Vini Jr. shines for Brazil, Colombia advances to quarterfinals

This episode focuses on the Copa America games featuring Brazil and Colombia's significant wins that advanced Colombia to the quarterfinals and highlighted Vinicius Junior's performance for Brazil.

1. Colombia's 10th consecutive win underscores their emerging dominance in international soccer.
2. Vinicius Junior's impactful performance for Brazil could signify a turning point for him in the tournament.
3. The episode critiques Brazil's penalty strategy, suggesting a mismanagement in choosing the penalty taker.
4. Defensive strategies, particularly handling handballs, are crucial in modern soccer.
5. The hosts question some of Brazil's tactical choices, indicating potential areas for improvement in future games.

1: Introduction

The hosts introduce the episode's focus and briefly discuss their views on the ongoing Copa America. Alexi Lawless: "Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents tours loans homes get home with zillow."

2: Colombia's Strategy

Discussion centers on Colombia's robust game against Costa Rica, highlighting key players and strategic elements that led to their win. David Mossey: "Columbia, three no win over Costa Rica. Luis Diaz from the penalty spot in the first half, and then Davidson, Sanchez and John Cordoba in the second half."

3: Brazil's Game Analysis

This chapter dives into Brazil's gameplay, particularly Vinicius Junior's role and the team's approach to penalties. David Mossey: "Brazil claimed a four one win over Paraguay. Brazil scored three times in the first half, two by Vinicius Junior and one by Savio."

4: Tactical Decisions

Focuses on specific tactical decisions that influenced the game's outcome, including penalty takers and defensive formations. Alexi Lawless: "It's one thing if you stutter and then you slam at home, people can yell and scream, but in this case, not only did he stutter, but he missed."

1. Understand Your Team's Strengths: Tailor your strategies to the strengths of key players.
2. Set Piece Mastery: Emphasize the importance of precision in set pieces.
3. Defensive Discipline: Train defenders on the strategic placement of hands to avoid penalties.
4. Decisive Leadership: Ensure team leaders make strategic decisions swiftly during matches.
5. Analyze Opponents: Study and adapt to the tactics of opposing teams effectively.

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse recapped two dominant performances from Copa América Group D. Colombia won 3-0 behind goals from Luis Díaz, Davinson Sánchez, and Jhon Córdoba. As one of the favorites to win Copa América, Colombia cruised past Costa Rica to advance to the quarterfinals. Vinicius Junior also put on a show in Brazil’s match against Paraguay. Brazil won with three goals in the first half, responding quickly after finishing scoreless on Monday. (2:20)
To wrap the show, the guys shared some of the record viewership the Euros group stage matches have received across FOX networks. (20:35)

People

Alexi Lawless, David Mossey, Vinicius Junior, James Rodriguez

Companies

FOX Sports

Books

None

Guest Name(s):

None

Content Warnings:

None

Alexi Lawless
Hello, sunshine. I'm Alexi Lawless and welcome. Welcome to the State of the Union podcast, where we look at the beautiful game on and off the field through the lens of red, white and blue colored glasses. Today's show is brought to you by Zillow agents tours loans homes get home with zillow. We are coming to you live on Friday, June 28, on the eve of the 2020 €4 round of 16 kicking off and the conclusion of the second round of group stage games at the 2024 Copa America.

As we make our way through this amazing summer of soccer, reminder be coming to you live each and every day after the euros action and the Copa America 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 lights, David Mossey, a soccer savant and a Fox soccer researcher and writer extraordinaire. Mossy, how are you on this Friday, June 28? I'm doing well, you know, in the eternal back and forth between the two shows. We had Clint Dempsey on last night.

David Mossey
The now show had Juan Pablo on hell as a guest today. Wow. You should have seen the way Melissa Ortiz was looking at him. Everybody looks at him like that. I mean, it's a wonder we even get anything done when he is on set.

Alexi Lawless
It's truly amazing. And he was in all his glory beaming. And so it's one thing if he's just kind of solemn and even that's glorious, but then you add a smile to it. Nobody stands a chance. All right.

