Spain wins historic 4th Euro Championship, Messi & Argentina go BACK-to-BACK-to-BACK

Alexei Lawless
Hello, sunshine. I'm Alexei 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 July 14 following the Euro and Copa America finals as we close out another incredible summer of soccer where we have been live each and every day after the Euros and Copa action, giving you a wrap up and what's to happen later on. 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.

Mossy, how are you? On this Sunday, July 14, in the year 2024? I'm doing well after an interesting day. You know, we received an email from Kyla Morris saying that we would be taping our last summer of stars podesthe at 07:30 p.m. it is 1020.

Yeah, the day kind of got away from us here, bud. But, you know, this, this happens. It was an interesting day. And we will go, we will go through all of that. Where, where do you want to start here, Mossy?

Because, well, first off, how are you? Are you okay? I'm doing well. Okay. We are at the end of yet another long adventure when it comes to doing these tournaments.

First time doing simultaneous tournaments and it has been a long and winding type of road. You look good. I think you have held up well over the last, what, six weeks that we have been doing this. And I've said time and time again because of your value and what you bring to the Fox family over here, you get pulled in a lot of different directions. But I think you managed it well today.

You've also learned in your older age to delegate and to welcome additional voices and help that can make you be better at what's going on. This is from afar. You don't have to agree with me, but I think from afar and you've learned to trust others, even when it is your baby at times, and to relinquish control to others in order to make yourself better. And so I think you've grown, buddy. I think you've had a hell of a summer, actually.

David Mossey
A funny note on that, my assistant Matt Straup, who wrote some of the shows this summer, he emailed me a couple days ago telling me that he's planning a family vacation for the summer of 2025. And he would like to know which exact dates. I'll be needing him next summer so he can work around that. Really? Well, you should get on there, buddy.

Alexei Lawless
Pull out the calendar. I'm not quite in that headspace yet to get you that information. Oh, my goodness. All right, listen. All right, so where the hell you want to start here?

David Mossey
Well, we had two finals today. Why don't we take them in chronological order? We begin with the euros final in Berlin. Spain beat England two one. All the goals in the second half.

Nico Williams scored less than two minutes into the second half, assisted by Lamin Yamal. The two youngsters combined to give Spain a 10 lead and then a substitute. Cole Palmer equalized for England, assisted by Jude Bellingham. But then, four minutes from time, a substitute for Spain, Michel Hoyar Sabao. Yeah, I know.

Alexei Lawless
We had to bandy about that score. The winner, assisted by Cucurella. So Spain take it. It's their record. Fourth european crown.

David Mossey
England's trophy drought continues. Maybe they'll break that in 2026 when it'll be a nice, even 60 years here in the United States. Yeah, it was obviously next to Daniel Sturridge and Jules at the table and these english folks in front of the cannon and behind the camera. I wouldn't say they were distraught. And I think part of that comes from the fact that anybody reasonable that watched this game will have recognized that going into the game, Spain was a better team.

Alexei Lawless
During the game, Spain was a better team. And ultimately, not only the better team won, but the best team in the tournament, Spain won. And so I know that that's not necessarily consolation to. To the England fans out there, but they lost to a better team and a much better team in the way that they played. So it wasn't as if they were in it and pissed it away, even when they scored that goal, it was almost.

I know it's counterintuitive because obviously they were down a goal, and so scoring a goal, in my expert opinion, is good, but it is almost. If they got that shot and they felt inoculated and they could do no wrong, and yet they pulled back into a much more of a shell. And it's almost as if they woke up Spain with that goal, that tying goal, and from then on, it was just all Spain. So what are we to make, ultimately, of this, before we get to Spain, of this England team here? Is this a team that is heading in the right direction and this is a team worthy of our time again in a final?

And I do think that when all is said and done, Gareth, Southwest Southgate has to be looked at as one of the great managers in England history, potentially. You could probably even make a case for the best in history, given where he did, but ultimately didn't quite get them across the finish line and didn't have that, that moment. Still a very successful last few years for them to get to a World cup semifinal and €2 final. Southgate has at least gotten them to the point where they're legit contenders for major trophies, and I think they're going to stay that way because there's still a lot of talent there. They're young guys like Bellingham.

