very happy to have pushed that off and hope for another 17th place finish next year yeah no no nobody likes character building it's very tiring character building I do I do think character I mean if your sports life is the worst thing in your life I think you're doing pretty bloody well I say that as an Everton fan.

1:11:34Roger, I'm fascinated, Brian, by the Spurs US thing. Because as a Brit, it strikes me that Spurs are more popular here than I would maybe anticipate. Massive. And I've always wondered whether part of that is because the nickname Spurs is familiar in a sporting context, whether that kind of helps bridge that gap a little bit.

1:11:55Brian Windhorst:Perhaps, although the Spurs of the NBA, while they've been very successful, are not nationally popular, really. but there are some high profile Spurs fans. Steve Nash, who I, you know, sometimes relate to. I mean, I can remember when Nash, you know, when Nash was doing some television show, he was doing some American television show, like, you know, and I remember him running around the, you know, with Lucas Mora, you know, that's what I'm hanging on to Lucas Mora with the hat trick. I can still remember him, you know, viral video in the U S of running around this studio. he was doing television in when they won the semifinal.

1:12:34Brian Windhorst:And it was, you know, so there are, you know, I do come across Spurs fans in the U.S. You know, you do see the logo around a little bit. And then, you know, this year especially, I sort of like, I was really leaning into this. So if I had to take a flight, because I would travel almost every Sunday and I would travel on Sunday evenings, and I didn't care if they took a loss, which was regular, I would put on my Spurs cap and get on the plane and say, go ahead, I dare you to say something to me. I dare you. Wendy, you probably. Anybody can be an Arsenal fan. Anybody. Being an Arsenal fan is easy.

1:13:11Brian Windhorst:Anybody. It takes guts to put on that logo when you're trying to stay out of relegation. So that's the other thing that I think makes Spurs really popular here, is the sense of quest. I think that's really important. That's part of their appeal. I don't know if all Arsenal fans would agree that it's easy being an Arsenal fan. But if you're choosing a team that regularly competes, you're saying something about yourself. Whereas if you go for Spurs, who are just that little run below, there's a real sense of mission about that. And I think that's appealing to people as they look to choose something to be invested in.

1:13:41I think there's a London thing. I think Americans want to have a team in London. Most Americans when they go to England are there. They want a team that's not a front runner that they're picking just before they go out. It's why there's so many Arsenal fans, so many Liverpool They love the authentic history, the tradition. I mean, a lot of the Venn diagrams do locate around Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur. Chelsea have been historically popular here. By that, I mean, post-2012, less so in this moment. But you're not alone. There's a lot of NBA players, a lot of NBA coaches who have fallen in love with the football.

1:14:21I've got to ask you about one of my favourite Hoops football crossover moments in this World Cup competition. mr jimmy butler a man who loves football so much that he he wore a daniel munoz jersey on top of a james rodriguez jersey uh like a hat on the hat uh to colombia's um last group stage match against portugal one that was replete with the jack sparrow hat and the giant glass of wine can we pull this up for windy i want to know what you think of uh of jimmy butler's look here well

1:14:52Brian Windhorst:Well, Jimmy is known for trolling with his look. One of the things that he has done routinely is that on what we call media day, the first day of training camp where you do all the interviews and you basically get your – it's like school picture day. You get your photos taken. He has made it a habit of dressing more and more crazily where he will get his hair done. And sometimes it'll be like Halloween where he will go with Emo Jimmy. And there was another year where he had like braids all the way down. And then for the rest of the year, every time you see a photo of him, they use the media day photo and the joke continues.

1:15:34Brian Windhorst:But I have to, now I love Jimmy. I've covered him for years. I have to question that he, I do believe his favorite teams are Man City and PSG. and this does not represent somebody who looks like they've gone through the battles of uh of learning the nuance because the thing that i have come to love about the sport is the nuance of the sport is the uncertainty although i don't like how we go to court after every goal it seems like you You know, are we allowed to celebrate? Like, I still don't understand. I just didn't agree with that, you know, wiping off that goal. Not that I was upset that the Germans lost.

