USMNT's disappointing loss, 2024 Copa America tournament predictions

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Alexi Lawless
This was, I think, a shameful and embarrassing and to be quite honest, an unacceptable performance.

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. This show, we'll be talking, yes, the us men's national team disaster versus Columbia, Caitlin Clark's soccer lesson graduation perspective, cult docs Chucky Berhalter, Crocker, and so much more. But first, joining me as always, my friend, my colleague, my guiding lights, David Mossy, a soccer savant and a fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire. Mossy, how you doing on this Monday, June 10, in the year 2024?

David Mossy
I'm doing well. The summer of stars is upon us. We have the euros kicking off this week. It is. We are good to go.

Alexi Lawless
There is all sorts of beehive action happening up here in our digital space with men and women running around getting ready for, like you said, a wonderful summer of soccer. All sorts of stars on hand, in front of the camera, behind the camera, on the field, all over the place. We could not be more excited to bring it to you. Last week when we talked, you were in research and preparation mode for these tournaments, the Copa America and euros. Have you had any time, any personal time, to watch anything, my friend?

Yeah. For a guy who said he was shutting it down, I actually have quite a few things to talk about. Oh, okay. First off, I said recently on this pod that if there's a creepy, disturbing documentary out there, Kat will find it. And she recommended to us this dancing for the devil, Netflix.

David Mossy
I watched it, three parts. I thought it was pretty compelling. I don't know if you've gotten around to seeing it. I watched it, too. It is creepy.

Alexi Lawless
I think it is illustrative, if you will, of what our society has become relative to social media and the hold that it has on not just young folks out there, but in this case, if you watch it, almost an entire family. Yeah. The one silver lining is it's gotten me into crump dancing. Starting to learn the moves. Yes, exactly.

David Mossy
But a couple other things. I also watched this movie, Hitman, was out in theaters and also released on Netflix. Glen Powell. I thought it was pretty good, entertaining. It's getting great reviews, and I thought, rightly so.

And then finally, to end on a dark note, I told you I recently read a book about french intelligence leading up to World War Two. So I've been kind of in that frame of mind. Also, during the D Day anniversary, I gobbled up a lot of material about that. So I watched this past weekend, this Netflix six part documentary, Hitler and the Nazis, which is actually done by the same guy that did the paradise lost true crime doc. And I thought it was very good, very well done.

Alexi Lawless
All right, so I got to check that one out. Let's see what I got. I, too, like I said, watched dancing with the devil and was disturbed by a lot of what I saw. But it leads me to something else, which is the genre of, or I guess it would be the subgenre of documentaries that deal with cults. And I'm sad to say that I have become, I guess, numb or apathetic to a lot of these stories, and a lot of them kind of go the same way.

And there's a part of me that when this happens, and, look, if you or anybody that you love falls into something like this, I'm sure it can be incredibly painful. But there is an element of me that at some point, the personal responsibility and the recognition and being aware of what is actually going on falls on the individual. And look, when people are there telling you what you want to hear and doing it in a way that is soothing and enticing, I get how attractive that may be. But time and time again, we see these cult documentaries, and you're left going, these people are morons. Why are they falling into this?

And I know it's easy from the outside to say that what I'm saying is it's becoming predictable in the documentary form when it comes to a lot of these cult documentaries, as is the subgenre of documentaries that deal with business up and down and business failures, especially when it comes to Silicon Valley and the tech industry and all of these startups. Another one that's out is MoviePass. Did you ever have MoviePass? No. There's a documentary about the movie pass, which was a card that came about that enabled you to basically go to as many movies as you wanted, you pay an upfront fee, and then go to as many movies as you wanted.

And it documents the rise and fall of this company. And again, it mirrors a lot of these other documentaries where they have the best of intentions. A lot of times it's kind of being done out of a garage and started with humble types of means, and then grows bigger and bigger. They get a cash influx, they start living beyond their means. The business part from behind the scenes goes awry and they kill the golden goose.

And look, we all know that in business in general, a very small portion actually are successful, and there's so many that unfortunately go away. And in this case. So it shouldn't be any surprise that there's this gluttony of documentaries that deal with the failures of a lot of the businesses out there. But again, it's starting to become predictable and you lose the sense of caring after a certain amount of these things. But I thought it was interesting to take a look back into MoviePass.

And again, there are lessons to be learned in all of these as to what not to do, especially when it comes to business. So those are a couple of things to, to suggest out there. All right, Mossy, should we light this candle? Let's do it. Gee, where should we start?

David Mossy
First, we begin with the us men's national team on Saturday in Landover, Maryland. They played the first of their two pre Cope America friendlies and it did not go well. They suffered a five one defeat to Colombia. John Arias and Rafael Santos Borrez scored in the first half. Team UEA pulled one back early in the second half and then Columbia ported on late.

Richard Rios, Jorge Carrasco and Luis Sinistera all on target. It's the US's worst loss since a 40 qualifying defeat to Costa Rica in 2016, which spelled the end for Jurgen Klinsmann and the first time they've conceded five goals in a game since a 50 defeat to Mexico in the 2009 Gold cup final. Shout out to Stu Holden, who was involved in that one. We were supposed to tape a spaces after this game. We didn't.

Why don't you explain to the folks why and then give us your thoughts on the game. Okay, so first and foremost, I am forever associated and proudly so with the game of soccer. It is how I make my living. It is how I have made my living for decades now. But I do have a life beyond soccer.

Alexi Lawless
My daughter graduated this weekend, and in the schedule that is graduation, anybody who's been through it, you know, that it's incredibly hectic, and I overlooked when it was going to be. And so I apologize that we didn't get to the spaces, especially given the historic nature, as you mentioned, of this game. But I think I certainly can be forgiven. But it did provide a moment of perspective because, you know, I'm up there in this monumental moment for my daughter and for her classmates and for a family and, you know, kind of this, this thing that many people go through. And I was incredibly proud, and it was incredibly moving, and she's moving on and doing all that kind of stuff.

But knowing that this game was also going on, that I. That I do have a connection to and I have and that I care about. You know, I started getting messages and alerts as to what was going on. And look, there are a lot of soccer people around. And so when the final score had happened, even though I had not seen the game live, people were talking about it, I went home and then watched the game.

But when I start to think about, you know, the reaction, first off, it was interesting to see how many people, even in that type of setting, you know, we're interested and we're following. But all of that is to say is that I did not see it live and I did not experience it live. And a lot of the emotion, a lot of the passion, a lot of the vitriol was in the moment. And I'm not saying that it hasn't continued on since then, but there is a different type of experience when you watch something live and experience it with everybody as opposed to when you go back. Now, I would love to say that I went back and watched the game and had a different visceral reaction to that performance and to that result.

