World Cup Daily - Cabo Verde Deliver Game of the Tournament

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0:55Look, I don't want to make this too patriotic sounding, But yesterday, something absolutely incredible happened on this nation's soil. This is the World Cup Daily. My name is Elliot Spithing. That's right. Cabo Verde delivered a performance that treated us to one of the great World Cup matches, knockout matches in history. It took us almost 250 years to get it. And you wonder why we couldn't have had a match like that 200 years ago or 180 years ago. But no, we had to wait till yesterday. We got it. I'm glad we got it. By the way, happy 4th of July to everybody celebrating 250-year birthday of this nation.

1:33And let's just get it out of the way. Early, Timsy, no hard feelings, mate.

1:38Michael Timbs:Yeah, no, no problem. I think the US has shown it's better off without our intervention. So I will gladly take this, as the kids say nowadays, take this L. I think the one thing we may have learned by earning our independence from Colonial Masters is that maybe it's wise to leave nations alone and leave them to their own devices, but apparently not a lesson we learned. But that's okay. We'll set that aside. We're not going to get down that path because that way lies madness and negative comments about the podcast. So what we will do instead, Timsy, is celebrate what was an absolutely staggering match of football.

2:16And I'm going to give you the first headline. If it is about the Egypt game or the Columbia game, I can mute your mic. So off you go.

2:24Michael Timbs:No, no, no. it's it's uh it's all good i'm gonna go with and i'm gonna um also add an asterisk to to this point but messi extends his greatness uh argentina through because of him because of his greatness i would say i saw some of the comments yesterday not liking our slander of ronaldo obviously this Everything we said yesterday Is just on the proviso That we know That Ronaldo's great He's the second best player ever Can I add to that? Utter fraud penalty merchant Shot monster with no technical quality Never rated him And still don't Because people think you're being serious I am being serious I do not rate the player at all Don't rate him, don't like him, don't care Shot monster, nothing in his game Not Messi Not Maradona Not Zidane Not Thierry Henry Thierry Henry Better player Better player More elegant player There we go Then we disagree Carry on Carry on with the Cabo Verde story The commenters Send the anger And the hate to me I can absorb it No because I feel I feel bad I can absorb it Because look Ronaldo He's great But Messi Just keeps on delivering Hence I've got the Messi shirt on Yep And Yeah He's just He's just ridiculous He doesn't need to do too much to still be able to just come up with those moments of magic.

3:54Michael Timbs:And I mean, his goal was a joke. But then we've seen him do it quite literally hundreds of times. It sort of typifies, I think, the difference between him and Ronaldo. Even though Ronaldo did score something similar in their last game, even though it was ruled offside. it was just the fact that the timing of the run was perfect the control was perfect the finish was perfect and yet we're not in any way surprised it's just watching it going oh my days that's incredible and but of course it is so um yeah what a game what a game i think that might it will go down as the best game of the tournament certainly so far yeah so far we were borrowing you know a final like there was last time I think it's is up there with some of the best World Cup football that I've I've seen like in terms of drama I was luckily at the final between Argentina and France in 2022 in that stadium and I swore at that moment that it's the best game of football I've ever seen and still to this date it's the best game of football I have ever seen live um and i think if i was in that stadium i i would have got a very similar feeling uh because it was just yeah incredible and actually looked packed full of like fans obviously because it being in miami lots of argentina fans like i got that same feeling of like oh yeah the atmosphere is a true reflection of like this is a world cup match it was great yeah so so my headline is they came in as Cinderella went out as equals.

5:32I think they went into essentially an Argentina home match and delivered a performance that had it gotten them a result would not have been a shock on the balance of play. I mean, Argentina had more of the possession, certainly. But as the game started to wind on, what you saw was that Cabo Verde had ways to hurt them, had the ability to use their pace and the directness and some real technical quality that they provided to get into spaces to hurt them. And that chance at the end, if he gets a toe on it, the chip ball over the top, I mean, that's going to penalties. It was that close. There were moments.

6:07Their goals were sensational. And even, you know what really kind of started it for me? Because I feel like what you normally see with these tiny nations up against the powerhouses is that their nerves are so palpable and every little thing they try to execute doesn't come off because they're terrified. and what set the tone for me early on there was a long ball up it finds its way to Virginia and Virginia just takes it off his chest and then juggles it twice with his foot and then five minutes later he drops a shoulder and fakes out the Argentine attacker and and I don't know if he cruifs it or just cuts back and passes it right up the middle to a player they played okay sure they were the underdogs and they didn't have the lion's share of possession and Argentina were fair enough winners for the chances they created.

