- 2 days ago
On The Midday Show, Andy and Randy are joined by 92.9 The Game's Jason Longshore to discuss the World Cup landscape. While Spain tops Jason's list of favorites, he explains why several other nations have the talent and depth to make a serious run at soccer's biggest prize.
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00:00But the World Cup starts today. Yeah, man. World Cup starts today and we love talking soccer with Jason Longshore,
00:06obviously Atlanta United broadcaster. He's he is he is born for this.
00:10Yeah, he has been training his whole life for the World Cup coming here to Atlanta. I know he's going
00:14to be on the air every day for like 50 straight days covering this thing.
00:18And I know we're going to have him on a lot as well. Brought to you by Solomon Brothers Jewelers.
00:21The world is watching greatness. Celebrate yours at Solomon Brothers Buckhead, Alpharetta and Sharpsburg.
00:26Jason, how are you? Hey, what up, baby? What's up, guys? Well, I know the World Cup starts today.
00:33That's the main thing that's up. That's pretty exciting thing. You know, it's kind of cool.
00:37You know, it's it's a it's pretty cool being down in town. We're waiting to get our credentials for the
00:42World Cup.
00:43I'm excited to be an official media member for this one. Nice. And yeah, you know, like it's been really
00:48cool driving over here because all the signs are up.
00:52The fan festival is going to open today at Centennial Olympic Park. The stadium looks amazing with all of the
00:58World Cup branding on it.
01:00It's it feels massive down here right now.
01:02That was going to be my thing. I was going to ask you about Jay. Just the I don't like
01:07to use that V word.
01:08The the atmosphere as far as fans in town and things like that.
01:12And is it starting to because I don't like maybe a couple of weeks ago we were talking like, does
01:16it feel like it like the World Cup's here?
01:18Does it actually like now is here? I know it starts today, but does it have that feeling more to
01:22you that the World Cup?
01:23OK, it's big time now. Yeah, it's been these last couple of days where it's really started to feel big.
01:30And look, I think here in Atlanta, it's going to be a ramp up because today you get the fan
01:35festival opening.
01:35A lot of Mexico fans headed to fan festival, which is very cool. They kick off the tournament this afternoon.
01:41The U.S. game tomorrow, I think every bar, restaurant, pub, local gathering place is showing that game and making
01:49a big party of it.
01:50And then our first game here is Monday with the team that I'm picking to win the whole thing in
01:55Spain.
01:55I think they are the favorites coming in.
01:59Laminia Mall looks like he's going to be healthy, which was a big question coming into this thing.
02:03But Spain gets us started on Monday here in Atlanta, and that's that ramp from today to Monday is going
02:09to feel really cool in our city.
02:12Yeah, it is. It's really cool that there's going to be a handful of days of games and highlights and
02:16great goals and all that stuff.
02:18And then, like you said, one of the favorites, your favorite, like you just said, kicks things off here in
02:22Atlanta.
02:22I was going to ask you who you were going to pick to win, but you already told me.
02:26I was waffling, man. I was going back and forth on it.
02:28I had to make my prediction last night on Atlanta soccer tonight, and with France having a few issues, it
02:35sounds like, and some concerns, I went Spain.
02:38I've got them beating Argentina in the final, and you guys know me.
02:41That's a painful pick for me, but I think Spain's the best team in the tournament.
02:45I'm going to go back to the French team because I was reading some of this stuff.
02:47Me and Andy were talking about it, I think Monday, off the air about some of the things that, as
02:52far as,
02:52is it the personnel aspect of what's going on with the French team because of, you know, the Mbappe thing?
02:58What is it about that?
03:00Because I like, you know, I mean, France has been the last two finals.
03:02So you're like, I mean, and then.
03:04Yeah, they're amazing.
03:04They're amazing.
03:05So what was the deciding factor between France and the Indians?
03:09For me, I think there's a lot of chemistry issues with this team.
03:14And Kylian Mbappe is such a fascinating player because in terms of just sheer talent, he's one of the most
03:21talented players to ever play the game.
03:23He might, by the end of the summer, be the all-time leading goal scorer in World Cup history at
03:2827 years old.
03:30He needs five goals to be that guy.
03:31That's crazy.
03:32But here's the thing, and I think you guys might have seen this clip.
03:36If you haven't, definitely seek it out.
03:38I can share it with you.
03:39When he left PSG and he went to Real Madrid, he left PSG, they've won two Champions League since.
03:46He went to Real Madrid, they haven't won anything.
03:48He's scored a lot of goals, but he doesn't work off the ball defensively.
03:54He does very little, if anything.
03:56He's one of the players who runs the least in La Liga in Spain.
04:00And there's a famous clip of the manager at PSG, Luis Enrique, basically saying, you're a fan of Michael Jordan.
04:06You look up to Michael Jordan.