And I think it's more about the performance as opposed to the result, even the historic nature of it. By the way, I was never involved in a game to this magnitude in terms of a loss. So that's one thing that I can't be blamed for. Wait a second. 93 Gold cup semis, four nil against Mexico at the Azteca.

But that's not five. Same margin of victory, but not as many. Five is different. Five is different than four. Okay.

Even Rutgers taught me. All right, so I went home, I watched the game, and this is again, being, I guess, infected with some of the. Everything that people are texting me and people are calling me and then obviously going on social media, which is what one does. This was, I think, a shameful and embarrassing and to be quite honest, an unacceptable performance. All right.

Does this mean that Greg Berhalter is a bad coach? Not necessarily. Does this mean that these players aren't good? Not necessarily. But it is concerning that in this moment, when we talked about, we were all looking for a reason to believe in this team, a reason to believe in this team again, or some to a reason to believe in the team for the first time against elite competition with 26 in the background.

And not only did they not give us that, but the way in which they performed, and I use that term very loosely, I think gives a lot of people pause and I think brings up a lot of questions. There was no authority on the field. And when I say authority, I mean authority that comes from a maturity that you expect from some of these players, given their pedigree. There was no direction, at times literal direction in terms of how they wanted to play, and there was certainly no confidence. And I guess you could put a slash, swagger.

And yes, confidence and swagger is something that you accumulate over time. But these are not boys anymore. These are men. And they looked like a team without confidence, direction and authority. And this is a group, and this is a coach in Greg Berhalter that have yet to prove that they can hang with elite competition.

And that means that at least now, and certainly after that game, they are not elite. And if this us men's national team is not elite, then they cannot win a World cup. And make no mistake about it, winning a men's World cup is the goal. And I don't think that it is delusional to have that type of goal. But after this 90 minutes, I think you look at it and say, we're a lot further away from ever reaching that goal than we certainly thought the 90 minutes before that game.

This also mossy, and we've talked about this a couple of times over the past couple of months. This looked like a complacent and comfortable team. And that, to me, is really concerning, because if these players feel that they cannot be replaced, if these players feel that no matter what they do, they are fine in terms of being on the team and in terms of being on the field, then that is a problem not just for them, but that is a problem for Greg Berhalter. Now, I will talk about Greg Berhalter in a second. I want to hear your thoughts here, but I will say this finally, soccer, maybe more so than any sport, is for the players the responsibility, and I guess the opportunity for the players in soccer, I think is more so than any sport out there.

When the whistle blows, managers, coaches, whatever you want to call them, I think they have the least amount of impact and to a certain extent, responsibility. This was poor from the players on the field and when they look around, they need to look no further than themselves and the other players that are in that room. They don't need to look at Greg Berhalter. They don't need to look at Matt Crocker. They don't need to look at the media.

They don't need to look at anybody but themselves. And again, it was disappointing from a group that we expect more from, and who knows, maybe we shouldn't expect more from them. Maybe, to quote the old movie, this is as good as it gets. But if this is as good as it gets, then there is a big problem. And if this is part of the process, then the process may be flawed.

David Mossy
You mentioned the pedigree of the players. The US released their lineup an hour before kickoff. Opta put out the stat. It was the first time in program history that all eleven starters play in Europe's top five leagues. There was a lot of puffing out of the chest over that, and it was somewhat ironic that they got drilled by a team that had only five of their eleven starters play in Europe's top five leagues and only one of the five goal scorers.

The first three goal scorers for Colombia don't even play in Europe. They all played in Brazil, Arias, Borre and Rios. And I want to use that as a jumping off point to talk about Matt Turner. Yeah, let's dive into the actual game. I'm an unapologetic euro snob, but even I draw the line at thinking that a goalkeeper is better off being a backup at a european club than being a starter in MLS.

There are us fans that think that because of the environment and the day to day training, but I'm sorry, that's been proven demonstrably untrue. We've seen both Zach Steffen and Matt Turner become worse goalkeepers by going to Europe. There's no arguing that Matt Turner today is a worse goalkeeper than he was two years ago. And listen, none of the five goals were mistakes per se. The Jamaica goal in the Nations League semis wasn't a mistake per se, but he's starting to let in a lot of could have done better on that one.

Goals and goals that I think peak Matt Turner would have stopped. Matt Turner was once a transcendent shot stopper and he's not that anymore. And that's an issue for the US. And we talked with Brad Friedel about this at the convention. It's something that us goalkeepers have to be mindful of moving forward in terms of the moves they make to Europe, because putting yourself in a situation where you're not going to play is going to affect your form and is going to affect your play for the national team.

Alexi Lawless
I can't agree more when it comes to Matt Turner time and time again, I was saying save the ball. And we have seen Matt Turner over the years. Save those. Is it, is it easy and is it a complete flub by the goalkeeper? No, not necessarily.

But Matt Turner right now is not making those saves, those big saves that enabled him to come in and take that spot from Zack Stefan. And again, there are no sacred cows, including Matt Turner. He is not doing the job and he is not living up even to the high bar that he set. And if you can't even be Matt Turner as Matt Turner, then there's a problem when we go through this performance and this lineup. So Matt Turner wasn't good enough.

The back line was not good enough in terms of the defensive abilities and coming out of the back and the playing out of the back, there was a real concern that there was this romantic notion and come hell or high water, this team was going to do what they wanted to. And what was also concerning was that Colombia on the other side said, these stupid Americans, they're just going to keep making risky passes, they're going to keep forcing situations and we are going to do the beneficiaries out of it. Jedi was overloaded at times on that right hand side. On his left hand side, obviously, Johnny again was the US men's national team Johnny as opposed to the club Johnny, which is what we need him to be. Gioreno was non existent for the most part, and Colombia ultimately probably should have scored seven goals given the opportunities that they had.

We were sloppy, we were slow out of the back, bad first touches, back decision making. Chris Richards looked disinterested, as he often does, but he also looked tired. And yes, you can talk about the way a giveaway, and you can talk about the Cameron Carter Vickers pass out of the back and Pepe not checking and all that kind of stuff. It just, it looked like they were each individually playing in a different way, collectively playing in a different way and the way that they wanted to play. They're not good enough to play, and maybe we've been saying this for years, but it really, really was clear and evident in the game against Colombia.

