That USA Episode: Brad Friedel on THAT 4-1 USA thrashing & the lads take a SCARY flight! | EP. 407

0:00Chris Stark: Hello and welcome to That Peter Crouch Podcast with me, Peter Crouch. I've got Tom the Foreskin Fordyce with me and Sid as well. And obviously Chris is back at the Chumbo One Bar doing various bits of work for us. How are we boys? Are we enjoying our American experience? We've been having some good times, haven't we? Loving it. We're loving it, lads. We've been getting into the games, haven't we? We've also, because of the way that our three brains work, we've been doing some real deep dives, haven't we, in some dark corners of the football world. There was a point the other night where, how many restaurants do you reckon there are in LA?

0:32It must be a couple of thousand restaurants. Probably each of those would have at least, I don't know, 10, 20 tables. So probably 10 ,000 tables where people were eating food in Los Angeles the other night. And our table was the only one where we were doing a deep dive on the career of Neil Redford.

0:51Chris Stark: Amazing stat that he got relegated by three different clubs in three different seasons. naming the clubs proved difficult but not ungettable which we found we got there didn't we Sits how are you getting on are you enjoying it

1:04Tom Fordyce: yeah I've just got to say that I am in a pair of trousers I would be in a pair of shorts we've obviously done something this morning I don't think we can discuss what it is yet it will come out at a later time but I am sweating are you yeah I'm just going to throw that one straight out there I'll be honest this is hotter than the Chumba 1 bar

1:23Chris Stark: on a summer's day it is

1:24Tom Fordyce: and that is fucking hot Yeah. But listen, lads, we've had a great time so far. What we've done, we've done a bit of paddle in the morning. We found a paddle court. We did, yeah. Great picker session, didn't we? Yeah. Prison rules, paddle. So lads, yeah, so we've had paddle in the morning, haven't we, that we have actually rebooked the court for a couple of days' time. Oh, I enjoyed that. That was a good session. Good paddle session. What I would say as the one of the four who had never played professional sport, if you're listening to this and you're wondering how good former professional footballers are at paddle, the answer is they're very good.

1:54Do you know what? The nice thing was, you boys, because we were switching the teams around, you were saying the things to me that I say to my partner when I play with her. It was all done in a nice way, but slightly patronising, sort of. Yeah, good effort. Good effort. No, don't worry. You get the next one. Just try and keep the ball in play. I didn't say that. I didn't say that. Pete said that. Did I say that? Yeah. Oh, wow. Just try and keep it in play. The best one was, I'll get those next time. I'll get that one next time.

2:24Chris Stark: do you know when you forget just forget what you're saying like you're just trying to win aren't you yeah I think yeah that's it you three so we played with Kassip Schmichael he was the the fourth member you're still super competitive aren't you there's like a different level of competitiveness if you've played sport professionally yeah you don't want to lose I believe so yeah I mean there's a few others as well like Juan Pablo and girls around the around the hotel and Thiago Thiago's going to be good isn't he I mean I've played with him he's very good I think we should get a proper score going

2:52Tom Fordyce: get a few of them because get it done I think everyone's still on that sort of I mean you've adapted now to the time you're waking up I'm basically a yank yeah you're getting up at a reasonable time we're still a bit early birds aren't we so we can get it done we can get it done we can get to breakfast what a start to the day that is

3:09Chris Stark: y 'all get there

3:10Tom Fordyce: no y 'all get there no come on though yeah so we've done that have we and then we've we've watched a few games together we watched Brazil-Morocca didn't we and we came up with what we think might be the most mind-blowing stats. So mind-blowing stat of the World Cup. So bearing in mind who's playing up front for Brazil, Pete, we reckon if you had said to someone, even 10 years ago, that the starting striker for Brazil, who's obviously had some of the greatest strikers in world football, Pelé, Ronaldo, Romario, that the starting striker for Brazil would play for Brentford.

3:46Chris Stark: I mean, I grew up in the area, Tom, and I know Brentford you know back in the day I mean it was a division free club so the thought process back then if you said the striker would start at a World Cup for Brazil would be a Brentford player I would have told you yeah I'd agree with that since what did you make of Brazil yeah I mean

4:13Tom Fordyce: Morocco were very good they're a good team how did they win it? Morocco it's not impossible No, I would say yes. I would say yes, they can win it. And I've said this all along. I think this is the year for an underdog to make some surprise. I wouldn't say win it, an underdog to win it as such, but I would say to certainly ruffle feathers. Brazil, they, I wasn't too keen on them before. I think I might mention that as well. Listen, it's nostalgia, isn't it? Brazil win a World Cup, the yellow jersey, the colour, it's great, it's a marriage. but I think they was a little bit overhyped as a team. They've got the individuals, yes.

4:50Tom Fordyce: But from what I see, well, yeah, from that game alone, Morocco looked like the danger team in that group.

4:59Chris Stark: Just one other thing I wanted to bring to your attention was when the national anthems were on, in the VAR room, they were fully kitted, so full kit, and they were standing as if to do their national anthem. I don't know what your thoughts were on. without so like the team line up

5:15Tom Fordyce: the team's come up didn't they and that's the bar room and they were all standing

5:18Chris Stark: to attention looking into the camera as if they were doing a national anthem I enjoyed it I like it loved it to me it's commitment it's commitment to the World Cup we're committed to the World Cup and I like to see that in other people

5:27Tom Fordyce: I mean I'm going to disagree with you both I think if we should have brought a Games Gone board it would have gone straight up the top of the list well I've got a few things on the Games Gone obviously the hydration

5:36Chris Stark: the hydration break powered by whoever yeah I'm not sure about that if I'm being totally honest some of these some of them some of these drinks breaks are being utilised in air conditioned stadiums yeah it's colder than probably Stoke on a Tuesday in November some of the aircon out here is outraged it's intense it's cold I mean it's intense you go from like this kind of heat to you need a jumper it's freezing yeah what about in terms of innovations the ref camp I like it I like it yeah I'm a fan if he's right behind a goal yeah you don't get that you can't get that kind of angle can you the only issue for me and Pete we've talked about this before is that as a referee you're basically making the runs of the world's worst midfielder aren't you okay you don't want to be too near the ball you don't want to be too far away from the ball you don't want to get in the way so if you're trying to get that perfect shot Sid on ref cam yeah like do you want to be looking at the goal or do you want to be checking for off sides do you want to be looking do you know what I mean do you know it's like me for you as well Sid I know exactly how you would feel if someone goes out wide I know you're lung busting to get into the box right I reckon if you were a ref now that is so ingrained in you when that ball when that ball goes out wide I know I am pinging and I'm I'm peeling away I'm peeling away to the back post just like when you should even if I had a referee kit on

7:03Tom Fordyce: I would 100 % do that yeah I'm actually going to watch that now from the next few games that happen if the ball goes wide never seen so many aircraft by the way brilliant when the ball goes wide I'm literally going to watch the tickers of the ref and see if he checks his shoulders as well to lose his marker to get in the does anyone know

7:25Chris Stark: do you know exactly where when the ball goes out wide he beats his where you wouldn't want to be on the edge because what if it broke back to you Olympiacos Steven Gerrard Champions League can you imagine the ref got in the way of that This is why probably There's many reasons Why for me It's gone The ref He's just hit the ref Up the arse Thinking about it They don't win the Champions League 2005 East down the border Doesn't happen You don't even get to Istanbul

7:53Tom Fordyce: It's all about the ref's positioning Sorry I was going to say You're saying that But I think When we've seen the ref Came with the goals He is in that position He is He is in the middle of the goal And this is the danger for me That he's going to start thinking I could get a really good ref cam here If I get in the right position He's going to start thinking about his ref cam. He's going to be thinking ref cam before you know it. He's going to get hit up the arse by a shot. Keep your eyes out for this.

8:14Chris Stark: This is going to happen. This is going to happen. I just think sometimes, right, even if he peels away, trying to like just far enough out, you think about Van Basten, 88, right? That's far enough out. The ref could be there, yeah. He's standing there, Van Basten clips on off his head. Imagine how many of the greatest goals in history ruined by a referee. But even Maradona, he's in referee territory. 86. In fact, thinking about that, the referee in 86 in the Aztec Stadium has done an amazing job of at no point getting in the way of Diego Maradona because he's gone all around the pitch.

8:51Tom Fordyce: Yeah, I think he's flipped. I think the roles are reversed now for them. They've had a remit in their dossier before the tournament to say, get in as close as you can to the action because we're going to use that footage and it's going to go global and it's going to be down to you, sir. The only thing I should say about this, I don't want to praise the referee, in 86 too much because he did miss a handball.

9:12Chris Stark: And also, what I've realised recently, there was actually a foul. That's a great bit of footage, isn't it? Yeah, before he sets up. Couldn't believe it. There's a really obvious foul. Saw Gary Nellick talk about it. I was like, it was a foul. So actually, the referees had a nightmare. Well, his positioning was good though. Right, Brad Friedel today, lads. Good guest, very good guest. We both played with him. He's an American legend. Yeah. Played in two World Cups at another one in 94. Perfect guest. Really nice guy as well. Longevity. Longevity. Good guy. Yeah, looking forward to having him on.

