WORLD CUP Bonus Episode: Week Two

28:27It was a very reactive rule as well. It reacted to a particular incident because that incident involved a star player. Do you remember when they said only captains can speak to the referee? Yes. They made a new rule. The players can't swarm the ref. Only the captains can speak to the referee. Players still ran to the referee. And then they said, we'll give you a yellow card for this. Imagine if they said red. Oh, the other rule as well was you can't ask for a yellow card. Yes. And players, every time they are fouled. Yeah, they would do this. And then they would get yellows. Yes, yes. But then over time, they stopped doing it.

29:02Except Vinicius. They stopped doing it. But imagine if it was... Guys, red cards are such... A red card for me is such an egregious offense. It changes the dynamic of the game. Changes the complexion. Conditions the whole game. The good thing for Paraguay is it didn't cost them. Ultimately. And now we're going back. Imagine if you're a Turkey fan going, these guys got a red card. But I have a question for you. Turkey and Tunisia, who is having the worst World Cup? Turkey. Turkey? Yeah, Turkey. Because Tunisia fired their coach after losing 5-0. And we'll say they improved because they lost 4-0.

29:39No, but Turkey. Turkey's having a worse one because Turkey had... Look at the team. Look at the team. Look at the footballing heritage. They're in a moment. Turkey's having the worst one. You know who was spared? Actually, the blush is funny enough. I think Turkey would have wanted to do what many of the other clubs who had a shaky start did so Brazil you know like Brazil came out and said we've seen every meme we've seen every critique we've seen every pundit Carlo Ancelotti switched out his front line put Kunia in benched Igo Thiago said okay let's play this game let's get out there and very quickly they were on top of the game it helps when you're playing Haiti though in your second game But we say that until you're drawing against Cape Verde.

30:24You're right, yes, yes. You know what I mean? And I think that's the biggest thing I've noticed at this World Cup is the big teams in this second week, especially the ones who didn't have a good… Spain and… Yeah? Yes. Even Netherlands, etc. They came out swinging now instead of like allowing the game to develop and thinking… The Netherlands scored two goals in the first like 20 minutes of their game. Yes, yes. Sweden turning Brian Broby into prime Klaivart and also Cody Gapko into prime Rudvanisteroy but that game we'll talk about that game should have who else Defeatros Closer yes scored Brazil scored their first two goals how quick do you know what I mean it's like I think a lot of the teams are realizing this isn't a league match it can't have the pace of a league match you want to get in get your goals as quickly as possible and then get into the game and Spain you saw that in their game right came out first game they were like oh no let's build it out tika taka let's feel the game they're like no this is not because they forget that their opponents are so happy to get a draw you know what I mean you can a draw is valuable at this World Cup especially when third place gets you through if you're in the top eight third teams you know but now the teams came out Brazil guns blazing Spain guns blazing but I think also the thing with opening games opening games are always very cage affairs because no one I mean like when it's your first game in the World Cup it's almost like look at England look at England and look at France England was playing Croatia though yeah but look at England and France yes they were like there's nothing cagey about this you in my opinion no team that's a big team okay should ever believe that the first game should be cagey because a first game literally means nothing it also means nothing yes yes you lose it if you lose it you can still go on to win a World Cup we've seen many winners do that.

32:18Spain, Argentina, yes. So the first game is a game where you should just come out, swing as hard as you can and then calibrate. But the thing is you're just saying that as a monolith, as a team, but I'm saying the players, the individual players don't want to get affected by the fast game nerves. No player wants to be seen as a player who made the mistake. My friend. Who made... It's almost like, you know when you come on as a substitute and they go like, let the first touch just be safe enough. My friend, this is the World Cup. You can't put on a Brazil shirt and not be sure of yourself. Mateus Cunha, that guy did not look like he was just trying to fill out the game.

32:51Yeah, because he came as a substitute. He was fighting for his place. Yes. He got Thiago, put him on the bench. Look now. But now, yeah, but I'm saying second game, things have settled now. Yeah. The worst that could happen has almost happened. But not Lamin, Yamal. Lamin from the first game. He came on as a substitute as well. Yeah, but he didn't settle. Lamin has the fearlessness of youth though. No. You know, Joe, Messi, Messi, teenagers don't care. Messi first game. Messi first game. Mercy has the fearlessness of a veteran. No, you're going to make excuses for everyone. You're going to make excuses for everyone now.