David Mossey
Soccer foden are still going to be very good come 2026. So I absolutely expect England to be one of the handful of top contenders at the next World cup. Speaker two. But they do have to upgrade in different places and, I mean, I think you could go through. I mean, probably you could go.

Alexei Lawless
Goalkeeper Harry Kane came off, did not have a defining type of tournament, so I don't think going forward. You think Harry Kane is still there in two years? I do, but strange, strange tournament for him. I agree. It took a little bit of a hit, his reputation this summer.

Yeah. I mean, if there was somebody waiting in the wings, if there was a flow. Baligan, perhaps. Yeah, exactly. Somebody waiting in the wings, that could take over, but I don't think he was necessarily 100%.

And so maybe that changes over the next couple of years, but I do think that there has to be a real possibility of moving on from him and going the directions. And to your point, there are young players and talent, not the least of which is Jude, that this team can be built around going forward, uh, Southgate future. What do you think happens? Honestly, I would keep them if I was England. I don't know if you're going to find a better manager.

David Mossey
Yeah. All right. But. Well, do you think he stays because they might want to keep him? He might want to say, I've.

Alexei Lawless
I've done as far much as I can. I want something else. Yeah. It's been a long time, so he might be ready to leave that job, given all the pressure and scrutiny of it, but I don't know. We'll see.

I did, you know, if you watched our coverage today, and if you've watched it over the last, like I said, five weeks or so, I came into this tournament now talking about the. And I can use the term glee that I often use, and I'm not alone in the angst and the disappointment and the failure and the, I guess the schadenfreude type of situation when it comes to this England team and equating them with the Dallas Cowboys in that as many people watch because they hate them, as love them. But everybody, everybody watch. I did find myself over the tournament, and not relative to any type of romantic play, kind of growing into this team, in that this wasn't a team that you can kind of hate. It wasn't horrible personalities or people that were villainous types of characters on this team.

They got a little better. Never great. And I did find myself at the end kind of saying, and maybe it's just relative to history, Masi, in that wanting to kind of see this spell broken. But then when it happened, I was okay in terms of seeing England lose. And so the streak continues.

And like you said, who knows, maybe in two years here in the US, they are able, on the 60th anniversary, to break that failure. All right, turn it to Spain, the cream of the crop. Throughout the tournament, 70. They did not mess around, as we've said time and time again. They fundamentally changed the way that they play.

And yet what didn't change is their dominance and their ability to be successful on a continual basis. And if you're looking for a team with an incredible future, you look at some of the youth that they have. The future looks bright. I echo everything that you said over the last couple of shows about the epicenter being in Spain with the men's, women's and all the youth talent that they have. So the future looks incredibly bright.

David Mossey
La Mina Mal turned 17 yesterday and Nico Williams turned 22 on Friday. So they were both fresh off celebrating birthdays, and they combined on that goal. And they celebrate this euro's title. Spain become just the second team to win seven games at a major tournament. Brazil did it in the 2002 World cup.

They've won three of the last €5. And what impressed me about them, they remind me of Manchester city in this regard. Yeah, they have some great players, but it's such a strong collective that there's an interchangeable nature to the whole thing. Even Rodri coming off at halftime, we would have thought that's the one player they can't live without. Zubimendi comes in and he was great in the second half.

They didn't miss a beat. Ollar Jabal comes on for Morata and he ends up getting the winner. Medino came on in the quarterfinals and scored. The late winner against Pedri gets hurt early in that game. Danny almost steps in and he ends up being one of the stars of the tournament for them, not just with goals, but also that incredible goal line clearance at the end on that header by Gehy today to preserve the lead.

So it was just such a strong collective where you felt like they could plug in different players and everybody would come through when they needed them to.

Alexei Lawless
Obviously, the next couple of years, if some other players either emerge or some that were hurt, that were not there this summer, then get on the field. I can't see them getting any worse. I can only see them getting any better and stronger, and that bodes well for their future. But the rest of the world better take notice. Absolutely.

David Mossey
Gavi is a player who missed this tournament. He'll be back. Pedri, as I mentioned, got hurt early in the quarterfinals. So, yeah, they are loaded with talent. They will be very strong in 26, for sure.

Alexei Lawless
Did you see the. The report over there from the Washington Post? I think it was over there. Stephen Golf over there with. About the coach for.