6:54But they played with not just courage, but the confidence of a team that felt they belonged there. And if you look at their group, Spain and Uruguay are two of the biggest powerhouses in world football, and they were value for the results they got there. You know, in Uruguay's case, I believe, didn't they have to equalize twice to get that result? So this was a performance that not only did their nation proud and made us all just sit up and get closer and closer to the TV screens as the game was going on. But it was a performance that showed real quality. And I think that's what made it fun. It wasn't one team getting battered and just holding out.

7:32It was two teams that really went for it by the end. And I loved that whole match. What a sensational moment. Incredible.

7:40Michael Timbs:I think Quevede are just very, they're a really solid defensive side. They're very comfortable. But as you say, even that moment with Vizinha, it typified a team that is comfortable defending and knows what they're doing when they don't have the ball. They're really hard to break down. And Argentina is the sort of team where I still don't know how good they are, even though they look comfortable and they can kind of fashion chances more than a lot of other teams. I still don't feel like we've got a full idea of actually how good they are. But even then, they're able to create chances kind of out of nothing.

8:23Michael Timbs:When you've got Messi and you've got a lot of those players like Lissandra Martinez and that sort of thing, they're always a threat. So the fact that they kept them at bay for the most part, and even then when they did concede, like just come back and equalize twice, that's really hard to do. Um, and maybe for their second goal, it was just like a ridiculous piece of like individual quality. Maybe you can't really account for that. And maybe there was a bit of luck. And certainly by the way that he celebrated, it was almost like even he was in disbelief by just how good the goal was. But even then, like it takes stones, uh, as you would say in England to, to, to come back and like believe in yourself, um, that much against that sort of caliber of side.

9:09Michael Timbs:so yeah just a ridiculous uh ridiculous game and i think like as you say like they've done themselves such a uh they've done themselves i say a service not a disservice but like they've really represented themselves well because like they haven't lost in 90 minutes against like as you say three of the powerhouses in world football yeah yeah two two great teams like in the group stage and then against the the reigning champions in knockouts and they've never got to the knockouts but like all of these things you would think like i think when everyone saw the fixture come through they got they got no real chance like they can maybe make it difficult if they replicate what uh what they did against spain and uruguay but even then you're thinking they won't know and to see them then go one nil down to just a piece of like brilliance from messi you're going okay here we go and they just came back it's unbelievable i did think that they They were a bit lax for Argentina, were a little bit lax for Cape Verde's first goal.

10:11Michael Timbs:It was like a bit standoffish. And there's been a lot of defending like that. I think Roy Keane said that on Stick to Football, he was like, why are so many of the fullbacks just like standing off of wingers and just letting kind of crosses and penetrative balls go in? But can we also say double nutmeg goal? Like, come on, that should count twice, man. Yeah, but maybe that was like half, you know, good quality football but and half luck but then to be that lucky twice is is summing you know um but it was just incredible i have to say like the second goal was one of the best things i've seen like in terms of quality it was ridiculous such a good strike yeah um and just the celebrations as well like it's crazy i will say right so like i i'm old so i remember when mike tyson older there are older people than me um i remember when mike tyson was like becoming a thing and it kind of captured the sports world for a bit like he was the story at 18 yeah i mean mike tyson fights were like must watch this was sort of before you know everything had turned to pay-per-view and stuff like that but but the point is i will never forget when mike tyson fought buster douglas um i'm gonna nod like i pretend to know what that so mike tyson was just like the scariest most fearsome boxer you'd ever seen i know that yeah he knocked everybody out in the first round and no one heard of this buster douglas guy and he was sort of a pudger looking dude and people thought 10 seconds 40 seconds like how long is this gonna go and there's that moment where mike tyson realizes he's in a fight okay yeah and buster douglas winds up knocking him out i know and he shocks the world and the argentina they got their goal and and they just sort of rested on their laurels and then unbelievably cape verde equalized and there's a moment in the game i think where you can see argentina realize they're in a fight and where i think cape cabo verde realize they're in it too and the game got so good as cabo verde's confidence grew and as argentina's concern grew because then they realized, holy shit, we're the holders.