33:23Yes, no, no, you're right. Harry Kane? No, you're right. No, you're right. You're right. You're right. You're basically saying fortune favors the brave. Yes, it does. Yes, come out. It does. And by the way, that's another narrative I feel like needs to change, especially after the second week at the World Cup. This whole narrative around like David versus Goliath. I think we need to switch it up. Switch it as regards African teams. Yeah, when they go like, oh, Cote d 'Ivoire against Germany, David versus Goliath. Senegal. Senegal versus David versus Goliath. I feel like pundits, commentators, the media.

33:55It's very patronizing, by the way. Yeah, it's patronizing. But more importantly, it's also inaccurate now. Okay? First of all, physically, if you look at the actual players, it's reversed. Yeah, the roles are definitely reversed. Like, Germany was struggling for size. So you're saying it's wrong both metaphorically and also literally. Literally, yes. And quite literally. And secondly, I think we've outgrown that metaphor, David versus Goliath, because it's not David versus Goliath, you know? It's not like, oh, can David defeat Goliath? No. David is now a world beater. David has multiple players from Europe playing in his squad.

34:30David now has some of the most talented footballers. David has been in the gym. David has been taking steroids. Taking creatine, doing his thing. David is like on top of it. David's got a few belts under, you know what I mean? On his waist. I always had a problem with the original story anyway. Why? I thought David was a wimp. He was just throwing things, you know, like, come on. Nah, man. Meet the man. It's actually funny you say that. I remember reading something that says, we might have misunderstood that whole story if it was a real story that happened. Because they're saying, by all accounts, Goliath may just have been like this very big lumbering man.

35:05Oh, okay. And David was actually nimble, was like super quick with his slingshot. It was actually a bad matchup for Goliath Like Goliath it was actually bad for him Even if you read it in the story in the Bible Like David comes there and he's like I don't need all this armor I don't need Oh cause it will weigh me down Yeah he's like it will weigh me down And so like Goliath is there this lumbering You know what I mean I see your point yes And that's what I think it is In a weird way It shouldn't be You know Will David beat Goliath It should be like Is Goliath still what he's hyped up to be Oh okay yeah I feel like a lot of host nations or a lot of the big nations.

35:41You know, the old winners. European nations and South American nations. They're just old Goliaths. Like England, England. They're considered a Goliath. Yes. They haven't won a Goliath. When was the last time they won a fight? Like the big fights. That's what I'm thinking. It comes down to the recognizability. When was the last time Brazil won its big fights? Yes. It comes down to how recognizable your players are. When was the last time Italy? Italy still considered a Goliath. Yes. When was the last time Italy... They have missed, yeah. Think about it. Since 2006. Come on. We're still calling these teams Goliaths.

36:15At some point, we've got to change the term now. It can't be like... It can't be like, yo, is this Goliath still Goliath? German didn't make it out of the group. Two consecutive World Cups, 2018 and 2022. And still, yes. You get what I'm saying? No, no, I hear you. I think all of these games, like you can't look at Senegal anymore. Even like the way the pundits talk about it. I mean, not that I should be... It's not like I'm offended by this, but I even find it weird that even like the commentators and the pundits are still like and Africa look at the Africans doing it no one says that about the European teams you know when a movie star has been so good they cost on the hype of their success for the longest time and then you go like yeah do you know many bad movies Nicolas Cage had to put out for us to finally go like yo guys I think Nicolas Cage is no longer a star but for the longest time it was Nicolas Cage box office superstar and you're like guys no yeah I think we need to start we need to start because okay let's look at the Germany Cote d 'Ivoire game Germany Ivory Coast coming in people would go oh David versus Goliath can Ivory Coast stand up to them watch the actual game watch the chances created German was struggling yes there's a specific moment that we all remember if Simon Adingra yeah yes first times that ball yes just puts it on target Nicolas Pepe, by the way, late in the game as well.