For Spain potentially being interested in the us job, which is a little strange, given the fact that they just won euros two years before the World cup. Yeah. And you think he's focusing on this euros? Why he's even thinking about the us job. So I don't know.

David Mossey
I'm a bit skeptical of that. Well, even if it's the truth, I'm not sure if that's necessarily the way to go. Again, it's a very apples and oranges type of situation in terms of who you are coaching and what the expectations are going forward. But anyway, we're going to continue to follow the us situation. All right.

Alexei Lawless
So we finished up with the euros, all in all, as a tournament. How was it? Where do you give it, on a scale of one to ten, in terms of tournaments out there, this euros, in terms of, I don't know, drama and excitement and solid interest. Solid. Eight out of ten.

David Mossey
There were some disappointing games at a knockout stage. Some teams, like France and Belgium and Portugal, that didn't quite live up to what we thought they would be. But I thought, overall, it was a very compelling tournament. I thought it was, too. I thought that Germany did, once again, a great job in hosting it.

Alexei Lawless
And the crowds there and the scenes, especially. Yes, the scenes in the stadiums, and we talk about Turkey and these types of things that were happening, but also the watch parties and the cities and the festive atmosphere of people coming together, sometimes tens of thousands, 100,000 people together, celebrating the team and celebrating the sport and obviously celebrating the tournament. And, incidentally, we ended up with a six way tie for the golden boot, and UEFA decided there's no tiebreaker. They just all share it. This is insane.

This is so stupid. This is like, everybody gets a trophy here. So there's a six way tie with people that have three goals, and rather than go to assists or some other criteria to break the deadlock, everybody's going to get a trophy. That's it. Stupid.

This is so stupid. Don't get me started. Don't get me started. All right. Should we move on to the Copa America?

David Mossey
Yes. So Argentina beat Colombia one nil in extra time. Two substitutes combined on the go. Lo Celso assisting Lauterdez Tata Martinez, who got his fifth of the tournament. He wins the golden boot, hands Argentina their second straight Copa America title, their 16th overall.

But we should talk about all the craziness beforehand. This match kicked off 82 minutes after it was initially scheduled to begin because there was all sorts of crowd trouble. Apparently, fans without tickets forced their way into the stadium, and so the stadium was locked down at one point, then it was opened up again, but lengthy delay. What did you make of the whole thing? What a complete and utter shit show.

Alexei Lawless
I mean, let's be honest. I mean, and look, we can assign blame and we can make it very, very clear as to who's to blame, because everyone's saying, oh, you know, why isn't the US doing this? Why isn't he doing that? This is a combinable event, okay? And so if you have a problem with the organization, go talk to commonable.

But that doesn't change the fact that it happened on our watch, it happened in our own country. And therefore, the perception of the United States was damaged because of this. And, you know, this is also coming off of the situation in Charlotte where the Uruguay and Columbia game, Uruguay fans and families, you know, there was a safety issue there and they felt like they were being attacked. And at times, the cameras showed that there was a back and forth, players going in the stands and that kind of stuff. Listen, I want to make.

Make it very, very clear here, okay, this, and correct me if I'm wrong, mossy. This hard rock stadium down there in Miami, right? That's correct. This is not a new stadium. No.

This is a stadium that's been around and held events, including, if I'm not mistaken, a Super bowl. Absolutely. And other big concerts and big sporting events, right? Yep. So this is certainly not their first rodeo.

If you are a fan without a ticket and you break into the stadium, you're to blame. If you are a fan with a ticket and you break into the stadium, you are to blame. If you are an organizer and the fans who bought your tickets can't safely and efficiently get into the venue, you're to blame.

This is unacceptable. And I understand why people are screaming and yelling out there, but we've all been to big events and I've been to Super Bowls, and there are perimeters and multiple perimeters for this specific reason. And obviously it was a combination of people there that didn't have tickets and the inability to get people in. And then when you say nobody else is coming in, which might be the right call from a safety perspective, may or may not be right call, everybody's going to flip out, especially those that have tickets, especially those that paid thousands and thousands of dollars for tickets. And then you get people breaking the law, then you get people coming in and rushing in.

