UEFA Euro round of 16 is set & Venezuela Stuns Mexico

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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're coming to you live Wednesday, June 26, following our 13th day of the 2020 €4 and our 7th day of the 2024, Copa America. As we make our way through this amazing summer of soccer, reminder, we'll be coming to you live each and every day after our euros and Copa action, giving you a wrap up and a preview of what is to come. But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding light, David Mossy, a soccer savant and a Fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire.

Mossi, how are you on this Wednesday, June 26, in the year 2024? I'm doing well. And nobody's cackling over there, so they must not have thrown up the logo behind me. No, the logo is not here. We do have a audience of sorts and a sorted audience all over the spectrum when it comes to the riff raff that they've let in, including even some of my offspring that has been joining me here at work.

So I'll be on my best behavior. How did it go? All right. It went very well. The euros group stage is in the books.

It is in the books. Should we light this candle? Let's get right to it. Let's do it. Okay.

How about we start off with some scores here and then we'll get to our best moments of the day. Just to recap everything. All right, today's scores when it comes to the euros. Group E. Ukraine, zero.

Belgium, zero. Slovakia, one. Romania, one. Group F, Georgia, two. Portugal, zero.

Also group F. Ckia, one and Turkey a two. In the Copa America action, Group B continues on. Ecuador, three. Jamaica, one.

Venezuela, one. Mexico, zero. All right, let's move on to our best moments of the day. Victory unlocked, brought to you by zillow agents. Tours, loans, homes.

Get home with zillow. All right, we had a bunch of games today. Mossy. Let's start off with. All right, let's start off with Cristiano and Portugal.

And it was Cristiano and a very different Portugal. We knew that Roberto Martinez had the option in this third game to rest players. He made eight changes. And one of the changes that he did not make, and he had already told us this was going to happen, was Cristiano Ronaldo playing. We've talked about the depth of your Portugal team that you've talked so much about over the last couple of years.

This was where that depth was supposed to show up. Evidently, our friends from Georgia did not get the memo and they proceeded to, I mean, let's be honest, I think just completely boss and command Portugal all over the place. And it was a sight to behold. It was amazing scenes. It was amazing goals.

They started out, but 90 seconds into the game, Cavada Scalia. Cavada Scalia. Cavada Scalia. Just keeps saying it and saying it and saying it and it was. It was fun to see.

Initial thoughts on this game. Great story. It's their first ever major tournament and they're off to the knockout rounds. Varads Kelly in the second minute got them off to a dream start. And then Mikhail Tadze from the penalty spot early in the second half, he is now your golden boot leader with three goals, 20 to final.

David Mossy
So very happy for Georgia, but, yeah, the Cristiano Ronaldo story is interesting. Roberto Martinez clearly played him today to try to get him a goal, and it backfired. Not only did he not score, he was very agitated. He picked up a yellow card for dissent and some of the good vibes from the last match. The assist, Bruno Fernandez, dissipated a bit today.

And now we're going to be wondering about Cristiano Ronaldo again. It's the first major tournament he's played in which he hasn't gotten a goal in the group stage. The previous ten €5.05 World Cups, he had scored in the group stage. He doesn't here. Yeah.

Alexi Lawless
And when we have these moments, and we're seeing them almost on a daily basis now, these Cinderella moments and these amazing things that are happening. The tendency is to talk about these big teams that get knocked off and get taken down a peg or two. And in doing so, sometimes you don't give enough credit to the opposition. I do think that a big part of this story is who this came against. And so congratulations to Georgia.

Okay. But it's also about Cristiano Ronaldo. And to your point, what has happened and what it is, and it just gets flipped on the head. You know, he is backed by Roberto Martinez. He's starting every single game.

By the way, do you think that, you think they had a discussion about this third game or do you think Cristiano Ronaldo went to Roberto Martinez and said, I'm playing? I think they had a discussion, but Ronaldo made it clear that he would much prefer to play. I mean, are you. Are you. Does this make you worried about Portugal anymore?

I mean, or is it just one of those days? And congratulations to Georgia, and now the business end of the tournament starts. Well, you know, I've been so busy that I haven't been able to speak to my father and I finally was able to call him tonight and we had our first conversation since the summer of stars began. We talked about the Brazil match and a bunch of other things, and he did equate what Portugal did today to Brazil in the last World Cup. Brazil won their first two games, clinched the knockouts stage berth, and then Chi Chi changed the team completely.