Shall we light this candle, my friend? First off, how was your day? Was your day okay? It was good. First off, I did watch the second episode of the second season of House of the Dragon.

David Mossey
I want to let people know. I'm caught up on that. Another solid episode. We're off to a good start. You're having a little time off.

Alexi Lawless
You're having a little r and r. Yes. And also, new season of the bear dropped. Haven't started that yet, but at some point I will. All right.

Okay. I have not watched anything. And we'll be up early tomorrow because we got a bunch of games coming tomorrow. All right. Now, should we light this candle?

Let's do it. Okay. Where shall we start? Busy day in the Copa America. Two games in group D will begin with a match that took place in Glendale, Arizona.

David Mossey
Columbia, three no win over Costa Rica. Luis Diaz from the penalty spot in the first half, and then Davidson, Sanchez and John Cordoba in the second half. Columbia punching their ticket to the quarterfinals. It's their 10th straight win. That's the longest active winning streak of any national team in the world.

They're unbeaten in 25. They haven't lost in. In two and a half years. What a team. Alexei Glaucus.

Alexi Lawless
What a team. What a team. And they lived up to billing. They also kind of put right what Costa Rica is, despite Costa Rica's first amazing point against Brazil. I mean, this is the real Costa Rica and this is also the real Colombia.

And it wasn't even a situation where you even thought that there was going to be a bend but not break type of Costa Rica, which they needed to have. They couldn't even complete passes. Not just the attacking with the ball from Colombia, but again, the press without the ball. And it was heightened because each and every time that Costa Rica got the ball, I mean, they looked like babes in the woods in terms of their ability to pass, and they just panicked each and every time and quickly turned the ball over. So it was comprehensive from start to finish.

A lot of the stuff that we started talking about in this tournament continued on, including the play of James and how important he is and this crazy Jekyll and Hyde that he is relative to the national team and his club, and doesn't matter to Columbia because they're in a situation here where they're getting the best version of him when he puts on the shirt. And again, he was awesome in terms of not just the assists that he had, but his set piece taking is brilliant. He puts balls in dangerous areas on a consistent basis and anytime you have someone like that, it makes it so much easier. We talk about set piece coaches and all that kind of stuff. It doesn't matter.

You can have the most brilliant set piece coach in the world. If you don't have somebody who can put the ball in the right place on a consistent basis, then nothing's going to work. I continue to be impressed by the job Nestor Lorenzo is doing because James and Luis Diaz aside, the names don't pop that much when you look at that squad and the club pedigree isn't that impressive. They've got a bunch of guys who play in Russia, others who play in South America or in Mexico. I know a lot of them because a lot of their players play in Brazil.

David Mossey
John Adias with Fluminensi, Richard Rios with Palmeiras. Borreo came on today, place for international, but it's not Real Madrid Barcelona. And yet they've built a juggernaut of a team that they are a major threat to win this competition, and they've spread it out. We talked on air today about Davison Sanchez and people have known about him. He has already kind of been there in the public eye, but he is.

Alexi Lawless
Is still his imposing self, especially on set pieces. I mean, he had as many opportunities in the attacking third and in the opposition box as most forwards do in a game. And he was a menace. And again, goes back to great service from James in terms of those free kicks. So comprehensive.

And again, showing why a lot of people, and not just Juan Pablo angel, but a lot of people believe that this is a team that can compete. I don't yet put them at the level of an Uruguay yet, but it's pretty impressive for you. Argentina and Uruguay are a clear top two. And then there's another tier with Colombia and possibly Brazil. Is that a fair way to frame it?

Yeah, I think that that's fair. I think that's fair. And if I had to go between Colombia and Brazil right now, well, I don't know. We're going to talk about Brazil in a second, but I would still, I think, have Colombia slightly ahead. I agree.

David Mossey
We'll go there next. The other match in Group D took place in Las Vegas. Brazil claimed a four one win over Paraguay. Brazil scored three times in the first half, two by Vinicius Junior and one by Savio. Then Paraguay pulled one back early in the second half.