And tonight, I hope people got out safely. I'm praying that people got out safely and that there weren't any problems on the exodus because all those people that got in and broke the law and got in illegally, they weren't wanted. There was no security check going forward, so fingers crossed that it's okay. But it was not a good look for the US. It was certainly not a good look for kom na bowl.

And less than two years away from the summer and a very, very important summer, it's certainly not something that we wanted to say. Having said all of that, I think FIFA, which organizes and will organize the 2026 World cup, will have it buttoned down. We, as the United States, we have organized and hosted multiple world Cups, by the way, seminal World Cups, incredibly successful World Cups, when it comes to the sheer number of people and the business that it has generated without security problems in the past. And this was obviously a blight on the american soccer landscape, regardless of how little we had in terms of the responsibility. I don't know if you recall, but several weeks ago, my, what are we watching?

David Mossey
Submission was a Netflix documentary that was done on the euro 2020 final at Wembley between England and Italy, where we had similar problems, fans without tickets forcing their way into the stadium. So don't let anybody tell you that this could only happen with south american fans and the United States and all the rest, because this happened over there as well. But we've had in this tournament stadiums that are 50, 60, 70,000 people, and we haven't had this type of problem. So this was specific to this event and to this venue. Okay?

Alexei Lawless
And again, I hope that people are okay. I mean, there's pictures of people climbing the fence. There are pictures of people rushing in. There's pictures of security guards tackling people. There's pictures of people in the AC vents, for God's sake.

So this is. This is insane. And again, you are not entitled to free soccer regardless of who. Of who you are. So if you're breaking the law now that they let people in, I think was a function of safety.

And there came a point where they didn't want anybody to be trampled. They wanted to make sure that at the very least, people were safe to move. And I get that, but that ultimately is the resort that they took because they were not organized and they didn't have the perimeters on the outside. Now, before we get to the game, one more item we have to discuss. Before we started taping, I saw you holding court with Kat and others.

David Mossey
You have a lot of thoughts on the Shakira halftime performance. Yes. So before we get to the game, the Shakira halftime performance, I don't know a tremendous amount about this shakira character. Okay? I have heard of her over the years.

Alexei Lawless
I have seen her. Her hips don't lie, I'm told. And she was married to PK, correct? Great center back was married right then. They had some problems, and they've split up and everything.

But there were a longtime power couple. I believe he strayed. He may have strayed. So I have nothing against Shakira. She seems to be a big star, and I remember her from the theme for the world cup a couple cycles ago.

The actual performance, I didn't think it was anything historic in that it will be remembered. It was okay. A couple things were a little strange for me. One, she came out alone, and it was almost as if everyone was looking around saying, well, where the hell are the backup dancers? And I didn't even know if she was supposed to, but it begged for backup dancers, and she was solo kind of dancing around, and it just didn't look normal.

Eventually, the backup dancers came out because we were saying, hey, maybe they only paid for shakira and you got to pay an extra, I don't know how many, hundred thousand for the actual backup dancers. But eventually they came out. So that was a little weird. When she's dancing around, I didn't mind the mirror dress she was wearing skirt. I thought that was kind of cool and disco y and stuff like that.

My big problem, I don't know who does their lighting. I don't know who the production team was, but somebody needs to get fired, okay? Because the lighting, if you watched this, the lighting on her legs, and she might have been even wearing some sort of fishnet thing. Very fine fishnet thing. But whatever the lighting was on the legs cast these shadows that made it look like she had fish scales.

And even worse, at times, it made it look cellulite esque. And nobody wants that. No man or woman wants that when you're performing. And so I think they did her dirty. I think this was a bad decision and an unnecessary type of decision.

Some things you can't control, you know, whatever, the audio and stuff like that. But this lighting, they could have controlled. They could have figured it out and gotten rid of it, and they didn't. And in doing so, I think they did a disservice to what I think is a very talented artist. The actual songs, they're okay.

You know, it's no prints or anything, no Super bowl prints or anything, anything like that. So you, do you think she stuck around for the second half in the extra time or she was out of there by the 50th? I think that she was gone. I think that she was gone. So now, as to the match itself, Colombia was the better team in the first half, but Argentina grew into the game and I thought was clearly better in the second half and the extra time.

David Mossey
Lionel Messi came off in the 65th minute with an ankle injury. We saw the ankle when he was on the bench. It looked incredibly swollen. He was in tears. I can't imagine how Fran Arthur was coping at that moment.