12:21We could get knocked out by this country. And the other team realized, holy shit, we can go do something historic. And that sense built. And I do think that the goals they scored also inspired them to believe that they could come back and do that. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was really riveting. We should get to other stuff here, other headlines. So do you want to give me a headline maybe from another game? We'll probably come back to the Cabo Verde game in the stock.

12:45Michael Timbs:Yeah. I would say my predictions were wrong. I said Australia would go through yesterday. They did not. They were abysmal with their penalties. So my headline will be Socceroos let me down. And I say that because they could have easily won that yesterday. I was watching it and just like they didn't have like loads of amazing chances, but they had enough like to threaten because Egypt's defense isn't that good at all. and even like with the I mean the penalties they didn't help themselves the quality of it like Harry Suter's first one is ridiculous like I've never seen a penalty taken like that um and I think they'll actually look back on that and really be disappointed in in their performance just because I don't think they've won a knockout game before no so that was their first chance of doing so and um yeah they just lacked that little bit of quality in the in the final third but But yeah, I say they let me down because I did have high hopes of them.

13:48Michael Timbs:I think they were actually like a solid team. And this Egypt team, Moe's not what he was. And I don't think they're actually that good either. So I think they missed a trick there. Can I tell you how I feel about Argentina crashing out? So I feel about it the same way. Argentina, Australia. Pardon me, Australia. Argentina didn't crash out as we just discussed. I feel about it the same way I do Scotland. loved their supporters in this tournament, hated their team in this tournament, and no offense. And what I mean is not like, look, I'm not asking them to go be swashbuckling, right? But like, they were not a fun watch for the neutral, right?

14:27They were very defensive, very organized, very direct. Scotland, again, right, was rooting for them. Have friends who are Scottish who are rooting for them. Love their fans. Same with Australia. They're a nation I root for through people that I know and the enjoyment of their fans at the tournament. But in the case of both teams, I just don't think the football enhanced the tournament in terms of the style. So while like I feel bad for them and their supporters and they certainly could have gone through. And by the way, I don't think Egypt are a hell of a lot of fun in this tournament either. I don't think the tournament will be worse off from a, it'll be worse off from a support standpoint, but I don't think it'd be worse off from an entertainment value standpoint.

15:02So that's kind of where I'm at with that.

15:05Michael Timbs:Yeah, no, I would agree. No, I didn't enjoy watching their football. But I enjoyed them putting up a fight and being in the tournament. And I think the World Cup would have been better off fan-wise, as I do specify fan-wise, if Australia was still in it, because they are a lot of fun. So I'm going to go one more headline from these games, and I'll say someone should have told Ghana it was a knockout game. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my headline. But then it's the least surprising performance ever. but did they know that they were out if they didn't win like it was the weirdest thing the last 30 minutes of that game it seemed like Ghana were nominally interested in playing it but not totally interested um I mean when Semenyo got the ball he tried to do some stuff and he is a talented player but he couldn't pull anything off Colombia were just too organized and too effective they they produced Ghana produced eight shots worth 0.27 expected goals which obviously is not going to get the job done in the second half trailing for the whole game by the way because Arias scored in the 14th.

16:09Trailing for the whole game in a knockout game in the second half, here's what Ghana produced. A.04 shot from 20 yards out and a .06 shot from 22 yards out. .1 expected goals, two shots, none on target. The keeper, the Columbia keeper, did not touch the ball with his hands in the second half. Ghana went out so limply, so meekly, and by the end, when we're in stoppage time, they weren't even trying to push it into the box like i'm sorry but if you're gonna go out you go out on your shield they definitely didn't and columbia were the winners yeah yeah i mean like it's with garner like even just from