37:37All of a sudden the game has changed. You know what I mean? It's not like Germany was all over that team. Germany scores a phenomenal goal. But even that tells you something. If you have to score a phenomenal goal to win the game, it means that you weren't the Goliath you thought you were. Yes. Like Spain against Saudi Arabia. Yeah. That is like, okay, you can see that this is a lopsided competition. but if you have to put together the most amazing pass the most amazing touch and turn and shot to get your goal then my friend this wasn't a mismatch does that make sense? no but I think it's still and I agree with you but I think it's also about the legacy how many titles you've won so like but that's my point I'll give you an example Germany versus Everett Kost yes when Germany scores when Dennis Unda you know quick turn and that first time shot first of all by the natural finisher because he didn't even need to know where the goal was Absolutely out of this world.

38:30So when he scores, almost every person I know who is a student of the game, every person who has loved the game for a long time, immediately went back to Gary Lineker's court. You know that famous court by Gary Lineker? No. Where it went like football is a simple game, where 22 men chase the ball for 90 minutes, and in the end, the Germans win. That's so funny. So everyone went back to that. Everyone remembered, oh, this is what the Germans do. There were so many Dutch fans. Because Holland and Germany have, or the Netherlands and Germany have that weird rivalry. there's so many Dutch fans who went like yeah we've seen this happen so many times the Germans always do this it's almost like they give you hope and then a dagger so I think it's about the legacy and you're right I hear you but at some point we're going to ask ourselves like is Goliath the underdog now that's what we're going to ask ourselves you know what's happening because Americans would relate to this it's the legacy admission you know and they're like oh your father yes he was an alumnus yeah he was an alumnus at this college oh the library is named after him yes just because your dad went to the school doesn't mean you deserve to be at the school.

39:28You don't have the grades even. But they go like, oh, right. You don't have. Germany won the World Cup. Yes. Not this German squad. Not this generation, yes. You get what I'm saying? This current Argentina squad won the World Cup. Yes. See, that's different. Yes, that's different. This current French squad won the World Cup. That's different. When you look at the pieces, a lot of it. So you're saying Italy shouldn't be getting into a college. You can't. You can't. Italy should be going to a community college somewhere. You can't still be riding on the coattails of a generation that doesn't exist anymore.

39:52Oh, we've won the World Cup. No, we. Who's we? That's why if you had like an African parent, they would be quick to tell you. Yeah, they would be reminded. You'd be like, ah, we bought this house. They'd be like, who's we? You live in this house. I bought it. This is my roof, yes. Yeah, this is my house and my car. Yeah, but that's why we don't have... You live in it. Yeah, but that's why we don't have Nepal babies in Africa. Yeah, that's exactly... The concept of a Nepal baby is spoiled. No, no, no. It's like totally... So for me... It's wasted on an African parent. It doesn't work. Because an African parent goes like, what do you mean?

40:18This is my stuff. You better go out there and look for your own stuff. Because I also remember African-Pennies love struggle. They go like, yeah, I struggled. Yeah, do you know what I did to get here? Yes, you have to struggle as well. You appreciate it when you struggle. Maybe that's why we appreciate Team USA so much now is because it feels like their struggle is bearing fruit. And it's also disconnected. They don't have that legacy. They don't have a team they can point to where they go like, oh, this team. Like they have some. Man, they did well, man. They have had some teams like in 2002 that maybe lost to Germany.

40:48but they still don't have that team. It was great. It was great for football. Again, they're through now, two games. Mexico is through. By the way, how do you feel about the new format? Goal difference used to be the determining factor. Now it's head-to-head. I think it sucks. Because now it means teams immediately know that the third game means nothing. It means nothing. Because back then, when goal difference is the determinant or is the decider, then the teams go like, okay, third game, I'm going to give it all. Yeah, because it might determine where you end up. Yes, yes. Now Mexico literally can walk onto the pitch against Czechia and they can sit down and it does not change their outcome at all.

41:32And Czechia can score as many goals as they want. Yes, I think FIFA tried to do head-to-head to avoid. I think it backfired. I think it backfired. But Mexico making it through is good. I watched that Mexico game. No, no, I'm happy. I think the Mexican keeper made the save of the tournament. He made an incredible double save when he was on the ground. Oh, he did the... That was insane. He had the first save down, and then the second save, he was falling. Yes. And he hit the ball. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was a great deal. That was really nice. We celebrate the strikers with their golazos, but that...