What were your thoughts when you saw Messi coming off? I mean, it's sad because I want to see Messi just like everybody else, but in a strange way, it put an exclamation point on this Argentina team, which we know is not the prettiest part of what makes this team great, I think, is their ability to be flexible, their ability to adjust the situation. And that situation could be relative to the opponent, it could be relative to the weather, could be relative to the field, whatever they adjust to it in order to get the job done. And this particular team has now done it without Messi because, let's be honest, Messi was not a factor this tournament, and he certainly wasn't a factor today. And even when he left the field, as much as we gasped that Messi was leaving the field didnt change the equation.

Alexei Lawless
And as a matter of fact, the substitutes that came on ultimately did what they needed to do. So I think that this, in a very, very strange way, is affirming to this group going forward. And look, im not saying that Messi cant help this team and isnt going to be a part of this team over the next couple of years, but I think it was important for them to do it without Messi. And Messi, I think would be the first person that, and we saw it after the game, how important it was to him and how much he enjoyed celebrating, even though, let's be honest, he had very little to do with this. This reminded me a little bit of the Euro 2016 final.

David Mossey
PortUGal, France now, Messi came off much later in the game than Ronaldo did that day, but Ronaldo came off injured. Portugal ended up winning one nil an extra time. Eder scored the goal against France that day and Lautado gets the goal here. And, you know, Di Maria, this was it for him. This was the drop the mic moment.

It's going to be interesting to see with Messi, this could cut both ways. This tournament might, but an indicator that physically, maybe he can't handle the grind of club and country anymore, maybe he walks away or the way it played out, maybe he doesn't want to go out this way. He does want to play in the World cup. So he can maybe have a better ending than crying on the bench. Yeah.

Alexei Lawless
And if and when he becomes a burden to this team, and I don't think he is, but if and when he does in the way that kind of Cristiano has, because certainly Messi has as much cache as Cristiano, I think that would be problematic. I don't necessarily see him doing it. I see him kind of checking out before that. But again, it's only two years away and if his body heals and he feels good, this is a cocoon and a warm cocoon, obviously Argentina. And you would have thought with Di Maria saying that this was it, if Messi felt the same way, it would be kind of logical for both of them to do it.

Speaking of Di Maria, wonderful way to kind of ride off into the sunset and yet another title. Not everybody gets to do that. And he has been, as I said on air, the robin to Messi's batman for a number of years. I mean, they go back to the 2008 Olympics where they won gold and they've kind of been with each other and he has taken some of the pressure at times off and certainly been a wonderful second man to have when Messi has been starring over the years. So I'm happy for him.

Just seems like a wonderful player, certainly, but also just a kind gentleman. And the Lautado Martinez Julian Alvarez dynamic is going to be fascinating to see moving forward. Now, I mentioned Lautado scored five goals, won the golden boot, and Argentina were champions. And yet Hamas Rodriguez still was chosen the best player in the tournament. Did you have any issue with that?

No issue at all. I thought that Jamas was the best, best player in the tournament. You know, I was thinking about this as we got into extra time and how much Emmy Martinez changes the equation now. I don't know if Colombia had enough energy to mount any sort of attack in that extra time, but to me, if you're in an extra time with Argentina, you almost have to think that. You have finish it now.

David Mossey
Yeah. Because it's almost like an 80% certainty you're gonna lose if you go to penalties. And so I was. And that was in the back of my mind as it got into the extra time. Yeah, I mean.

Alexei Lawless
Cause you're looking over there saying it's all fine and well, but it's no longer what a lot of people feel is a 50 50 type of equation here, because you have, and what I think is one of the great goalkeepers, especially when it comes to the international game, who just gets in your mind and it ultimately didn't happen. La Toro Martinez came on and did what he has done time and time again. And then you start seeing the emotion and then you start seeing the tears. And let's kiss off Colombia, because I do think that they are heading in the right direction. I think they were a wonderful team to watch.

With or without Homas going forward. Certainly he has become a part of this team going forward, but even without that, this is a team for the future. I think that this is a team that is going to qualify comfortably when it comes to the 26th World cup and a team that I will look forward to watching come the 26th. World cup. Speaker two.