16:48Michael Timbs:watching the the england game i saw them and it's like if they set up like that they were going to be really tough to beat because they were like they went a handful they were a little bit dangerous on the break but maybe that's just their their comfort zone is playing like that and when they're coming up against the side where realistically they have like a maybe a better chance they they don't do as well but yeah they there was just that they didn't offer much going forward at all like they were very uninspiring i feel like semenyo is obviously just a bit isolated up top in terms of equality um but there there are a few moments from him that uh work i guess promising but it's asking a lot of him to just like inspire that team to somehow school what what do you make of of colombia because i actually think this they are sort of classic dark horse in the sense that they're really really good they're not quite they have not quite been talked about before this tournament as a potential winner but they can go very deep and like as a side note i'm still stunned that liverpool let luis diaz walk out the door of that yeah he's really good because he's a sensational player i mean he's got well his goal that wasn't a goal um like he he yeah he is amazing i think he's so good but what do you think of that you're right there is is talented and i mean depending on so there was it columbia playing switzerland i i'm that's actually going to be quite a close game because switzerland is like they've proven over the last few years like they're such a solid side they don't have like superstars but they have they're almost like the opposite of Belgium where Belgium is like full of quote-unquote unreal players and like superstars and theirs isn't and yet they're greater than the sum of their parts like obviously Chaka in the midfield is um probably their like most solid player but and they have a few very good players but it's not the same as this Belgium side where that maybe the expectation is so great and they're kind of looking to all these amazing players to be like one of you's got a fashion sum in whereas Switzerland is like we know if we're just a solid side we'll we'll get some goals and we're very hard to beat um and I guess Colombia are kind of similar where they do have like really talented players Luis Suarez obviously I know James Rodriguez came off for was it halftime but even then like yeah you've got and Quintero was good he was good like Quintero when he came on like Lerma's I think such a good player like a solid uh midfielder and also like a Munoz on the right as well is always a danger so um yeah they are they are a good side I think they're going to be difficult to to play against I remember when traditionally I don't think they've they've been that difficult to uh an opponent like I remember was it in when England played them in 2018 and I know they took us like we were 1-0 up and they equalized right in the last minute and it took us to penalties.

19:47Michael Timbs:But they weren't that good a side. Like it was, I think it was a little bit of a surprise they even got to penalties at that point. Whereas this side is a little bit different. I think they've got a more mature, they've got more mature like talent in their, in their setup. So, I mean, they could definitely get to the next round. I think that'll be a great game on Tuesday. Then even if they do, they're playing against Argentina. But then Argentina have shown now that they're not invincible. You know, So if Cape Verde can run them that close, they were, as you say, like one little chance away from getting to penalties and they took them all the way in 90 minutes.

20:22Michael Timbs:Like I wonder what a very good side could do against them, you know? They beat Argentina in Colombia in Convambal qualifying and drew Argentina in Argentina in Convambal qualifying. So they did not lose to them. And by the way, they split with Brazil, one home lost away. So like because Brazil is a team that could face. So they had a mega qualifying then. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, I mean, and Convable is just a brutal qualifying stretch. And so, you know, to produce those results against Brazil and Argentina, given that you could face Argentina and Brazil in the quarterfinals and semifinals, no offense, England, like that is a heck of a run.

20:56So yeah, they look impressive. Let's get to the stocks. I'm going to give you my first stock rising. And my stock rising is the saley goal of the day. That's right. eSIM. What on earth is eSIM? Everything is e-something. I'm eSmith, for example. But eSIM is a way to use your phone around the world using local data plans that cost you a fraction without having to put anything in your device. You don't have to get a little metal pusher thing that you push in your iPhone or your Android phone and pop out a little thing and then the thing gets lost and then the phone's no longer protected and now you're going to buy a new phone because you pop the thing out.

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22:08And 15 % is a lot. It's 15%. So get the Saley app, use code Arsenal Vision, save 15 % on your eSIM. Again, Saley app, code Arsenal Vision, save 15%, do it now. And my goal of the day is, well, I mean, there really is only one choice because for me so far, it is the goal of the tournament and it is Cabral's curler, Sidney Lopez Cabral. And it's not just the goal. It's my reaction to it. It's all of our reactions to it. It's how can this be happening? It can't be happening. He sets it on his right foot. You know he's going to go for it. And then it's not just the goal. It's the 10 minutes he spends trying to find his partner in the crowd.

22:47He doesn't know what to do. He's beside, I need to celebrate it with her. That's what I would do with my wife. Of course, by the way, I'd be running to my wife to find her in the crowd. but like they don't have crowds in the park and even in the park I don't score but like like frankly Timsey it's it's the moment of the tournament so far and for me no matter what happens in this tournament it's the one that they'll be showing on the montage at the end of the tournament it's it's gonna stay with us it's gonna stay with him he will always be remembered for that no matter what else he goes on to do in his career it's not just the goal of the day it's