1:16:16Brian Windhorst:But the Germans, don't you think they know you could go back to the coach that smelled his fingers? Jurgi Love. They haven't been the same. They haven't been the same. Without those magic powers. Yeah. We don't know where those fingers have been. Exactly. I'm not sure we want to know. Jimmy, there was a great meme of that. And Faroum said, this man is more Colombian. than being robbed during the World Cup, which I just love. Can I ask you this? By the way, Brian, much of your career has dovetailed with covering LeBron James. You were on the scene early there, and you've really documented him. You've given us so much of the context and the contours of his life.

1:16:54A couple of days ago, we had the great British commentator, Peter Drury, who talked about how commentating over Lionel Messi feels like, quote, narrating a piece of history. And I'm curious about your perspective. What's it like trying to contextualize someone who is a Liverpool owner and also a basketball player? I don't know if you know this. He's also a Liverpool player. He's Bronny's dad, right? Someone who's redefining the game we love in real time.

1:17:20Brian Windhorst:Yes, as he's aged, though, he's gotten more into golf now. And he just got back from Scotland where he played. And I was kind of devastated because he played this course. I'm not going to say the name of the course. I don't want to offend anybody, but he played a course in Scotland that's like 15 years old. And yes, it's very nice. And I've played this course and I hated it. And I give him credit because he went all the way up to Inverness to play. So it wasn't like he just popped in over the border or just played St. Andrews. But if you're going to go all the way to Inverness, play a proper links course, not one that was designed like it was in South Carolina.

1:18:03Brian Windhorst:I'm still you got to play a course that's older than max downman is what you think yes you do not want a course where the where the clubhouse touts who designed it you know i i just so anyway um but yes he he he's been doing this this will be if he comes back he's not confirmed he's coming back yet. It'll be his 24th season. I don't know how long Messi has played, but not quite that many. Yeah. 24 seasons. And he's still arguably a top 15 to 20 player. And, you know, he at one point reached the finals, the NBA finals, eight consecutive years. And I think maybe 10 over a 13-year period. And in the NBA, we just had our champion, the New York Knicks, won 53-year drought that they broke.

1:19:01Brian Windhorst:We've had eight consecutive years of a different champion. So LeBron made it to the finals eight straight years. And then when his reign at the absolute peak of his powers ended, we've now had eight different champions. Now, he only won three of those eight, and people use that against him. But that reign of dominance where he took you know, over the, you know, really he, he got to nine over the course of 10 years, he took three different teams to those nine, to those nine finals. And that is an incredible accomplishment. And so each one of those seasons was its own journey and its own story. And you know, each one of them was incredibly different to Chronicle.

1:19:41Brian Windhorst:And I remember them chapter and verse, but that was just a great experience. And so the fact that he, I still actually, one of my favorite memories of the LeBron of the last decade actually took place in London, which was in the run-up to the Paris Games, which by the way, he won the MVP at the Paris Games at age 39 in his fourth Olympics. Yes. Amazing. But in the run-up, they played a couple of games at the O2. And as you know, it's not like England is known for its basketball craze, but they sold the games out and they played a game against the South Sudan, which on its face would have seemed like a blowout.

1:20:24Brian Windhorst:But the South Sudan made a run to try to upset the Americans. And it was just a friendly, it wouldn't have really done anything, but it would have been sort of an historic moment. And LeBron led the US back and made like five or six tremendous plays in the fourth quarter of that game. And he had the whole arena in his hand, which he's done hundreds of times across the planet but he gave the if you came to that game in london on a saturday night in july i feel like you will always remember what you see it's like watching ronaldo screw in azbekistan you'll never forget beautiful beautiful uh beautifully said and i just the idea that he's selling out the o2 in london at age 39 and giving them this incredible show and leaving this memory like i will always remember that he was still doing that at that age so it's been amazing to follow and I've been privileged to be able to be there for a lot of it I've got a couple of quick hits for you LeBron going to Golden State is like what in soccer the equivalent of good question I'm not convinced he's going yet Raj I mean like it there it looks like it may be happening but I'm not there I think there may be this may be a level of negotiation so if he's Lakers I mean right now that would be what would that be Arsenal would that be Man City it would be like um yeah it would be like uh going from it would be like going from arsenal to real madrid um it'd be like ronaldo joining messi in into miami that's even better that's even better yeah it's although it's it's you know the mls it's a cut from a different glob we're we're not quite the same as the best but it's the best i won't hear any mess but i got to see i took my eight year old son to see messy play at Kansas city, um, a couple of a year ago.

