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00:00One-nothing win over Portugal, that just going final within the last couple of minutes.
00:06Timely enough for our next guest to have time to join us on the West Her Hotline.
00:11You know him from years gone by, appearances, some musical on this radio station, WGR.
00:19Most recently, you know him from his excellent soccer reporting for NBC Sports.
00:26He is Nick Mandola, my old friend. How are you doing, bud?
00:30It's great to hear your voice. Too many compliments.
00:33Yeah, I remember when I wrote that song, Against the Wind, by Bob Seger.
00:37Yeah, that's a great one. I love that one.
00:39I didn't know that was yours, but I need to update.
00:45Speaking of music quickly, I'll just indulge both of us this much.
00:48It was really great for me. I don't want to speak for you.
00:51You were maybe up earlier than me.
00:53My kids are all grown. I can get up whenever I want, and I don't start working until 3.
00:56So the interactions you and I had this morning after I set this up with you about music were a
01:04great way to start the day.
01:06Yeah, I don't get that a ton because I'm old, and I have a very specific taste.
01:10And you send me a guy I'd never heard of, and I listened to it, and I was like, this
01:13is excellent.
01:14And that's a vibe. I felt young. You reinvigorated me, Chris.
01:18You did the same for me. You fired first. I was just trying to keep up.
01:22Anyway.
01:22Awesome.
01:23So the story that just won't go away.
01:30Your reaction, I know I heard you Thursday morning, I think, talking to Jaron Joe after that match on Wednesday
01:37night
01:38when the red card was first thrown on Bolligan that, you know, there's no real mechanism in place.
01:44I feel like, Nick, maybe the thing, I should just let you talk here,
01:48but the thing that stands out to me is that they didn't overturn this on Thursday afternoon.
01:54They waited until Sunday morning, 30 hours, 36 hours, whatever.
01:59It's very late, I think, to throw, hey, one of their leading scorers is actually eligible.
02:06Yeah, it reeks of people who think they can just do whatever they want,
02:10because, frankly, had they have done it on Friday, I think everybody would have been like,
02:14all right, you know, like, that happens in the Premier League all the time.
02:18There's a red card that's questionable, and most people think it's not a red card,
02:22and a couple days later they say, hey, there won't be any supplemental discipline.
02:26And that is something that I think would have been entirely fair, but because they waited so long,
02:31really what they've done is this is now a competitive disadvantage for Belgium.
02:36I mean, it truly is.
02:38They would have planned all their weeks, and Rudy Garcia, their manager, said what?
02:41They planned their whole week out to have yesterday off, and it's a very light day,
02:45and there's no strategy involved.
02:47Well, they did not plan for this relentless striker who is very, very heavy in the press on the front
02:53line
02:53and a lethal finisher.
02:55Now, granted, watch out for that guy is also a new way to put it,
02:58but he's much, much better than Ricardo Pepe and Haji Wright, who are just different strikers.
03:06Right.
03:07So how, I don't know, how much room do you want to give Belgium slash, I don't know,
03:13anyone who feels aggrieved by this?
03:15How much berth do you want to give them?
03:17Are you inclined to widen it out because it seems kind of unprecedented?
03:23Um, kind of.
03:25Here's the thing.
03:25Cristiano Ronaldo took a red card in one of his last games before the World Cup.
03:29It was a qualifying playoff, I believe, if I'm not mistaken,
03:33and he was supposed to get three games, and he came out and was Gianni Infantino's guest
03:38at the White House with the president and suddenly didn't have a suspension.
03:42So we've seen this game before, and I'm always uncomfortable.
03:48I don't know if this isn't a Buffalo thing or whatever, but I'm always uncomfortable
03:52when the break goes my way.
03:53I'm much more comfortable being aggrieved.
03:57But I think for the most part, they have a right to be upset, but it really, it really
04:03shouldn't tilt anything.
04:03It's not like they were denied a place.
04:05If anybody should be upset, maybe Bosnia, but they couldn't make the most of the man advantage.
