Should Eriksen play on, World Cup L-plates & a new Athletics rivalry?

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0:32This is a Global Player original podcast. Even in this instance now, we're not thinking that this is the end of Christian Eriksen. For his family, though, there's other things that play here, isn't there? But it means an awful lot of players, for example, Erling Haaland, and the whole of the Norway team. And the whole of the Scotland team. And the whole of the Scotland team will be running around with a badge on that says... Trainee, yeah. That says trainee. Well, then, if you want to get through an injury, just don't play a game, then. You know what I mean? She got me tickets for Madonna gig and she just dropped in.

1:01Yeah, I'll be there at the final because Madonna's performing.

1:14Welcome to the Sports Agents. Hi, Gabby. Hi, Nadam. Hi, Chappers. Hi, Nadam. How are we all? Very good, thank you. I'm glad. Well, I'm always glad that Nadam's. Well, I'm glad that you're both here. God, how do I think about how to add? Smooth stuff. Smooth stuff. I know Gabby wants to talk about the athletics and I haven't seen the athletics, but you did see the athletics. So I could just sit and listen to the two of you talk about it. Well, it was the Stockholm Diamond League. And I'm not sure about Nadim, but I don't think we were expecting the kind of fireworks that we had at Stockholm quite so early in the season.

1:45Which was the biggest story for you? Mondo losing or Keeley losing in that manner? Keeley. Keeley. Really? Yeah, I think so. I feel like her preparation, as we know, is absolutely meticulous. And that's why she ran a British record. Right. And she's she's an incredible form. But I think it is Audrey Wero improving how she has from the indoors by, you know, the time she set the indoors to this is unbelievable. She is the Swiss athlete who has come second to Keely indoors. And she ran 153.98, which is the third fastest of all time. that that's what I think has blown this event apart so where was before the start of this season or the indoors where where was she in relation to she's not come from nowhere she was an under European under 20 champion she's not one of those you're gonna go hang on a minute where she come from her her project her career is you know on an upward curve she's linear there's no kind of sense of it being um oh she didn't run this quickly you know kind of but she's obviously made great progress since her indoor season to now she looked so strong I mean when Keely was on the bend did you think Keely had it there I genuinely did like Keely's run a personal best yesterday and if she didn't finish second we'll probably talk about oh it's incredible she ran this personal best but instead it's like well somebody went quicker and I think Inwero as well she's two years younger so from our perspective I feel like we spent a lot of time talking about Keely's going to try and break the world record going to try and break the world record and we're almost seeing it in like a singular fashion and now where i was like oh just just hold on a second yeah and hold my drink exactly and as we've spoken about before gabby so where i train is opposite man city stadium which is the home of m11 track track uh track club and that's where keely and others do train for part of the season and i see the work that they put in listen i'm glad that i'm not doing any of that impossible absolutely impossible for 99.9 of everyone but I like that she says she's going to be more determined to go and make sure that doesn't happen again but it's interesting because you've just run a personal best and it's a sense of unhappiness feels like the exact opposite of the way that athletics works well that's what I love about this that it's going to be a rivalry as you say she's only two years younger the the perceived wisdom is that Keeley's got another four or five years maybe before she if she can stay fit before she even hits her peak if you look at the fact that Dame Kelly Holmes won her double gold when she was well into her 30s, 32, 33.

4:10So, you know, over eight in 1500. So Keeley isn't even her best, you know, at her best yet, we don't think. And so if Audrey and her are pushing each other, and there've been a few other, you know, they've come and gone, haven't they, a little bit in terms of Keeley's protagonists. I think this is, and it's a European Championships this year. What do you want? You want the best, second best athlete, or, you know, you want the two of them to be European, don't you? And to go for it in that European Championships. And it's good for Keeley, isn't it? I think so. Do you? In what sense? In what sense?

