- 6 weeks ago
The Star Sportcast's T. Rahulesh speaks to T. Avineshwaran and S. Saktesh on the Balogun controversy, Brazil's exit and the World Cup quarter-final predictions.
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00:10welcome back to this podcast i'm your host rahul and today we have our usual guests with the
00:17brilliant insights avi and saktish hi see you again again yeah all good all good this time
00:24you guys are samirish i am feeling cool yeah yeah it's the opposite here it's dual climate zone
00:28yeah just a heads up this isn't my team i'm just representing because they want disclaimer yeah
00:33he's not an england but why are you wearing it because uh everyone else in my family supports
00:37them so i'm just like giving them a shot he's blending in like most leopold fans like he's just
00:42such a sweet boy okay so we got a stack show today so i think we should just dive right
00:47in right so
00:49we'll start off with i guess something that we can't really ignore the fellerin belgan controversy
00:57about the red card and its resignation i mean the the way they pull back the suspension i guess
01:03so how do you guys see this like thoughts on it me it was appalling yeah appalling because fifa allowed
01:11a government official to interfere into the affairs of the game but they said it wasn't not
01:18fifa no the moment they said it wasn't then trump made a statement saying that i called in fantino
01:24but what did his first initial stance was it wasn't influenced by the calls from the president
01:29basically it was obviously yeah basically it was a sham it was a an unwanted hula balu
01:35for a tournament that has been really good in terms of the quality of games and so on and i'm
01:40very
01:40sure following balogun wouldn't want that kind of highlight on him as well but credit to him he carried
01:46himself pretty well even before and after the game but didn't it feel like the us team were
01:51just distracted by that i believe so they didn't perform yeah i think that was an unwanted distraction
01:57and uh it showed in their previous game but for me it's the man in suits that has to be
02:03responsible
02:04for what has happened and it's appalling like i said just now appalling what about you satish i think
02:10in times like this one of the best comments i saw was i miss that blatter i genuinely miss him
02:16like
02:17gianni infantino i feel this world cup will be where everyone remembers how
02:27quote-unquote useless he is has shown himself to be i i would say because whether whether balogun's was a
02:34red card on field i don't think it was just blade on field i felt like it should have been
02:40a yellow
02:42but it was a red card it happened i can't i can think of i can't even think of how
02:48many times
02:48so many files every player has gone through it where they shouldn't have gotten a red card but they got
02:53one you deal with it it's the unfairness sometimes the unfairness of sport but what has happened now
03:01it's it's even more unfair that's even more unfair every player has gone through it they have to deal
03:05with the red card it happens so yeah the company is simple rules and sorry to cut you but rules
03:12and
03:12regulations are there for a reason and all these governing bodies they always want to stick to what
03:17is written in the document right there's no such thing as loopholes and so on a rule is a rule
03:24and teams when before matches they are instruct not to say instructed they have been briefed
03:29about the sanctions the suspensions and all that in balogun's case it was clear a red card for why
03:36uh for a violent fall play and you can't appeal it simple as that as was what sakteesh said i
03:44felt
03:44personally it wasn't a red card but a red card has already been given and the laws have already stated
03:50that
03:50you can't appeal it how did you allow a government to interfere and they said that they took this
03:58retrospective action based on what they saw but why that action happened is because somebody would
04:01have called you right yeah and that happened and trump openly said that you know i called infantino
04:08spoke about it and he mentioned about you know i don't know what a red card is but i'm the
04:12greatest
04:12athlete on it and all that i said if jiani infantino wants to do some funny business don't do it
04:18with
04:18trump because that's the worst person to do conspiracy stuff with because he will literally
04:22come the next one like yes we did it one thing about infantino though he's a diplomat with kata
04:27also he did the same thing yeah too much of a diplomat is one way to put it but with
04:32trump
04:33giving him the peace award showing the world cup to him i mean that's not what they're supposed to do
04:38yeah they're the host nation i agree they're going to help you with the logistics the resources and
04:43everything but football is football stick to that why are you allowing a government official
04:49to call and say hey can you take away the red card yeah they're going to argue that you know
04:54we just suspended the suspension we didn't revoke it that's this is all just hearsay i was just