1:22:14Brian Windhorst:And I, he thoroughly impressed me the way he played. He had an incredible goal in the game. It was an amazing experience. I loved it. I watched him walk for eight. I read about this, the way he walks for 80 % of the game and then swings into action and just gives you a jaw drop. And I saw him do it. I actually saw it play out. So I feel like I can, I can sort of understand that, but yes, it is, it is. It's not quite, you know, Ronaldo Messi is, you know, Jordan LeBron. I don't know what would be a better comparison, but I like, I like where you're going. I like this conversation. Christian Pulisic has been referred to as LeBron James of soccer for many, many years now.

1:22:54Who is the real NBA comp for our Lord and Savior?

1:22:58Brian Windhorst:Wasn't it amazing how the game changed so much the other night when he came in like you felt and that lebron is like that in a in a way um where when he comes into a game it he changes the game um you know that's a good question these are good questions that i wasn't prepared for um but i but uh it's trey young andrew wiggins no Bradley Beal no I think you've just confirmed that the porn star guys do know ball if you're opening up with LeBron well I know you know I know you know you're you've been here long enough to know but like what happens you know obviously a pitch is so I don't know how many square yards it is but it's a huge space and it's amazing what can do when one incredibly skilled player can come on to it and change everything, even though they may only touch the ball a small percentage of the time.

1:23:58Brian Windhorst:And that is what LeBron is able to do. He has the ability in some ways to tilt the court in a way towards his, he can bend the court in a way. And he's been able to do this for 25 years. It's been amazing to watch and he can still do it. God, last question for you, you incredible human beings. I know it's late, but I've come to know you professionally, but before that, I knew you mostly as the incredible king raising those two fingers when talking about the utah jazz's uh decision uh making four years ago and in 2022 it's still everywhere constantly yes first of all it's a meme that exists to this day when you see this what do you feel do you feel like a pride pride um i it's amazing that it's lasted this long right that it's still coming on and you know what It happened like this week of the year, July 3rd.

1:24:52Like basically here's this week of the year.

1:24:55Brian Windhorst:A lot of ESPN is off. Like you'll notice as you are now that you're my, my co-hort on these ESPN shows, you're going to see with all due respect, you're going to see some different faces on these shows. I've met a lot of new friends. Yes. And you know, like the cream of the crop, It takes a little time off around July 4th. And, you know, we go down the list a little bit. And, you know, some and this particular show was on a Friday, just like this year, where July 4th fell on a weekend. It falls on a weekend. And let's just say that, you know, they were they were fine with me taking the rain. You know, normally on first take, as you know, Raj, you're not afforded four minutes without interruption.

1:25:42Brian Windhorst:I don't know how they treat you, but you get in, you start to build up your point 30 seconds and they're saying 10, 10, 10 in your ear. This particular show, I was, you know, it was not the first line. It was not the second line. It was, you know, it's kind of like, you know, Tottenham in March. They were down, you know, they were down to like guys that they were pulling off the street and they were recalling people from alone. You know, please come back home so that we can feel the team. That's what we were like. And so I was afforded like four minutes to sort of tell a story. So is this Wendy holding court?

1:26:23Brian Windhorst:Essentially. I was, you know, because of the cast, who I respect with people a lot, I was given a little bit more. I think even the producers, they were like, just get through the show. Just let us know when you want to go to commercial. And so I was able to craft this beautiful narrative story that I would never normally be allowed on first take to do. And it just so happened, like, 15 minutes later, what I forecast actually happened. It could have happened after the weekend. I think they wanted to go on July 4th holiday. And they said, let's get this damn trade done right now. And it made me look smart.