4:38In that... She's literally just run the quickest she's ever run outdoors and finished second. Yeah, absolutely. Why is that good for her? Because now there is... I'm not saying people in the past haven't been serious competitors, but now there is the possibility of a rivalry. And a rivalry would fire you up and drive you even more, rather than just you against the cross. Well, her main rival in terms of training, of course, has been Georgia, hasn't it? And Georgia Hunter-Bell and her have kind of pushed each other and talk about pushing each other. Now she's got somebody outside W11 in that camp.

5:13And she's going... M11. M11. Sorry, W11 is a postcode in West London. The North matters. M11. And I feel it's quite... I just think it's really set the season kind of up beautifully. Do you disagree? No, no. It's just, again, let's take a step back. We've said it's good for Keeley. Well, what is it for Vero then? like she's just beating her once do you think she's gonna be like oh well i'm just gonna rest up now no you know what i mean she's gonna audrey vero's like as uh as gabby said it's the third fastest time ever outdoors she's just broken one minute 54 this is like iconic she's 0.7 away from the world record do you think vero's looking at keely or do you think vero's looking at the world record because yeah i think so that's why is that good for keely the world everybody seems to be suggesting that the world record attempt, if conditions are right, Keeley was aiming for the London Diamond League, which is in July.

6:07I think it's actually the same day as the World Cup final. And she, you know, we felt it was going to be one of Keeley's front running kind of exhibitions where she's, you know, she's on a pace. But actually, if it's a race to a world record, man, that is, you know, since the London 2012 Olympics, when an 800 metre world record was set in that stadium, I think this is one of the most exciting events that could possibly happen in that stadium and that includes you West Ham fans um so I feel oh no so yeah I and then of course as you say Mondo Duplantis was beaten as well which happens I mean I mean how often has he been beaten in his whole career like you know probably that's the first time for nearly three years yeah I think do you know the Mondo one's a bit different in my mind because obviously credit to Marshall for winning it but it felt more so like just implied Duplantis didn't jump as well as overall as well as he has done in the past.

7:01There's no way Marshall's thinking, I'm going to jump 590 and I'm going to win this competition. These are weird times usually. It's like, oh, everyone's having this little mess around, this, that and the other. But maybe the tell was in the fact that Mondo failed, I think his first attempt, was it at 550 or something? It looked to me like something might have been off with him, obviously with my special training. His special pole vault training. Yeah, my pole vault specialist eyes, you know now. But for him to not, because what's, Gabby, do you know what his world record is? Is it in the 20s or 630s?

7:29something so it's far and he only cleared 580 yesterday so is it about oh yeah it's totally about mondo having an off day for me right it's not i mean because obviously we all thought that corrales was the man who was hopefully going to push him a bit and corrales has come closest to him but corrales is still way off you know so um so he'll be back of course but also from a sprinting point of view and i know that's your specialist area nadam amy hunt um going sub 11 for the first time in the 100 metres is she's a 200 metre specialist. So for her to be doing that at this time of the season, and I put a bit of daylight between herself and Dina Asher Smith as well in that race, I think from a British perspective is very interesting.

8:09They seem to have a very gnarly rivalry, which I quite like. It's another good rivalry. It's another good rivalry. These British sprinters going against each other now. And we know that Americans come along and blow it all out the water. Yeah. To be fair as well, what I like about this Amy Hunt one is like her breaking 11 because you said yourself she's a 200 meter specialist but there was a diamond league was on thursday yeah and i think she finished maybe fourth or fifth in that running 22 5 or so whereas the winner was um i think she was 21 9 it's because melissa jefferson woodham was second in that race julian alfred i think won that one so for her to have an indifferent performance relatively speaking on the thursday but then run a personal best on the sunday in an event that's not hers like could it to and what i love about track as well this is sometimes why i prefer it to football so she's finished second in that race this is honestly this is like the the exact opposite of keely's thing amy hunt's finished second in the race and she's delighted because she's just broken 11 seconds keely's finished second in hers with a pb and she's fuming so this will never happen again you know what i mean so much like nuance to it all but you also prefer it because football's your i'm guessing because football is your job and athletics is your hobby.

