USMNT 2-1 Guatemala Gold Cup Semifinal: The Deuce Live 07/02/25

28:00We wish them all the joy. Tonight they had fight and spirit. They were fearless. They outshot us 20 to 12. They were honestly magical and fell, thank God, but my God, just short. Can you sum up their performance for us, Clint? I mean, I think you did a perfect job of it. They had heart. They fought for their fans. They fought for their country. And their fans fought for them. Their fans came out. They were the 12th man. And we talked about it even before the game, just really respectful and passionate about their team. We had some back and forth before the game and talked about old games we played against each other and stuff like that.

28:42And, you know, I grew up in Nacogdoches, so I was around a lot of Guatemalan, Honduras, and Mexican players, man. And they were all passionate about their football and about their country. And it's good to see them back, back to doing big things. And it's good to see Honduras, it shakes up CONCACAF. You don't want it to be boring to where it's the same teams all the time. You'd like to see new storylines and surprises. And so I agree with you 100%. They were one of the big joys of this Gold Cup. Last one before we get to fan question. I did an AMA on our new Men in Blazers Discord this afternoon.

29:28And there was a great question from at Hazard Enjoyer who wanted to know, have the US been proving that they're actually good? Because the Gold Cup is not the pinnacle of football, but the BC team are in the final. When we think about our A team, are we a serious squad or will we never truly know because the Gold Cup doesn't teach us that much anyway, Clint? Where are you on this? Are we any good or is it impossible to tell because the Gold Cup is its own ecosystem? It's tough. That's a really good question. It's a tough one to answer because you only can play the people that are in front of you.

30:08And then you're going to be judged on whether you win or lose. And then it's how you played. We've won. We haven't played the best. we have some players who have stepped up that have been bright spots and sometimes when you play against certain competition you're either too high or too low in terms of how you evaluate players we talk about Diego Luna who's who's emerging as a star for this national team but still at the end of the day let's see how he does against Mexico let's see how he does against South American competition. Let's see how he does against European competition a little bit more to truly gauge them.

30:51But it's one of those things that you have to take your hat off to them. They've been able to get to a final, and they're slowly turning the fan base around in terms of getting them, I think, back on track and believing that they can do something with their fight and with their kind of never-say-die grinding out results and winning against Mexico would be a big feather in the cap of Pochettino, especially with them being one of the biggest rivals for the U.S. And it's still too early to tell. You know what I'm saying? We're going to be truly graded in the World Cup. Essentially, what you're telling me is we are to football right now what Jake Paul is to boxing.

31:36Exactly. We're the Jake Paul of conking cap. Oh, man. I mean, I wouldn't go that far, but I mean, it's just a tough one, right? I mean, we had our chance in Copa America, and we didn't take advantage of it, right? And Gold Cup is what it is right now in terms of the team that we have, and credit to them, they're doing what they need to do. But we're going to be truly tested in the final versus Mexico or Honduras, whoever we play, and then hopefully the meaningful friendlies – well, not meaningful friendlies, the best quality of friendlies that you can get in terms of who's qualified and what's that best competition away from home.

32:16I'm trying to find some type of thought process here. And then it's truly going to be the World Cup, whether we get out of the group or not. Let's Jake Paul our way to glory, America. And thank you, At Hazard and Joy. I love that question. Really would be fascinated with other people's responses to it. But we're going to take our callers. What a lovely list of human beings who are waiting to join our conversation. When I call your name, unmute. Tell us where you're from. And then what is your question for the great Clint Dempsey? Let's start with you. If it isn't the birthday girl herself, because I saw this in Discord, it's Christina Stocks.

32:55Happy birthday, Christina, you incredible human being. Remind us where we are. Tell us how your birthday's been. Thank you. I am in Bidmore, Arkansas via Joplin, Missouri. And Clint, I'm going to ask you the same question that I asked your fellow teammate, Kurt Gomez. Do you believe Tim Ream should be the captain of the U.S. men's national team? Should Tim Ream be captain? Is he the Becky Sauerbrunn of the U.S. men's national team? That experience, that leadership, that kind of moral authority? I think. I mean, it's it's it's one of those things where, you know, he has made it in Europe. He's he's he's represented us already in a World Cup.

33:43And like we said, he's someone that that has a lot of experience. But I'm not the person who's in the locker room. I'm not I'm not the coach. So it's not really fair for me to tell you who the captain should be or not. I think there's a number of leaders in the team. I would say Tyler Adams also is on that list. But you can't deny the fact that Tim Ream and what he did in Europe, he's one of the Americans that went over there and truly made it. And you got to take your hats off for that. But I'm not in the locker room, so I don't really know how that environment is within the team and who the players respond the most to.