1:27:00Brian Windhorst:But I do. It is amazing all these years later. where does this rank in your professional achievement? Sadly, very high. It's actually scary that something so laughable could turn into something such a trademark. It's sort of scary. It's beautiful, man. You look so regal. And the fact that it came true within minutes. I want to close by letting you, you can take all the time you want because this is like, we're the fifth string on this show. Would you indulge us by raising your fingers? Less than somebody in the World Cup that makes you equally as curious. yeah um is it possible for the americans to beat a european team

1:27:45because it's been a long time as you know it's been by the way here's a key i tell people this

1:27:51Brian Windhorst:please on first take they have great chairs some of the chairs in these studios are not very good they're very high and part of what happened is i was able to lean back without fear of like falling over i'm a larger gentleman and sometimes you know the last thing you want to go to the viral for is you falling over backwards yeah steven a has such um gravitas at espn that they give him really good chairs so this that thing was because i felt comfortable leaning back in the chair they lulled you into it yes um can i just tell you you should do it more it is a beautiful thing. I mean, we had what's his name?

1:28:30Vagnamora, the actor from Narcos who's become a meme for being Pablo Escobar, sad Pablo, sitting in the empty swimming pool in a... Oh, is he sad Pablo? Yeah, yeah. Amazing. And he taught with great beauty about how hilarious it is to be, to see yourself refracted in this world. You bring so many people such joy. I think that's ultimately it. When people see that meme brings a bit of lightness to the day in a wonderful way and brings your wisdom your wonder i am so grateful to get to know you i've loved even more knowing that you are proper proper tottenham mostly i'm so grateful to you in this crazy time for you it's like it would like be like what you're doing with me in the last 20 minutes would be like me going on someone's show to talk about pop music of the 1980s while the world cup is going on so wendy you're a beautiful human being i look forward to raising many with you uh in the year ahead and maybe even getting over Tottenham to you to your family to your

1:29:29Brian Windhorst:memories to football man first off it's a pleasure to be on and I got an idea now we'll see if this comes off I didn't run this past you before I'm ready Wendy you know we have an NBA game coming up this winter in Manchester as the NBA is trying like crazy to present the folks in Manchester that they want basketball I don't I'm skeptical it's going to happen but there but it's going to have I think it's going to happen. And they're bringing one of their best emissaries because what does a Brit want more than a Frenchman to come in and to be impressed with? Which about the French? They're bringing Victor Wembenyama to Manchester.

1:30:06Brian Windhorst:Oh, my God. And I propose some sort of joint effort to bring the proper football and basketball worlds together. Let's make this happen sometime in the winter. I love this. Here's what we'll do, because I know Wemby's a great chess player. I just played Eberichie Eze at chess. I actually beat him by a team. Just stabbed my heart. I didn't mean to. Who had a better decision in the last year than him to say, oh no, I can't. Please. And then to stick it in our face. Yes. Four goals. God bless you. Four goals. Don't worry, I beat him at the chess. I beat him at the... But we could get Ebbs to come and play chess with Wemby.

1:30:52It would be, it would be, we just crossed the forces in the most curious way. Sean Peters, 5099, wants a windy question. Oh, no, here's the best question. Where is it? Andrew 2265 says, blink twice if my Pelicans are trading for Jalen Brown.

1:31:09Brian Windhorst:I don't think it's happening. I'm so sorry. And by the way, I'm impressed with a Pelicans fan. Oh, my God. They must say, I can see why they're searching for other diversions. if they're trying to find... We're a big tent audience. Windy, to you, we'll go to Manchester together to health, to joy, to big, big love. Thank you very much, man. Get some sleep. I'm going to try myself. We'll sleep after the final, baby. You too. Courage. All right. What a beautiful human being. That's lovely, yeah. And this is a busy time of year, isn't it? I bet you he's just clicking onto some oil wrestling. During the course of that interview, he sent 475 text messages.