04:08He led his team, and I can't say some of the things on the radio, but he led his team
04:13defensively, and you need to do the same.
04:16And he hasn't consistently.
04:18And I think it shows in some of those moments where Real Madrid has broken down, and I think it's
04:23going to be an issue for France this summer.
04:25Every World Cup there, and look, I mean, soccer, it's always been huge.
04:29It's even bigger now here in the United States with the access to all of the European leagues that we
04:34can watch on TV and all of that.
04:35But every World Cup, there's a player or two that you kind of don't see coming that rise to household
04:41name status and superstardom and whatnot.
04:43Is there a player or two or three that you have in mind that you could see taking his team
04:48on a long run over the next month and people knowing about him that don't know about him today?
04:53Yeah, there's a few.
04:55I think for the U.S., the one that I'm looking at is Serginio Dest.
04:59He plays for PSV in the Netherlands.
05:01He was with Barcelona for a minute.
05:04He's coming back from an injury.
05:05He's the guy who, as a right back slash right wing back, he's going to get forward a lot.
05:13He's going to be able to win those 1v1 duels and break teams down on the dribble.
05:17He could be the highlight reel for the U.S. and really create a lot.
05:21And I think the U.S. has everything in place to have a good tournament.
05:26I think round of 16 is kind of where they're set to get to.
05:30And if things fall your way, then you never know once the bracket ends up being sorted out.
05:35The player that I'm looking at for Golden Ball, which is the player of the tournament, Pedri for Spain.
05:41I think if Spain win, it's going to be the collective a little bit more than just an individual.
05:46Because Laminia Mall is coming back from injury.
05:49Nico Williams is coming back from injury.
05:51They're going to start a little slow.
05:53Pedri in the midfield is just that complete player who can go box to box.
05:57He can get you goals.
05:59He can keep goals out.
06:00Pedri, I think, could be the real breakout this summer.
06:04Jay, what about this?
06:05I know you said Argentina.
06:07What about Messi?
06:07Because I know they were talking about what happened down there.
06:09Obviously, what happened to Auburn was awesome.
06:11They were talking about the leg fatigue and things like that.
06:14His impact.
06:15We know how great of a player he is, but he's up there at age and all those different things.
06:18What do you think about as far as him trying to lead Argentina to another title?
06:23He's still got it.
06:24Can he have it for eight games?
06:26I mean, it's going to be tough.
06:27Nobody's went through eight games in a World Cup before because this is the first time we had that round
06:30of 32.
06:32But you saw him in Auburn.
06:33And he comes into the field.
06:35First touch is one of the best passes you'll ever see and sets up a penalty.
06:40And then he converts it and he's just, he's the goat.
06:44And he is going to be 39 before this tournament is over.
06:49Father John's undefeated.
06:50But can he hold it off just a little bit longer?
06:53I don't know.
06:54I think that the guy who's going to benefit a lot from him this tournament is Lautaro Martinez,
06:58the striker from Internazionale in Italy.
07:02They just won Serie A.
07:03He has been scoring goals for fun.
07:06Messi's going to create a lot for him.
07:08I don't know if Messi's going to score as much this summer.
07:10But I think he's going to be very involved in creating opportunities.
07:14Jay, last one for me.
07:15How much of the travel weather combo is going to be an issue for some of these teams?
07:20Yeah, it will.
07:21I think the weather, the conditions are going to be a factor.
07:24I think this is a tournament that is going to have more goals in the last 10 minutes that decide
07:30games
07:31and decide teams getting through out of the group.
07:34With the third-place teams going through, 8 of 12, it's going to come down to goal differential.
07:40And I think when you look at that level of it, if you win a game, you have a very
07:45good chance of going through.
07:46If you get four points, I think you're going through no matter what.
07:49If you get three, that's one win.
07:51And as long as you don't get blown out in a game, I think you'll get into the knockout round
07:56and get into that round of 32.
07:58But what it's going to come down to is late in games.
08:01Like, you might be down 4-1.
08:02And a team that steals a goal late because of going up against tired legs, that goal could get them
08:08into the knockout round.
08:09I think you're going to see late goals decide things because some teams are going to struggle with it.
08:15Norway's one, for example.
08:16Norway, you look at sheer talent.
08:18Erling Haaland is the, like, stereotypical Viking look.
08:23He's a monster from Manchester City.
08:25But you're playing in 100 degrees and humidity that Norwegians aren't really used to.
08:31Norwegians are built for it.
08:32He's fine.
08:34He's fine.
08:34The Vikings are carrying shields and swords and all that.
08:37How are they going to deal with all this humidity that we're used to?
08:39They do a lot of sauna stuff.
08:40They do a lot of sauna stuff.
08:42They have been.
08:43You've been keeping up.
08:43I like it.
08:44Oh, I didn't know that the team had been doing that.
08:46I just know Norwegians love getting in saunas.