9:23Yeah, that part. That part is definitely true. But again, with track, it's just the individual nature of it. You get out what you put in. There are plenty of times in football and probably other team sports where you can... So I'm going to put a very specific shout out here. So Esme Morgan, who plays for Washington Spirit in the US, she's a friend of mine and she played for England against Spain midweek and I thought she was very good and they lost 4-0. So she can't talk about being very good because they lost 4-0. She can't, but don't you think individuals within a team go away knowing they've put in a good performance?

9:58They do, they do, but certain things like just can't be mentioned. You know, another example, like, sorry to make this about me again, get used to it. But QPR in 2012, we were 2-0 down at home against Liverpool. We ended up winning 3-2 and it's like an iconic game for the football club. It's one of the worst games I've ever played. So when people put the highlights on, I'm like burying my head like, oh my goodness gracious me. So I've got the other side of that as well. But on the numerous occasions QPR were thrashed that season. Did you ever have a good game and go in after it was a go? All your fault.

10:31What I would say, Chappers, is a good defender always at some point is involved in the frame as the ball goes into their net because it shows that they're trying. Be wary of the people that you don't see because they're the ones who have given up. But that's where I think the mentality of elite team players is interesting because even in a losing team, you have to get something out of it, don't you? because your progress and your journey in sport can't just be predicated on the success of the team you're in. And I've seen that a bit with Ruben this season playing for Sale Sharks. They've had a really poor season overall by their standards because it's the first time in a while they haven't made the playoffs.

11:07But him as a young player, he finished the season coming on for Tom Curry. If you told him at the beginning of the season, this is how you're going to end your season, he'd have been thrilled with that, right? And so while he, the same as you, can't go around going, oh this is a great season he knows personally he's hit his metrics you know i mean he's the things he wanted to hit and and so he's got to take some comfort from his own individual performance while at the same time wanting the team to do better yeah exactly whereas an individual sport i've run a pb yeah i'm incredible you know what i mean but team wise yeah well i gotta mention another individual then here which is charlie hull who missed out on a major and missed out on a major by a stroke last night because Nellie Corder, the world number one, birdied 17 to go one stroke clear and then parred 18.

11:56So, again... Is that the fifth time, Chappas? That's the fifth time that she's finished as a runner-up. Nellie Corder has now won the first two majors of this season, but she couldn't have done much more yesterday, couldn't Charlie Hull. She was coming from behind. she shot a 67 she couldn't have got herself in a much better place but you're at the mercy of someone else's individual brilliance and she's the world number one and that feeds into what happened at Roland Garros yesterday Zverev winning his first ever slam and he has come I think he's had five he might have had five semi-final defeats and three final defeats I'm going to double check that.

12:41And that was all kind of, I felt a bit sorry for him because in all the reporting, that was kind of caveated within that. But then, oh, and of course, Sinner went out early. And of course, Carlos Alcaraz is injured for the season. And you're like, this guy's just won. Let him just win, right? Let him just win because he beat who he needed to beat to win this. So yeah, it's, and he's going to go away saying, I've finally done it. And you know, he's not going to go around when he's 60 going, oh yeah, but that was the year that Carlos Alcaraz has had a hand injury, is he? I know or Yannick Sinner suffered a surprise defeat it doesn't put an asterisk next to it.

13:17Depends who you are sometimes people's bias just seeps out doesn't it? Well it does, yes it does very much so. England, New Zealand when I knew we were going to talk England and New Zealand I thought we were going to talk cricket but it actually turns out England played New Zealand. Did you watch the wrong sport? No I probably. Which was the wrong sport to be fair? We're very much in June the World Cup hasn't started I'm watching the cricket that's that's kind of how it should be anyhow england won the first test against new zealand which was important that they did do given the terrible winter uh that they had but it wasn't a great test match it was over very quickly the pitch wasn't great um but they did what they needed to so that's all i have to say on that did the football team i was gonna say could you could you just apply that summary to what happened yeah i think i think that's very like a a warm-up game for a World Cup or just for any tournament.