42:04This has been the World Cup of goalkeepers. Yeah, goalkeepers, yes. No, goalkeepers are looking good in this World Cup. Vosinha. Yeah, no, they're actually looking very good in this World Cup. His mom was allowed into the country. That's how good a performance... he gave in that game. That's when you know. That forget about the following. His mom. You know, that's when you go like, how good were you? I was so good that America changed its immigration policies for my mom. And also, the mom was received as some kind of returning conqueror. But also, Virginia's story is so interesting. And I think we touched about this during the game.

42:38Yeah, we did last time. He got, like, millions of followers. And he's almost like the reverse Spider-Man because with great power came great irresponsibility so he received 14 million followers and the first thing he did was follow everybody every Instagram buddy that he could find hey man live your dream you know also at 40 yeah you know this is his last dance and he's going like I'm going down swinging yeah I know the keepers have been outstanding what are we excited looking forward what are we looking for looking forward I'm very interested one in how Sweden navigates their last game you know let's talk about that game before we go into what's coming up yeah i don't know what your analysis was i think that's one of those games where the score doesn't reflect the chances so sweden sweden is a very spiky team and what i mean by that is you know like i think a team that's well balanced has a very smooth shape to it so it's good moments and it's bad moments are not particularly far from each other so it creates like a really beautiful smooth shape okay Then there are teams That are just like bad So it's like a small circle But then you have spiky teams Amazing moment Terrible moment Amazing moment Terrible moment Amazing moment Because Sweden is so spiky They conceded in every terrible moment But they had like really good spikes Where they could have scored And they didn't Like I thought Isak was fantastic Feeding the ball to Giocharez I think Giocharez was fantastic Feeding the ball to Ayari Yes Ayari should have put a ball on target Giocharez I think should have been A little bit more clinical there were like three or four chances where Sweden could have scored and should have scored in my opinion and they didn't and that turns the game because when it's 2-0 and you make it 2-1 yeah of course now it's totally different the Netherlands is a bit shaky now and we've seen them against Japan yes if it's 2-1 or 3-1 and you make it 3-2 again momentum shaking it I just felt like Sweden I think people are writing Sweden off prematurely I think they ran into a Dutch team again because also you are talking about teams that started in a cagey manner and then can't understand the Netherlands did that in the second game I think they ran into a Dutch team that finally got its tactics together because remember in the first game they played Daniel Marin as the lone follow as the lone forward and then because in this game Somerville was struggling with a knock they moved Daniel Marin to the wing and then they brought in Brian Broby Who's like a handful?

45:09I've always thought Marlon is better on the right. Yeah, no. So that's what they did. And then they brought him because Broby killed them. He killed them with his physicality. He killed them with his strength. He killed them with his running. And I think for the longest time, for the longest time, especially in the first half, Linderov and his defensive partner couldn't handle that much power. You know what it made me wonder, actually? I wonder if, you know, Broby and Haaland and a lot of these, even Lukaku for glimpses. The big strong boys, yes. I wonder if football, like fashion, is experiencing its come back to bell bottoms moment.

45:42Oh, it went through the small four. We had a game for a long time where it was all about have a big man up front. He powers through, he makes space, he gets you goals. Then that man became shorter and shorter and shorter. And smaller, yes. Messi basically deleted that position from the game. And now it was the David Villas and it was the Agueros. but it was really like the point of that player was not to like overpower a defense to skew them through their movement right but then because the game became about movement and passing defending became tighter yes yes it became about a block it became about shapes to cut off the passing lanes and the triangles but now because of that one of the only ways you can get a goal and you can score is to whip the ball in behind a defense or to whip the ball in or to create some sort of running chaos because that's where numbers don't help you you need a battering ram yes Yeah, if you have six defenders running towards their own goal, it doesn't really help them as much as six defenders facing away from their goal.

46:40Yes, you're right, yes. Do you get what I'm saying? But I think that's the thing about soccer. Soccer, football, it's very cyclical. Yeah, and so now it feels like, you know, like, looking at Brabbi, I was like, I think five, six years ago, that player is not on a squad anyway. He was endangered or even almost extinct. And now it looks like there's a space for him in every squad in the world. Even like a Gioca is. Yes, yes, yeah. There's space for this big, fast, strong player who's going to cause chaos up top. It's one of the reasons I actually think Mbappe is only being saved by his pace. I think Mbappe is one of the greatest players we'll ever see.

