00:00That they don't know when a result is out of reach, that they have the capacity and the quality to
00:04come back from what feels like an insurmountable deficit, that they cannot play well, which they didn't, and they haven't
00:13in back-to-back games, and yet they still know that they have the ultimate difference maker, the ultimate game
00:19changer, and that they can pull a rabbit out of a hat when they need to, and when the moments
00:25get the toughest.
00:26And this is not a vintage Argentina that is going to completely dominate the game and play you off the
00:34park with little incisive, ingenious passes in and around where they're creating a thousand chances a game and they're going
00:42to beat you by multiple goals.
00:43No, this is an Argentina that can adapt to whatever the game calls for, even when they do not play
00:49well and even when their backs are against the wall.
00:53They are the team in this World Cup that deals with adversity the best.
00:57They are the team in this World Cup that knows that they can rely on a player who, at the
01:02drop of a hat, even when Messi didn't play well, and make no mistake about it, Lionel Messi did not
01:07play well for 75 minutes of this game.
01:09He is, he is still the ultimate difference maker, the ultimate game changer in the world, and if you needed
01:17any more proof, feast your eyes on the last 10 minutes of this game where they absolutely had to have
01:22it, they absolutely needed a world-class performance where someone elevated themselves above the rest of the players on the
01:29field, and that's exactly what Argentina got.
01:32Two things. First one, before I make my main point on just like the vibes in the celebration.
01:36Yep.
01:37Did it at all surprise you how nuts Messi was in the celebration? After the goal and the team and
01:44throwing him up and down.
01:45They were celebrating like he was retiring or that they had won the World Cup or that he was celebrating
01:49his firstborn.
01:51Yeah.
01:51Like it was an amazing comeback, but it seemed like there was some sort of like finality attached to it
01:59in some way.
01:59Well, I think he knows secretly in the back of his mind that this is most likely his last World
02:04Cup.
02:05And because he didn't play well, and because they were losing 2-0, and because he missed a penalty kick,
02:12there is subconsciously in the back of his head, okay, I'm going to have to wear this loss.
02:15A little bit of redemption for him.
02:16And this is 1,000 percent, like I'm 10 minutes away from my last World Cup.
02:19I mean, look at this situation.
02:21This guy's accomplished everything in the world, and he's running a quarter-final game.
02:24But it shows you what it means to him.
02:26It shows you what it means to this Argentinian national team to continue to make history and to continue to
02:31kind of defy the odds in terms of how they keep escaping some of these bad performances,
02:36and they keep advancing, keep moving on.
02:39It truly is sensational.
02:41And then through the prism of Team USA, I guess it is possible to have a comeback.
02:47This graphic is the craziest thing.
02:50We have literally never won a World Cup game where we give up the first goal.
02:54It's never happened, and it's the most matches to not have a single victory in World Cup history.
03:00Literally winless in 25 matches.
03:04Argentina over Egypt.
03:06Belgium, Senegal.
03:07Both down 2-0.
03:08Brazil, Japan.
03:09Portugal, Croatia.
03:10Morocco, Netherlands.
03:11England, Congo.
03:12Happens all the time.
03:13Happens relatively frequently.
03:15That's all from this tournament since we've reached the knockout stage.
03:18Everyone that I just mentioned.
03:20And Argentina's down 2-0 in the 75th minute.
03:23And relatively calm, cool, collected.
03:26Big celebrations, no doubt.
03:28But they didn't back away from the challenge like the U.S. did last night.
03:33Yeah, the U.S. performance was certainly frustrating.
03:36And I think it shows you how debilitating that third goal is to concede.
03:40Because even though you don't play well, you still have a chance.
03:44You always have a chance in soccer if you just hang on long enough to give yourself a moment to
03:50make a difference in the game.
03:51That's why that third goal is a killer.
03:52Messi and Argentina are on the verge of going back-to-back.
03:56Are they on the verge of doing it?
03:58Do you think they're going to win it?
03:59I don't know.
03:59I don't believe they're going to win the World Cup.
04:01I still believe France is going to win the World Cup.
04:03France was my pick before the tournament.
04:04I have seen nothing in this tournament that would have me come off that stance.
04:10France has been fantastic.
04:12And Argentina, quite frankly, they haven't been at their best.
04:15They've shown a few wobbles.
04:16And I certainly don't think that they are playing anywhere close to a level good enough to win a World
04:21Cup against better teams.
04:22And so I look at the performance against Cape Verde.
04:26Concerning.
04:27Look at the performance today against Egypt.
04:30Concerning.
04:30And a lot of it comes down to what I have seen from their midfield and their midfield balance.
04:37They've got a lot of great technicians in the middle of the field.
04:41Very similarly to the Portuguese national team, who I felt like had one of the best midfields in the tournament.
04:46A lot of what Argentina does is all really short passes.
04:51Short, intricate passing, dominating possession, and trying to pick a lock.