05:01written in paper now it feels like football if there's a loophole people are going to take advantage
05:06of it simple as that and it's very disappointing but do you think like fifa had their hands tight
05:12like would they have any other choice after he made the call like after trump made the call i mean
05:17of course if i had a choice this grant does trump have a fifa and jiani at gunpoint yeah honestly
05:23do
05:23they deserve a gunpoint no i don't think it's just a phone call so like you think they had a
05:27different
05:28choice like they could have just taken the choice of saying that hey we will look into it but i
05:32think we
05:32can't change it do you think any advisor in fifa like did not have the common sense to be like
05:38this
05:38will be a major backlash to us if we go through with this instead of satisfying one party the whole
05:46world is going to go against us and they still proceeded with it god damn fifa damn for me i
05:51don't
05:52know if they were ill-advised or not but i'm sure they have people who would have advised them right
05:56there's a disciplinary committee there's an appeal committee what what was being done behind the
06:01scenes we do not know but you know thank god belgium won the game if not if us had won
06:07the game
06:07it's going to be even more worse unfortunately the team will have like they were in the short end of
06:12it yeah exactly like they just could there's nothing they could do about your president's
06:16dapping around and the team is facing the backlash which i pity the players actually because the united
06:21states are a really good campaign some may argue that uh it was an easy tournament for them because
06:26they have not faced the bigger sites but that particular game if this fear or not did not happen
06:31i think things should have been different unwanted unnecessary destruction it definitely went
06:37into the camp it should really go to the players yeah so like do you think it sets like uh
06:42going
06:43forward like people are just going to start like um if you get a red card they're going to start
06:48it's happening every it's already going to it's happening there are teams appealing yeah yeah which
06:54got denied yeah yeah which is like now okay why are you denied that yeah yeah it's going to be
07:00a
07:00because they're going to go to the court of arbitration for sports you know there'll be lots of
07:03arguments there'll be now i think infantino is not the seat that he's sitting right now
07:11it's not enjoyable at the moment no but he's he seems to be enjoying it still
07:15i don't today i am here today i am jiani you're watching the insta videos i mean that that interview
07:22of him where he goes today i am this that that no jani you are just today you are lost
07:28but yeah right
07:29now if you ask me in terms of his presidency many would say it's it's shaky it's in a precarious
07:34position but
07:36knowing how this election mechanics work he still feels confident that he's going to be the president
07:44because he's got the backing of asian the big big yeah no not the european nations though
07:48no i mean in you know mostly like saudi side correct that's where the big money is coming
07:53the big money is coming from so in that sense i think he will try to shake it off but
07:56then it cannot
07:57be shaken off it has to be answered what us did is government interference because if you bend i mean
08:03i'm giving an example right now if you ban nepal for government interference because the government
08:07wants to clean up the association then what about this hmm hasn't uefa condemned fifa section yeah
08:14uefa have already stood up and said no this is not right yeah yeah i don't want to see it
08:18ever happen
08:18again to be honest i hope i don't know why i feel it might happen again it's opened the front
08:24gates
08:25we'll see so like coming to like fifa's part in this like do you think it's a bit hypocritical of
08:30them
08:30because they have come down on other federations when they're for political interference right yeah
08:36like i mentioned just now right so it's i mean yeah they have a lot lots of answering to do
08:41hasn't
08:42fifa opened up investigations for racism from argentina fans towards uh the streamer i show speed
08:48and also the senator amaria from paraguay they have already spoken about it but for me it's more of
08:54diversion tactics and i i i do not i mean racism is a no no i do not condone it
09:00at all i don't like
09:01what happened to mbappe i don't like what happened to some of the fans that were called mono by certain
09:08argentinian fans it is something that should not happen in a field football is meant to unify football
09:15is always the beautiful game and to be tainted by episodes of such it should not even happen at all
09:21uh we have been subjected to racism before during our school days and all that but we are here right
09:28now we are moving forward and i hope those have been at the receiving end of it i wouldn't say
09:35move
09:35forward but show what why you're there show why the world loves you show why you're the best footballer