David Mossy
For the last group match against Cameroon, Brazil lost. And we both felt like Brazil lost a little bit of momentum there. So that is a tricky thing for managers to, how they want to handle that. Spain made ten changes against Albania and still won and Ferrantore scored. And so good vibes all around there with Portugal.

You do wonder if the rhythm they were in that some of that has been undermined by the way they approached this match. I mean, last, last point on this relative to Cristiano Ronaldo, because coming on the air, I was talking about how if you are a coach and if you ever talk to coaches or managers, oftentimes they'll say that the amount of time that they're actually doing, the xs and o's and the tactics relative to the time where they are your priest and your doctor and your shrink and your parent, for that matter, and you're having to push and prod and pull and pat him on the back and kick him on the ass and do all those different things, even for someone like Cristiano, who's been around and is certainly an adult and a 37, 37 year old. And it did backfire. I don't think that this is a big deal in the greater scheme of things when it comes to whether this team can win or not, but it's just. It's not a good look for him.

Alexi Lawless
He will be associated with it, and it's not a good look for Portugal that they're hoping to go on to bigger, better things. And last point on Portugal's depth. You know, Joan Felix is a player I'm a big fan of, but this tournament not going well for him. Did not play 1 minute in the first two games. Finally gets a chance today from the start, and they lose to nil.

David Mossy
He showed some flashes, but that's kind of a microcosm of his career. It flashes and it doesn't ever completely. There was a time we were talking about it as the next big thing. It just has not materialized. But who knows?

Alexi Lawless
We get into the knockout rounds and people can step up and things can change. All right, let's go over to the name game. Basically Czechia and Turkey Lex. We had two red cards and 16 yellows in this match. It was an absolute mess of a game.

David Mossy
Turkey ended up winning it to one. All the goals in the second half. Chalanolu won nil. Then such a tied it up and then Tosin and stoppage time. So Turkey advance.

Czechia are out. They were victimized by an early red card. Barack got sent off for two yellows in the first 20 minutes. So obviously that hurt their chance. They had to play down a man for most of the game.

Alexi Lawless
Let me ask you something, because I was on the desk with Peter Schmeichel for some of the day, and he was out of his mind about this game. While we were watching it, he was screaming and yelling it, and he was adamant that the referee ruined this game. He doesn't have a dog in the fight, but he was adamant that the amount of yellow cards and the referee oftentimes will use the phrase injecting themselves. And yes, you want referees to be silent. And sometimes the best games are the ones where you don't even remember or recognize that the referee is on the field.

However, in the same instance, we will scream and yell about referees not doing the job and not applying the law. And so in this sense, do you think that this referee in this moment overstepped his authority and bounds and became the story either by design or not, and therefore didn't do his job because I was left scratching my head and we didn't get into it on air a whole lot, but I was left scratching my head in that the amount of emotion that we had today and when that manifests in guys doing crazy things sometimes on the field, because you're so desperate and there was desperation throughout the day, you're going to have moments where people are going to lose their you know what and that has to result in cards. And I don't just want a play on mentality where everything is let go. I do think Peter got a little carried away with that second Barak yellow. He said it wasn't even a foul and that's ridiculous.

David Mossy
You go see the replay, it clearly wasn't foul. We can debate whether it was worthy of sending the guy off, but to say it wasn't a foul was a bit much. All right, well, anyway, congratulations to Turkey going through and it's going to be fun because as we mentioned time and time again and have throughout this tournament, the diaspora and the incredible turkish population that. That lives over there and not just lives over there, but is supporting this team has made it an incredible home field advantage for them. So group F ends with Portugal on top.

They already clinch first place entering today. Turkey in second. And Georgia advances one of the best third place teams. Check here out. All right.

Alexi Lawless
Should we go on to ukraine? Belgium, yes. So group e is the crazy one. Remember, first time in Euro's history that all four teams in a group were level on points going into the last set of matches and both games ended in draws. So we ended the way we started with Romania winning the group.

David Mossy
Group Belgium in second, Slovakia advancing as a third place team in Ukraine going out. Ukraine couldn't get the result they needed. It was a nil nil draw against Belgium and I thought it was a little bizarre. I don't want to criticize them too much for obvious reasons, but towards the end of the game, when you knew nothing was going to happen with Slovakia and Romania because they were one one and a draw qualified both teams. So although they played it straight to their credit for most of the game, towards the end you could see that they realized that nothing was going to happen there and so Ukraine should have thrown themselves forward to try to score a goal and they didn't.