David Mossey
And it's amazing. They had a 28 match unbeaten run. Their last defeat prior to tonight was one nil to Argentina with Lautado Martinez scoring the goal in February 2022. And they lose tonight, 10 to Argentina. Lautaro Martinez scoring the goal.

Alexei Lawless
Amazing. Amazing. But you're still bullish about them. Oh, absolutely. Good.

Anything more on Argentina before we let this one go? That's it. Okay, it's time for the end of our show and the end of the final show when it comes to these Copa America and Euro shows that we are doing. So it's time for one, for the road. There it is.

If you're watching, you can see our little van and all that kind of stuff. Mossy, we've done a lot of these things. I was on air with Daniel and Peter and Jules and seeing Giorgio over in Germany walking out the trophy and everything like that. And each and every one of these tournaments, you meet and you work with new people, and oftentimes you're meeting and working with people that either one have never worked in television at all. Or if they've worked in television, many of them haven't worked in american television, and certainly many of them have never worked when it comes to Fox.

And I made a point on air of telling them, first off, thank you. Because it becomes kind of a family, and you're working long days, and you see these people day in and day out, and you do grow. And you, as teams take twists and turns through a tournament, so does the team and the family. That is the broadcast family. And it's really, really interesting to see how people grow.

And I really had a wonderful time working with Peter Schmeichel and working with Daniel Sturridge and again, working with Ari Hinks, who just is just lovely. And then somebody new, and sometimes it's not even their first language. And I got a lot of respect for all of them. And Jules, as a host, I think, did a wonderful job. And the same applies when it comes to Copa America.

And I know I was straddling these two tournaments, and I loved every single minute. And when it comes to Copa America, again, working with the great Carly Lloyd and Clint Dempsey and Marie Sedou, and the list goes on and on and on. I thought that all of our talent, either overseas, in Germany or around the country here, and Stu and John, of course, and all the people that we work with on a continual basis, did a great job and all the talent behind the scenes. It takes a village, as they say. And there were a lot of people in the village that were making us look good.

And this was. This was not easy when it comes to the technical side that we were doing. And it was, you know, challenging, given the hours. But I'm very, very fortunate. Mossy, I know you agree with me.

We have wonderful jobs in what we do. And yeah, we can whine and scream and yell every once in a while, but the reality is, as I said on air today, I put on makeup and I talk about soccer, all right? In the greater scheme of things, it means absolutely nothing. But never, ever do I take it for granted. And they can pry it from my cold, dead, redheaded hands, and they probably will eventually, but the young un's are coming.

But I love the fact that I am given this incredible honor and this incredible responsibility of, you know, doing these types of tournaments, and I can't wait for the next one. And I want to thank you, okay? Because each and every day, even in those long days when people are pulling you in a bunch of different directions, we would come up here and we would do this show. And I know this show is a different type of performance than I give, you know, in. Downstairs in front of the cameras.

And it's an opportunity for us to pick your brain. And it's a wonderful, wonderful, Braymon, to hear your incredible thoughts and your insight and your opinions about what happens. But I don't want to speak for you, but I think you enjoy it. And I know I enjoy hanging out with you. And each and every day, I learn something and I take it away from me, and times I even steal it.

But if I'm going to steal, I'm going to steal from the best, my friend. So, thank you for all of your work that you have done, whether it's downstairs on the linear side that we're doing, or up here on the digital side that you're doing. This is that awkward scenario where you say nice things about me, and if I don't return the favor, my mother gets very upset. So, Alexi, you're a great guy, too. I don't have that.

How about we extol the virtues of Kylo over there? Yeah. I mean, she was the star of this summer, if we're being honest. She produced all our pods, did a phenomenal job while Shawn was working on the other show. So kudos to her.

David Mossey
Kudos to Aaron, who directed all our shows. And kudos to people like Kat, Fran, and Nick Rago, who, after we complained the first several nights, actually started showing up for our tapings. Yeah, it was nice of them to finally acknowledge that we exist. Okay, can I just take one more shot at the now show before we call it assignment? Well, they're done, which is great now, so.

Alexei Lawless
Yeah, take all you want. Jimmy Conrad's halfway to LAX. Sean was telling me that they actually brought the goat back tonight. But then once all that crab trouble popped off, they thought that the tone wasn't right for the goat, so they sent him home. Really?