David Mossy
I think center back is the weakest position for the us national team. When we talk about how talented this pool of players is, golden generation and all the rest, and we go position by position, that's the one area that I think people are forcing it and talking themselves into certain players being better than they are. I think the likes of Chris Richards, Cameron Carter, Vickers, Mark McKenzie, even Tim Ream was now 36, lost his starting job at Fulham and is now likely going to go to MLS this summer. They're all just okay. I don't really see a really commanding, elite, world class center back in that group, so I think when you go up against quality opposition, that's going to be a weakness that other teams are going to be able to exploit.

Alexi Lawless
I was talking earlier about perspective going to my daughter's graduation, and there is certainly a bigger world out there and one that's well beyond soccer for all of us, even though we love soccer and work and work in soccer. But perspective in sports is not something that you often talk about, and I would even argue it's not even necessary if you can find some perspective that is good. So are we chicken little ing here when it comes to this day in that I haven't seen so many us players, individually and collectively all play bad in a long time for this team, and it was just one of those days. Or is that the easy way out? I was thinking about this a lot in the last couple of days as I observed the discourse around this game.

David Mossy
I don't know if this addresses what you just brought up, but I think it's sort of related. The US is attempting to do something that's never been done before. No nation outside of Europe or South America has ever cracked the elite of this sport. There have been 22 World Cups. They've all been won by Europe or South America.

No team from outside those two regions has ever gotten to a World cup final. There have only been three semi finalists from outside those two regions. One of them was the US in 1930, the first ever World cup, then South Korea 2002 and Morocco in 2022. So trying to become elite while playing in Concacaf means that you sort of turn the tables on the traditional relationship between friendlies and competitive matches. People look at friendlies against quality teams from other regions as more meaningful than most of the competitive matches you play, so it creates this disconnect.

Like our colleague Colin Cowherd, who's operating by the traditional playbook of how we tend to look at these things, he said. Young usmnt fans are so predictable, it hurts. Team lost a friendly, emphasis on friendly. In preparation for Coppa, the stampede to fire Greg Barralter is underway. Every Liam, Holden, Fallon and Beckett are demanding they burn the house down.

Hash deepbreaths. So he's viewing it as it's only a friendly calm down. What really matters is the Copa America. But you said last week that part of you feels like these friendlies against Colombia and Brazil are actually more meaningful than the first two Copa games against Bolivia and Panama. I understand where you're coming from because in the grand scheme of things, as the US tries to become elite, you're looking for relevant data points against elite opponents.

So how we measure the caliber of opponent versus the context surrounding a match, one being a friendly, another being a competitive game that actually counts for three points and advancing from a group, it's going to be kind of interesting moving forward. Yeah. Yes. To everything that you said there. But I think this segues into how we should judge Greg Berhalter, because obviously he has come in for a lot of criticism and has for a number of years now.

Alexi Lawless
There are people that no matter what happens, are not going to believe that Greg Berhalter is the right person for this job going forward. And, you know, when it comes to his job, I think it should be noted that Matt Crocker, the us soccer federation sporting director hired in 2023, he rehired Greg Berhalter. And Crocker could have easily, easily moved on. Nobody would have cared if he had gone in a different direction than Greg Berhalter had. Given the results, given all the drama and the controversy, and given the fact that Greg Berhalter already had a cycle, and traditionally, and normally in soccer, one cycle is enough.

But he didn't. Went through a big fanfare of a process and came to the conclusion that Greg Berhalter was the right person for the job. You know, Emma, for the us women's national team, that's an easy hire. That's easy. Nobody's going to complain, nobody's going to care.

But Greg Berhalter, for Matt Crocker, that is his legacy. All right? Crocker is now forever tied to Berhalter. And the truth is that although he is the sporting director for us soccer, Matt Crocker has one job, and that is to be successful in 2026. And if at any point he feels that the situation that he has created is detrimental and hurts in the aim of that goal, he has to do what it is appropriate.

I don't think that he is right now looking at other options and we'll talk a little bit about this. Other teams, this is one game, and the US has another game coming up here in a few days against Brazil. And if they were to rebound, what if the US beats Brazil? Then everybody's looking around going, well, do we suck or are we good or are we somewhere in between? And maybe the situation is that we are somewhere in between.

I had said that I wanted these games treated like they were part of a tournament, like they were World cup games. Well, Christian Pulisic is on limited minutes, so Greg Berhalther has not done that. And in not doing that, he has now pushed all of his chips into Copa America. And so what is a successful Copa America and one that enables Greg Berhalt, or be quite honest, to continue on? I don't know.

But to quote Justice Stewart from many, many years ago, I know it when I see it. I can't tell you, well, you got to do this and you have to win this and you have to beat this. No, I'll know it when I see it. I think a lot of people will feel either incredibly relieved and hopefully they have some of that hope and that belief that we're talking about, or it will be an incredible failure. And Matt Crocker will be left with a situation where two years before the World cup, he may have made the wrong decision and he has to correct it or he has to go all in now for Greg Burhalter.

David Mossy
Before we move off the Columbia match, I do want to ask you about the crowd. I know people on X brought this up to you, over 50,000 fans, but it was a decidedly pro Colombia crowd. They chanted, Colombia is to Papa. Colombia is your daddy. Are you desensitized to this stuff or does it still bother you to see the US effectively play a road game here in the United States?

Alexi Lawless
I mean, look, somebody asked me on the X machine earlier today of if. If the us fans were to blame for the situation. Well, first off, absolutely not. There is no blame on us fans. As a matter of fact, the us fans that showed up to that game should be applauded and praised.

They are the real stars. And let's be honest, given the performance, they were the only stars from a us perspective on the day we, and when I say we, the us men's national team and us women's national team at times, but certainly the us men's nationally for the most part. We have played away games at home for decades. It is nothing new. It comes with the territory.

And even when us fans show up and they are the minority, like they were against Columbia there, like I said, they are the stars. It is up to the us soccer federation, it is up to the us men's national team and Greg Berhalter and company over there to motivate fans. And again, listen, I am of greek descent, incredibly proud of my greek heritage. Supporting the country, of your heritage is fine, got no problem with that. But rooting against and actively rooting against the country, in this case the United States, what I feel is the greatest country in the world that has provided you and your family and maybe multiple generations with freedom and with safety and opportunity.

I think that that's peak. Asshole. I don't understand that. I cannot fathom that. But it's up to the US.