It was weird. The last few minutes of the game. It wasn't like they. There was a sense of urgency in the way they played it, so they get punished. They become the first team in Euros history to go out on four points in the group stage.

Alexi Lawless
I mean, life can be cruel and the soccer gods certainly can be cruel. But I mean, the hits keep on coming for Ukraine. That's just, that's not good. I feel so bad for them, but in what they did, I mean, if there's any solace at all, it was historically unique and just bat, you know what, crazy. So I'm sorry.

I'm sorry about the cruelness of the way that you're going out Ukraine, but you made it something interesting and something that we remember. And certainly people like Mossy are going to be referencing this many, many times in the future when there are tournaments. All right, onto Slovakia. Romania. Yeah.

David Mossy
So that finished one. One Duda scored for Slovakia, Marin from the penalty spot for Romania. Now, I just said that I felt like they played it straight. Do you agree? I know there was a lot of skepticism about that because two teams taking the field knowing that a draw benefits them both and then the game ends in a draw.

People are going to look at that a certain way. But actually watching the game, for the most part, I thought it was a proper game. I mean, also you have to define what's what. Straight is, okay. With the knowledge that everybody is safe and this, and this benefit all of us that is going to show up in the way that you play, the way you approach the game and everybody will say, yeah, we're going to go for it, and that's not who we are culturally and that's not who we are as people.

Alexi Lawless
All that kind of stuff. But no matter what, it's going to happen. But that's different than prearranging type of stuff. And look, I played in Italy back in the nineties. I have seen some stuff over time.

I do think it can be very difficult to arrange things like that. And I don't think by any stretch of the imagination in any way that there was anything arranged. But, you know, you did understand that at some point we all live to fight another day. Yeah, I referenced it last night. I will again.

David Mossy
The famous incident is 1982 World Cup, West Germany, Austria, disgrace and Gihon, where once they got to the scoreline that they wanted, both teams just literally passed the ball around in the midfield and it was completely farcical. Today's game never reached that level for sure. No, it was fine. All right, so we have our round of 16. Yes.

Alexi Lawless
Should we go through it just so we can lick our lips? What you'll notice is that on paper, one side of the bracket is much stronger than the other. How dare you? I'll go through the stronger side. First, you've got Spain against Georgia, Germany against Denmark.

David Mossy
So if Spain and Germany both win, they would face each other in the quarterfinals. Then Portugal, Slovenia, France, Belgium. So Portugal versus either France or Belgium. Imagine how fun that would be if it's France, especially now. That's the hard side of the group.

That's the hard side. I want to be clear. Okay? Yes. And then the other side of the bracket, you've got Netherlands, Romania, Austria, Turkey, England, Slovakia and Switzerland, Italy.

So as bad as England have been, there's a pretty good path there for them to get to the final. Don't worry, they'll screw it. They'll find a way. Anyway, so there's two off days here, and then we start back up on Saturday with the round of 16. And we're looking forward to it.

Alexi Lawless
All of these different teams. We'll see if some of these teams that at the last minute were able to book their place are able to parlay that into even more types of historic moments and some major upsets. Because if you just go down, like you said, I did this actually, with Juan Pablo angel and Marie Sedou. We were at the desk earlier here, and I think all of us said Spain over Georgia. I think all of us said Germany over Denmark.

Sorry, Peter. I think all of us said Portugal. Well, not all of us. I think one of us at the table said Slovenia over Portugal. I think all of us said France over Belgium.

All of us said Netherlands over Romania. I think it was split. Austria over Turkey. I'm all in on Austria, and I think that they are not going to be sentimental about this turkey team. And so that's where it is.

England over Slovakia. The Switzerland, Italy one was, I think, for a lot of people, just too hard to call. Austria Turkey might be low key. The most fun game of this round. It's going to be terrific.

Okay. All right, so we have our round of 16. Let's move it over to Copa America, which continues on and will be continuing on solo for the next couple of days until, like we said, the Euros come back. Where should we start? Here.