14:07I'm used to seeing them say domestically so you'd have a bit more of a crowd but instead the stadium was like half empty the pitch wasn't necessarily one of the prime football pitches you'll find in America and New Zealand were kind of reeling because I believe they lost their last friendly to maybe Haity or someone like that. Yeah they got thrashed. Yeah so it was a bit more of like a rearguard performance from then and England as well you knew they were going to be changing the team at half time so it was Is it just about getting through uninjured? but then if you want to get through un-injured like just don't play a game then you know what I mean like I think there's a team I forget which team it is but there is a team mate and it's not Brazil there's a team decided they're not going to have oh Uruguay they're not playing any warm-up games is that Bielsa yeah Bielsa said no warm-up games he literally said no warm-up games and in fairness like to make it about let's say a slightly different player Nico Williams I think is playing for Wales this week and that's his 63rd game this season you could make the case that like what is the purpose of a warm-up game at the end of a season anyway you know so obviously the right answer is always that comes from the team who wins stuff but either way you know but what but we go back to england cricket team okay what one of the massive massive criticisms for the england cricket team when they lost the ashes was that they didn't prepare properly ahead of the first test so for example they had one warm-up match which was an inter-squad warm-up match so how competitive is that but they also played at a venue that had no was in no way going to replicate the same conditions in perth for the first test such as a wicket and that the wicket and and its bounce and so on and so forth so i can understand that with the cricket with the football if you are training to the extent that you are already training within the heat where what where are the other benefits because it's not about you know with cricket for example australian conditions are very different to indian conditions which are different to pakistan which are different to england therefore getting used to swing and seam and bouncing is really really important football football's football really isn't it simplify the sport that i love so much yeah sure yeah but bar humidity but you but you can replicate your training conditions i would have thought so more yeah yeah yeah i think you but then I think for this World Cup itself every team is obviously in a difficult position because their conditions very much depend on where in the country or the three countries they're going to be whether they're going to be under a roof or whether they're going to be out in the Miami Heat at that stadium so it is very very tricky but one thing I would say which is a shame from my perspective having played in MLS there are lots of stadiums there and pitches which are really good for football the England game was played on a field which wasn't really built for football and I think it showed in the game whereas yesterday Morocco played against Norway I think it was at the stadium that New York Red Bulls play in.

17:02And it was a proper game of football, even though it was still hot. And the fact is, the majority of those MLS stadiums... But they knew what they were doing, England. They've had a chance to arrange. So why would they not want to play somewhere? It's up to them, isn't it? These warm-up matches are up to them. They're not... FIFA don't dictate. No, no. It's interesting as well, Gabby, just because... So Arsenal made it to the Champions League final, playing against PSG. and when the England game was being played, the Arsenal players that weren't playing at that point, they were flying out to Tampa that day because they were given five days off and they were going to fly over and so on, which for me is perfectly fair.

17:39And then I went on to the next game that's being played. I think it was maybe Brazil versus Egypt and Gabriel and Martinelli, both Arsenal players, were on the bench. Marquinhos was on the bench for Brazil. They'd already come over. Then Faso, the next day, Martin Odegaard starting for Norway. So Tuchel's tried to say, have a break and have this. Whereas other teams are saying it's the World Cup. We'll only know whether his method has worked on the 19th of July, won't we? We'll only know whether or not it was... Whether they're playing or watching the game. So we can't say, can we now, whether it was a good idea to give them five days rest, whether, you know, it would seem sensible to give them rest.

18:16It would in some ways, but then, I don't know, because I think for other countries and other people, there's a desperation to just be with the team. because the club side of things is obviously important but the national side for pretty much all players is everything. Like this is a chance to be at a World Cup to be part of that movement and I think for some they're always like very keen to get straight in the mix which is probably why those players are bad. Martin Odegaard though didn't have the greatest final did he? He's probably desperate to go somewhere. Well to be fair he's not alone from that standpoint.

