Spain vs Argentina Final preview, and a wild and weird England vs France third place game: Night Cup 07/18/26

19:51Yeah. But I think at some point, so this was the point where I found it quite funny, that, okay, this is now going to be the French being humiliated. This incredible team is going to end this tournament being humiliated, which is weird and interesting and odd. But I think that's probably the point where the French thought, hang on, we can't. We don't care about this, but we probably have to stick up for ourselves.

20:11Rog:Thomas Tuchel, after the game, said, what happened in the second half? Yes, coach Tuch. Coach Tuch. Coochie Tuchy. Coochie Tuchy. Stanley Tuchy. Coochie Tuchy, which sounds like something you might do with an intimate partner. God bless. You know what? If you were doing that this afternoon and watching the game, I'd love to you. Whatever helps you enjoy it more. Tell us about it in the chat. No, don't tell us. The gifts. Can they put gifts in the chat? Probably on the Discord. I don't think so. Definitely on the Discord. Yeah, the dark Discord is pretty good, man. I will say, Tuchel after the game, Coochie Coochie, Stanley Coochie, Hoochie Coochie said that ultimately the thing that happened in the second half was that France had had a day more to rest than England had.

20:56Rog:And so, thus, England totally fell apart. It's strange how it manifested in the 47th minute. It's weird, isn't it? It just kicked in, you mean. Oh, my God. Oh, I'm tired now. You see what? I've got exactly 48 minutes of attack after that. You should hook me, Gaffer. Like, eh? I've got to stay on. All I've got is 48 because I just didn't have that day. You know, Dayjamp had said France didn't want to play. At half time, it seemed like he was a man of his word, but then he flung on some more of his big dogs, including Dembélé, and the difference was immediate. Alise carved England apart in the 48th minute, six assists, putting him so clear to the record.

21:30Rog:He was on equaling Pele in 1970. Would he get it? We were excited. We didn't know. We knew. Mbappe finished giving him a one-goal lead in the race for the Golden Boot, tied for the most goals ever. Would he get it? I don't know. I was on the edge of my seat. Then Bradley Barcola burst through, made it 4-2. And I was like, why, oh, why is Tuchel not going into his defensive shell, man? That's when you throw, that's when you played Big Dan Burman. Yeah. Big Dan Byrne button. And Tootle will have wanted to do that, but he'll have known he wasn't allowed to. That's what's really funny. Yeah. Yeah, you felt that because, I mean, by the way, what an extraordinary journey for Dan Byrne on this World Cup, sort of from the meme king, like funster master of the Azteca and the Norway game to sort of, you know, an indicative of like the failings.

22:20I mean, it's so on the nose. It's like the microcosm, the super, you know, You see in those TV shows where they film a plant for six months to show you all the roots growing out. That was Dan Byrne's cycle of British football celebrity.

22:37Rog:Because then it rocks away. Then the head falls off it. Nothing to do with him. It's just the way we operate, unfortunately. Guys, all of football is just about life and death and rebirth, but we're only born so that we can die again. Uh-oh, he's back on his death day. By the way, squirreling is the problem he appeared hush now little dead one just the mortality obsessed man producer Jdub says you can put gifts in the chat at Kerry Dupe says the discord is going to get a spike in membership now you're encouraging us to put in hoochie coochie chat 4-0 ultimately is just 2-0 it's the double most dangerous lead in football that's probably maths people tell me if it works like that what's really strange this will sound totally kind of wisdom in hindsight like please at 4-0 yeah as soon as the french stored that first one you did think there is a world in which they win this 5-4 straight away sure like because because it wasn't governed by the normal rules of football not at all there was kind of an element of mayhem about it that meant everything felt possible it felt totally unnutritious it was all empty calories it was very silly but you at the same time you kind of thought well actually that yeah i can see a pathway for France to win this 5-4.

23:51Yes, it was like a sort of s'mores donut. You know, it was just, there was so much going on it. Yeah, like so much happening, but every time you try and put it in your mouth, half of it falls off and goes down your front. It was a bagel, I've discovered this in New York and it makes no sense to me, it was a bagel smothered with a schmear of birthday cake cream cheese. Oh my god. That's a real thing.

24:12Rog:Sounds amazing. America. It's electric. Stop. Stop with what? Birthday cake. Stop having a good time, Rory. Look, man, diabetes doesn't make itself wrong. Who thinks, who at any point thinks, do you know what I could really go for at the moment? It's just the taste of birthday cake. Are you telling us that we're a bit extra? A little bit. Mate, very extra, and we're not afraid of it because Freddie LA7 loves us even if you don't. He's back. I know he is back. He's back. Watch out, by the way, I said that I didn't want the US men's national team to win the World Cup, and some bloke tweeted my employer, so now you've slagged off birthday cake.

24:47sorry my employer's here oh yeah i don't think of myself like that i think of myself as the cool

24:54Rog:dad it's a trick it's a trick or like a david but it's a tricky thing isn't it because we we should have really have now that i'm your world cup wife we should really have revealed our relationship to hr shouldn't we wow is that me what can i be hr can you be hr guys thanks for coming down today with some of the other employees naming no names we're complaining Complaining about your relationship. We've got a code. Skrill's got a mouth on him. I've got to tell you. Don't worry. He's been in my office a few times. For many things, he's been dead and stuffed. He's got a bit of a mouth on him. Another Elise assist.

25:26Rog:Divine shuffle of a pass. Got him the single tournament record for assists. Mbappe scored there to become, and I'm talking to Darren Fletcher, because at this point he was losing his mind. become the leading all-time scorer in men's World Cup history. Panel, can I get a reading? Should goals in the third place game count? Because it's like charity game goals don't count. You know what I mean? Why do these? I mean, I suppose they have to count, but it does feel a little bit like cheating. Guys, this is the bronze final. Show a bit of respect to it. Show a bit of ruddy, bloody respect. No, it's both a fair point, but it is also, I mean, it is a World Cup game.

26:13And by the way, I don't know for certain, but I think some of the, you know, Miroslav Klose may well have bagged a few in third place games. Possibly. You know, we've never, there's never been an asterisk by his name.

26:22Rog:If he told you to put your hand in the fire, would you put the hand in the fire? Miroslav Klose did, I would, yeah. Yeah, probably. Please be putting your hand in the fire. In the fire! In the fire! What? Why is he Irish? I don't know, dude. that's the screaming German voice from my nightmares okay right fine don't know how to respond to that you went a little bit foyer put your hand in the foyer would you who would you now if we're just doing accents then we're getting in trouble badly let's not do accents at least they then by the way lols missed two incredible guilt edge chances the commentator at this point was going berserk trying to tell us the game had meaning as opposed to just like the zero defending that they'd all agreed on i i respect that though because i think darren fletcher was probably trying as much as anything to he was he was talking to himself he was saying look this is like he's he's had to go to miami yeah he's had to spend yet more time with owen hardreeves they got on very well but you know they've been together for a long time yeah you guys know what that's exactly what the i think darren fletcher was trying to persuade himself that what he was watching was meaningful yeah yeah and i i it's also i suppose the reality is I'm not sure that Rupert Murdoch would emerge from his tomb to be like, you've got to make it sound fun.

27:41And if he was like, here we go. Australian is fair. That's totally fine. Yeah. That's fine. I've been there. It's okay. I don't know about Irish. The Irish don't like it when British people do their accents.

27:54Rog:Put your hand in the fire. The Germans, I think, are fine. Doing German is fine. Did that sound more German? Does that still sound... No, you're losing it on fire. Am I really? Hopefully he's got quite a good soft German accent. He's got like a 21st century Bergheim accent. Oh, Bergheim, yes. Sven, yeah. I have tried to get into Bergheim before. Have you? Not been successful. Don't you worry about that. Is that your Freddie LA 7 impression? It could be. It might be that it was I that was Freddie LA all the time. All the time. The whole time. All the time. Sucker. We have never been seen as the same place.