9:46Chris Stark: Shall we get him on? Yeah, let's do it.

9:56Chris Stark: Welcome to the podcast, Mr. Brad Friedle. How are you?

10:00Tom Fordyce: I'm really good, man. Still looking a million dollars, my old teammate. What a guy.

10:05Chris Stark: I've never seen anyone built to be a goalkeeper like Brad Friedle. there's no one drier in the changing room than this one he throws the hand grenades over from the side hold on let's dig into this

10:20it's not even a big one but it always tickles me every time someone said hey what side are we on what channel are we on him with his back he goes Dave because we were in the Europa League Europa League

10:35Tom Fordyce: what channel are we on tonight Dave Passer Thank you. Dave Jaubeau. Dave Jaubeau. And then everyone starts to chatter and then he just walks out.

10:47Chris Stark: Oh, so hold on. This is Villa, Brad, yeah? Is that Villa? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

10:50Tom Fordyce: What was your time like, Sid? Mine was a little bit up and down. I think the relationship with the manager, you know, didn't really work out. But I remember when Brad signed and you haven't even aged now. You look exactly the same. but you must have been like mid to late 30s? 37. I was 40 when I signed and played without. That's what I mean. I was after at Tottenham. Yeah, yeah. You were together at Tottenham. Oh, you played at Tottenham, yeah. So I remember when Brad came through the dressing room and he was like, he looked old, but he was like stretching and he was in the gym. No, no. He just said I haven't changed.

11:25Tom Fordyce: No, because he came in. He came in and he looked old. So he said when you were 25, you looked old. No, he's 37. He just said he was 37. Did you see what he said when I just saw him? No, go ahead. He just said he was 37. so what I'm saying is he had that look of an experienced goalkeeper okay demeanour but when you actually see him he was in the gym and he was stretching and pre-game routine and stuff he was like I wonder why he's played for like 30 years it was ridiculous but yeah good guy great guy Braz you were he looked old too you were around of course you were in the US squad weren't you for the previous World Cup over here were you in 94 yeah so you were behind with Tony Miola Yeah, my first World Cup.

12:04Yeah. So how different does it feel today? Because we are 32 years on. You were there then, you're back here again now. Back then we didn't have a league, for one. There's no professional league here. I had signed for Not In Force in the 92-93 season with Cluffy. I couldn't get a work permit. Going into the 94 World Cup, I had signed for Kevin Keegan at Newcastle. I was waiting for a work permit. That was another work permit issue. Yeah, I couldn't get the work permit over the line then. but we were nobody knew us we could walk around anywhere the only Lexi Lawless with that stupid goatee that he had and Kobe Jones with the the dreadlocks those were the only two recognizable players that we had but it was got a couple of carpets got a couple of

12:53Tom Fordyce: carpets come up is that alright is anyone in there

12:59Chris Stark: what's happening it's Kobe Jones like he wasn't happy so but um i don't know how to put we we uh we had nothing here on a scale of if you put it on like one to ten where football was it was a one you know i think we've come with the stadiums training grounds coaching coaching education all that stuff we've come we're probably eight eight or nine right now on the player development side we still got a long way to go because we're we're still probably the the fourth sport you know kids that are born in inner cities still don't want to play play our football or soccer they want to they want to play nfl baseball basketball but we're getting there you saw how they played against paraguay yeah great start that was you know we had some great players back in the 2002 team was an especially good team as well we got to the quarterfinals that year um but you know there was we always have good players but it's strength and depth and we really need to get all the best athletes that want to play soccer for us.

13:58We'll get there. It might be another two or three decades, but generational turns will happen.

14:04Chris Stark: Well, I was at the game the other night, and I thought it was really, really impressive. I don't know what you thought, but I mean, you've got some good young players there. The thing that made me happiest was, like, a lot of my friends in my age group, they're the pundits now around, and a lot of them have been given Mauricio Pochettino dogs abuse. A lot of views, yeah. And, I mean, even to the point of calling him a con man and a fraud. What? I mean, Hercules Gomez called him a fraud. I worked with Mauricio at Tottenham. I know how good he is, and I know how good his staff is, and I knew more what he was doing.

14:42Now, I didn't think that the players just in general could play like they did the other night because I haven't seen it, but I knew the team was going to fight come to the World Cup. What makes me happy is this. I don't mind a pundit going. And if the team plays bad and you give a constructive criticism, all that, no problem. But they went after him personally. And I know Mauricio is Argentinian. I know inside he's got a bit about him. That would have hurt him. Well, it would have hurt him, and then that would have made him feel really good. Now he's going to keep his mouth shut. Hopefully they get through and then go.

15:12And then he'll probably – well, then he'll probably won't have to say anything.

15:16Tom Fordyce: You said that about the pundits there. What about the fans in general? All against him. Really? Yeah, they really turned on him, wondering why they paid him so much. And then they're making mountains out of molehill. So a story came out that he met with AC Milan. Well, I know how Mauricio works. He doesn't meet with anybody. His representatives do. And if his representative meets with someone, so be it. Everybody's representatives anywhere. I mean, even Pep Guardiola's representatives will be meeting people along the way. when he was at Man City. That's how it goes. But they tried to say he's not invested.

15:56He's just going to come here, take the money, and leave. And that's not how he is. He's actually really, really compassionate. Compassionate for individual players as well. But if you mess about, if you don't treat the profession properly, he'll bin you.

16:11Chris Stark: That's how he works. It's interesting hearing that perspective, because he's so well-regarded in England. He's someone that I know well as well, and I know his staff, as you say, as well. It's interesting to hear that. You know, what matters is that he gets the team out of the group stage in the World Cup. That's what matters. What matters is that he gets further than the 2002 team if he can. If the draw is nice to him, then the quarterfinals. Then we did. That's what he's hired to do. Yeah, but you know what? You can't please everyone. We've got producer Jamie. Congratulations, I have to say, to Jamie.

16:44Chris Stark: The producer just had his first baby. but he was Arteta out right until the final game and if they lose the first preseason game it's Arteta out again singing songs about him it turns quickly you know that see the public in the US is not I would say as football educated as in the UK of course they don't have the traditions and there were a lot of a lot of pundits that have good names and good reputations over here. You know, they were like Tim Howard was questioning, Landon Donovan was questioning, Clint Dempsey was questioning. When those guys in that era start questioning, then some fans went against them too, but most of them went on to it and they were just negative Mauricio Pochettino.

17:37Then he had won a couple games in a row and then they would have to say, oh, but now he's doing well. You know, it's like, you know, I felt for him because I knew what he was trying to do, but also that's the best I think I've ever seen a U.S. team play in a knockout competition format ever. I've never watched the video back. Maybe our first half against Portugal in 2002 because we were 3-1 up at halftime. Maybe because that was Rui Costa and Luis Figo and those guys. But, I mean, I don't know. I don't think we played that well as the team did. I thought Tillman, that's the best I've seen Tillman play in a U.S.

18:18shirt. McKinney, best. Well, McKinney's a brilliant player. He likes to burn the candle on both sides. But when he's at it, he's at it.

18:31Chris Stark: I just need to acknowledge the fact, sorry to interrupt, but I just need to acknowledge the fact that there is a lot of helicopters, that kind of thing. We are in Beverly Hills. It's how we're rolling at the moment. It's usually ice cream rounds. and someone shouting abuse. Unfortunately, we are in a place, we can't legislate for that anyway. But if you take Freeman, for instance, this is his first foray into any type of tournament of this caliber. I thought he was brilliant. I do think Anthony Robinson is one of the best left backs or left wing backs in the tournament overall. Chris Richards, I think, could be a star in the making as well on the international level.

19:12I think at Palace, he's been brilliant. But the fellas up front, Baligan. And Christian Pulisic, who we all know is good. I mean, I think he's scored one goal in two years for the national side. And he's really struggled club form since December. We haven't seen this. I mean, how quick did he look in the first half? They were trying to double team him, just shifted it. I mean, he looked brilliant. He actually looked better. he looked better in that first 45 than even back when he was getting his 60 million pound move to Chelsea and everyone was saying and how he was playing at Dortmund I have not seen that from him in the US shirt so it was brilliant to see Agreed

19:54Chris Stark: I want to go back to Brad I want to go back to to 94 like what was the what was the atmosphere like then because you know as you say soccer football it wasn't a thing really then and then obviously all of a sudden you've got the World Cup on your door you've got players like Baggio, Ronaldo, you know. How was that for you? And then obviously I want to move on to 2002. There's two stories I can put that in perspective, I think. One is the last game we played before the 94 World Cup started was Mexico in the Rose Bowl. And there was probably, I think it was around 100 ,000 people that fit in the Rose Bowl at the time.