23:20Michael Timbs:the goal of the tournament yeah i i agree that is kind of in line with my stock rising as well it would be stock rising is the world cup it's been so good yeah so there have been moments where i feel like the stock falling would have been the world cup as well for example ridiculous vr decision that cost croatia and cost us a truly amazing like world cup moment that will also be shown for years unsurprisingly timsey more people agree with you on that than agree with with me from my nonsense yesterday good i thought yeah it makes sense big w for you on a day of l's for your nation obviously but a big w yeah there's that else and my ronaldo take um i want to stop you on that can we just i want to i want to say one thing on that i have to admit that some of my antipathy towards ronaldo just for anybody who cares about this he's great by the way i just have to put that out there i have i have to bring my truth okay first of all obviously played for united and that that's always going to be just part of it for me but but a part of it is i feel like ronaldo stands were the first step in the deterioration of online football culture the like pesi penaldo them always going at each other everything had to be about ronaldo versus messy and i feel like the ronaldo stands on social media were the first little step into Stan culture in football on the internet that kind of took what was really a naive and burgeoning, fun place to have a chat about football and turn it into something else.

24:49And so whatever I think about the player, and I have all kinds of thoughts, I think that culture, it's almost in a weird way, like what happened with Ozil at Arsenal, because the player was sensational, of course, but the online corner of that fan base created a lot of toxicity. And so I do think sometimes you can be guilty of being roped into having your feeling about things shaped by how people shape other experiences and and so i i know nobody cared about that but i wanted to add that context absolutely i do agree

25:19Michael Timbs:and and also as a final note on this it's like no one's denying his greatness it's amazing and it's more just that that it's two very different approaches to greatness and legacy one is like i need to leave the best legacy possible and like everything he does is in pursuit of like i am the man i need to be the man and the other is i am very good at football i want to do as well as possible whatever else happens sweet and he's not fussed with the for all and the cameras and the records he's just like give me the ball i want to have fun um that's basically it so the little slightly pudgy dude with the not too sharp chin i can i can associate with that you know like Like the tall, carved out of granite, like probably a bit of Botox guy.

26:06Like, I don't know. I just have a harder time. Anyway, let's get off this. Let's get back on what you were saying.

26:11Michael Timbs:Yeah. So to reroute, the World Cup was falling because of that decision. But now I feel like the stock is rising again for our leader Infantino's FIFA World Cup because this was honestly, I think, their dream scenario. Not to say in any way any of this is planned. You can't plan a goal like Cabral's goal. Let's put it that way. But as in their ideal scenario is Argentina gets to the World Cup final, Messi can win another World Cup, and they're coming up against this incredible France side with Mbappe, who's the next one, and it's like, who's going to win? same as 2022 but along the way this is what i envisage is like their dream scenario in that they've expanded this tournament where otherwise the cape verde would never be in this tournament and yet they're here and they're having this fairy tale uh story and journey that culminates in coming up against the greatest to ever do it and it's like they run it so close and come they can almost taste like the biggest upset ever in world cup history and yet it's snatched away from them by the brilliance of well not the specific brilliance of messi but the brilliance of this this side um so that is like their their dream scenario and it does create this amazing uh story and like the scenes that we witnessed as you said in your stock rising of just the almost sheer disbelief in what was going on as much as as you said and i agree that they're actually very confident and comfortable in how they play and like they're actually a solid side as they've proven in the groups there of course there was still disbelief like when the first equalizer and just the jubilation and then the second equalizer one because of the quality of the goal but two it's like oh my god we really have done it again and like we we actually can do this and i feel like football will be a better will be a better place would be a better place sorry if there was more reactions and moments of actual disbelief where even the person scoring the goal runs away with their hands on their head going like, what have I just done?