1:31:47Did you see his hands? Just like a little squirrel under the table just texting away. I thought we might get a stoop. You did? I thought there might be... I was hoping that a stoop would happen while we were on. I think we did. And then we'd break it. Everton are selling Beto to the San Jose Sharks. You've signed Hayden Hackney. You should be happy. Tomorrow. We're going to get to the games. We're going to do this super fast. God, it's late. And I love it. I don't. I'm very tired. Ivory Coast, Norway. Les Elephants are in the knockout stages for the very premier time. It's remarkable that these players are about to do something that Didier Drogba didn't do.

1:32:23Yeah, yeah, Toure never did. I'm not just talking about the opportunity to have Waffle House's red, white, and blue Firework Waffle. We're right by, by the way, at Waffle House. I could not be more excited. God, I love Atlanta. They will be facing a Norway side that made 10 line-up changes in the final group match against La France, gave Erling Haaland time to download whatever software updates he needed before the knockouts. How's this going to go, Rob? This is a good game. Really good game. There's another good day of knockout football tomorrow, Rog. It is, it is. I think Norway have got the firepower, but I'm worried that they cost themselves the momentum.

1:32:54That is a bit frightening as an American fan. Next up, France, Sweden. Daft Punk versus Swedish House Mafia, as everyone is saying. France topped a number of lists for pre-tournament favourites, I think including mine, Le Bleu, won all three of the group games by a combined score of 10 to Deux. killing Abappe is when Dumbbelli are like dueling pianos, scored four goals each. So it's borderline insane to say, I'm still not sure if we've seen them play at their best, Raw. Mostly because they've not really been challenged yet. They've not really been smacked. They've not really been slapped. They've not been threatened.

1:33:30Yes, they're an apex predator playing with its food before they're getting impatient and buying it in half. But God bless. Sweden have been hard to figure out as well, if we're being truthful. They've been both sides of a 5-1 scoreline. Yeah, Sweden are really imbalanced. They're quite good going forward. Ayari's had a great tournament. Birdval's a good player. Elanga sort of brilliant goal the other day. And you've got Izak and Jokeres that give them a cutting edge. But they're not very good. And France will beat them quite easily. Finally, Mexico-Ecuador. This is a great one. It is a great one.

1:34:00We played in Mexico City's iconic Estadio Azteca. Sacred ground for football. Mexico have never lost a World Cup game there, which is kind of wild. No pressure then. Ecuador go and do your thing, Mexico perfect qualifying campaign, I think we're all sleepy on the fact they won all their group stage games without conceding a single goal which is incredibly bloody impressive you can't underestimate the power of the Azteca, although I've got to say they do rather easily midfielder Obed Vargas, by the way the World Cup's first ever player born in Alaska, I love that story he said quote, you can see the atmosphere, you see teams get tired the people fuel us, I think We can beat any team there.

1:34:41Ecuador, I feel, have grown into this tournament one game at a time. Little blunt, but they are ferocious. This one feels too close to call. Yeah, this is a really, really nicely poised one. Not least, Rog, because Ecuador will not be faced by the altitude in Mexico. They love altitude. They love altitude. They're at home in altitude, quite literally. Just Quito's also really high up. I think I'm a bit worried about Mexico. I feel like... I think Ecuador are really good. I feel like a little guinea pig in the vicinity of an Ecuadorian. That's how I feel. That's my level of worry. Quick reminder, taking a short residency here in Atlanta, as you will, we're doing back-to-back Match Day live shows starting this Wednesday, July 1st, 10 a.m.

1:35:20These are our beloved morning shows. We're going to be on the coffees, on the beers, at Founders Green, steps from the stadium ahead of England against DR Congo. You can practically smell the wings and hot dogs where we are on our stage. We're going to preview the game, England game. We're also going to talk through all things United States of America because we're playing right after that. We'll be doing it with the brilliant James Horncastle. Horn, he's coming. NBA star, Leeds United part owner, Mr. Larry Nance Jr. And Mr. AT Alien himself. I can't wait to see Big Boy again. It's an incredible life-affirming human individual to be live on stage with him.