But then a Lucas pocket top penalty rounded out the scoring. So Brazil get their first win of this tournament. Okay, so let's talk a little bit about the penalties. And, you know, the first opportunity was packet. He steps up.

Alexi Lawless
Rob Stone loses his mind because he just hates the stutter stuff. Step. And we've already talked about stuttered step in the context of the tournament. But it's one thing if you stutter and then you. And you slam at home, people can yell and scream, but in this case, not only did he stutter, but he missed.

And not only did he miss, but he missed the entire goal. This made no sense to me. Pocket Todd taking both those penalties. He's a midfielder, nobody's going to judge him on goals. His role in the team as a supplier, as he showed with a beautiful pass to Vinicius on his first goal.

David Mossey
Vinis is the star of the team. He's a better pell and kick taker than Pacita. He takes them for Real Madrid. He made all of his attempts this past season, including in big games against Barcelona against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. And he's the guy you have to get going.

I would be much happier. If we were sitting here right now with a four one win in which Vinisi scored all four goals, from an overall vibe standpoint and the direction you want this team to go, I'd feel much better about that. So I have no idea why Pacita grabbed the ball for both those penalties. It made no sense to me, and I think Doddy Vojuna should have overruled him and had Vanis taken. Well, if he.

Alexi Lawless
If for whatever reason, he takes the first one right and misses it, do you think that that then disqualifies him from taking another in your version of this team out there? And you say, no, we're not going to give it to him because there is a school of thought that says, well, let's give it to him, and he makes up for it, which ultimately he did. But to your point, he's not the regular penalty kick taker or one that you would point to anyway. So what do we really make? What are we really losing by not having him take?

David Mossey
Yeah, it's not like you're counting on him for goals, so you have to get his goal scoring confidence back. So it just made no sense to me and Vinicius, when the second penalty came around, Vinicius was on a hat trick at that point, so why not let him take it and get it to hat trick and feel even better about himself? So that was something that annoyed me about tonight's match. You know what else else annoyed me? And we were talking about the penalties.

Alexi Lawless
I don't want to talk about Vinny in a second, but just. Just in general, the modern version of the game, we all know when it comes to the handball rule that it has not only encouraged, but almost mandated that as defenders in the box, you most often have to put your arms behind your back. From a practical perspective, obviously, it's not making yourself yourself bigger and you just don't want to risk it. And rarely, if you do have your hands behind your back and it hits you, are they going to call it? Because you are literally showing that you are trying not to have it hit your hands in this game, but if you're going to do it, you got to do it.

You can't half ass it. You can't have one hand behind the back and then one other arm flailing, which is what we saw here today. So if you're going to do it, I'm just encouraging everybody out there in this new age of defending, put both hands behind the back or you risk what happens. That second penalty, I was very relieved that happened. Because Brazil was absolutely awful in the second half.

David Mossey
Shocking. It was shocking the way they came out in that second half. Right? Paraguay pulled one back. Allison then made an incredible save to keep it from being three two and at three one, that game was still hanging there dangerously.

And when that penalty occurred and Brazil scored, and that was that. But I thank God that penalty happened when it did because Brazil was about to make a mess of that game. Now, before the game, we started talking, and I always think about you as you're sitting there watching in the control room and doing all the work that you do. And I think about you when I start talking about Brazil and how you would come back at me and all. But I framed it as that this is not only a Brazil team that you and many Brazilians don't think can actually win, but also can't provide the romantic, beautiful game that we have come to expect when anybody puts on that, on that yellow shirt.

Alexi Lawless
Vinnie Junior, he had himself a night tonight. He entertained the thousands that were there. He set up shop on that left hand side, which I think we both agree that is ultimately where his best position is, regardless of where people want to throw him out there on the field, and he can certainly come inside at different times. And he gave the people kind of what they want with the flicks and the tricks, but ultimately with the goal. And I know you wanted him to get that hat trick.

Ultimately, does this bode well for him and this team going forward? Yes. His performance in the first half was the biggest positive of this night. Major step in the right direction for him. We'll see if he kicks on from there, but I agree with you that that is the story for Brazil tonight.