20:28And I'd say 90 ,000 were Mexican and 10 ,000 were Americans. Like an away game, right? The second thing to sum that up is we were in Laguna Beach because we were stationed in the Dana Point, which is right by Laguna Beach, and we saw Carlos Valderrama walking on the beach. And everyone in Laguna Beach was just clamoring over Valderrama, and they wanted his pictures, they wanted his autograph. Here is the entire U.S. team was walking down, and no one knew who we were. Oh, that's incredible. So, you know, that's where football was. Now I'm going into airports, and I'm seeing Tyler Adams on the Bank of America.

21:06I'm seeing Weston McKinney's picture up. I'm seeing Matt Fries' picture up. I'm seeing Balogans. I'm seeing Christian Pulisic everywhere. You're going Times Square and there's massive billboards. We didn't have that stuff. We started that trend a little bit in 2002, but all of our notoriety, like from my era, came from performing well in the Premier League. People would know me and associate me a little bit with the 2002 run, but mainly playing so long in the Premier League.

21:36Chris Stark: Yeah, amazing. Momentum is such a massive thing at World Cup. Sid, we were talking about this, weren't we? How important it is, Brad, for a host nation to start well. And you talk there about some of the doubts about Pochettino and maybe some of his team selections. All that feels like it's gone on the basis of one performance. And we've seen in previous World Cups how if a host nation starts winning, how it can pick up a whole nation. You know, famously in Germany with Klinsmann in 2006, He had it when Gus Hiddink had South Korea in 2003. Russia weren't amazing in 2018, but when you get that sort of momentum, it's great for the tournament as well, isn't it?

22:13Tom Fordyce: Yeah, I was going to ask Brad, has your perception changed of how far they could go in the competition from before the tournament to after that first game? No. My perception is the exact same of where they are. I was really worried about the first game, That game of all the group games made me the most nervous because it's so important to get off to a good start. Paraguay has had some good scalps. They're normally a very good defensive team, but we did everything that we needed to do, and we got over the line. Where we are, I thought that we would get through the group. I was hoping that we'd get through at first or second, so the next knockout game is a winnable one, which fingers crossed we can we can beat Australia or at least get a draw and then we're and then we're definitely going to go in I didn't like the result Australia had against Turkey to be honest with you because that levels the playing field in the group so you know because Paraguay even though they got beaten by us quite badly they're gonna they're gonna have an effect on the next game they're gonna try to get points and they could so I think when we get to the round of 16 when we get to potentially the quarterfinals, we're going to be playing against teams that will put pressure on our back line.

23:34They're going to be able to exploit spaces. They're not going to get caught out by a press so much, and they're going to be able to cause us some problems. And if you look at the quality of our team and the quality of France, of Spain, of England, of Belgium, Brazil, Argentina, again, we can score against these teams. that as we saw, but we're also going to be vulnerable to conceding. So I would think that in some of the other games, if you look at Mauricio's team selection and formations leading up, he played three in the back in one of the games against Senegal and then played a back four in the lead-up.

24:16That leads me to believe that he's getting the team prepared when we play against one of the big boys. We're probably going to play five in the back with two wingbacks. saying that we have the weapons to play that system because Dest is very fast. Timmy Way is very fast on that side. Freeman's very fast on that side, although he could play as one of the right center backs. And Anthony Robinson's brilliant on that left-hand side with his pace. So I don't think it'll detract from us going forward, but I think it'll give us an extra body defending. But, I mean, you've seen France play. I mean, you could have 15 in the box and they're going to figure out ways to carve out some chances.

24:56Chris Stark: Yeah. So talk us through 2002, though, because that was amazing. The fact that you've beat Portugal, you know, like, sorry, you beat Mexico, Portugal game, you know, saving penalties. What was that like for you? That tournament was completely different than 94, 98. 98, we were a mess internally. We were fighting with the Federation. We were trying to get our bonuses up. Every camp we went into, our minds were turned. that we weren't a together group. 94, we were a together group. We were just, it was all very amateur for us. And we played some really good teams and we got some great results. 2002, every single player that made the final squad wasn't just happy to be on the finals roster.

25:43We all thought and expected we would start. So the two other goalkeepers were Casey Keller and Tony Miola. Two guys that I had played behind before, so I knew I had to keep my level up. Eddie Pope, I know he played his career in MLS, but he could have played anywhere. Liverpool won him on stage by Leverkusen, etc. It was a Champions League squad or a side at the time. He could have played anywhere. John O 'Brien and Claudio Reyna in the middle of the pitch. John O 'Brien was starting for Ajax at the time and going on Champions League runs. Claudio Reyna, I believe, was either Rangers or Sunderland Man City, but he was a focal point.

26:22We had a really good team. We did. Brian McBride up front, Eddie Lewis, we had Tony Sanner, Frankie Hayduk, Pablo Mestre, and he came in and filled in with Claudio when he was injured. But the players off the bench were like Kobe Jones. Ernie Stewart started, but Joe Maxmore, who was at Everton, as you know, we had a lot of competition for places. We were a little bit surprised that we were 3-0 up, of course, against Portugal. You always are. Incredible. Some team as well. that yeah they were brilliant um and i remember uh remember abel xavier i knew him from liverpool's days and we were walking it at halftime and we were up 3-1 and he just he just happened to be the same way he just like rolled his eyes he's like if this stays like this we are dead yeah no you can't of course back then um we knew we were good were you playing for liverpool when

27:13Chris Stark: you went into that tournament? No, it had just gone to Blackburn. So, the, but we knew we were good, but the world, anybody lost to us, their, their manager was getting sacked. Like we had, I think Mexico, we turned, we turned over like, well, you have to, Stados, you'll have to get this out. But I think four, four times in a row, we beat Mexico and the manager got fired right after. Because how can you lose to the United States? But we had started to become very good. Yeah. But that, I mean, that Mexico game because I've only just kind of got the gist of it from being out here, you know, being kind of surrounded by Mexicans and U.S.

27:49Chris Stark: fans at the same time. That's like a derby, right? Yeah, that's... Proper game. Proper. Yeah. So we always, back in the day, we always used to play Mexico in either Texas or California so we could get a crowd. Back in the 2002 World Cup, we took them to my home state, which, well, you've seen me train. I train in short-sleeved shirts. Yeah. It's from the Arctic. Like it's in Cleveland, Ohio, but we played him in Columbus and I think it was it was minus minus five minus six like going into the game. Nicely done. Jorge Campos was next to me. I came out in shorts. I bet you didn't have the nice little short sleeve one on that day.

28:31No, no. I just had I didn't even have a thermal underneath. That's right, Campos. Campos, he was holding his gloves. He had gloves underneath his gloves to keep his hands warm. he showed me he had the shirt and the turtleneck and the thing around his neck he was like the Stay Puft Marshmallow man walking out he couldn't move as he was playing we knew we had that game won so we started doing gamesmanship but they take us to Mexico City where they kick us off at 2 o 'clock 3 o 'clock in the afternoon and it's 40 degrees Celsius in altitude with a stage 5 smog alert like after 15 minutes we're done so they do that so we started doing that but they always said we could only beat them if we did that and took them to a cold area and we could never beat them at a knockout event even though we had already beaten them in the Copa America in the shootout in uh 90 through 95 I want to say and um and that was huge it was it was enormous for us it was it's um I mean who who do you support I don't even know who you support I don't even know who No, we were at Chelsea.

29:38I was at Chelsea. I saw you in one of your interviews. Right. So it's like you beating West Ham or Tottenham. It's the big thing. So for us to beat Mexico, I mean, it was brilliant. And to do it in a World Cup and on neutral ground, that shut Mexicans up. That was a huge change. And then we went on this run of every time we played Mexico, we beat them 2-0. And it became this big dos a zero thing for years, almost, I want to say a decade. You pushed Germany really hard in that World Cup as well. And that Germany side was a strange one because England had famously beaten them 5-1 in qualifying, but they ended up doing a very German thing and getting all the way to the final.

30:19Is that one of the games that you look back on a thing? It might have been different on another day. First, a couple of things on that. Oliver Kahn was brilliant on the day. If we had VAR, I think we would have gone through. Hugh Dallas, Scottish referee, Torts and Frings handball from Greg Berhalter's header on the line. It had beaten Khan.

30:40Chris Stark: At least you don't remember much of it. Yeah, yeah. It seems like you've caught the ref. It seems like you've

30:46Tom Fordyce: let it go. Where is Hugh Dallas, man? Hugh Dallas. That is a blast in the past. I remember him clear as face. Every time I go to Scotland I look for the man.

31:00Yeah, it was crazy. I mean, you'd think a Scottish referee He'd want the Americans to go through, not the Germans. But, yeah, that happened. Didi Hamon was on that team. I remember after he was – I went and had a word with him. He's in there smoking his cigarette. He's like, oh, you guys killed us today. Yeah, they were – we were.

31:20Chris Stark: So Didi and the team, they would have admitted that we got lucky there. They did. Yeah, they openly admitted it. And they – I think the change for us was we were devastated. We were heartbroken. and I think in years past, if we had made it to a quarterfinals of a World Cup, we would have just been delighted to get that far. We weren't. We were really upset because we knew we should have been in the semifinals based on performance. God, open World Cup, that one as well, Sid, wasn't it? Because Turkey gets the semifinal and South Korea gets it. We would have played South Korea again who we drew earlier.

