00:00But before the World Cup started, we had our buddy Sebastian Salazar in the studio.
00:05Did a great breakdown.
00:07Breaking down the World Cup, and he joins us right now as we have entered the knockout stage.
00:11What's up, Sebastian?
00:14Hey, man. Moment of silence for your Pop-Tart. Sorry about that.
00:17Yeah, force them out for JP's Pop-Tart.
00:19I really only lost about a half of one, but believe me, I shook that damn toaster.
00:25Big-time elimination of the knockout round.
00:26Yes, big-time elimination.
00:27Hey, what do you think? Were there any big surprises for you, like, say, pre-tournament to where we are
00:33now, that we should kind of discuss?
00:37Yeah, I mean, there's some great stories.
00:39You know, teams that kind of made it to the knockout rounds for the first time that maybe a lot
00:43of us didn't really ever expect to see in a World Cup back when it was, you know, 32 teams
00:47or 48 teams.
00:49You know, those teams like Cape Verde, who made it for the first time and get a shot at Argentina
00:53and Messi.
00:54That's an amazing, you know, ultimate Cinderella story there, potentially.
00:57In the round of 32, you got Congo.
00:59They're back for the first time since 1974, put in an amazing performance in the group phase.
01:06So, yeah, I think there's been some kind of Cinderella stories that have made it this far, and those are
01:10great tales.
01:11But really, for everybody in World Football, you always hear at every tournament, this is where the World Cup begins.
01:16You get to the knockout phases, the big boys are all still left, and I think, you know, that's what
01:21really matters most.
01:22Sometimes in a World Cup before, when two teams would go through and two teams would go home, you'd have
01:27some of the big boys that don't make it through.
01:29But this group phase format now is so forgiving that the teams that need to be here all are.
01:34Are you surprised that Messi scored as much as he has?
01:38Yes, for sure.
01:40I think, you know, we all know Messi's great, and he's amazing.
01:43We talked about it when I was in the studio with you guys.
01:46And it was just a question of how good would he be, right?
01:49Like, we know he's electric.
01:51Drop the hat trick.
01:52Drop the brace.
01:53But I think what we've seen around him is also impressive.
01:57I told you guys, I didn't think Argentina would be able to repeat some of that history,
02:01but some of that was the team, they've looked every bit the part.
02:04And I think if you want to call it a surprise, it's that there's really only been two teams
02:08that I think have looked consistently good.
02:11And those are the two teams that met in the final last time, and that's Argentina and France.
02:15Some of the big boys, the Spains, the Portugals, the Germanys, they've had their wobbles,
02:20and they've shown some real vulnerability.
02:22So outside of those top two, I really kind of feel like it's anybody's tournament to make a run here
02:29in this knockout round.
02:30Do you worry about France not really being tested yet?
02:32I mean, they shut out Senegal and Iraq, and in the Norway game, Norway sat their best player.
02:37Like, is there any of that heading into the matchup with Sweden on Tuesday?
02:42No.
02:43No, I mean, I would say this.
02:45In the new format, it's tough for the big boys to really, truly get tested in the group phase.
02:50But even that, it's a pretty good, that's a pretty good group.
02:54Senegal is the on-field African champions.
02:57That's a really good team.
02:59Norway obviously rotated their players because they had already clinched, and Iraq is Iraq.
03:03I mean, France was expected to beat them, but had to kind of do it in a slop.
03:08France looks good.
03:09I'm impressed by them.
03:10I don't think I'm worried about France at all.
03:13They've hit some footballing, some soccer-quality heights in this tournament that, frankly, nobody else has hit.
03:19And I think Sweden's a little bit lucky to be here, frankly.
03:21They took kind of the backdoor qualifying path.
03:23They have some decent attacking players because you know them from the big European leagues.
03:28But France is a powerhouse, and they should be a very, very big favorite in that matchup.
03:32All right.
03:32So, Sebastian, before we talk about the U.S. on Wednesday, today, triple header.
03:38You had Canada win the only match yesterday in the round of 32, so they advance.
03:43Today, triple header starting at one, Brazil-Japan, then you've got Germany-Paraguay, and then Netherlands-Morocco.
03:49Brazil is not as big of a favorite as I thought they would be.
03:52Japan is very good, obviously, but Brazil's minus 135.
03:56Germany's a big favorite over Paraguay at minus 275.
03:59The Netherlands are actually an underdog against Morocco at plus 130.
04:04So, how do you feel about these matches today?
04:07Can I just tell you, this is an awesome day of soccer.
04:11Like, in the round of 32, you're not supposed to get super even matchups in theory.
04:16You should still have, like, powerhouses against third-place teams.
04:20Brazil-Japan could be a quarterfinal.
04:23Brazil is obviously the five-time champions.