09:46the world simple as that that's one way to shut these fellas up yeah it's one about pay to win
09:51honestly at this point just yeah i love that video of like everyone's just going at him and he's just
09:56smiling and just yeah oh that game was physical man against paraguay yeah all right so let's get into
10:02the football like finally that's what we love about this right like yeah all right so there's plenty to
10:07talk about let's start with um probably the most hyped game so far in the previous round there was a
10:14lot
10:14said about the azteca and how it's a fortress the altitude no wonder you're wearing an english jersey
10:20i mean i'm not a fan i'll show you that's what they say so like was it the best game
10:28of the tournament
10:29uh for me personally yeah yeah yeah my it was one of the game my brother even texted me he
10:35had to go
10:35to work and he's like i wish i took mc and i'm like i wish you did because i was
10:38at home enjoying
10:39that game it was a proper good atmosphere it was crazy i was watching it and i was i was
10:46in
10:48immigration so i had to silent the phone and watch the game and i was like literally like oh my
10:52god
10:52oh my god i was like oh no i mean i'm in this office and all that but it was
10:55it was a spectacle
10:56it's an amazing game i mean uh credit to england the way they defended was
11:02it was an amazing game it was a fantastic game afterwards i've lost my voice of harry kane
11:08yeah the sesame stick that was funny as well it was so good and i like the way you mentioned
11:13jordan and this and his fan i'm like no he fractured his wrist yeah yeah yeah the england
11:18england fans can't catch a break even at their highest highest if you get a result where
11:25kane becomes this squeaky voice and then jordan anderson fractures his
11:30his arm or wrist it had to be eventful i guess i was like can these fans get get a
11:35break please
11:36and now they would be talking about who is going to be the high pack we don't have kwanza and
11:39all
11:39that i mean they can't catch a break but i mean at the end of the day one of the
11:42best every matches
11:43for them i'm sorry you're saying no but like was it a surprise for you like did you think england
11:47were going to like struggle or was it like more of the same i was surprised how how much they
11:53struggled to sort of get i thought it was going to be not not to say a much more straightforward
11:59game
12:00but pleasantly surprised at how the fight that mexico gave buying the last maybe 10 minutes they
12:06kind of were a bit too i think pressure was on they were just trying their best to shoot as
12:11much as
12:11they can but up to that point it was pleasant surprise watching mexico play i love the atmosphere
12:16feel because when when england scores it's no there's music playing but when mexico scores it's
12:22the mariachi band music playing i was like oh that's i that that that would have been the game i
12:27wish i was at for the world cup for me it was tactics i think tukul got it spot on
12:32like uh allowing
12:34the mexicans to play and then absorbing their attacks and then going with going to get their goals
12:39fire counter attacks and i think he did that very well even when kwanzaa was sent off i was telling
12:43that oh my god the mexicans will now you know pile on the pressure but they absorbed it so well
12:49they
12:49brought on danburn they brought on stones to stabilize the defense and even the midfielders
12:54were working really hard to deny the chances the one guy that really picked my attention was
13:00uh esri consa who was amazing game from him jordan pickford was having fun jumping around you know
13:06punching the balls and everything it it showed heart it showed character and i think that's what
13:11england fans won at the end of the day from their sides because even going in the big talk was
13:16the
13:16altitude yeah which i mean give it to english media journalists to hype up everything to a to a 10
13:23to
13:2411 you know they were like talking the elevation is so drastic but i was i had a feeling the
13:28english
13:28game was not bothered by it i don't think the team was but for them it was to really show
13:33the
13:33physicality in the game i think that was like okay the fans needed to see that correct they needed to
13:39see
13:39you guys fight it all out and then with kane's cute voice at that i'm like that's proof that you
13:43guys really went yeah all out all out henderson clearly showed he went all out with the celebration
13:50we see him speeding the car yeah i mean but you mentioned tukar like that's what he does right
13:54like yeah like knockout stages that's where he's he shines basically no he looked he looked relatively
14:00at like you know he knew what he was yeah he was calm he was calm throughout so like from
14:06one giant that
14:07went through we'll go to a giant that's fallen so are we your beloved brazil are out oh not my
14:13beloved love but i i mean i mean to win the tournament so they're out so how do you see
14:18it like what happened
14:20there i think for me in brazil's case uh one can say they were unlucky because there are a lot