And who knows, in this effort to win a World cup, maybe there will come a point where you win the hearts and minds even of your countrymen and women who would rather support their country of origin. You gotta win them over. And I will say this, over the years, I know it's been a lot of decades, it has changed a little bit. It's not as dramatic as it was the other day on a consistent basis, even though obviously that was a home game for Colombia. Next up for the US is Brazil on Wednesday in Orlando, where there are a lot of Brazilians.

David Mossy
So expect that to be probably more of a pro Brazil crowd. We've seen countries that have played two friendlies here leading up to these tournaments, the Copa or the Euros. They tend to play a stronger lineup in one of them and then use the other one to get a look at backups. Greg Berhalter put out a pretty strong lineup against Colombia. He didn't start Tyler Adams and as you mentioned, he took Pulisic off at halftime.

But for the most part, it was a lineup that you could look at it and say, that's pretty close to the a team coming off a five one defeat and now facing Brazil. Could he get away with rotating a lot here to get a look at different players or. No, he kind of now has to put out his strongest lineup against Brazil and try not to embarrass himself, you know? Again, you could have lost to Colombia, but the way in which you lost, I think just ramps up. That pressure on Greg Berhalter.

Alexi Lawless
And now, okay, you're playing against Brazil. So it's the way in which you play in Brazil. I'm sure Greg and his staff will say, yeah, but there's a greater good and we'll use it to prepare. And sure, if the option is winning Copa America or winning games against Brazil and Colombia before Copa America, yeah, I'm going to take that moment. I think that's more powerful, especially relative to 2026.

The problem for Greg Berhalter is what if you do neither you, the bed versus Colombia. What if it happens again against Brazil? Now you go into Copa America, you talk about all chips in. Now it's all chips in. And what if it doesn't go well in Copa America?

And again, you, let's say you even get out of the group and then you get your ass kicked by Colombia or Brazil, which is the way that it looks up. Or do you do really well in Copa America? And we're looking around saying, well, maybe there is a, a reason for the decisions that he has made. But again, I think he can't afford to continue to have bad performances against elite teams. And there's a lot of people, and I totally get it right now, that are saying put up or shut up, not just to Greg Berhalter, and I'll finish it here.

And it goes back to the players because, you know, I certainly am critical and more critical now of Greg Berholter than I probably have ever been in the past. But these players, they have been given everything. I will continue to say that. And yet they are not reciprocating. They are not playing individually or collectively, I think, at the level that we expect and the level that they can play at.

And maybe I'm delusional. Maybe a lot of us are delusional in terms of what this group actually is. Maybe it's not that golden, all right? Maybe it's another color, maybe it's another metal out there. And if that's the case, then we have bigger problems.

But if you are so good, you are playing in all of these different places, you have all of these resources, you have all these pathways, you have all of these different experiences that previous generations haven't had, and you're still not able to live up to stuff that we have done in the past, by the way. It's not even about doing stuff that we, that we haven't done in the past. Right now, I'm just looking to equal stuff that we've done. We've gone to the semifinals twice in Copa America. After that game the other day, do you think.

Do you have any confidence that this team is going to the semifinals? I don't think there's a lot of people out there. So it's up to you, Greg Berhalter. And more importantly, it's up to you players on the field to put up or shut up because this is unacceptable. One bit of news the US made ahead of this match.

David Mossy
Berhalter said Sargent was unavailable against Colombia and was a doubt for Brazil and a doubt for the Copa America. So we'll have to keep an eye on that in the next few days, which is a shame, because after Balogun got the start against Colombia, you would have liked to have seen Sargent start against Brazil and do a compare and contrast. Although I did think Baligan was okay. Got the assist on the goal, almost scored in the first half. Davidson, Sanchez cleared off.

I thought he was one of the less bad players on the field for the US. Less bad. Hey, there we go. Instead of Greg Berholter with the state's t shirt, he should just have a less bad t shirt on the sideline. Incidentally, Brazil played Mexico on Saturday and they played their second string lineup in that game.

They're going to use the US game as the dress rehearsal for the Copa America. So the US will be facing. It looks like a strong Brazil lineup in that Brazil Mexico game. Brazil led 20 mid second half, looked to be cruising. Then Mexico scored two goals late to equalize.

And then Vinicius and Hendrick, who had both come on as subs, combined for a stoppage time. Winner for Brazil. Three two, the final there. And speaking of Vinicius, he looked very good, by the way. After coming on, he looked like Real Madrid.

Vinicius. And I brought this up before I bring it up again. Facing Colombia and Brazil and these two friendlies complicates a little bit, the right back situation for the US because Greg Berhalter might want to have tried something more ambitious there, like a timi wea. But when you're going up against Luis Diaz and Vinicius Junior, you end up going for the safer option, which was Joe Scally. And I thought Scali was okay defensively, but he offers nothing going forward.

So that's where you really miss Serginho d'Est, and we'll see what Berhalter does on Wednesday. Would he experiment with a Musa or away in a game against Brazil where you're gonna be pinned down in your own half for a lot of the game and going up against somebody like Vinicius Junior. Look, I don't know how much of the chatter that Greg Berhalter listens to, or, to be honest, cares about. I think Greg Berhalter is a true believer. We've seen it on the field in terms of, and at times frustratingly so, in terms of what he does.

Alexi Lawless
And I do believe that he has a plan given, again, only a 90 minutes, but a very, very bad 90 minutes. Whatever plan that was, either he didn't impart it correctly to the players and or they weren't able to perform what he wants. And again, so he might have to, for lack of a better phrase, dumb it down. And I've said this before, if the us men's team wins a World cup, nobody's going to give a flying, you know what, how it's done. Nobody cares if it's romantic, nobody cares if it's creative, nobody cares if it's beautiful.

All right? You know what's beautiful? Winning. And this team needs to find a way to win. Regardless of how it looks.

David Mossy
I will say if you're going to move a player out of position to play right back, I think it would be Musa, because Berhalder seems to view McKennion way as indispensable in other roles. So you'd be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Musa looks to be the odd man out right now, so if he's not going to start in the midfield, you might as well try him right back. He could be an improvement over Joe Scally. So it wouldn't surprise me if that ends up being the solution there.

Alexi Lawless
Yeah, get them on the field going forward and look, no Tyler Adams, no Seginio desk. But you gotta. We've talked a lot about the depth and the competition out there. Well, again, you know, maybe. Maybe we were wrong and they're not listening to this, but I hope that these us players feel, you know, Heat.