04:25Haven't won it since 2002 in a bit of a lull just in the last decade or so.
04:30And Japan, for me, is the next emerging powerhouse of soccer.
04:33If you see what they do on, like, a grassroots level in their schools, the way they train athletes in
04:38generally,
04:39they're going to win a World Cup soon.
04:41So, that's a fascinating matchup to me.
04:43And I think Japan very much could pull the upset there.
04:47Germany, big favorite over Paraguay.
04:49Paraguay kind of only there because of the extra spot that's given.
04:52And then Netherlands-Morocco.
04:54Morocco, a semi-finalist last time around, kind of the Cinderella story.
04:58And the Dutch are the best team to never have won it.
05:01If they've been to the final three times, last time in 2020, they're always kind of knocking at the door.
05:07I actually think the Dutch are the favorite in that game.
05:09Like, I don't – I think Morocco, a lot of people are buying into the hype from last time
05:13and forgetting that when Morocco advanced in the knockout rounds last time,
05:16it was smash and grab.
05:18It was holding on.
05:19It was 0-0, praying to get to penalties.
05:23I think the Dutch are a better team, and I think you'll see that tonight.
05:27All right, how are you feeling about the U.S. on Wednesday, 8 o'clock?
05:31Yep, how are you feeling about that?
05:33Yeah, man, so I heard you guys talking about it, I think, on Friday.
05:36And I know the big discussion is, like, did they lose momentum over this turkey result?
05:42It had to happen the way it had to happen.
05:44You had to arrest the guys who were on yellow cards because you absolutely couldn't afford
05:48losing any of those four dudes.
05:49Chris Richards, Anthony Robinson, Tyler Adams, or Valerian Baligan for the knockout rounds.
05:55Those are huge pieces.
05:57Christian Pulisic was never going to start, so you were going to see a heavily rotated
06:01lineup in that game.
06:03And the team didn't function, but that team's never going to be on the field in the knockout
06:07rounds, so I don't think you worry about it.
06:08The reality is the U.S. rolls into the knockout rounds healthy, everybody eligible,
06:14playing well, and with a pretty decent draw.
06:17I don't want to disrespect Bosnia and Herzegovina, but if you look at the other third-place
06:21teams, it's not the toughest draw.
06:25And the U.S. can just look down south at their neighbors, Mexico, who also won their group
06:29and get Ecuador in the freaking round of 32.
06:31And you know my monster, Mexico, I'm nervous about that one.
06:33That's a nightmare matchup.
06:34So the U.S. has a good draw, and the most important thing to come out of that last game
06:39is Christian Pulisic is back.
06:41He's balling.
06:42He only played 30 minutes, but in those first five minutes on a field, you saw exactly the type
06:46of guy he is.
06:47The exact game-changing presence you saw in the first 45 minutes against Paraguay, and
06:52I think the U.S. is heading into this knockout round just about as perfectly as you could
06:57be.
06:58What's the one concern you have for the U.S. just in this match against Bosnia?
07:05Yeah, so Bosnia is not a team that's going to threaten you throughout the game.
07:10I think they're going to let the United States have the ball.
07:12And if the U.S. can get an early goal, as they have in the first three games, I think
07:17it's curtains for Bosnia.
07:19I think that's going to be a really tough situation for them.
07:22However, if they can hold out and get to about 30 or 40 minutes, then the pressure immediately
07:29shifts to the United States.
07:30The expectation here is that they would win.
07:32And Bosnia is the type of team that is very good in the air.
07:37They're very dangerous on set pieces.
07:39They showed that in the group phase, and that's something that tends to be decisive at this
07:45point in the tournament.
07:46And so I would say, you know, you go into this tournament, and if I have a concern, it's
07:50that this game stays 0-0, and your goalie, who we've talked about, Matt Freeze, hasn't
07:55really had that big, mega international moment yet.
07:58And there's a free kick or a corner kick or a set piece late in the game, and that's how
08:04Bosnia steals it.
08:05And you know what, the last team to kind of celebrate getting Bosnia in a draw was
08:10Italy in the World Cup playoff.
08:12And guess what?
08:13Bosnia's in the World Cup, and Italy ain't.
08:16So I'm not sitting here telling you to plan for the round of 16, but I really do think
08:21that this is a massive opportunity, and I would be shocked, shocked if the U.S. doesn't
08:27take advantage.
08:28All right, good stuff, Sebastian.
08:29We'll talk to you soon.
08:30All right, man.
08:31I'll be texting you.
08:32All right, boys.
08:32Always a pleasure.
08:33Yep.
08:33All right, bro.
08:34Sebastian Salazar all over the World Cup.
08:36He's our World Cup insider.
08:38Coming up next, should we be worried about Jaden Daniels' third season?
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