28:30only because no one has ever seen him. He's just a man who looks like an emoji. Hashtag just saying.

28:41Rog:Saki got a penalty to kill Darren Fletcher's buzz for a second. The last five minutes were ridiculous. That was the worst bit of it. That was crazy. He got a hat trick and it was being lauded. It was up there with Jeff Hurst hat trick in the fight. I mean, it was just... Yeah, I mean, there's three other English hat tricks which have preceded it. This one, definite asterisk. God bless Dembele. Got a banger. Back on! But then Belligan went on a run and a half, finishing with a nutmeg goal, and made him the first ever Englishman to score seven goals at one Men's World Cup. And, well, we all felt super high by the end of it, didn't we?

29:16Rog:But what did it mean? What is the tale of this told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing? I'm just making words up off the top of my head. That was good, that. Do you like it? And we'll never catch on. I think there's an element of the thing that it will be remembered for most is probably Mbappe's goals. That is a major thing. He is now the leading scorer in the history of the Men's World Cup. That is a major thing. And it's unlikely, if we're completely honest, that Messi will catch him tomorrow. Yeah. Yes, it seems unlikely. I think I will say that I was a little bit sad about Mbappe's goals because while I'm quite agnostic about the result tomorrow, I'm going to be happy with no strong skin in the game either way.

30:02I would have liked for, it may still happen, for Messi to have finished this. Is that rain on top of the bus?

30:09Rog:I don't know. It is. Oh, it's pouring. Oh, my goodness. Oh, wow. Guys, just so you know. We're on a bus. Watching at home. We're on a bus. We're on a watertight bus. It is bucketing down outside. If we start moving, that's not a good one. We've been swept into the East River. We've been swept. I did want to drive this bus off a cliff, but I did want to drive it off a cliff after the final. Yeah, yeah. That was Louise style. Yeah, not to be dragged in a torrent into a sinkhole. Yeah. Because I may have just spoken into existence. Won't someone save the squirrel? Yeah, I mean, just to finish that point briefly, I think I would have loved for Messi to have won the golden boot in this which will surely be his last ever world cup Mbappe will go on and have other chances and he will beat that record and he will do all those those one he's already beaten that record but um you know he will rightly get all the accolades and all the achievements that that he deserves the extraordinary player he is a little romantic part he was like I'd love Messi just to get one more bananas you know to be the the golden boot in his final world cup at the age of 78 or whatever it is he is these days um would have been magical and it may still still well be the the one thing i would the little asterisk i would put by everything actually not just this game a lot of records in this game no but this whole world cup there's been all these records so bellingham is now the leading english goal store in in an individual tournament no english player had previously stored more than six goals bellingham got seven in this tournament and kane got six as well they're playing one extra game and because of the expansion of the tournament they are playing against the slightly weaker standard of opposition.

31:45So Pele, or whoever, will have been playing in 16 or 24 team World Cups. So as much as it's great, isn't it great that Michael Alise has passed the single tournament record for assists? I say, isn't it great? I don't really care. You're not comparing apples with apples. You're not even comparing apples with oranges, which I saw someone say the other day are actually quite similar. And it does make sense to compare those two things with each other. You're comparing apples with Vildabeast. that's what's happening yeah Rog yeah stop it stop comparing apples to Wildebeest I'm not anti-wilderbeest it's the same you see it a lot in football now that kind of all the leading scorers in Champions League history are from the last five years because they've played so many more games than they used to and I think that's not taken into account enough

32:31Rog:oh god don't buzz down Darren Ferguson's high it was so beautiful Fletcher even Fletcher Darren Ferguson's another guy former Pittsburgh manager And Wrexham midfielder, Darren Ferguson. I'm sure he likes it too. If you weren't listening, Darren Ferguson, call in and tell us what you thought about it. By the way, quote just in. Go on the Discord, Darren. Put your gifts in. Put your hoochie coochie gifts in, please, Darren. Don't. Don't. Quote just in for Kylian Mbappe. Lionel Messi will score tomorrow. He always delivers. That's an actual quote. Not a read from the latest Leeds ad. At smib7619 in the chat says, how about a top three in World Cup?

33:08Rog:get auto qualification for the next World Cup. 100 % So the third world place match is more competitive. Next World Cup everyone gets in. We could probably get a Ben and Blazers team in. I'm a long-standing advocate of the idea that if you have won the World Cup previously you should automatically be put in the World Cup every single time. What about if you have been a beneficiary of Article 27? 100%. Yeah, also. Get them all in. Jam them in. Jam them in. At smib761 that we've done you. At kmboom7279 279. What a high numbers. I'm dealing with the numbers. I think people should take the time to change their usernames.

33:42Rog:Congratulations to Humphrey Carr's Wrexham on beating Manchester United today 1-0. Raw. Something that all of humanity can get behind. Thank you, KM. Look, it's been a day of massive, massive footballing day. And I think that was probably what inspired a lot of the England lads. I imagine they were watching our friendly on MUTV. I think it was available there. Yeah. I was probably watching Goldbridge lose his mind lose his mind lose his mind and they saw Sam Smith peeling away at the back post to stick one pass to a despairing United goalkeeper and thought you know what I'd really love to do that that goal might have happened at roughly the same time as you were storing your banger probably was yeah probably was actually the universe is just in sync yeah God it's just beautiful you're like nuns you and Sam Smith at Rob Vick less happy for hump says dog nose way too much about the movie A Bridge Too Far.

34:39Rog:Dog. Dog knows just as much as is required. Let me tell you. It's one of my favourite movies. I've seen it so many times. Brigadier General Gavin, what's the best way to take a bridge? Oh, what's the... I'm trying to think. Well, Jim Gavin obviously was commander of the 82nd Airborne who dropped onto the bridge at, I think, Nijmegen. And they took their objective and held their objective, which is not to be sniffed at. The answer is both ends at once. Sorry, I have to fail you there. Do you know what is really sad? What? That Humphrey, as a man of taste and discernment, knows all this stuff about World War II and Norse mythology.

35:14Yeah. And when he's talking about the bridge at Arnhem and landing at Nijmegen, all I'm thinking is Vitesse and NEC. Yeah, of course. That's all I'm thinking. That's a good system. And I don't know anything about Nijmegen. I'm a pathetic one-dimensional individual.

35:25Rog:You know a lot more than I do. All I know is it took me a long time to stuff that squirrel. And as the world arrived 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 Match Day 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 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.

36:08Rog:To the football, to more together courage. Let's talk about tomorrow. Yes. A match that does matter, and then some. I mean, it's only the future of civilization that depends on the result. No biggie there. Two teams drawing on muscle memory. Spain with their pass-by-pass death of 1 ,000 cuts. Methodical approach on the ball. Their ability to draw teams across the field, control them with their minds. It's made their opponents look like a fitted sheet popping off a too large mattress. Stretched to cover the Yamal corner. Danny Olmo sneaks into unmarked space. Shift back to the command sender. Pedro Poros flying past you in the vacant channel.

36:49Rog:Oh, I can just imagine it. They arrive in New York, coming out past each and every opponent they faced. They've got the challenge of controlling, really, the untrained, bucking bronco that is Argentina. Argentina, Hamon Iberico versus Parashia, Flamengo versus Tango. Surrealism versus magical realism. This is a match that is a juxtaposition, well, pretty well of everything, isn't it? That's what makes it so utterly mesmerising. I mean, these two teams, one is methodical organisation, the other is madness, magic, chaos. Yeah, they're two different conceptions of what football is and how you succeed at it.

37:24So I think what's nice about both is that they are truly reflective of their own cultures. Spain in the last 25 years have become probably the most complete football culture there is in terms of the style of play is taught to kids across the country, little bit of an asterisk in the Basque country where it's slightly different. They play the same way, they have the same principles and what you get is a style that kind of is natural and innate to everybody.