18:45Can we talk about Norway just briefly? I know this wasn't on our agenda but their build up in terms of PR has been magnificent. You like the Viking photo, don't you? I love the Viking photo, but I also, I'm loving the social media that's being fed to my algorithm of their fans in New York, just like taking over. And how, first of all, how can they afford that? There are thousands of them, you know, and they are every single one in a shirt or they've got their Viking horns on. And they're, I mean, New Yorkers must be going, what the what is going on here with these guys? They are giving proper World Cup vibes right now.

19:22That group is my favourite group. Really? Okay. Yeah, because they are in with France, Senegal and Iraq. So I just think there are so many stories there. I think the France-Senegal kind of dynamic will be really interesting. You've got one of the favourites for the tournament in Iraq, in the French. but also a Norway team that people are very interested in seeing because it's been so long since they've been there and obviously because of some of the players that they've got. So how much of a challenge will they be? And then Iraq, and I was talking to Renny Mullenstein, who is the Iraq assistant manager.

20:06You know, to get to where they have got to at this World Cup is one of the qualification stories of any nation with, even before the conflict in Iran And how that affected their travel ahead of the extra playoffs. The number of games they have had to play. We're talking in the 20s, I think, to qualify. Certainly high teens are in the 20s. So that journey, just to get there, I look at that group and I think it could be quite difficult to call who might finish second or third. And the different stories within. That's my favourite group. I think with Norway as well, having watched them yesterday.

20:46like we I'll hold my hands up and say I've got a bit somewhat of a European bias and to see them sort of qualify through the same group that Italy did beating Italy twice and convincingly as well both times I'm thinking oh you know they've got Haaland they've got Odegaard they've got Solov they've got this guy they've got that guy they're going to be great they played against Morocco yesterday and Morocco for the most part battered them it finished 1-1 but Morocco looked like the finished article Norway looked like a team that was arriving there for the first time in a while which is what they are I think in some ways we've on a viking vote literally on the boat think how long that took you know they're not gonna be ready for the tournament but yeah that group will be interesting but again like because you can finish third and still get through you know you'd like to think that maybe they'll be able to do that morocco am i morocco even though it's very difficult to say that your dark horses were previous tournament are you talking morocco the afghan winners or afghan finalists well i'm staying clear of that of that slightly controversial subject but i just um did he score the penalty or did he miss it they are my dark horse anyhow i appreciate they are in the same group as scotland so that is yeah well scotland can as you've said before scotland can sort it all out with a win over haiti can't they and pretty much oh we didn't say that on this podcast this was an off off air chat actually wasn't it we were talking about uh scotland yeah that is and and it it's fallen nicely for them hasn't it because you want to play haiti first i think and get that and not be losing and then go into a pressure match yeah i think so i think to to obviously we can't expect them to just win but there's a very good chance that they will win and to have that positive energy around winning a game at the world cup is going to take you in a far best position into those next games and it's not to say that you know they'll definitely lose those games but that extra a bit of belief you never know they also had they had a good warm-up match in scotland because they beat bolivia 4-0 and myself and adan were talking about this which came into the studio and adan was particularly negative about that going well bolivia haven't qualified but you can only beat what's in front of you but steve that's when you pick and choose what's in front of you steve clark has said that um there are places up for grabs so that probably changed their mentality around warm-up matches yeah i think they they played at the same place that i think uh morocco played yesterday so it's like a proper football pitch so they can do their thing i will listen i'm not trying to be negative about any game because in the grand scheme of things none of these games probably matter anyway but if they would have beaten bolivia in bolivia where the altitude is a billion meters above sea level then i'd be like yeah they're gonna win it all but they don't have to go to the past um she's there showing her south american knowledge there um i i like such a good pointless contest i love capital city right um the uh scotland are producing some of the best memes so far on social media or at least their fans they're very quick off the mark with things and um a lot has been made of the fact that obviously they are not naturally predisposed to to tanning let's say and then there was this one brilliant post which was like scotland are the first team they're gonna be sent home from a world cup because of sunburn and um and i had a few of their players already looking quite red.