47:16I still think he should be playing on the left. In the middle, without his pace, he just gets knocked off a little. He gets knocked off balance. He's not a battering ram. You know what I mean? I was looking at, so for me, when I look at Sweden, because Sweden has gone back to that. First of all, Sweden uses two strikers, which is a rare. They shouldn't. I don't think they should. I don't know what you think of it. They shouldn't. I like the run Isak played on the left. No, but then also Norway uses two strikers. Soloth and Haaland. Yeah, but I feel like they sort of have to. Okay. No, but I'm going like, so when I...

47:49Sweden had nothing. It wasn't just, okay, let me put it this way. It wasn't about the two strikers. It was about the formation behind it. Yes. If you have two strikers, but then you play an attacking midfielder right behind them. so you're playing a 4-3-1-2. Your wings are so wide open, Gakpo and Dumfries are having the time of their lives. They're just overloading. Yeah, because now your wings are just, and the game is on the wings most of the time anyways. So people are going around you, you know what I mean? You've built like a really strong front door with no walls. But that's what I'm thinking.

48:15That's why I'm very interested in how Sweden handles their last game. Because Graham Potter, in the game against the Dutch, he showed that he's no Harry Potter, but in the final game, in the final game, he's going to need to, like with some magic men because it would be very disappointing with the team that Elanga and Lucas Bagva with a team that talented why don't they start Elanga his squad like goes for them but I think maybe maybe maybe here's what I'm thinking with his raw pace Graham Potter is going like oh I need him against tiring legs that's the only excuse my friend that makes no sense when you look at his record Elanga is playing from minute one he has so here's okay here's what I mean But sometimes he runs head down.

48:59Sometimes there's a roadrunner quality to his game where you don't know what he's going to do next. Maybe I have a differing opinion here. I go, bringing in impact players in those types of situations can work in your favor sometimes. I think what a lot of coaches take for granted is you might bring them in when you're down now. And now you're playing against somebody who can afford to sit back and rob you of yards. Yes, yes, yes. So now this person gets to go, okay, Ilanga's faster than me. I'm going to stand 10, 20 yards further back. Let's move everything back. And rob him of space to run into this.

49:32And rob him of space. But if you start Ilanga, and he's running from the very beginning, and we need to attack at the same time, we now have to choose. Do we attack? Look at what PSG did to Arsenal. Bukaya Saka spent the whole game defending. Defending, yes. Because Kawaskeria on that left wing, he needs a double team. So now Bukaya Saka, one of the best wide players, doesn't get to play his trade. He spends 60-something minutes defending and then he comes off the field. That's what pace does from the very get-go. And also, I'll tell you, as someone who has played defensive positions, pace is scary.

50:05When you're playing against a player who you know in a foot race can beat you. It's like the worst thing you do. Because they just kick the ball and they run. Because a player who dribbles, you're like, oh, maybe I'll touch the ball. When a player... Because also remember, foot races are like the most natural, almost alpha male like you think about when someone can beat in it is the most primitive competition yes earliest like you know primitive lizard brain like the goal he scored once he's running through the middle because you know he's beating you like pace is not something you can someone is either faster than you or not yeah that's it it's like very yeah no so I'm very interested now he'll handle that okay so we're looking forward to the Sweden game that's gonna be a big game Germany's games are done I'm looking forward to the Egypt game as well.

50:52Not because it could be Salah's last game if they don't make it, but also because Egypt for me has, you did ask me last week about my most heartwarming moment. Yeah. And I remember, for me, I didn't say this, and I think I should have said this last week. For me, it's seeing the Egyptian coach on the bench, Hossam Hassan. He's a legend. He used to be the face of Egypt before Salah came along. He helped Egypt win most of those stars. And now he's coaching. at the World Cup. And he's coaching the guy who replaced him as the first... That's amazing. I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know that. He was part of that team that had, you know, Mohamed Abutrika, Mohamed Barakat and all these legends.