31:52Tom Fordyce: Imagine that for a semifinal. Yeah, do you know what? We were talking the other day, wasn't we, about reminiscing, like, you've replayed, haven't you, like, World Cups and championships and you actually forget a lot. 2002, I don't really remember a lot. Bit time difference-y, wasn't it, some of the games? Yeah, I think I was away on holiday the majority of the summer. You were about 10, right? 2002? I vividly remember. I was actually 20. I was probably in Faraki, Iron Napa. All of them.

32:20Chris Stark: I vividly remember like Beck scoring a penalty. He had the Mohican, didn't he? He had Argentina. Yeah, and I remember Trevor Sinclair playing a really big role for England in that World Cup. There's some things in my career I remember everything. Some things I don't remember at all. When I retired, remember the show Goals on Sunday with Cammy, right? So when he knew I was announcing my retirement, he said, we need you on the Sunday. Come in and we'll go through your career. Can you name the five best saves of my career? I was like, I'm 44. I was like, I mean, there's got to be some good ones in there.

32:59You know, and he was like, no, no, we want to know the ones that you made. And I said, I can't remember them. I got on the show, and there was a header off Lamps, I remember. There was a double save off Thierry Henry, I remember. The other three I didn't remember. And one of them was Stevie G with a half volley at Ewood Park. And I saved it low to my left. I cannot remember to this day making the save. But as it was on the screen, I was like, oh, that's a good save. I was like, oh, my God, that's me. I was like I didn't even remember it I was like it's Liverpool

33:32Chris Stark: do you know what I'm so I'm so pleased for the two lads yeah Sid and Tom actually because there's two Guinness world record holders sat in front of them you being one of them me being the other go on then go on so you've got 310 is it 310 consecutive yeah yeah 310 in a row I got the headers but I do wonder about there's a little asterisk on it it's like a world record and obviously we made both of those those records in the Premier League I feel something coming there's a but there's something else here did you get a certificate? have you got a certificate? from the Guinness World Records? no you haven't?

34:11Chris Stark: no do you get one? I've got one have you? yeah also yours probably won't get touched the way football's going although maybe set pieces no you'll be fine there's a slight caveat to the fact that it's a world record but it's a Premier League record it's very specific Lionel Messi can't you know or anyone no no they can't They can't break that.

34:27Tom Fordyce: No one's breaking that either. Well, for you, so that's the most, that's the, you got 310 consecutive league game. That is outrageous. That's incredible. Were you gussed it would have ended? Was it, was it you go to Rhys at Spurs? No, I got a good story how it ended. If you guys want to hear it. Yeah. I don't know if ABB wants to hear it, but I'll say it anyway. So no, no, I get along well with ABB. It's all right. Were you at Chelsea with ABB? No. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you know, like when he's nervous, he always, he twiddles his ring, right? this is Andre Viespo yeah were you there with me no no no you had already left alright so I came in the first I did my contract with Daniel Levy and at the time Gomez was having a tough time making a couple he was a very good goalkeeper because you were

35:10Chris Stark: to come in for cover no you ended up playing no no no the first year I was coming in to play while they searched for a long term replacement I think what they they really liked Gomez Parksey loved Gomez great goal really good but the board had had enough like high profile mistakes yeah parksy really wanted to work with them so what they did was they brought me in so if if gomez resurrected himself i was 40 i was cool it's kind of like whatever you saw me around the place yeah yeah i was like happy with kind of what what went on so the first year i i was slated to play but the second year for sure they were gonna get a long-term replacement well avb saw how fit i was and how fit Carlo Couticini was.

35:56And Gomez was still under contract at the club. So AVB wanted three different players. I don't think I should say who the players he wanted, but on the final day of the transfer window, Hugo Lloris came in with Moussa Dembele, who was a player, by the way, and Clint Dempsey.

36:12Tom Fordyce: Yeah. And AVB wasn't too pleased with that scenario because he wanted three different outfield players. And the names that he wanted were good, but he said I can go through another season with Brad. And then Carlo is the deputy, and if something happens with Brad, we've got Gomez as well. So I started playing the season, and I was 41 now, and I was just making a lot of saves at the beginning of the season. I think we went through about seven or eight games, and I think I conceded only two or three goals. That's good going, obviously, in the Premier League when you get to there. And then Hugo started getting a little bit upset, but I had a great relationship with Hugo.

36:50so I used to pull him aside and just say listen you are the long term number one here what's happening right now is AVB is flexing his muscles with the board I'm just you're just caught and I'm kind of caught it got to a point where did you have that discussion with him? with Hugo yeah yeah yeah fair play no Hugo not yeah yeah but plenty of people

37:10Chris Stark: would just go like you know you don't worry about that I'll tell you why I did it because Daniel Levy never lied to me he said first year you'll play second year you're likely not, but we'll help you do your UEFA B, UEFA A, and then I went on to my pro license. So I didn't have any issues with Daniel whatsoever. Everything that he said happened. So I had no issue with that. So with Hugo started, there's a lot of things with Didier Deschamps and then Fabian Bartos was saying things in the papers. He was a goalkeeping coach with France, I believe, at the time, or maybe he wasn't, but he was chirping up.

37:47And they put some pressure. So then we'd just beaten Man United away. First time Tottenham had won at Old Trafford for whatever, 40, 50 years, something like that. And I had a good game. We won 3-2. And I get called in, and it was Parksey. He said, hey, can I meet with you? When it was Parksey, I was like, yeah, yeah, no problem. So I go up into the canteen, and Parksey says, we're going to give Hugo the Aston Villa game. So it was my old club as well. We're going to give him the Aston Villa game, and then you're going to go back in after. But Hugo's got an international coming up, and he's getting a lot of pressure, and he's the captain of France's team, and he needs to have a game before he goes in.

38:34And I said, interesting. I said, so you're telling me, why isn't the boss telling me? Also, did you say, have you had a little quick word with Guinness as well?

38:43Chris Stark: about this. We're like 310 in here.

38:48Tom Fordyce: Have you seen the book? Have you seen the... So anyways, I wasn't happy, but it was fine. I like Parksey. Parksey and I got along well. But I just walked straight down to AVB's room, knocked on the door, and I just said, what's up? He was nervous. He was like, dude, and I kind of pretended I was more upset at the beginning just to get him a little bit uneasy. And I was just like, just come and tell me I said but I said I'm playing well right now I said and he goes it's just one game so anyways Hugo played we won the game and he did put me back in and I played for like four more games but that's how the record stopped so that's why I was 3-10 it could have been at least 3-11 that record still stands today right yeah that's amazing that's an amazing record that'll be a tough one to break because of all the rotation now no chance one broken and I think it has to be a goalkeeper it's got to be a goalkeeper one be broken you do well

39:43Chris Stark: to play 300-odd games in the Premier League consecutively. That's crazy. So, you know who's the... I broke along the way, which was remarkable, and you played with him. I only played against him. He was brilliant. It was Lamps. He was at like 160... 167. Outfield. That's for midfielder. David James did a few... Gary Speed. Gary Speed had it,

40:05Tom Fordyce: didn't he? I think maybe at one point and I think Lamps, he took over it. Yeah. For an outfield player, that is crazy. That is crazy. And Lamps was playing high level and he was he was probably the most arguably the most important player in the team for many years as well

40:21Chris Stark: first ask you Brad about what you're up to now you know like obviously I know you're in Istanbul you know found out you know where you're living now I don't know if you want to share that with people because you might have people visiting you but that's that's incredible as well but being sporting director of EPSAS that's amazing yeah so last season that sort of fell in my lap they had some let's put it some financial issues, which a lot of the Turkish clubs do. And we went in and tried to help them out, and we had to shift. We got the job done. We had to shift 32 players in one offseason. And then also, like happens in Turkey, there was a lot of board politics that was going on, and there was a bit of a thing going on between the president and the vice president, and the president had signed me, the president and myself, and Khan Şakol had signed Gio Van Bronk Horses the head coach but when you have to sell and loan so many players it's really difficult to have a squad that's going to compete against the Galatasaray you've seen him you know especially when Osamon came in and he was playing it was really difficult to be better than them and the club really needed to just sort of calm their jets a little bit for about two seasons and and accept a third and fourth place finish in the league while they corrected the finances but I can imagine them being not great except in that no not really yeah yeah not really and um and at the sign of the first uh little wobbling results um the president had resigned and then uh and then shortly after um i was i was fired on twitter but then not really fired and then geo was fired and it was just that this whole this whole thing we got it uh we got it all organized in the end but But what I will say is in a short space of time, so if you're employed in Turkey as a sporting director, technical director, what you learn and what you're faced in six months is like being at an English club for two and a half to three years because it's so structured in England.