What do you think the press will say about this in the morning when it comes to Brazil? Step in the right direction, but still some areas of improvement for sure. Let me just say dodieval junior made two changes to the lineup and I like them both. Savinho coming on for Rafinha. I think you like Savinho as well.

He thought he was really good in. The first and then Wendell coming in for Aden at left back. Neither one is that great, but I think Wendell is the less bad of the two. So I think that that change improved the team as well. The other one that has to happen is I keep banging on about this.

David Mossey
He has to get Juan Gomez out of that midfield. He adds absolutely nothing. It either needs to be Douglas Luiz or you could even bring on Andres Pereira and play packet deeper. But Brazil needs more quality in that center of the park to really create chances. There's still a lack of fluidity there, so that that needs to improve for sure.

Alexi Lawless
All right, so Paraguay goes out. They are eliminated from the tournament, even with one game to one game to play. And the usual suspects in that Colombia and Brazil get the job done in different ways. And still coming out of today, I think I would say, and a lot of people would say that the pecking order still has Colombia ahead of Brazil, but they play in this third game and I think that that's where a lot. Where some more questions will be answered.

David Mossey
Yeah. So if Brazil win that game, they would top the group. Colombia only need a draw to finish first, and that could be significant. I know us fans don't want to hear this, but if Panama ends up finishing second in Group C, then you definitely want to top Group D because facing Panama in the quarterfinals versus Uruguay, that's a major difference. You shut your mouth, David Mossey.

Alexi Lawless
Don't you even dare, you know, talk it into existence. I mean, it's been 24 hours. I know it's not in the rundown, but any, any thoughts on the US that anything you've had more time to digest? I mean, you know, I think I just, I got up and in the harsh light of a new day, it still sucks and it still is mind boggling that this us team finds themselves in this position. And yet, as I said before, nothing has really changed when you really look at it, because this referendum, that is the Copa America relative to Greg Berhalter and this team that was also relative to them getting out of the group and then playing Colombia or Brazil, has now just shifted to the third game against Uruguay.

And Greg Berhalter and this team, as I said on air, they created this situation and they are going to have to fix it and they are going to have to come up with a seminal type of moment and a defining type of performance and results. It's a game. Before, a lot of us thought it was going to have to happen, but it now has to happen in the third game. And we'll ultimately see that. And as we get closer to Monday, we'll start to think more and more about potential changes.

Obviously, Tim Wei is not going to be available, so there is at least one change that has to be made going forward. And Matt Turner still don't know about his status relative to Monday after coming off at halftime. So, you know, we'll see. But the sky, you know, I woke up this morning and I didn't think that the sky was necessarily falling. But it's, you know, it's debatable.

Who had a worst day? Greg Burholt or george or mister. What's our president's name again? Joe Biden. Joe Biden.

Yeah.

So, you know, it is what it is. They made this situation and that's the way it goes. Should we preview tomorrow? Because we're back at it tomorrow. We were dark for two days when it comes to the Euros.

And we're back at it tomorrow, right? Yes. The round of 16 gets underway with two matches. First up on fs one, Switzerland. Italy in Berlin.

David Mossey
This is at the Olympia Stadium where Italy won the 2006 World cup, beating France in the final. Desidan headbutt or Materazzi. Now they'll face Switzerland in the euros round of 16 match. Looking forward to this one. There could be some neat matchups if Berlimbolo starts up front him against Bastoni and the midfield, barel against Jacques.

I think this could be a pretty entertaining game. Is it too close to pick? Because I still don't rate Italy. I mean, I know they're the defending champions, but they have yet to show me that they are worthy of the praise that some feel we should give them. In the last edition of the Euros, Switzerland took out France at this stage.

We'll see what they do against Italy. We do have an interesting segment with Giorgio Cellini tomorrow where he's going to posit this theory that with Italy, if they can qualify for a tournament and get out of the group stage, once they get into the knockout rounds, they'd be become a tough out. That's when that italian mentality kicks in and there are some numbers to back that up. I put together some graphics that you'll see on air tomorrow. So we'll see if that applies here.