37:49Rog:Drilled down to the bedroom. I think Argentina are a little bit like that but it's a more complicated thing just obviously so many of them leave Argentina when they're 16, 17, 18. That makes it harder. or even 13 for the little fella. Baby! But they do play a distinctively Argentine style although short passes, that's very Argentine the emphasis on the one individual to make things happen, to conduct the orchestra that's very Argentine. So you do have that contrast in styles you do have that sense of the total collective against something that's built around an individual science on one side, superstition on the other reason against unreason and that is what makes it fascinating plus the fact that it's the South American champions and it's the European champions.

38:29It never happened before in a World Cup final. Messi and the baby he bathed facing each other, that passing of the tour. The boy who lived. The boy who lived.

38:39Rog:It would be like me facing the squirrel in the final. Don't call him the squirrel. He's got a name. What are the odds, though, of me? That's exactly the odds of Messi and the baby. It's like me and squirrel being in a final. He's not called squirrel. He's called squirrel in Harland. What's amazing, I can't remember which Spanish paper today has done it, so let's attribute it to Marca. They have... Just say it with confidence. Marca. That's what Hohen Castle does. There's no natural translation for it. It means brand. But they've published pictures of Messi with so many of that Spanish team, who were ball boys at Barcelona or whatever, kind of getting pictures with him.

39:17And it really illustrates that he was a hero as this generation were coming through. He was already established as the best player in the world. when all of the Spanish generation were coming through. And in a way, I think that's probably a factor. They will know they're up against Lionel Messi.

39:32Rog:They've made it to New York by, as you say, force of will, some divinely ordained destiny. I genuinely am a very unspiritual man. I'm thinking like this is divine magic. Each of the four knockout games peel themselves off the canvas, stun the world with increasingly late, late, late shows, who's increasingly more heroic slash magical displays. Julian Alvarez, Letaro Martinez, Enzo Fernandez have immortalized themselves in the orbit of Lionel Messi. In this, the third World Cup final of his career, this is the narrative that you're hitting here. The nation that adopted him, we'll talk more about that in a minute, as a young man, went over there when he was 13, nurtured the talent.

40:16Rog:His talent trajectory is very, very Catalan. And he's unleashed that on the world football. And here's the tweet translated from Spanish. Bayeradio moral. Messi is a creation of Spain. And like Dr. Frankenstein, Spain must put an end to his creation. I love that. That's tremendous. But it is true. Messi is the kind of, he's the Argentine ideal of a player put through the Spanish football hothouse system. That is, yeah, he is as Spanish, in a football sense, he is as Spanish as he is Argentine. We'll get back to that. Here's what I wanted to ask you. I've got one for each of you. Football teams are meant to be rational, focused, locked in.

40:58Rog:Argentina have a complete brazen about it. Opposite. They not only ride a wave of emotion, they thrive on it. Cry after a game. Yes, sob. Why don't you? Goalkeeper Emi Martinez said of their journey, what we are doing is legendary. Sometimes I cry just thinking about everything we've achieved. You can imagine him lying on his bed, just holding himself and sobbing. This group of players with their hearts openly on their sleeve, along with the vital organs they've ripped out of their opponents along the way. The emotionalism. We always ask ourselves, when will they stop riding that wave? When will that wave actually capsize them?

41:36Rog:It never, ever capsizes them. Can you explain that? No. I will expand. Before the Inland game, I got a little bit worried. because if you looked at the Argentine players' eyes while they were singing the anthem, you thought these had gone a little bit crazy. Too keyed up. Yeah, there is a point where, I think we've said it multiple times, that Argentina need that emotion, but there is always the risk that it will overwhelm them. And I think the most famous World Cup example of emotion overwhelming a team is Brazil in 2014, where they started that semifinal against Germany. They'd been holding up the Neymar jersey because he was injured.

42:10Rog:Singing that national anthem. They were booming out the anthem. I mean, they obviously hadn't. they're all athletes, but they looked like they'd taken an awful lot of substances. It was the same kind of, like, they were on the pinners. They were on the pinners. They were on the pinners. They were on the pinners. And they, I don't know if it was that that would always happen, but they conceded a goal and they saw their world collapse. And then they conceded six more. Is that, that's not good. This is bad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I thought, I recognised that look in Kuti Romero's eyes before the England game.

42:46But what I thought was really admirable, although there has been the traditional England not being magnanimous in defeat response to it. What's your point? What are you trying to say, Roy? They channeled that, Humphrey, into really that energy. Instead of the emotion overwhelming them, they used it to annoy the English. And England fell into their trap. That's what Argentina did. Punch Elliot Anderson. There was a little bit of a slam in the back of the head. The niggly fouls, all that stuff. Argentina are very good at manipulating the emotion around them. I think it's really good for modern manhood that they show their emotions that's something we can all learn from I think they're good at understanding that they need that and ultimately you are right Roger that really good teams are meant to be scientific and rational and ordered but it's so much more fun if they're not Argentina are really important because their fans make World Cups and it's vital that the World Cup doesn't just become a European thing it's really important if it's just the Euros it gets boring Argentina changed that by changing the vibe, by bringing that colour and that noise.

43:46But also, it's important that there is a team that isn't just, well, do you know what? We've ploughed 400 million euros into youth development in the last 10 years. And now, look, we've got a factory line of footballers who all play the same way. That's great. But if everyone was like that, it would be really dull. So the fact that Argentina are chaotic, we should revel in. Here's one for you, Humph.

44:05Rog:Go on. The Hispano Studies Institute tweeted this today. Curious coincidence from this World Cup. Every team Spain's faced was, at some point in history, part of the same political entity as Spain. Cap Verde, Iberian Union, Saudi Arabia, um, I'd caliphate. Uruguay, vice royalty of the Rio de la Plata. You knew that. Austria, Habsburg, Monarchy, Portugal, Iberian. I can go on and on. Argentina were once the vice royalty of the Rio de la Plata. Did you know all of this? Well, I didn't. But I mean, now that it's laid out like that, yeah, that makes sense. I mean, the Spanish, there's a reason why the Argentinians speak Spain.

44:44Spain. They speak Spain. They speak Spain. They speak Spain talk.

44:47Rog:They speak Spain. Spain talk. Spain talk. The way people from Spain do the talking. But what's interesting, an Argentinian friend of mine made this point to me the other day. The Argentines were saying, he who doesn't jump is an Englishman. They don't say anything about the Spanish. They don't, I don't think they see that as a rivalry particularly. No, it doesn't seem that way. No, which is interesting. Because they are the colonial power. Yes, yes, yes. It's because they got Patty Hearst off the Vice Royalty of De La Plata. In terms of Spain, we are getting a growing complaint about them, how boring their possession is, which reminds me of 2010 when they won the whole bloody thing, when everyone screamed that their ability to deny an opponent so much of a touch of the ball, and we all decided the 1-0 wins, and then they'd suffocate the game, was anti-football.

45:33Rog:I honestly loved it back then. I thought it was so deep. The possession was so muscled. I love it now, that 17 pass sequence that led to Poro's goal against France. To me, it was just the apogee of end-to-end pass, move, spatial awareness, dominant control. I think you feel a little bit different to me. I think that in 2010 and in the 2008 and 2012 Euros, that ticky-tacker style felt very fresh. We hadn't really seen it before. It was obviously rooted in Dutch football ideals. but it was the peak of Guardiola at Barcelona. It was this idea that there is this new style that we are playing. It was beautiful to watch.

46:12It stood in contrast to what had gone before, especially in the Champions League, which was very Mourinho coded. It was defensive and it was gritty and it was dour. And suddenly Barcelona turned up and they're pap, pap, pap, pap, pap, pap, all this stuff. That's the noise that it makes. Yeah. And it felt, it felt, exactly. And it felt fresh and new. And I think what's happened in the last sort of 10 years is it does look a little bit stodgy. It is very kind of controlled and admirable and technically perfect, but not a lot happens. You don't need to get a 6-4 game, which is why we all want. That's what we all crave.

