Lamine Yamal makes historic Euro debut, Ronaldinho critiques Brazilian National Team

This episode delves into the key highlights of the Euro 2024 matches, particularly focusing on Lamine Yamal's record-setting performance and Ronaldinho's critical comments about the Brazilian National Team.

1. Lamine Yamal's debut at Euro 2024 has set records and showcased his significant potential.
2. Italy demonstrated strategic depth and composure in their match against Albania, overcoming an early goal to secure a win.
3. Ronaldinho's surprising criticism of the Brazilian National Team highlights perceived weaknesses in talent and commitment.
4. Spain's performance showed a strategic departure from their traditional possession-heavy play, indicating a tactical evolution.
5. The hosts provide insights into how different teams might progress in the tournament, giving listeners a detailed understanding of the competitive landscape.

1: Introduction

Alexi Lawless introduces the episode, setting the stage for a detailed analysis of Euro 2024's ongoing matches and the upcoming Copa America.
Alexi Lawless: "Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents tours loans homes get home with Zillow."

2: Spain vs. Croatia

Discussion on Spain's dominant performance against Croatia, featuring insights on Lamine Yamal's impactful debut.
David Mossey: "La Mina Mal made history today, becoming the youngest player in Euro's history."

3: Italy vs. Albania

Analyzing Italy's response to Albania's early goal, which was the fastest in Euro history, highlighting their tactical adjustments.
Alexi Lawless: "Italy, from a mentality perspective, they weren't phased and they came right back and then controlled most of the game."

4: Ronaldinho's Critique

Ronaldinho's scathing review of the Brazilian team is discussed, with implications for their Copa America performance.
David Mossey: "He said he's not going to watch Brazil at this Copa America. He said he's abandoning the team because they lack talent, they lack grit, they lack commitment, they lack everything."

1. Stay Updated on Team Formations and Strategies: Soccer fans should keep track of changes in team strategies and player formations as these can significantly impact match outcomes.
2. Understand Player Impact: Recognizing the potential impact of young players like Lamine Yamal can add depth to your understanding of the game.
3. Critical Analysis: Listening to critiques from former players can provide a different perspective on a team's performance and potential.
4. Embrace Tactical Diversity: Observing teams that adapt their traditional strategies (like Spain) can offer insights into modern soccer tactics.
5. Appreciate Resilience: Note how teams respond to early setbacks, as this resilience often dictates the pace and outcome of the game.

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse recap a historic day on the pitch, Euro Day 2 did not disappoint. Dominik Szoboszlai became the youngest captain in Euro history, leading Hungary in their first match of the tournament. Lamine Yamal became the youngest player in Euro history to appear and record an assist. Albania set the Euro record for fastest goal scored in a match. It took the squad just 23 seconds to find the back of the net. (2:07)
The guys also share thoughts on Ronaldinho’s instagram comments where he called the current Brazilian National Team the "worst team in recent years." Tune in daily for more Euro and Copa America content. (17:33)

People

Lamine Yamal, Ronaldinho, Alexi Lawless, David Mossey

Companies

FOX Sports

Books

None

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

Alexi Lawless
Hello, sunshine. I'm Alexi Lawless, and welcome to the State of the Union podcast, where we look at the beautiful game on and off the field through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses. Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents tours loans homes get home with Zillow. We are coming to you live yet again. Saturday, June 15, following our second day of the 2020 €4.

As we continue on into this incredible summer of soccer, reminder, we'll be coming to you live each and every day after the euro action and Copa America action, which kicks off, by the way, next week we'll give you a wrap up and a preview of what's to come. But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding light, David Mossey, a soccer savant and a fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire. All right, Mossy, how are you doing on this Saturday, June 15 in the year 2024? I'm doing well. Day two in the books.

David Mossey
We're off to an incredible start. 16 goals in four games. I did the math. That's an average of four per game. Still no, zero, zeros, which is fine by me.