Alexi Lawless
And, you know, what have you done for me lately? And they've gotten out of the group and it's, as we all know, it's kind of a new lease on life in a tournament situation. When you get out of the group and yes, you know it's there, you have that history. But I don't think you carry that baggage through with you when you're going. But like I said, I have yet to see that italian team show up.

And if Giorgio's right, then it is this new chapter and they will show up. What's the other game? Second match on Fox. Host Germany will face Denmark in Dortmund. Some questions at the back for Germany.

David Mossey
Jonathan Ta suspended and Rudiger is an injury doubt, although I saw today that he trained so he might be able to play. I think Schluterbeck will come in for Ta. We know about Germany's attacking power with Havertz and Verts and Musiala, et cetera. Obviously Tony Cruz spraying the ball around gundam, so a lot of quality there. But Denmark can be a tough outlandish.

Rasmus hoylen up front, christiansen at the back, ericsson in the midfield. So how do you see this one? I mean, I see germany taking care of business, I see ari hingst having a good day, and I see peter schmeichel not having a good day, but hopefully if there is a silver lining for him. Casper plays well, but I see germany finding a way through this. Speaking of peter schmeichel, 32 years ago, denmark beat ydehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe germany in the 92 euro final.

We're going to revisit that game. Peter is going to give us his recollections of it. So there is some interesting history with these two nations in this competition. Nice, nice. And now we go to simultaneous play here in the third games of group stage.

Alexi Lawless
When it comes to copa, right? Correct. Group a draws to a close tomorrow. Argentina will face peru in miami. At the same time, canada will battle chile in orlando.

David Mossey
Argentina already through the other three teams fighting to join them. Messi will not play due to a right leg injury. Two managers tomorrow suspended because of their team's tardiness and coming back for the start of the second half. Lionel Scaloni for Argentina and Ricardo Gareca for Chile, which I know you like that. Yeah.

Come the ball came down on those teams for that. It surprised me. I didn't think that cum na ball had the you know what to do that. But I'm glad that they did it because you're flaunting in the face of protocol and it's disrespectful. And you have one team that's out there and a crowd that's waiting and everybody understands the time and you're just choosing to break the rules as they.

Alexi Lawless
Whether you agree with them or not. And if there's no punishment, then people will keep doing it, especially when there's an element of gamesmanship and or arrogance behind some of this stuff. So well done to comna bowl for recognizing that something needed to be done. And neither of. I mean, it's not necessarily going to change what's going to happen on the field, but at least from a symbolic perspective, neither of these teams will have their managers.

David Mossey
And even without Messi and Argentina potentially wrestling some players, you'd expect them not to lose to Peru. And that would mean that Canada would only need a draw against Chile to advance. I know this was brought up in our production meeting today. The specter of Jesse Marsh getting to the knockout stage with Canada. While Greg Berhalter might fail to do so with the US.

That would be quite the development. Yeah. I mean, Jesse Marce, the new head coach for Canada, a longtime player, american player, and a very successful coach in Europe and in MLS and all that, he made it very, very clear and very, very public that he was not happy with the way the coaching search went for. For the United States men's national team after the World cup that ultimately rehired Greg Berhalter. Fair enough.

Alexi Lawless
That's fine. He didn't get into any type of detail, but now he's taken the Canada job and don't think for a second that he wouldn't love to get one over on, well, Greg Berhalter and this us men's national team in the form of Canada reaching the knockout and the potential of the US going home. And as I said on air, I don't know what Canadian is for schadenfreude, but as much as he loves America and is proud of all that, I think he's concentrated on what Canada is going to do. But it would be interesting and I think he would savor the fact of his Canada team going on and the US going home. And last thing I mentioned, that Argentina's game is in Miami.

David Mossey
Messi misses out on a chance to play in front of what are now his home fans. But not to worry, they'll be back there for the final on July 14. I do think that the injury is not serious and I think it is convenient and gives the opportunity for him to rest because if you see the play there where they then went in and rubbed in all kinds of. Yeah, it was a hard hit. He's taken plenty of hard hits.