34:22And as of right now, I mean, it looks like it's been the right decision. They're in the final. Does it matter who the captain is on the team? I don't think it does. I mean, I know in England we obsess about it for the national team. It's like a national debate in Parliament. But a lot of the European teams just play the veteran with the most caps automatically gets the armband. Yeah, I mean, obviously you want somebody that when he's during the kickoff and flipping the coin and talking to the other captain that the other team is like, oh, shit. Like this guy, he's legit, right? Like he's someone that's going to battle every time.

34:58He's someone that is a game changer. and someone that should be respected, right? So you want that from your captain, but you also want a captain that can deal with everybody on the team in terms of different walks of life, different cultures, understands people and what makes them tick, but also can be the buffer between them and the coach and being like, hey, the guys are kind of tired, worn out. Is there a way that we could do this or do that? Maybe lighten up training. or is it we need more finishing work. You know, we need to be sharper in front of goal. We're conceding too many goals. Maybe there's a way that we can work on a little bit more of our shape.

35:38Like you need to have someone that's not afraid to have a tough conversation with the coach. I think that's an important thing. But in terms of answering the question, there's multiple leaders on the team. And you've got to go out there and do the business. Everybody has to go out and the most important thing is represent their country and fight for their spot on this team. It's not about who's the captain, who wears the armband, who does this, who does that. It's about are we winning or not winning? And am I making a difference towards my chance of getting in this roster for the World Cup team?

36:14I think we may well have Drew. Drew, are you there? Tell us where you're from and what's your question, baby? Hey there, Rog. I am here. Where are you, Drake? Austin, Texas. Hey. So my question for Clint is we, unfortunately this is not a problem we've seen just tonight, kind of a U.S. men's team inability to put their foot on the throat, kill off a game against either motivated or talented opposition. I would say tonight it's more the former than the latter. So what is it going to take, even with our A team, to really boss a game? What a question. What a question. Well, first of all, in every game, there's going to be periods of time where you have to weather the storm, right?

37:09There's going to be waves in the game that you're going to be playing better and confident and get in a rhythm. There's going to be substitutions that are made, this and that. But, I mean, it comes from being good in possession, how you build out of the back, how you play through the lines, how you take players on are you playing with you know different styles are you having wingers that are beating people on are you having inverted wingers that are playing in pockets and trying to connect uh with the target striker giving goals or coming on their dominant foot and get shots off are you getting that width with your outside backs and truly understanding the style of play that that you're trying to play as a team and then it's when you lose the ball how do you press to get it back are you staying connected as a team are you pushing the line up high so that When you are pressing them and their defensive half, are you able to get turnovers?

38:01It's a lot of things that go into bossing games. You have to look at the top teams like PSG, Man City, those type of teams to understand what it's like to boss games against tough, top competition. Ultimately, I don't know if we need to boss the game. you look at teams that do well Morocco to me in the last World Cup getting to the semi-final they didn't exactly boss games, they won games they were deeply organised, incredibly effective, they had a deep idea of football and it kept working in a way, my friend Charlie Kip texted me tonight tonight the US did what you asked for all along, they won ugly, they shithoused, they didn't care about looking good while doing it, they ground out a result, this was your Wales, this was your Iceland this was your Morocco performance to some degree I loved it I did sweat through my shirt in every way Clint at the end of the day you you've said it winning winning is what is important at the international level you need you need two things like you to your point you don't have to boss the game but you need two things you need to have confidence in your defense that you can keep clean sheets and see games out but you also need a fighter's chance in terms of a punch you have to have a knockout punch you have to have some bite in the attack whether that's counterattacking or in possession, you have to be dangerous and create goals.

39:26And if you have those two things, you will always have a chance in a game. We need Eric Rinalda to Ernie Stewart, 94. We need Jermaine Jones to Clint Dempsey, 2014. That's what we need. We need to know how we're scoring goals. Bossing games, trying to boss games has actually been our undoing in the last cycle. Drew, are you still there? we've lost beautiful drew what's the best taco in austin baby i'm partial to vera cruz on natural they've been doing it really well for a long time i love you come on this show anytime next time i am there i will give that the taste test and we will talk some more um i adore you we're going to move on to the mighty oh i believe their migas taco i think i've actually had that is absolutely a hundred if i'm remembering from memory eric are you there can you unmute come on up if you are and tell us where you're from and what's your question for king clint hey raj hey clint hey uh yeah clint uh watching the last two matches uh with uh uh the the quarters and the semis uh uh diego luna he just has this dog in him he's He looks and acts like a bulldog out there on the pitch.