1:35:59Come be with us if you are in town. Raise a pint and let's go the game together. It's going to be an unbelievable day. Even if you're not going the game, come down to find out more in the show notes. But we're going to be part of the night where we figure out what everyone suddenly believes. By taking a look at Cal Street percentages, to peek into the brains of football fans everywhere.

1:36:19Brian Windhorst:Tonight, we're going to look at the Brazil question. Hmm. There'll be many around the world who see the iconic yellow kit, feel the fear, read the name Brazil and think elite. But are they raw? 45 % chance to go out in the round of 16, probably to Norway. Only a 20 % chance to reach the semis. how far will but as you make it well as you said earlier they've really not been very convincing but but they do have players who can deliver in moments and that makes them it makes them quite hard to read my i did my bracket the men in blazers bracket the other day and i've got to admit i kind of ran into a bit of a an obstacle at the quarterfinal which i think will be brazil england and i just don't know which way to call that one i'm not sure that i could be certain they'd go through there so to me it would be between quarters and semis i want them to get to semis Rog, because if they get to the semis, it will be an Argentina-Brazil semifinal.

1:37:07And at that point, we will discover just how sensible FIFA's policy of allowing people to buy tickets in all different corners of the ground has been. So I'm intrigued to see that. So I'm going to say semis because I want to know what happens. I think Mr. Carlo is just going to be the greatest manager in this tournament. OK, it's time for the food. It's time for the European mind. Can't comprehend it. It's a moment we're waiting for the most talked about restaurant in the entirety of this World Cup. and it's in a gas station. USA, baby! It's Beaver Nuggets from Buc-ee's. I've been waiting for this all night.

1:37:40I've got to move my mic. Roy, you ventured hours to get these in. As you said, Leeds, crap you know Alabama. Leeds, Alabama, everybody. You're like the world's most dedicated Uber Eats driver. We were actually instructed by one of our colleagues to bring these back, because she said that she had to have some, a Texan producer of ours, demanded some. And then I read the list of ingredients on them. And generally, to my wife's view, is that you should try and buy things with the fewest ingredients possible. There's about 600 in this, so I'm not quite sure what this is going to taste like. How are they?

1:38:09I think, I'm not sure if they cure scurvy or give you scurvy, but I do like them. I think we should stop eating them anywhere near the microphone. These are really bad for those who've got Mesopotamia. I do. I got Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia. It's been a long day. These are puffed corn snacks generously coated in a sweet buttery caramel-like glaze. I'm not comfortable with the word glaze, I've got to be honest. Roy, you know the drill. Take a bite, challenge your winner, give us a rating. I think you're giving this 6.7. I don't think you like these because your wife's watching and you don't want to be a bad...

1:38:51Oh my God, 7.7 puts it above... No, it doesn't. It doesn't even put it on top there. They are very nice, but I think there would be a real amount of shame that you'd have after you eat them. I don't need my teeth anymore. I'm going to eat some more of those right afterwards. Thank you, Buc-ee's, for entertaining the world, including that PsyOps, Freddie LA7, who is now the greatest PsyOps food influencer in this World Cup. PsyOps, PsyOps. Last but not least, as we invite you, dear readers, we made it to the top of the mountain. Do you want to let us share your World Cup journeys with us, your experiences, your memories, your dreams, your desires, your darkest fears, your poems, your songs, and you can get them read on this show.

1:39:32Drop them to menandblazer.gmail.com or in our Discord. We'll send the patch, the ones we read out. If you send us your postal, the United States Mesopotamia National Team, that's a nickname we could use. Tonight's, Nessa, comes from Emmett from Baton Rouge, a beautiful part of this nation. Raise this to you. I could drive there. I'd love to go to Baton Rouge. I'd love to go, Rob, but do the honest. Read it quickly because I'm so very tired. Dear Rog and MIB team, my first memory of soccer was rooted in another major event hosted in our country, the 1996 Olympics. Right here. I went to the bronze medal match between Brazil and Portugal.