04:56When you play against a great back line, or when you play against a team that is highly organized like
05:00Egypt was, you're going to look pedestrian.
05:03And so there have been big moments in this tournament where Argentina just looks pedestrian.
05:07And they look over-reliant on Lionel Messi.
05:10And the one thing you can say about them is, if you're going to be over-reliant on one player,
05:15having it be Messi is certainly okay.
05:18And it's certainly fine when you play against Egypt and when you play against Cape Verde.
05:21When you play against maybe a Colombia, maybe a Switzerland, but certainly a Spain or a France, you cannot do
05:29that.
05:29You have to have, I think, more ingenuity and more balance in midfield where you have different options to play
05:36a different way.
05:37The only reason Argentina got back into this game against Egypt was because they threw tactics out the window.
05:44They went full chaos in the attack.
05:46They kept a center back, basically high up the field as a striker, and you give Lionel Messi a little
05:52bit more freedom to roam and find the game.
05:54And you leave your team completely exposed at the back.
05:56And Egypt wasn't able to capitalize and punish them.
05:59But the problem is, how do you change it?
06:02Because all of their midfield players, they don't really have a runner, a guy who wants to just run in
06:07behind.
06:08They have a lot of guys who want to come to feet.
06:09They want to play short.
06:10And that doesn't necessarily win you games, I think, against the best teams in the world.
06:15So you have Lionel Messi.
06:17You rely on him.
06:18That's fine.
06:18I just think Scaloni might have to find a little different balance as they continue to go throughout this tournament.
06:24So we're of a like mind.
06:25I think we're on a collision course for France and Spain.
06:28Yeah.
06:29Felt that way for a long time.
06:30The oddsmakers have felt that way for a long time.
06:32Spain still hasn't allowed a goal.
06:33France looks like they can score on anybody.
06:37So it feels like we're on a collision course for there.
06:39Like you said, they're over-reliant on Messi, but it's a great guy to be over-reliant on.
06:43They've played down to their competition.
06:45All of that stuff.
06:45But I am open to the idea of Team of Destiny, the greatest of all time, could pull a rabbit
06:52out of his hat.
06:53And there was something that happened in the game today, as we're all watching it here in the office getting
06:57ready for the show.
06:58And I know VAR is relatively new, and I know it is controversial, and we've talked about it here.
07:04But this is the beginning of a sequence that led to a goal where we thought it was going to
07:08put Egypt up 2-0.
07:10So that starts 120 yards away from the goal.
07:15Get across midfield.
07:16Dribble through a couple of dudes.
07:18Pass it off to another guy.
07:20Sweet pass.
07:21Not offsides.
07:22Put it in the back of the net.
07:23Beautiful team football.
07:25Celebrate.
07:26Take off the jersey.
07:27And that's the way it is.
07:28Foul.
07:29And I'm thinking, was he calling for offsides?
07:31No.
07:32He's calling for, there was a foul 13 seconds ago, literally 100 plus yards away, and a ref is standing
07:44right there, and a ref overturns it, even though dribble, dribble, split the defense, pass, three other guys have to
07:53get involved before the ball finds the back of the net, and VAR takes this goal off the board.
07:58That, that's like if in the NFL, you threw an 80-yard Hail Mary, no flag was thrown, and then
08:04because all scoring plays are reviewed, you reviewed the play, and we're like, actually, the left guard held the jersey
08:10a little bit, we have to negate the touchdown.
08:12Like, that, that is not what the spirit of the rule was intended to do, correct?
08:16Agreed.
08:17That is, we've gone too far here?
08:20I feel like we're going too far with VAR.
08:22I think the technology was introduced in a very, very matter-of-fact way.
08:27VAR is going to be introduced to correct clear and obvious errors.
08:32Yeah, to right egregious wrongs.
08:33It will right the egregious wrongs.
08:35That play, by the letter of the law, it is probably a foul, steps on his foot, no question about
08:42it, and that starts the attacking phase of play for Egypt, so they get the call right.
08:46My biggest issue with VAR is there is now a safety net for referees, so they swallow their whistle in
08:54big moments.
08:54The referee saw that play.
08:56It's not like he had his eyes closed.
08:58It's not like he was looking elsewhere.
08:59He saw that play and decided it's not a foul.
09:02And then VAR comes in, slow-mo replay.
09:05Hey, you missed this one.
09:06You've got to come look at it.
09:07Referees, they have a safety net that they can rely on now to go back and re-referee moments.
09:13That is not what VAR was intended.
09:16That is not in the spirit of the game.
09:17And even if they got the call right, it still is so frustrating to now have to nitpick and parse
09:25through all these little moments in the game where soccer is a contact sport.
09:29If you want to go back and re-referee so many different moments, whether they lead to goals or not,
09:33you could call a foul on almost every play.
09:35There's contact.
09:36It's very frustrating, and I feel for Egypt in this moment.
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