The tone wasn't right because he got hurt? Was it because Messi got hurt or whatever? I suppose. I don't think that. I don't know what tone you're looking for for a goat, but once the goat's in the studio, I mean, the tone's pretty much set, right?

Oh, mossy. All right, listen, we are going to go dark next week in that we will not have any shows. I think you will not begrudge us an opportunity to kind of reset. What are you going to do this week? I'm going to relax, do a lot of errands, sort of get caught up on life stuff that I've been neglecting for the last month and just chill.

Yeah, I am going to finish this up. I'm going to go home. I'm going to pack my bag. I'm going to head off to LAX first thing in the morning. I'm heading out to the great state of Wisconsin, to the great city of Milwaukee, where the republican convention is happening.

I'm going to satisfy my curiosity, maybe my morbid curiosity, and spend the week out there seeing all the doings that are happening when it comes to the convention. So we'll see how that goes. Anybody that's out there and would love to get a drink, let me know. Hit me up. It should be fun.

I was there, as we said last year, for the debate, and I had a wonderful time, a great city, and I'm looking forward to getting out of our little cocoon that we have had. As warm as it has been over the last month and a half, I'm looking forward to getting on the road and relaxing and decompressing from what has to be said was a pretty, pretty special and pretty interesting and wonderful experience. I don't want to speak for you, but it was for me. Should we do it again someday, my friend? Women's euros next summer, right?

David Mossey
That's the next one. Women's euros and 26 coming. There's a lot of good stuff. There's a lot of good stuff. Maybe we should end it there.

Alexei Lawless
Okay. I've told you this before, but don't let anybody tell you that America isn't a soccer country. Don't let anybody tell you that America doesn't have soccer culture and doesn't have soccer history. We have plenty of that. And we have incredible men and women that work on and off the field.

We have an incredible history, if you care to dig it up. We have people that are passionate, that are discerning, and that are incredibly emotional about this beautiful game. Yes, it's unique and yes, it is uniquely american. But I'll tell you what, that's what I love about it. And I think that we should lean into it and never, ever apologize for your, for lack of a better word, your american ness as it relates to soccer, either on or off the field.

We are creating something special here. And for those that are listening and watch this show, this is kind of where we celebrate that. And that's why we say we look through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses, because there's so much to look and there's so much good that is going to come. And I know from a us men's perspective, when it comes to the cope of America, this was ultimately a failure and certainly not something that any of us wanted or predicted. But this, too shall pass.

And maybe, and hopefully this is a step back in order to go two steps forward. But regardless, I remain incredibly positive, incredibly bullish about the future of american soccer. And I will forever be looking at a glass half full when it comes to what we are. That doesn't mean I'm Pollyanna. That doesn't mean I'm delusional.

That doesn't mean I am, that I ignore things that are out there. But I do have faith. It's not blind faith, but I do have faith in the american soccer community out there because I've seen, I've seen it is, I've seen what it has grown into. Yeah, I've been around, so I've seen how far it comes. And as the saying goes, you come a long way, baby.

We still have a long way to go. But man, oh, man, I know we love to kick ourselves for what we haven't done as a soccer playing nation, but you know what? We also have to pat ourselves on the black on the back. It is, it is wonderful and it is inclusive. It will embrace you.

It will feed you up here and here, and it will keep you warm. My friends, enjoy the week, enjoy the summer, whatever you are doing. As I said, Mossy and I and everybody here at the State of the union, we thank you for tuning in for this past month and a half that you have been. Well, we will talk to you again in a week from now, and we'll be back covering all the different stuff that's happening, whether it's domestic, whether it's international, whether it's stories on the field, whether it's stories off the field, all the different soccer and whatever tickles our fancy, if you will. And it is an incredible pleasure and honor to be able to do that on a continual basis here at the State of the union.

Keep reviewing, keep downloading, keep rating, keep subscribing, and keep smashing that button, double fisting, smashing that button over there on YouTube, people. Until then, and as always, my friends, size the day.

Spain wins historic 4th Euro Championship, Messi & Argentina go BACK-to-BACK-to-BACK

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1: Opening Thoughts

2: Euro 2020 Final Analysis

3: Copa America Final Analysis

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