04:10So when it's all said and done, it might not feel great if the U.S. get a historic win
04:14tonight,
04:16but they'll have to win a whole lot more for this to be a huge bearing on the tournament
04:20because I don't think, I think fewer people think Belgium can make a run than even the
04:25U.S. simply because of age and because this is on U.S. soil.
04:29Yeah.
04:29Well, and they'll be the last of the host country standing, right?
04:34Canada's been knocked out, and last night, as of last night, Mexico got knocked out as well.
04:39Well, how much, Nick, do you sense, or maybe you have already formed a long-form opinion
04:48on this, do fans of the U.S. men's national team, going back 30 years or 10 years or whatever,
04:56but people have been around it a long time, do you think that this situation has the potential
05:03to sort of spoil this team for them, or will everyone just sort of get past it?
05:09I think most people will get past it.
05:11They might not feel great about it, but in the long term, listen, the last time the U.S.
05:17made it to a quarterfinal, which is where they'll get with a win this evening,
05:21they were playing Germany as massive underdogs in South Korea, and a pretty blatant handball
05:27on the goal line was not called against Germany.
05:30And it was one of those moments where, as a U.S. fan, you're thinking,
05:34the other way around, there's no way this doesn't go against us.
05:37Like, there's no way, and Landon Donovan played the game of his, that was his welcome
05:41to the world moment, and the U.S. were denied what could have been an epic, epic upset in
05:482002.
05:49And I still think about that.
05:51So is it possible that 20 years from now, this could, by the way, be the end of a Belgian
05:55golden generation, as much as we talk about the U.S.?
05:58De Bruyne, LeCocco.
05:58Yeah, I mean, just three or four of their best players in the history of their program
06:04walking away.
06:06But, look, if you're a U.S. fan, you think, I'll take all the breaks I can get, because
06:10as good as they are, and yes, this is the best, deepest, most talented, best chance
06:15to win, and on home soil, U.S. men's national team there's ever been.
06:19And they are still a dark horse at that.
06:22So, ultimately, I think you say, hey, we caught a break, and that's awesome.
06:26Now let's make the most of it.
06:27Yeah.
06:27You like how I had to try to make sure you knew?
06:30I'm looking for approval from you.
06:32I know who Kevin De Bruyne and Romulo Lukaku are.
06:36Yeah, I've just got to squeeze that in.
06:38Like, I got knowledge, Nick.
06:39I've been watching.
06:41I know.
06:42You know, that is something, Lukaku especially, when he got on the field, was that that first
06:49round match?
06:50I think it was.
06:52And, like, 20 seconds later, there's an own goal.
06:55Like, he caused the play.
06:57Can I tell you, like, how much the enjoyment of the tournament goes up when I know who
07:03he is because he played for a few minutes for Manchester United?
07:06Like, oh, Lukaku's on the field.
07:08And, like, you know, I'm telling my wife about, oh, this guy's a legendary striker, blah, blah,
07:13blah, blah, blah.
07:14And, like, bam, it's in the net.
07:18Recognition helps a lot.
07:19Like, I know way more of these guys now than I did maybe for any World Cup ever that I've
07:25ever watched.
07:25And that helps a lot.
07:27Yeah, I mean, it does.
07:28The whole, and again, I work for NBC, so I'm not just simply saying this in the whole, hey,
07:33we look at the Premier League and the work that they put on TV.
07:36No, it's not just that.
07:37It's the fact that the quality is so high at the best league in the world.
07:42And these names, and it's the argument for putting American, getting American players
07:46on these teams, and I think it's neat when you'll see a guy that you've seen for, not
07:52for a cup of coffee, but let's say, like, I watch the Premier League every weekend, but
07:56maybe watching Man Utd, you see Wolves twice a year tops, maybe a third time randomly, and
08:02you're like, well, Vitina, I remember him.
08:05It's a great feeling.
08:07I'm trying to think of the comparison.
08:10I guess there's a little bit of, you know, you're not a Sabres fan, and there's Demgis
08:16Gergensens in a weird Latvian Olympic game.
08:18Like, it's a feeling that brings those two worlds together.
