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Sebastian Salazar joins The Sports Junkies to preview the 2026 World Cup.
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00:00We're very happy to welcome into the studio Sebastian Salazar, soccer broadcaster extraordinaire and analyst.
00:07He's going to help us and you learn more about the World Cup.
00:12He knows more about soccer than you.
00:15He also came bearing gifts.
00:17Oh, he did.
00:17We like gifts.
00:18I think I threw one over your way.
00:20Panini packs.
00:22Okay, good.
00:23I mean, I got a rack.
00:24I got a rack.
00:26Are we supposed to open it or are you supposed to save it and be unopened?
00:29Unopened.
00:29Oh, that could be a play in this new collectibles market.
00:32Now, open it.
00:33I'll see what you guys pulled.
00:33I think Matt Maher got an Erling Haaland.
00:35That's got to be one of the top sets in the pack.
00:38You're looking for, obviously, Messi or Ronaldo.
00:40If you get Messi or Ronaldo with a colored border, that could be worth some chatter.
00:45Really?
00:46Yeah, keep an eye out.
00:46What do you guys pull?
00:47Where do you get these?
00:48You can get them anywhere.
00:49I mean, they're sold globally.
00:50I just popped down to the, I don't know if we're supposed to say, CBS down the street and they're
00:54selling them.
00:55But this is a tradition going back, like when my mom was in Mexico in the 1970 World Cup, there
01:00was a Panini album and they were collecting them then.
01:02I did it as a kid.
01:03It's kind of a rite of passage if you're a soccer fan.
01:07All right.
01:07Any good pulls over there, Cakes?
01:09Any pull-a-checks?
01:09I got a bunch of no-name numbers.
01:12I got Robinson.
01:14I got Robinson.
01:14Jedi, Anthony Robinson.
01:16Yeah, he's a baller for the U.S.
01:17Maybe one of the best left backs in the world.
01:19Starter for this team.
01:20That's a good one.
01:21So if we want to get into it, new manager, right, Mauricio Pochettino.
01:26Go for it.
01:27You nailed it.
01:27He's from Argentina, but a lot of Italians moved to Argentina.
01:32So Italian name.
01:34I thought it was a Hispanic name.
01:35I had no idea.
01:36I just literally didn't.
01:38Pochettino.
01:38I didn't check, but I'm guessing.
01:40Yes, no, you're correct.
01:42He does have Italian roots, but from Argentina, yeah.
01:45What is his style of play as compared to maybe previous managers?
01:52Yeah, so the interesting thing about Pochettino is he's by far,
01:55like if you go off resume, the best manager that the U.S.
01:59He's a PSG and Chelsea.
02:01He got Spurs to the Champions League final, which is unheard of.
02:04The thing is, that's all like club ball.
02:06That's where you're working with the guys every day.
02:08If you don't like your right back, you sell them.
02:10You buy another right back.
02:11International football is different.
02:13Like, you're bringing in the guys.
02:14It's kind of triage.
02:15You're trying to figure things out.
02:16And if you don't like your right back, you cannot go buy a new one.
02:19So I think his experience is useful, but maybe doesn't translate as directly.
02:24As far as style, it's pretty attractive.
02:27Like, it's pretty aggressive.
02:28It's pretty ambitious, especially for a U.S. team that traditionally has been more like
02:33work horsey, gritty, get guys behind the ball.
02:36There are some questions.
02:37Is the U.S. good enough to kind of play this way?
02:39They just played Germany.
02:40They lost 2-1.
02:41And actually, first 45 minutes, they went toe-to-toe with the Germans.
02:44It was good.
02:45But then they tried to play.
02:46They hurled the goal, and then they stepped up.
02:47Yeah, but they rebounded, right?
02:49But there's some moments.
02:50Did Germany step back a little bit in the second half?
02:52Everybody made changes in the second half.
02:54So I think the second half in general, also it's the last second half before the World
02:57Cup.
02:58Everybody's like, please don't let me get hurt.
02:59Please don't let me get hurt.
03:00The first half, I think you can really judge.
03:03One thing that we did see in that game is the U.S. likes to, what they call, play out
03:06of the
03:06back, right?
03:07Which is kind of testing how good you are.
03:08I don't know if this U.S. team is skilled enough.
03:11I don't know if we've evolved enough to be doing that against the Germanys of the world.
03:15You get too far into the tournament, you try to get too cute.
03:17I don't think we're that good.
03:19So that's the one maybe complain about his style.
03:20Yeah, I was watching one of the analysts, and they were saying they're essentially vulnerable
03:26to counterattacks.
03:28But they're dangerous.
03:29Let's talk about it that the guy, they've got a 38-year-old in the back, and that's
03:33young to us, Tim Ream.
03:35He's young to me.
03:35And they're like, if he's in the back on these counters, he's kind of exposed.
03:40It's big trouble.