24:01But that reminded me of Anthony Gordon's post-match interview where he said, normally I can run around all day, but here I just can't. And it was like this great surprise that he's not going to be able to do what he does ordinarily. And I'm wondering how many players kind of went in thinking, oh, it's hot. I've been on holiday before. And then when they start running and their lungs really feel it and their body feels it, how quickly they're going to have to adapt the way, you know, something like him, he is there, isn't he, to run. And that is, you know, that is what he's been doing brilliantly for Newcastle or he was doing at certain points of the season If Scotland fans do end up with slightly rosy cheeks from the sun does that contrast well with their away kit?

24:42Because their away kit's salmon pink So many papers and websites and stuff have done Not good for a Celtic This is the World Cup as well where the debutantes have something on their shoulder as well don't they? Because of tops Oh, you know, anybody who hasn't played at a World Cup before has to wear a badge. Like a learner driver's badge. Yeah, it says debutante or debut or something. And then that is then going to be taken off and turned into... This is all to do with... This is all to do with... Who'd have thought I'd come alive on this subject? I've never seen you Zappi before. So this is because FIFA are ending their sponsorship deal with Panini.

25:28after this World Cup and then they're doing it with the people who do the cards. Is that tops, right? So therefore, they then become collectibles. So for any player, they will then take the debut off their shirt and make it into a collectible card. So it's a money-making thing, but it means an awful lot of players, for example, Erling Haaland and the whole of the Norway team. And the whole of the Scotland team. And the whole of the Scotland team will be running around with a badge on that says... Trainee, yeah. that says trainee yeah debut that's a bizarre thing isn't it it's like the badgers you used to get at Cubs for you know listen anything goes at this World Cup get used to it tiger not yeah anything goes do you think we should have little stars Chappers how many World Cups we've presented on we should have little stars here we go here's the flex here's the flex here we go here we go debut Nadim no it's not actually alright no it's fine good try though good try Chappers it would be hang on oh here we go here we go tell me you're old seven yeah okay tell me about italian 90 chapters go i wasn't presenting that one oh actually it's my eighth it's my eighth is it did you do france 98 as well no so i'm going two four six ten fourteen twenty two oh no seven yes you're right i added a euros in there i added a euro's in yeah i went to france 98 but i didn't um i didn't i just watched i was on gardening well i was on gardening leave i just left sky and they wouldn't let me start work with itv so itv just invited me over and i got to go to some oh lovely yeah different times i went to the final i went to the final and stayed in the george sank i mean you know like it was yeah different days no holiday in media city back then is that an edit point no that'll stay in next we'll talk about uh the upsetting scenes yesterday from denmark's friendly with ukraine when christian ericsson collapsed on the pitch but was saved by his icd implant

27:44one final thing we should just touch on which is the the uh worrying scenes yesterday of uh christian ericsson uh collapsing during denmark's friendly with ukraine um the team doctor morten burson said afterwards uh he's doing well and walked off the field himself the pacemaker is working as it should he was briefly unconscious but regained consciousness very quickly and we were quickly in contact with him and he's now been checked in hospital i mean i saw some photos actually of some teammates who were on the pitch the first time he collapsed and they they were really upsetting actually those images yeah absolutely um to see it once is one thing to see it twice is crazy.

28:29But again, we're very, very happy that the device has worked. Otherwise, we could have seen a real tragedy there. And to be out on the pitch and to see that, you just don't expect it. There are so many things you sort of prepare for in life. You don't really prepare to see somebody who you think potentially just dropped down and died in front of you. But, like I say, we'll take the positives. The fact that he is conscious, the fact that he is cared about, the fact that medicine is in a place to whereby, after the first time, he still could have gone back to do the thing that he loves. And even in this instance now, we're not thinking that this is the end of Christian Eriksen.