It's all relative, right. Heat, in a soccer sense, from media, from fans, from a culture, is relatively benign and warm relative to most countries and cultures out there. But I do hope that there is a inner pride and that there was a come to Jesus type of moment from Greg Berhalter when they got back in and they looked around at each other and at themselves after that performance, because if it doesn't get better, I think it's a problem for 2026. But I also think from a Greg Berhalter perspective, it's a problem right here and now. And for these players to go back to Mexico.

Brazil. As we transitioned to other friendlies. I don't know if you saw this, but Vinicius had this incredible nutmeg down the sideline and you could see in the background even Jimmy Lozano cracking a smile at the move that needs to put on one of his own. General appreciation for the magazine. We've seen this now many, many times.

It's what he does. He is an entertainer. He is a great player. But again, if you're an El Tree fan, having seen the last two games, you must be in this moment where are we really bad or are we okay? So they played a lot of backups against Uruguay, got drilled 40.

David Mossy
So then they felt the pressure to get a result against Brazil. So they played their strongest lineup there and really took that seriously as a real game. So you can see this contrast of how teams approach these friendlies. Canada. Jesse Marsh era is off and running, and he put out a strong lineup in both games.

They got drilled 40 by the Netherlands, but then came back and held France to a zero zero draw. Pretty good result for Jesse. Yeah. And again, I was talking to producer Sean earlier and he was reminding me of the 1980 men's Olympic hockey team and they got their ass handed to before the tournament. So things can certainly change.

Alexi Lawless
You like to have all guns blazing going in. It doesn't always work that way. And sometimes tournaments are magical types of moments that don't always correlate to what happened before. And from a us perspective, maybe you're hoping that's the case. That's the case here.

And as we've said before, and we'll do some picks here later on, there's a possibility the US might be playing against Brazil or Colombia again. So if you got two times at Columbia, the chances of you beating them twice, especially how good they are, are slim. But so they've got their one bad one out and maybe later on in the tournament, and in a tournament situation where that's all that anybody remembers, that's what happens. This el tree team, I think a lot of people feel and have felt that this is the worst Mexico version of Mexico in a long time. And yet they come out and they looked confident and they looked successful even.

They ultimately lost the game against Brazil. And you juxtapose it with the way that they played that first game, and again you're left saying, well, are we really that good? And maybe it just goes back to, you got to take friendly's with a grain of salt and really until the whistle blows in an actual competitive environment. It's difficult and dangerous to analyze and to put too much stock and weight into these. That's quite the reference for Sean Sullivan to drop miracle on ice.

David Mossy
I didn't think he had a clue about anything that happened in the previous century. Right. But listen, maybe he's been on that Wikipedia machine or something. Going down rabbit holes. The reigning Copa America champions and reigning World cup champions Argentina.

They beat Ecuador in a friendly 10. Angel Di Maria scored late in the first half. Messi came on for Di Maria early in the second half. Argentina looking very strong. And this is a matchup you said we're going to do our picks in the next segment.

This is a matchup I think we're going to see again in the knockout stages of the. Yes, you do. Can I just circle back? Because I kind of gave, you know, I didn't give enough time to Jesse Marsh. That is a.

Alexi Lawless
That is a obviously a very good result, especially coming off getting their asses handed to a few days ago. And so I do think that Jesse Marsh is going to make this candidate team better. What that looks like in terms of the greater scheme of things, I don't know, but this is a type of result. When you go back into the locker room, you look around, especially for a new coach, that's vital because it provides credibility and there is a method to whatever madness you have very recently but still tried to impart on them. Should be noted.

David Mossy
Mbappe didn't start. He came out with about 15 minutes left, almost scored a great goal in stoppage time, denied by Kropot. But still, you look at that France lineup, a lot of names, have notes. So that was an impressive result. And when we talk about France, and obviously we'll be talking a whole lot about him this summer with the Euros, the depth is something that everybody goes to immediately, where they can field multiple teams.

A lot of people think France and England are the. The two best teams at the euros. England had a shock, friendly defeat to Iceland at Wembley 10, which has set off some alarm bells there. Well, they should definitely fire the coach, right? Multiple cycles and right before a tournament, having a horrible, horrible performance against.

Alexi Lawless
And this is even a situation where they're playing an elite and they were horrible, right? Isn't that how this works, the Three Lions? There is a strange type of calm when it comes to England. I feel like people should be more up in arms after this results and maybe they've just been around long enough where they know all that matters is the euros. And this is a warm up game, and it was just one of those things.

David Mossy
Jude Bellingham did not play. Portugal minus Ronaldo lost at home to Croatia. Germany had a nil nil against Ukraine and then needed an eight 9th minute goal to beat Greece. A lot of the favorites, a lot of the teams that you and I have going far struggling in these pre tournament friendlies. We'll see if that's indicative of anything or not.

Really. I think it's, I think a lot of this stuff that we're talking about right now, while we might reference it going into the tournament, once the tournament takes place, it takes such precedence and almost just napalms, a lot of the narratives that were out there. We made our euro picks last week. Are you ready to make some copa picks? I am ready, my friend.

Alexi Lawless
Are you ready? Because I got some interesting things that's. Coming up in the next segment. All right, we'll take a quick break. Like we said, we'll come back.

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Alexi Lawless
You got our Europix, and now we're off to Copa. Here okay, let's go group by group here, mossy. I'll give you my teams that are coming out and then you give us your teams that are coming out. Group A, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Canada. I have Argentina winning the group and I have my good friends led by Jesse Marsh up there in the great white north.

Canada coming in second. I got Chili third. And what do you got? I have Argentina one, Chile two. I toyed with Canada, but ultimately I went with Chile because of the manager, Ricardo Gareca.

David Mossy
He specialized in doing more with less. He got Peru to the 2019 Copa America final into two other semifinals. He has great pedigree as a manager in this competition. I think he gets chilly out of this group. Okay, group B, Mexico, Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica.

Alexi Lawless
I have my friends Mexico, as much as it pains me, actually coming good in the tournament, a different version of El Tree showing up in the tournament. They come out first from this group and then more Concacaf coming at you. I have Jamaica coming in second, which means Ecuador and the Vino Tinto finish third and fourth, respectively. I have Ecuador one, Mexico two. I am super high on this Ecuador team.

David Mossy
They're managed by Felix Sanchez, who coached Qatar at the last World cup. Didn't fare so well, but kind of landed on his feet getting the Ecuador job. I love some of their personnel. I'm enamored with Kendry Paez, a teenager that's going to be heading to Chelsea when he turns 18. I think he's going to be one of the breakout stars of this tournament.