40:45Does he remind you of anybody who you played with, with the USMNT in the 2000s and 2010s at all? And maybe even some of your teammates with Fulham or Seattle? I mean, yeah. I mean, he's got that fight mentality that you see in a guy like Jermaine Jones. I'd like to think myself as well. he's we're both the broken nose bros from what you saw him in January camp I like that he's skillful he takes people on he tries stuff and he's he's only going to get better I think the key for him is not to get too high during these big moments that he's having right now in terms of the brace that he had that he had tonight that he's continuing to try to build on that and and and to try to be more consistent in bringing a certain type of level every game.

41:38But he's someone that's growing in front of our eyes. I mean, if you talk about where he was at January camp to what you're seeing him do now, I think he has a lot of potential. So I'm excited about, he's still raw, but I'm excited about seeing what will come of him and just got to keep his head on straight and keep grinding and keep doing what he's been doing. Don't get complacent. Don't, don't, don't, Don't drink too much of the Kool-Aid. Just keep doing what you've been doing. It is fascinating watching. By the way, Eric, where are you from, man? Cedar Falls, Iowa. Oh, beautiful part of the country, baby.

42:14You know, it is fascinating watching him. We've talked before, Clint, about certain players, when they're in the spotlight, they always try and do too much. They try and act too much. You know, they feel the adrenaline and then they're overcompensating. And it is like too much swagger quickly, too much attitude, too much. almost taking their mind off the fundamentals of football. More importantly, the only thing I would add to it is if you ever go to make a move, be calculated in terms of how you make that decision. Because if you go somewhere and you're not playing, it takes away all the minimum that you're building up.

42:51That was the only little thing that I would add into it. If that's something in his future, if he's looking to make a move, to be really smart in that decision-making of being in a place that's going to let him do his thing and be the right fit. Sorry, go ahead, Raj. No, no, not at all, because I think it's a great point, Clint. I mean, I spent a tiny little bit of time with him when we were in, I can't remember what city we were in when I saw him in the evening. We were laughing about what he's trying to do on the field, what goes through his mind when he gets on the ball. I said to him, I was like, Diego, you've got to know how much joy you're giving all of our listeners, all of our viewers.

43:26you know I said Clint loves watching you we all love watching you you're giving us a certain the attitude has given us so much of what we want from this team some hope and some passion is what I said I said what goes through your mind he just said I'm just trying to have fun I'm just trying to have fun he said like when I was a kid playing in San Jose which is ultimately really important but where would you where would you advise him to go Clint knowing your journey and knowing where you went knowing how hard you had to grow Brian, know what a step up European football is. Where would you, if you were going to speak to Diego, think this is the next step where you can really hone your game and have what you've just said, which is the ability to play and the ability to be yourself and not lose yourself?

44:12Yeah, I mean, like we talked about it on other podcasts, he likes to have fun, but he's serious about having fun, right? And I think it's important that where you go to, they're going to let you do your thing. Whether they see him as a withdrawn striker, whether they see him as an inverted winger, I think he's someone that could play on the left and come on to his right foot, kind of like how he scored tonight on the second goal and how I played at Fulham. That's where I thought my strongest position was because he's not the fastest guy, but he has a good engine and he's able to get in those pockets.

44:47He's good on the ball. I think it would complement a left back that's getting past him and him knowing that when his left back is giving you the width to cross the ball in, you kind of stay on the top of the box if you need to cover for him. But at the same time, allowing him to get into those dangerous spots where he can maneuver, give and go off of Ajiman and whipping a ball in or taking someone 1v1 and getting a shot off himself. So I can't speak for him what he thinks his best position is and what his best style is. But I would like to see him more in kind of those type of situations. What Clint's saying, Diego, because I know you're listening to this.

45:27You're saying move to Everton Football Club. We'll take another call. Hey, you know, you saw that style with David Moyes. He likes some inverted wingers as well. I'm doing a live show with David Moyes on July 25th. Diego, come to the show. I'll get you backstage. not saying we'll do a deal before the end of the performance, but I'm not saying that either. It's time for Lawrence. Come on up, tell us where you're from and what's your question for Deuce. Hey, I'm from Northern California. Hey, Deuce, how do you think we're going to line up against Mexico? What kind of a game is it going to be? And if, if, if, we do not want Honduras erasure in this show, but let's say we do play Mexico in the final.

46:18I think what we've seen is it's going to be similar. There's not going to be too many changes made. I think he likes to go with the same lineup. I think it's going to be important how you manage that game. Obviously, you can't concede in the first 10 to 15 minutes, but at the same time, you can't sit back and that be your only concern. You have to go out and you got to roll the dice and you got to go for it. So it's that balance of still having that punch that we talked about that you can deal, be like a counter striker, right? You can deal with what they're trying to bring to you, but you're still going to bring some stuff back to them, right?

