FIFA's World Cup "Hydration Break" cash-grab & Bellingham vs Rogers for Croatia?

0:02This is a global production. The silence from the England camp is as good as we've probably ever had it in our lifetimes. Nothing's going on. Bellingham, Rodgers. Is there a world where they play together? I think there is. So who then misses out? It'd be Gordon or Rashford. I think Bellingham is someone who has to play. I'm fed up of cutaways to famous people in the crowd. Beckham and Cruz and Rod Stewart 27 times the other night. The significance of the win is huge. The fact that they're sitting top of that table right now, which also features Brazil and Morocco, you absolutely have to drink it in.

0:37This is what the World Cup is all about. I went from feeling like I was going to have kind of the wrath of bubles on my back for the rest of my life. We might be mates, yeah. I think we might have become friends. I genuinely do like Michael Bublé as well, so I didn't want to upset the boobies there.

1:03Welcome to the Sports Agents. Nadam, welcome over there stateside. Chappas, you're just as welcome, obviously. Where are you? Do you know where you are? I don't think you've been off our screens or airwaves, have you, for the last four days? It's been a long weekend. It has been a long weekend. I'm in Manchester, which is the heartbeat of the World Cup, obviously. as you are in America Nadim can you tell us what it's like what is America like as a place generally or are you talking about this World Cup because what was quite interesting before we came on air before Gabby arrived we were talking about the number of adverts during the water break for example and if you haven't sort of heard what's happening stateside and how they're treating it then you would think the water break was there for genuine reasons But the majority of these games haven't necessarily needed them because of the temperatures.

1:59And yet. Yeah. Yeah, that's completely fair. And obviously, I wouldn't want to say that, like, players aren't tired anyway, because yes, they are. But it is very important that every half, like over here, you get at least three or four ad breaks in, mostly featuring David Beckham trying to sell you some sort of Home Depot type situation. And yeah, I've started doing a thing now where I'm actually just taking pictures every time I see his face on the TV to see how many things he's advertising at the same time. I'm expecting to run out of memory on my phone very, very soon. But yeah, it's a different experience.

2:31It's a very, very different experience. Having been used to watching them, say with the likes of ITV, BBC and so on. Like over here, there's just no shame whatsoever when it comes down to advertising. ITV's not allowed to. Yeah, that's what I mean. That's the thing. That's what I'm used to. But instead, it's like I'm listening to domestic voices say, and now it's time for your chance to vote for the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Game as this water break is brought to you by Powerade. And then it's this halftime segment brought to you by this. I'm like, oh, wow, yeah, I remember this. I do remember this from when I lived over here.

3:05And I heard Rick Edwards this morning on Five Live Chappers complaining because he's LA-based as well. So he's absorbing it all through American media. Yeah, he's out there. And we're not bitter. Please don't write him. We're not bitter. I thought it was just a fact, sorry. he said he said that the thing that created him was watching somebody say let's head to the fourth quarter so redesigning football or soccer in front of our eyes yeah and I'm sure I'm sure whoever did that did it to try and trigger the rest of the world to be honest but that's essentially like how it feels I think there have been some complaints from some people about changes in momentum and stuff with the water break and or sorry the hydration break and all that stuff but it's a very different experience being over here I think I'm happy that all the host nations did something i think the usa they will watch the things by like just under 16 million people live on the day or something which which was a record which is i mean it's not the biggest number in the world but any record itself should always be celebrated and i think that interest is only going to grow because after that they've spent a lot of time talking about how good it was and they were good they were very good very good that was an absolutely fantastic game of football from the Americans' perspective.

4:19I thought they were sensational. I mean, what did you tell me Alexi Lalas said, Nadam? So Alexi Lalas, at halftime in that show that they were on, this is Alexi Lalas, the former US international, like a mainstay, like soccer football. He's already made a lot of headlines, yeah, over here. He said, that is the best half of football I have ever seen at any men's World Cup. Okay. do you know if he would have said like us performance i'd be like yeah yeah i love it do you think pro to hyperbole maybe a little bit there i mean they were great and it was they were really entertaining and they could have had more and actually sort of bigger picture with what five days in something like that um there've been some really entertaining games and some really good performances already actually I thought the Dutch and Japan were great last night some of the football Ecuador played in the first half of this Ivory Coast was great I haven't managed to see Sweden thrash Tunisia but that's a bit of a eyebrow Yeah I watched the highlights this morning saw Alexander Isak returning to his Newcastle United form which was along the same lines as Alexi Lalas Gianni Infantino's social media is also interesting because his post about the USA game was everybody in the world is here, which is clearly not the case.