If he was brazilian, he's a guy we'd be talking about like we do. Endric, he's that good. But because he's ecuadorian, flies under the radar a little bit, obviously. Ener Valencia up front, we know his pedigree in major tournaments. Moises Caesero in the midfield, in Cape at the back.

So they've got some players. I think they're the class of this group. And then I'm pretty down on Mexico, but they landed in a group that I think they can get out of, although Venezuela can be frisky. I am going to put Mexico second and have them advance. And you're not giving Jamaica any chance, huh?

I am not. Do you think because they're just not good enough or because the turmoil that. We see, turmoil, Leon Bailey, I don't know what's going on there. Okay, that's cool. All right, group C, USA, Uruguay, Panama and Bolivia.

Alexi Lawless
Again, I have the USA completely throwing out the results from before the tournament and finishing first. Keep in mind that they play Uruguay as the third game. So I got USA finishing first, then Uruguay, then Panama, then Bolivia. I am a Marcelo Bielsa Grupi, as you know. I have Uruguay winning this group and faring very well in the knockout stages, as you'll find out in a minute.

David Mossy
And then the US finishing second. Even Berhalter can't screw this up with Panama and Bolivia, the other two teams in the group, but yeah, Uruguay with Darwin, Nunez up front. Even some Suarez sprinkled in. Guys like Valverde and Bentencourt in the midfield, Araujo at the back. I think they are loaded and primed for a big summer.

Alexi Lawless
All right, and Group D with your Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Costa Rica. I have Brazil winning and I have Colombia finishing second. I toyed with some things going on, you know, goal differential type of stuff happening with Colombia and Brazil, but I'm still going with Brazil and Colombia. I agree. It's pretty much a jump ball between those two to win the group.

David Mossy
I'm going to go Brazil one, Colombia two. Colombia now unbeaten in their last 22 matches. They haven't lost a game since February of 2022. Their all time record is 27, which they achieved in the early nineties. That great team with valderrama, Rincon, Esprit, Lionel Alvarez, Andres Escobar, etcetera.

So they could break that over the course of this tournament, depending on how far they go. But I do think they finished second in this group. Brazil advances as the group winner. Ok, I'm going to take you through the quarters, semis and finals, and then I'll come back and get your quarters. Semisofinals here.

Alexi Lawless
Argentina, we talked about going through and Jamaica, for their efforts of going through, which I put them through. They get to play Argentina. Argentina beats Jamaica. Mexico, in an all ConcACaf affair, beats Canada. The USA gets a second bite at the apple after that horrendous pre tournament drubbing five to one against Colombia, actually beats them in Copa America in the quarterfinals.

And your Brazil beats. I know what yours is. One of your favorites, Uruguay. So I got. Now I'm going to the semifinals, and this is where Greg Berhalter, the perception of him fundamentally and completely changes.

This is his moment, this is his stand. I talked about him putting all of his cards and all of his chips in when it comes to Copa America and what this is. Well, we knew he was going to have to have a big result. And going over Colombia, that is certainly a big result. But it couldn't get any bigger, could it?

Oh, yes, it could. Mossi USA over Brazil in the semifinals of the 2022 Copa America and Argentina over Mexico in the other semifinal, which gives us an Argentina versus USA final. And this is where the train ends for Greg Berhalter, but he's already playing with house money, as it were. Argentina beats the United States to win Copa America and defend their Copa America title. I have, in the quarterfinals, Argentina beating Mexico.

David Mossy
Whenever those two countries square off in the knockout stages of a major tournament, I always hearken back to the 2006 World cup round of 16. Zach Kenworthy. Favorite Moxie Rodriguez scored a famous goal, this left footed volley, to win the game. But they play them well. They do play them well.

Alexi Lawless
Even if, you know, on paper, it looks like there is a big distinction from the two. I think that they rise to the occasion. I'm talking about El Tree relative to Argentina. That's true. Then I have Ecuador beating Chile.

David Mossy
Then, other side of the bracket, I have Brazil beating the United States. If the US were to knock Brazil out of a major tournament, I would not only quit this pod, I would probably move out of the country. No, no, no. You don't need to quit that pod. Why are you doing that?

Alexi Lawless
Why are you saying that? No, that's. As anybody that's listening to this pod knows, I actually find this Brazil team to be quite vulnerable. So it's not at all outside the realm of possibility that could happen. I'm only joking.

But I do have enough that your country of origin there would lose. But I don't want the state of the union to lose out on this, too. Okay, fair enough. I appreciate that. And then I have Uruguay beating Colombia.

David Mossy
So that would set up Argentina v Ecuador, Uruguay v Brazil in the semis. I have Argentina beating Ecuador. And then I didn't want to pick Argentina to win this tournament because that's boring. So I determined that the Brazil Uruguay semifinal winner was going to be my pick to win the whole thing. To beat Argentina in the final.

I went to bed thinking Brazil. I woke up this morning and switched it to Uruguay. So I have Uruguay beating Brazil in the semis and Argentina in the final and winning their 16th Copa America. Love it, love it, love it, love it, love it. Okay, cool.

Alexi Lawless
Well, we'll see if your Uruguay love pans out here when it comes to this summer. I love it. I love it. Well, it gives a lot of people out there something to dig their teeth into. And let us know what you think, because I'm sure that there are people out there that are banging their head and screaming and yelling and saying this is ridiculous.

How could you possibly pick it? Well, you know what? You got your own picks, so tell us what you think. Anything else, mossy? That's it.

All right, let's take another quick break. When we come back, it's time for Ask Alexi and my one for the road. Don't go anywhere. Okay. Welcome back.

It's time for Ask Alexi and my one for the road here. Keep in mind that our handle out there on all the social media platforms is s o t u WithAlexi. You can use that hashtag askaleksi out there, or you can call our State of the Union podcast hotline, which is 657-549-2297 that's 657-549-2297 Mossy, what are the folks want to know this pod? We have a voicemail. Let's take a listen.

Chase
Hey, Alexa Mossy, this is Chase from Gretna, Nebraska, and I'm calling in to kind of talk about the future a little bit and possibilities moving forward. Obviously, I'm calling after the Columbia game, so not our best showing. And there's a lot of speculation moving around of Greg Berhalter's future. And right now I'm still on the side of keeping him. Obviously, though, a few more results like that and there's going to be, the US are going to be moving in a different direction.