08:23And this World Cup, to me, not to spin it on you, Chris, but it's been refreshing to
08:28me because even a couple of games I've gone to, the coverage, watching people mention
08:34online, mostly today's news pushing out the table.
08:38So it's away from the politics.
08:40It's just, hey, I really care about Brazil.
08:43I really care about Haiti.
08:44We're both in this game.
08:46And isn't it great that we're at the World Cup?
08:48That's one of the storylines of every game is, isn't it great that the World Cup's here?
08:52And to me, that's been that and the familiarity, and Jeremy makes a great point, right?
08:57Like Erling Haaland, he does not like him on Manchester City.
09:00Hey, on Norway, no offense to Norway, right?
09:03Fjords, and here we go.
09:05Let me root for this monster to do monstrous things because it's not hurting me.
09:10That's awesome.
09:11Yeah.
09:11And yeah, you know, is it regularly, like every four years, do the stars come through the
09:18way the stars are coming through in this tournament?
09:21Or is that because I just know who more of the stars are now?
09:26No, I think it's neither of those questions.
09:28This is just simply a tournament where they seem to be carrying each other, and I can't
09:32explain it.
09:32It's one of those things where knowing Mike, I wish he were here, it would drive him nuts
09:36to hear me say this.
09:39But there is a vibe, and it can't really quantify it.
09:43It's not about statistics, but it's like Messi scored in the first game, and Mbappe and
09:48Haaland, they were all like, well, we better show up.
09:51They all had two the first game.
09:52Yeah, on the same night, I think.
09:53Right.
09:53Right.
09:54And Harry Kane soon after.
09:56And that's not to say, look, these guys are all, I was just getting really angry at Carly
10:00Lloyd on the broadcast, because she said something like, you know, this Balogun decision is really
10:05going to give extra vigor.
10:07You don't want to give extra vibes to Belgium.
10:09I'm like, it's the World Cup round of 16.
10:12They're not going to try harder now.
10:16Right?
10:17Like, yeah, you know what?
10:18You can go put a photo of their mother and father on the bulletin board.
10:22It's not going to change much.
10:25Their whole country is watching.
10:27And they would have been no matter what.
10:29Yeah, right.
10:30Right.
10:30Right.
10:30Yeah.
10:31Like, oh, you made this extra juicy.
10:33It's the World Cup.
10:34So, but besides that, yeah, no, I think it's, it's been absolutely phenomenal.
10:40And there, there is a pervasive spirit.
10:42It's like, you look at the golden boot leaderboard and it's all guys that most people have heard
10:47of.
10:47Our old friend, Nick Mandola on the Western Hotline, he's been covering this World Cup
10:51for NBC Sports.
10:54Are you still, I know you were back and forth to Toronto, but now the Toronto is done hosting.
10:58Are you getting on a plane anywhere or are you mostly stationary now?
11:03Yeah.
11:05Well, I'm definitely not stationary for good unless FIFA wises up and says, who's this guy?
11:11I am going to the final, which I'm incredibly excited about.
11:15And, you know, without getting too far into it, I have a very vested interest beyond just
11:20wanting the U.S. to do well to get them to win.
11:22So, uh, I may still have two trips in me.
11:25I definitely have one.
11:26Yeah.
11:27Well, you know, on the overall, I want to get back to this match tonight and the U.S.
11:32chances even, uh, moving forward, but the spectacle that it has all been in your travels.
11:38And I know you've, you've been nice enough to share some pictures with me, um, from some
11:43of your travels.
11:44Um, this is a sporting event that has captured even my, my, my wife doesn't know any of these
11:49people.
11:49She's rolling her eyes when I'm telling her how much I know who Lukaku is.
11:53Right.
11:53But she, she wants to know who's playing and where is it.
11:57And the, the street scenes, as much as the matches, right.
12:01The, the, the crowds in the buildings and outside the buildings, the setting in Monterey
12:06looks like AI.
12:07It doesn't even look real.
12:09It's incredible.
12:11And that is working enough for her to at least sit in the room with the games on, which is,
12:17it's a big deal.
12:17She's not a big sports fan.