46:56You want it to be a fight where they got to be fearful of you, that you're not just going to let them have possession and pass you to sleep and create a chance. and then you find yourself with the hill to climb, a mountain to climb, because we know, not that we know, but I'm guessing it's going to be, depending on who plays, I think Mexico's going to beat Honduras, but the game has to be played. We'll see what happens there. But either way, it's going to be a favorite crowd for the opposition that it is going to be for the US. I knew you were going to say that. If Mexico do make that final in Houston, it is for these young players, It'd be great, honestly, for these young players to have to play in that.

47:38I mean, it sounds crazy to play in that crucible. What better way to gauge your players than to be in Pack Stadium in a difficult situation to know who they truly are, right? You know what? I'm so excited for Sunday now. Roll on Sunday. I mean, we're watching a young hero's journey. Just to be clear, this is not our team. This is not a measure of how we will do at the World Cup, but we're watching young, raw footballers go on somewhat of a hero's journey together, test themselves, learn together. And my God, that final, we will learn so much about really their metal, their spine, their mentality.

48:21And I can't wait. We'll take two more quick ones before we go. Brian, it's your time. I'm mute. Tell us where you're from. What's your question for Deuce? no way hey Clint you're my favorite player of all time I thank you Rod I love what you do hey hey guys um my question is Clint do you think uh Pochettino asked the team to play behind the ball after the two goals to see if they could do it um and to see where they needed to improve going into the final was it a tactical decision is that what you're asking Bright I am yeah I I think they could have stayed on the front foot and put more goals in, in my opinion.

49:04Did Poch call off the hound? Yeah. I want to know from Clint's perspective if he thinks they were asked to play behind the ball tactically because going into the finals, should they play Mexico, they may have to play some defense. Yeah, I mean, that's a good question. I don't know. No, I mean, I personally, if we were playing the way that we were playing, I don't know why we would deviate from that. But I think there's moments in game where you kind of lose rhythm and, like, you make a mistake here, you make a mistake there, and then it just starts to be, like, you're kind of scared in terms of how you're playing out of the back.

49:44A certain player's not confident now being on the ball because he's made a mistake, taken a bad touch, like the Freeman pass, one touch pass towards the middle that led to a counterattack in the first half that comes to mind. But there was other plays that happened throughout the game where, you know, that players maybe kind of lose their confidence and they're not playing more on that front foot. But, yeah, I just think that we just kind of got away from that quality and trying to fight to really go get that third goal. It seemed like there was a few chances that it looked like it could have happened.

50:16Ajiman was through. I thought watching the game, Stube called it really well in terms of he could have dragged that to his left foot. And if the keeper fouls him, then it's a penalty. Or he's able to do what he's done. We've seen him do before where he's able to slot that in and the game would have been done and dusted. But to your point, it looked like they didn't get the game back after the 20-minute mark. And when we started to concede all those shots and go into halftime, it looked like they were going to score before we were again. And then second half came out and just we had a few moments where we could have changed the game, but there just wasn't enough quality there.

50:53What do you think, Raj? Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree with you more. I mean, that third goal that we wanted, that we craved. I love your idea, Brian, that it was intentional. We intentionally called off that. That's like 4D chess. I saw a team that were just like, God bless the Guatemalans. They stepped up the intensity. It was like fight or flight, and we were overwhelmed. They drove us backwards. The Adjuman moment, I mean, I know Adjuman is like pineapple on pizza for the US fan base right now. I mean, he reminded me tonight of if you watch high school soccer where the teams have a handful of really, really good players, but they also fill a number of spots with just very good athletes from other sports who kind of make up the numbers.

51:39I watch Angie Man and he plays like one of them. He's like a basketball star who's been put on the soccer team because he's so fast and strong and he can body all comers. I watch him just like using his feet I'd say he remains a very very raw work in progress I love him as a human being I love his story there's talk about him moving to the championship playing for Derby, he will learn so bloody much in every regard and may just continue to mature, he's like a young wine that needs to decant a little bit or whatever happens inside the bottle for some period of time there's no doubt you know there's no doubt the managers the coaches see something very good in him we're just not seeing it always in the present day in terms of the decision making in those moments he's like a tight end that is really good at blocking not so good at the catching part of the game we'll finish up though with the mighty Marcus a mute beautiful last question of the night a night of our semi-final victory tell us where you are in the United States and what's your question for King Clint?