But there's a lot of people that have already moved on and there's a lot of names out there that people are throwing around. And in my opinion, a lot of them are not realistic names, nor do I think that they're very good fits, especially this close to the World cup. They're just not realistic. And when I think about possibility of coaching Candace, moving forward, what I hear a lot when you think of us coaches, obviously Jesse Marsh has gone to Canada. Then you also think of a lot of people bring up Bruce arena, who I think might be an option.

But there's one name out there that I feel like should maybe get mentioned a little bit more, and that's Bob Bradley. So my question is, if the us job doesn't does open up, what are your opinions about Bob Bradley possibly getting another turn as us coach and then Bruce arena? He's out of a job right now. Secondarily, what are your opinions on bringing Bruce arena back around for the 2026 World cup? Okay, chase from Nebraska, first off, this calm, tempered, even keeled, mature approach.

Alexi Lawless
You need to get that out of here. That's not what sports are about when it comes to the job. All right. But your suggestion of Bob Bradley, I don't think that that is even remotely a possibility, nor do I think that it should be. Bruce Arena, I guess, could potentially be there because he's just kind of waiting in the wings.

I do think that if a change is made, especially with Matt Crocker, he's already shown with Emma Hayes, you know, a willingness to go out there and to get what, whether he thinks it or not, what the consensus is, is a great coach. And again, just because you are a great coach somewhere else doesn't mean that you're going to be a great coach where you're going, but you're hedging your bets based on the. On the track record. Yeah, I don't think that Bob Bradley is the answer. If there is a change made.

To your point, Jace, I'm not even sure that Bruce arena is the answer. I mean, he had the opportunity to come in. Now, it's a little different in that this isn't necessarily an emergency situation. Two years seems like a long time. It's not necessarily a long time, but the emergency situation back then was Bruce arena coming in and trying to qualify the team, which ultimately he failed at doing.

I don't think. I think that there is a gravitas that Bruce arena would bring to this situation that I do think actually could be beneficial. I don't think that this is going to happen, but that type of reverence, that type of maturity, I think, juxtaposed with what Greg Berhalter is. And Greg Berhalter can't be that type of coach many years from now. He may be, but he can't be that type of coach.

Coach. I do think that there's something to be said for that. I think ultimately that if a change were to be made, it would be made and they would go out and they would get a, you know, for lack of a better word, a foreign coach and somebody that the masses feel is appropriate. I don't care where the person is from, I don't care if it's a guy or a girl. I don't care where they were born.

I don't care what their background is. I care that they are able to come in and to a certain extent, put the fear of God into this team and motivate them in a way, individually and collectively, that gets them to play up to their potential. And I don't know ultimately who that is. The whole thing, there's a whole. I don't know if you've seen this mossy there's a whole narrative out there about the money that is spent.

I never saw the federation ever talk really about the money. I mean, not that they can go out and spend $100 million or anything like that, but money has never really been an obstacle when it comes to a coach, and they have to be prudent and they also have to recognize that whatever they do for the men's team, they have to, to a certain extent, do for the women's team. And that's, you know, part of the situation right now. But I don't think that money is an obstacle when it comes to a coach. It's really about who's going to be the best fit, who's available, who can come in.

And just because you were, like I said, we're successful somewhere else doesn't mean you're going to be successful. Do you see anything situation happening where a Bob Bradley or a Bruce arena were called back in? My question for Chase is, is Bormilitinovich unavailable? Face likes retreads, huh? Wow.

David Mossy
No, I agree with you. If Berhalter flames out, it'll be a foreign manager. I could see Wilfred Nancy getting some consideration. His stock is higher than american soccer. Just because he's hot.

Because he's hot. Okay, but you know, when we had. Why is Wilford Nancy a better coach than Greg Burholt? Well, he just won MLS cup and took the crew to the CONcacaf Champions cup final where they lost, but they were poisoned at the whole thing. That's become a big conspiracy theory in social media.

Alexi Lawless
Can't win the big game when it comes to Concaff Champions cup. Incidentally, when we had Doug McIntyre on last time, I did ask him if a Mourinho or Klopp was interested in the job, would us soccer be able to afford that level? Coach and Doug said based on off the record conversations he's had, they would find a way to make it work. Sponsors or whatever it took to raise. The money, of course they would find a way to make it work, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it would work.

And between those two, as strange as it sounds, I think I'd rather have Mourinho than Klopp. You know, coming from, it's hard. This is not yet an elite group of players and you are going to be in a situation that for many of these coaches they have never been in. Either they've never coached internationally or they've never not coached the elite of whatever situation that they are in. And that's a very different type of coaching out there, but good question, chase, but I don't think that Bob Rally is going to happen.

David Mossy
What else we got next up? I requested this. We have the ex post by San Diego FC. They are the expansion team that will join MLS next season and it was them welcoming Chuki Lozano and announcing that they have agreed a four year contract for Chuki. It sounds like he'll play the first half of the next season with PSV and then join San Diego in February of 2025 in preparation for the start of the 2025 MLS season.

And this is occurring against the backdrop of a larger conversation going on with MLS right now. We know that they have wanted to move away from the retirement league stuff and sign younger players. They've done that and I think overall it has been for the betterment of the league. But there is this growing feeling that they've gone maybe a bit too far in the other direction. I know for a fact that in conversations between MLS and Apple is x.

It's been brought up that Inter Miami aside, MLS is lacking a bit of star power right now. If you look across the other 28 teams, there aren't that many move the needle global stars. So all of a sudden you're starting to see Olivier Giroud heading to LAFC. It sounds like Marco Royce of the galaxy, Chucky Lozano to San Diego. And I think we could see a couple more signings like that in this window.

So it is interesting, MLS trying to find that balance and again, embracing the value that these stars have in attracting casual fans to the league. I mean, the concept of stars and names and selling them and using them is nothing new. And by the way, it's nothing new in soccer or business for that matter. And certainly when it comes to the sports industry out there, and again, I think you are doing a disservice and not doing your job if you don't utilize the stars that are out there. And in this case, I think that this is a.

Alexi Lawless
A logical type of partnership and a signing that just makes sense on multi different levels out there. You know, Mossy, I'm glad that you brought this up because I think that this will dovetail into what I wanted to talk about for my one for the road, and that is stars. And that is in particular one of the biggest stars right now in the world of sports and I guess even the cultural world out there. So this is someone that has transcended the game. And in this case, we're talking about the game of basketball and that's Caitlin Clark.