03:41Yeah, let's talk about that back line, because that's really like a big question in the
03:44style.
03:45We have one guy who's awesome.
03:47His name's Chris Richards.
03:48He plays in the Premier League.
03:49He plays for Crystal Palace.
03:50He had an injury at the end of the year.
03:52There was some thought he'd be fine for the World Cup opener.
03:55He has said publicly he will be available.
03:57He'll be ready.
03:58He didn't play against Germany, which is a big doubt.
04:00And he is, you know, if Jaden Daniels is QB1 and everybody else in the Redskins'
04:06commander's quarterback room is way down the chart, like that's the center back.
04:09It's Richards and everybody else.
04:11What's his injury?
04:12What is he dealing with?
04:13It's like an ankle injury that really picked up like a month and a half ago.
04:17So I think he should be ready.
04:19His club team rested him towards the end of the season.
04:22But if he can't go, it could be a bloodbath back there.
04:25They had a guy, Miles Robinson, fill in for him in the last game.
04:27That did not go well.
04:28Big mistake that led to a goal.
04:30And Tim Ream is old.
04:32He's there because he's a left-footed center.
04:34If any of you have left-footed kids and they're tall, anybody listening, turn them into center
04:38backs.
04:38Those dudes don't.
04:39If you can be a ball-playing left-footed center back, you will work forever.
04:42Tim Ream's not that good.
04:43He's 38 and he's still got a job with the freaking national team.
04:46Why is it special to be the left-footed center back?
04:48So left-footed players tend to get moved up the field because they're rarer.
04:52They can provide you an attacking profile.
04:54If you're a big left-footed player, there's angles that you can play with the ball that
05:00other guys can't.
05:01They'd have to do it right foot, outside of foot.
05:02It's a unique profile that now people are obsessed with in soccer.
05:06And that's why Tim Ream's on the national team.
05:08That and his leadership.
05:09This is next-level soccer.
05:10I don't want to get too far in the weeds, but my man is slow.
05:13He's 38 going up against 21-year-old speed demons.
05:16That's going to be tough.
05:17What about Desk?
05:18He could be exposed.
05:19So who's, hold on, so I'm sorry.
05:20So if Richards does not, so you don't-
05:22Look at Bish engaged in the soccer convo.
05:24What a bet.
05:25He wants to be safe.
05:26Okay, we'll get to that.
05:27For winners.
05:27So you don't think Richards is going to play against Paraguay?
05:31No, he's saying he's going to play.
05:33I'm going to take him at his word.
05:34He didn't play against Germany, which to me, what I would say is, I'm worried about him
05:38generally.
05:39Right, right, right.
05:40I'm worried that he might start, but he might not go the full tournament.
05:43If at any point he's not there or not 100%, it's an issue.
05:46So if it's Ream, let's just say Robinson is playing, and Ream, and then who's the other
05:50three?
05:50Is it Freeman?
05:52Freeman could be.
05:53Mark McKenzie is another option.
05:55Austin Trusty is another option.
05:56So that's the weak point of the team right there.
05:58For sure.
05:58Big time.
05:58For sure.
05:59For sure.
05:59The defense is an issue, and I would add, you know, you guys know this, haven't followed
06:03the game even casually for a long time.
06:05U.S. is known for goalies.
06:06Go back to like Tony Miola, Brad Friedel, Casey Keller, a former colleague of mine at ESPN.
06:10Yeah, Brad Keller, he was kind of grilling this goalie.
06:12Like there's no respect.
06:12Tim Howard, remember the 16 saves against Belgium?
06:14This goalie is, he's a decent MLS goalie, Matt Fries.
06:18He is unproven at the international level.
06:20So for the first time you could say in a really, really long time, we go into a World Cup
06:25looking
06:25back at our goalie and being like, hmm, that's not a strength.
06:29That's not a strength.
06:30Is Pulisic still the star of the team by far?
06:33Let's nail this pronunciation.
06:35Pulisic.
06:35Pulisic.
06:35Because I know we've been bouncing around.
06:37All good.
06:37All good.
06:38I'm going to just call him Captain America.
06:39Honestly, do it.
06:41Do it.
06:41Soccer pronunciations are hard.
06:43You get them close enough, you're good.
06:44He's still the guy.
06:45He's still by far the guy, but that I thought I saw in his last 16 games or something, he's
06:49got like one goal.
06:49So he plays in Italy.
06:51First half of the season in Italy this year, he's one of the best players in the Italian
06:54league, maybe the world.
06:55And he's playing for a power AC Milan.
06:56He's absolutely on fire for AC Milan.
06:59They hit a rough stretch around January and never really pulled out of it, and he didn't.
07:03So he went zero goals and zero assists for club all of 2026.
07:08And they kept playing him?
07:09And they kept playing him because he is one of their better players.