5:52Posters, pictures of people, he's probably got them blown up already. Him chatting to the likes of Bill Gates and Tom Cruise and David Beckham and various American pop stars. So it wasn't just the football. It was the occasion chappers as well. It felt huge in that stadium. It did feel huge. Although I might be a bit grumpy here when I say I'm fed up of cutaways to famous people in the crowd. I mean, my... Listen, we do it in this country as well, and it winds me up. I love that. I heard Colin say this yesterday. I know that Noel Gallagher's at a City game. I don't need to see him every time. But now it's like Beckham and Cruz and George...

6:34It's like, oh, my. I love that. Rod Stewart 27 times the other night at Foxborough. Do you know what? Am I grumpy? Am I tired of grumpy? No, no, you're not grumpy because I'm kind of with you on this. And in fairness, you know, we've got to give all those celebrities credit because, you know, they spent their hard-earned cash being there. You know what I mean? Sitting online, pressing, pressing, reboot, trying to get those tickets. Got so lucky with that lottery. Fair play to them. And it's not like Infantino to be surrounded by people with lots of money. oh my gosh the whole world is here Jay-Z was at Ecuador Ivory Coast last night in Philadelphia with a glass of champagne yeah I mean Tom Brady was at the Brazil-Morocco game as well with I think Travis Scott and I'm thinking what I can't wait for Chappers is when like the Euros or whatever comes to the British Isles and then we're seeing like influencers in the crowd and the cameras panning over it's like oh look at this person Angry Ginge is there oh Angry Ginge there's a streamer this person sells supplements online are we still going to praise our Everybody is here.

7:35The world is here. Occasionally on some live games that I've done, when you do the build-up, and occasionally they've then cut someone up in the crowd and I've looked at it and thought, I have absolutely no idea. And then they'll tell me in my ear who it is and I'm thinking, I still have absolutely no idea who that is. I can't mention it in case I pronounce it wrong or heaven forbid, look out of touch. I hate them doing that and not knowing though, don't you? like you know I then kind of want to know why are we cutting this person if I don't know who they are please tell me so that I can you know I did know this person when it was cut up once at a rugby game it was her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales but I didn't call her that I said oh Kate Middleton's in the house in the house can I tell you can I tell you how many days of abuse I got from mainly American based accounts telling me that basically I needed to be beheaded because I was anti-royal I didn't realise how incredible this woman was.

8:33I mean, she has got a loyal fan base. However, this brings me nicely on to another loyal fan base that I have felt the wrath of over the last few days. So Friday night, doing the opening Canada game in Toronto as host, there's obviously going to be an opening ceremony. They were playing Bosnian Herzegovina. And Michael Bublé was one of those people who was performing. And we, as I just mentioned, weren't, well, I said, sometimes you get stuff cut up, you're not expecting. We weren't going to cover the opening ceremony, as was the case, you know, in other tournaments. It goes on iPlayer. We're chatting football.

9:04We go to the game. And then the director just cut up a shot of Michael Bublé. We had a little listen. None of us recognised the track, singing a very, very slow, slow number. And I said something like, oh, maybe. No, well, I didn't even know he came out in June. And I said, oh, it's probably going to warm up and get a little bit, you know, the beat's going to get faster and get the crowd going soon. And then I asked Wayne if he was a fan. And then we came back to the studio. Anyway, the Buble fans treated this as disrespect and they didn't like it. And I got quite a few messages telling me that I was disrespecting the Buble.

9:34However, I was fine with that. I didn't respond to any of them. You're entitled to your opinion. Next day, Michael Buble himself on his personal account to 4.4 million people puts up one of these posts. And it is us in the studio talking over him. And he just left it there. And I thought, OK. So I replied to him, sent him a DM. and I said, look, I'm very sorry. We did actually put your whole thing up on iPlayer and the whole opening ceremony. And I hope you didn't treat it as a mark of disrespect. Then he sent back a really long considered message to me, telling me that it's shame in this age that people just look for the humour in something first.

10:08And it was a fair point. And I came back, I said, you know, mea culpa. I said, yeah, you know what? I never broadcast for clicks or likes, but maybe I did intentionally lead my pundits somewhere where I thought there might be a bit of humour, right? And so this was a private conversation. Then he came back and he said, look, Gabby, I appreciate you coming back to me. The BBC have always been so supportive of me. Please come to a gig. I'm going to be in the UK soon. Oh, my God. So I went from feeling like I was going to have kind of the wrath of bubles on my back for the rest of my life. To now being mates.