51:31But seeing him at the World Cup, because he never, he never got a chance to go to the World Cup. So you imagine if Salah never got a chance to go to the World Cup. He kept winning all these Nations Cups. But for some reason or another, Egypt could never make it to the World Cup. And now he's at the World Cup. He's the coach. So I'm really looking forward to at least him making it to the knockout rounds. it would be like a beautiful like way to bring his story all around he's a legend of African football so for me that was just watching him it's like almost remember when Maradona was coaching Messi it was a win that was beautiful yeah no it's a beautiful it was dysfunctional but it was beautiful it was dysfunctional yes but like it's almost like you see this it's like almost a passing of the torch but like in a game like not like outside the game yeah yeah yeah actually actively in the game Yeah, so I would really love for Hossam Hassan to make it to the knockout rounds.

52:21And also for Salah. Like, that would be a good send-off. Yeah, man, we need as many of them as possible. We need... What about your boy CR7? Do you think he's... The funny thing is, I'm a huge admirer. And people might find this hard to believe. I'm a huge admirer of Cristiano Ronaldo the person. Cristiano Ronaldo the human being. Yeah. He's like a superlative human being. when you hear about the things he has done for charity. When you hear about the fact that he doesn't have tattoos because he likes donating blood, that's the reason he doesn't have tattoos. He's like a superlative. But then because he's a competitor, I think like Cristiano Ronaldo, the competitor, and Cristiano Ronaldo, the human being, especially when they come on the pitch.

53:03There's a reason why people call him Homelander. Because I think Cristiano Ronaldo... Did you see that meme, by the way? It was like, word for word. Yeah, no. So I feel like the competitor, It's almost like if someone has like an alter ego, you know, so like, you know, Clark Kent and Superman and Bruce Wayne and Batman. But then if Batman takes over, because the thing that makes Superman very human is Clark Kent. The thing that makes Batman human is Bruce Wayne. So I feel like with Cristiano Ronaldo, the alter ego sometimes takes over when he's, actually most times takes over when he's on the pitch.

53:37And so what happened in the first game was, of course, he no longer has the legs. So he's no longer as mobile as he should be. the midfield can't feed you if you're not making runs in behind the midfield can't feed you however superlative that midfield is Bruno Fernandes, Yawonevis, Vitinha they can't feed you if every run you're making you're in an offside position so they spent most of the time despite having 80 % of the position just passing sideways and then what happened was after the game they asked Yawonevis and he said something that I thought was diplomatic I actually thought it was diplomatic as well because he went like oh he's just another player because you don't want to heap pressure on Ronaldo to go like, oh, he's our only hope.

54:17He's our princess slayer. Please save us. No, he went like, no, he's just one of us. We have to deliver. Ronaldo fans didn't take it like that. And remember, Yawon Neves had scored the goal that spared their brushes. They have been flooding his Instagram. Comments were coming in, a hundred comments of hate per minute. They didn't just do that. They went and flooded his girlfriends. And they're doing that to Bruno Fernandes. They're doing it to Yawon Neves. They're doing it to Vitinha. and they also are doing it to, you won't believe this and this is going to hurt you, they're doing it to the Liverpool player.

54:50I don't even know whether I should say his name. Who? Who passed away. They're doing it to Diego Jota? That's it, yeah. They're going to his comments and they're leaving comments. I know. And some people, so they're coming to Neves' Instagram and saying, it should have been you. Jeez. Instead of Jota, it should have been. That's what I'm saying. I didn't even want. That's like the... That's what I'm saying. That's the downside of football. That's what I'm saying. I didn't even think I should bring up. Yeah, the fans get so, you know. Because I went like, should I bring up Diogo Jota? Because you don't want to bring him up in these circumstances.

55:22Yeah, but it is like the… They're flooding. And so I'm thinking, how is that affecting the chemistry? That's what I was wondering. I was like, is this one of those moments where you hope a coach can shut the whole thing down and say, team, we have to do this? Or does it put too much pressure on Portugal now? It puts too much pressure because now they're going to be watching every pass. Yeah. Now they're playing for a nation, by the way. It's either you pass Ronaldo or you know what's going to happen off the pitch. But also I'm going like, these players these days are online constantly. So they're seeing all this.

55:50And for me, I'm just thinking, how does Roberto Martinez? You know what also people forget is in footballing nations, there's also like a strange entitlement that fans have where like footballers will talk about how they can't go to the grocery store, their families can't go out. because people go to their families or them in public and curse them out for their performances in matches. I think Asen Wenger did talk about he can't pick. Coaches have talked about not being able to pick their kids from school because a parent comes up to you. But you see, I don't hear, maybe it happens and I don't hear, but I don't hear stories like that in American sports.