Alexi Lawless
We got more games coming tomorrow. This was a fun day. We kind of kicked it off the first day with one game. Today we had three games played and we had two on our air. So people were in early.

And just like any team, it takes a little time to get a rhythm and to come together. But I do think that our team in front of the camera and our team behind the camera, and there's a lot of people are coming together and it's good. And to your point, we had some really interesting games. We had a lot of action. In my expert opinion, goals are good and we have had them.

Where should we start, my friend? Well, Kyla, who is producing today's pod, hates Fubo. So she wants us to do the Fox games first, and then we'll circle back to the first game of the day, which was on Fubo. Hey, if you pull up my timeline here, she's not alone, but she doesn't hate football. But, yeah, listen, this is the reality of the package, and the broadcast world in which we live in five games are not on Fox.

All right? And if you want to scream and yell at me, blame me. I take full responsibility for it. Or go spend some money and, you know, get those five games. But suck it up, buttercup.

You're going to be okay. Where, where shall we start? So we're going to begin with the two games in Group B that aired on Fox. First up, Spain with a very impressive opener. They hammered Croatia 30 in Berlin.

David Mossey
All the goals in the first half, Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Danny Carvajal scored two weeks after scoring in the Champions League final as well. And that goal was assisted by La Mina Mal, who made history today, becoming the youngest player in Euro's history. Yeah, it was fun to see, and we obviously told the story of this 16 year old and what he is, and I think it bears repeating that while there is this curiosity factor to a 16 year old playing, the reality is that he has become so good so fast that it's not that they don't look him at a 16 year old, but he is beyond his age and this is not a gift, this is not charity. He has earned his spot. Today was his.

Alexi Lawless
What is it? Was it his best game? No, but all eyes on him. Got an assist. Probably should not.

Probably he should have had a goal if not for, you know, incredible save. So this is great for him individually. This is also great way for Spain to start off. The story, I think for this game is as much about how good Spain were as at times how bad Croatia is. But all of us on our desk, I was with Georgie Colini and Peter Schmeichel and the way that we saw this was.

It was a strange game relative to the results and it didn't tell the whole story. Do you agree with me? I do, yeah. Croatia had some very good chances throughout, but to stay on La Mina Mal for a second, we talked about how the emergence of La Mina Mal and Nico Williams has changed the way Spain play. They had 47% possession today.

David Mossey
First time they've lost the possession battle in a competitive match since the Euro 2008 final against Germany. They had gone 136 straight competitive games winning the possession battle, and yet they come away with a great result. So it speaks to the fact that they have different ways to win now. I mean, we've talked about how it's almost impossible for them ever to live up to the Spain of the last decade and what they did and fundamentally changing the way we think about the game. Ultimately, it's also about winning.

Alexi Lawless
If they are able to do that, like you said, where they at times concede possession and they do have the individual talent and they have become something different, I think that's a good thing. We kind of build this as two teams kind of heading in opposite directions, with Croatia being a team that was long in the tooth and just kind of holding on for dear life. And on the other side, this team that has moved forward and obviously is putting a lot of chips in on the, on the youth. How representative do you think this is of this Croatia team right now? I think it's representative to some degree.

David Mossey
I don't see them going too far in this tournament. We know about their World cup pedigree of late, second and third in the last two World Cups, but I think this is one major tournament too many for them. They could still get out of this group. Remember, the four best third place finishers advance as well, so there's a little bit of a safety net there for them. Nevertheless, I don't see them as a legitimate challenger to win the title.

Alexi Lawless
All right, should we move on to the. Well, our second game that we're going to talk about? Yes. The other game in Group B took place in Dortmund. Defending champions Italy faced Albania.

David Mossey
Albania scored 23 seconds in Barami bagging the fastest goal in Euro history. But Italy came right back and turned things around in the first half. Bastoni and Barela with the goals. Italy dominated most of the match but failed to put it away and then had to sweat it out late. Donna Ruma made a big save in the 90th minute to preserve the victory.