12:19Um, but she finds the different cultures and just the different traditions and all
12:24of this stuff.
12:25And then, you know, having it be in Seattle or in Monterey or in Vancouver is just added,
12:32added bonus.
12:33I, I, I never expected it being in North America to matter as much as it has to me and
12:38my wife.
12:40Uh, yeah, listen, I think first of all, they're talking about Harry Kane on the England team
12:45and altitude and you're thinking, Oh, that's a real thing.
12:48We think about that with mile high.
12:50And then they show a picture of them training essentially in the mountains.
12:53And it, it paints a picture.
12:54And I fall victim to this.
12:56The first time I can remember was being very young and taking Niagara Falls for granted.
13:00And then you have people, I was kind of seeing a girl from the West coast and she flew over
13:05here and we went to Niagara Falls and it blew her mind.
13:06I was like, Oh, that is pretty cool.
13:11It's awesome to see people kind of, you know, bring, they learn about your stories.
13:17I think everybody saw the news early.
13:19People were coming over from Germany and they're like amazed by the offerings at Waffle House
13:22for so cheap at two in the morning.
13:24Like those things are cool, but what's taking it to another level for me, and this is the
13:29story that I'm trying to spread with, with, you know, I would not have been able to afford
13:33to go to the games I've, I've been able to go to, but going to Bosnia against Canada.
13:38And then you go to talk to some fans before the game for an article.
13:41And they're talking about how Ed and Dzeko is a, is a national symbol for them because
13:46he was hiding during the civil war, the Yugoslavian civil war.
13:50And, and he came out and became the star.
13:53And that means so much than because of his story, right?
13:56The second game I went to was Brazil and Haiti.
13:59And I'm talking to some Haitian fans because they have such a huge population in Haiti.
14:03And I'm saying, Hey, this is so cool.
14:05You're in the world cup.
14:05And they're like, yeah.
14:06And what you don't understand is when we underwent our revolution, Brazil had our backs.
14:12So to be on the same stage with them, like, it's like, yeah, if you guys win, okay.
14:16I mean, obviously they were massive underdogs as well, but you know, there's that, which I
14:21did not know about.
14:22And, you know, I'm running into guys.
14:23There was a guy there dressed as the, uh, as the man who overthrew the government.
14:28Like he's in straight up 17th or 18th century attire.
14:32And then finally Croatia and Portugal and Toronto last week, those are the two biggest, well,
14:38they were the two biggest immigrant populations to Toronto.
14:41And so there was the spirit of, Hey, I moved here.
14:44My heroes are here and I'm showing them my new place.
14:48So we got to be loud for them.
14:49And it's just, it makes the world feel a little bit smaller.
14:53Sorry for this rant, but in a time when I hate turning on the news and still do it to
14:58feel like, Hey, these are these populations.
15:00And guess what?
15:01It's kind of cool right now.
15:02You know, that, that works for me.
15:05Yeah, absolutely.
15:06Um, you know, back to the U S and, and their chances here, like how, how do you want to,
15:14I mean, they're a slight favorite on the betting markets going into this.
15:17At least they were an hour ago.
15:18I've not looked just as we're starting this conversation, but I doubt it's changed, uh,
15:22dramatically, assuming nothing has changed with Bolligan, uh, and his status, which I
15:27want to feel pretty confident, uh, won't change rejected.
15:30Yeah.
15:31That's official.
15:31He'll play.
15:32Are they, I mean, how much is it like Buster Douglas getting in the ring with Mike Tyson
15:37or is it better than that?
15:41I've been telling Douglas one, but yeah.
15:44Right.
15:44I've been telling anybody who will listen.
15:46Um, if they, if they escaped the first half hour with a lead or level, I think they'll
15:51win.
15:52And a part of it was, I had said 50, 50, when the matchup was set, I dropped it to
15:5735, 65,
15:58you know, because of the Bolligan thing.
16:00And now I'm at 51.
16:02Cause last night watching that Mexico, England game was madness.
16:06Mexico is not as good as England.