David Mossy
So we had two games in Group B. The first one, Ecuador, claimed a three one win over Jamaica. Jamaica out. Kendry Paez converted from the penalty spot to become the third youngest scorer in Copa America history. Alan Mendes scored an incredible solo effort at the end of the game to seal it, but there was major controversy.

Alan Franco, handball in the second half. VAR reviewed it, did not assign a penalty. I know you're up in arms about the non red card. Headbutt in the Peru Canada game. This one was just as bad, too.

We've seen some mystifying officiating in this tournament. I mean conquer calf, which we know has the tendency to Concacaf people. You know, CONCACAF just got comna bold in this, in this instance, and I do think that Jamaica should feel aggrieved to an extent because Ecuador was a better team. Jamaica decides evidently to only play have games and the halves that they play well are really well, but the halves that they don't are lethargic and it's what ultimately puts them in problems. And so that they came back in the second half were kind of a different team and fought back and at two to one, you know, they get that little magic and luck that everybody needs from the soccer gods and comfortable takes it away.

Alexi Lawless
I don't understand. It's a penalty. It's a penalty. And you know, and you can say, well, it was, it was too close and everything. When the VAR folks review it, they will tell the referee, hey, we think that you made a mistake in your call.

Now the referee on the field ultimately gets to make the final decision. He may override what the people upstairs are saying. I have no problem with that. And in this case that's actually what happened. But when multiple people upstairs with all the technology in the world and all the time in the world, even though we don't like it all the time in the world and all of the different views say, hey, you know what, you need to come take a look at this because we don't want you to look bad, you know, that's going to shade you in a certain way.

So a certain side of me says, all right, well done, referee, to stick by your guns, but the problem is sticking by your guns, I think is the wrong call. And then the other group B game was a tale of two penalties. Venezuela beat Mexico 10 at Sofi here in Los Angeles in the second half. Salomon Rondon converted from the penalty spot to give Venezuela the lead. What a year it's been for him with the Congacov Champions Cup, Pachuca and all the rest.

David Mossy
And then Mexico had a penalty late a chance to equalize orbelline. Pineda took it, Romo saved it. And so it finishes 10. Venezuela off to the quarterfinals. Ecuador.

Mexico will play in the final group game for berth and Ecuador only need a drop. Mexico need to win that game to advance. Yep, backs against the wall for Mexico. But first off, congratulations to Lavino Tinto, all of our incredible venezuelan friends out there. Venezuelan american friends out there, whether it's Fran here or whether it's.

Alexi Lawless
I got texts from Savaresi, Raci and our friend Alejandro Moreno over there at ESPN. And so I know everybody is very excited. Well, they were excited about this team even before because they're sitting pretty right now in terms of qualifying. And who knows, the possibility of getting to their first World cup would be wonderful. And then they're parlaying it into a very good cope of America so far.

So I'm excited for that. Now, the other side, when it comes to Mexico, Mossi, this was a regression in terms of the second half. First half, I actually enjoyed watching Mexico play, and I haven't said that in a long time. I thought that they had direction. I thought that they had urgency.

I thought that they were interesting. I thought that they didn't let Venezuela do what they wanted to do. And then again, you go into the locker room, you come out and credit to Venezuela.

It's just not good enough. And I said this on air. When I think about this Mexico team for years, whether I was playing against them or even after I stopped playing, there were players on the Mexico team that were villains in the best possible way. I didn't like them, but I'd want them on my team. They pissed me off, but I wanted them on my team.

They were a holes, but I wanted them on my team. And by the way, it takes one to know one. And yet, when I look at this group of Mexico players, none of them scare me. They all seem like nice guys, and none of them are villains. None of them are the a holes that we kind of need and that Mexico needs.

And this was, like I said, ultimately a regression in that. Ultimately, this is what Mexico is, and it's not good enough. And so now they got their back against the wall, and they have to get a result against a team that all they need is one point. I certainly don't put it past them. I think that they can do it if they live up to all of the talent and potential they have.

But maybe I'm Pollyanna. Maybe I'm seeing something that they're not. Years ago, Bill Simmons coined the term irrational confidence guys to describe players who think they're much better than they are. And Orbelin Panera is one of those guys. To me, the idea that he would grab that ball and take that penalty and take it the way he did, pretty hilarious.

Oh, my goodness. All right, well, we'll see. Ultimately, ultimately, what happens on Venezuela. Yeah. They are the only konma ball nation that's never qualified for a World cup.