Italy do come away with all three points. I mean, look, you go down in the first 23 seconds and by the way, I should say that the environment there, you could feel it, you could feel the energy, you could obviously see the passion. And hats off to the albanian community and those that traveled because they made that something special and they were rewarded. Like we said, historically, in the first 23 seconds scoring a goal, but it's almost as if they were given this gift and, you know, sometimes you stuff is wasted on the youth. You're not ready for it, you're not prepared to have something like that.

Alexi Lawless
And then when you get it, you really have no idea what to do with it. It's beyond your means to comprehend or to value or to respect. And you saw Albania kind of look around and say, well, this is not anything that we plan to have happen. And it was a gift from Italy. But I do love the fact that, that Italy, from a mentality perspective, they weren't phased and they came right back and then controlled most of the game, although they didn't finish all of their chances.

It was kind of bookended by these opportunities that Albania had. And if things had gone differently without donor roman goal, it could have been two nothing. But it still was a commanding performance from Italy. But we don't also look at Italy as a team that scores a lot of goals and runs up scores or anything like that. So they will be happy with the three points Giorgio Kalini was talking about.

Ultimately, this is just about getting the getting result. But hats off to Albanian because they could absolutely be a spoiler. And as bad as Scotland was yesterday in terms of a lopsided game, they were as good as they needed to be. I agree with you, Albania can be a tough nut to crack. They only conceded four goals in qualifying, so going behind early against that team can be a sticky situation.

David Mossey
And the way Italy responded I thought was fairly impressive. So yeah, beating Albania two 1 may not seem like all that much, but I think it's actually a solid start for the Italians in Ruby. It was interesting on the desk with Giorgio Chiellini and you know, he came in actually this morning when we were in here at 04:00 a.m. and he was wearing his italian shirt and for people that maybe don't realize this, and he told us this is the first time in 20 years that he's watching this italian team in a tournament as a fan and it was fun to see him go through the emotions of a fan. But it was also really interesting to pick his brain about what Italy is, what Italy isn't, even when it comes to defending.

Alexi Lawless
And I think Peter Schmeichel hit it on the head when he said this Italy team is not as good as previous Italy teams, but if they are missing anything, it's someone like a killini on the field and any team would love to have a Colini on the field. But it was interesting in the way that he talked about how Italy that we, we all look at as this machine that produces great defenders and a great defensive type of mentality in what they do. They've been influenced from the outside. And in particular, you mentioned Spain and what they have done in terms of playing out of the back. And he almost lamented, not in a grumpy old man way, saying that because the game has changed so much.

The way they train defenders now in Italy is not necessarily to defend first, but how are you going to play with the ball? And there are advantages and disadvantages. But ultimately he also was saying, after all is said and done, you are a defender and you need to defend. And I think he is concerned from a defensive standpoint what this team is, and maybe in a bigger perspective, what. Italian defending is, what a likable guy has been a great addition.

David Mossey
Every production meeting he has is cracking up at least once or twice. Just such a lovely, just likable person. And you know, what's fun is from a television perspective, he, like anybody else, is learning and every single day getting better and better. And again, hats off to people that do it as a second language, and this is certainly a second language for him. But he asks questions about whether it's tv or he asks questions from an english perspective.

Alexi Lawless
Today he was talking about Morata and how, as a former teammate of his, how Murata, as a captain for Spain, isn't somebody that necessarily makes speeches and everything. And he didn't know how to actually phrase it. And so we talked about it, and I was like, just say, to give a speech or something like that. And in his mind, it wasn't computing. And then he nailed it, because when that red light turned on, it was clear exactly what he was saying and he was able to put that in.

He's a really smart guy. He's a really, as you said, entertaining and fun guy. He's got wonderful experience. He's got wonderful stories. And I think as we go and grow through this tournament, I think he's just going to get better and better going forward.

David Mossey
He's played with or against virtually every player. Such an interesting perspective. He might be someone to get on the pod at some point. Speaker two. Oh, you listen.