42:20And there, structure is really not the word that comes into it. So then after that, I know you asked where I live. I live in Bahamas now. And I consult for groups, purchasing clubs. I work in data analytics and now I'm out here in just a terrible setting I wish you guys could get a better studio it's awful isn't it it's awful if there's a next time like seriously

42:46Chris Stark: sort yourselves out and now I'm here there will be a next time mate it's been very fun before you go I want to ask you about your playing days in Galatasaray I know you've told us a few stories in the strange room I don't know if you want to share those ones but there are some amazing stories of you playing out there? The best one at Galatasaray would have been the cup final when we won at Fenerbahce's ground. It was home and away. Back then for a cup final, not at a neutral ground. We won 1-0 at our place and then after 90 minutes, we lost 1-0. And this is where Graham Souness was the manager.

43:19And we went to extra time and Dean Saunders scored a great goal. I had a good game as well. The other foreigner, Uli Van Gogh, had a really good game. And we could only have three foreigners back then. And we were trying to lift the cup and get the medals. And we just started having things just thrown on us. And they had the police shields and all that stuff. So Graham basically said he had had enough. And he went over to our fans. And someone passed him this massive flag. And they still make key clothes of it. He sells shirts and everything today.

43:51Chris Stark: So that was the reason behind it. Because you went up and you were getting dogs abused. So that's where he's going. There were fights breaking up. Because we wanted. And you can imagine the Galatasaray president. board they wanted to have the pictures of lifting the cup at Fenerbahce Stadium of course and Fenerbahce fans were were not going to let that happen and they didn't let it happen Graham went and he took that flag Galatasaray flag and ran it to the midfield and staked it into the center of the pitch and then when he did that right because obviously that's iconic what what unfolds after that because that's something I haven't got do you know do you know Dean Saunders Yeah, he's funny indeed.

44:29Great guy. Are we allowed to swear on this or no? Yes. Okay. Dean, as he's running by, he goes, what the fuck is he doing? And I just looked at him and he just ran out and people were like, Sui can handle himself. Yeah, but you know, like, No, no, no. He can handle himself. But the reason he did it was because the Fenerbahce president or somebody on the board had said some very derogatory things about Graham and Graham didn't like it and Graham's a competitor. And when somebody says something about Graham, Graham can wait a matter of time before he gets his bat.

45:06Chris Stark: There's a bat his heart operation as well, right? So that's going to wind you up. Correct. And then we couldn't lift the cup. I mean, if we were allowed to lift the cup, that was probably enough for Graham. But then we weren't able to do that. So then on he goes. Why not stake a flag? the center. And they're still there forever. Yeah, right now and right as this happened, we all turn around and there's there's people there's cages around the pitch at the time, people climbing over the cages. So we all go the police has to come and surround us and we're going off. His family jumps in front of Graham and he just he just right hooked him and then left hooked him and the fellow was on the ground.

45:49He was so Graham Graham. Graham. Oh yeah. What a man. No, because to be fair, it was self-defense because the fella came in. Yeah, he really got him. And Graham was so proud of himself. He's like looking around.

46:01Chris Stark: He's like, Dean and I behind. He's like, you see him? Did you see that? Do you know when you get back, you know when you get out of that stadium alive, right? You go, I'll sit back and go, fuck, I'm a man. So he, wait, we were three hours in the changing room. About three hours. We couldn't go out. Finally, they got the fans to disperse and we go into our coach. And we pull the curtains on the coach. Graham takes his hand outside the curtains. He's gone back for more. Yeah, and they start smashing the windows on our bus. He's high. He's double-double. Then you were on the coach and the things coming back and forth.

46:39And we got back. I mean, and Graham, he just went back for an anniversary of the club. They flew him back over this year. I mean, he is one of the most well-renowned foreign coaches of all time at Galatasaray because he did that. Nobody will ever forget his name for as long as they live and they'll love him for it.

47:03Chris Stark: If you think about that, like, that is absolutely epic, isn't it? Like, what he's done there. They have crazy stories all the time in Turkey. I mean, I guess the saying that we always had at the end of the day, it's like, well, it wasn't boring. that you can't make it up. I love the idea of having a statue in his honor and you'd think the statue would be soonest because when he walks out, you can see how angry he is, can't you? He's not just strolling out and popping the flag in. He marches out and it's like he's putting it through someone's heart. Brave heart. We were playing Istanbul Spor at home and Istanbul Spor had a Dutch influence at the time and they were putting some money in and we went down 2-0 at home, which is sort of unheard of, and the second goal was an own goal.

47:55And Graham coming out to the side of the pitch, and he was shouting things. And Bulant, who was the captain, and he was captain of Turkey as well, told Graham to, he said, Suslan, which is shut up, to Graham. Right, man. Yeah, yeah. So this is at the old Ali Sami Yen, which is, I mean, It's intimidating. Play goes down to the other side, and I just hear this, Brad, Brad. And I'm not looking over. There's only three foreigners. So you've got to be a teammate, too. And this is, like, the Turkish legend. And I'm ignoring Graham, and I'm ignoring him, and I'm ignoring him. And then finally I, like, looked over, and he was like, did that prick just say what I thought he said?

48:36And then I turned around, and I don't motion at all. So they put up two minutes or whatever it was for halftime. And we pulled the goal back, so we were down 2-1. And I see Graham leave the pitch early. And, you know, the rest is like history. He was just waiting for Boulogne. He said he wanted to be the first in the changing room. So right when he came around the corner, he won. And the masseur saved Graham from doing something. The masseur grabbed his arm. No, Graham, no. Bad idea, Graham. Bad idea. Bad idea, Graham. Bad idea.

49:10Chris Stark: Oh, I love it. Well, we've got you. what are your thoughts on England? What are their chances like? I said six months ago that I picked them to win. They're due a tournament. They have, and I have. I think France has the best squad and Spain, okay? But the best squads don't always win. Elements, as you can see from the results already with the European countries. It's tough over here. The way that I look at it is this, is they got the best number nine in the world at the moment. I think the two in midfield are brilliant. Right down this middle. I think whatever center backs they play are very good.

49:44And a goalkeeper that's won me over, especially after the last four or five years, is Pickford. And now that they have that element, and then they have the athleticism in the other spots, and they have Tuchel as a manager, I think he can get them over the line. They have two big hurdles for me if brackets go the way that we think they're going to go. One is playing at altitude, Estadio is Tech. And it's not so much the grind in that game, It's what happens in recovery because then your next game could be in Miami and it could be 40, 42 degrees on the pitch and they could have to play Brazil. Maybe, maybe not with the way results have gone.

50:22But those are two really difficult games of getting through the elements. If they can get through those, I think they'll find the semifinals and finals, even though they'll probably be playing better competition and better opposition, I think they'll find it easier to get through those games. So I think when you can maybe not be at your best or be really tired and you've got goals in your team, you've always got a chance. And if they got a goalkeeper in form, as we saw with Australia, you've always got a chance.

50:49Chris Stark: Yeah, they need to find a way through those elements, don't they? Yeah. All right, Brad. Just before we go, mate, Tom's got a little game for us. I've no idea what this game entails, but I'm looking forward to seeing it. Well, Pete and Sid, we have done a lot of quizzing, haven't we? We've had a lot of football trivia. We love a quiz. I love a quiz. and we have been quizzing out here, haven't we? You know who like quizzes? Yeah. Martin O 'Neill. Yeah. Sid's not happy.

51:13Tom Fordyce: He did like a quiz. He did like a quiz. He did like Sid's, but he loved the quiz.

51:21Well, I would say the quiz we're about to do now, having seen the standards, Steve, that we've had so far, some of these questions I've been given by Gas the Producer are ludicrously hard. Brad, I don't know if you're going to know the answers to these, but I'll throw them out there. and they thought I would know them? They're very specific to goalkeeping. I've been a specific for you. Specific to goalkeeping and specific to American goalkeepers at some point. Tough one. Most clean sheets in a World Cup finals. Okay. Two goalkeepers. One who played to the same age as you, Brad. And the other one you've already referenced in a story who, and I don't want to make it too easy, had a head a little bit like yours that his centre-half like kissing.

52:04Yep. Got it. I was going to say that, man. I've got that one. But wait, you said there's two. Can we say them? Two. Yeah, so one kept playing. Fabian Barthes. One's going to be Barthes, yeah. Yeah, correct. And then the other one kept playing to a ripe old age. Peter Shilton. Are we allowed to guess? Yes, you can guess. Move on. No, no. Peter Shilton. Sid's is two out of two. Oh, you know who I was going to say? Just because he's a ripe old age. Yeah, I was going to say Dino's off. Peter Shilton. Oh, yeah. I was going to say Dino's off. Dino's off as well. Dino's off, yeah. Peter Shilton Peter Shilton because he played in 82, 86 and 1990 hold on you're saying

52:37Chris Stark: I thought you were talking about one specific finals no World Cup finals listen to it yeah listen to it I was I was I was I'm gonna have to call bad questions okay a very simple true or false one Brad you hold your counsel on this one I'm gonna ask Sid and Pete to shout out true or false today's guest Brad Friedel has scored a goal in the Premier League. True, true. Cholton. Oh my God, Sid, you're on fire.

53:07Tom Fordyce: What foot? Cholton. Foot is a foot. Cholton away at the valley. What foot? It was a corner, it bounced, and it was like a little swivel. That was my better foot, it was my left one. Yeah, no, I was saying a swivel. I didn't say you're swiveling with your right. Yeah, but they're going to reverse his camera around so they're going to be like, I'm going left now. Cholton away. I remember this. It was Cholton away.