29:02So you think that his football career will go on, Nodem? I think it potentially could do. I think it could do. I think the issue comes in terms of like, where is he going to be playing, say club football and the insurance policies and stuff involved with that? Because for some, they're probably going to be sort of turned away by it. But I think given how the first time went, Christian Eriksen wanted to get back playing football and we saw him do a very good job of that as well. I think from after he went, was it Brentford, United and then Wolfsburg as well. For his family though, you know, there's other things at play here, isn't there?

29:35Yeah, I think there is. I think there is. And what I would say from a sports person's perspective, you do think about your family as such, but sometimes if you think about your family solely, you'll never do anything. I think there are certain things where in his career, the amount of time he's been away from family, the stuff he's had to go through with injury and so on. And from the outside, you kind of want somebody to stop and not suffer. But for Christian, if this is who he is, the person that plays football, that's what he will be sort of having the desire to do until somebody says, you cannot do it anymore.

30:04It did make me think about the conditions that players are going to face in the World Cup. And it is going to be, we've talked about it already, how hot and humid and testing it is going to be. And I know they're going to have drinks breaks, but that puts a lot of strain on the body. Yeah, I think it really, really does. And I think you've made a brilliant point there. But again, there's a side to professional sport whereby you don't believe that you'll struggle. You are amongst the fittest in all of the world. You have a game coming up and you're going to try your socks off. I'm going to start this game on the front front.

30:38I'm going to go and get after this person, get after that person. And it's very rare that players choose to take a more conservative route within it. I think at times it might descend into that, as we saw at times in the Club World Cup last year, where some of the teams were more so just like standing off each other. But the nervous energy, the excitement, like it's a World Cup, I'm playing at a World Cup, I want to be the difference. And those conditions just kick in. And yes, it's great that you can have a water break. But for the way football works, you can't just stop. You always have to try and continue to do your job.

31:07And I hope that obviously nothing bad happens to anybody throughout the rest of this World Cup. But we talk about the heat in this instance. Well, how about if you're playing in Mexico City and it's like 2 ,000 meters elevation and really hot as well. This is going to be as tough as it comes. And I think from my perspective now, sitting on the outside, it's kind of like watching an extra time in a game. You want people to do more, but the people cannot do more because physically at times it's nearly impossible. So whether or not the players understand that and they sort of play into that, hopefully they do, but then it might come at the expense of those watching from the outside.

31:38In terms of selection, managers will be more open with their players about, you know, because they always say, don't they, to certain players, don't worry, we'll win the first two, we'll get you in in the third, you know, to try and keep everybody happy. Do you think they will actually be a bit more honest because then a player knows they can give of themselves knowing they're going to be rested for a game? Or do you think it's game by game? I think to be honest, it's game by game. But I think also the positive in terms of the health of the players for this World Cup is the fact you can still finish in the top three and get through to the knockouts.

32:09I think if we're going to look at it in a really open manner, in the past when it was just a top two, like even if we talk about like an England perspective, I always remember the stress that people would feel when England would draw their first game it's like full panic stations demanding the manager gets it right in the next game whereas when you know realistically you can probably get through say three possibly four points and arrive with a bit of momentum maybe you can see it in a sort of longer term fashion but let's not forget that also what comes after the second match normally of the group stages are complete don't forget what comes next is the ah yeah but if you do this the easier path may be to draw our final game and finish second and then we avoid brazil here or argentina here so i mean that's that's coming yeah and especially with the third place thrown in as well yes that is coming down the track big time for me like the first part of the world cup might feel a little bit stale but from match week three i think that's when you get a real sense of the chaos of it all.

33:14Because for all we know, there could be a group where the four teams, every team could finish top. You know what I mean? So all of a sudden, you've got your little wall chat. Well, if England do this and they do that, then they'll go there. Then before you know it, all that just needs to get ripped up. And I think that's when it kicks on. Obviously, on behalf of the media companies covering the World Cup, let's hope the first two weeks aren't stale. Yes. I didn't mean that. They would be incredible. particularly for Gabby's big opener. Canada-Bosnia, which is the one I've read, yeah, is basically a lot of people's worst group.