14:28of chances
14:29they missed the penalty keep going they always missed the penalty and uh
14:36that's what defend this field when halan's gunning at them and carlo ancelotti got his tactics a bit
14:40wrong like he took off gabriel martinelli as a number eight he was doing very well but no way credit
14:46to them they absorbed and absorbed and absorbed and decided that hey halan do something and he did
14:50something with those two beautiful goals so yeah i think they will throw all the way i guess
14:57yeah i mean it was it was a treat to watch that match though because because brazil played
15:02a very fun game but it was halan is i think everyone is sort of at that stage of
15:09this dude is something else kind of want to see you know see how far they can go but um
15:15but they'll be
15:16facing a tough english team yeah i think a very well stacked english team as well correct and it'll be
15:22uh for
15:23me i believe it will be end to end and both sides will go all out and i think with
15:28england uh it's
15:30a lot of players who are very used to halan not a lot of players but some players who know
15:36halan is
15:36stones it was his teammate i mean gabriel knew him pretty well but you saw what happened that
15:42true the thing is gabriel had a good game but those two that one moment how he performed but actually
15:49that
15:49wasn't that was not how he supposed i'm a defender i love defenders so i feel bad when those kind
15:54of
15:55moments happen and but that's how that's how the game is and i'm sure you'll bounce back you'll learn
15:59from it and for england i guess they know that with halan we it's not total concentration it's more like
16:04we have to keep an eye on him even when he slacks there'll be one moment where he suddenly comes
16:09and
16:09say hey yeah who are you the the the header was it he was just he was just casually walking
16:14yeah
16:16what's the second goal yeah you know when he was moving like i was thinking what the hell is
16:23he doing i'm sorry for the language but the way he took the shot it was so nonchalant yeah it
16:29was
16:29just a moment i was like okay he has the ball and then it's like oh it's a goal it's
16:32a goal it's a goal
16:33he looked like he was like oh look oh he went in i scored yeah yeah but you feel for
16:40brazil though
16:40for yeah it definitely was a hard one for brazil i look forward to the next cycle because angelati
16:47has said that he's going to make a lot of changes so you will not be seeing the veterans like
16:50neymar
16:52casemiro alison a few other places danilo who i thought had a poor game that day so yeah interesting
16:59to see how it's going to chart their future but they've got really good talents like enric ayan
17:04uh players who are going to enter their peak like uh who danilo a few other players la i think
17:09the
17:10another unfortunate thing and in some ways unfair for the all brazil team post you know the early
17:172000s is they're always going to be compared to that team yeah so even like casemiro in his one
17:22interview he said we will be the generation that didn't win the world cup he looks so emotional i don't
17:27think it's even yeah it's fair to even do that because that was sambar football was then it's a
17:33maybe it's a hot take for me to say this but it's it's unfair to still expect sambar football from
17:38different group of players correct those excel for sambar maybe these guys will excel in something else
17:44but it's a bit too late to find out now because football is always evolving and i think in brazil
17:49but
17:49in brazil's cases i feel like they should stick to what is best for them i think the sambar football
17:53still has to do it has to be there and i think uh it's the identity of identity of that
17:58country and
17:59i hope the domestic base place will start shining that's my hope i just want to circle back to harlan
18:07because it's his debut world cup and he's got what seven goals now and he's got it in the least
18:13amount of games i think like because he was benched against france right yeah so he's got in like four
18:17games so like is he the best riker in the world at the moment 100 i'm not going to say
18:22anything else
18:23100 is the more explosive like yeah striker yeah yeah so can he bring norway further on or is it
18:30england's going to be the last one i'll let you predict that first i think norway's team
18:37has a lot of good players but yeah how do you say i would
18:43hard against england it's going to be very tough against england
18:48but he needs less than five seconds that's the dangerous part with harlan yeah because to be
18:54fair england have been conceding goals they're not very true that's why i say it's going to be an
18:59open affair because both teams will be confident they'll play the best football harlan in the air
19:03is like zlatan he will do backwards kicks weird kicks like i think in brazil game he had a few
19:07chances
19:08where it was you know weird looking kicks that i hope england are not caught off guard with
19:14because that's yeah that explosiveness is dangerous it's moments that can undo you and i think england