53:29Chris Stark: Blackburn. for Blackburn did you place it or did you blast it placed it oh a little placer how big did you go on the celebration did you play it cool and just say boys that sound I just got mobbed right away I couldn't do anything I remember you trying to get away and they're just on you yeah Marcus Babble was the first one Lucas Neal they both like on top and Coley I think was on there and Yorkie I'll do you an easy one one of the questions here is so ludicrously hard I don't think anyone would get it I'll tell you the question but don't answer it is the name of the American goalkeeper when the USA famously beat England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup.

54:05If you get that, you've won... Sylvester Stallone, escape to victory. Nice.

54:11Chris Stark: What a man. He's on fire, lad. Superb.

54:20Chris Stark: Is he what that means? Who told us that they couldn't do escape to victory recently? Someone told us. Terry Butcher? Terry Butcher? Yeah. He said he got arsed to be an escape to victory. He did. It's brilliant, mate. I was actually wondering,

54:35Tom Fordyce: I was joking.

54:36Chris Stark: No, that's not the answer. I thought that was the answer. That can't be the answer. How could that be? It's a film, man. Yeah, but I thought it was a trick question. No, it's a ludicrously hard question. No. Actually, I believed it. No. I was joking, yeah. No one's going to know the answer, so I'm not going to ask that question. The answer was Frank Borgie, who apparently had an amazing game. Borgie? We'll make it slightly easier. and again Brad you hold your counsel because you were involved in this game first finger on the buzzer from you two the name of the other goalkeeper when Brad played the World Cup quarterfinal in 2002 Oliver Kahn

55:12Tom Fordyce: he just said it he said it earlier on he did I'm afraid he's destroyed you there

55:17Chris Stark: he absolutely destroyed me and mucked me off do you know what it is did you really not know that no I knew it but yeah but like

55:24Tom Fordyce: you just said it you said it before you know also what it is I just can't wait to wrap this up because I am sweaty

55:32Chris Stark: but thanks for coming on mate brilliant pleasure my pleasure great to see you guys get yourself back to the Bahamas in a month are you out doing bets? I am I'm in many cities throughout the World Cup yeah yeah okay amazing great to see you bro legend

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57:04Chris Stark: This World Cup's had plenty of surprises, but none more so than me having my alarm set for 4.30 a.m. and going into the middle of nowhere in California and getting on a hot air balloon or hot air pants, whatever you want to call it.

57:22Right guys, fuck me.

57:27Chris Stark: Right so I'm here in the middle of nowhere in California in a vineyard. I don't want to be here. Paddy Farrell has taken a piss out of me. You know it's just getting more and more ridiculous now. They want me to go up in a pair of pants with a hot air balloon. Are you nervous? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's cosy in there isn't it? It's tight.

57:46Tom Fordyce: It's tight in there isn't it? It's cosy.

57:48Chris Stark: Yeah and your head's not far off that flame.

57:50Tom Fordyce: Well the flame goes up, my head's below that.

57:53Chris Stark: Okay, mine is mine. I'm proud of the fact that I'm 45 years old and I've still got my barnet.

57:59Tom Fordyce: I'm gonna burn right now so you get a feel for what that feels like. Whoa.

58:05Chris Stark: Wow. Shit. Yeah, listen, I've done some stupid things with Penny Power before. You know, I've rode a horse, I've got thrown off the horse. I've been on a Calvin Klein campaign for them. But none of it has made me ever fear for my life like I am today. I'm on my knees because I felt like my hips were above the... Like my legs are still here, so... He's praying, that's what he's doing.

58:35Chris Stark: 6.05.

58:36Tom Fordyce: Alright. What does that mean? 6.05.

58:38Chris Stark: It's for the pilot.

58:39Tom Fordyce: Okay. Yeah. I thought that was code for... You lot are fucked.

58:43Chris Stark: Look at this.

58:44Tom Fordyce: Look at this. Welcome to the Makiwa.

58:47Chris Stark: Oh, look at this. This is beautiful, isn't it?

58:48Tom Fordyce: Sunrise, look.

58:53Tom Fordyce: It's actually really steady.

58:55Chris Stark: This'll do.

58:56Tom Fordyce: This'll do. So mate, are you going to be on your knees for the time? Seriously? How high are we going to go? We don't have to go very high. Oh, you're not sure? How high is 2 ,000 feet? Like them or like them? Um, about 1 ,000 feet. Oh, no mate. Is this surprising about how calm it is? Yeah, I thought it was going to be a little bit more... Yeah, swingy.

59:25Chris Stark: Oh, careful guys. It does feel really strange being the smallest.

59:35Tom Fordyce: So seriously mate, why are we in this Paddy Power hot air balloon?

59:39Chris Stark: Well Paddy reckons that this World Cup is going to be the craziest, nuttiest World Cup of all time. Yeah. So, I'm wearing some pants.

59:51Tom Fordyce: Sid, what on earth are we doing right now? Crouchy, you've got me doing some stuff mate, but what on earth are we doing in this? Right mate, so, we've been in the US for a couple of days now, World Cup started. How are we finding it? I can't believe I'm down here. I can't believe I'm talking. it feels weird that I'm talking

1:00:09Chris Stark: down to you I've had to cut off my knees because I'm basically even getting my head singed off or topple out the thing USA I think honestly mate I thought they were I went to the game I thought they were brilliant yeah I were honestly and I think if they go find a World Cup it's going to make it like that they're getting on board now their team was I couldn't fault it they were at it weren't they they were at it

1:00:35Tom Fordyce: Tell me about the stadium because you were there.

1:00:37Chris Stark: Oh, SoFi Stadium. I've never been in anything like it. Best one you've ever been to? I think it might be. Only because it was, you know, it's less people in Wembley but it felt like twice the size. Yeah. 70 ,000 people but everyone was like, every chair was spread. It was huge. It went right up. It was just, and it's dug into the ground. Like escalators down. Yeah, I've never, never been in anything like it. I've got a top of a stand a bit like this to be fair.

1:01:04Tom Fordyce: When they was doing their national anthem, it looked incredible. You sent a video to the boys, the WhatsApp message, it looked fucking class.

1:01:11Chris Stark: You know what, like, we were taking the Mick a bit out of chance and things like that, right? You invested? I was fully on board. I was getting caught up in it all. I'm like a Knicks fan now. I've been watching the playoffs. You've loved that. All over the playoffs. Doug, it was unbelievable, the playoffs, wasn't it? Did you watch it? Yeah. God. I was fully involved and then like yeah Dash went from the lot corn dogs. I was even like trying to catch a t-shirt Yeah

1:01:54Doug what we at now

1:01:57Tom Fordyce: 1300 feet above the ground That's nothing peanuts that's rookie numbers I've got to say Sid there was a there was a few

1:02:07Chris Stark: differences between the US fans and and the UK fans yeah yeah I've noticed the

1:02:12Tom Fordyce: one thing I noticed I watched a couple of games in the fanfare parks that they've got big screens and like they was cheering for a corner like they

1:02:22Chris Stark: scored yeah but to be fair we do do that sometimes yeah but only but not I get

1:02:27Tom Fordyce: when we do it at home, it's like there's momentum going. There was just like a serious, like, it was like a congratulations, we've won a corner. Oh, okay. And also some of their chants.

1:02:37Chris Stark: Well, there's a Palace one, isn't there?

1:02:39Tom Fordyce: Yeah. We love it, we love it, we love it. That's the way we like it. We like it, because we are the US, the US.

1:02:50Chris Stark: They're different vibe as well, because the stadiums are, got a lot of them in you. Mm-hmm. Yeah, you're not like, it's like, It's not like Goodison Park, do you know what I mean? Where you walk through, you know, the roads and people's houses. Got driving everywhere. Yeah.

1:03:05Tom Fordyce: Yeah.

1:03:06Chris Stark: Spread out.

1:03:06Tom Fordyce: Yeah. But I think in that, how they flip that is they've got the fan fairs outside of them. They've got the fan parks and stuff like that. So I think that makes the sort of atmosphere when you're there. I get it. When you go in there, it's like you're in a car. It's a bit of a mistake. Yeah.

1:03:20Chris Stark: But I honestly couldn't. The atmosphere, certainly in that USA game, was unreal. The team did well as well.

1:03:29Tom Fordyce: So, mate, USA, Paraguay, you was there, you was at the game. I was watching it in a bar. What are we saying?

1:03:34Chris Stark: Well, obviously, Paraguay were poor, right? But what I will say is the front, like Balogun, scored a couple of goals, took his goals brilliantly. Fantastic player. Really got Weston McKinney behind them. And I thought two wide men, like Pulisic before he went off and Dest. Honestly, they're going to be harmful for anyone. They were unplayable at times. In Paraguay, they conceded like 10 goals in 18 games before that. You know, they've got good defenders. They were brilliant.

1:04:02Tom Fordyce: It's only one game, but I think it's converted a lot of people, isn't it?

