00:00We have four games.
00:01We have Miami versus Cincinnati.
00:03We got Vancouver versus LAFC.
00:06We got New York versus Philadelphia.
00:09And finally, Minnesota versus San Diego, Nick.
00:13And I'm glad that we landed with San Diego and you,
00:16because you were an early champion of this team.
00:18I can actually pull the tape from the early shows of the season
00:23where Nick is coming and saying, my friends,
00:26cuidado con San Diego, porque San Diego viene con todo.
00:30Tell me, what was the secret for San Diego
00:32to make such an impactful first season?
00:34A lot of it in terms of my predictions
00:36and my foresight was just straight up luck.
00:39I had a feeling.
00:40I was like, San Diego as like this expansionist team
00:43could actually end up like sort of like this expansionist juggernaut
00:47that's surprising everybody
00:48because they're running off to straight up pride.
00:50San Diego as a city, it's like,
00:53why did they not become, you know, a football team?
00:57Why did they not get a football team earlier on?
00:59I mean, this is a city that's like so rich in culture.
01:01You'd think, you know, they would have earlier, but they didn't.
01:03And so when they finally got it,
01:05I felt like they're going to do something amazing with it.
01:06They've already exceeded all expectations.
01:08They've done absolutely amazing.
01:10I saw Chucky Lozano being a formidable force.
01:12What I didn't see was like amazing football all around
01:15from the entire team.
01:16Other standout talents like Dreyer, for example,
01:18and coming out as somebody who's like leading the league,
01:21not the top because, you know, Messi's in the top spot,
01:23but up there in goals, up there in assists.
01:25It's just such a well-rounded, beautiful team.
01:26Without Messi, he probably will be MVP.
01:28Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:29No, for sure.
01:30So that was kind of it.
01:31It was a lot of luck, but then, you know,
01:32there was something to see there in that team early on.
01:35Now tell me, do you think they still have what it takes
01:38to go and beat Minnesota?
01:39We know Minnesota very well.
01:40Minnesota is one of the, you know, old school,
01:43the OGs of MLS.
01:45One of those teams that can knock you out of contention.
01:48Do you think San Diego has what it takes?
01:50I think certainly we've seen time and time again
01:52that anything can happen in the finals,
01:54but I'm still putting my money on San Diego FC.
01:57At this point in time, I don't see anyone really
01:59other than Miami posing any sort of threat for San Diego
02:02if they continue through this playoffs
02:03with that same consistency that we've seen through the season.
02:06Chiba, let's go on the opposite side of the bracket.
02:10I'm going to ask you about a team that we don't praise too much here
02:15at the Nation Football Club.
02:16We're no strangers to being critical of Miami and Messi
02:20because as the stars as they are,
02:22they should be held to a different standard
02:24and not just come aquà a pasear a la Liga Estadounidense de Retiro
02:28because that is not the case.
02:29We are, like Chiba likes to call it,
02:31this is MLS 3.0.
02:33This is different.
02:34Chiba, break down for me this epic match,
02:38Miami versus Cincinnati.
02:40I mean, Messi has this weight on his back
02:44that he needs to win an MLS Cup.
02:46That's what he's here for.
02:48And I see Miami struggling a lot with Cincinnati.
02:53I think Cincinnati has shown in the past previous seasons
02:57that they're a very, very strong team.
02:59But again, we've seen,
03:01I don't want to sound like a crybaby or a complainer,
03:03but we've seen the refs helping a little bit.
03:05Ayuditas.
03:07Ayuditas, exacto.
03:08Because they want to see a final Miami versus L.A.U.C.
03:11They want it.
03:12I want it.
03:13We want it.
03:13We all want it.
03:15So I think that even though it's going to be very tough for Miami to advance,
03:18they are going to advance.
03:20Cincinnati, again, it's a very, very strong team,
03:22but I don't think they're going to be able to stop Messi
03:24because he's on fire.
03:25Let's face it, he's an MVP, gold book winner.
03:29They're just going to outplay him and advance to the East final,
03:34and let's see what happens there.
03:35Because you've got Philadelphia, you've got New York,
03:37that can be a very, very good opponent for Miami.
03:40Messi yet to score against NC this year, so remember that one.
03:43Oof.
03:44Chiba, breaking news.
03:46We just heard that the next season of MLS will be the last
03:50that is not aligned with the global calendar, my friends.
03:54What do you guys feel is the relevance of MLS switching to a calendar,
04:00you know, 10 months, to align with the rest of the world?
04:03It'll help some teams.
04:05It'll hurt others given just the geographic differences in the States
04:08and then all of the different weather patterns that we have
04:10on the North and the South and the East and the West.
04:12So it'll change things in there, but I think it's a great thing.
04:15I honestly think it's great.
04:16It's about time that MLS is on track with the other leagues of the world
04:19and not following, let's say, and competing with the NBA or NFL
04:23or other leagues domestically.
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