08:47No, they actually have.
08:48They've been, like, sauna training.
08:49Really?
08:50That's hilarious.
08:52I'm not lying.
08:54They're trying to get used to this.
08:55Good, good.
08:56I got a couple U.S. questions.
08:58Let's just go with the easy one, which is tell us about the first game.
09:03Tell us about their game against Paraguay tomorrow.
09:05A little preview.
09:05And then I got a couple bigger-picture tournament-long questions, U.S.-related as well.
09:11Yeah, Paraguay, I mean, we know Miguel Almanteron very well.
09:14We know Matias Galarzo with Paraguay as well.
09:16Both were with Atlanta United in the spring.
09:18I think they're going to sit back and be on the counter a lot.
09:22Their top player is probably going to miss the game, Julio Nciso.
09:25He was injured in their send-off game late last week.
09:29They're not expecting him to be able to play tomorrow.
09:32Paraguay, I think, naturally would sit back and play on the counter even more now if they
09:36don't have their best attacker.
09:38So, the U.S. is going to have to break them down.
09:40And that's why Dest, I think, is so important off of the right side.
09:43Anthony Robinson off of the left.
09:44We saw his amazing goal against Germany.
09:47You're going to need those wide players to draw the defense open.
09:51And that will create space for Christian Pulisic.
09:54I really look at the two-headed monster up top as well because with five subs, I think
09:59you're going to see Fulair and Baligan start often and run teams into the ground for about
10:0360 minutes.
10:04Ricardo Pepe could be the microwave, the super sub for this team, coming off the bench and
10:10making things happen late for the U.S.
10:12Those are some of the guys I'm looking at.
10:15You said earlier that you could see them having a nice tournament, making the round of 16.
10:20I know that means winning a knockout stage in this tournament because there's a round
10:23of 32.
10:24Furthest they've ever gone is eight.
10:26What are you, what's it going to take for them to kind of equal that run on the positive
10:31end?
10:32Or if they don't, if heaven forbid they don't make it out of the group or they don't win
10:35that round of 32 game, what will hold them back?
10:39I worry defensively a little bit because Chris Richards is coming in banged up.
10:44We haven't seen him in the two friendlies.
10:46The center back from Birmingham, Alabama, Crystal Palace in England.
10:50He's the most important defender.
10:51And if you don't have him, you lose a lot in that group.
10:55Then you're going to be asking a guy that I'm a big fan of and Alex Freeman, Antonio Freeman's
11:01son.
11:01I am really looking forward to him in this tournament because he is the prototype for
11:09what you want from a defender because he can play right back.
11:11He can play center back.
11:12He can allow death to get high up the field.
11:14He almost gives you a wild card defender.
11:17You want, you want Richards next to him to help him along because Freeman just went to
11:22Europe in January at Villarreal in Spain.
11:25So he needs a little more experience.
11:27He's learning on the job.
11:29But if you have Richards next to him, I like that duo in the back with Tim Ream.
11:34If you don't have him, Freeman's going to have to grow up really fast.
11:38So that's my concern for the U.S.
11:40It's just they've given up a lot of goals against good teams.
11:42But here's the thing.
11:44They're number 16.
11:45They've beat everybody around them in the rankings and they beat everybody behind them
11:49as of late, including Paraguay, including Australia.
11:53You win those two games.
11:54You're going into the knockouts no matter what.
11:56The group is there to be one.
11:58It might not be with three wins, but the group is there to be one.
12:02But the group is also, every game's tight.
12:04Every game is difficult.
12:06You're of course going to need Christian Pulisic to be Captain America, but he's got a lot of
12:11help this time.
12:12I don't think it's the same as the last tournament where it was Christian or Bust in the attack.
12:17I really look at Destin Robinson getting forward.
12:21I look at Baligan and Pepe as strikers.
12:24Weston McKinney, Malik Tillman.
12:25And there's a lot of guys around who can take that offensive pressure off of Christian
12:31Pulisic and then let him just be himself and go find the game and go find those moments
12:36like he did against Iran in the last World Cup that got us into the knockout round.
12:40Christian Pulisic can be that guy, but he needs support.
12:43And I think he's got the right group around him to do that this time.
12:46Well, Jason, you've been training your whole life for this.
12:48We know you're up for it.
12:49We look forward to talking to you throughout the whole tournament.
12:52Appreciate it, Jay.
12:53Appreciate it, guys.
12:54Enjoy it this afternoon.
12:55Jason Longshore there, Atlanta United broadcaster, of course, member of the 92.9 The Game family.
13:01I mean, local soccer.
13:03Soccer head.
13:04Aficionado.
13:05And the World Cup's coming to his turf.
13:08Yeah, man.
13:09That's awesome.
13:09That's why we got games here.
13:10That's awesome.
13:11Because of Jason Longshore.
13:12He's been getting ready for this his whole life.
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