1:40:08Seven-year-old me didn't know who this Brazilian Ronaldo character was, but I enjoyed seeing him score in the fifth minute. From that moment, I fell more and more in love with the game. I now have an eight-year-old son. Oh, bless. Ditto. And I wanted him to have the same kind of formative experience that I had in 1996. when it was announced the World Cup was going to be hosted in the US and you immediately I wanted to attend a match. We were able to go to the Netherlands-Sweden match in Houston. We wore our orange. We danced as we followed the Dutch bus to the stadium with thousands of our new best friends.

1:40:35And we were treated to one hell of a game, including two Cody Gakpo goals. Oh, bless. While the final storyline was exciting, what I will remember forever is the image of my son after the first goal. We leapt from our seats. We yelled, we hugged. And when I looked down, he was grinning from ear to ear while wiping tears from his eyes. in that moment I knew a core memory was being formed it was not that different from my own memory 30 years ago soccer has an ability to create moments of deep humanity and resounding joy it's given me a memory with my son that I will cherish for the rest of my life it truly is the most important least important thing and thanks for your work growing this game we love in the country we love courage Emmett Brown I personally feel I'm contributing a lot to soccer's growth in the United States with my hat I think so yeah I think yeah we're both holding it back just a little To an extent.

1:41:21Just a little bit. I mean, that's a beautiful letter. We couldn't have said it any better. It is true. That's what makes this tournament special. Parents going with their kids, mums and dads, daughters and sons. The memory. I've said to everyone I've seen of the game, you know, who's taken one of their kids. I say, you'll remember going to this game with your mum forever. You'll remember going to this game, you know, with your daughter forever. Whatever, whatever, whatever. And it is truly, truly beautiful. And yes, we'll also forgive you the treason for becoming temporarily Dutch. Before we sign off, a lot of action tomorrow.

1:41:57Holy crap, raw. We're going live on Twitch. We are. For our second official watch along. We need a theme for that. Presented by Google. We'll be watching the big one. Sweden attempt to stop the seemingly dominant French. Joined by our guest co-host, tallest man in Wrexham, Humphrey Carr's joining us. And some amazing special guests. Captain of the US women's team, the incredible Lindsay Heaps. Number one in my heart. She's an amazing footballer. And Balou's back for more. Balou's back. Double Balou, your philosopher king. Italy's world-class striker. It's amazing to listen to this man, to be with him, Super Mario Balotelli.

1:42:32Come watch with us. Football, it's always better with friends. You just follow along with the game, follow along with our crap. Link for it is in our show notes. There's more of that sweet, sweet content tomorrow. Vamos channel after Mexico face Ecuador. Herc Gomez and Sebby Salazar will do an instant live reaction for dual Nats. I think they're electric together. And we'll be back for more Night Cup after the final game tomorrow. Why are we sleeping? It's a waste of time. Oh, my God. Actor and comedian Mr. Keegan-Michael Kay is joining us tomorrow. Oh, wow. I can't wait. What an amazing man right there.

1:43:08Belgian fan on our YouTube. I love him. With all my heart. I'll tell you. Nice. I'll do that off camera. No, it's beautiful, actually. He talks about it with great, great love. I'll share a little film we made about it. That's it from us. Just remember, beaver hat, bottle of oil, here on the dark web. To play us out, we got a special extended look into Rory's Inn or go visit to Buc-ee's in beautiful, beautiful, like, correct me not, Leeds, Alabama. This is Rog saying big, big love. Thanks to Windy, incredible man, and courage. Roll clip.

1:43:41So that was my first time at Buc-ee's. I feel like it's not really changed me at all, to be honest. I feel like exactly the same person I was when I went in. It was fine. It's an amazing place. It is a genuinely amazing place. I've really enjoyed it. It feels like the kind of slightly corny Americana that I love. You can buy everything. You can buy petrol. You can buy either large or extra large sodas. There are no other sizes. There's an entire wall just of coffee. I don't know what's in a nugget. It's probably not good for you. They say that you should look at the fewer number of ingredients, the better.

1:44:12There's about 700. I'm not sure that's a great sign, but it is. It's not a place that has any actual parallel at home, despite the fact that it is in Leeds.