46:45And I think there is... We're addicted. My worry for Spain tomorrow is... I don't think... You have to kill Argentina. If you don't kill Argentina, they will not accept that they are dead. If you leave them in the last 10 minutes... Stake them through the heart. Yeah, it's full on. But not just the stake. you need the silver and the garlic as well for real yeah if it's 1-0 for real cut the head off yeah that's how you kill them

47:10Rog:on a spike on a spike this is how it's going to end we're going to yeah Lionel Messi like that little cowboy hat on let me have a squirrel the but if it's 1-0 if Spain don't store a lot of goals yeah if it's 1-0 on the 80th minute Argentina aren't thinking we're out of this yeah I think we've got them yeah just where we want them at Chris Voss in the chat says Rio de la Plata signing for Hull tomorrow. One day on Spain. I do think you've kind of hinted at it, but I think it's worth quickly elaborating on from an American POV as we're kind of floundering a little bit here. Their style, their identity, their philosophy comes from the bedrock culture of Spanish football rooted in small-sided street football.

47:54Rog:A lot of it played on basketball courts. An entire generation of footballers have developed natural techniques touch, you know, ability in small spaces because of that, because they have a serious, serious, serious supply of quite proud youth coaches. Like it's a medal of honor. Like if you're an American coach and you're quite good at under 12 level, you get moved to under 14. If you're quite good under 14, you're getting to the under 18s. And if you're good there, come on up. You're going to be here in Spain. It's a mark of honor to be the under 14 coach that, you know, trains Xavi, trained in the ESTA, like it's a really serious and disciplined everything.

48:35Rog:I mean, that's ultimately what we're seeing in this national team. That's what it takes, that kind of idea of a vision, of an execution of a pipeline. It's a culture. It is a whole culture, Spain, and it is really admirable. I don't want to sound kind of churlish about it, what they have done. Spain didn't used to be a power like this. 2010 was Spain's first World Cup win. They had always been England, really. They always came to World Cups when I was young, and like 5-0 first game. It was actually like America, 7-0 next game. I was like, wow, Spain are good. They crapped the bed at the first opportunity.

49:06They would generally run into the Italians, and the Italians would be like, ma non, che questo?

49:12Rog:By the way, new fans watching, Italy is a country. It's a shame like a boot. Yeah, it's like talking about Manchester United, who wants a good team, but Americans are like, what, really? They're like a Grey Gardens. No, Italy, trust me, they were once. Crap, man. Keep going. Il cazzo. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they would run into a serious team and not be able to deal with it, basically. Mara Tosotti would smash Luis Enrique in the face, and that would be that. And the way they've kind of changed that image of themselves is instituting this entire culture. I do think this is a pet subject to mine, Rog.

49:45I'm sorry. It's okay, babe. There's a really strong Basque streak in this Spanish team. So Unai Simon is Basque. Michal Ojazabal is Basque. Ojazabal. I think it's Ojazabal. Zabal. However I'm saying it's definitely wrong. I can't bring myself to it. I don't know how to do that. My brain doesn't function that way. Tell us in the chat. In Basque football... Well, no, it's Basque, so it's a totally different language. Euskera. But Basque football is a little bit different. It's slightly more British in its values. That was where it first landed when the Brits went out and it sported the game. It first hit Bilbao and San Sebastian.

50:19It's much more muscular. I think there is a little bit of that in this Spanish team. The defensive solidity is quite Basque. But the rest of it is one culture that everyone is brought up with. So they all, whatever club they play for at youth level, they all have the same principles. And that is what, that is the gold standard.

50:37Rog:Chat in Basque is, I can't pronounce that. It's T-X-A-T-A. Chata. Chata. T-X-A-T-A is Chata. It's one of only three languages that has no obvious root. Chata may be the next Bournemouth coach after this one. Also. So that's, but that is a, that's a direct transliteration from English. Is it really? Chat. And they're just like, let's just F of it. So the English won't even, it's like a pigeon. Were you going to say something? Did they cut you off? No, all I was going to say was that this, I mean, Roy, you alluded to it earlier in terms of like the European dominance and how that has been driven in some respects.

51:11You know, England have sort of tried to do a similar, a similar thing. Like they've actively gone out and studied the Spanish system and been like, right, we need to start doing this because I think one of England's great problems on the international on stage for so long was that the quality of pitches at youth level is so bad in the uk and it would really favor strong fast not very technically gifted players if you were small and good at playing football good luck basically it was it was more about like you know i don't say this to be disrespectful but sort of emile heskey type figures who are big strong fast incredibly talented in their own right but in a way that would then england would run into much more technically superior teams across across europe and across the world and be disappointed and you know in recent years there has been a drive to implement this kind of system or something similar to create more pitches that are a better quality to have better youth coaching to have a sort of standardized coaching practice so that players come through so they know what they're doing and um it's uh you know england has still got some way to catch up with the spanish but hopefully we've not spent enough time together for you to have heard this theory but my defining theory is that all football is explained by the weather so the reason that England traditionally plays long ball football is because as you will both know the pitches are mud in the winter you can't pass it yeah in the winter it's not possible so you play in the air and it's the same in Germany where it's cold so you run around more it's what Michael Essien said about Garner they

52:36Rog:play on just muddy fields and the game is played up the gut in the middle and the big strong like oh that defensive midfielder was the biggest player on the team whereas in America they're too obsessed with the feels like temperature. We have bad smoke in the air, and this, our team is just super high. Alex Dabrowski says, under Article 27, last four teams in the World Cup now play three on three at the local basketball court. I love Article 27. It's just like, let's make crap up. User for all sorts of things. Yeah, to me, I like this idea. I like an idea now that the two teams that are playing tomorrow, it's a play-in game to play the US in the home run derby.

53:14Rog:The super final. The home run derby. The final is the final and the super final. Yeah, home run derby with Chris Berman commentating. Back, back, back. Final word has to be Lionel Messi. Then we'll get some predictions from you both. I love the final of the World Cup. It's the one game where at the final whistle, 11 men instantly become forgotten and the other 11 become instantly immortal. Yeah, but this one feels deeper. I mean, immortal is not good enough because if Argentina win, we will see, I do believe, not to be hyperbolic, the ascension of Lionel Messi from human to godhead. Do we all agree?

53:52Rog:Tell me in the chat. Sergio Aguero on Lionel Messi said something that sounds like it should be in our Discord in the hoochie-coochie section. He said yesterday, Messi is a porn star on the pitch because he... everyone. Goodness, Sergio. Yes, I mean, was that really necessary? But it's true. I mean, the Odyssey may be smashing it in the box office, but this is the hero's journey. Again, you hinted at it. Lionel Messi moved to Spain, age 13. That's his dog behind. Yeah. Just like the Odyssey. In a way, he never got over it. He's driven for the dog's affection. Is that what it is? He wants to come home.

54:30The dog was like, don't come home unless you bring a second World Cup. Yes. In your late 30s. Like a modern version of the Spartan motto. That would be amazing.

54:38Rog:His whole pursuit of perfection is just to win this dog's affection. The irony being that the dog will have worshipped him regardless, because they're dogs. That's what they do. That's fair. Leo, you've misunderstood. Also, the dog's dead and is now like squirrel. But it was Catalonia he grew as a footballer and as a human being. The growth hormones lived outside the nation since then. Was often doubted until the last World Cup. There was a lot of suspicion about Leo. 2010, 2014, even 2018, that why El Catalan, the foreigner, never try all the club success, all the photos and multiple millions of trophies never did it in a national team jersey.

55:18Rog:Flip that sense. And then some, really, in the last six years, he's gone better and better and better. It was very interesting. There was an interview with his nutritionist, a man called Ismael Galancho. He said the highest sprinting speed, now 30.9 kilometers an hour, is faster than in 2022. What exactly have we done to reverse his biology? I can't say. But rule. That doesn't sound suspicious at all. I know. I mean, don't tell us. That's okay. Don't mention it. Yeah, don't tell us. But don't bring it up either would be my suggestion. We didn't know about it until you told us. Yes, Mel. It isn't.