07:11Now, they were, that's what they were doing in the standings.
07:15So people were freaking out because if Pulisic is not going to be at his A game, we got trouble
07:20going deep.
07:21Now, they played Senegal in the first game back.
07:23He gets a goal.
07:24He gets his assist.
07:25That monkey seems to be off his back.
07:27He said it.
07:27He's like, I've heard people talking about it.
07:29They can shut up talking about it now.
07:30So he is still very much...
07:32And is he also playing outside left versus playing like kind of a traditional striker?
07:35Yeah.
07:35He is not the striker of this team.
07:37You know, we think of star.
07:38We think of striker.
07:39He is a attacking wide playmaker.
07:42Really, you'll see him deployed mostly from like the left side.
07:45But he's that dude that has, you know, NBA term.
07:48He's got the green light to go wherever he wants.
07:50He's the playmaker.
07:51You'll see him middle.
07:52You'll see him right.
07:52You'll see him playing almost as a striker at times because he is really the...
07:56So he's by far our best offensive player.
07:59By far.
07:59Who's our second best?
08:00I think the second best player is Weston McKinney.
08:02I think the second most impactful offensive player is the forward, the striker.
08:07They've got this dual national French...
08:09Actually, it's three nations.
08:10Could have played for France, England, or the U.S.
08:12Valerian Baligan.
08:13Baligan.
08:14They brought him into the program a couple years ago.
08:16Super great.
08:17Like, youth resume.
08:18Played at big clubs in Europe.
08:20Now plays in France.
08:22Had a great season scoring goals at a big club in France.
08:24So he comes in really hot.
08:25But the forward room, to kind of use an American football term, really deep.
08:29Got a guy, Riccardo Pepe, who started the game against Senegal.
08:33Looked really, really sharp.
08:34He could help you.
08:35He's coming off a great goal-scoring season in Europe.
08:37And they got a guy, Haji Wright, who can score some goals as well.
08:40Play on the wing.
08:40So the forward group is really, really deep.
08:43The only thing is you can't play probably more than one of them.
08:46Maybe two late in the game if you're desperate at once.
08:48What about this?
08:48This is my guy.
08:50Sergino Des.
08:51Yeah.
08:52I think he's Dutch.
08:53He is Dutch, yeah.
08:54They still do this bit where sometimes, you know, dual citizenship.
08:58Oh yeah, a lot of this team is dual nationals.
09:00To his credit, his father fought in Vietnam.
09:02I don't know that he's ever lived here, wasn't born here.
09:06He's Dutch.
09:06Yeah.
09:07But he's, tell me about his game.
09:10Yeah, so he's a super interesting player.
09:12He could have played for the Netherlands, which is a big-time program.
09:14You might win a World Cup.
09:16And the coach of the Netherlands was actually recruiting him, and he chose the U.S.
09:19Wow, love to hear that.
09:20Yeah, so, and credit to U.S. soccer, who I never give credit to.
09:23Dast, you're talking about?
09:24Yeah, Sergino Dast.
09:25They put him in the youth national teams early and kind of built him into being an American
09:29player when the Dutch came along too late.
09:31He was like, sorry, man, you know, I'm already here.
09:33He's a beautiful player, something we don't really create in this country.
09:37There's a one-on-one sizzle.
09:39He's got that shake, you know, he's got that street ball in him.
09:42And even though he's listed as a defender, as a right back, the way they use him is super
09:46aggressive, almost as like a winger.
09:48They throw him forward as this extra body.
09:50And he's a really magical player in the pool.
09:53And people are thinking, in this formation especially, he's going to be one of these
09:56guys, again, even though he's listed as a defender, that's going to be huge going forward and maybe
10:01helping this U.S. team be as dangerous as it can be with Pulisic, with Balligan, with
10:06McKinney all up front.
10:06So you were talking about the goalie freeze.
10:09And I was watching a show yesterday on YouTube with your boy Herc Gomez.
10:14That's my boy, yeah.
10:15That's your boy.
10:15And Casey Keller was on the fence.
10:17My frenemy.
10:17And they were kind of questioning, just based on stats, who was better, Freeze, which Matt
10:23is better, Freeze or Matt Turner.
10:25And they were kind of on the fence.
10:27Casey Keller was on the fence.
10:28Yeah.
10:29So your thoughts on the goalie.
10:31Could we see Matt Turner?
10:32Yeah, I think we could.
10:33I think anytime you go into a tournament without a goalie who's in your lockdown, obvious number
10:37one, you could see a goalie change, especially when the guy who's number two has not just
10:43played in a World Cup last time around, but did really well.
10:45He got two clean sheets in that tournament.
10:47That's two shutouts.
10:49That's really good work.
10:50So Matt Turner has an impressive resume.
10:52He has not had an impressive four years since.
10:54I think if you had to go off right now, who's playing better goalie today, it's Matt Freeze.