David Mossy
They've got a good chance to put that to bed. They're fourth right now with the expanded field. I think they've got a good chance to make it. They're also one of two conmen ball nations that have never won the Copa America, along with Ecuador. I don't think they're going to win this one, but they're set up for pretty good run here, especially if they win the group.

Then they would face second place in Group A, like a Canada, Peru, Chile. And, you know, we are approaching Franz Sophie's choice because Argentina and Venezuela have both advanced. They're on the same side of the bracket, so we could get that matchup in this Copa America. She will have to make a decision once and for all, one way or the other. I'm here for it.

Alexi Lawless
I kind of want to see it. But a word. Otherwise, what we have already seen in the euros, in terms of crazy stuff happening in the third games, it could also happen here. So who knows where everybody's going to finish? Although we do know that Jamaica is.

David Mossy
Not going anywhere and Fran is happy. The flip side, Kiara was devastated. Her whole family went to the game tonight at Sofi. Huge crowd. Mexico's second home, basically.

I saw a video of her reaction to the missed penalty at the end. She was shocked. John Marcus was able to capture those images. So good for him. We document it all, the good, bad and the ugly.

Alexi Lawless
Okay, let's see here. Can we get. Can we. Can we get rid of today and move on? Let's move on.

All right. Because there's big stuff coming tomorrow. It's another day of America. All right, we are going to bring it to you from start to finish. The United States taking on Panama for an opportunity to get six points.

But, mossy, even if the US win, they don't necessarily clench a berth. Is that true? The US would advance with a win and a Uruguay winner draw against Bolivia and Uruguay are going to win or draw against Bolivia? Ok. If the US win tomorrow, by the end of the night, they'll be through to the.

All right, from your lips to the soccer God's ears. I'm looking forward to it. I am jacked up and, you know, I'm jacked up in a way that I didn't think I was going to be. Just for a US Panama game. Obviously, it's in the context of a Copa America, but as we have seen, the first game against Bolivia was really not a challenge.

Very easy. Smoking a coffee for the US. Now it gets a little harder for a number of different reasons, not the least of which is the familiarity that Panama have with us. While they respect us and I think a lot of people, including Panama fans and probably Panama players, would say that the US is a better team. I don't think they're looking at this as a throwaway game by any stretch of the imagination.

And that familiarity that we know breeds contempt. It also breeds familiarity and an understanding and a comfort level. And we're seeing this cross pollination of confederations with Comnebol and ConcACaf. And so when the actual Confederation teams play each other, there's all that intrinsic, you know, knowledge and history that, that flows through it and I think is exhibited on the field and I think you're going to see some of that, some of that tomorrow, but get the job done. Last time we saw the US play Panama in a competitive situation was a year ago, albeit a b team when they were knocking us out of the Gold cup, right?

David Mossy
Correct? Yeah, I suspect it'll be the same lineup. Baligan up front again. Tyler Adams will start in the midfield. I'm curious to see how many minutes he goes.

Will it be more than he was able to play against Bolivia? Now did you see this video that our crack staff put together? Yes. I mean, look, we get jacked up for a us game. I certainly do.

Alexi Lawless
I make no bones about it. I sure as hell don't apologize for it. And we want to spread some of that love, we want to spread some of that excitement. We want to spread some of that passion. And we got a library full of archival footage and stuff that we have done.

And so the incredibly smart and creative people behind the scenes have put together a little hype video with some of the clips that we have. Should we roll that ballistic? What a goal. What a start for the United States. Getting to represent, you know, this country already and doing it on home soil, I mean, it's a dream come true for myself and I know this whole team to play a tournament on home soil means everything.

Unidentified Speaker
We want to do the best to represent the country in the right way. Let's go.

Alexi Lawless
Baligan now. Baligan on the deck. And it's in. Baligan scores. I have expectations of myself.

Unidentified Speaker
We're a young group. You have the potential and the talent to do it. We're going to look to compete and win in every single game you play. Win. Winning is always the most important thing to me as a competitor.

Those experiences from the past, to put ourselves in successful situations is going to be important. So if we do that and we perform well. We have a real chance. We're on our way for sure. God bless America.