55:57Rog:I mean, it's horse semen, isn't it? He's guzzling. But if he wins, I got you. He's made a win again. If he wins a second World Cup, what else could it be? I'm just trying to work out how you think it's being delivered. What? Fuck. In the mate. From Rodrigo de Paul. They keep saying he's a real enticement. He's a massive water carrier, isn't he, supposedly? They're like it. A little hard work. Yeah. They don't know. They don't know. They woke up in bed today the other day. Anything kind of metal thing with a straw he just goes on. He doesn't even know. just give it to him it's a giant comedy series do you know what I would say about the Messi El Catalan thing hang on one second no my question chat do you know the answer by the way if he wins goes back to back for the first time since 1962 he will not only transcend himself why transcend Diego Maradona oh 100 % if he does what if he retains we'll all be like oh dear who what Marahua we'll see but I think in a football sense Messi has already very clearly transcended Maradona the difference is that Maradona, one, is that kind of, his story is that of the rebel sticking it to the hated Yankee, effectively, where we are all Yankees.

57:08It's, you know, Maradona is the sort of global south rebel that everyone identified with. In a football sense, Messi's clearly a better player than Maradona. He's achieved it over 20 years. Maradona had like a six-year peak. Like, there's not really a conversation there. As a symbol, Maradona will always outstrip Messi, I think. But if Messi retains, then not only has he done what Maradona did and brought a World Cup to Argentina, he has retained like Pelé. So as much as it's stupid as though it will end the GOAT debate, because it won't end the GOAT debate, because people have to put stuff on Twitter, but there is no way you could make a case, an intellectually valid case for anyone other than Messi, already.

57:47If he retains the World Cup, I agree. I think he starts to transcend football in some way. It becomes ridiculous. forgive me I can't remember if this is something we talked about on the show or something we talked about off the show earlier in the tournament but something you said before I don't know anymore but something that you said Rory which I do has stuck with me ever since was this notion that you will he will do that he'll say something that will stick with you again so just be careful that you hear what he says it might be really bad twisting my melon twisting my melon man but something that Rory said before is that Lionel Messi is probably the best at what he does of anyone of all time ever, in a way.

58:29He's at things. So he's sort of better than, he's better at football than Mozart is at music than, you know, Da Vinci or Van Gogh is at painting that, you know, that Rog is at writing the instructions to this show. I think he's better

58:46Rog:than Neil Diamond. Yeah, maybe. I think so. I mean, look, of course this is an argument that is centred on subjectivity and all sorts of things. No, he's making an objective statement there. He's better at all things than anybody ever. He may well be better at his thing than anybody else's at their thing. My argument was similar to that. My argument was that Messi is the best at the thing that the most people want to do. Yeah. Therefore, he is the best human. Do you think Pope Leo at pooping? Yes, that was, it was different. No, it's my favorite. Pope Leo at pooping, pretty good. This Pope Leo.

59:18He's pretty good at pooping. He's no Pope Leo IX. He's no Innocent III. Come on.

59:21Rog:Has he pooped Piers in the 27th? I don't know. He's not even Urban II. Not even John I. At Wyoming United wants to know. Is it a serious question? Yeah. At the chat, at Wyoming United wants to know, is he better than Scribble is at wearing a cowboy hat? Oh, now you're talking. That's tricky. Or my dog at wearing a cowboy hat. But that's the thing. My dog is also very good at wearing cowboy hats. I had a chat with your dog on the phone today. Yes, yeah. Roy got to see my dog on FaceTime. Did he really? Oh, yeah. She was in the sunshine on a great time. Yeah, I'm in a great time. She's been talking to you a bit sullen and a bit unworthy.

59:55Well, I mean, Dodgers can be difficult to win over initially. Yeah. Over FaceTime.

59:59Rog:I found Hump's dog to be the silent type. What I wanted to say about Messi and the Catalan thing is that I did a story once on Messi's life in Barcelona. And it was amazing how Argentine it was. He surrounded himself with Argentinian people. He ate Argentinian food. He has always been distinctively Argentine. God. Is that like Russians in Brighton Beach? Yeah, a little bit. Yeah. He's always kept himself very... I think he's very conscious of his Argentinian-ness. And you've seen that more and more in later World Cups. I mean, the defining image, I think, of this tournament for me will be him crying after the Egypt game.

1:00:29I thought that was genuinely astounding, this player who's always been so impassive and kind of in control.

1:00:36Rog:This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Exactly. I mean, bloody hell, he is so Argentinian. I just remember that pizza that he had in Miami when he got there, which is honestly, I thought, a war crime. But then I thought, oh, that's how Argentinians have his pizza. I was like, but you're in Miami, man. But came your ass bubble is the thing he said to that vet horse. It's just, that's so arsonian. I've not done it. There's still nothing. I've missed that. No, but the face, the De Niro face. Come on. The what? Yes. Yes. Can you do that? You're an actor. Yeah. Do the. Oh. He was a bit. He said it.

1:01:09Like that? Yeah, yeah. But it's so expressive.

1:01:13Rog:It was like Thingy and the Sopranos. Yeah, yeah. The guy from the Springsteen band. J-Dub's going to kill me for not remembering his name. I'm so sorry. I know it's deeply offensive. I mean, a lot of people said it was Denae. It did remind me of your man, the guy from the Springsteen band. The East Street Band. In the Sopranos. It's killing me. Steve Van Zandt. You know, when he's... It was like this. It was like this. So expressive, squirrel. Sylvia, game framed. We've got to tap out on this by this photograph, which is not so iconic. Do you like that? Can you read that, Ro? It says, characters who let the baby escape and years later face him as an adult as a threat.

1:01:56Rog:John Oliver. Everyone's saying, Messi's probably regretting not drowning, you know, when he had the chance. Have you seen that in Times Square there's a hoodies advert with a tub? Yeah. It's amazing. sometimes i think with the marketeers you just have to hold your hands up and say fair play yeah i mean john oliver said that he wished that yamal had just like got his baby little hand out and dragged leonard's long hair down into the bath and held his head under the water like he's still so angry about the england i've seen a lot it'd be amazing little baby hand just like that photo we should we you cannot stress enough how weird that photo is yeah that in that and those images that were there is it possible to get them back up yeah I recognise Scar and what's his name from Mufasa yeah no that's Mufasa that's a kid from Lion King what's his name Simba Scruel so the top that's Gianni Infantino at the top who's the kid he's it's Messi who's he got Messi it's teenage Messi that makes sense oh I see so it's Messi he's either Messi's either side it's Gladi Cycle and the two in the middle is Latin Yeah It's Lion of the Jungle Actually to be fair Simba does have a touch of the Luxy Lalas about him like young young Lalas That does look like Ibrahimovic and Lalas Yeah Which one dies Is it the ginger?

1:03:16No Scar Scar Ginger's dad died Spoilers Spoiler alert for anyone who's not seen it

1:03:21Rog:I haven't seen it You've never seen Lion King? Never seen it I went to watch it with my kids I fell asleep I hate musicals I do I hate musicals man Just Your mind's so full of joy There's such darkness Twist my melon. I can't stand musicals. You're sitting on these little seats, you're underground. That's a movie. People are like farting down the mountain. That's not a still from the Broadway production of Lion King. Oh, my God, I am losing my mind. By the way, the bathtub thing, man, it's fascinating. I do more and more think that we're going to find out that he just bathed a lot of kids. And so the odds are like less interesting than we thought.

1:04:01Rog:but this big kid, it was like football was high pressure. It was exhausting. Got to have a hobby. No, he just found like returning to just the eternal baby. Just the karma of having a baby just like took him out. I can just prove that. You can. He was 19 at the time. Yeah. No 19-year-old has ever known how to hold a baby properly. My cousin, who was in his early 20s, holding my son for the first time looked like it was a hand grenade. Yeah. Messi, yeah. Maybe he just found it incredibly soothing, just returning to the womb. Just chill me out, man. Okay, it's time to predict. By the way, EA Sports simulation, which is five straight World Cup winners, predicts España.