10:59Certainly he's proved it in the last 20 games with the U.S. that he's gotten picked over
11:03Turner.
11:04But Turner is that comfortable blanket of a guy that you know has done it at the international
11:09stage before.
11:09And so what's interesting is Freeze just came out, I think, in the last 24 hours and
11:13said he hasn't been told that he's the starter for Friday.
11:16It's Wednesday.
11:18So Pochettino, I'm a little bit like, hey, we got doubts.
11:21Don't let the guys have doubts.
11:22And didn't Pochettino give him the number one jersey too, which is usually a sign that
11:27that kind of...
11:27It's a dead giveaway.
11:28Yeah.
11:28I mean, in the last 16 games, I think Freeze has gone in like 13 or something.
11:32So it would be a shocker if Turner starts.
11:35But if he gets in because Freeze struggles, that's, you know, that's a ball you might
11:39have to make.
11:39That's a big problem.
11:39Where does this team rank historically against other U.S.
11:44U.S.
11:44teams over, let's say, the last 20-some years or so?
11:47Yeah.
11:47Great question.
11:48Because I feel like not as high as some of the other ones.
11:52So if you...
11:53Yeah, I don't think they're as good as some of the other ones, but they're definitely more
11:55talented than the other ones.
11:57There's no doubt about it.
11:59You know, a lot of how you measure soccer players, what they do in their club game.
12:03Like, what are they doing professionally?
12:05And you cannot look at this U.S. roster and say, like, there are dudes playing at Christian
12:10Pulisic, AC Milan, Weston McKinney, Juventus.
12:13If you're not a soccer fan, let me just tell you, those are like some of the biggest brands
12:17in world football, right?
12:19And we never had guys at those clubs, let alone with big roles at those clubs in the
12:2490s, early 2000s, 2010s.
12:27Because I think that the team has lost some of its camaraderie, maybe some of the fact
12:32that this team is not all developed in the same place, in the same way as American players
12:37maybe were in the 90s and 2000s.
12:40And so I think what you've seen is you've seen a loss of the American spirit.
12:43And that's really what Pochettino was brought back to do.
12:45This team was known early days for being a real tough out.
12:49And if you saw in the Copa America, the last big tournament that was here in 2024, the
12:53last time I think I was on the air with you guys, they were weak.
12:56They lost their cool.
12:58They were, it wasn't just that they weren't good.
13:00They weren't tough mentally.
13:01So Pochettino comes in and he basically says, all right, nobody here has a guaranteed spot.
13:05I'm calling in.
13:05Everybody knew.
13:06And you're going to earn your spot back.
13:08There was a big chaos around that.
13:10And it led to very bad performances.
13:13But what we saw in that Germany game, which felt like the end of the plan to me, was as
13:17good
13:18as I've seen this U.S. team play for a long time.
13:20And if this group of players can hit that level, they will be better than any U.S. team
13:24that we've seen play.
13:25That doesn't mean they'll go deeper.
13:26The U.S. team in 0-2 made the quarterfinals.
13:28I don't know that this team will.
13:29But on a talent standpoint, and if you look at the coach's resume, it is not close on
13:35paper like where this U.S. team is compared to the other teams.
13:38It's when you get on the field that it's not adding up.
13:40Are you confident for Friday night against Paraguay?
13:44Yeah.
13:44Paraguay just lost a big player, Julio Nciso.
13:46A big part of their attack, not quite 50% of their qualifying goals, but about 40% of
13:52their goals or assists in qualifying came from him, and they don't score a lot.
13:56So I think Paraguay is going to be a tough out.
13:59I don't think it'll be an easy win, but I think the U.S., especially on home soil, a
14:03huge favorite.
14:04And you've got to expect them to get the win.
14:05Playing that at SoFi, correct?
14:07Yeah, in Los Angeles.
14:08In Los Angeles.
14:08It should be not an entirely pro-U.S. crowd, but a pretty good U.S. crowd.
14:12All right, we're joined by our official World Cup correspondent, Sebastian Salazar.
14:17We're going to do another segment with him.
14:18If you have questions for him, you're like, take his brain.
14:21You're welcome to do that at 800-636-1067.
14:25More World Cup talk with Sebastian Salazar next.
14:29Correspondent Sebastian Salazar.
14:31You're welcome to ask them right now at 800-636-1067.
14:35He is joining us in the studio, giving us the skinny on the World Cup, which starts in
14:41just a few days.
14:43Also need to let everybody know at 945, we'll give you a chance to win tickets to see Dave
14:47Chappelle.
14:48We also have a pair of tickets to the Southern Hospitality Tour, where you can see the Black
14:52Crows at Meriwether Post, June 16th.
14:56So Jason asked you essentially about Argentina, whether they were a favorite, and you mentioned
15:02the Messi factor and the fans, I'm curious, I remember when they won the World Cup four
15:08years ago, I didn't think he was going to play in another World Cup.