Alexi Lawless
Awesome. Awesome. All right, well, listen, if you're just listening to the show, just know that it was awesome visually. I know you heard some of the stuff that was going on and we incorporated some of the clips from our intro that we did a few months ago or so with mossy and I and all the getups and the rocky motif and all that kind of stuff. And it was fun.

And thank you for doing that. I am ready to go. Should we talk a little bit about the game, Mossy? That's going to happen tomorrow? Yeah, it's in Atlanta.

David Mossy
We should mention. And as you mentioned, a year ago, Panama eliminated the US in the semifinals of the Gold cup, albeit against the b team. So a little bit of revenge for the US. I suspect they'll have no problems. I do think Panama are better than Bolivia, so it'll be a slightly tougher game, but still nothing that should trouble the US.

Alexi Lawless
Couple of things I'm thinking about here on the eve. One, does Greg Berhald just roll it back right, play the exact same eleven or does he make any changes? Something to keep in mind. Yunus Musa was with him at the press conference today. Doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to play, but I did think that when Yunus Musa came in, he brought something different.

And that quickness off the mark that he has that gets him, excuse me, and the team out of trouble at times, I think was missing Tyler Adams. We saw him go 45 minutes. Does he go longer or do they change that up? Flo Baligan, the evergreen, evergreen type of conversation that we have with the striker. Well, you want him to score, he scored.

That's what he did. So I don't think that there's changes necessarily. I don't think there necessarily should be changes. And if there are any changes, they would probably be very, very minimal in. The pre game show.

David Mossy
I know you, Mo and Clint are going to have a chat about the US midfield. This whole dynamic of four players essentially fighting for three spots and Raina, McKinney, Musa and Adams and who should be the odd man out. So I'm looking forward to that. Oh, well, you're the one. It's going to be.

Alexi Lawless
No, I think, you know, discussing, and this is, these are champagne problems, right. When you have really, really good players that are all competitive, you have to sit one. And I know the tendency at times is to try to just fit all the good players on the field. And there's certainly those that are calling for that. And I can even be convinced of doing something, something like that.

But there's also a part of me that says in order for the US to evolve, we have to accept, and not just accept, but embrace the fact that if we're doing it right, there are going to be multiple good players, maybe even some multiple world class players that play the same position in the same way. We have this conversation with England, at some point you have to say, you know what, it's just a matter of fact that we have multiple players that can play the same position. And if one gets hurt, fine. I got the next one that comes in that's just as good or just almost as good, or if one's not playing well, I got somebody that's going to push him on a consistent basis. And that's a good thing.

David Mossy
We also have a Tom Rinaldi future on Christian Pulisic. And this Tom piece is going to be a long, dramatic, contemplative piece. Oh, good. All right, well, that should be something interesting and new. We love you, Tom.

Alexi Lawless
We love you. All right, so Panama, US at 06:00 p.m. eastern standard time on Fox, Big Fox. You just saw our hype video, but we'll be hyping it up all day with everything, everything that we are doing. I'll be going on some different shows and doing that kind of stuff to get everybody there.

We're already getting big numbers, Mossy, when it comes to both of these tournaments, some record numbers when it comes to both of these tournaments. And the fact is that when the US plays, even in this moment in time where we are as a nation oftentimes divided, people want to come together and they want to celebrate this country, this great country. We've seen recently that this men's team is piquing people's interest. This men's team, I think, hopefully can win more people over. It can bring people into the tent and have people just show up and say, you know what?

We're going to celebrate America. So join us tomorrow and celebrate America as we hopefully kick the ass of Panama. And following that is Uruguay, Bolivia, as you mentioned. Yes, that's on FS two. That's at Metlife Stadium.

David Mossy
Now, you saw how excited Kyla was for that hype videos. Do you think because of all the goofy stuff they're doing on now with Sean Sullivan, goats and all the rest, Kyla is feeling the pressure to match him, or is our lane going to be that we're the serious show this summer. Highbrow. Well, I. Well, I mean, we're definitely highbrow.

Alexi Lawless
Have you seen that show that shower. Renamed what was going on tonight? I was in the green room, and I overheard Jimmy Conrad running around like a maniac and yelling at the end. It's, you know, it's unbecoming is what I'm saying. I mean, you know, I mean, and look, I love Jimmy.

We love Jimmy. But, you know, some of the stuff that they're doing is, you know, it's. It's basic. Okay. All right.