16:08Mexico dominated them aside, aside from three minutes in the first half and what Seattle was
16:14and which is where they're playing tonight for the first game, what Seattle means to
16:18soccer, the crowd there in America.
16:20Um, if the U S can make it out of 30 minutes, the thing about De Bruyne and Lukaku as
16:25spectacular
16:26talents as they are and part of Belgium's golden generation is they don't have it for 90 minutes.
16:31This U S team is with the exception of Tim Marine, who's 38, almost exclusively in its prime
16:37or before its prime.
16:38And there's an element of, I don't know.
16:41You know, there's an element of the sabers of the, the Oh six Oh seven in a sense.
16:45And they're, they're too dumb to, to, uh, to know what they don't know, bring it back
16:50to Bob Seger, which I didn't know now what I didn't know then.
16:53Um, but yeah, but to me, I think they really, they've got to navigate those, those, those
17:00first moments when the nerves are there and Belgium has been here before.
17:03And if they do that, I think they'll be moving on to get scared straight for a week of
17:09Spain, forgive me if the answer to this is readily available out there, uh, online, or
17:15maybe you've even written about it, but I've been wanting to talk to you to find out your
17:20opinion of just like how much credit you would give Pochettino here for, because it, it felt
17:27to me not having really, cause it's always the same.
17:30I feel like the, the, the, a lot of the same people are always mad at the U S men's
17:34national
17:34team online after their games in the Copa America or whatever.
17:37And it's just always a letdown.
17:39And so I just sort of filter a lot of that.
17:41I don't even, I just, it's over there.
17:43Right.
17:43But it felt like once the, the, the, the, their first match began and they just were dynamic
17:51and skillful and people were like, I've never experienced a U S men's national team that
17:56can attack like this and has all this talent.
17:58But was there some possum being played in the run-up once Poch took over this team or
18:05were they just doing this and we weren't, I wasn't paying attention.
18:09I think there's a little bit of a perfect storm element and it's why I haven't let the,
18:13although I guess we're here, right?
18:14Like when we talk about having a miracle run, we're not saying win the world cup, we're
18:18saying win a couple more rounds and see what happens.
18:20But one of the reasons I always thought that was popular is because, um, although they're now
18:24trying to get him to stay, Pochettino was always a short-term answer.
18:27It was the perfect storm.
18:29Burr Halter was gone.
18:30He was available.
18:30And it was like, Hey, do you want to coach a world cup on, on the host nation soil?
18:34And he said, yes, yes, I would like to do that.
18:36Give me the wheelbarrow of money.
18:38And where it's worked out is he doesn't owe anybody anything.
18:44He is a very good manager who has walked up to these players who are sort of, you know,
18:48on the brink of stardom in most cases, in the case of Pulisic, he's already been a star.
18:53And he's saying, Hey guys, if we're going to go out, let's go out swinging.
18:56Let's go play.
18:57Let's, let's, let's leave it all out there.
18:59I mean, we're going to be sound defensively.
19:01We're going to have a plan, but I'm going to lose this game four, three, before I lose
19:04this game, one, nothing playing in a shell.
19:07And I think that there's a spirit within the young group that he has where it's a perfect
19:12storm.
19:13And they're saying, all right, let's, let's go.
19:15And it worked.
19:16And I, as well as they looked in, you know, most of the friendlies leading up to this
19:21tournament, I think when it worked on that stage in front of that crowd in Paraguay,
19:26they suddenly understood, Hey, we're on, we're on footing here.
19:30We've got our chance.
19:31Let's take it.
19:32And I just don't think it's occurred to them yet that they could lose.
19:36Yeah.
19:36That, that is, that is awesome.
19:38Uh, wait, way to look at it.
19:40I mean, they can, by the way, of course, but they don't think that yet.
19:46And that's awesome.
19:46Yeah.
19:47Yeah.
19:48I, I, um, it's, it's been so much fun to, to just sort of watch all this unfold knowing,
19:54you know, so many of my friends are, you know, that much more into it.
19:58Um, and to, to see the opportunity here, um, is really cool.
20:04It's going to be Spain waiting there if they get past Belgium tonight.