15:12He's playing in the MLS, scoring a bunch of goals, having fun.
15:17What's his level of play?
15:19Has it dropped off significantly, or is he still one of the best players in the world?
15:24I mean, it's incredible to think.
15:25Or is it hard to tell?
15:26Yeah, I think it's hard to tell.
15:27It's incredible to think that he's still here and like a relevant part of a national team
15:32that could win the World Cup.
15:33I think everybody thought last World Cup was just the perfect write-off, he's going to
15:37go play in MLS, that'll drop his level, and that'll be it.
15:41But he's Messi, you know, he's one of one.
15:43He's the greatest player I've ever seen, you know, I can't claim to have seen Pelé or
15:46Maradona, but it's by far for me.
15:49And so what you've seen is, you've seen his game change like in 2011 maybe when he's at
15:54peak powers, he's running all over the place and really electrifying, like you can't get
15:58your hands on him.
15:59Now he walks around and he just picks his spots.
16:02He scans.
16:02But he picks his spots and he's still just as lethal.
16:05And so that's where, like, I'm not sure, he is not the same player he was four years
16:09ago.
16:09He's definitely not the same player he was 15 years ago.
16:11But at least on the MLS, like when I see the highlights, his playmaking is absurd.
16:15Some of that's MLS.
16:16His vision is absurd.
16:17Some of that's MLS.
16:19But I do think, I think if you think back to the last World Cup, they won it by like
16:22the
16:22narrowest of margins, with Messi being at 10 out of 10 and all the luck that you need
16:27to win it.
16:28I think Messi's level probably has dropped at least a little bit.
16:31My other concerns for Argentina would be like, he's not the only one that left Europe.
16:36Rodrigo de Paul, for instance, was a guy who was a big part of that team.
16:38He's also playing on Inter-Miami in MLS.
16:41Now, he's not Messi.
16:42And his level has dropped a lot.
16:44And he's still a big part of the national team.
16:46The other thing with Argentina, they haven't played anybody in the buildup.
16:49Their last European foe, which is where the top talent is, was France in the World Cup
16:55final in 2022.
16:56So, they've been playing like Mauritania, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, like real cupcakes
17:01in the lead up.
17:02And so, sorry, sorry, bro.
17:04Sorry, bro.
17:05But I just think that, I think there's reasons to be worried about Argentina beyond the obvious
17:10is which we haven't seen a repeat since the ball was brown and it was black and white in
17:141962 when Brazil did it.
17:16Who's Brazil's stud this year?
17:18Let's go around.
17:19I mean, like the guy everyone's going to know.
17:21Yeah, so they don't, they put Neymar on the team and he's, he's a name that everybody
17:25will know, but he's injured and he's always injured and he may not really have any role
17:29in this World Cup.
17:30Their best player, if you go over, if I could have like a three-year window looking back,
17:34is a guy named Vinicius Jr.
17:35He plays for Real Madrid, huge team.
17:38A couple years ago, he was thought of as maybe the best player in the world.
17:41There was Ballon d'Or is what they give the best player in the world.
17:43And he was disappointed not to win it, but was probably second in a two-horse race.
17:49He's fallen off quite a bit.
17:50And actually, Brazil in general is not the powerhouse that they've been.
17:55They really struggled in World Cup qualifying to the point that they had to fire their coach.
17:58And they brought in a, kind of like the U.S. did, an emergency, really good coach, but who
18:04has no international background, more of a club expert.
18:07Carlo Ancelotti, he was at Real Madrid with Vinicius.
18:10And so they're hopeful that this great coach can kind of solidify things for a team that
18:14expects to be there late, but really in recent tournaments and recent performances has been
18:19quite behind their historic standards.
18:20They don't have the superstar, which gets me to my next question.
18:22For people that are casual, and we are pretty casual, right?
18:25Can I just say that right now?
18:29A lot of fans just watch the World Cup, and then they don't watch any soccer, and then
18:34the World Cup comes around.
18:35Who are the four or five names people should be familiar with that are kind of the stars
18:40of the tournament?
18:41Like Yamal?
18:41A lot of people can tell us about Yamal.
18:43He's a young kid from Spain.
18:45If I look at my favorites, you know, like Spain to me is the team that's played the best
18:49over the last two years.
18:50France is the best roster.
18:51And so, you know, depending on kind of what you want to look at, those would be my two
18:55favorites.
18:56Spain, the star is Lamine Yamal.
18:58Very young player, a guy who plays for Barcelona, and as a 16-year-old, burst onto the scene.
19:03Not burst onto the scene like a small club.
19:05Became Barcelona's best player at 16, 17 years of age.
19:08And he's like a Messi, like a great dribbler type of...
19:11They're thinking he's the next Messi, the great phenom.