It appeals to, let's be honest, to a segment of the soccer community out there that, you know, they got some problems and everything, but, you know, fine. To each his own. All right? We all have our lane, we all have our niche, and, you know, they can do them. All right?

David Mossy
We are losing Erin, I think she likes the now show better than ours. Really? Yeah. Well, you know what? Like I said, different strokes for different folks.

Alexi Lawless
This is what we bring you here. With threats to our nation waiting around every corner, adaptability is more important than ever. When conditions change without notice, quick strategic thinking is crucial. And with obstacles consistently impending, determination is essential in overcoming them. It's this willingness, decisiveness and resilience that sets Marines apart with our fighting spirit.

Unidentified Speaker
We don't just fight battles, we win them. Marines are the constant our nation counts on to fight the unknown. And through adaptable problem solving, we do just that. Learn more@marines.com dot big news when it. Comes to this summer, when it comes to women's soccer.

David Mossy
Yes. The US today announced their roster for the Olympics. 18 players and four alternates. And the big news is no Alex Morgan, which a lot of people are surprised about. Alex put out a pretty classy statement, but there was no room in an 18 player roster.

The forwards are, they have crystal Dunn listed as a forward, which is interesting. And then Mal Swanson, Sophia Smith, Trinity Rodman, Jaden Shaw, and then they have Katarina Makara listed as a midfielder. So it's a bit fuzzy with the positions, but that's sort of the point. With an 18 player roster, you're bringing players that can play multiple positions Alex Morgan can't. So I think that hurt her in the end.

Alexi Lawless
Yeah. As a matter of fact, on a consistent, consistent basis, Emma Hayes talked about the need for players that can play multiple positions. I mean, she had put out a full statement about, you know, the Corbin Albert, you know, inclusion in this, and she, you know, very, very clearly said she can play multiple positions. That's why I bring her. I mean, so there wasn't any controversy surrounding this roster lease, was there, out there?

David Mossy
Well, you and I certainly think it was time to move on from Alex Morgan, but there are us fans that have a hard time saying goodbye to these legends World cup winners. And there is an argument it's a young team. There's nobody on this roster that's ever won an Olympic gold medal, only a handful of players that have won a World cup. So there is a school of thought that sprinkling in a veteran or two might not have been the worst thing in the world. All right, let me just say this very, very clearly about this roster and about this team going forward.

Alexi Lawless
This is exactly why Emma Hayes was hired. She is doing her job and, and not only is she doing what she needs to do, but maybe even more importantly, she has been empowered to do that. And it can be argued something that needed to be done a while ago. So I'm glad that she's doing it right now. And this isn't a knock on Alex Morgan or any of the incredible women that have brought us so much success for so long.

I think, like you said, what's Alex Morgan going to say? She's a class C woman and she's a wonderful player and I would expect nothing else. I don't expect her to be happy. I expect her to be disappointed because she's a competitor. But this team is moving on in an important way and I think ultimately that is going to make all the difference going forward in terms of its success.

And I'm looking forward to seeing what this team ultimately looks like with these 18 players and all of the different players out there. When it comes to some of the controversy, I was being a little bit glib there. We in american soccer have said it time and time again. We eat our own. And congratulations to all 18 incredible women that are going to represent what I feel is the greatest country in the world.

Now go out there and win soccer games. I will say another interesting omission was Lily Johannes, this very talented teenager. And Emma Hayes said that it's because she hasn't decided yet which country she's going to represent, which everybody thought that it was trending towards the United States. So that's a little bit of a disappointment because she's a wonderful player, would be a great addition for the US. Well, unless Lilly said, hey, I'll choose the US if you bring me to the Olympics.

And I wouldn't want a player to do that. I'm not saying that she did, but at some point, you got to pick. And I know for some, you know, dual nationals or even more if you have multiple options, it can be difficult. I can respect that and I can, you know, I can. I can sympathize with something like that, but you got to pick and it's got to be more than just soccer.

It's got to be more than just going to the Olympics or something like that. Anyway, I hope that they do well. I hope that they win lots of soccer games and win the gold medal and do all that and make us proud on and off the field. Before we go to one for the road, you want to sneak in one little bit of news? We don't even have to even talk about it tonight, but brazilian club Botafogo did in fact sign Thiago Almada.

David Mossy
He is leaving MLS to go to the brazilian league and not Europe. Wow. Really? You think it's a pass through type of thing that's happening here? It actually definitely is because the Botafoga owner also owns Lyon.