Alexi Lawless
He is definitely coming on the pod because he's got all sorts of stories and he has already lived an incredible life. He's about to turn. About to turn 40, and he and his family are going to head back to Italy. But we are blessed already to have him as we are with everybody that's on the show. All right, should we head to the third game?

David Mossey
Yes. Kyla, I promise I'll make this quick. On Fubo this morning, Switzerland beat Hungary three one. Dua, Abisher and Ambolo with the goals. A good start for the Swiss in.

Alexi Lawless
Group A. Yeah, I mean, I think that this. Well, there were a lot of people, including our good friend Jimmy Conrad, who were really disappointed in Hungary because they had much higher hopes when it comes to Hungary. This is a swiss team that did well in the previous euros and historically well in the previous euros. So maybe they have kicked on and we are going to see even better going forward.

I thought that they were really good. I thought that this was a comprehensive type of win for them and they had some depth, bringing Brielle Mbolo off to the bench, who ended up scoring a goal there. Congratulations to the Swiss. I don't think that this necessarily changes the way that I feel about them, relative, for example, to my power rankings when it comes to a top ten, but they did what they needed to do. Peter Schmeichel.

David Mossey
Not a fan of the power rankings, huh? Yeah. Get in line, Peter. But now Switzerland. They've reached the knockout stage of the last five major tournaments they've played in.

I think they're going to keep that streak going here. I agree with you. They won't go too far beyond that round of 16 quarterfinals. That's probably as far as I go, but still, I do expect them to get out of Group A. Today was a good start.

One note on Hungary. Soba slide became the youngest captain in Euro's history. It is amazing how many records we've broken just in the first two days. Youngest manager ever. Nagelsman.

Youngest player ever. Lamina Mal. Youngest captain, Soboslai. Fastest goal. Barami for Albania.

Incredible. All these records in the first two days. We're on the verge of the most goals, too. It's within touching distance. Who knows what happens tomorrow?

Alexi Lawless
Speaking of tomorrow, should we take a look ahead? Yes. We've got three games on tap tomorrow, all of them airing on the Fox networks, two on and one on Fox. The first one in Group D, Poland against the Netherlands. Bad news for Poland.

David Mossey
Robert Lewandowski is out. So that makes this a tall order against a strong dutch team. Virgil van Dyke, Memphis depay and company. Yeah, I mean, as you said, I think that they would be up against it anyway when I'm talking about Poland versus the Netherlands. So this just makes it that much more difficult for them to not have Robert Lewandowski up top.

Alexi Lawless
So I think the Netherlands go through not necessarily with ease, but I think that they ultimately get the result in terms of a win. And tomorrow is going to be fun because it gives me an opportunity to make fun of my friends, my new friends. Well, when it comes to Peter Schmeichel with his Denmark team playing, and then obviously the final game, let me rattle. Off all the games. Then.

David Mossey
We also have the two games in Group C. Slovenia against Denmark, that's in Stuttgart, and then Serbia against England, that's in Gelsinkerken, which brings some bad memories for the English because that was the site of their 2006 World cup quarter final elimination at the hands of Portugal on penalties. That was a controversial match in which Cristiano Ronaldo goaded Wayne Rooney into a red card when they were teammates at Manchester United. So the English were very upset about that. I'm looking forward to this.

Alexi Lawless
And the Denmark part. Peter Schmeichel is, as you said, not happy with my top ten that Denmark is nowhere to be found in the top ten if they were to beat Slovenia. I mean, he seems to have this much more romantic notion, and it's understandable, given who he is and who he has played for, of what Denmark is and what Denmark, Denmark isn't. And then when it comes to England, I mean, this is wheelhouse type of stuff. This is.

This makes me so happy. As I said on air today, England just gives me so much content. Although you've always talked about your memories of the 1986 World Cup, Denmark had a very fun team in that tournament. They beat Uruguay six one. That didn't resonate.