19:13Everybody who's been given that title since has not lived up to it, and maybe it will be
19:17impossible.
19:17He's great.
19:18The issue with him is he's coming in with an injury, a pretty serious one.
19:21He's definitely not going to play the first game, might miss the first two.
19:24So when I think of Spain, actually, like, if I could get the Spain that played great
19:28a year ago, I would love that team.
19:30I'd pick them as my favorites.
19:32Lamine being slightly injured, and then they got just a ton of questions in defense.
19:36Makes me worry.
19:36They're going to score a bunch of goals, but later in this tournament, they're going to
19:38be vulnerable.
19:39So Lamine Yamal is definitely a big name.
19:42Kylian Mbappe is another one.
19:43He's the star of France.
19:44Is he still at the peak of his power?
19:46Top, top dog.
19:46Also coming in off a kind of bad season with this club team.
19:49So, like, a lot of these guys have kind of redemption narratives in the World Cup.
19:53Ronaldo's still around.
19:54Dude, and that's the thing.
19:55Is he still at a high level?
19:57Dude, such a fascinating thing.
19:58So at the last World Cup, Ronaldo goes in as a starter for Portugal, and things kind of
20:02don't look good, and they bench him.
20:04Right.
20:05What happens when they bench him?
20:05The guy they put in scores a hattie.
20:07Well, you're not going back to Ronaldo.
20:09So you've got to stick with that guy.
20:10And it worked until it didn't.
20:12They got to the knockout rounds favored against Morocco.
20:14They get eliminated.
20:15Everyone's saying, you should have started Ronaldo.
20:17But the truth is, and I remember this, the day before that game, a Portuguese newspaper
20:22did a poll.
20:2370% of Portugal said, sit Ronaldo.
20:25A Portugal said it.
20:27So it was clear he wasn't helping the team then.
20:30He's on the team now.
20:31There's still the same debate.
20:33Portugal is loaded.
20:34But it's like, do you sacrifice the team to make this guy the centerpiece?
20:38And just one more thing, Kix, because I know you're at you.
20:40We could be headed for a Ronaldo-Messi quarterfinal matchup, and that is something that I think
20:46everybody, including the networks that are broadcasting this, would be salivating over.
20:50I mean, basically, the last dance between both of these guys in a World Cup, that'd be
20:55magic.
20:55Who's in the dreaded group of death, and who has just a layup group?
20:59Yeah.
20:59You just look at it, you're like, they're definitely going to win this group.
21:02So, there are no groups of death, because in this 48-team World Cup, you've got some
21:07numbers, and you've also got this new thing where, like, last World Cup, only the top
21:11two went.
21:12Now you could get a third team going through.
21:15So, you know, death is relative.
21:17You could finish third and not die.
21:18You could still advance.
21:19I think the France group is kind of tricky there.
21:21You've got France, Norway, Senegal.
21:23There's three groups there.
21:24I think Argentina can look at their group and feel really good about it.
21:28Spain can look at their group.
21:30Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia feel really good about it.
21:33Like, some of the big dogs got really nice groups.
21:37But the thing is, in this tournament, the group phase is not so important for elimination.
21:41It's mostly important for seeding.
21:43If you're Spain, England, France, you want to win your group, because that sets you up
21:48to avoid Spain, England, France, Argentina in the bracket.
21:51And if you're the U.S. as well, and you suddenly have a chance to win your group, which most
21:55tournaments
21:55you don't, because there's a big dog in your group.
21:57You're the seeded team now, because you're the host.
21:59First, you've got to finish first, because absent of that, your chances of a deep run
22:03basically evaporate.
22:04Because you're saying if things play out the way you think it is, and the United States
22:08doesn't finish first, they likely would face Argentina.
22:12If the U.S. finishes second in their group and chalk holds elsewhere, their round to 16
22:17matchup, to get to the quarterfinals, which to me is kind of the success, right?
22:21They'd have to go through Argentina and Atlanta.
22:23And I would just say, brutal matchup on all fronts, and even the one thing you'd think
22:28would be the edge for the U.S. is we're at home.
22:30Not against Messi.
22:31Never at home against Messi anywhere in the world.
22:33He's the biggest draw in soccer.
22:35That's crazy.
22:35Let's go to the phones.
22:35800-636-1067 if you have a question for Sebastian Salazar.
22:40He is our official World Cup correspondent.
22:43He's boots on the ground for the World Cup, Mike Barr.
22:45I'm riveted.
22:46It's fascinating, right?
22:47We got Bish riveted into soccer.
22:50I'm like this all the time with the World Cup.
22:52The World Cup is special.
22:53There's no doubt about it.
22:54You've reached the pinnacle.
22:55You've gotten Jason into soccer.
22:56Doing this segment on this show is for me truly the pinnacle.
23:00All right.
23:00800-636-1067 if you want to chime in.