28:33Michael Timbs:And then coming up with maybe one of the most iconic but equally one of the worst celebrations ever because if you're going to do it, find your partner earlier. Don't leave your whole team. You've just done something historic for your side. and i get it's an incredible solo goal so good but like don't search for your wife or your girlfriend and then like spend 90 seconds just looking in the crowd like i remember one of the commentators said well it's like it's wimbledon it but then at wimbledon if you win the championship you go up into the stands your your family's there you're with them in 10 seconds this guy has like killed all of that like beautiful shock and like emotion because it's like ended everyone On the pitch was just looking at him Going come on mate I'm surprised he didn't get carded to be honest I was waiting for the moment to be ruined completely By him getting a card for that It was obviously at the same time An incredible moment And who am I to say He can celebrate however the hell he wants I have to say as a romantic myself And a card carrying And a card carrying love my wife guy There was something so sweet to me That he's like no no no I'm not just going to make a half hearted effort to find her and then can't find her and run back i'm gonna stay up here in the stands until she gets down i don't care if she's third tier and she has to come down on the stairs and she has to go through the concourse and stop for a hot dog and come back to us you know stop at chick-fil-a and come back down wait but you know what it made me think is like you think when they're in when they're in when as soon as they step on the pitch they cross that line and they're like i'm in game mode i'm fully focused on what a what a way to take yourself out of that that mindset and going oh my god i've just scored this incredible goal we're on the verge of greatness i'm gonna leave the pitch go into the stands and stand there whilst my like adrenaline just runs out as you're waiting for your part and it's like it obviously it's great and it's hilarious and it's fun and it's i loved it but equally by the same token i'm like oh man you get it for me there's nothing better than like you do that for your team go crazy together on the pitch and it's an incredible scene so um it was a funny one that like i still think all together it combines into a stock rising rather than falling but it's just it was a funny funny moment that i enjoyed yes okay i'm gonna make an executive decision here and say we don't need stock fallings we already talked a little bit about the australia game from through that lens yeah yeah and the ghana thing exactly so so i'm going to i'm going to make the executive decision penalties and say we look yeah that as well and say we look forward to not to mention it like i'm i i really want to get this published so i can get to the comments section and just take take all the accolades and support that i'm going to get from my ronaldo takes exactly yeah um you know they they say uh that never mind um okay to today see what they say when you when you're when you're in the pit the first way to get out of the pit is stop digging you can't dig your way up uh okay so let's start with canada morocco how you feel about this one i think it's gonna be a great game i think canada won't have enough to beat morocco this morocco side is serious uh and canada as much as i think they uh can do it and they've obviously got the kind of home crowd or that home advantage.

31:59Michael Timbs:I think the most likely scenario is that they are the first home nation out of this World Cup because I think USA's got a great chance against Belgium even despite the flow red card. I think they're still, they're a good enough team and a better team than Canada are where they can navigate that against Belgium and I think Mexico have a great chance against England as well, I would say that is a toss-up. And again, I think England's more than good enough to beat Mexico. They are a better side, but goodness knows what the advantage of actually playing at that altitude, playing at home at the Azteca.