10:38We might be mates. Yeah, I think we might have become friends. So, yeah, because I genuinely do like Michael Bublé as well. So I didn't want to upset the bubster. and he was so Canadian, so polite, so lovely. So without bursting your boob away, are you sure it's him? Well, at first I thought this feels like somebody from his PR and then I looked at the content of his account and it's very personal. You know, you can just tell when somebody's not corporate, do you know what I mean? And then I looked at the message again and he put his initials to it. Now, I don't think you're allowed to do that if you're sending a message from a corporate account, you know, because he's signed it himself.

11:21So, yeah, look, we'll see. I mean, you're saying being naive, you think that somebody in his comms... That's what he sounded like, Chappas. No, no. All in an age of AI and scams, I was just... Well, there was a spelling mistake as well in there. Right, OK. I'm not saying he's got spelling issues. Please, boo-boo, pass. It wasn't... How every time do you make it worse? That's what I wanted that. Like, it started nice. Logan accuses Bublé of dyslexia. No, he just mislettered. You know, there was a T instead of a J at the beginning of a word. And I kind of felt that was human. You know, that's like, it's not AI.

12:01Onto the football from the home nation's perspective. Obviously, Scotland are the one who's got going first. A win's a win, right? I mean, we're not going to sit here and say how nervy it was in the second half, are we? You've already said it. Like, it's already in the universe. we're not going to say this thing that I'm just saying. The significance of the win is huge. I think for them to be able to celebrate that moment, because it's been such a long time since they were last scored at a World Cup, last were at a World Cup. So I think it's hugely significant. And the fact that they're sitting top of that table right now, which also features Brazil and Morocco, you absolutely have to drink it in.

12:37And the fact that there's also a big gap between games, you've got a long time to savor that, to savor some of the American pleasures as such and go into the next games believing that you can do it again. I think if we're talking like proper X's and O's, football tactics and things like that, some of it was underwhelming, but in reality, the most important thing is the result itself. And it was a great finish by John McGinn, hitting them with a slower ball that caused so much chaos that it had to be deflected in. So fair play. It's an incredible moment for them. There was so much passion in the stadium from them, passion around the world as well.

13:10And yeah, I think to sum it up from my perspective, so good friend of mine, Rachel Corsi, former Scotland captain, like she does punditry, she analyzes games. But for her, just the moment itself was the thing that was always the most important and the passion that she showed and the joy that it brought her afterwards. I didn't see her trying to break down any tactics. I just saw a woman that was very, very proud, like millions more. They weren't pummeled in the second half. It was just they sort of retreated and retreated. And Haiti had one really good chance that Piero had it. But apart from that, I mean, Angus Gunn wasn't making save after save after save.

13:47But I think the nerves of everybody meant that it felt, or the nerves of everybody Scottish meant it probably felt worse than it was. They had to win, didn't they? That was just win. Because you are going to have a much, much tougher test with the other two games in the group. But, you know, in a way, the shackles are off. Shackles are off.

14:12Go and tear into Brazil. Yeah. Do you know what? It's funny, actually, because football itself, I love it for so many different reasons, but one is match-ups do matter. And I think in this IT game, Scotland were favourites. They were supposed to be the protagonists. And as a consequence, when they weren't really playing to that manner, there were some question marks that were raised. But then these next two games that they have, in terms of like suiting, I wouldn't say necessarily a national identity, but a footballing identity, going up against the likes of Brazil and Morocco, where they can allow the other team to almost try and dictate, we're going to frustrate you, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, we're going to battle, we're going to fight.

14:48I think it probably suits them more than that first game. So who's to say they can't get more points? And I know once you start watching something, you get served more of it. But the scenes, the social media, the music, the singing in bars and streets and just the joyous kind of images that their fans have produced, this is what the World Cup is all about. We started the last podcast talking about some of the negative things, hoping the joy would take over. And they have certainly brought the joy. Yeah, they always do. They absolutely always do. I think the downside is sometimes you don't get to see them for too long in a tournament.

15:21But maybe this is the year that strange things do happen. You know, it's the biggest tournament ever in terms of the amount of teams. So who's to say it can't be them going further on? What else has stood out for you? So Switzerland and Germany, yeah. Interestingly, the stats from both games are basically exactly the same. The results are very, very different, yeah. The results are very, very different. So the way that Germany scored seven against Kurosawa, and I think Kurosawa probably a bit better than people realised in that game, but the finishing from Germany was like exceptional, absolutely exceptional.