You're saying that they can't. They can't be successful. I'm not even saying they can't even at times be fun and romantic. But, I mean, let's be honest, when you think romance and even apart from soccer, not a lot of people are saying, yeah, Denmark. And that, in fairness to you, that came up in the context of Spain.

David Mossey
In the production meeting today, you were making a point about Spain and Schmeichel tried to equate it to Denmark and you were saying, well, wait a minute, we look at Spain differently than Denmark, and I think that's completely fair. One note on our coverage tomorrow, Tom Rinaldi has a very good feature on Christian Ericsson being back at the euros. Remember what happened in Denmark's opening match at the last euros against Finland? Incredible health scare that stunned the sports world. He collapsed, cardiac arrest, rushed to the hospital, thankfully survived.

What a welcome sight it's going to be to see him back at this tournament. Yes. Ultimately became a incredibly positive story, but in that moment, just the scenes were incredible. Okay, so big Sunday on tap with these games. Do you disagree with me in terms of.

Alexi Lawless
I think Netherlands. I think Netherlands going to win. England is going to win. And I'll even give Peter Denmark. Yeah.

David Mossey
Yeah. I think Denmark win. Unless Oblock stands on his head. But I think Denmark is the much better team. England.

We'll see. Very shaky and friendly against Iceland. We'll see. Come on. Really.

We have a lot of good England content tomorrow. We're going to hear from Gareth Southgate and a lot of the players on the challenge of the summer. The pressure. What does it mean? Is it last chance under Southgate?

Do they view it that way? They've had these. It's definitely last chance. They've had these near misses. Semifinals of the 2018 World cup, obviously, runners up at the last euros and even the last World cup, they went out in the quarterfinals.

But I think England, France and Argentina were the three best teams that quarterfinal match. England, France was maybe the best played game of the tournament. So to me, they've been right there in all these recent major tournaments. We'll see if this summer, do you. Think England has improved or this is a lesser version of that England team?

I think they've improved going forward with the emergence of Bellingham as this suspect. In the back, though. Yeah, but still suspect at the back. All right, all right. Well, we'll check those games out.

Alexi Lawless
Listen, should we just finish this up real quick here with one for the road? Yes. Interesting, interesting, interesting story out there. Would you like to tell it and then I'll comment on it? This is the rare Mossy themed one for the road.

Well, it came across our timelines and across our radar here. And as we said before, we are getting ready for Copa America, which begins next week. And you can see it on Fox on Thursday. And I guess one of the favorites, along with Argentina, would be Brazil. And for those that have listened to the state of the union for any length of time, you will know that over the last couple of years, Mosse has blown hot and cold when it comes to this Brazil team.

A lot of times, Cole, it has to be said, especially again, in relation to previous teams right now. Well, it seems that your. Your lack of confidence in this version of Brazil is not just limited to you, my friend. Perhaps Ronaldinho listens to the pod. It's very possible because Ronaldinho made some news today with some incredible comments.

David Mossey
He said he's not going to watch Brazil at this Copa America. He said he's abandoning the team because they lack talent, they lack grit, they lack commitment, they lack everything. He said it's one of the worst Brazil teams he's ever seen, and so he wants nothing to do with it. Okay, so, look, I obviously make my living in soccer and talk about different teams, including a team that I played for in the US. And at times I am critical and at times I am angry, and at times the team, I feel, requires a dose of reality and of truth, and I am happy to provide that.

Alexi Lawless
I take no pleasure in being critical of the us team, but I also don't think that you should pull your punches when you are asked. This is a little out of character, wouldn't you say, when it comes to Ronaldinho, in terms of this is not usually what he does. Absolutely. Okay, so maybe he feels that it has gotten so dire that he needs to do it, but because it's so out of character. And while I think Brazil, you can certainly make an argument, is not the Brazil that we have seen in the past, that it's just this horrible type of team that is not even close to elite.