20:07So I, I guess that's gotta be pretty intimidating, right?
20:11Yeah.
20:12Listen, it's really intense.
20:15The U S did about 15 years, 16 years ago and, uh, Spain's record 37 game unbeaten streak.
20:22So, you know, there's some history there without any of these guys, but, um, yeah, let's, let's
20:28focus on tonight.
20:29I honestly, Jeremy asked me earlier when we were chatting, I don't remember if it was in
20:34text or even on the radio, but he said, you know, it's house money if they win tonight.
20:39And I think it's house money, even if, if they lose tonight, but they put together a good
20:43performance because the games are goofy.
20:45Mexico was better, largely better than England yesterday.
20:48And, and they're going to exit, they exit the tournament.
20:51So this is where performance matters.
20:54Um, but they put in all their backups in the third game and still almost one.
20:58This is a, it's not a crowning moment.
21:02That would be amazing, but it is a moment of success of, of victory and a, and a victory
21:08for a team that eight years ago missed the tournament by losing to a small nation B team in the
21:15last
21:15qualifier.
21:16So this is full rebound here.
21:18And it's awesome.
21:20What's the coolest thing you've seen or done during your travels here?
21:24You mentioned a couple of encounters you had with different fan bases.
21:28Has there been a player or manager or anyone that you've come close to that you've just
21:34been sort of like, is this really happening?
21:37Yeah.
21:37You know, I've grown to hate the Ronaldo or Messi debate, but I'm definitely on team
21:41Messi.
21:41That said, um, standing three feet away from Cristiano Ronaldo kind of blew my mind.
21:48And then I guess I would compare it to like an Oscar winning actor that you kind of think
21:51is a jerk.
21:52And then he, all of a sudden he's in the same restaurant as you, um, like, Oh, Hey, you're
21:57famous.
21:58Everybody knows you, but so, you know, that was, that was awesome.
22:03But I think honestly that just the sheer volume of these games and, um, you know, each team
22:10gets their song played and it is the best moment of the day for everybody there.
22:15And as much as I hate what's going on with the resale market, it's been exclusionary.
22:20It's the reason I haven't been able to just take my son to a match and why we're targeting
22:232030 now.
22:25But, um, I think what's been awesome is I am seeing a ton of people who clearly spent
22:31massive savings to get here.
22:33And they're just soaking up the moment of being here because for most of these nations
22:37and most of these fans, it's not about winning the tournament.
22:40It's about being a part of their sport and, you know, backing their country.
22:45And I would say going back to honestly, going back to nine 11, when USA hockey would play,
22:51it meant something different for me.
22:53Um, it's just, it was transformative and all of these nations seem to be embracing the
22:58moment.
22:59Um, now granted, I didn't go see France play.
23:01Maybe they're all angry, maybe four, maybe four, maybe four, nothing is not enough.
23:06But, um, the, what's sticking with me is the immense pride, the people standing on top of
23:11buildings, the, when I walked out of the car in Philly and I instantly smelled and I was
23:17like, Oh, what is that?
23:18People are barbecuing and Oh, there's, there's lively music.
23:22And you realize, I don't know if it's the Haitians or the Brazilians, but it smells great.
23:26Everyone's having fun.
23:27That's going to stay with me for a while because man, I got real, and I probably still am, but
23:31Chris, I got real jaded over the last six to 10 years and it's just nice to feel happy.
23:38Really well done, Nick.
23:39Thank you so much for the time.
23:40And I don't know, maybe we'll, maybe I'll hit you up at the end of the week.
23:44Uh, again, if you're, if you're around.
23:47Yeah.
23:47And if not hit me up just to hang out, I'd love to see you.
23:50All right.
23:50Best to the family.
23:51All right, bud.
23:52Thanks Chris.
23:55Nick Mandola, NBC sports traveling around covering soccer.
23:59I mean, that's a dude that loves that game, man.
24:04Big time.
24:05All right.
24:06Um, want to get back to, I sort of left the, the hockey conversation by the side of the road
24:11because, well, obviously we were going to have Nick on.
24:13I wanted to focus on, on that.
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