32:36Michael Timbs:There's no way of quantifying that for me. I'm looking forward to those games. I think they'll be great, but if I had to put money on it, and I won't because I don't gamble on football, i don't think canada are going to go through i think morocco will will beat them not handily but but well they will they will it'll be like a 2-1 or a 3-1 the only thing i gamble on is the listener taking mercy on me in the comments section i i have to say i adore canada it is a favorite nation of mine i spent i've spent a lot of time there i have a lot of dear friends there and i will be rooting for Canada with my heart and soul my sports ball watching brain will want Morocco to go through because I think France Morocco would be a belter of a quarterfinal such a ball knower I am a ball knower that's what everybody said that's one of the things everybody says about me yeah um the other thing I can't say uh on a hot mic but moral of the story is Morocco are probably too good for Canada but I'll be rooting for Canada and I think France Morocco would be an excellent and fun game it would be a very fun Paris is going to be split in two like I think quite a lot of France as well obviously there's a lot of North African presence in France yep and yeah I think that's going to be an incredible watch that's going to be and it's going to be fun and I have to say right I mean with no offense to the Canadian team like France are going to I think brutalize Paraguay I really don't think that that's going to be much of a game I think Paraguay can feel very proud to have gotten as far as they did to have knocked out Germany is staggering I think Germany were terrible and and rightfully knocked out and their penalties were poor but like but i think france are going to go through quite comfortably here and what i don't want is france to wind up with a canada matchup in the quarter final that they can probably also manage and this exceptional france team take nothing away from them all of a sudden find themselves in a semi-final having beaten sweden paraguay and canada like yeah i would like to see them tested and see what their medal is and see what they're made of and and i think they will respond well because i think they're an excellent team but Morocco France is the quarterfinal I think we want to see yeah I think the the the best an international tournament gets is when it gets to I guess the quarterfinals is that those eight sides six of them are like still giants and then you've got two kind of plucky underdogs that have done really well I think that's like it's it never ever happens where there's eight giant sides go like traditional powerhouses going against each other so like the the world cup will be a better spectacle if you know france say brazil or mexico or england argentina spain are all still there um i know obviously it can't that can't happen because of the side of the draw that us are like we are on with with mexico and argentina but uh i think going into those later rounds where there's still those um those big teams uh that's what everyone wants to see really like the group stages for the the cool stories and then when it really gets into the thick of the cutthroat knockout stages that's when usually the the underdogs get plucked off so um not to say canada don't have a chance but they are very much the underdogs against morocco and i think yeah as we said i think they'll just be they'll be too good as will france be brazil norway as well this is great games today i mean and it's crazy because um um brazil norway's not today is it please please tell me no it's tomorrow i got it wrong that's okay you've already got your head on the azteca i get it your head is in the altitude of the azteca what i what i was going to say is oxygen deprivation sickness it could get fun for me though because if france get past paraguay they could face monago in the quarterfinal which would set up a blockbuster semifinal between france and the united states which would be really really fun You never know You never know Hey And what What a game that would be Look You will go out Obviously But Imagine the atmosphere I don't know what the home stadium will be I'm guessing it's in the US It's going to be hard When I have to celebrate Pulisic dribbling past Saliba To score the winning goal In the semi-final But needs must You're going Oh no Willow Oh Willow Willow Well at least he goes home Hopefully to get his back surgery It'll be incredible I don't know what I wonder what Someone will have done this There'll be some prediction odds bot that has done this but the comparative percentage chance of the three home nations going through like i'm guessing canada's sitting at about a 25 percent maybe a little higher than that but like you know going going through this today it's probably it's probably what like 65 35 or something like that yeah and then i'm guessing usa belgium i would say 100 percent usa 99 because everything yeah nothing's 100 look yesterday is fourth of july of course it's 100 % when the game actually happens on the 7th of July it might have gone down to like a 60 % and as you know 7th of July a terrible day for the United States obviously I think it's a that's more of a coin toss and then obviously I think Mexico, England again I don't know I would say in terms of you play on a neutral ground you play and it's Mexico versus England I think it's we're most likely to go through and it's probably like 65 % England but genuinely I think this is I have no clue because you don't know what England side is going to turn up and you don't know how they're going to deal with.

38:02Michael Timbs:I mean, flew in yesterday. You don't know how they're going to deal with the altitude stuff. And I've read a few things on Twitter as well. That's like, it's, isn't it? There's a differential of one goal or half a goal for every thousand feet you climb. obviously they're not physically climbing but 7 000 feet or whatever that's that's that's a lot of goals that's a lot of goals i have bad news for the u.s men's national team oh no i hate to end on a low the u.s is not going through against belgium because we play well are you correct that we play on july 7 is that when we play yeah oh wait is july 7th genuinely about well no okay July 7th they play on uh sorry 6th of July okay because July 1am got well July 7th is World Chocolate Day and what is Belgium known for chocolate so thank goodness we're playing on the 6th well this is the thing this is the interesting thing with time zones earlier is that it's totally man-made and the the 7th of July is when the game is happening in Belgium all of this is man in Belgium it is their national chocolate day so they're going to be feeling Confident but then you're going to be feeling confident Because it's the 6th of July where you play And you go well at least it's Well I got bad news for Belgium then Because guess what July 6th is Oh no National Fried Chicken Day Okay I thought you were going to say like National F-18 fighter jet pilot day F-18 McDonald's day It's also International Kissing Day So maybe instead of playing a knockout match They can all just meet in the middle and kiss You know what Anne Hathaway can finally kiss Leo Trussard There you go We'll end on that note What are your thoughts Hang on Hang on Because I haven't Spoken to anyone about this Because I've just Seen it and just thought This is silly And just put it away Are you a fan of the Anne Hathaway loving Arsenal And she might genuinely Be a big fan Or she might have just like Started to learn The players names And I don't know Given that I think There's a half decent chance She comes on the pod I am a huge fan of it Yes Is there a heart That do you reckon I would love to be on the same pod As Anne Hathaway Okay Get in line

40:15but yes sorry so yes i am i am a believer in her support and and and enthusiastically support her support so am i so am i i love it so there you go great glad glad we glad we resolved that uh on international nearing nearing it so you know how the boxing day is like the day before or day after christmas what's what's the day what's what's a few days before international kissing day you know what best not to think about it best not to think it's international foreplay day oh there it is okay i was gonna say international flirting day but