1:04:07Chris Stark: Well, yeah. You know what?

1:04:08Tom Fordyce: Take them serious.

1:04:09Chris Stark: Yeah, I genuinely think so. They can get out of the group. Honestly, no trouble, I don't think. And then I think they'll cause problems. I do. I mean, this is only one game, but Pochettino's the top manager, and I think they've got players who can hurt you. It's just whether they can cope defensively. I think, you know, coming up against the top teams, they might struggle. Yeah, I get that. Tim Ream's like 38 now.

1:04:32Tom Fordyce: Yeah.

1:04:34Chris Stark: And the goalkeeper's kind of untested at top level. When they come up against it, that might be their issue. But I was impressed.

1:04:44Tom Fordyce: Massive home advantage, isn't there, with the fans? It's like Euro 96, when it was back in England. Yeah. You felt like the whole nation was behind us. Here it feels like every game now in the stadium, around the stadium, is going to get bigger and bigger.

1:05:00Chris Stark: Will get bigger, yeah. Because you know what, I think if you're sitting at home, right, and you live in LA for instance, you'd be like, I need to go to the next one. Yeah. There will be a frenzy now because it was an amazing occasion. Doug, we're not coming down in that swimming pool, are we?

1:05:15Tom Fordyce: We are starting our slow descent down.

1:05:17Chris Stark: Yeah, but there's a swimming pool. We're coming down, are we?

1:05:19Tom Fordyce: There's a what?

1:05:21Chris Stark: That swimming pool, yeah. I don't really want to go in it. Should we land in that pool?

1:05:26Tom Fordyce: Who else is impressed? There's been a few games. We watched Brazil, Morocco.

1:05:31Chris Stark: That was a bit tasty. Very tasty. I thought Morocco were good. The thing is they're not surprising anyone anymore, are they? No. They're a side that can go deep in a tournament. Could an African team win it? And if they could, you know, Senegal is one. I think they're more, but Morocco, I think they're capable.

1:05:52Tom Fordyce: They're getting closer, aren't they? Yeah. Brazil, I wasn't too sure on Brazil. I know they've got some superstars, but I think there was a bit more overhype for them. Brazil in the World Cup is like a marriage, isn't it? But they did look a little bit ropey.

1:06:06Chris Stark: Yeah, I think they're not Brazil of all, are they? You know, I think it was Tom who said to us, didn't it, they had Ronaldo, Ronaldinho watching on and they've got a Brentford striker up front. It does feel, oh he's a class act by the way, but you think about the strikes they're in the top. England's biggest issues, Sid? What's going to hold them back?

1:06:31Tom Fordyce: Do you know what, I'm still looking to see what kind of tactics they're going to do. I think they're going to be kind of robust and counter-attack by looking at it. I just, I don't know. I love how he came out of it. He's in great form at the minute and I think he could be one of the star players of this tournament. So I don't worry about goals. I worry about teams maybe sitting back and us breaking them down. That's my biggest one. Have we got them players that can turn the game? I think once we get one, we're fine, but getting that first one. Listen, you've been in World Cups, you've seen it.

1:07:07My issue is that I think the heat is hot.

1:07:18Chris Stark: Someone say heat? I think the issue is the heat. I think that's going to sap us. Have we got players capable? We haven't got loads of players who want to keep the ball all day, like Spain for instance, the Europeans. South Americans know how to play in this. We might struggle with that side of the game. I think we've got the ability to go far. Can we win it? I just don't know if it's going to suit us, the tournament. Let's give Stark hearing, shall we? Yeah, let's do it.

1:07:49Chris Stark: All right, son! Let me be as have a look. Ready?

1:08:02Tom Fordyce: Look at this. Look at this one over there, look. I'm getting tired of it. Dirty hell. Mad. What's going on?

1:08:12Chris Stark: Flip it round. Mate, mad. It's unreal, you know. I've had to kneel down, Chris. Yeah, I was worried about you. I worried about stinging the old fore edge, you know. Well, I was worried about taking my whole face off, being totally honest. Plus, my hips were above the thing. So I've had to kneel down. Come on. Can you give us a burn? Yeah.

1:08:44Chris Stark: Look at that.

1:08:49Chris Stark: Madness. It feels like extreme length to pass the pod, you know? I know, I know. The things we do, mate, honestly, we got up at 5 o 'clock this morning, saw a pair of pants, paddy-powered pants, and we just got in it. What are you up to? You got a beverage in hand mate. I'm at kids summer fun day. Oh mate, what we're just having a nice cold beverage. Look at these.

1:09:14Tom Fordyce: Do you know what I mean? Just watching the choir and all that.

1:09:17Chris Stark: Oh my god.

1:09:18Tom Fordyce: It's a funny one here because the football and everything, timing wise, is like first thing in the morning and last thing at night at the moment. So what you've got, it's interesting being at the summer fun day because you've got a load of dads who are absolutely shattered. It's mad.

1:09:34Chris Stark: No one really knows how to piece themselves with the whole tournament so far. Yeah, yeah. Everyone's trying their best over it. Who's the geezer in the background?

1:09:43Tom Fordyce: Doug, this is Doug. Doug, say hello to Chris. Doug, this is Chris. Good morning. Or afternoon. Five o 'clock somewhere. Is this your balloon? This is not my balloon. However, it is the biggest pair of underpants I've ever been in.

1:09:56Chris Stark: He doesn't want to be in a pair of pants particularly.

1:10:01Tom Fordyce: you know he's a he's a purist balloonist so yeah so basically so chris so basically the the hot air balloon is a pair of paddy power green pants that's why we're saying it we'll send you a picture after so you can get a gist yeah this amazing so it's like austin powers where it's flowing through the sky and everyone's pointing look that it looks like a pair of and then it turns around to someone

1:10:24Chris Stark: Yeah, it's basically that.

1:10:26Tom Fordyce: Yeah, nice. Are you having fun?

1:10:29Chris Stark: It's been good, mate. It's been good. You are missed. You are missed, mate. You genuinely are. You're going to get yourself out here? Oh, he's gone. Oh, mate, look, look, my data's gone. Oh, he's gone. Mate, he's lost his data. That's what you get with O2. Oh, no! Alright, let me tell you. It's no bonafone.

1:10:52Tom Fordyce: Guys, we've got a game for you called the Hot Air Game, right? We've got some hot World Cup takes. I just want you to decide which fan theory is the biggest load of hot air. Okay. So the first one's from James from Manchester. He says, Argentina will be the biggest flop of the big teams. What do you think?

1:11:06Chris Stark: Oh, current champions, biggest flop of the big teams. What the thing is, it's kind of only downhill, isn't it? Yeah. If you don't win, it's kind of half a disappointment. I don't care where it's coming from. Yeah.

1:11:20Tom Fordyce: Yeah, I'm going to disagree on that.

1:11:22Chris Stark: I have to disagree as well. I think they're enough to get out of the group.

1:11:27Tom Fordyce: They've got an ageing Messi, 39. If they come second in the group, they face Spain in the round of 32.

1:11:32Chris Stark: They can still beat Spain though.

1:11:33Tom Fordyce: A bit of hot air there, isn't it? Ben from Liverpool says, Ronaldo might ruin Portugal's chances. Is he holding them back?

1:11:42Chris Stark: I've seen this topic come up before. I understand that take. That could be hot air. Also, Uda got Gonzalo Ramos, who's going to replace him? Do you know what I mean? I still think he'll get goals.

1:11:54Tom Fordyce: Will Ronaldo try and take control? We've seen him on the sideline sometimes when he's on the bench or being subbed off, he's up for the best of the team. But I think this could, yeah, I kind of agree with this. I kind of agree. I don't want to agree, but I kind of agree.

1:12:07Chris Stark: I'm going with hot air, if I'm honest. I don't think there's anyone, goal scorer-wise, better to take his place. and if you're going to pick him in a squad, I think you'll pick him in a team.

1:12:18Tom Fordyce: Okay, last one. Darren from London. Harland will flop at this World Cup. He's good at Premier League level, but in a mediocre Norway side, there's a lot of pressure for him.

1:12:26Chris Stark: I think he's dealt with pressure his whole life, right? Since he was a child. I think he's scored loads of goals in Norway's team before. He's scored in every team he's been in, regardless of who he's playing with. Yeah, I totally agree. That is hot, yeah.

1:12:43Tom Fordyce: I think he's going to put pressure himself to play well, to elevate him to the greats. That's where he needs to be. You've got to perform at the World Cup.

1:12:54Chris Stark: Whoa. That was hot. That was hot. Look, Sid, give us a final word on the England game. Croatia.

1:13:01Tom Fordyce: Do you know what? I think it's going to be a tough one, mate. It's because of the direction. I think it's going to be our toughest test. I'm going to back us. I'm going to back us. I'm going to say 2-0.

1:13:10Chris Stark: You're our mystic, Meg, considering you're on fire.

1:13:14Tom Fordyce: I have brought the ring out here, so at one point you may have to kiss through. I should have worn it today, you could have kissed it while you're on your knees! No!