23:03Marco in Ashburn.
23:05What's up, buddy?
23:07Hey, guys.
23:08What's going on?
23:08Love this segment.
23:09I'm actually going to the Turkey game June 25th.
23:12I can't wait.
23:13Wow.
23:14Sebastian, why don't you get your thoughts on Diego Luna's omission of the team?
23:17Yeah.
23:18So Diego Luna, for those that don't know, he's an attacking player.
23:22Plays in Major League Soccer for RSL.
23:24And when Pochettino took over the program, the new manager, like I said, one of the things
23:29he wanted to do was kind of agitate the pool.
23:31All these guys were coming over from Europe who always had their spots.
23:33He said, get out of here.
23:34I'm going to call new guys in.
23:35We're going to see who really wants to play for this program.
23:37One of those guys was Diego Luna.
23:39In one of his first games, he breaks his nose, bleeds all over his uniform, and everybody
23:44falls in love with him.
23:45They say, this is the guy who's going to bring the spirit back.
23:47He's a good player.
23:48He's not a great player.
23:49He keeps getting included in the team to the point where he's in all like the commercials,
23:54the marketing for the World Cup.
23:56When the rosters dropped, he's not in it.
23:58I got to say, to me, it was not a surprise.
24:01There's a lot of competition for those spots.
24:03A lot of really good players.
24:04And it was a big tell in March when they did the last call up before the World Cup.
24:08Diego Luna was healthy and he wasn't called in.
24:11I was like, all right, well, you had your shot.
24:14You didn't impress enough.
24:15And now that they're calling everybody in, you're out.
24:17I think there's a lot of talented players in those spots.
24:20There's a lot of guys you can turn to to kind of do the thing you'd hope Diego Luna would
24:23do.
24:24I know there's a lot of people that were surprised by his omission, but I don't think, you know,
24:27we're talking about player 25, 26 in the group.
24:30This is not a guy who realistically was going to be a starter or have like a huge impact.
24:34Is Pochettino a little bit of a hippie?
24:36I'm reading on his Wikipedia.
24:38You've seen his long hair from back in the day.
24:40He believes in energia universal.
24:43Energia universal.
24:44Yeah, there's definitely some of that.
24:45The idea that people, places, and things are charged with a hidden energy, positive or negative.
24:50It's his thing.
24:51Yeah, he's very much a vibes guy, for sure.
24:53But I do have to say, you know, he's had a lot of success with it.
24:57So sometimes you see all that stuff and you think, woo, woo, whatever.
25:00But not only does he believe it, his coaching staff, which is very unified, believes it.
25:04And they seem to do a good job of getting the teams they coached to buy in.
25:08So Valdez in my ear said, ask him about the teams, the European teams that aren't used to the heat.
25:15That are bitching and moaning about what's coming.
25:18Well, nobody complains more than the freaking English.
25:20How does it affect England and do you buy into that?
25:23Yeah, so I mean, definitely, definitely.
25:25I'll take you back to the 94 World Cup.
25:26But Mexico and Ireland played a game in Orlando.
25:29It was 108 degrees on the field.
25:31It was in the middle of the day.
25:32Ireland just died.
25:33Ireland died.
25:34Mexico beat them.
25:35And Mexico, my mom's Mexican, so I'll say this.
25:38Mexico's better on the day.
25:39But you can see the Irish guys, you know, very fair-skinned, burnt, bright red.
25:42Like, they were suffering.
25:45England's complaining about it.
25:46They're going to get over here in the summer.
25:48They're going to see these 100-degree temperatures.
25:49For England, specifically, because England goes into every World Cup thinking they're going to win it all.
25:53They're looking at their potential round-to-16 matchup.
25:55If chalk holds, then they're seeing it in Mexico City, in Azteca, at elevation and heat against Mexico.
26:03Oh, wow.
26:04So, now, this isn't the best Mexican team of the last 20, 30 years.
26:06But that's still tough.
26:07That's tough.
26:08And it would happen to England after a ton of travel.
26:11So, that's why the English are complaining.
26:13But, you know, they're always, unless it's in their country, in their time zone, in their weather, they're going to
26:17mow.
26:17Well, I'm taking Mexico money line against South Africa, first game of the World Cup.
26:21That must be a huge.
26:22Minus 260.
26:23He loves favorites.
26:24Yeah.
26:24Yeah, South Africa, there's a pessimism of a Mexican fan here a little bit, but Mexico looks very solid.
26:31South Africa just tied Nicaragua.
26:34South Africa looks pretty weak coming in.
26:36So, I think that's a, it's minus 260 for a reason.
26:38Yeah, yeah, yeah.
26:39That's all right.
26:40You love it.
26:40I'll risk 26 bucks to win 10.
26:42I love that about you.
26:43Now, I'm sure you could answer this question.
26:45It'd probably be hours.