15:55But if we're going to go to teams that aren't, you know, going to be expected to be in later rounds, then Australia winning 2-0. I think Australia winning 2-0 against Turkey is like, is massive because everyone had written them off, myself included but I just wasn't really saying it out loud whereas the Turks, like Chalunoglu, their captain, were saying you know we're technically the better team, we'll do this and we'll do that so when the US not the US, sorry, when Australia and other people associated with it can have this split screen of somebody saying how a game is going to be comfortable and easy as you then watch them lose to a team that they shouldn't be losing to allegedly, you know I think that makes for a great World Cup moment.

16:32So yeah, credit to Australia who were in the USA's group. I thought the last game was going to be USA against Turkey to see who finishes top immediately. Rip up my bracket. Waste of time. Don't know what I'm talking about. Well, whoever wins Turkey, Paraguay, likely knocks the other one out, doesn't they? Particularly if it's Paraguay that lose because I can't see even if they were to win their last game with their goal difference, I'd be surprised if they were to go through. I'm not sure if you've seen any of the Socceroos social media, but there is a film that they've put out. It's very simple.

17:06All the players appear to have self-filmed. It's very basic looking where they tell you where they were born and, you know, what their name is and a little bit about themselves. Very, very quick biog. Because quite a few of their players are from other countries, you know, either as babies, were there as refugees or they're not. They might appear to native Australians that they were from other countries, but they weren't. They were born in Sydney. And so this whole film is very clever in just telling Australians that we are Australian. This team is Australian and we are for you. And it kind of, you know, there has been in Australia, as there are in many countries around the world, there have been issues with immigration and they have very, very strict immigration policy there, much, much stricter than a lot of kind of European countries, but they still have their big issues.

17:54And I thought it was a really powerful video in sending a message, but also, I think, in a way that is quite brave, you know, because I don't imagine the FA would feel comfortable putting something like that out, you know, and heading off kind of potential abuse of its payers in a way. From a sort of like political standpoint, there's still groups of people that couldn't care any less and just use that as the reason to show why like it's not the Australia that it was or it's not the country that it was and so on. And I think groups like the FA and so on, they do try and be apolitical. But then sometimes it's at what cost?

18:31I think when you set the culture and decide what is acceptable and you stand behind it, then if people want to come along the journey, well, this is how it's going to be. So I do like the fact that they have done that. I think the forward that scored, he was born, it wasn't Tanzania, was it? Yeah, no, he's Burundi. He's a baby from Burundi, yeah. But then he's talking about how... yeah he's talking about how proudly like Australian he is and you realise how much he has in common with people who would probably say that he's never Australian and again you know can go into bigger discussions about identity and so on and so forth but all those players that are playing for Australia and playing for other teams around this World Cup are hugely proud to be able to do it I think particularly in Australia the kind of you look at Rugby Union Rugby League and ASL are much whiter you know they're much kind of more you know what Australians would you know think this isn't what Australia I'm not labelling Australia thinking that's what Australia looks like but in terms of the multicultural nature of the socceroos I would argue it's definitely a lot more diverse than both the league and union sides for example Seeing people from all around the world represent all these different nations and for them to do it in such a proud manner I think through all the games that I've seen so far from the Raul Jimenez one where he's scoring and he's in tears and he's pointing up to his father and all this stuff I just love the sort of there's like a pure amateur connection to this World Cup itself because for most things you'll do as a professional it's more or less about the money but in these moments here people will do this for free because what you are doing is living out a dream and say if you are representing Australia you're representing Australia the same way that somebody in Australia might stay up to watch a game you know what I mean that's been from this place and that place and you're uniting people with this sort of like dream and unity that comes through football.

20:16So I think for me, anything that's like divisive that gets brought into football misses the point. And I think that video that Australia and FA and stuff have done, I really like it because it's a reminder that like we all have so much in common and you know, the football side of things and playing for their nation is definitely one of them. We're going to talk England very shortly, even though nothing is happening. I mean, honestly. Don't be like that, Chappers. Don't be like that, Chappers. You're better than that. That's actually quite a good thing though, isn't it? Really? Yeah. I'm sure Thomas Tuchel's more than happy that nothing is really happening.