1:04:47But EA Sports can't take into account magic. I know.

1:04:50Rog:This is the thing that's so fascinating, just dark magic and divine magic and all the magic. So tell us, guys, who's going to win? What's the score going to be and what? crikey i'm gonna i mean chat that i'm gonna say 2-1 argentina and i think it may follow that that map of spain go one up they uh you know they shut up shop it works very well for i think they'll shut up more successfully in england for a longer period of time but as you say they they like sort of the uh the evil dead trilogy argentinians will continue to appear in the window of the cabin like you thought you got rid of me i'm still here um with sort of you know an axe in them and uh and eventually they will they you know may bat down the door and then and then you know you always have that that's what you can't account for i think that the the prospect of you know again we talked about it before we talked about it in the context of argentina the first half like oh against england oh they've this is the first you know they've had some they've had some difficulties like is this is this is pressure gonna gonna appear on them like in this scenario England very rarely go ahead here.

1:05:55How's that going to affect them? And I do wonder whether Spain have... Well, I don't know. What do I know? I don't know, guys.

1:06:03Rog:Well, football always makes a fool out of us. That lard devil in the chat says, Hump, channeling DMX, late greats. Stop, drop them, shut them down, open up shop. It's essentially the game we're thinking about. I think it's going to be like this. 4-0, cruising, Spain early. But no, Darren's going to lose his mind. Back to Marge and Descartes, can they? No one's playing any defence now. I don't think it's going to be like that. I think my instinct is, and Rod, we have been podcasting together for long enough to know that I will always predict the thing that I don't want to happen. So that if I can't be happy, I'll at least look clever.

1:06:37But on this occasion, I think Argentina have told us what's going to happen. They keep doing it. The thing that's been a little bit lost about the England game is that the last 40 minutes they were brilliant. They created so many chances against a masked defence. and they cut them apart. And as much as a lot of the conversation in the Anglosphere, as I like to call it, has been about Tuchel's failings and whether England have some sort of giant cultural weakness. Argentina were brilliant. They have a high level they can go to, they can find. One last game. I think part of me thinks the Spanish might make them run a bit too much, but if you're going to be tired, be tired in the World Cup final or be tired after the World Cup final.

1:07:16I think Argentina win it because Humph said 2-1. I'm going to say they win it on penalties after a two-all draw.

1:07:24Rog:That pass from Lionel Messi for the winner, against the no-look dime sent in between four giant centre-backs. With his wrong foot. Tiny man. The curve that got it right onto his head. It is divine magic that we are witnessing, and we should not take a second of it for granted. I'm staying with what I said yesterday with Michael Strahan. And I still think it's going to be 3-2 to Espana. Mikel Moreno with the winner because that's what he does. That is it. We will be back. But first, let's have a sting.

1:08:03Rog:Soccer dudes. I always thought there was an eagle at the end of that. News from Mauricio Pochettino. He has announced he's going to make a decision regarding his future as coach of the United States team next week. The Argentinian manager is thinking about signing a contract extension to the 2030 World Cup. When asked about his future, Pochettino said to Spanish radio, Cadena Corp, which I probably pronounced terribly wrong. So I'm going to say Marica. He spoke to Marica. We are evaluating it. We're looking at it. Their US soccer have made me an offer to continue. And we will see next week. We will make a decision.

1:08:44Rog:I don't know if this is a reality TV show that we're like edging out. I'm going to ask you straight out. I've not seen an international management contract go like this where the current manager's like, yeah, I'll think about it. And the Federation's like, yeah, you do that. You think about it because you may be distancing yourself shows that you're kind of not that into it. If you evaluate that, you're kind of either into it, yeah, or you're not into it. But I'm thinking about it. I've never seen that before in international football I'm going to think about the project I'm going to think about my relationship to it I'm going to think and maybe take a couple of calls and evaluate my other options Is it not, are we not embarrassing ourselves here?

1:09:27It does smack a little bit of him keeping his options open doesn't it? It feels like he's some calls maybe going around like what else is on the table Do we think he's a commitment phobe?

1:09:37Rog:I don't know, my dad went out with my mum for a long long long time. They lived next door to each other in Liverpool. That was normal in those days. My dad's a little bit older. And one day he came around, they'd been dating for two years. And he walked around, my grandpa answered the door and he was like, oh, he goes, are you going to marry Valerie or are you going to leave her? Because she was 18, which was very old in those days. I mean, crazy, very old. But that's like, what? And he goes, you you going to marry her or leave her? And he goes, oh, I'll leave her. And they turned around and left her.

1:10:10Rog:I mean, this is crazy. And then, like, dated lots of people. My mum started to go out with another man. And the other man asked her to marry him. So maybe the US men's national team should go out with another fella. My dad. Yes, exactly this. My dad then heard that she was going to marry another fella whose name I will not mention. It was Jürgen Klinsmann. and and my dad drove quickly in his little MG midget he wouldn't have driven quickly he wouldn't but I like to think he had I went to the danger zone even though that song was and his hair blowing even though he didn't have any so the song wasn't out and he didn't have any hair but it was all blowing and he sped round and he like screech his car into the the giant and then band on the windows like in Wayne's World and went Val don't marry Jürgen Kondram Tia Torreira yeah marry me marry me and my mum went held a gramophone over it yeah that would be amazing like a big you mean the one with the big speaker yeah a big horn yeah go on he yelled that he yelled he winding it up and he's playing who's the one when I'm cleaning windows man George Forby George Forby when I'm cleaning windows and anyway I'm telling you this story for a reason.

1:11:30Rog:I'm so sorry, everyone. And eventually my mum just said, okay, I will marry you. So, yeah, that's the point. That's what I feel. I feel like... I think we've all thought of that, Rog. I feel like Potch is my dad here. Not my dad's finest hour, I've got to be honest. He was married to my mum for like 80 years or whatever before he died. But so it ended well, kind of. But, like, it's crazy. He's twerking. He's twerking for the other clubs. Yes, my dad's like doing his stuff wherever he was up to. Potch isn't your dad. Stop calling him your dad. It's weird. Is he not? He's not your dad. He's not my dad.

1:12:03No.

1:12:03Rog:Is he not? Even though I was like, you were a second. Even though you were integral to his appointment. What would you, you know what I'm saying? Do you not find it weird that we're being like, okay, you go and just do your thing. Like you're either into your national team or you're not. You're either into the project or you're not. You either feel you're making progress and you've got more to give or you don't. You don't say. Roger, I'm going to quote Shakespeare. Please. Shit or dead off the pot. Yes! Shagas always has a word for it doesn't he? No I think what it does is it makes US soccer look just a little bit like a cock Do you know what I mean?

1:12:37Sitting in that little chair in the hotel room My God! As Poch talks to other clubs As Poch is in the bar downstairs

1:12:49Talking to a group of medical supply saleswomen from Ohio

1:12:59oh my god i don't like this what's fun is we've got a little view counter up in the corner you can just see it dropping as soon as we get off the football is it is it flumming no i don't i don't know that it is i think it's shot up it's shot up it has shot up because they're all in

1:13:14Rog:the hoochie coochie chat they're just seeing each other's bits and it's like kicking off like we started this as just a football chat it's turning into like a swinger's A lot of swinging talk. Okay, that's the end of soccer, dudes. That's the end of soccer, dudes, isn't it? God, I just need like a worm burner sting to cool myself down after that. All right, we've reached the part of the night where we figure out what everybody suddenly believes. Taking a look at Calci percentages to peek into the brains and how they're being rewired. Have football fans everywhere. Scambolo to sign up a trade on Calci.