19:21right like i mentioned just now like against mexico they were full they were like fairly focused this
19:27game is more like watching these players like a hawk that kind of thing i just hope the norwegian team
19:34can
19:35one support alan really needs to be but it's also up to how much england's defense can hold
19:43the rest of norwegian side because they're big big players yeah they're tall they're big yeah
19:47they're huge english players as well too yeah leaner though i would say if you compare maybe in terms
19:53of stamina maybe no way might yeah no way are wikings right
20:00all right so let's move on to the other games then in the uh quarterfinals we have morocco france
20:05spain belgium argentina switzerland what are your thoughts on that and who do you think is going to
20:11like go through i'll keep it very simple morocco france i want france to win and i think they are
20:15the favorites with the attacking arsenal that they have at the moment and they also have top defenders
20:20there as well upamakano and saliba magic mike is also looking good mike monyon and then um what's
20:29the other game argentina versus switzerland it's going to be i would say it's switzerland will be
20:37defensive and argentina will be attacking all the time and switzerland will rely on their counters to
20:43kill the argentinians and i believe that can happen because argentina in the last two knockout games that
20:48we have watched they have lapses of concentration that's very obvious and i think teams will realize
20:53that now they are too used to kill that but you also have that uh magician in then you have
20:57a
20:57magician called leonel messi that's capable of doing wonders the last game can see he was like
21:02emotionally invested in the game and after that he really went all out with his emotions because
21:07it's tough this kind of games it can really uh block you in terms of mental fatigue and so on
21:13so but i still see him doing very well and but i think additional pressure that the
21:18argentinian team are gonna face is the off-field sort of well on-field stuff that's led to off-field
21:24issues because people are saying that in the previous game against egypt they got they got
21:28lots of favorable calls i'm not going to talk about the dispute about the salah fall and all that no
21:33i'm way past that because they are right the first decision was right but it's more of
21:38plays elbowing each other the off field i mean there were inconsistencies and all that i felt like the
21:44egyptians were getting more falls than the argentinians and i think that's not right that's not fair
21:49i was really disappointed with the referee because you should be balanced and there wasn't consistency
21:54in that yeah and this whole tournament we are talking about the thing that we are pressing on is not
21:58about whether you're favoring this team the team no it's the responsibility responsibility of the
22:03officials and also those governing the game to ensure that decisions are consistent yeah yeah
22:10i think i think we watch we've watched so many football matches like you see when a referee is
22:15being stern with one side it usually happens with both yeah when when there's like a clear challenge
22:20the referee gives it but the other team is protesting yeah and when it happens the other
22:23side when it's 50 50 the referee will still give it because you know it's kind of like i gave
22:28it
22:28that i'm going to give it here now that's how then you then you see that okay that's fine but
22:33this was a lot of moments where you see it happen i turn away from the screen thinking it's going
22:38to
22:38be a foul and i turn back like play on like and even if it's fall is given no yellow
22:43cut like the
22:44romero challenge on salah or one of the egyptian plays i was like man that is a yellow and nothing
22:49was
22:50given it's on it's again it's not the players not the argentinian players players directly involved
22:57it's the officials it's unfortunate for them because now the next game any decision that seems
23:03a little fishy is going to be a big catch for anyone that will be higher yeah which will
23:09understandably be it will happen yeah so do you think all the big big names to go through or will
23:15there be any upsets because in the last round like i think most of the big names actually went through
23:19right it was only brazil and colombia i guess this for drama's sake i really want switzerland to win
23:25and norway actually to be honest with you yeah i'm a big fan of messi for me he's like i've
23:30alluded
23:31in the past he's the creators of all time but maybe a surprise is needed maybe it's also a reset
23:36for
23:37argentina as well to say that we can't just rely on this magician that we have it's time to move
23:41on
23:41and i hope switzerland can like show a lesson at some point but argentina with messi i don't know
23:48like messi is just i don't know what's like yeah but but they've shown that it can go yeah it
23:56can
23:56happen yeah you can beat them yeah yeah i mean in a one-off match anything can happen right