20:46But I was just going to mention one thing away from the World Cup, which is the Prem Rugby, the rugby union, which had its play-offs semifinals at the weekend. And I think for the last 10 years, Noah Wayside, is that right? I think it's a decade. Noah Wayside has won one of these play-off semifinals, which is because if you finish in the top two, you get the home advantage, which is how it should be. So then the teams finishing third and fourth have found it very hard to get through to the final. And that looked like it was going to be the case this weekend. Northampton beat Leicester in the first semifinal.

21:19Northampton finished top of the Prem. Cracking. Yeah, and then Bath, who finished second and had the lead over Exeter, were then victim of this comeback from Exeter, who are resurgent this season because they finished in the lower reaches last season. And all of a sudden, Exeter have bucked the trend and they will take on Northampton, which is good for the playoffs. Great for the game. I think it's great for the game in two ways as well, because like you just alluded to there, Exeter had such a terrible season last season and have shown how quickly you can turn things around, actually. To use an American phrase, if you bring in a good roster the next time round, because rugby union teams do tend to bring in 12 to 15 players a season and get rid of 10 to 15 players a season.

22:02So, you know, they've recruited well. But also, Bath had it in the palm of their hand. You know, they had it there for a drop goal for phase after phase after phase and just didn't go for it. they bottled it effectively and and they didn't have their mercurial 10 on the pitch um so you know they were they were obviously um you know kind of a little bit weakened in that respect um but you know it was um it was good for the game i think and and also good for sale who we both support for next season yeah well that's what kind of like i'm nudging towards that sale can turn it around next season and be back there in the playoffs um so there we go i'll see see you at Twickenham next season.

22:40100. 100%.

22:48I am genuinely fascinated to hear kind of what your take on Bellingham-Rodgers is actually. Is there a world where they play together? I think there is. Just because... How? I think there have been times for Villa in particular where Rodgers hasn't played more of like a central 10 type role. And in terms of the way that the two of them play, I think Rodgers at times is somebody that maybe wants to shoot from distance wouldn't mind dribbling past people using his speed and so on and I think that obviously can be valuable in a 10 position but I think that could also work within playing slightly off the left because then if you have a fullback on that left hand side that likes to go higher and offer the whip there then before you know it Rodgers can come in and have an impact in the same way that he was doing at times for Villa whereas Bellingham I think playing centrally is a bigger deal not least of all because Harry Kane obviously is a great finisher the leader and so on but his tendency is to be outside the box sometimes at key moments and I think Bellingham has Bellingham has to drive the physicality the timing and understanding of when to go in and almost be that striker in that space whereas I think Rodgers going into the box it changes the nature of like how he's going to attack um attack the ball and so on so I know there's some people that say Bellingham shouldn't play this that and the other I think Bellingham understands the game reads it incredibly well I think he's the better player and I don't think that's a controversial statement and I think the two can work well together provided that someone else can put the width on the left hand side as I say I think Morgan Rodgers can play just inside left and before you know it you can have lots of players linking up and doing a doing a great job because their profiles are slightly different but I think both can complement Kane and I think both can complement Kane at the same time so who then misses out it'd be Gordon or Rashford right that's what it would be.

24:29That's how I see it. And it's not like... I think, because they're playing against Croatia, and Croatia might be in a back three, they might be in a back four, maybe Tuka will be thinking about how he wants to pin them back. Because if you play with two wingers, then best case scenario, you can have two wingers that force two wingbacks to go back. And if Kane is in there, then they're going to have five players marking essentially three, which gives you a numerical advantage somewhere else. That's the best case scenario. But if they're playing maybe a four maybe you can adapt in a different way and say play with your fullbacks and have um and instead of having to have high wingers like gordon and saka or whatever on one side or the other or rashford and saka yeah you can just play a bit differently and understand that it's going to be more important to get people in and around the spaces between say the midfield and the back line and then that's when you start seeing um the likes of rogers and the likes of bellingham having huge influence and kane as well so i think it works i wouldn't be surprised if he goes with that because he does like Morgan Rogers but then I also understand that he sees the importance of having a Jude Bellingham out there on the pitch because it's not this is two years on now I think some of the, for me anyway, some of the talk about Bellingham doing this, Bellingham doing that, the atmosphere being this, atmosphere being that I think Bellingham is a more mature player now because it's very easy to forget that he's still very young in the grand scheme of his footballing career and I think he understands what's required, understands and has played more football with Harry Kane and those around him and And, you know, if he can deal with the sort of pressure of playing for Real Madrid and having two seasons without winning the trophy, I think him going out into this World Cup, being represented by people who think and want the same thing as him now for England, I think Bellingham is someone who has to play.