52:49Thank you. Can you hear me okay? We hear you beautifully. Where are you from, Marcus? I am in Anchorage, Alaska. Have you ever been, Clint? I've never been to Alaska. One of these days I want to go. We've got the fishing. I mean, even I'm excited about the fishing. Go catch some halibut and let's do it. Are you a fisherman, Marcus? Yes, yes. And actually, this post-soccer cup window before the Premier League starts, late July, mid-August, it's particularly fishy here. So the three of us can go fishing. Or, Rog, you can do some bird watching, and then we'll put you in charge of the smoke. How big is your spare room, Marcus?

53:31Oh, I have a treehouse. Whoa, there we go. Hey, we'll zip line into the boat.

53:41Marcus you think we're joking man after the final we're both coming baby we may never leave what we're ready we've got plenty of rods my question is on on the women's side you have competitors like Crystal Dunn she plays as an attacker or midfielder for a club team but then she's at the back for the national team you got Sandy Baltimore she kind of does the opposite at Chelsea plays it at the back, but then plays up front for the French national team. Julie Ertz played a lot of different positions. Could we find a way to send Diego to maybe the Swiss League this fall, kind of get him some Swiss Army knife training so that he could be on the pitch, even if his natural position is kind of crowded with our full strength roster?

54:27Where would you play Diego, Clint? Who does he replace? Does he replace someone? or is this too early to tell? It depends on the formation that Pochettino plays with his best 11. But, I mean, I see him somewhere in the midfield for sure. Or even like we talked about being an inverted winger. I don't think he's someone that you want to play wide. I don't think he has enough pace for that. but I think his strong suit is just in tight spaces. His quality of touch, his ability to pass with both feet and to operate in tight spaces, it has to be something that's more centrally where he gets on the ball, but also he's a fighter.

55:18He gets stuck in on 50-50 challenges, so for me, I just think that's where he best operates. What about you, Raj? Yeah, I can honestly see that the story of this tournament right now, the final is everything and less for the win, but more for the statement for me that Poch can make to tell the players who were not that. He can say, I won without you. I created this culture. It's a struggle culture. It's a fighting culture. It's a give everything culture. I now need you to come back and fit into this culture. That to me is the most important thing about this US journey right now. If he wins, he can make that statement to all of them.

56:03What we don't know is who he intends to fit back in. I still believe he's going to leave one of these players, one of the big players, one of the players we've seen as a given starter, I think he's going to leave somebody out of the squad completely. I think he's going to have to, as a symbol to the rest, to say nothing is a given. That complacency that you used to have, that's a word a lot of the players have used about the culture that was. So I don't know who he's going to leave out. But honestly, Clint... There's just something about, I think, real quick, that when your back's against the wall as a coach, you know what I mean?

56:39like things could have gone horribly wrong for them in the gold cup they haven't played amazing but they've gotten it done so far and and they're in a final and if they go you know fingers crossed go on to win the whole thing he's he's gonna show love to the people that were in the barracks with him that you know were like in the trench it just it that that those type of things that they they they speak volumes to coaches and it means a lot to the players as well. When they look around and know who's there with them when, when the, when the times were bad, when there, no one was in the stands watching you play.

57:18You know what I'm saying? Yeah. He won't forget this. Honestly, Marcus, at the end of the day, I do think Diego Luna would be a hell of a spark off the bench. He'll be like dropping against a tired team where all he knows, all he needs is like an inch of space to get that shot off. Trust that shot. It'd be like dropping a Mentos into a bottle of Coke. Marcus, Clint, me, Diego, Luna, we are going to come. We'll fix some dates that work for you. We'll be in that treehouse, baby. May we enjoy it all together. I've loved this. I've actually loved talking about the game, probably more than watching the game, if I'm being truthful.

57:56But that is what we do here. And this is it for the evening. I've loved being with you. We're going to run it back this Friday.

58:06on Sunday after the Gold Cup final. I cannot wait. Coming up tomorrow, going to turn our attention to the Club World Cup quarterfinals in a very special quarterfinal preview with the great Rory Smith. It'll drop right here on our YouTube at 11 a.m. Eastern. A reminder, we've got the three live events at the Michelob Ultra Pitchside Club on 6th Avenue in New York City next week. Did I mention we've got some very special guests? One of them may be or maybe not be on this show right now, but you're not going to want to miss it it's tuesday wednesday friday get your tickets rsvp by the link in the show notes of the show on youtube and in the podcast come and be with us new york clint um the joy of speaking to you is the year well the us have lost while we've been doing this but we've not lost any of the ones that matter um and i love that man may it continue may it continue until sunday evening my friend sir thank you beautiful thank you let's not take a moment of watching football together for granted.

59:06This is Rod saying courage, vamos and go, go USA.

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