00:00Yeah, I haven't spoken to Ismail yet, but he's at the hospital.
00:04He will prepare for a surgery.
00:09I'm going to go see him after this press conference.
00:11We'll see exactly what we decide to do for him.
00:14His family is with him at the hospital, so his mother's there and his family.
00:19So, yeah, I mean, look, it happened right in front of the bench.
00:25We could all hear it.
00:26You know, I knew right away it was similar to when Tejan got hurt in training.
00:30It was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bones snap.
00:34So, you know, your heart goes out to him, and everybody's a little shaken by the whole experience
00:39because of the nature of the injury and also because Ismail is a big part of the heart of our
00:46team.
00:47It will be a big loss for us.
00:49He's been an amazing player in these last two games.
00:53But, look, you saw also that he was waving to the crowd and almost making everybody else feel at ease
01:03with the fact that he's injured.
01:06And that's, you know, it's an incredible statement about Ismail as a person, but this is our team.
01:12You know, I mean, I've been trying to tell people for two years about the special character of this group,
01:19and it gets highlighted in moments of challenging moments and in moments of glory.
01:26And I think that today was a representation of all of that.
01:30And you got to see how the team, everybody was crushed when it happened, but we had to find a
01:35way to stay focused.
01:36We knew that Ismail wanted us to finish the job.
01:40So, yeah, I mean, there's a lot of thoughts that go through our heads right now, and we're all thinking
01:44about him,
01:45but we're all very proud of what we are.
01:48That's what I would say more than anything is we're very proud of who we are and what we are.
01:53And I think that was all on Showcase today.
01:56Tom.
01:57Hey, Jesse.
01:58Congrats on the win.
01:58Tom Bogert from The Athletic asked my question in English.
02:01There seemed to be a bit of a disagreement with the Qatari coach, Lobetegi.
02:04Yeah, I'm not spending one second.
02:06It's not worth any of our time to discuss.
02:09So then I'll pivot.
02:10Do you think that the Qatari players were a little overly physical, or what was your view on the match
02:14in that regard?
02:15No, I think this, until the injury, I actually think that the match was pretty good, you know?
02:22And I think that, obviously, we had a very dominant performance in the first half,
02:27but I think that probably their coach wanted to fire him up a little bit at halftime
02:32to give them a chance to not go down by four because that means they have to beat Bosnia.
02:37So we were aware of that, and we needed four so that we don't have to beat Switzerland.
02:42And so then, you know, I think that that led to...
02:45But the player...
02:47Let me be clear.
02:48The player apologized to Ismail, like came into the dressing room and apologized to him,
02:53and Ismail told the team, or let the team know that that had happened.
02:56So I don't think that he meant such a gruesome tackle or gruesome situation.
03:01So I don't fault him for that, but I don't understand a reaction from their entire bench
03:08to try to start a fight about it being a red card when a clear foul just happened that broke
03:13a player's leg.
03:14So strange behavior, but in the end, we were more focused on Ismail in the match.
03:20Yeah.
03:21Look, we have almost the exact same situation that happened with Tejan,
03:25and the way that the guys rallied around him at that time and also used it as motivation to achieve
03:32some big goals.
03:34You know, I don't...
03:36You know, again, I've tried to say it, but you can see the brotherhood.
03:40You know, you used that word.
03:41That word came from John when he was here and before I came,
03:44and that was one of the first things I noticed when I took on the role of the manager for
03:49this team
03:50is how close they are, how connected they are, how much they love each other
03:54and how much they love playing for the national team.
03:56And to be honest, I've tried to accentuate it, but more than anything, I've tried to stay out of the
03:59way.
04:00And in a moment like this, I don't think they need me so much.
04:04I think they have each other, and they know that.
04:06And, you know, their families are here.
04:08We have a family barbecue tomorrow.
04:10We're going to enjoy that.
04:11We're going to enjoy being together.
04:12I'm sure Ismael will be on everybody's minds.
04:15But it is also important that we know that Ismael is going to be back stronger than ever.
04:20Like, he's going to be confident.
04:22He's going to believe in himself.
04:23We're going to make sure he gets great medical care,
04:24and he's going to continue to have a great career.
04:28And, you know, I said to them even at the water break,
04:31Ismael would want us to finish the job here in this game,
04:33and then we'll figure out how we want to deal with everything else after.
04:37And to be fair, that's what the guys did.
04:38So that part was great.
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