I think that that is a bit much from Ronaldinho or anybody else out there. And what is he getting out of it, other than maybe the attention that he wants to get at this point? But I don't think the players from Brazil give two, you know, what's, what Ronaldinho is saying. I think it's just fodder. And in that sense, well done, Ronaldinho, for creating that going forward.

But it's just a strange, strange thing to say in the amount that he said and the way that he said it. And, I mean, not that it has to be constructive, because we're in the entertainment business and this is kind of entertaining, which is one of the reasons why we were talking about it. I just. I don't necessarily agree. And I know now everybody is saying, well, you see, Ronaldinho, you know what he says about Brazil.

So that result that you had the other day, I'm talking about the us men's national team. It shouldn't be. It shouldn't mean as much. Come on, get out with that. All right?

It's still Brazil any way you slice it. And it should be said, and you will know this, that the team that won the World cup way back in 1994, there were a lot of people that looked at that team and said, yeah, it doesn't have the romance, it doesn't have the flair and time passes and you look at it a little bit differently. But ultimately, when it comes to Brazil, results matter. And so if this Brazil team is able to get to a final, this team is able to win Copa America and just shove it back in Ronaldinho's face. I think that they would enjoy that.

David Mossey
You know, Ronaldinho was famous for going out to clubs, partying all night. No, you don't say. And then going straight to practice from the club the next morning, you know, he's going to be in a similar predicament. Erin Schechter, she's got her roommate's birthday party tonight and. And we've gotten out with Aaron.

We know how much she likes. Listen, she'll be dancing on tables until crazy hours, and then she's got a 03:30 a.m. call time. So that's gonna be interesting. High turnaround.

Alexi Lawless
Don't do the. It's not a crime, but don't do the crime if you can't do the time, right. We're professionals. Here. And, you know, these are, these are young pups.

So they. All I can say is hydrate. You gotta hydrate. But you better have your ass here when we're starting to light this candle, okay? When it comes to all the digital stuff that we're doing, and she's good, she'll figure it out.

But, like, to your point, if you ever go out with her, be careful and bring an extra water bottle. One last thing before we say goodbye. I know we've forsaken the what are we watching? Segment in these summer pods, but I do have to remember to reply to your mother because she emailed me today with some tv show recommendations. So we're in the green room, and we're having a meeting, and I'm sitting next to Mozzie, and, you know, Mossy is incredible on his phone.

It's a work of art to see him work his phone, but he reaches over and shows me his phone, and he goes, hey, look who just emailed me. And it's my mother. So obviously, I think, well, first off, she takes your word as gospel, right? Especially when it comes to recommendations. But she also, in the past, has emailed back and forth with you, especially when you guys agree or even at times when she disagrees.

And she has some recommendations for you. So it does not surprise me that my mother is emailing you. It's probably because she says, well, my son's not going to respond to me, but maybe Mossy will respond. So thank you for humoring her. I know, like I said, she really, really respects your opinion when it comes to things out there, whether it's movies or books or anything else out there in the art world.

My mom's a poet, but she also is constantly asking about things. And she will ask me on a consistent basis about you. Something that you said, something that you read, or even, what do you think Mossie thinks about that? And I'm like, I get it, mom. You like mossy.

David Mossey
As soon as we're done, I am about to compose an email to her. All right, well, that's very, very nice of you. And if mom's listening, I love you, mom. Okay, we got, like I said, a whole slate of games tomorrow. We will back again tomorrow live.

Alexi Lawless
Thank you again to zillow. Wonderful partners. Keep downloading, keep reviewing, keep rating, keep subscribing, doing all these things, and we will come back at you every single day as we continue on with this incredible euro 2024. And like I said, we will continue on next week when Copa joins the fray. And we will from morning to night, be giving you more soccer than you can possibly handle, but at least try to handle it.

And we will each and every day give you this little snippet and this synopsis of what happens so you can go in. Sound cool to your friends when it comes to the soccer. Talk to you again tomorrow. And until then, and as always, my friends size the day.