26:05And to what Chapa's just said as well, like there's very little around England at the moment. I think him almost coming out and addressing and saying in, you know, the Euros, there was something of a disconnect. It's almost shut that conversation down a little bit because he's almost saying, we've all moved on. So you guys need to move on because, yeah, there was something not quite right there. And he's without saying it, I feel he's saying, I've changed, actually. And, you know, and that and that felt like a moment of maturity as well. And clearly things are going all right because we'd have heard, you know, the jungle drums would have been would have been banging away, wouldn't they?

26:39Saying, you know, that, oh, it's hard keeping them. Of course, it's hard keeping them all happy in camp. It's always going to be tough, isn't it? Keeping 26 elite athletes happy. but nothing that seems anything more than the norm at the moment. Yeah for sure just silence from the England camp is as good as we've probably ever had it in our lifetimes like nothing's going on what's going on today I think they're training yeah tomorrow there might be a game yeah that's it I think that kind of that's good obviously there was a lot of noise around the squad itself when it was picked but again people moved on from that quickly they've played two two friendlies they've gone fine as such I think the second one in particular they looked quite decent so there's no real drama now for those England players they've been watching the World Cup begin and speaking from my experience which is only like under 21s as such for England but when you see a tournament start it gives you this sense of excitement and drive but also an understanding that it's now time to focus and for those players they'll be desperate to get out there and put the mark down against a familiar adversary to be honest and I'm backing them 100 % I mean this is actually if you look at their rankings what is it 4-11 I think so actually as is always the case with Croatia it's not Germany-Curacao is it with all due respect No, no, it's not Germany-Curacao at all it's set up to be like a really good game but again maybe some of this is like a blind faith because Croatia in the last two World Cups have made it to a final and to a semi-final but I just like the feel of this England team and from a match-up standpoint a maturity standpoint I think they have lots of different ways to try and go up against the Croatia and you know beat them I think the last time they played on this stage was in 2018 the semi-final was it yeah but they played they played against each other in the Euros obviously the first group game didn't they as well a couple years after that I think Croatia are a really good side but like there's a reason why England and the other teams that make up that top four who have that pathway in theory, you know, they'd meet in the semifinal.

28:42I think England are a very, very good side with a ton of options. And if they perform to their, if they perform like, if they're clinical like Germany were, as opposed to not clinical, like say Switzerland were, then I think you end up finding a game where England would be the better side and England would win. And for as much as, and maybe this is just my bias here, for as much as say England-Croatia is a good game, I think Croatia beating England still feels like a bigger story, which in some ways shows that England are the better team and as a consequence probably should be winning as opposed to the other way around.

29:12And they're getting on this Croatia side, aren't they? Because the majority of their best players were there in 2018. And, you know, I know much is made of Modric and his incredible, you know, resilience and, you know, physical capability to keep going, Chappers. Well, they're getting on to such an extent that I think Nadim played against Modric. I did. Yeah, I did, yeah. And awkwardly... Did you comp him? did I and also I'm like I'm obviously I'm not the perfect example of this but I'm five or six years retired and Modric is a year old and he's still playing it's a dark time to meet Chappers as I look back and think should I have played longer there's quite a few of them there's quite a few of them I'm well aware James Milner retiring has done me all types of favours because we were literally the same age or we are literally the same age but yeah I remember playing against Modric when he was at Spurs it was 2010-11 when I was on loan at Sunderland and he was like he was good he was technical but you just looked at him and thought this guy is too he's too little and he can't be significant within football and then fast forward a decade and a bit and he did alright I think in that game as well that I played I was playing right back and Gareth Bale this is when I think he'd maybe moved to left wing and it's obviously I was thinking this guy as well who's this guy what's he trying to go for here so it turns out my punditry has been wrong for not just this last year I think we're talking decades now because those two ended up doing alright What would you rather, Nadim?

30:39I mean, to be playing in a World Cup now or to be sat in a hotel room on the East Coast of America, talking about World Cup with me and Gabby, what would you rather? Let me think on that, Chappers. Both are kind of living the dream. I got a bit obsessed, you know, you go down a rabbit hole. And as you know, Chappers, from the very beginning of the sports agents, secretly, Nadim, I've been searching for older sporting heroes to kind of model my life on, thinking that maybe I had another wind in me and there was something else I could do, you know. God, this will be good. I've given up the ghost.