Alexi Lawless
And so if this was a knockout game or obviously a final, I have no doubt that he would be on the field. And it sucks that he doesn't gift his now adopted home of Miami the opportunity. But like you said, there's a good chance, given the pathway that has been set up for them, that they come back there again and they should have ultimately no problem. Anything else there? No.

David Mossey
I think it's time for one for the road. Oh, I know how much you love to do it. Well, my one for the road today kind of gives us the opportunity to toot our horn a little bit when it comes to Fox, in terms of the numbers. We got some record numbers, Mossy, when it comes to people that are tuning in for these two tournaments. Just want to read the headline over here.

Alexi Lawless
Fox Sports scored the most watched UEFA Euro group stage ever. When you add up all the different viewerships, and we got millions of different people that are tuning in, and I love that it's not necessarily a surprise. And while we are certainly proud of the product and the production and everything that's going on and the incredible work of the men and women in front of the camera and behind the camera, they're giving it to you each and every day in terms of the content and the quality. This is also a reflection on our country and our culture that has grown so much. And I tell people all the time, don't let anybody tell you out there that America is not a soccer country.

Don't let anybody tell you that we don't have a soccer culture here. It is diverse, it is unique, and it is uniquely american. But people love soccer. People love tournaments. People love cheering for their nation, whether what it is, the nation that they are in, or the nation that they have some connection to, where they've come from, heritage, whatever it ends up being.

And I think a lot of people come into this tent because they see the color. They see and feel and hear the music and the pageantry, whether they're in the stadiums or whether they're watching it on tv, and they want to be a part of that. And a lot of people come to the game through tournaments. I meet people all the time that say, this tournament changed my life. I was not into soccer, or I was just a little bit into soccer.

And I spent that summer mesmerized, sitting there watching game after game after game. And believe me, this summer, you can watch it from morning till night if you want. So these record numbers are nothing new, but congratulations to Fox. And you know what? Congratulations to american soccer for showing once again that, you know, that it's big, that it's growing, that it is a massive business, and it has massive potential as we get on and go forward, especially into 2026.

I also will say that, mossy, did you know that it also affects things outside of soccer? It has an incredible significance and impact culturally out there. Did you know that the debate audience was old on every network, but it was the least old on Fox, with 55 years as a lead in of a USA soccer match, appeared to help deliver a moderately younger viewer. Interesting. That's from our own Mike Mulvahill over there in Fox.

So you know, because yesterday the us game led right into the debate and there were a lot of Americans, a lot of younger Americans that were watching and just continued on in and saw the craziness that went on there. Anything before we go, my friend? A couple of things. I do want to send some well wishes to Kat. She's homesick, battling a couple of different ailments.

David Mossey
We love her, we miss her. We hope she's back here soon. Also, in honor of Brazil's win tonight, I'm going to pick up some bossanova on the way home. That is the restaurant where you and I and Aaron and Sean ate at in downtown LA the night of the Ambie awards. There's one down the street here, so I'm going to pick up some food on the way home.

Alexi Lawless
I totally. I forgot to tell you that I went to. Well, give me another name of a brazilian restaurant that's really good and famous. Fog of the shell. Yes.

I went to this place where they serve you all the meat and they come around and do all that.

David Mossey
Brazilian style. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. I liked it. I've never been to that place before.

Alexi Lawless
Very good. All right. You guys might have something going over there when it comes to Brazil. All right. We will be back again tomorrow.

Like I said, with oomph. Big old day, big old slate as the euros return. Like we said, round of 16 and we continue on with Copa America here. Keep reviewing, keep downloading, keep rating, keep subscribing, keep doing all the different things that you are doing out there. We've had incredible numbers when it comes to YouTube, so smash that button.

Smash that button over there on YouTube and all the different platforms, whether you're listening on Spotify or watching on Spotify or Apple or all the different things that we have out there, x and all that, we love it. We love that you're hanging out with us each and every day on the state of the union. We'll be back again tomorrow. And until then, and as always, my friends, size the day.