1:13:20Chris Stark: I've missed an opportunity! Absolute cuck.

1:13:28Chris Stark: What are you saying, mate, England? I said one all. I think this will be our toughest game. I think we'll win the other two, I think we'll get out of the group. Yeah, I reckon we'll we'll get off to a slowest start. You know what let's build as the tournament progresses We said every year by the way Yeah, is this balloon coming home now?

1:13:53Chris Stark: Bring us home bring us home baby Just thinking about this fire right like a gaz's mates Barbecue the other day Phenomenal. This thing I put in a group, like, the barbecue set up with my mates who's built that actual barbecue, believe that, and then he said he put his mates barbecue in. We've got to rate the barbecues, I think we do it on this podcast. People's barbecue set up. Rate people's barbecue set up.

1:14:20Tom Fordyce: Right, there's only one man to get involved in this and that is Chris, because he is a barbecue connoisseur. So, are we going to get him to rate these barbecues or what? Get him to rate them from home. Yep.

1:14:32Chris Stark: I think we do a big giveaway. What about, I don't know, listen, don't quote me on this. Oh no. Tickets to a game. Where? LA. With the World Cup? Flights. What? Let's do it.

1:14:49Tom Fordyce: That's the same competition. I might get my major started racking up here. Are you prepared for landing? Final descent. Final descent. Can I wait for the camera over there? Thank you for riding Paddy Power Airways.

1:15:05Chris Stark: Right, the next part of the podcast is supported by Paddy Power. I just want to recap on the scores the other day. We watched it in a lovely mall, actually, didn't we? Scotland-Haiti, yeah, yeah. Two of us didn't do very well, and one seems to have done slightly better, is that correct? Well, I'd had those golden balls over there. Sid obviously had the correct score, Scotland winning. two shots or more on target. We had John McGinn and he got three points for that, which gave him a bonus point of five. So nine points. And then me and you got Scotland's winner, so that's one, one. So nine, one, one.

1:15:40Chris Stark: It's a big early lead, Sid. Are you pleased with that? Normal service resumes, fellas.

1:15:45Tom Fordyce: What can we say? There's a lot of World Cup still to go. There is here. We'll enjoy it. Yeah. We'll enjoy it while it lasts.

1:15:51Chris Stark: Yeah. Enjoy it while being disciplined. Of course. Okay. The Minister of Mayhem has been in touch again. I'm going to read you his letter. He says, Hi, Crouchy, Notorious S.I.D. and Tom. First of all, pleasure to meet you, Mr. Fordyce. It's nice of the Minister. Yeah, he says, glad to hear we've finally found someone to bring a bit of professionalism to this racket. It's not for me to say, I think that's unfair. Really unfair. Yeah, he doesn't make Mr's words, does he? Crouchy still manages to get my name wrong after all these years. Oh, no! I actually thought that as well. I genuinely thought that.

1:16:24Chris Stark: I don't know, it's Mischief, Mayhem, one of them. after all these years, despite me endlessly reminding him that mischief is my life's work. Mayhem is merely a hobby. Anyway, on to the least shocking news of the tournament so far. SIDS have stormed into an early lead in the jammiest of circumstances. Indeed, it would have been a point of peace after a poor showing across the board. So you all correctly predict Scotland win, but fail to call the correct score or any of your player card or shots on target selections. However, on the bet builder with Paddy Power, our super subs applies, which means that Sid's...

1:16:58Chris Stark: Oh, so it wasn't even McGinn. This is a joke. Well, no, that's... You've got to read

1:17:03Tom Fordyce: the small print, lads. What? Come on. Whoever comes on for that player...

1:17:08Chris Stark: Well, I know that works. I was in the fucking advert.

1:17:16Chris Stark: It's been... That advert's been running for ages. I was there all day on that. The super sub applies. Of course it does. which means that Sid's collects three points for a Finley Curtis booking that's it Finley Curtis that's it look yeah Finley Curtis and you planned that all along did you I thought it was going to go to mention the Finley Curtis the latter stages so yeah that's you know he picked up a yellow card because he came on to replace your selection John McGinn John McGinn yeah factoring the five bonus points from the MVP chaos cards and Sid's sitting pretty at the top with a hefty nine points yeah but worry not chaps we're straight into the next round nice where you've got plenty of chances to claw back some points.

1:17:56Chris Stark: With that in mind, I can now reveal that the next Paddy Power big fixture is England versus Croatia. Oh, hello. The three lions versus one Croat goat. They are not my words, by the way. Oh, that is fighting talk already. I'd like to take that back. I am pleading at the moment. That's from him, not from me, because there's plenty more Croatians in there who are very good. And your chaos card for this one is Super Size It. There's SIDS holding it. It's nice to see. Any audio listeners, do you want to describe that, SIDS? What does that do?

1:18:32Tom Fordyce: This says it's Super Size It. Select one leg of your bet builder to be worth triple points. Okay, so one leg of the bet builder. So the one you're most sure of would be a cent for one to play the joke on. That gives you triple points.

1:18:49Chris Stark: Okay, so if you're feeling confident about your card pick, supersize that leg got a correct score hunch you just can't shake supersize it I'm sure you get the picture so with that I'll love you and leave you best of luck as ever the Paddy Power Minister of Mischief PS loving the new backdrop lads but somebody please mow that lawn that's a valid point it is a fair point yeah that is a really valid point

1:19:12Tom Fordyce: talking of backdrop lads I feel like you know I've taken this role now of this card I really want to fan myself for this but it feels like I've just become like that sort of ring girl yeah like

1:19:23Chris Stark: honestly like give it a go the way Gaz gave you the card he was like you're really good at this Sid he's actually got the walk Pete look he's got the walk didn't know he had that in his locker look at that look at the hips yeah he's got a booty as well and hips don't lie

1:19:41Chris Stark: nicely done Sid thank you right should we start off with the score Sid you went for the score first last time you went last Pete so the last is first score please England Croatia I feel like you know we can win but I think this will be our most difficult game and I think it will be KG and I think it will be 1-1 1-1 okay I also think it will be KG I agree it's the hardest game I am going to go 1-0 England taking off here you can go the same no

1:20:12Tom Fordyce: I'm always going to back England in a different way alright I'm going to go 2-1 I'm going to go 2-1 to England please Okay Two or more shots Pete It'll only be one shortly

1:20:28Chris Stark: Can I go first? With Harry Kane I see what you're doing And I'm going to say that Harry Kane Is going to be dropping deep and Jude Bellingham Is going to be bombing past him Equally I'm thinking about Saka cutting in Onto his left foot so I'm going to say Saka Okay

1:20:46Tom Fordyce: This really depends on the formation he's going to go for and the players and the personnel. You've got to say that Jude Billingham's... It's a shout, isn't it? It is a big shout because Morgan Rodgers don't want to. I'm going to go Jude Billingham. What if Morgan Rodgers starts? I know.

1:21:03Chris Stark: That's locked in as well. Let's go.

1:21:05Tom Fordyce: Let's go to...

1:21:09Booking. We need a booking crouching. I'm going to go with Guardiol. Because he's playing on the left-hand side probably, isn't he? the three. Yep. Okay, I like that because I've gone similar thinking. I've already talked about the fact that the ball's going to be going through Saka quite a lot. So I have decided that the ageing 37-year-old legs of Ivan Perisic are going to be left behind. Just enough at one point by Bukai Saka for him to leave a foot in and pick up a yellow card.

1:21:38Tom Fordyce: Yeah. Okay, I'm going to go a little bit left field here, lads. And I feel like I've I'm I'm going against the grain on this one against the house I'm going for Jordan Pickford okay that's all locked in

1:21:54Chris Stark: let's lock that in um okay

1:22:05Chris Stark: alright lads great to see Brad against his isn't it lovely man

1:22:09Tom Fordyce: yeah yeah brilliant lovely man looking great isn't he

1:22:11Chris Stark: looking younger than ever he looks great that's what you get if you live in the Bahamas I realise I can see why you two would have enjoyed having him as a team mate because goalkeepers are sometimes the adults in the room aren't they but with Brad you get the sense there's a little bit of cheekiness there as well that he would get stuck into a few japes as well

1:22:29Tom Fordyce: yeah

1:22:29Chris Stark: he was good he was always a calming influence and also an amazing story about Graham Sooners yeah the bit where he chins him that's from someone who's been there because it's so iconic isn't it yeah it is someone who's been there do you want to know something weird about Graham Sooners before we finish? I think he is the world's least likely vegan. You know, he's vegan. I know. I know. This podcast just blows my mind. Also, I'm sure I've been out for dinner with him and I didn't know that. Really? So I asked him about this once because I've had him down as a red meat man, clearly. And I think he watched a documentary.

1:23:06This is so weird. But I think I'm right. He watched a documentary about what happens to chicks in a chicken factory so in a few of those knocking about yeah and it's the bit where they want to keep the female chicks because they're gonna be the layers and then the male ones just get

1:23:22Chris Stark: and that for a man like graham soonest was a step too far yeah well listen for any more graham soonest news you know where to come we'll see you next time

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