26:47But EB, during one of the commercial breaks, was talking about the 2002 team and how he knew all the
26:53players.
26:53Yeah.
26:53And, you know, back during kind of the, I would say the Alexi Lalas era, it became popular.
26:59And people thought, well, you soccer, the Americans 20 years from now are going to be a power.
27:04And it never really has materialized, right?
27:07Mm-hmm.
27:09Why?
27:10Why?
27:11Like, what is missing to get the United States to become a power?
27:15Yeah.
27:15Because it's a huge country, tons of kids play soccer, and yet smaller countries remain better than the United States.
27:26You know, I think where we've grown in soccer is kind of in corporate investment, in businesses paying attention to
27:32the sport, in people paying attention to the sport because businesses wouldn't want to put money in if people weren't
27:39paying attention.
27:40What we haven't grown, really, is, like, grassroots culture and really kind of propping that up.
27:46And that's where you get great players.
27:49So, like, how do we do youth soccer here?
27:51You know, I lived in Bethesda.
27:52I played for a team in Herndon, and my parents drove me two or three times a week over there.
27:56And we drove to the tournaments.
27:58And, you know, my mom and dad thought I was a great player and elite and da-da-da-da
28:02-da-da.
28:03And now we look back and I say, man, like, why didn't you just send me to the park across
28:07the street?
28:07And I spend six hours at that wall instead of spending.
28:10And that's what kids in Brazil, France, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da do.
28:13So our kids, even our best kids, our best kids, who are better than they were 20, 40 years ago.
28:19I mean, the coaching's a lot better.
28:21Like, I played soccer.
28:21But there's a touch deficit.
28:23Literally, it's a numbers thing.
28:24It's a touch deficit.
28:26When I go to Mexico, like, the kids finish school.
28:29They go.
28:29They play until it gets dark.
28:32And, like, I'll tell you.
28:33I live across the street from a park in Bethesda.
28:35I'm not putting my kids in, beep, soccer club.
28:37I'm putting them in Fleming Park.
28:39And we're going to play and we're going to play and we're going to play.
28:41And if he doesn't make it college or pro, like, who cares?
28:45But if he falls in love with the game and plays for hours and hours on end, that's how he'll
28:49become a Messi.
28:50That's how he'll become a whatever you want your kid to become.
28:53And I think we have, in this country, in youth sports, especially in youth soccer, made it so much about
28:58the brand and the money and, like, that, that kids aren't loving it.
29:03And I think, you know, kids love to be on the best team and have the patch and win the
29:08trophy.
29:09But in other countries, when you do those things, it means you're really progressing.
29:13In this country, it just means mommy and daddy kind of bought you a spot.
29:15And I think until we really kind of address youth soccer and make it total, we won't have the ability
29:23to really compete with other countries who are really developing kids to develop kids, not to make money for the
29:29local soccer club.
29:30Like, when we were kids, like, our parents coached us just to develop us and have fun.
29:36Now youth sports is driven by, like, a totally different agenda.
29:39And until that agenda changes, I don't ever see us creating, like, world-class players.
29:46Touch deficit.
29:47Yeah, I like that one.
29:47A touch deficit.
29:48I forget.
29:49You gave me one for the book, which was excellent.
29:50I don't know if you remember the phrase.
29:52I forgot what it was now.
29:53Hardened toxicity or calloused toxicity about Redskins fans or Commanders fans.
29:58Sebastian, we always appreciate the time.
30:00Sebastian Salazar.
30:01He's our official World Cup correspondent.
30:03That's not going to be any pay bump for him, but it's a prestigious title.
30:06Yes.
30:07Can I just say?
30:07You can send him some surf sides.
30:09As somebody who grew up in the area and listened to you guys for a long time, this is, like,
30:13a huge streak for me to be here talking World Cup, but also 30 years.
30:16I mean, as a broadcaster, I can just really appreciate what that achievement is.
30:22It's really incredible.
30:23Well, it's great having you on.
30:24Always love having you on.
30:25Right back at you.
30:26I can tell you this.
30:27When I was doing all those post-game shows, and I did with a bunch of smooth guys, like
30:31Michael Jenkins was excellent.
30:33That's my boy, yeah.
30:33But Sebastian was the best.
30:36He would just be talking about junkie stuff.
30:39And they'd be counting down.
30:40Three, two, and he's still talking.
30:42One.
30:43And then he was like, boom.
30:44And he was so good at it.
30:45He's a freaking pro.
30:46That's what he does.
30:47Sebastian, thanks again.
30:48Thanks, buddy.
30:48Great having you in.
30:50You can call us at 800-636-1067.
30:53When we come back, we'll give you a chance to win tickets.
30:55See Dave Chappelle and tickets to the Black Crows.
30:58800-636-1067.
31:01We'll give you a chance to win next.
31:02We'll give you a chance to win next.
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