24:01so like in terms of game quality though like whatever you'll learn or notice during the tournament
24:05like anything that stands out to you in terms of tactics or let's keep the off the field stuff out
24:12of
24:12the way let's focus on the football i think uh smaller teams having that uh bravery to take on
24:20the best players like uh when argentina or sorry when egypt took on argentina i was really impressed
24:25with the right winger osim hassan i actually had a friend who actually told me he looks like a malaysian
24:31player that used to play for pera and all that he kept mentioning about it and i was like no
24:34i can't
24:35shake it off from my head but i mean hassan was really good with dribbling and all that he's really
24:39direct like he really wanted things to go faster there was one example the cabo wedi sydney cup
24:45oh my god that was a very good goal very good goal so you have players that you do not
24:50know who are
24:51showing that we can mix it with the big players and all that so it's nice watching these talents you
24:56know turning up during matches and i've also enjoyed the defensive aspect of uh games as well how they
25:02how players keep their shape the tackling and all that and also we learn about south american
25:09football how rough they can be paraguayans and argentinians and that to me is it left i i guess
25:15it's it's gamesmanship but sometimes you feel like referees have to be again i have to go off field
25:21i mean referees have to cut cut that out but in yeah you learn a lot of uh game styles
25:27tactics and
25:27everything and i've enjoyed the tournament so far for me personally barring any kind of controversy
25:32this could be one of the best editions i've watched yeah yeah i think it's just increase the number
25:37of games is one and that also sees a lot more stats teams uh fatigue and all that comes into
25:43play but
25:45you know after so many group stage matches and then you know around the 32 16
25:50it's amazing how the players are still playing yeah and you add on like oh elevation change the
25:55teams who had to play through all that and you know yeah probably one is still one of the best
26:00world
26:00cups to watch but one of the more difficult one to digest that's my take on it yeah it's it's
26:09it's
26:09fun to watch some things are not something just once the final whistle goes it's a bit yeah all the
26:15other news keeps coming right i i feel like after i mean we still have another few games to go
26:20yeah
26:21there will be a lot that i will remember but i think a lot of people remember the i guess
26:27some
26:27issues that we've talked about today i guess it's also honest because social media is like an echo
26:31chamber you keep watching the same thing all over again and again and again and that will actually
26:36like impact you you start thinking about it you start talking about it maybe if we watches if we
26:43watch games on our own and do our own assessment then we will be like that's just chatter we just
26:48focus on what's the best part and i think people need to realize that a lot because i feel like
26:52everybody is so enamored with what is happening on social media sharing all the reels all the youtube
26:59shots or whatsoever we also need to see what is right and what is wrong we have to be sensible
27:05and
27:05rational as well well that's it and i guess just to like round it off now like predictions are we
27:13since brazil out you changing your prediction now i'm still france for me yes sir france i still have to
27:18change i mean i have to change but i have no other choice i think right now the favorites are
27:21france
27:23are you going with them i want a france norway final wow that's what i want to see i mean
27:28i want
27:28to see that but uh it's either that or it might be a france argentina final actually you know what
27:33i
27:33don't want to make any predictions as well because it's unpredictable okay for the sake of predicting i
27:39think i'll just i'll go with france as well yeah just on paper it's hard to not but you never
27:43know
27:43because spain is a good side as well argentina also can surprise it's it's it's open england
27:49also now suddenly having confidence switzerland the wall you know yeah all you know you know yeah i
27:54mean anyone can be anyone switzerland norway semi-final who knows oh that would be epic yeah
28:01i mean so let's just hope for things to go that way and for less controversies this time
28:06switzerland norway and switzerland is it i don't mind that i don't know it's not my team it's not
28:10my team maybe semi-final if they if they meet oh okay okay i want france to win just putting
28:16it out there france holy support france yeah okay any any english person sees him saying that while
28:22wearing that oh that's a crime that's a crime that's a crime that's a crime all right so i guess
28:27that's
28:27a wrap on this week's episode of the stars sports cards big thanks to avi and saktish for the
28:31inside as always quarterfinals are coming it's got a lot more to cover have fun watch the games and
28:38try to be positive and we'll catch you next time
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