56:30Americans are very good, I think, at some times. They go like you're trash, but I don't see them. With your kid, yes. Yeah, I don't see them. I don't see stories like that. And like, that's the one thing about football where it's like, the weight of a nation is not born easily. You know what I mean? Like literally carrying the weight of your nation is one that's, yo man, it's no joke. Yeah, so now I'm just thinking about how toxic that is for the, because now Portugal, the same way you said Spain, the same way you said the Dutch, Portugal really needs to win its next game. Yeah, they do. They really cannot afford, because the pressure is only going to intensify.

57:06And some people are saying, and I'm one of those people, you're one of those people who are saying, maybe Ronaldo should be taking on a lesser role. Maybe he should go from being, you know, when they go like, they lead the name. Yes, they lead the name on the poster. Maybe he should be a supporting character. Because also, when you think about the major trophy, the one major trophy, Portugal has won. Ronaldo was forced off by injury. He was. And he spent the entire final against France, Euro 2006. He spent, Euro 2016, he spent the whole final cheerleading from the bench. And who scored the goal?

57:39Edea. No one knew him before. No one knows what happened to him after. But guess what? Ronaldo was a European champion. So by that time, he was forced by injury to go off the pitch. So what you're saying is someone in the Portuguese team needs to slide tackle Ronaldo in the change room. No, their family will be firebombed. Make something happen. Make something happen. Your family home would be firebombed. Yeah, you'd be gone. You'd be deported from your home country. All right. Well, this has been it. Another week of the World Cup. Another exciting one. Yeah. It's going to be fire, man. Yes, no, no.

58:09I can't wait because normally it would be like two more weeks to go now. Because normally the World Cup used to last. Yeah, now it's done. Yes, now we have like four more weeks. Yeah, yeah. We're not even... Pace yourself. Pace yourself. I tell everybody who's watching the World Cup now, I'm like, pace yourself. This is the longest World Cup we've ever had. This is the most packed World Cup we've ever had. Pace yourself. Don't get too angry. Don't get too happy. Unless you're Turkish. Unless you're Turkish. The Turkish fans have a reason to be angry. You can go crazy. But otherwise, enjoy it. I'll say this.

58:37The reason I'm enjoying also the fact that we have four more weeks is, you know, our watch parties. You know, we've built a community, actually. It's fun. It really feels like a family. And then every week that passes, because you keep reading out certain names. Yeah, yeah. And I think every week that passes, it feels like, oh, we're getting to know more. Yeah, we're building. It's like a little village. Yeah, no, it's really beautiful. And I don't know where four weeks are going to take us. maybe we're going to be meeting this because it feels like now we are dating, you know, but we're not meeting.

59:03You know, you're dating, but I don't trust you yet to meet my friends. But maybe four weeks from now. Who knows? You never know. You never know. We'll see how it goes. But Joe, this was fun, man. That's always my friend. Brother, pleasure. I just said the fact that I had to agree with you at some point. Ah, man, you know, as Gianni Infantino says, the World Cup brings people together who never imagined they could be together. And even Joe and Trevor can agree sometimes because of the world car. No, it's beautiful, man. It's beautiful. I'm looking forward to more of this, man.

59:39Thank you again so much to the sponsor of today's episode, Mazda. Mazda delivers confidence and control in every single drive. And Consumer Reports' Safest New Car Brand Award proves it. You know, there's a phrase I really like. A lot can happen when an accident doesn't. And that's true. A calm drive home, a conversation that continues, a trip that stays exactly what it was supposed to be. That's what we're looking for. Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand in America. Mazda's safety features are designed to bring more enjoyment to every drive, not to take away from it so you can do what you feel like doing.

1:00:28Mazda has been named Consumer Reports' safest new car brand people, safest. Visit mazdausa.com to learn more. Consumer Reports does not endorse products or services. What Now World Cup bonus episodes are produced by DayZero Productions in partnership with SiriusXM. Executive produced by Trevor Noah, Sanaz Yamin, Ryan Harduth and Rebecca Shane Music, mixing and mastering by Hannes Brown Thank you so much for listening Join us every Monday during the World Cup For bonus episodes of What Now? With Trevor Noah