1:13:49Rog:We've talked about the nature of this Argentina run through the knockouts I've talked about it a lot. Never dominant, but always, always finding a way to win. Turning our attention to tomorrow, we've discussed together who will end the day with the trophy lift. Glorious. But I want to know, if you guys think we're in for a classic, there's a 32 % chance that this one goes to extra time. It's actually better than Argentina's chance of winning regulation. 28 % raw. Hump, tell the people what it will be when the 90 minutes are up. Are we getting free football? What that says to me is that people really don't pay attention to the blindingly obvious.

1:14:22What's that? Which is how you can... It surprises me that people are so kind of weighted towards Spain, despite all the things that Argentina have done, as though they think that you still have to assess Argentina in normal football metrics.

1:14:34Rog:I think we are so burnt by believing that France were going to absolutely destroy, eviscerate... Everybody, yeah. Yeah, the Spanish team in particular. I remember we were all like, oh, my God, this is going to be an absolute first-round knockout. and instead they stepped up and gave them a biblical smiting. So are we overcompensating now? You've got to also factor in England's B team just absolutely smashed France. And that tells you something about, maybe France were actually doggers the whole time. Doggers? They may have been rubbish. Doggers I like. Owen Hardrieves used the term hezy to describe a hesitation for one of the finishes.

1:15:12A little hezy from Trevor Chaloba. Stop it, Owen. Yeah, it was. Chaloba.

1:15:17Rog:It was. It was. It was. God bless. Chris Voss asked the hard-hitting question. What's the likelihood of Poch taking Christian and the divorce back to Spurs in December? You're not my dad. It's a relevant factor that I think... I haven't forgotten about European football. I don't know what happens in club football anymore. But I don't think there's a job for Pochettino. I think all the seats are full. There's not of any great significance. So that's what he means when he says, I'm thinking about it. But does he want to go and be a socceroo coach? or something like that. It's like, I've enjoyed this Anglophonic country.

1:15:51I'll go somewhere else. I mean, I suppose there's... I mean, Argentina might come up after the final. If Streloni decides... I think either way, there's a decent chance Streloni steps down. Madre de Dios. With a... Madre de Dios. I love you. There's a decent chance Streloni steps down with his head held high, whatever happens. Let's be abundantly clear. And Potts might think, actually, I could do that. The plot thickens. I think that's a very good shout. well you know where you can put some money on it don't you I don't I can't I'm not allowed to bet

1:16:22Rog:essentially just to recommit to this thing you think he's just like waiting to talk to other men seeing what happens in the bar yeah I don't like this can we take the screen down so I can see full raw thank you thank you nurse god that is a bit dark man That's it. I don't love this moment. I don't think we look great. Be decisive. Tomorrow, we're back here at Fanatics Fest in New York City for the 10th and final Match Day live show. This quite beautiful summer. 10 ,000 miles on this bus. It's incredible. Smells of rubber and sweat and glory. And goals. Some of the pizza from Seattle. I can't get off the back of this.

1:17:14How quickly do buses depreciate?

1:17:16Rog:This one depreciated pretty quickly. It's like a couch. When we painted it orange. When it rolled off the lot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait till we drive it off the... Grand Canyon. Yeah, in New Jersey, we're just going to... It's going to be like the end of Thelma and Louise. But what a way to end it. 12.45 p.m. Listen to this, New York. If you come to our show, we're going to start the show with the Marriott Bonvoy Penalty Challenge. If you score a penalty, we will have a car, fast car. not Tracy Chapman's a happy fast car going to burn you right out there to the final boom you don't know you can wake up tomorrow come to our show dear diary today was crazy all I had to do was deposit a ball into a suitcase into a joint dear diary dear diary that was Scottish dear diary fire today they made me put a ball in a hole yeah put the yes put the biscuit in the basket that's not the only reason to get here early.

1:18:13Rog:We've also stumbled upon, just bragging, 300 Bank of America fan bands to give out. If you know, you know, I think they are the hottest collectible charm racer that have been taken over the summer. I might say one or two for myself. From there, we get to take the stage to preview the final where one of the heroes of the entire tournament, Vizinha, is coming back to us. We have New York icons, Method Man. I cannot wait to speak to him and Tiki Barber, World Cup champion, Becky Saabu. And this king will be with us. He'll be doing a lot of talking about painting small soldiers. Speaking of which, another Man of Wrecks, Mr.

1:18:48Rog:Ryan Reynolds, will join us on centre stage for the live watch party of the match, which we will be joined by Flo Balogun and a ton more guests. It's slightly insane how crazy tomorrow is going to be. You're up for it, baby. I'm high on my own supply. I thought you were going to tell me you'll think about it. Yeah, I am. I'll see what's in the You take your seat over there. Imagine if I show up on the Fox live stream tomorrow. That would be amazing. Shut up, be your face. If you haven't yet, grab your ticket to the link below. Schwing! We have a 20 % off code. Come be with us for a day. We'll all remember it.

1:19:31Rog:It's time for the food. Yes, we've got there. Play the food sting. The European mind cannot comprehend.

1:19:45We got a letter today.

1:19:47Rog:That photo reminds me, we got a letter today from a fan talking about how much she's loved our nightclub. And she said, I will admit to pausing it for more than a few times on Rory. He's beautiful. It's very nice. It's very nice. She didn't say she paused on Squirrel. What did she say about me? Well, she said that you're very historic insights. No, I don't know what's historic insights. No, I don't know what to tell you. We don't think beautiful. Tonight, we've got one of my favorite dishes in New York City. That is a classic pepperoni square. In the chat, they said, you know a lot about Bridge Too Far.

1:20:24Rog:This is amazing. This is from Mama's 2 here in Manhattan. It's the greatest pizza place in the city as far as I'm concerned. It's one of my favorite spots. You know how this goes. Slice, eat, ponder score. Oh, yeah. Whoops. I've not got anything else. Is this not technically, though? This is like Detroit-style pizza, is it? It's a deep base.

1:20:49Rog:Like James Earl Jones, a deep base. A deep base. That's so good. Roar, can I get a score? You're doing the Lord's work. A few more difficult jobs there than traveling United States, sampling delicious food. You do it, this sacrifice. Let me just remind you, Hutchins Barbecue is top, 10 out of 10. Pushed air one out of that list once and through. Oh my God, I thought we were going to keep busy beyond by adding an extra level, but my God, it's there in spirit, if not in score. I think this is a 10 out of 10, this slice of pizza. It is incredible. It is my favorite spot. They're deeply inspirational.

1:21:28Rog:If you're in New York, uptown and downtown, Get yourself to Mama Two Sweets. I can tell by the look in Roar's face, we deviate in our scoring. I'm not going to like this, am I? Is this a small business? Yes. Come produce a pen back. It's one of our city guide picks. It's a man who just went out on his own and built a little mini empire. And very quickly got a New York Times best restaurant in New York, and his business was booming. Now he's downtown. I love him. I love the whole operation. Can we get a score? I've drawn, the second time I've asked is it a small business, I've drawn 8.7. It's a good slice of pizza.

1:22:04It's a great slice of pizza. I do prefer a thinner crust. You do? Picky. But that's just who I am. What have you got?

1:22:13Rog:A bridge too far, much? So I've gone in honour of the stars of a bridge. You've got to put the microphone. You'll be professional. In honour of the stars of a bridge too far, the 101st Airborne, I've gone with 10.1. Yes! Sir! We've loved hearing from you. Amongst the stars. So we'll take Roars. We'll take your hump score and bang it in there. It's my board. Yeah, it is your board. It's very possessive. You're doing the Lord's work. I've got to tell you, I think that was a tent. Just saying, last but not least, as always, in this very long and drawn-out conversation, the best we save till last.

1:22:46Rog:It's your insights, your words, dear listeners. There's still time one more Dame to drop us a line in the Men in Belize Discord. Send us an email, meninbelize.jumar.com. Tag us on socials. We loved hearing from you throughout the tournament. Honestly, it's been the best part of the whole last, how many weeks? 87 weeks of this World Cup? That was the first half. We've got a GFOP, Jacob, Roar, do the honest. Roger and Rory and Humphrey, thank you very much. The H-man. I know your budget is drained, so I humbly offer this image, which I created entirely by myself with absolutely no help from ChatGPT.