So I'm reading reports that he's going to Botafogo for the rest of this year and then in January of 25 he's going to move to Lyon. All right, I wanted to do my one for the road, so you can run the one for the road thing there, Mossy. Make sure that we do it each and every time. Mossy. I feel like I've mentioned this over the last couple of tournaments, and it's a phenomenon that I don't know if it's arisen because teams meeting on the field isn't necessarily something that hasn't been done in the past, but I feel like I see it it much more often.

Alexi Lawless
First off, do you agree with me that it's happening more frequently? Yes. Okay. So I feel that it is by design. And what am I talking.

Am I talking about these post game huddles? Okay. They are done in a very, very public way. For example, today we saw the Belgians, who did not have a good game and have not had a great tournament, have this postgame huddle. And it's done out there on the field after the game.

So any kind of sacred land that it might be during the game is done. And again, it is done. So everybody in the stadium and everybody all over the world can see it. And I think that it's pretty performative b's. Okay.

I don't think that it's genuine. I don't think it's authentic. I don't think that the players want it like it or respect it. I think oftentimes it's done relative to a head coach, a manager who recognizes that he or she is under pressure and again wants to, in a performative way, do something that shows I'm in control, that shows I hear the criticism and I am going to scream and yell or remonstrate or do whatever it is for the world to see today it was interesting because the camera got too close to this sacred huddle that was going on by the Belgians and the players and the coaches shushed the camera away. How dare you violate the sanctity of our little on field huddle that is being done so the rest of the world can see how together we are and how united we are.

And I know I'm being a little jaded, and I know I'm being a little cynical, but I'd call it like I see it. And if I was a player after a game, I would roll my eyes at something like that. I agree. I don't even like, you know, as great a manager as Pep is, he has this habit every now and then of, as soon as a game is over, running to a player and yelling at him and gesticulating, and you, you can't wait to do that in the locker room. To me, that's a lot of performative stuff on his part.

Well, you know, I would. If, if you're going to do it, you know, don't shush the cameras away. As a matter of fact, if you. If you really want the world to see and hear what's going on, hell, invite them into the middle, you know, if you really want to perform, fine. Let's turn the mics up, let's turn the cameras on, let's turn the lights on, and let's have it be a big old show so we can assess how good you are at giving that postgame speech, giving that TEd talk on the field.

Anyway, maybe I'm being a little grumpy, but I'm not going to be grumpy tomorrow, mossy, because the US is playing. All right, we got a big day. In America tomorrow, and also no euros, so we can all sleep in a little bit. One last thing for me. You mentioned at the top that you brought your son Henry to the studio today.

David Mossy
And you know, when we first started doing this pod six and a half years ago over at Playa Vista, you brought him in a couple times. It's amazing how much he's grown. He was this little kid back then. He sat on the couch next to me, was incredibly bored as we were doing the show and looking over at him tonight, it's a similar situation. Even as he's gotten older, nothing, nothing has changed.

Alexi Lawless
Yes, he has been joining us and will be joining me for the next, I don't know, week or so as we go through to kind of see how the sausage is made. You introduced him to Frant and I, but they've met before because, yes, I. Actually have pictures of him very, very small in our old closet that we used to do the, the pod. So he has grown up with the state of the union. We have grown up with the state of the union.

You have grown up with the state of the union. Keep downloading, keep reviewing, keep subscribing, keep rating, keep doing all the different things that you do. We will come to you each and every day. Keep smashing that button over there on YouTube or over there on Spotify or all the different platforms that you get it. We'll come to you again tomorrow.

As I said, big day. Big day for America tomorrow, both on and off the soccer field. Thanks again to zillow and to everybody else that tuned in, whether you're tuning in live or you're tuning in after the fact, we really appreciate that you hang out with us each and every day. And we will be here each and every day as both of these tournaments continue on a couple of dark days when it comes to the euros. But like we said, we're back tomorrow with a big day day of Copa America, including the home team, the good guys, America.

Okay, we will talk to you again tomorrow. And until then, and as always, my friends, size the day.

UEFA Euro round of 16 is set & Venezuela Stuns Mexico

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1: Introduction and Sponsor Message

2: UEFA Euro 2024 Updates

3: Copa America Highlights

4: Analysis and Predictions

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