You know, this young woman. I do. So she's been all over the news here, and, you know, it. It got me thinking about stars and what they mean and to your point, how you use them. And I was on the old X machine over there, because X machine is a outlet for opinion about everything, and everybody's got an opinion, and in this case, everybody has a platform and to a certain extent, a megaphone to espouse it.

And I went on X and I said, and I'll read it verbatim here. I don't know enough about USA women's Olympic basketball to know if Caitlin Clark's omission is a snub. But I do know that right now, she would be the only reason I would remotely care about USA women's Olympic basketball. That is how powerful a draw she is. Now, I put that out there into the ether, and as often happens, it comes back tenfold, in this case, 100 fold.

People were not happy with me commenting about basketball. In this case women's basketball, in this case, US women's Olympic basketball. And they certainly weren't happy in the, what they perceived as the negative way in which I commented about it. It got me thinking about the way that we think about american soccer. And I've been around a long time, Aussie, as you remind me, and everybody reminds me.

And so I have seen what american soccer has become, and I have, to a certain extent, become numb to some of it. And this, the irony is that this blowback that has come from telling people what the truth is, and the truth is that I don't watch women's basketball. I don't watch basketball. I don't care about basketball. Now, when you say that everybody clutches their pearls.

Yet from a soccer perspective, I've been listening to people say this for years when it comes to soccer, to my face, even. And so this oftentimes american ambivalence and even outright dismissal towards soccer is nothing new, something that we all know well, and it comes with the territory. And the onus is on soccer to come up with reasons to convince people to care, and the onus in this case is on basketball, women's basketball, Olympic basketball, to come up with reasons to care. Because if you only want the people that are there, then you're never going to grow, you're never going to expand, you're never going to evolve. We don't want that.

From a soccer perspective, I'm sure that basketball doesn't want that.

When I think about what's happening with Caitlin Clark right now, it blows my mind. You have this golden goose, and so many people now are trying to kill it, which is insane. And, you know, there was a writer, a basketball writer, because hell hath no fury like the women's basketball community out there, especially if somebody from the outside comes in and we see this in soccer, too, where we gatekeep and we're snobby and we're elitist about it. And this writer named Lindsay came back and said, wow. And she quoted me saying that I wouldn't remotely care unless Caitlin Clark was there.

And she said, that's a hell of a statement, especially from someone who's an analyst of the women's us soccer team. What are we doing here? We don't care or support our women's team unless Caitlin Clark is involved. Yeah. Yes, exactly.

And when people say the same thing to me about soccer, I don't have a hissy fit. I don't get angry. I don't call them names. I take a few moments, maybe try to convince them about how beautiful the game is and how inviting the game is and how much you might enjoy it. And then I move on, oftentimes to the wonderful refrain of Bonnie Raitt, who's saying, I can't make you love me if you don't.

My point is, it's a really interesting position to be on that other side. And I'll be honest with you, it's kind of fun to be on that other side for a change. But if I can give basketball, in this case, women's basketball, any advice? Don't waste this opportunity. Harness it.

Use it for all it is, because it will be fleeting. And we've seen this in soccer when it comes to Freddie Adu or David Beckham or Landon Donovan or, you know, the list goes on, Mia ham. The list goes on and on and on. All right? You'll get people into the tent, and many will come there for whatever reason and whatever reason you pick to enjoy basketball or in our case, soccer, it's good.

My reasons are my reasons, and your reasons are your reasons. And if you like soccer because of washboard abs or good looking people or long hair, that's as good as me liking soccer for a beautiful pass or a beautiful cross. I just want people into the tent, and I'm not going to gatekeep, bring it in for whatever reason it is that you like. And in this case, it's Caitlin Clark. And again, I'm not saying anything that people don't know, and I'm also not saying anything that a lot of people don't feel out there.

And if Caitlin Clark is on the Olympic team or not on the Olympic team isn't going to change my life one bit. But if you want me to watch, yeah, she makes a difference. That's how good she is, at least in my mind, in what I have been told. And that's how powerful she is. And whether it's a Chucky, Lozano or anybody else out there, that's what you're trying to do.

Not the soccer people out there, but the people that maybe can be soccer people. And whatever brings them into the tent, I'm good with it. Mossy, anything before we go? I know we're running long, but I do want to ask you a question. It's clear that some of the other women in the WNBA resent Caitlyn Clark.

David Mossy
I've been proven right that women are catty, whether Aaron, Kyla and Kat like it or not. After the 94 World cup, when you got all that attention, did you feel any resentment from other american soccer players who felt like your level of fame was disproportionate to your talent? Absolutely. You know, and you're getting attention, you're getting opportunities, you're getting money, you're getting fame. All of these different things.

Alexi Lawless
And those that either were part of that group that didn't get as much or any or those that came before, look, we've all stood on the shoulders of others. But again, and I often say that in american soccer, we eat our own. Well, evidently, this is not a unique characteristic of american soccer because it applies to other places and it applies to other sports and leagues out there, and it's just so defeating, ultimately. And so you have to be able to get past that. Not since Isaiah Thomas 1992 has there been a more controversial omission from a US Olympic basketball team.

David Mossy
I'm not sure if Michael Jordan had anything to do with this one, but yeah, Caitlin Clark will not be in Paris this summer. But the thought that because I don't like basketball, I can't broadcast or report or talk about women's soccer, that's insane. That is insane. So, look, I'm going to keep talking about women's soccer. I'm going to keep talking about basketball, too.

Alexi Lawless
And guess what, Lindsey or anybody else out there, go ahead, talk about soccer. Whether it's at a high level or a low level or anywhere in between. I give you complete carte blanche to talk about soccer till your heart's content, and I'm not going to judge you for it. As a matter of fact, I'm going to embrace you for it. All right.

Wonderful. Anything else mossy before we go? That's it. It's been a hell of a interesting first show of the week and this week is only going to get better. As we said, we have all sorts of stuff to look forward to, including starting, starting this Friday, this incredible summer of soccer with the kickoff game of the euros 2024 and then segueing next week into our coverage of Copa America.

So fun, fun things ahead, hopefully better things ahead when it comes to the us men's national team. It's a really, really interesting moment that we are in right now. Let us know what you think. Keep downloading, subscribing, rating, doing all the different things that you do. We will talk to you again later on this week.

And then, as I said, right now into these tournaments, these dual tournaments happening, just wonderful, wonderful things until then. And as always, my friends size the day.

USMNT's disappointing loss, 2024 Copa America tournament predictions

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2: Detailed Analysis

3: Broader Implications

4: Copa America Predictions

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