1:23:22So on the left, we have Michelangelo's Pietà, which Humphrey will be well aware of, the wonderful marble work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The rippling of the clothing.

1:23:29Rog:Is that in your parents' match? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Big time, big time, big time. And on the right, we have... We have Laminya Mal and old man Leo Messi. Yeah. Although Laminya Mal looks a bit too much like Morden Rogers there, I think, for me. A little bit. A little bit. Yeah, I know what you mean. Sculpting's hard, though. It's hard to get. It is. Is that like... ChatGPT struggles with it. Jacob's done some incredible chiseling. Of course. It only makes sense if Spain win tomorrow, but the messy laminium al bath image was so mind-bendingly biblical that I wanted to create something to capture the other side of the narrative arc.

1:24:04You'll have to do your own research on the Latin inscription, Globus, which is world... Oh!

1:24:14Vermi Cremans is Wormburner.

1:24:16Rog:Is it really? Yeah. Are you sure? I think it's a town in Belgium, isn't it? It's Worm... The world... What's it mean, chat? Well, so it's a gerund. Yeah. And as an end, it's a gerundive. So the world shall be worm-burned, I suppose. That means up your bum and don't tell mum. Come on. God's sake. Keep going. We're nearly there. In all seriousness, I've greatly enjoyed the depth you both bring to this beautiful, silly game. You managed to weave together culture, politics, history, religion, mythos, and above all love. Thank you. That's a rare thing in sports coverage, and it's made this tournament even more meaningful to follow.

1:24:48So thank you both. I'm genuinely grateful for what you've created. Best, Jacob.

1:24:53Rog:And by both, you meant three of us. Jacob, you're a beautiful human being. The translation is coming in. It means a ball of seething worms is what it means. I hate it when you get seething worm balls, don't you? You need a cream. You do. That's why Messi wears jorts, by the way. Not a lot of people know that. Listen, Jacob, Michelangelo would look at your work and would weep. would say, Jacob, you are my heir. You are the one. You are the chosen one. Keep sculpting. Don't let the haters knock you down about your work, telling you that it looks like Morgan Rogers. You've got a skill. Work at it.

1:25:29Rog:Listen to me. Don't listen. Listen to me. Chiseling is hard. Sculpting is hard. I do a lot of sculpting. Sculpting that body, am I right? Yeah. Yeah. The abs barely touched his boobs. I mean, I know. No, sculpting, like the marble, it's hard, and it's expensive, and you're stressed. and you can listen to my podcast, Modern Sculpting Today. You'll learn a lot about life. Just see the block. Others see the block as just a big, big piece of rock. You see what is trapped inside and you urge to release it. And I admire it so great. I'm getting a bit lost in this. Big time. No, you're doing great. You're doing great.

1:26:06Rog:I am. I really kind of love you. We've bought a lot of time for us to eat our pizza. I love you. I know it's a worm-eaten ball, globus, vemecrans, close enough to worm burma. We love you, Jacob. Thank you for your note, your creativity. Keep chiseling. That's how I sign off my other podcast today in Sculptown. Keep chiseling. That's how I sign off my emails. It is. Woo-woo. Quick note on our newsletter, because even though the games stop, our newsletter team never does. They've been doing the Lord's work. Shout out to Max Bonham and his team as we head from the World Cup into the club season. Sign up now.

1:26:40Rog:Sign up now and open wide for some soccer. Bless your inbox with a beautiful, beautiful morning read. Delightful collection of news stories. Sometimes, I will be honest, there's some thoughts from me in there, which is a bit dark. But if that doesn't make you want a second cup of coffee, nothing will. Link is in the notes below. Sign up, baby. That's it from us. This is your last show on the bus, Rule. Play for time because you've got your gob full. You really stuffed that pizza away, man. Deeply admirable as I've done the Lord's work. I've not had any lunch. Nor have I, man. I haven't eaten in three days.

1:27:10Rog:It's just kicked in, man. my intermittent fasting, which I've never done, and I don't believe it. But I need to get some dinner. Final show of this World Cup with you, Rul. I will be on Night Cup tomorrow. But? But I'll be doing it from the stadium I like, called MetLife. Yeah. Where I would have watched the World Cup final. But you paid for a ticket. $27 ,000. You said, I've got to do it. No. It was free. Was it really? Because I'm a professional. He's a fancy boy. I'm going to be a correspondent. He's a fancy football boy. of the scene of the World Cup final. So it is my last time on the bus and I am genuinely sad but I have had so much fun on this bus.

1:27:48It is amazingly, given that in the middle of it we kind of went insane, it is a place that I hold very fondly in my heart and that is because, not just because of the great beauty of it, but because of all the wonderful people who've been part of it along the way. Talking about you. Not me. All three. No, it's you.

1:28:06Rog:I will forever, on some level, be a bus boy. You really will. When you say you're a profession, Do you think FIFA have actually seen the whole episode of Nightcote where you wore a beaver cap? 100%. That's what got him in. That's what got me in. They contacted him. This guy creates good content. Hello there. It's me, a man from FIFA. I've got all the accents because I cover the whole world. We've seen you in your beaver head, and we want you to cover the final.

1:28:38Rog:I love you. if you're still watching this, diabolical crap, which went a bit south when I told you about my mum and my dad and, you know, the... OK, that's it from us. We'll be back for the final show of the World Cup tomorrow night after the final. By the way, when I say the final of this, we keep podcasting forever because the Premier League kicks back in. Can you not phrase it like that? Well, that's what I wanted to say to you. Love, you're writing letters right now saying this is so sad. We're never going to hear you again as if, like, Like, where would I get trapped on this bus? Like, in that, was it Superman?

1:29:14Rog:Yeah. You're going to go into that sort of... Into the, like, walk plexiglass. It doesn't work like that. We keep podcasting. There's more football. Believe me, we're going to be going on. We're still with you. Roger, we podcast twice a week. Every week. At least. Sometimes three times. So you don't get rid of us that easy, you pesky kids. At Aaron Smith, 6568 says, when Roar wore the beaver hat. It's known forever as the vermin episode. Oh, okay. Yeah. There you go. It's a classic. We'll be back tomorrow. I'm going to leave you with a clip from our recent interview with the great Jon Stewart.

1:29:48Rog:We did two beautiful interviews with Johns, who know a lot more about football than I do. Jon Stewart, Jon Oliver. This is Stewie talking about the beauty of this tournament. He doesn't call himself Stewie. Lovely pair of Johns. I don't mind. I would, wouldn't you? Roger, John, a lovely pair of Johns. Yeah, I'm off of my johns when the johns are knocking. The beauty of this sport, beauty of the humanity, really. Take a listen. My voice is gone, which means, thank God, I'm going to shut up. I know, I know, I know. The whole interview is available now on our YouTube channel. You're going to be with me tomorrow, aren't you?

1:30:22Rog:I sure am. I can't wait. You'll never leave me. No, I know. Why are you leaving? Sometimes good relationships need a bit of time apart. Because I got on my little telephone and I said, come and do the wheel cup faunal. It's like when my dad left my mum. It is. It is, you bastard. I realise it hurts so I'm talking about it. I'm in pain. I need a hug. Daddy, don't leave mummy. Come back. Come back. I'm trapped behind the bookshelves. I'm like, Daddy, don't leave mummy. I will not be born. Roll Jon Stewart. I don't know if I have the authority to say that, but I really want to help.

1:31:02Rog:this has been very much a world cup of love it really has it goes to show you that the narratives that are portrayed are never the narratives of reality but in real life people are people and they love the same things and they love to celebrate uh the same things and they love to share their families and their cultures and their rituals and customs and flags and scarves and hats with everybody. But there's also, you know, as we saw in England and Argentina, the real world does intervene at times. And there are real differences that take place. But generally, they come after the whistleblowers.

1:31:52you